Summary: People don't just fall in love chasing bad guys while saving the world. It's simple things that bring people together like laughter, friends, and breaking 4 ribs in the middle of the biggest Quidditch game of the year. In fact, most people aren't aware but this is exactly how the Quidditch Captain fell for the Quidditch commentator...quite literally.

This is a quick story-only intended to last about ten chapters as my drafts have gone no farther no matter how many ways I write it. Jut meant to be an easy going story, written for fun!

Hogwarts, Autumn 1973

The Introduction of Lily:

The start of the school year was always so refreshing to Lily. As the leaves changed it always felt like the start of something new and exhilarating. She breathed in the smell of ink, parchment, and old books. Although Lily loved being home with her family most days she loved being at school more. School was the place where Lily was among the people like her. Particularly, people who enjoyed the game of quidditch.

Betting for the winner of the Quidditch Cup took place far away from the teachers at the abandoned East Wing of the library. The teachers didn't condone betting of any kind and the betting was kept hidden from them. A selected manager ran the betting pool from each house of Hogwarts. Lily's friend Mary Lambert was on her first year of running the bets for Gryffindor. Mary was finding the lack of moral support for the Gryffindor Quidditch team absolutely dismal even if she had put in bets for a Ravenclaw win this year.

According to the chalkboard at the back of the room, Slytherin had the highest amount of support. The checkmarks for votes were covering the board like green and silver confetti. Beside Slytherin, Ravenclaw was next in line with a close follow of Hufflepuff. It was the gold and maroon colors of Gryffindor that weren't represented at all on the board.

A hand pushed two silver coins in front of Mary's nose and Mary heard a familiar twinkle of laughter, "Mary don't look so sour! It's Quidditch season!"

Heads turned to Lily Evans, standing at the Gryffindor betting table looking confidently cheerful. The muggleborn witch had her red hair done in two braids down her back and her green eyes were done up with makeup. It was Lily's favorite time and she couldn't contain her excitement over the start of Quidditch season. Her arm was wrapped in that of Serverus Snape's, a few of her other friends not far behind, gossiping. Lily saw that Gryffindor had next to no votes and felt her heart slip a bit but she tried to remain cheerful. On her arm, Severus tugged a bit. Severus was a third year Slytherin who wasn't exactly a Quidditch fanatic but he was Lily's best friend since first year. Snape glanced over at Lily, as if to ask if they could go back to their studying but Lily, ever the chatty Kathy, continued talking to Mary.

"Two sickles on Gryffindor winning the House Cup." Lily indicated her loyalty with no falter in her tone.

Mary stared at Lily in disbelief as she put in two sickles for Gryffindor to win the season with a novice flyer as its Captain.

"Why?" Mary implored upon the confident Lily, "I'm not even betting on Gryffindor!"

Lily grinned, "Try-outs were last week and I tried out for seeker." Her green eyes were bright, "I mean with Potter as captain it's obvious he's going to switch his own position to chaser because that's what he's best at…so I'm hoping he'll pick me for seeker!"

"He's not even that impressive." Severus Snape interjected with a bitter tone, "You're way better than him."

Lily smiled at her mate and poked him in the side, "Please Sev, I know James Potter is an arse but he's a good flier…"

"Oh come on," a blonde second year Gryffindor wearing a jersey moaned, "Even I'm not putting in for a Gryffindor win and I'm on second string."

"Have a little faith, Anna!" Lily jested to the blonde.

"My last name is Faith." The girl named Anna replied, "I've got enough faith for all of us."

"I still mean it Mary," Lily told her friend, "I want my bet written down."

"Whatever you say Evans," Mary replied, adding a single gold checkmark next to Gryffindor on the board.

"Thank you, Mary." Lily grinned, "See you in Herbology—come on Sev I think Slughorn wanted us to collect those herbs—"

Lily turned to Severus to start pushing him out of the throng of quidditch fanatics when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"James Potter's a complete arse of a rookie!" A voice cut in gleefully from the right where the Slytherin betting pool was.

Lily turned to see that Gregory Mills and the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team had heard Lily's thoughtful words towards the new captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Lily eyed Gregory Mills up and down once with a fleeting look of distaste. Mills was big, burly, and a beater to boot. Everyone knew him but not for good reasons. He was loud and obnoxious around the halls of Hogwarts and he was always boasting about his wins. He claimed right out of Hogwarts he'd play professional quidditch but Lily thought she'd seen an owl with a broken wing fly better than Mills ever could. Gregory Mills almost resembled a black bear with his bushy face, dark black eyes, and wide nose. The rest of the Slytherin team wasn't that wonderful looking either, but Gregory Mills definitely took the cake with his strange amount of body hair. Lily wasn't afraid of him but she certainly didn't like him.

Mills slipped off of the table he'd been sitting on and came over to the Gryffindor side of the room, leering at Lily who stood her ground. Severus took a step back, muttering for Lily to leave with him. Lily pursed her lips and didn't stand down.

"James Potter didn't catch the snitch once last season." Mills snarled at Lily, mustache quivering, "What makes you think he'll be any better catching quaffles while I'm aiming my bludger at his skinny arse?"

Lily wrinkled her nose in dislike, "At least his skinny arse," she began with an remorseful smile in Mills' direction, "is a fair sight prettier than your hairy arse."

Mills blinked stupidly at Lily for a minute before shouting and pulling out his wand at her. Severus Snape tried to pull Lily away but the witch simply pulled out her own wand and pointed it in Mills' direction with additional flare. Mary jumped up out of her chair and also pulled out her wand, seeing Lily was getting herself in trouble. Students in the room were starting to chant and Lily was smirking charismatically in Mills' direction.

"You little bitch." He shouted, sparks flying from his wand.

Lily checked her nails against her wand, unimpressed by his comments, "Come now, is that the best insult you've got?" behind Lily, Severus groaned at Lily's taunting.

"Lily, don't encourage him." Lily's roommate Lori Wanters hissed angrily, "Let's go."

"Mudblood!" spit came out of Mills' mouth and gasps echoed around the room at the derogatory term Mills thundered in Lily's direction.

Everyone in the room knew Lily Evans didn't take being made fun of for being muggleborn very slightly. In second year she'd turned Andrea Cutler's hair blue for two weeks when the witch told Lily that her muggle sister was undoubtedly retarded. For a moment, Lily was unruffled. Her face showed no expression. Severus Snape took a step towards Lily because his own wand was out, pointing around at the entire Slytherin quidditch team. Mills sneered at Lily now, his words clearly hitting the right spot.

It was so fast that later, first years could've sworn that Lily didn't even raise her wand. One second Mills was standing there sneering at Lily, and the next second he was on the floor screaming in agony as the hair on his body increased and started covering him in shaggy, auburn hair. Mills' facial hair was growing over his eyes and his Quidditch mates looked like they weren't sure what to do.

Throwing her wand back into her pocket, Lily sauntered past the Slytherin quidditch team with a smirk. Mary dropped her wand and fell into her char, smiling as Mills tried ripping the hair growing all over his body off. A prefect shouted that Gryffindor would lose points. Severus and Lori followed Lily, both stowing their own wands away.

"I think Mills fancies a trip to the Hospital Wing boys!" Lily shouted back to the angered Slytherins.

Lily blew a kiss at Mills, who was groaning and shouting incoherent words underneath his furry overcoat. There was a lot of laughter following Lily as she exited the betting room but she also heard shouts that Gryffindor didn't stand a chance this year.

Lily just hoped that for once, James Potter would come through for her.

The Introduction of James:

The trees around the Hogwarts campus were starting to change color and school scarves were starting to get worn regularly. Autumn. It was James Potter's favorite season because of the start of hot pumpkin juice in the Great Hall and most of all, quidditch season. His toes were curled in excitement as Madame Hooch made her way down to the pitch. His fingers were freezing against the windowpane in the betting room in the Library. It was emptier than when Lily Evans had been in the room defending Gryffindor as most students were at breakfast. James' breath made eerie shapes on the glass.

The Quidditch captains were in the middle of being picked, later than normal this year because of misplaced badges and awards. James had heard Professor Sprout had handpicked Michael Veer for a Hufflepuff victory. Professor Slughorn had placed Gregory Mills as captain and rumor had it that Mills' father had to pay off Slughorn to do so. Ravenclaw unanimously placed Jung Chang as Captain of their quidditch team without a second thought.

James couldn't help smiling because it was this morning that Professor McGonagall had pulled him aside at breakfast to tell him that he was officially Captain for Gryffindor. He'd been picked of course, but there had been some questioning because of his being only a Third year. It was everything he'd ever wanted and he was delighted.

The other players in the other houses were delighted too and James knew it. James was young, with only a year of playing on house teams. Most captains had three or four years under their broomsticks. At only a year of playing competitive quidditch, James was still considered a rookie.

Gossip said that McGonagall had no choice, as the only other returning member to the Gryffindor team was sixth year Douglass McCain who was on probation for being caught smoking on the toilets more than once. James didn't mind being considered novice because he knew that this was his chance to be the greatest Hogwarts quidditch player since Marty Jones in 1967.

James then glanced at the paper of bets placed on a Gryffindor win this season and felt his stomach drop in embarrassment. As betting pools formed for the new season, Gryffindor had the lowest number of counts for the season. Five counts for wins to be exact.

The first three counts happened to be from James' mates who were ecstatic about their mate getting the high honor of quidditch captain. The fourth count for a Gryffindor win was from James himself.

James was confused to as who put in the fifth count for a Gryffindor win. He knew most of the other Gryffindor were banking on a Ravenclaw win and accepted the challenge that he had to win his housemates trust out on the field. He just wished that he knew the person who didn't need proof to trust in his ability to lead Gryffindor to victory. He knew Mary Lambert had the list of voters and he considered asking her for the list. He had to know who this mysterious supporter was.

"Oi!"

James turned in surprise to see his mate Peter motioning to him to hurry along to the back shelves of the library. James recalled they were meeting Sirius and sighed before grinning and hitching his bag up his shoulder.

"Come on mate," Peter moaned, "Sirius is waiting."

The pair raced down the bookshelves only to hear people talking about a fight that had occurred earlier that week. In Hogwarts, anything besides the normal student getting lost in a vanishing cupboard was considered top news. Today the top story was that there had been a brawl in the quidditch betting room between a third year Gryffindor girl who absolutely schooled a fifth year Slytherin. James was interested but by the time he met up with Sirius in the dark corners of the Library for research on werewolves, the news had been forgotten.

In the end, it was Peter who found out the whole story that had occurred in the Library. It was almost farfetched, if James hadn't known about all those involved in the so-called fight. Peter was retelling the story to his mates as they sat in the bathroom in the dungeons, away from prying eyes.

"—and then Evans turned him into a bear!" Peter roared with laughter, clutching his pudgy stomach with mirth.

"She did what?" Sirius pushed back his hair in skepticism, as Lily spent most of her time in their company scoffing them.

James had always respected Lily, who spent more time gaining admirers than not. James couldn't believe that it had been Lily who had put in money for Gryffindor to win. He groaned in frustration and kicked out with his foot in frustration. Sirius looked up from where he sat on a vernal, reading a book on werewolves. It was clear Sirius was not interested in the story as he was more concerned about their roommate Remus, but nonetheless he pretended to look concerned for a moment.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Sirius mumbled to James, "You're not the one reading up on werewolves. Did you know when they transform they can't remember anything? Lupin literally goes through hell each month."

Peter started biting his fingernails; "Remus isn't going to be happy when he hears—"

James waved his hand to quiet Peter; "Evans tried out for the team last week."

Sirius nodded, "So what? What's more important right now? Quidditch, or the fact our mate is a werewolf?"

Peter and James ignored Sirius. Sirius rolled his eyes, seeing that his mates had simply been distracted. They were trying to get Remus to talk to them again—not Evans. Sirius would be happy if Evans never came to talk to them. She was friends with a bloke Sirius wasn't exactly a fan of.

Peter inquired James, "How'd Evans fly?"

James shook his head; "this other bloke outflew her for seeker. The second year, Anna Faith, even outflew her. I put Faith on a second string so she'd be ready to go next year." James bit his lip and pushed his glasses farther up on his nose.

Both Peter and Sirius now stared at James in confusion, as if wondering why Evans was such a dilemma when they knew they had a werewolf for a roommate. James started pacing back and forth across the tiled bathroom floor, explaining his anxiety.

"Evans wants to be a seeker and obviously put in money for a Gryffindor win because she was supporting a team she thought she was going to be a part of but I literally cannot keep her for a seeker—not even on my second string." James pushed his glasses up his thin nose and looked at Peter who observed James, confused, "Evans'll never speak to me again if I don't pick her but if I do pick her I have less of a chance of winning the cup. I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't!"

"Why do you care if Evans speaks to you again or not?" Sirius questioned, implying in his tone he wanted the third year witch dropped from the conversation.

James hoped the red on his cheeks wasn't apparent as he realized he didn't know why he cared, but he did, and that was horrible. James couldn't recall a time when he really cared what anyone thought of his actions. Instead of answering Sirius, James sat down and grabbed the book on werewolves. His eyes scanned the pages blankly, trying to make it seem like he was more interested in the werewolf in their dorm room.

James loved quidditch but he also cherished his Hogwarts mates. James had grown up an only child so having four boys who looked up to him, laughed with him, and lived with him...was like his childhood dreams coming true. James' friendship with Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin had seemed perfect until Sirius started noticing that Remus kept disappearing every month. Remus' justifications were being sick; his mother being sick; his rabbit being sick and other chance excuses.

It wasn't until James had realized that Remus was missing every full moon that the three boys had pieced the existent knowledge together. They're roommate was a werewolf and from the moment they knew they wondered why Remus had kept it a secret. Of course, when James, Peter, and Sirius had confronted Remus, the young werewolf panicked and hadn't talked to them since. Almost immediately, Sirius started researching ways to help Remus but he found there were no cures for werewolves. The boys wanted to help their roommate, but had no idea how. Remus wouldn't even look their way and had become recluse.

"I'll try speaking to him again." James murmured, "but it's a full moon this weekend and I have to got out the list of who is joining the team this season."

And Lily Evans wasn't on the list.