who we fighting for? GRYFFINDOR [pre-game meal]

Lily had always been an early riser. Back when she was a child she’d be awake with the birds on the weekend, and took up the habit of going downstairs to read while she waited for her sister or parents to wake up. The habit had followed her into Hogwarts, but now she shared a dorm with the other girls in her year she had learned to keep herself quiet. There had been a particularly violent pillow incident involving most of the girls in her room that hinted that they weren’t overly appreciative of being woken as Lily pottered around in the early hours. So now, rather than getting up and trying to tiptoe around the room holding her breath lest she sneeze and wake someone, she now slept with a book under her pillow. It meant that – this particular Saturday morning – Lily had been able to sit with the curtains around the four poster bed drawn shut, legs crossed beneath the quilt as she read through a book on the Goblin Rebellion. Just for fun, as you would.

Her attention was torn away as she heard some of the others rise and a small voice call out to the female members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team to get themselves down to the Great Hall. Obviously the staircase was charmed not to let male members of the House into the girls’ half of the tower, something Lily was exceptionally grateful for. She stormed off up here from James Potter so many times, she didn’t know what she would have done had he been able to follow her without the steps turning into a smooth slope. She could have pulled the curtain back and joined them, but she thought it better to let the team get a head start on their own. Today was the first match of the year, and it was a big one, possibly the biggest in the school’s schedule; Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

She waited ten minutes or so after they left before swinging her legs out of bed. Rummaging through her trunk, she smiled slightly as she pulled out her choice of clothes for the day. Sure, she’d been to matches before to watch, but she’d never really gone all-out as a supporter. She’d spent five years completely neutral when she attended with Severus, and it was only last year when she started going to matches with Alice that she really started getting into the whole thing. Her little confrontation with James a few weeks back had hit a nerve with her, though. He honestly seemed to think she had no Gryffindor pride, took no joy in seeing that flatten Slytherin last year. If this outfit didn’t show that he’d been completely wrong in that assumption, she didn’t know what would. And she did so love proving James Potter wrong.

Fastening the clasp of her necklace as she went, Lily made her way down the steps of Gryffindor tower and the moving staircases to the Great Hall. A few more students were starting to rise now, and the buzz of the upcoming match could be felt in almost all of them. Even students in the other two houses would come to watch this game, and most of them would probably be cheering for the team in red and gold. Something about Slytherin just seemed to inspire a deep dislike with everyone else. Her Head Girl duties forgotten for the weekend, she didn’t even caution the two first years who went screeching past her into the Great Hall, practically trembling in their excitement as they sat at the other end of the Gryffindor table, casting nervous and awestruck glances at the team that had gathered.

Catching the end of the conversation, Lily couldn’t help but smile slightly, crossing her arms as she leant back against one of the room’s stone pillars, giving a wave hello to Dorcas and Emmeline before her eyes settled on James.

“Please, carry on,” she said raising her brows, “I’m joining the ranks eager to hear some stirring words. Go ahead, mon capitan.”

She gave a flourish of one arm as she finished, as if declaring the floor free for him with a smirk. This would be interesting. Some time ago she probably opened with an insult, declared how if she heard one wise word from James mouth she’d promptly tie herself to an anchor and throw herself in the lake. But despite the strains and tests it had been put through – and whether he even realised it or not – the truce they had agreed to that Monday before Gamp’s disappearance was still going strong, and she was determined that he would be the first to fall foul of it. Even if it meant being nice in front of everyone who would grill her about it later.

Lily caught the little grin that crossed James’ face and raised a brow in warning. She could tell there were numbers of things going through his head to say, and he showed a shocking amount of self-control to hold it back. She knew because she felt exactly the same. It would have been so easy just to stroll in and put him down, claim a complete disinterest in Quidditch and seat herself at the other end of the table. Plus, it wouldn’t have drawn the confused and slightly intrigued looks from the others present, Dorcas in particular seeming to find the exchange interesting. But thought this would have been the easier option right now, her life had been far easier since she and James made their agreement. She wasn’t horrified at the idea of running into the Marauders in the hallways, didn’t dread returning to the Common Room after class. It was a weight off her shoulders. She only wished she had Alice here to share it with, but there was no chance of that right now. Her absence was the only reminder of the real issues the school was dealing with, and Lily promptly chose to ignore it for today, if nothing more. They all deserved one day of pretending they were just students.

As their captain made his speech, Lily couldn’t resist a small smile seeing the cheering and applause from the students who’d woken early enough to join the team for breakfast. There was an odd feeling turning her stomach. She got it when a student she was tutoring got an ‘O’ in their tests, or when someone in the Slug Club excelled themselves. Merlin help her, it was a bubble of pride, one she quickly swallowed down as simply being proud of being Gryffindor. Not of James Potter. No chance. Nonsense. It was refreshing to see people so enthused though, especially Dorcas. Getting the Prophet delivered every morning, it had been impossible to ignore what had happened to her family. Lily had decided not to ask about it. The two of them weren’t overly close, and if the other girl wanted to talk about it Lily thought she would let her make the first move. People needed breathing space sometimes.

When she began teasing about James’ lack of usual attempts to ask Lily out, however, the redhead had to bite back a retort. The last thing she wanted was to spoil the mood. She was surprised to find herself not needing to defend herself, though, when someone else drew the topic away. Sirius Black, of all people, seemed to have read the tension in the situation and decided to diffuse it. She gave him a quizzical look for a split second. There had been plenty of times when Sirius had simply lead James into putting his foot in it where she was concerned and seemed to get a good amount of laughs from it, abandoning the two of them at the party for instance. And yet this time he’d gone in the complete other direction. Apparently she wasn’t the only one behaving strangely this morning. Still, gift horse in the mouth and all that.

“If you two plan on declaring undying love for each other, could it please wait until after I’ve finished my breakfast?” she joked, taking a seat at the table next to Emmeline at the end of the row. “I’d rather not be put off before I’ve even started.”

Reaching out, she took a couple of pancakes for her plate and poured herself a cup of Earl Grey tea, squeezing in a wedge of lemon before taking a sip. There was just nothing better in the morning than a good cup of tea. It did wonders for her nerves, and Lily was very self-conscious of the whisperings around her. It was odd to see her dressed so supportively, she had to admit. But nobody was about to knock her pride on that matter. It took a couple of attempts, but she managed to catch Sirius’ eye eventually, mouthing a silent ‘thank you’ while everyone else was engaged in chatter. She hoped with a little encouragement he might save her again next time, though she highly doubted it. It would still be rude to ignore his help, however. She just had to pray he didn’t read anything more than that into it.

“On a serious note though, Doe, I do hope your secret desire of Black – overwhelming as I’m sure it must be - doesn’t distract you. I had a little run in with Saxton the other night. She seems a little too keen to take someone’s head off today.”

It had been a brief encounter, but very unpleasant. She doubted the Slytherin had forgiven her for the detention and point deduction she’d issued for being out after hours, and it probably hadn’t helped her desire to seriously injure any and every player in red and gold on a broom. Lily knew the threat had been serious, but sat with this lot it was difficult not to get drawn into the banter and teasing that had become so commonplace within the team.

Lily felt her eyes roll at James’ reaction to the team gathered at the other table, shaking her head as she finished off her tea. She knew Quidditch was a violent game, and had seen players getting injured more than frequently, but the thought of going out specifically to land someone in the Hospital Wing seemed a tad over the top. Then again, she thought, the Slytherins were certainly not above playing dirty. And although she hated it, Lily herself wouldn’t have been overly upset to see a couple of them out of action for a few days. Still, she could hardly be seen approving of such tactics when she was known as the ultimate rule-follower of Hogwarts. Things were already noticeably strange enough; nobody needed that adding to the mix.

As the banter between Sirius and Dorcas drew others in, Lily felt a little guilty she’d joined them, even for that short moment. She’d spent years fending off the sort of nonsense being thrown at their Chaser. Admittedly Dorcas was faring a lot better than she ever had. The girl must have a patient of a saint, Lily mused, to put up with this sort of thing as often as she did. The team were a very close-knit group, and the redhead couldn’t imagine you got to escape to friendly abuse much. If it had been her, she would have had someone’s head off by now.

This was, of course, the first time Lily could remember actively spending time with the Quidditch squad in a social context. She’d hidden herself in the corner at victory parties in the Common Room, or been sat at a desk while they went over plays in one of the quieter areas of the Library (though this often lead to Madame Pince marching them out as they weren’t actually studying, and she didn’t consider Quidditch a noble enough endeavour to be using her aisles for), but this was new. And not as difficult as she’d expected. She still wished Alice was sat next to her for support – someone she knew who would cut her off when she needed it, or follow her if she stormed off to calm her down – but that wasn’t an option. After five years avoiding those in red and gold, Lily was finally making the effort to integrate. She just hoped it wasn’t too late. The signs had been good enough so far to suggest her attempt had been accepted, if thoroughly questioned by all those involved.

“Merlin, no wonder I’ve never sat with you lot at breakfast before,” she muttered under her breath, only half to herself with a smirk, taking a forkful of her pancakes before turning to address the others properly.

“Can we at least save the bosoms – along with legs, bums, and all other parts male and female – until the celebrations later when you can all have a drink while I slip away to the Library and be with my friends the books until you’re all either passed out or too drunk for me to understand what you’re saying?”

She hadn’t really been aiming for the hint of self-deprecation, but it had just slipped out. It was probably exactly how the evening would go though. They’d all get a stash of drink from who-knew-where like they always did and James would have one too many and say something stupid and she’d storm off in a huff to the place in Hogwarts she was always welcome. At Sirius comment, she almost laughed aloud, suppressing it instead to a sharp chuckle.

“And you two are the ringleaders of the gang that has managed to escape me giving them detention for half the pranks I’ve stumbled across in the hallways? I am deeply, deeply shamed.”