Disclaimer: everything belongs to JK Rowling, except for characters and events unrecognizable as being part of the Harry Potter series.

A/N: hey everyone! Wow, here I am with a new fic, already! Well, this one is once again, different form Changing Rooms and Lets Play Families. The relationships between the characters are different, back to the good old competitive, love/hate Lily/James thing. I love that. D so, read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter One

Up, Up and Away…

James was feeling good. Slightly harassed, but good all the same. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and clean, and he had a broomstick in his hand. What more could a guy ask for?

Not only that, though. James had been elected Head Boy of Hogwarts, and the Griffindor Quidditch captain, and he was acing all his subjects. Really, his life was perfect in every way. Well, almost everyway. But, minor flaws hardly counted, right?

No, it was time to turn his attentions to more important things. Like the Quidditch trials that were about to take place. James squinted and looked up at the sky. Clear blue stretched out above him. The ground was firm too- perfect conditions.

A sound behind him caught his attention.

"Sirius, let me go! I have no desire to play Quidditch, and I never will," a slightly exasperated voice reached James' ears. With a grin, he turned to face his oncoming friends.

A tall, handsome, black-haired boy was half pulling, half dragging a shorter, rounder, blonde boy towards him.

"Shut up, Peter, this'll be good for you! Lose some of that puppy fat, at least, eh?" Sirius Black grinned.

Behind them, approaching at a more sedate pace was a lean, somber looking youth, his ash blonde hair falling casually into his eyes. Remus Lupin had never been one to join in with his friend's tomfoolery.

"Hey guys," James said, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. His own black hair was tousled, but not from any wind- it was simply like that. Thin, wire-framed glasses hid his eyes, and he was at least as tall as Sirius. "Come to see the fun?"

"Something like that," Remus said, half smiling.

"Peter's going to try out for Keeper, aren't you Wormtail?" Sirius said, punching the shorter boy good-naturedly and almost knocking him off his feet.

"No, I am not!" Peter said, his voice rising to a squeak.

James, by now, had turned back to regard the line of red-clad students lining up for the trials. He was too far to see anyone's faces, but he figured they were getting impatient.

"Time to get this show on the road,' he said, beginning to walk over to them.

"Who do you think is going to make it?" Remus asked conversationally as they walked.

"Probably Gretel, Alice and Maria from last year as Chasers," James said. "But I'm hoping for some new blood in the Beaters and Keeper positions."

Sirius nodded sagely, listening in.

"Plenty of new blood there," he said, tipping his head in the direction of the long line of students. "In fact, I think I dated a few of them."

"Sirius, you date everyone," Peter pointed out.

Sirius grinned.

"True that," he murmured. They walked on in silence, and then- "Whoa…don't look now Prongs, but I think you're in for a surprise."

"Wha-?" James began, but suddenly, his breath ran out. He stared at the students in front of him, not really seeing them at all. His eyes were focused on only one out of the many.

She was rather short. So short, in fact, that the red robes she wore pooled about her feet, and clashed horribly with her fiery red hair, that was pulled away from her face in a tight ponytail. Her green eyes were trained on his, a look of determination in them that was almost frightening. And even now, on the Quidditch pitch, he could see the Head Girl badge pinned proudly to her chest.

Lily Evans. James' archenemy. The one girl who could make him so angry that he actually ceased talking. The one girl who could actually make him doubt his own brilliance. The one girl who could make him lose his thoughts in the middle of an argument. The one girl who he hated like none other.

There was nothing else for it. James swore profusely and loudly, running a hand through his already messy hair and stamping a foot.

"Very mature, Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "No need to look so alarmed."

"What the hell are you doing here, Evans?" James spat. His friends had all backed away to a safe distance.

The other Griffindors were watching with trepidation. Lily and James' fights were something of a legend in Hogwarts. They usually resulted in either physical violence or interesting wand fights.

"Trying out for the team, duh," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "What does it look like?"

James scoffed, looking her sneeringly up and down.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Lily glared at him, and then deliberately raised her watch hand up and glanced at the face calmly.

"Great captain, you are. Arrive late, harass a candidate…anything you don't do?"

James returned her glare, and then turned pointedly away.

"Ok, guys, we'll start with the Chasers. Can I get all people trying out for that position over here, please?" he called, moving away form Lily and organizing the students into groups.

He would get through these trials. He would have the best team ever. And Lily Evans would not be on it.

Lily glared after James' retreating back. Spineless twerp. She hated him with everything in her.

He was arrogant, stupid (ok, so he was actually quite intelligent- so what?), too good looking, and…arrogant.

Reasonable-Lily knew that there were really not that many reasons to hate James Potter. But his manner drove her insane, so that she became man-hater-Lily- not a nice sight.

And this year, being appointed as Head Girl with him as Head Boy- well, it definitely pushed her over the brink. It was only week four, and already James was shirking most of his duties and refusing to work well with her. He hadn't written any of his reports, and whenever they took the first years for the compulsory afternoon activities, he distracted them from their lesson with stupid pranks and games.

Didn't he have a singular scrap of maturity in that six foot, annoyingly well-built body of his?

So this was her revenge. See, Lily had realized that if she was really going to get Potter, she had to hit him where it hurt. And what did Potter love more than Quidditch? Lily was going to get on that team, if it was the last thing she did. And then, she was going to make James' life hell. Heck- he did it to her all the time. This would be a little pay back, and a little fun, with some exercise thrown into the bargain.

Getting onto the team would be no trouble. She was a pretty good Keeper. Being best friends with two, overgrown teenage wizards was no joke. And Kin and Matthew, her fellow seventh years and favorite people in the whole world, had taught her a thing or two…

So far, so good, James thought, smiling slightly with satisfaction. The Chasers were (predictably) the same as last year- the three sixth years girls he had told Sirius would get in. He was happy with that, he had been playing with those three since they had joined the team in his fourth year, and none of the other candidates could really compare to their skill.

The two Beaters had been happily selected, a couple of hardheaded fourth years, Grant and Adrian. Only the Keeper left.

James turned to survey the remaining hopefuls in front of him. There were only four of them, three boys, and one girl. Lily Evans. Damn. He had thought she would have gone by now.

He nodded at the first guy in the line, a rather tiny and scrawny third year, who immediately shot up into the air.

The Chasers were waiting. The idea was, that five goals would be shot, and whoever out of the candidates saved the most, would get the position. The guy had no hope. Out of the five, he saved two, one by accident, as he swung his arms around wildly and managed to hit it with his broom handle that was swinging with all his movements.

James sighed and rubbed his temples. He hoped one of the other guys was better; otherwise he would be forced to take on Lily. He turned to regard them again.

The two guys seemed familiar. They were in seventh years with him. He frowned a little. They were talking to Lily, making her laugh. They didn't seem too competitive.

"Oi, you two," he called. "Are you trying out or what?"

They looked up. James recognized them as Matthew and Kin, Lily's friends. They grinned.

"Nah, mate, just keeping Lils company," they said cheerfully, shuffling away to lounge on the sidelines, giving Lily the thumbs up.

James rolled his eyes.

"Well, Lils, you're up."

"What's the point, Potter?' she said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't have any other option."

"What, you think we'll let you onto the team untested?" James scoffed. "You have to save at least three quaffles."

Lily rolled her eyes, but mounted her broom nonetheless. He was bluffing, for sure. And besides, she knew she could do it. Still, her heart was beating a little faster than usual as she flew up into the air.

As soon as she was even near the goals, Gretel shot a quaffle hard and fast towards her. It looped speedily through the air, zooming towards the middle hoop. With surprising agility, and without thinking twice, Lily sped up towards the hoop and swatted it away with her broom tail. Immediately, Alice threw another quaffle, at the same time as Gretel unleashed her second missile. Lily managed to thwack one away from the last hoop, but the other sailed merrily into the middle hoop. She swore and zoomed closer to the goals.

Maria flew up to her, facing her from a meter away.

"Hey Lily," she said mildly.

"Hi," Lily said, not taking her eyes off the quaffle the Chaser held.

"You're pretty good," Maria continued, suddenly releasing the quaffle straight at the first hoop.

Lily immediately swung out an arm, catching it by her fingertips just as it neared the rim of the hoop, and flinging it far away from her.

"In fact, you're really good," Maria commented. She now held another quaffle. She looked at Lily appraisingly for a moment longer, and then, just as suddenly as before, flung the quaffle in a far loop, so that it seemed as though it would miss the last hoop. At the last moment, it curved and flew directly into the goals. Lily swore again. Damn- she had been so close, too. Still, she had made the team. There was no way Potter could kick he rout now.

"Three out of five isn't bad," Maria grinned. "And, after all, we are the best."

"Welcome to the team," Alice said, smiling warmly. "Nice to have some new blood."

Lily grinned back, as they flew back to the ground together, Gretel rounding up the quaffles as she went.

James did not look happy. His face was like thunder as they landed, and he had his fists clenched by his side. Lily grinned. If this wasn't a reward for her commendable flying, she didn't know what was.

"Aw, Potter," she said, her smile twisting to become a smirk. "Don't look so upset. I won't steal your crown."

James glared at her, and then grunted inaudibly. Lily supposed that was his way of saying, "Gee, Lily, you sure fly well. Welcome to the team, you're the Keeper of my dreams." Or not.

Matthew and Kin had jogged over, and now they each slung an arm around her, grinning and joking.

"You rock, Lils," Kin stated, lifting his other hand to gesture at the sky. "Behold your new domain."

"A girl of many talents, our Lily,' Matthew added. "If only you weren't like a sister to me. I'd love to go out with a celebrity."

Lily punched him lightly on his shoulder, but grinned. She loved these guys. At the very least, they were a notch better than James and his stupid Marauders.

She would show them. James would soon learn that Lily Evans was not going to let him walk all over her. And the terms for a truce? If he started doing his share as Head Boy, she would quit making his life hell. Lily took her duties seriously. And James was the annoying burr on the saddle at this point. Nothing that couldn't be rectified though.

Lily half smiled as she watched his retreating figure, a few meters ahead of them. No, nothing too much for Lily to handle.

A/N: so, what do you think? let me know, and if I get 15 reviews, I'll update by the end of next week, promise D let me know if you still have any questions about 'Lets Play Families' as well, and I'll answer them D

Review!

JB