CHAPTER ELEVEN
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     "YOU GUYS HAVE TO WIN so that I can rub this in James' face," Louise declared as they marched down the to the stands for the very first Quidditch game of the season. "He doesn't need to get any cockier about those admittedly amazing Quidditch skills of his."

     "Sometimes I struggle to tell whose team you're on," Winnie replied with a smile and a sigh.

     "No teams, I exist to keep James Potter in check. Clearly," she drawled as they entered the Hufflepuff side of the stands. Louise was the only one not donning the bright yellow and black house colors. But by now, most of the spectators in her house were familiar with her tagging along.

     "There he is, man of the hour," Louise commented as James strutted onto the field in front of his team, taking his position in front of the other team captain as they decided who was going to get the quaffle first.

     "Forget Lily, sounds like James has an admirer," Winnie shot back playfully, and Louise made a disgusted face. And proceeded to fake gag.

     "I'd rather...not," she retorted, quickly resuming to her normal relaxed attitude. "I am simply the most supportive friend."

     "I would agree but you should have seen Sirius this morning," Winnie told her, not quite trying to burst her bubble. "He didn't need to paint his face gold and red...but god did he." She cringed in on herself a little bit at the memory.

     "Ah yes, Sirius. Always outdoing me. The bastard," Louise said, shaking her head as she exaggerated being bitter about it.

     The game got off to a quick start and Winnie quickly began to realize that their Quidditch team for the year was...lackluster to say the least. At least compared to Gryffindor, they were. Regardless of how anyone felt of James, he was amazing on the pitch.

     A few hours later, and Hufflepuff was down by an unrecoverable number of points. And when Gryffindor caught the snitch, it was all over. The Gryffindor portion of the stands roared in victory, the students screaming and hugging each other, the team below them doing the same.

     James, however, did not get off of his broom. Instead, he screamed and cheered on his victory lap and steered right out of the stands. Louise and Winnie exchanged a questioning look before following the crowd outside to see what was going on.

     James flew high above the rest of them, with Professor McGonagall shouting at him from among the crowds of students. "Potter! Potter, get down this instant!"

     Sirius was right behind him, his man on the ground, shooting fireworks from the tip of his wand as he screamed, "GRYFFINDOR, FUCK YEAH!"

     Winnie shook her head, knowing that she couldn't avoid a smile at the sight. Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas approached them, Lily glaring at James disapprovingly.

     "Get a load of them, right?" Louise pointed out joyfully, her eyes twinkling in a mischievous way. Clearly, she wanted a part of the action.

     "He's such an immature arse," Lily grumbled, shaking her head at James ducking around McGonagall and now Filch.

     But when Winnie looked over, she could see her fighting a smile too.