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The Marauders Year 2
Chapter 2: Quidditch World Cup
"Sorry about the mess." Remus said as he scooted around some boxes to reach the stairs. "My mom just brought this house with some of the money that my dad left her. She wanted out of the town where he died, I guess."
James smiled. "Don't worry about it, mate." He looked out a nearby window. "Is this house in the middle of a forest? All I see is trees."
Remus looked out the window too. "I guess you could call it a forest. There is a town nearby. I haven't gotten the chance to visit it or explore the forest. I've been too busy unpacking everything. With my mom working two jobs I've had to do most of the unpacking."
Sirius smirked. "Well, forget about unpacking while we are here. Let's explore."
The young werewolf smiled and led his friends upstairs. It was decided that Peter and Sirius would share the guest room and James would bunk with Remus in his room. They dropped their belongings off and followed Remus out the front door to begin their expedition.
The house was surrounded by trees on all sides. A dirt road was nearby that was big enough for a car to drive on. Remus guessed that the path led to the town that his mother works in. Apparently, she refused to take money from any of her family to help support Remus and her. She was a very independent woman. She could get enough money for food and to pay the bills with her two jobs. As for Remus's schooling, Auva left Remus a vault in Gringotts filled with money to get Remus through school and maybe a year in the real world. He just couldn't buy anything that wasn't absolutely needed.
Not feeling like going to town yet, the boys veered away from the dirt path. They headed to the thicker parts of the forest. Each of them was carrying their wands in their pockets. They didn't really think they would need them here, but they wanted to get into the habit of always keeping them on them. They decided that following James's dad advice was for the best and it would keep them safe.
"Hey Remus, do you think your mom will let us sleep out in the forest? It's such a nice day. I want to camp out under the stars." Sirius declared, looking around the forest. "This place is really nice. You are lucky to get to live here."
"We can ask when she gets home." Remus replied, pushing the sleeves of his jacket up to his elbows.
James eyed Remus's arm, frowning. "Remus, what happened to your arm?"
"Huh?" Remus said, distracted as he examined the clearing they were in. He was looking at Sirius's and Peter's backs. They were standing on the other side of the clearing, looking around. "This could be a good place to camp, Sirius, if we are allowed that is."
James grabbed Remus's wrist. "Remus, what happened?" He demanded, running a finger over the pink scar going from Remus's wrists to his elbow. The scar looked fairly new and like the cut that it was just healed recently. "How do you get a scar like this?"
Remus pulled his arm free and tugged his jacket sleeves down to hide his scars. "Let's keep moving."
Frowning deeply enough that his forehead was beginning to crinkle, James grabbed the hood of Remus's jacket and pulled him back hard enough to make Remus fall onto his butt. James kneeled next to Remus and put his mouth next to his ear so Sirius and Peter wouldn't hear. "Remus, ever since I spoke to you in the Hospital Wing in May, you have been acting weird towards me. You know I will find out what is going on with you and you are afraid. Ever since the conversation, instead of making up excuses to us about wounds and why you leave, you just hide everything or change the subject. You may be able to trick Peter and sometimes Sirius like that, but I'm not as easily tricked, Remus."
"I'm not hiding anything. I just realized that it isn't any of your business." Remus growled.
"Wrong." James hissed. He sent a look at Sirius and Peter. Sirius glanced at him with worried eyes and continued to distract Peter. He knew what James was doing and decided that he and Peter should give them privacy so they could talk. "I don't think you even have Sirius fooled. He might just be acting. And it is our business."
"Oh, is it?" Remus asked angrily, pushing James away.
James fell onto his butt. He crawled over to Remus so they were sitting next to each other. "Yes."
"And how so?" Remus snarled, tugging his sleeves over his hands unconsciously.
"Because you are our friend," James replied as if it explained everything.
Remus sent him a glare. "Yes, friend, but that doesn't mean you need to know everything that happens in my life. I don't have to tell you everything. I'm allowed secrets."
James smirked. "Let me rephrase. We are your best friends. And best friends don't keep secrets from each other. They tell each other everything. I know about Peter's past. We stayed up late talking about it when he came over to my house and then I explained what he told me to you and Sirius because you deserved to know because we are best friends."
Remus twisted his hands around one enough. He bit his lip and looked away from James to look at Sirius, who was pointing at something in the tree. Peter just kept looking confused. He couldn't seem to find what Sirius was pointing at.
"Sirius's past is no secret to us. You know his past is dark with his family being a bunch of inbreeded freaks who love everything to do with the Dark Arts. He has it pretty hard and now with Voldemort going on about bloody-purity, he has it even harder. His parents agree with that junk. You know this." James knew he was pushing Remus harder than he usually did, but he needed a lead of what was wrong with him. He needed a clue.
James pushed his glasses up. "You know my past isn't dark like Sirius's and Peter's. I've had a pretty perfect life. Everyone knows this. I've got no secrets to tell. But what about you? You are hiding something from us and you've been lying to us ever since we met you. So?"
Remus pushed James over. "So nothing. I'm not telling you anything…because I'm not hiding anything."
James stood up and brushed himself off. "Fine, we can play this your way."
"This isn't a bloody game." Remus growled and stood up too. He ran his hand through his hair that was beginning to getting long.
James didn't reply. He was already heading towards Sirius and Peter by the time Remus spoke.
That night the boys lay in the clearing they found earlier. Remus's mom had reluctantly agreed to let the boys camp in the forest after much pestering from them. They each had a sleeping bag and were laying on them, staying at the stars. Remus had built a fire and each boy was lying on a different side of it.
"Remus, how is your summer going? You never did tell us in any of those very short letters you sent us." James propped his head up by his hand with his elbow on the sleeping bag. He looked over at Remus, opposite the fire. "You told me it was going to be hard for you because your dad is gone."
Sighing, Remus rolled over onto his side to look at James. "It's been bad. My mom is always working and I've had very few people to keep me company. I've been spending my summer mostly by myself, which has given me a lot of time to think about him."
"He would be proud." James said.
Remus gave him a confused look.
James sat up. "You moved on. You stopped sulking. He would be proud that you moved on and are living your life. Sulking Remus isn't right for you. You are much too strong for that."
Remus smiled.
"Will you two prats shut up? I'm tired and want to sleep." Sirius growled.
"And put out that bloody fire!" Peter added annoyed.
Remus and James looked at each other and rolled their eyes. The former got up and grabbed the bucket of water that they got from a nearby stream. He tossed it onto the fire, destroying the fire immediately. All that was left was the burning embers.
*Y*E*A*R*2*
"Come along, boys. We're burning daylight." Jason said cheerfully as he led his cousin and his friends along a dirt trail.
Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Why do we have to get up so early anyway?"
"So we can get to our Portkey. Well, that's only if you guys still want to go to the World Cup. If you don't I can take the tickets with me and give them to someone else." Jason replied, looking at the scenery in a nonchalant manner.
Grumbling about evil morning people, Remus pushed Jason ahead seeing as he stopped to admire the scenery. "You got us up early, so don't you dare stop. Keep walking."
"Alright, alright. Keep your shirt on." Jason replied, ruffling Remus's hair.
Remus slapped his hand away. "Don't do that." He combed his fingers through his hair to fix it.
Sirius and Peter snickered behind him.
"Stupid mornings. Stupid mean friends. Stupid morning people. Stupid Jason. Stupid cheerfulness. Stupid Quidditch." Remus continued to call things stupid as he walked ahead of his friends with his head hanged down and his arms hanging limply at his sides. He kind of reminded Sirius of a zombie.
Jason clapped his hands. "Well, it seems someone isn't a morning person."
Three-fourth of the Marauders laughed, while the fourth sent a half-hearted glare at them before promptly collapsing onto the ground in a dead sleep. The four boys behind him stared at his body for a few minutes. Jason blinked.
"I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that." Jason mumbled.
The Marauders laughed again.
"What should we do? Wake him?" James asked, grinning.
Jason shook his head. "No, no. Let's let him sleep until we get to the Portkey." Jason kneeled next to Remus and picked him up. He threw him over his shoulder and proceeded down the path again with the rest of the Marauders laughing and following him.
"WELCOME ALL TO THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!" Jason announced that night. The Marauders looked at him confused. Jason winked at them. "SEEING AS MY FATHER, THE HEAD OF THE MAGICAL GAMES AND SPORTS COULDN'T BE HERE TONIGHT, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE'S DRUNK OFF HIS ASS,"
The Marauders laughed.
"MY COUSIN, REMUS, WILL BE DOING THE COMMENTARY FOR THE GAME!" Jason smirked.
"WHAT?" Remus yelled just as Jason cast 'Sonorus' on him, but seeing as Remus was yelling at Jason he didn't notice. "I DON'T WANT TO DO THE COMMENTARY."
"WELL, I DON'T EITHER, SO YOU DO IT!" Jason replied.
"WHY?" Remus growled.
"BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU TO. I BROUGHT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO THE GAME OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF MY HEART! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO TO PAY ME BACK IS TAKE THE JOB OF COMMENTARY AWAY FROM ME!" Jason said.
"I HATE YOU!" Remus snarled before turning away from him to see his friends snickering out of the corner of his eye. "WHAT?"
"You have Sonorus cast on you. Everyone just heard you guys arguing." Sirius replied.
Remus whipped around to Jason, who was smirking. "JASON!"
Jason whistled innocently. "You might want to start the game. The audience is waiting and so are the teams."
Screaming in frustration, Remus turned to the pitch. "BLOODY BASTARDS….OW!"
"Don't swear. Everyone can hear you and I'll be the one to get in trouble for allowing you to swear." Jason scolded.
"THEN WHY DO YOU GET TO SWEAR?" Remus asked.
Jason smirked. "Because I'm older. You have to announce the team mascots now."
"WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HOGWARTS QUIDDITCH TEAMS HAVE MASCOTS? IT WOULD MAKE LIFE SO MUCH MORE FUN." Remus whined. "ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE THE ENGLISH NATIONAL TEAM MASCOTS!"
The Marauders, Jason, and everyone else watched with uncontained excitement, while Remus leaned back in his seat and watched what was going on lazily.
"NEXT THE BRAZILIAN NATIONAL QUIDDITCH MASCOTS!" Remus announced. He turned to his friends.
"What is it, Remus?" James asked.
Remus motioned to his throat.
"Jason, can you take the spell off Remus so he can talk to us without others hearing?" James asked.
"No, Remus will just have to deal with others hearing him." Jason replied, not taking his eyes off the mascots.
"JASON, YOU SON OF A…." Whatever Remus was about to say wasn't heard. All that was heard was muffled screams.
The audience couldn't help it. They started laughing. Whatever was going up in the Prime box was hilarious.
It took a few minutes before anything happened after the mascots were finished. They seemed to still be trouble going on up in the Prime box.
"NOW THAT WE ARE ALL READY, LET'S WELCOME THE ENGLISH NATIONAL TEAM. I GIVE YOU STEVENS, MIKA, STANTZ, WINSTON, SMITH, DAVIS, AND NEWT!"
Half the stadium erupted into cheers as the team flew onto the field. One of the Chasers gave Remus a weird look when he saw that he was only a little kid.
"NOW WE HAVE THE BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TEAM….UM….OH DAMN, JAMES HELP ME OUT HERE!" Remus pleaded.
"WHY? BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THEIR BLOODY NAMES BECAUSE I DON'T CARE ENOUGH TO LEARN THEM WHEN I WANT ENGLISH TO WIN!" Remus growled.
"No need to get snappy." James mumbled.
"I AM NOT SNAPPY!" Remus hissed.
"Get on with it, Remus." Jason scolded. "I want to watch the game."
"THEN YOU DO THE COMMENTARY!" Remus about yelled, almost deafening the audience. "I GIVE YOU THE BRAZILIAN TEAM! CARNE, JERNKINS, ROBERTSON...ROCKSON…...uh...CLAYTON, LEWIS…AND…uh...um...MAES!"
The Brazilian team flew onto the field. A few of them were giving Remus's glares probably because of him saying he wanted them to lose.
"NOW BEFORE WE BEGIN, JASON YOU TAKE OVER, DAMN IT!" Remus growled.
"No." Jason replied. "And don't swear!"
"WHY?"
"Because this is more fun. How do you think everyone will react to a twelve year doing the commentary for the World Cup?" Jason grinned.
James gaped at him. "You are doing this for a prank?"
"Yeah, granted, my dad won't like it, but eh." Jason shrugged. "Now get on with the game, Remus."
"YOU'RE UNBELIEVABLE! HERE'S OUR REFEREE FOR THE GAME FROM….FRANCE, MARKANT P….OH, I'M SO SORRY (sarcasm)….MERKENT PETITE….PETITE? REALLY? DOESN'T THAT MEAN SMALL? THAT MAN IS NOT SMALL!"
James smacked a hand to his mouth to keep from laughing. Sirius and Peter showed no restraint.
Jason smirked. This was going to go better than he ever believed. He could tell that Remus was starting to have fun.
"THE BLUDGERS ARE RELEASED, FOLLOWED BY THE GOLDEN SNITCH, AND NOW THE QUAFFLE HAS BEEN THROWN INTO THE AIR WITH PETITE JOINING THE PLAYERS IN THE AIR. THE QUAFFLE IS CAUGHT BY MIKA WHO THROWS IT TO DAVIS. DAVIS ZIGZAGS IN AND OUT OF THE BLUDGERS BEING PELTED HIS WAY BY LEWIS AND MAES."
The Marauders gain control of their senses and start watching the game intently.
"AND MEAS HITS DAVIS WITH A BLUDGER, MAKING HIM DROP THE QUAFFLE. WAY TO GO YOU IDIOT!"
James choked. "Remus!"
"I WANT ENGLISH TO WIN, SO SHUT UP POTTER!" Remus growled. "THE QUAFFLE IS CAUGHT BY CARNE! CARNE THROWS IT TO THE OTHER END OF THE FIELD TO HIS TEAMMATE ROCKSON! THE QUAFFLE IS INTERCEPTED BY MIKA. AT LEAST SOMEONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING ON THE ENGLISH TEAM."
Up in the air, Davis gritted his teeth. "I'm going to murder that kid."
"Don't let him get to you, Davis." Winston said as he searched the Snitch. "He's just excited."
"SERIOUSLY DAVIS, GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!" Remus said. "MIKA PASSES THE QUAFFLE TO SMITH, WHO THROWS IT THROUGH THE HOOP. SCORE TEN-ZERO. I BET THAT REALLY ANNOYED JERNKINS LETTING SUCH AN EASY THROW GET PASSED HIM. JERNKINS CATCHES THE QUAFFLE AND THROWS IT TO ROCKSON. ROCKSON DODGES THE BLUDGERS SENT TO HIM BY STEVENS AND STANTZ. COME ON ENGLISH! I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS! DAVIS COMES UP BEHIND ROCKSON AND STEALS THE QUAFFLE. AT LEAST HE FINALLY HAS HIS HEAD IN THE GAME!"
James snickered. "You should so do the commentary for the school games."
Remus snorted. "IN YOUR DREAMS, POTTER. DAVIS PASSES THE QUAFFLE TO SMITH WHO PASSES IT TO MIKA WHO….OUCH….THAT HAS GOT TO HURT. A BLUDGER PELTS MIKA IN THE STOMACH CAUSING HER TO DROP THE QUAFFLE. THE QUAFFLE IS CAUGHT BY ROCKSON. ROCKSON THROWS THE QUAFFLE TO CLAYTON WHO GETS IT PASS NEWT…..DAMN IT! SCORE TEN-TEN!"
"Who would have ever guessed that Remus could get this into a game of Quidditch?" Sirius whispered to James and Peter.
"THE QUAFFLE IS PASSED TO…WHAT THE HELL? THAT BLOODY CHEATER! AN UNPROVOKED ATTACK ON THE ENGLISH SEEKER BY LEWIS. MR. PETITE, *snort*…SO NOT SMALL, CALLS A PENALTY FOR ENGLISH! DAVIS TAKES THE SHOT AND SCORES. SCORE TWENTY-TEN! JERNKINS CATCHES THE QUAFFLE AND PASSES IT TO CLAYTONS, FOR IT TO BE INTERCEPTED BY MIKA! MIKA PASSES TO DAVIS WHO PASSES TO SMITH. ROCKSON BLOCKS SMITH, ALLOWING CLAYTON TO CATCH IT!"
The game continued for a few more hours, occasionally one or both of the Seekers were shooting for the Snitch only to get hit with a Bludger or lose it because of the opposing Seeker. Points and penalties were giving fairly. And Remus was really getting into the game. Throwing his own not so nice comments in once in a while, but he kept it pretty clean for the most part. James didn't even think he realized he was doing it. He seemed too focused on the game.
"MIKA DODGES A BLUDGER SENT TO HER AND THROWS THE QUAFFLE TOWARDS THE HOOPS. JERNKINS BLOCKS IT AND THROWS…..AND THE SEEKERS ARE ON THE MOVE AGAIN! WINSTON AND ROBERTSON ARE NECK TO NECK IN A FIFTY FOOT DIVE! WINSTON PULLS OUT OF THE DIVE WITH THE GOLDEN SNITCH IN HIS HAND. YES! ENGLISH WINS THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY POINTS TO TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY POINTS!"
"Do you think I could get away with killing that kid?" Carne asked sourly.
Robertson looked at him disapprovingly. "Don't be a sore loser. He hasn't done anything, besides a few rude comments, but that is common when the person doing the commentary has a favored team. You really need to learn to lose better."
The English team was doing a few victory laps around the pitch as the Brazilian team watched.
The Prime Box was lit up as the World Cup Trophy was held up by Jason.
James risked a glance behind him to see some Ministry people and a few guests there. He hadn't even realized anyone was there. He was enjoying the game too much.
"THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP IS BROUGHT TO THE PRIME BOX! THE ENGLISH TEAMS JOINS US HERE AND RECEIVE THE TROPHY PROUDLY." Remus continued.
As the stadium burst into applause, Remus looked at the Brazilian team. Some of them looked upset and mad that they lost. Always being a good sport, Remus continued. "AND LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BRAZILIAN TEAM WHO PUT UP A GREAT GAME! THEY ARE ALL AMAZING PLAYERS! LET'S HEAR IT FOR THEM!"
The stadium burst into applause and cheers for the losing team.
The captain of the Brazilian team, Maes, nodded his head at Remus, approvingly. Most people who did commentary never spared a glance at the losing team. At least this way the Brazilian team was still recognized even if they lost.
"That was nice." Jason whispered in his ear. "Most people insult the losing team somehow."
Remus nodded his head.
The next day when the Marauders and Jason were packing their tent, Remus saw a few people from Hogwarts approaching them. All of them were grinning.
"Hello Marauders." Shawn said.
"Hi guys." James nodded his head to the group.
"Remus, did you have fun last night?" Angel said with her voice full of laughter.
Remus smirked. "Yeah, I guess it was fun. I had some angry Quidditch players after me after the game so I had to run all the way back here and hide in the tent for a while."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"That's where you went." James said.
"Are you going to do the commentary for the Quidditch games at Hogwarts?" Ness asked. "I'll gladly give you my job."
Remus snorted. "No thanks. You can keep it."
Ness shrugged. "Fine, but you should give it some thought. The game was really amusing with you doing the commentary."
Peter smiled. "I would be afraid if he did take you up on that offer. Can you imagine what the Gryffindor-Slytherin games would be like with him?"
All the teens cracked up laughing. "Oh, that would be bloody brilliant." Shawn wiped tears out of his eyes.
"Remus, I'm sorry to break this up, but I have to get you home." Jason said.
Remus sighed. "Fine, I guess we'll see you guys back at Hogwarts."
A/N: The Mascots for the teams weren't online so I hope you don't care that I skipped describing the mascots and what they did.
It's called Top Box, not Prime Box, but I felt like calling it Prime Box.
This would never ever happen, but I thought it would be fun to have Remus do the commentary. Don't question it. I had to find the amusement somewhere in this chapter. I'm really regretting mention a World Cup at all. The Quidditch game was short because I couldn't keep track of what team the players were on or what positions they played. It was just too confusing.
Sorry the chapter was short.