From the Top of the Astronomy Tower

III

"Alright!" James Potter called to his new team. "We are going to begin with some warming up, then some drills, we need to break in our new recruits." He shot a glance at Chloe Carlisle who was grinning in her scarlet quidditch robes. "Starting with some laps, hit the sky!" James said, blowing his whistle. Who thought it was a good idea to give James Potter a whistle was beyond her, but nevertheless, Chloe could not have taken off faster if she tried. Her excitement powered her broom, and she went soaring. Blurs of red and gold from the whole team filled the pitch.

"You have no idea," she heard a voice beside her and looked to see Marlene McKinnon gaining speed on her, "how good it is to have another girl chaser on this team," she said, which made Chloe smile.

"I'm happy to be here."

"No, really," Marlene insisted. "I could practically smell the testosterone," she said, and Chloe snorted, leaning ahead on her broom to surpass Marlene. As much as she liked her, her competitiveness was at her core. "Hey!" Marlene groaned, but Chloe was too far ahead to hear her.

Chloe ended up near the Gryffindor stands and had to pull her broom to a halt, finding that their friends had come to watch them practice, and that Lily had brought a book to do her homework while they watched. Chloe narrowed her eyes, hovering above them.

"Lily," she hissed. "Are you doing homework?" Chloe asked, clearly judging her friend. Lily didn't look up from the book, she just laughed to herself.

"Shut up, go practice," she said.

"Are you even gonna watch?" Chloe asked, "Isn't that what you're here for?"

"Yes, I promise, I just have a reading to do," Lily said, and Chloe rolled her eyes, offering a smile to Remus instead, who sat beside Lily. It seemed to catch him off guard, but he waved sheepishly back.

"Carlisle!" James called, and Chloe's eyes went wide, turning to go rejoin the team.

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Year V - October

Chloe had never really noticed until a few weeks into the year, but Lily had a shadow. She supposed Lily had managed to shake him while introducing Chloe to the school, but suddenly, a month in, it came to Chloe's attention that a boy she didn't know hung out with Lily a lot. He was a Slytherin boy, and Chloe frankly didn't know much about that house. It was for the... ambitious?

"Who's that, with Lily?" she asked Remus, who was standing beside her in the greenhouse. They'd paired off to do a hands on lesson with a very annoying little plant creature. Lily didn't look all that pleased to be partnered with the boy, but he'd picked her before she had a choice. So Chloe picked Remus, mostly because he said he'd help her catch up on lessons.

"Oh," Remus muttered, pulling the mandrake firmly out of the soil as it wailed. He placed it back down in the other pot, leaning over to Chloe as she frantically tried to cover it with dirt again. "Severus Snape," he said, trying not to be loud, but also trying to make it so that Chloe could hear him through the ear muffs and the wailing mandrakes. Chloe looked at him funny, making sure she heard him right.

"Severus?" she asked, and he nodded.

"We call him Snivellus," he said, and Chloe snickered through her nose.

"Why?" she asked. Remus tilted his head from side to side.

"The James reason, is because he's followed Lily around like a lost puppy for five years, Sirius does it because James does it, personally," he said, heaping soil onto the mandrake and finally muting its screams, "I don't think he's that much better than Malfoy."