"Come on Peter, move faster! I want to get good seats!" James yelled as the group of five climbed up the old wooden stairs in a Quidditch tower.
"James," Evy said from behind him, "Its Quidditch. There's no such thing as a bad seat at Quidditich. Relax, have fun!"
"I want to be right in the middle!" he shouted down to them.
"You know, I heard that visually the best seats are behind the goalposts," Remus mentioned. Sirius whacked him on the back of the head.
James turned. "Really? That's it then, everyone down the steps." He tried to walk down, but the four of them blocked James.
"No," they shouted in unison and pushed him back up the stairs, assuring him that they would get the best seats in the house. They all shook their heads but trudged behind him up the stairs. After finally reaching the top, the tower was empty. Looking down, the entire Quidditch pitch was empty.
"Is the game today?" Peter asked, craning his neck around to try to find someone sitting around the he stadium. It was empty, the sky still dark.
"Of course it is. It's just not for four more hours," James said, plopping himself in a seat front and center.
"James!" the four of them shouted and whined. Evy groaned, sitting in a seat. We're going to miss breakfast," she crossed her arms and huffed.
"Oh no we won't. I came prepared!" James rubbed his hands together eagerly and whipped off his pack. "I stopped by the kitchens this morning and had them whip us up some things. Hurry up and sit you lot," he pointed to the rest of the boys. "The show's about to start."
Confused but starving, the boys slid down the down, two on each side of James. Peter scooched over next to Evy, Remus and Sirius maneuvering over James to sit on his other side. James opened his bag and passed out thermoses of piping hot cocoa, bags of pastries and small containers of eggs, bacon, sausages and toast, all still hot and fresh.
"How in the world did you get them to make all of this?" Sirius asked. "Kreecher gives me an attitude when I'm sick and ask for a piece of toast. Still does it mind you, but he probably spits on it."
"They love doing this stuff," James said, biting into an apple turnover. "They get so happy, like they want to cook and help. Kind of cute almost. Ooh, here it comes," James bounced in his seat, pointing to the edge of the Forbidden Forrest.
The five of them held their breath for a minute, watching and waiting. Then a sliver of blood red light began to peek out from behind the trees. In minutes, the dawn began to rise. Smudges of reds, pinks and oranges lit up the deep blue sky, touching the tops of the dark green trees. Some starlight still twinkled in the dark. "Wow," they all gasped, watching the sunrise from the Quidditch pitch. "Nothing like a sunrise at Hogwarts," James said, sipping his cocoa. They nodded in agreement and continued to eat, watching the sunrise without a word.
An hour later, the sun was higher and brighter, the food nearly finished as people slowly began to arrive. "I can't believe people get here so early for these things," James mumbled. "Makes the rest of us have to get here even earlier to get decent seats," Sirius nudged James in the ribs. Evy laughed.
"Good thing you brought food or we would have chucked you over the side of the tower," Peter said.
"Doesn't take much to make you happy, does it Peter?" Remus joked.
"Think we can do something about this decorum?" Sirius asked. "It's looking a bit too, well, Slytherin. Too much green."
With mischevious smirks, the five of them pulled out their wands and began casting spells. The Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw banners morphed into Gryffindor red and gold colors. The hanging flags changed, the cloth seats changed and James even had red and gold stripes painted along the grass like an American football field. The Gryffindor logo shone in the sunlight, painted in the middle of the pitch.
"Nice job if I say so ourselves," James said, sitting back in his seat and tucking his wand away.
"So how was detention last night, Sirius?" Remus asked, tucking his wand back up his sleeve.
Sirius groaned and banged his head on the back of his chair, locks of dark hair swinging back and forth. "Elderly followed through on his threat. I scrubbed flower pots for four hours, then when I came back to the dorms, the Fat Lady was singing so loud she couldn't hear me say the password. She thought I was enjoying her show and sang for half an hour before I shouted it to her. She finally let me through then, but it was a nightmare."
The five of them winced. The Fat Lady's singing was worse than Adeleby's detention by any means. "Think we'll get detention for this?" Evy asked.
"It'll be worth it," James smiled, admiring their handiwork.
As students and teachers filed onto the pitch, there was complete confusion as to why the whole pitch was dedicated to Gryffindor, especially since it was a Hufflepuff and Slytherin match today. "Think they noticed?" Remus smirked as the teachers filed out onto the pitch and one by one began to reverse their spells. Soon the decorum was back to its original state and James frowned.
"They don't like my decorating," he huffed, crossing his arms and slouching in his seat.
"I knew it was you, Potter. I'm going to the headmaster for this," Snape hissed behind them. Lily looked straight ahead, ignoring Snape and trying to focus on the match that was about to begin.
"When did you get here?" Remus asked.
"None of your business. I knew you lot were behind this. I'm going to Dumbledore. You'll get thrown out of here for sure Sneaking around, wrecking the school's property like that."
"Clearly it wasn't ruined," Evy said. "It's all back to normal now though James is right. It looks a little dull now."
"No one asked your opinion, you stupid girl," Snape sneered.
"Severus, don't insult her like that. Evy's my friend," Lily chastised.
"Don't you dare talk about Evy like that," Peter snapped. He pulled out his wand and shouted a Bat Bogey hex at Snape. Large, bat-sized boogers flew from Snape's nose and began to attack him.
"Get them off of me. Gross. Disgusting. Get them off," he shouted. Lily shrieked and hid under the chair.
"I'll save you, Evans,: James said, throwing himself on top of her to save her from any flying mucus.
A fourth year Slytherin muttered the reverse spell and the boogers disappeared.
"Why you little rat!" Snape screamed, his face bright red and flushed. "I'll get you lot for this." He ran off.
"Potter, get the bloody hell off of me! And you" Lily said, pointing towards Peter, "you didn't have to curse him like that."
"He deserved it," Sirius said.
"No one asked your opinion, Black," Lily spat.
"All of you shut it! Just watch the game. It's starting," Evy said, turning in her seat.
Dumbledore's voice boomed through the loud speakers. "Thank you all for coming to this year's first Quidditch match of the season for Hufflepuff versus Slytherin." Loud cheers erupted throughout the stadium. "Before we begin, I believe that Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr Pettigrew, and Ms. Graham are to thank for the earlier decorum. Please, the five of you, see me once this match is over." Most of the student booed, but the Gryffindors, and some of the teachers, cheered and whistled over the rest. At least some people like James' decorating ideas.
"The captains are shaking hands," the announcer began. "The players kick up. The referee has the quaffle. The quaffle is tossed and the game begins!" Excitement hummed in the air throughout the stadium as the crowd cheered and clapped. In less than a minute, Slytherin was ahead, 20-0.
"Humphrey is coming up the front. He shoots. He scores! Hufflepuff scores, 20-10." The crowd went wild, drowning out the chant of "boo" from Slytherin house. Dumbledore applauded and smiled.
"Here comes Chancey with the quaffle. He's coming up, he shoots! Oh, nice catch from Hufflepuff's keeper there. And Hufflepuff has the quaffle again."
Five minutes later, the score was tied 90-90. "Go Hufflepuff!" the five friends cheered from behind the Hufflepuff goalpost. "Get the snitch Rodney," James cheered, jumping up and down in his seat. "Get the bloody snitch."
"Come of Hanger, show 'em who's the best house!" Mercedes screamed into Sirius' ear. He ignored, her, yelling "Let's go Hufflepuff. Beat the worst house in Hogwarts."
"This is so exciting!" Remus bounced in his seat.
"He's going for the snitch," Evy yelled, pointing downward to a small corner of the field. Hufflepuff's seeker was closing in on a tiny golden ball. "It's right there!" she shrieked. "Grab it, grab it!" Evy reached out her hand just as the Hufflepuff seeker caught the snitch.
"Hufflepuff's caught the snitch!" the announcer yelled. "Hufflepuff wins the first Quidditch match of the year!" The school went wild. Cheers erupted throughout the stadium. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws chanted with the Hufflepuffs in what felt like a school-wide victory. Slytherin was defeated.
Groups of begrudged Slytherins trudged off the field. Mercedes elbowed Sirius in the back of his head "by accident" when she walked past. He ignored her again. "I think that was the quickest quidditch match I've ever seen!" James exclaimed. "Slytherin didn't have a chance!"
"They were tied James," Evy reminded him. "Hufflepuff just has a better seeker." Linked arm in arm, the five of them ran down the tower and back to the school grinning like fools and ready for Dumbledore's lecture on interior decorating.