What Power Couple?

"What power couple?" For a second, Lily didn't understand what Mary meant. Then she realized Mary was talking about the James and Lily ship. Heaven was her witness, she still hadn't agreed to go out with James. "It's you and... mmph!"

Lily clapped a hand over Mary's mouth before she could say it. Mary struggled to pry her hand away and gasped for breath. "Why did you cover my nose? I could barely breathe!"

Lily made an apologetic gesture. She'd had to act fast. "Sorry, sorry. And don't go saying things like that. There's nothing between us."

Mary and Dorcas both gave her a look that said, "Do you really expect me to believe that?" "I don't care. My power couple is the best in the world, anyway," Mary declared solemnly.

"What power couple?"

The Marauders appeared from somewhere and sat down near the long table. They had heard Mary's not particularly loud shout and were puzzled.

"Uh, nothing." Mary shrank behind Lily in embarrassment. As the leader of the ship's fans, she didn't dare say it in front of the people involved.

They all laughed it off and changed the subject to the Quidditch season. Ravenclaw had already played Hufflepuff, and Slytherin and Gryffindor would face each other after Christmas.

"We'll definitely beat evil Slytherin." James held up his Pumpkin Juice as though he were already raising the Quidditch Cup. They did have reason to be proud. James was fresh blood on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, while Lily had been allowed to join as a first-year because of her talent. With Chalmers pushing their training to the limit, the Gryffindor team's coordination had grown ever stronger.

"The Quidditch Cup will be Gryffindor's again this year." James's stirring declaration swept up the other young Quidditch lovers at the long table, and they all cheered him on. Lily felt that James was piling more and more pressure on her. She didn't deny her talent, but that didn't mean James could openly put her under pressure. If she failed to catch the Golden Snitch, wouldn't he have made her a target for blame in advance?

Everyone was now convinced Gryffindor would win the Quidditch Cup, and the key to their final victory was her catching the Golden Snitch. Wouldn't the other teams keep their eyes fixed on her and go after her?

She leaned close to Mary and whispered, "So this is your power couple, huh? He keeps putting pressure on me. I really want to punch him."

"Oh my God, Lily, calm down, calm down. He definitely didn't mean to, he's just, just..." Mary had to admit she couldn't seem to come up with a reasonable explanation. "All right, I admit he's a little stupid. You'd better not agree to go out with him after all."

Lily smiled and put some chicken on Mary's plate. "Don't think about it so much. Eat your food. I remember you still haven't written your Herbology essay, and Herbology is tomorrow."

Mary's heart clenched, and she quickly shoveled food into her mouth. Lily and Dorcas exchanged a look and began eating too.

At the end of November, the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin began as scheduled.

Lily sat in the stands, watching the Ravenclaw players get elbowed by Slytherin again and again. Seriously, were these people raised on pork knuckles? Why did they love throwing elbows so much? Most absurd of all, even fouls didn't stop Slytherin from knocking people off their brooms. "Damn it, those evil Slytherins!"

James slammed the railing of the stands. Sirius watched the figures in green robes coldly, then glanced at the Slytherin stands. This was the road of no return his younger brother had chosen. He hoped Regulus wouldn't regret it someday.

A trace of regret then crossed his mind. Regulus had loved following him around since they were little and had even said he would always go with him. Yet now he had been brainwashed by Walburga. Sirius had thought Regulus would enter Gryffindor like him, but in the end, unsurprisingly, he had gone to Slytherin. Sirius thought of his cousin Andromeda, who had also come from Slytherin but had dared to break free of the shackles of the Pure-blood families, willing to be disowned by her family in pursuit of freedom.

Sirius had no idea what responsibilities that entailed. "Slytherins are all evil dark wizards. Nothing they do would surprise me," he said coldly.

Lupin and Peter kept their eyes on the match the whole time and didn't interrupt. Lily quietly studied Ravenclaw's approach. Their tactics actually had their merits, but Slytherin played with brute force and aggression. In the end, Ravenclaw was defeated.

"There's nothing worth watching anymore." Lily linked arms with Mary and Marlene as they walked down from the stands. "Knocking people off their brooms is typical Slytherin behavior."

Alice couldn't help worrying about the match after Christmas. As the all-important Seeker, Lily's importance went without saying. Chalmers knew this better than anyone, and when he could spare the manpower, he told James to do his best to keep Lily safe and prevent anyone from knocking her off her broom.

"Of course, that's a Beater's job too. I remember you're pursuing Evans. This is a good chance, so make the most of it." Chalmers gave James an encouraging look. "I'll make sure the job gets done."

James was overjoyed and threw himself into training whenever he had time.

One weekend before Christmas, Petunia went to Hogsmeade with her roommates. Lily was so envious. She wanted to go to Hogsmeade too, but she would have to wait until the following year. With Petunia away for the weekend and snow falling outside, she could only stay in the warm dormitory and write to her parents.

Tales of Blossoms now had twelve branches, and Mr and Mrs Evans were managing it well. Lily had started ordering things to wrap as Christmas gifts. She asked how things were at home and whether her parents were healthy, and sent them some Potions to help maintain their health. Whenever she did, Mr Evans would remark on how convenient Potions were.

"Lily, aren't you going outside to build a snowman?"

Dorcas and Marlene had wrapped their scarves tightly around themselves and looked ready to go play outside the castle.

"I'll come as soon as I finish my letter." Lily wrote faster so she could catch up with her friends. Her snowy owl was already waiting beside the desk to deliver the letter. She was such a cute little thing, and she had the simplest of names.

"Thanks for your hard work, Xiaobai. You still have to deliver my letter in this cold weather." She ruffled the snowy owl's little head and opened the window so she could fly out.

Watching Xiaobai fly away, Lily closed the window. "Wait for me!" She quickly grabbed her new scarf. Potter had made off with the old one, so she had knitted herself another just like it. Lily ran after Dorcas and Marlene and shot between them like a little cannonball. "Come on! Let's have a snowball fight!" Lily excitedly pulled her two friends outside.

"Are Mary and Alice coming?" Lily hadn't seen her other two friends.

"Mary already dragged Alice outside to play." With Lily's arm linked through hers, Marlene ran all the way down from the tower. A string of little lions in gold and scarlet ran through the castle like darting flames, their enthusiasm spreading to the young witches and wizards from the other houses. "What lively young girls."

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had just come down from the Great Hall in good spirits and caught sight of the usually well-behaved little lions. They were in good spirits because they hadn't seen those troublemakers.