- Chapter Seventy-Seven -
"There's nothing hotter than a guy playing a sport that you actually understand,"

"CANCER?"

"No. Gemini." Sherry responded sarcastically. "Yes, cancer, you idiot."

"Mean." Oliver pouted, adjusting the Daily Prophet in his hand so that he was looking at the headlines on Page 3 of the newspaper. He slumped back into his pillows, lying on his bed lazily and holding the paper above his head so he only had to look up at the printed words.

The four of them had congregated within the boy's dorm room for the morning. It was quite a cold morning, the November chill had set in and the windows of Ravenclaw tower were fogged up with frost and despite Sherry desperately wanting to be cuddled up under her own blankets, the boys dorm room was the one that had been empty.

Oliver lounged upon his bed, sinking into his pillow - he hadn't actually gotten out of bed at all yet. Still in his pyjamas, still half-asleep and reading the Daily Prophet that Louis had so kindly brought him. Louis himself had been up for about two hours already and had already go on a morning run, showered and had his breakfast. Now, he sat on the floor which his back against the end of his bed, running his fingers through the head of blonde hair that rest on his chest.

Sherry was slumped in Louis' arms, her back against his chest and her frown solemn as she spoke to the room at large. A homework book lay in her lap with nothing written in it - she was just staring at the blank pages trying to think of something to write. Amber sat opposite the pair, scribbling writing down in her own homework book that was filled with paragraphs upon paragraphs of knowledge.

Since Sherry and Remus' visit with Hope, she had been down. Not her worst depressive state but quite a big one - she couldn't think. She couldn't write. A fear coursed through her daily unlike anything, she was just waiting for news, waiting for somebody to come around the corner and tell her the bad news. The horrible news. It terrified her. And she had only just told her friends of what the visit entailed.

It had been a whole week since that night. And Sherry had returned tearful and down, but had not said anything about what happened. Not until that day, where they lounged around in the late morning, completing homework. Or trying to at least.

"That's horrible." Amber said softly, looking sorrowfully at Sherry who just offered a smile in gratitude of Amber's words. But there wasn't much to say. Amber was right, it was horrible. "How's Remus doing?"

Sherry just shrugged, sighing and huffing. Then she threw her homework book down and the pages fluttered shut before she sighed and ran a frustrated hand over her face.

"I can't do it!" She complained, gesturing to the book with a sour look on her face. Louis shushed her gently and took her hands in his before she could hit herself in the head. "Why do I even have to know about Skrewts?"

"Because you took Care of Magical Creatures." Oliver looked down at her from the bed he was on, raising an eyebrow and she sat back in a sulk. "Isn't it just you and like...one other person in that class?"

"It's me, Flora and Pettigrew." Sherry said with a little sigh, covering her face with her hands and somehow sinking deeper into Louis. He groaned a little as she put all her weight into him but put a hand on her arm nonetheless. "And for some reason they both love it. But I had no choice but to take it because I failed 4 of my other subjects."

The room persuaded into a little silence. It was no secret that Sherry had not done well in her exams but they didn't blame her at all - that was when everything had gone to shit and for her to pass more than she failed was a very impressive feat for what she had been through. And now she was going through more.

"Are we still going to the game later?" Sherry broke the silence so that no one else needed to - ever the queen of changing the subject. She pushed herself away from Louis and stood up, walking around the room rather than sitting in somebody's arms.

"I am." Louis nodded, crossing his legs rather than having them stretched out in front of him to make room for Sherry. He stretched his arms with a groan. "Need to stake out the competition."

"Yeah, I'm just going to drool over my boyfriend." Sherry said with a little joking tone and the four friends shared a little smirk with one another as she grabbed a woolly jumper from Louis' bed and pulled it over her head. "But also to look at the competition."

"Has he taken you on that date yet?" Amber asked, smiling as she closed her homework book and put it in her bag beside her.

"Nope." Sherry said shortly, stretching and groaning once her joints clicked into movement again. Oliver, lay on his bed, grimaced at the sound. "But we're planning to go on one after school on Monday. He just didn't want to do it so soon after Hope, you know."

"Where the hell are you gonna go on a Monday evening?" Oliver finally started to get out of bed, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He then blew air into his hand, sniffed it and grimaced at his morning breath - Amber groaned at him whilst Sherry laughed a little and sat on Louis bed.

"I have no idea." She said as she lounged against the mattress, looking up at the ceiling. "But he tells me not to worry about it. He's got a plan or whatever."

"Well, hopefully this Quidditch game can get your spirits up." Amber stood from her seat on the floor and walked over to Louis' bed where Sherry was lounging - she put a hand on the girl's forehead and brushed her fingers through the blonde hair.

Sherry smiled at her briefly, nodding her head.

•*•*•*•*•

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY, YOU FUCKING DICK! WHY ARE YOU EVEN ON THE TEAM? FUCKING SHIT PLAYER!"

Whatever the Quidditch game did, it certainly did not get Sherry's spirits up.

Like all things in Sherry's life, it had started out quite well. All four Ravenclaws were dressed up in red to show their support for the Gryffindor team, stood with Lily Evans, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew who were also there to show their support for the team of lions. Simply being out of the castle had seemed to do wonders for Sherry's mood or perhaps it was just the chilled November wind biting at her cheeks that had made her look a little more colourful and much less pale.

Before the match, she didn't have time to see James, but she gave him a little wave when he looked up at her from the ground, shaking hands with the Slytherin team captain. From her height up in the stands, she couldn't make out what he did in response but she suspected it was a smile or one of his signature smirks.

For about twenty minutes, Sherry had been watching fly around the pitch like he was a cherry-coloured pendulum swinging back and forth. And then James had gotten roughly shoulder-checked by a Chaser decked in green robes. Then Sherry's gaze hadn't been admiring her boyfriend but instead violently glaring at a Chaser who nearly sent James flying off of his broom.

The mighty yell of words had been unleashed not long after that, then Sherry's face set into a permanent scowl for the rest of the match. It was only when Gryffindor started gaining points, James becoming competitive after his close call, that a smile started to grow on Sherry's face.

"There's nothing hotter than a guy playing a sport that you actually understand," Sherry mumbled to Amber as they watched red and green blurs fly around the pitch; Sherry had her fair share of watching no-maj's play soccer in the summer back at America but had no idea what was happening so had spent more time focusing on the game than on any boys.

Amber nodded slowly in agreement, smiling a little as she watched the game. Louis, beside her, put his two pinkies in his mouth and whistled loudly for the Gryffindor players that passed and weaved so perfectly. Despite examining them for the match they would play against each other in the future, Louis could appreciate a good team strategy. Oliver was just mindlessly flirting with Mary by his side, not paying attention to the game at all.

James, with Quaffle in hand, weaved through three Slytherin Chasers and one beater who aimed a bludger right at his head. Skilfully, James dodged it, keeping a one track mind as he raced towards the Slytherin hoops. Passing to another Chaser, that Chaser passing it back once James was closer and it was another goal for the Gryffindor's.

Sherry smiled widely and clapped her hands, Harrison Jordan's voice echoing over the loudspeakers announcing yet another goal for Gryffindor. A joy in life. Some often hard to find.

If somebody had looked at Sherry's life, they might say that her life was filled with joys. Good friends, good school, pretty, poised, skilled at Quidditch, favoured by teachers. From the outside, she was the beauty queen she'd always wanted to be. 10-year-old Sherry, looking at herself in the mirror and imagining looking like the girl she did now. Side by side, she would be unrecognisable.

But that was how she liked it. That's how she wanted it to be. Hair done, work done, looking the spitting image of her mother because that was what she had wanted. And present Sherry wanted to be happy, even if her past had been abysmal but terror after terror kept coming into her life and she didn't know how to stop it or block it or block herself...

All she knew was that living in the moment, with no plan for the future, would not work anymore. Hope had been unexpected, the knock she had taken to her confidence after Matt had been unexpected. Nothing in life is guaranteed, no endings can be predicted, but Sherry still needed to plan. She needed Plan B's, Plan C's if Plan A didn't always work out which it often didn't.

Just like when Sherry was in Dumbledore's office for her Career Meeting and she realised she had no idea what to do in the future, there was a sickly feeling of uneasiness, uncertainty within her stomach as she watched James zip around the pitch. Sometimes she felt like they rushed their relationship, sometimes she felt like it took too long but one thing she did know is that she would be damned if she let him slip from her grasp.

When Gryffindor caught the snitch, the red side of the crowd in the stands let out a mighty roar of a cheer. People jumped, waved their flags, rippled their banners, chanted, clapped and waited for their turn to exit the stand as the players flew down to the ground. The players embraced in either victory or loss, the competitors shook hands and supporters from both sides slipped out of the towers onto the field.

The Slytherin supporters trudged on, heading to the team they were supporting with shaking heads and frowns on their faces. The Gryffindor supporters, however, ran onto the field with something akin to battle cries to celebrate their team on their win. Seas of red and battalions of gold flushed onto the green field towards their players - but there was one that the Gryffindor Captain sought the most.

His favourite shade of red came barrelling towards him as though she were a dart thrown at a board, her sharp edges impaling him with ease as she threw herself into his embrace. Sherry wrapped her arms around James' shoulders, laughing softly and murmuring congratulations before she kissed him on his lips.

Because she would not let him slip from her. Not this time. Not ever.

•*•*•*•*•

A/N: I'm terribly sorry that it's been months since this was updated but new year new me (new updates) ! Hopefully.