WHOOSH!
James felt suffocated by the sudden rush of wind that accompanied his sister's dive for the snitch. Damn, she was a quick one! He leaned forward on his broom and accelerated at speeds that would make Grandma Molly scowl. His hair whipped around his face, stinging his cheeks when it made contact. There was nothing quite as thrilling as the chase for the snitch.
He was right on Lily's tail, when she decided to perform a roll that was, in his fine opinion, completely unnecessary. He couldn't complain much as that gave him the lead he needed to catch up. Lily alway did have a flare for the dramatic, and in this case, James was sure it would be her downfall. This time he would finally beat her.
The fluttering orb flew tauntingly close to James as it went in the opposite direction; it's golden shell nearly blinding him with the reflection of the afternoon sun. Both siblings hastily turned around their brooms. James made a clean turn, while Lily– ever dramatic Lily– decided to barrel on hers. She clung to her broom and passed James in a blur of flaming red hair and silver-green robes. Sure, James would rather survive until his NEWTS, but Lily would die happily as long as she could "thrill the crowd". As if on cue with his internal monologue, the crowd oooo'd at Lily's impressive turn. Gritting his teeth James pressed forward.
He was so close!
The two siblings were neck to neck, but Lily caught the fluttering golden orb in her fist faster than James could even stretch out his arm for it.
"YES!" She screamed, pulling the nose of her broom towards the sky. She winked cheekily at James before shooting away in a flurry of silver and green. James groaned loudly, flopping onto his broom in defeat.
The crowd on the left side of the stadium erupted as soon as they saw only one seeker flying high. Slytherin had won the first match of the season!
And James… Well, James had lost them the first match of the season. Ashamed, not only to have lost to Slytherin but also to have lost to his younger sister, James Potter felt the pounding in his head start up again. Nevertheless, he flew towards his teammates, slumped against his dad's old Nimbus.
"Alright, mate?" Asked Thomas Finnigan, flying up quietly next to James before they reached the rest of the team. Suspended in the air, James nodded mutely, throwing a quick, remorseful glance towards his younger sister. Her cheering teammates, all clad in silver, green and black surrounded her. She pumped her fist into the air in triumph, eliciting another loud cheer from the thronging masses from all the Houses. Having the progeny of The Boy Who Lived in the House did wonders for Slytherin's image.
"… Only a minor set back, no worries, lads!" Octavia Wood pronounced, commanding her teammates to lift their spirits despite the defeat. When James and Thomas reached the group, Octavia grinned at him broadly. "Here's the man of the hour! Three cheers for James, who played a brilliant game today!" She said, her hand gently placed on his shoulder. James tuned out the chorus of "hip-hip-hurray" and plastered a small smile on his face.
"Right, off to the shower with you lot. Practice on Monday, as usual" Octavia pronounced, practically shooing everyone away. As James moved to leave, the gentle hand became firm, nearly clawing at his skin. He winced in response, but kept his face blank after.
"Potter," Octavia started. James knew this tone all too well. "What's going on? You were an amazing seeker, but since the beginning of last year… Something's been off. I thought it was Jeanine. Or Bree, or Macy…" James struggled not to roll his eyes as his captain named some of his romantic dalliances. "But things haven't changed. It's not that you aren't a good seeker, but your heart's not in it anymore, love." Something in her voice implored him to look at her.
Deep blue met impassive brown. He stirred, wanting to tell her everything, wanting to rip open his chest and watch her watch the blood from his damaged heart pour onto the green grass below. He almost did, taking in a deep breath, but was interrupted by a loud cheer of oooo's and aaaaa's. The sound roused him from the trance, and he simply smiled blankly at her again, shaking his head. Octavia furrowed her brows and eyed him. Finally, she leaned in close and whispered "I'm here, if you need me," before flying down and heading to the changing room.
Letting out his breath, James slowly began descending to the ground in lazy circles. The warm sun was somewhat comforting, putting him in a pensive mood. He contemplated how to deal with what was next. Would Octavia kick him off the team? Well, no. The season had already begun, and he was still pretty good. Better even, than the other seekers, save she who shared his blood. It was so easy for Lily and Albus; she a natural Seeker, and he a Charms master. They had time before they had to choose what they wanted to do with their life, but they were not held back by the expectations of the first born of the great Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. They were at least sorted into different houses. He, James, was left alone in Gryffindor, with the entire weight of his parent's legacy on his shoulders. Nobody said it in so many words, but it was always felt– in the way the professors, his peers, his teammates, all looked expectantly at him, as if to ask, "What will you do that's worthy of your name?"
Sighing, James hopped onto the ground and shouldered his broom. Most of the students had cleared off to The Castle, so James was left in peace with his pounding thoughts. Growling, he kicked impatiently at the grass. He most certainly did not want to have to read his parent's kind words about how it was important that he only tried his best- no doubt Al would have sent them an owl with the news by dinner. James just wanted to curl into a tiny ball and disappear from the place where he was constantly compared.
A tinkling laugh that could only belong to his sister caught his attention. He turned towards one of the large, shady trees that grew close to the pitch. Nearing the tree, he spotted his sister in the shade. She was still in her Seeker's gear, but laughing closely with a particular blonde-haired boy that James hated so.
"Congratulations, Lil." He muttered darkly, feeling like a Dementor to their sunny picnic in the park.
"James!" she squealed, running over to hug him. Lily was much shorter than him, so she always wrapped her arms around his waist. He rested his chin on her head and felt a small smile make an appearance.
Lily was such a free spirit, that James wondered how in Merlin's name she got sorted into Slytherin. Then again, she had always been ambitious. Just last year she tried out for Slytherin Seeker, even though the position wasn't open. She had walked onto the pitch anyway, and informed the then Team-Captain-come-Seeker Michael Bulstrode that she was trying out for his position. She challenged him to catch the snitch before she did; if she won, she'd be Seeker; and if he did, she'd clean the entire team's gear for the rest of the season. To humour her, and possibly humiliate her, Bulstrode took her challenge. Needless to say, Lily smashed the impromptu try-out, pulling off a dive that even their father would never have tried, and got the position of Seeker.
"You put up a fair fight," Lily said unaware of his trip down memory lane.
"I let you win!" James exclaimed. "You only have raw talent, my dearest sister." A laugh escaped his lips as Lily lightly punched him in the chest good-naturedly. "I'm proud of you, Lil," James said, pulling her in for a proper hug. He felt a sudden rush of love for his baby sister.
However, his scowl returned once he noticed Scorpius' smile.
"Potter." Scorpius said, nodding in his direction, his face resuming the blank expression he always wore around Lily's family.
"Malfoy." James nodded, stepping away from Lily, and turning to leave. Lily smiled sadly as she let James out of her embrace. James smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
Her tinkling laugh sounded from somewhere behind him, and James Potter stomped his way back towards the changing rooms.
-x-
"James, you arse!" Yelled Octavia, slamming her book bag onto the Gryffindor table, making his pumpkin juice spill. Frowning, James looked up at her.
"Whadidido?" he mumbled around the sausage-and-egg roll he had been stuffing his face with.
"You've been scouted by the Tutshill Tornados and didn't think to tell me?!" She scowled, whipping out her copy of the Daily Prophet and pointing to the headline on the fourth page. His jaw dropped, giving Octavia a brilliant view of his half-chewed breakfast.
"What?!" James exclaimed, sausage and eggs spraying everywhere. He quickly slapped a hand across his mouth at Octavia's scowl. He just could not believe the headline: 'Potter Prodigy to go Pro-Quidditch?' Horrified, James groaned and buried his head into his arms that were resting on the table.
"You didn't know?" Asked Octavia quietly, ashamed about assaulting her best friend.
"No." Came the muffled reply.
"Oi, Octavia!" Thomas yelled, sliding over form his seat. The blonde sixth year he seemed to have been flirting with looked thoroughly relieved. "What have you done to our poor boy now?"
Octavia stuck her tongue out at him, before poking James form across the table. "Your guard dog here-" she motioned to Thomas when James lifted his head, "is getting protective. Tell him whats happened before he bites my head off."
"Woof." Thomas replied cheekily, then turned to look at James expectantly.
"It seems I am being scouted." James mumbled into his plate, a slight blush colouring his cheeks.
"No shit!" Thomas exclaims, clapping James on the shoulder.
Red-faced, James stands up, quietly saying "late for Potions" in response to Octavia's quizzical look. She nods in response, and mouths 'I'm sorry'. James smiles slightly, then picks up his bag and heads towards the doors. A few seconds later, Thomas catches up, huffing slightly form the weight of his book bag.
"Alright then, who is it?" He asks, poking James' arm.
"Who's who?" James asks, his face not quite back to its normal shade.
"Who's scouting you, mate?" Thomas laughs as they head out of The Great Hall and towards one of the passages to the dungeons.
"Oh. Erm, Tornados, apparently." James can't help the smile that finally slips across his face. The Tutshill Tornados were his favourite team. To think that they wanted him to play for them...! He never thought of playing professionally, but if the scout thought he was good enough, maybe it was worth considering...?
A low whistle sounds as he and Thomas round a corner, where he comes face-to-face with his younger brother, Albus. Skidding to a stop, James scowls. Thomas is grinning because Alice Longbottom and Rose Weasley were with Albus.
"You really being scouted, J?" Albus asks, using the nickname he knows will rile up his brother.
"Apparently." James said, tight-lipped.
"Isn't Aunt Ginny the coach for the Tornados?" Rose asks innocently.
"What are you doing here anyway?" James retorts, trying to evade the sinking feeling in his stomach.
Al talks over him to reply to Rose, "Naw. Mum's with the Harpies!"
"Right, of course." Rose says quickly, clearly the implication of what she had just said hit her.
"Although..." Albus continues, looking thoughtful, brows furrowed, "She is good friends with Alexander Hodge- the new Tornados Coach–" He glances at Thomas for confirmation, who nods his approval, then continues, "Or at least she used to be... I'm not sure anymore. He used to come home a lot when we were younger. He even gave James and Lily a few flying lessons! Do you remember James?" He finished excitedly. Albus clearly had no idea what had just been implied.
James only nodded. Alice had been eyeing him resolutely for the entire duration of Albus' monologue. "You know the coach then?" She asked, her face blank, but her eyes glinting with something malicious.
Thomas cleared his throat, shaking James out of his trance.
"Um, yes, I suppose. although, I wasn't aware that Hodge was made coach. What happened to Fletchly?" James replied, directing the question to Thomas. Alice was still staring at him blankly and that made him shuffle his feet uncomfortably. Rose and Albus were discussing how Albus could be miserable on a broom, when he comes from a long line of genealogically superior flyers, unawares of the tension brewing between the others.
"Yeah. Fletchly got sacked last week for... um... inappropriate conduct with one of the chasers." Thomas explained, grinning cheekily at the last part.
"Oh?" Alice noted, finally taking her eyes off James, and directing her piercing stare onto Thomas. He clearly took it as a sign of flirtation, immediately lowering his voice, and smouldering his eyes.
"Yes–" He began, but James cut him off.
"Well, we're going to be late for Potions. Bye." James said loudly, practically dragging Thomas away from the group and down to the Dungeons. He turned back once, only to meet Alice's clear blue eyes staring unblinkingly at him again. With a shudder, James ran down the stairs after his best friend.
