- CHAPTER ELEVEN -

Quidditch

As November went on, the weather turned steadily colder. The sky mirrored in the Great Hall's ceiling became the same iron grey as the mountains that surrounded the castle. The days became wetter. On some mornings, Madam Hooch could be seen from the higher windows using blasts of hot air from her wand to dry out broomsticks that had grown damp in the sheds.

The Quidditch season had begun, a fact that had James in particularly low spirits recently. Remus had found out, after he had returned from his few days in the Hospital Wing following the November full moon, that their punishment from Professor McGonagall (a week's worth of detentions for each of them) had not been the only result of their incident with Professor Dumbledore.

It had apparently been decided that First Years could not be trusted with their own broomsticks and would not be allowed to keep them at Hogwarts until they had passed their first Broomstick Accomplishment Test at the end of the year. New spells had been put on the storage shed, they could now only be opened with the spoken permission of Madam Hooch or one of the teachers, and any first year who owned a broom at Hogwarts had had it confiscated.

This had earned James and the others some dirty looks and nasty comments in the couple of days afterwards, though it had not taken long for James to point out that he had lost his broom as well and was no happier about it than anyone else.

Remus had missed that part but, to hear Sirius and Peter tell it, even seventh years had backed down in the face of James's frustration and the matter had not been mentioned since. At least not in the Gryffindor common room.

Though James had laughed at the story, Remus could see he was still unhappy. Remus had never owned a broomstick and so could only guess how upsetting it was to have it taken away for the whole rest of the year.

As the days went on, however, and the first match of the year drew closer, Remus began to realise that it was not just the loss of his broom which had gotten James down. The Gryffindor team was often to be seen these days huddled together in the corner of the common room in the evenings and Remus would catch James casting wistful looks in their direction.

'There hasn't been a first year on the team in nearly a hundred years,' James confessed to Remus one day when he saw that Remus had noticed what he was doing, 'I thought I'd be good enough to be on the team.'

'You can try out again next year,' Remus said, consolingly.

'Yeah,' James said, looking back over at the team, 'it would've been cool though.'

Remus had rarely been out of James and Sirius's company since he'd come back from the Hospital Wing and he was finding more and more that he'd misjudged the two of them. True they still acted up in lessons, joked and took hardly anything seriously but there was more to them than that. They had come to his aid when he'd come back after the full moon with pages of notes on everything he'd missed. He'd refused to copy off them ('I won't learn anything'), but by having them there to talk him through the spells and theories, he'd received full marks on all the catchup homework he'd received. And of course, there was the fact they'd shouldered the blame with him over the crash into Dumbledore's office.

'I saw you take the spell Snivellus aimed at me,' James had said when Remus had brought this up, grinning broadly, 'it seemed only fair to pay you back, that's all it was.'

Only a week previously, Remus might have believed that but now he knew that James would have come to help him even had he not taken Snape's spell. That was the kind of person James was, behind all the ego.

The only downside of spending more time with the other Gryffindor boys was that now Lily did not seem to want to talk to him as much. The day before the big Gryffindor versus Slytherin match, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were out in the courtyard enjoying an unusually clear day, despite the harsh wind the occasionally whistled around them. Peter had managed to pull off an impressive bit of magic, conjuring a small ball of black fire that did not warm the air around it so much as suck in the surrounding coldness. Even James and Sirius were impressed.

Remus had been about to ask where Peter had learned it when he saw Lily come outside, closely followed, as she often was, by Snape. She glanced towards them before walking off in the opposite direction. Remus, not to be put off, followed after them.

'Hey, Evans!' he called.

Lily stopped and turned. Snape looked at him sourly. Remus ignored him and spoke pointedly to Lily.

'You want to come and join us? Peter's learned this really cool spell.'

'Pettigrew?' Snape scoffed, nastily. Remus carried on ignoring him. Lily glanced over at the group again.

'No thank you,' she said, her tone as cold as the wind.

'He's not that bad, you know,' Remus said, cutting right to the point, 'if you gave him and the others a chance…'

'If you want to be friends with them, that's fine,' said Lily, 'I have better taste.'

She turned and stalked off. Snape gave Remus a snide grin before following after her.

'I'm not sure that you do,' Remus said, to no one but himself. They had not told anyone about what Snape had tried to do to James's broom.

'If we get him in trouble with the teachers, he wins,' James had explained, as if it were obvious, when Remus had asked why they hadn't told, 'that little snot-rag will get what's coming to him, but we'll handle it ourselves.'

Remus was still not sure that was the right decision, but given it was James's broom Snape had tried to hex, which might well have gotten him killed, he supposed it was James's decision to make.

Any further thought on Snape or Lily was immediately blown aside at the sight of someone else. Professor Winyard, coming in from the grounds, nursing an arm in a sling. It looked like it was broken. That was odd. He'd been fine at breakfast. Winyard noticed him staring.

'Something I can help you with, Lupin?'

'No, sir,' Remus said, taken aback.

'What happened to your arm, sir?' James and the others had come up to join him. James was looking at the arm in a sling, looking as curious as Remus felt. Winyard's face darkened at the question.

'Well that's hardly any of your business, is it Potter?' Winyard brushed past them and into the castle, Remus assumed in the direction of the hospital wing.

'Where do you suppose he's been?' Sirius asked, a ponderous note in his voice.

'The Forbidden Forest is that way,' Peter said, looking towards the gate that Winyard had come in by.

'You think he might have been over at that Whomping Willow?' James asked

Remus said nothing. He did not dare hint that the Whomping Willow in the forest might be concealing a passageway. The other three would ask how he knew. Even if Dumbledore hadn't told him to keep what he was and the passage to the Hogsmeade shack a secret, Remus did not want to risk losing friends he had just made by letting slip what he was.

The morning of the match dawned pleasantly cool but drizzly. Remus, who had been talked into going to watch by the other three, sincerely hoped there would be covers over the stands. If he had to watch, he did not want to have to do it while wet.

Despite the weather, the Great Hall was abuzz with excitement. Not only at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, but the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws also looked eager for the match. Remus supposed he had underestimated how popular Quidditch really was. Having never seen a game himself, it was difficult to imagine what the fuss was about.uHuffle

The Gryffindor team had pride of place at the house table with all the other Gryffindors shouting encouragement. They seemed deep in last minute preparations and were not paying much attention. Remus glanced over at the Slytherin table. Their team seemed to be doing much the same thing. Some of the older students from the two houses heckled the players from the other team, but they paid no more mind to these than the praises.

At half past ten, the two teams left their house tables and headed off towards the pitch to get ready. The rest of the students followed not long after. Remus felt disheartened by the lack of covering he could see and wished he'd brought his cloak.

James was looking longingly down at the Gryffindor changing rooms, clearly still wishing he'd made the team, though his expression lightened when he saw Lily and Snape take seats in the stands.

'So, who'll you be cheering for, Evans?' James called to her. Lily looked over and her expression darkened.

'Gryffindor, of course,' she shouted.

James's smile widened a little.

'Just checking,' he said, innocently, 'didn't know if Snivells would cry if you didn't support his team.'

Sirius and Peter laughed. Snape shot a hate filled look at James but Lily just looked contemptuous and turned back around. Remus looked at James, curiously. He had thought that James went after Lily so much purely because she was friends with Snape. Recently though…

His thoughts were cut off as a voice boomed and echoed around the pitch.

'And welcome everyone today to the first match of the season, Slytherin versus Gryffindor, always a bit of a grudge match between these long-time rivals,' Remus recognised the voice as belonging to Evan Skylar, a Hufflepuff fourth year, 'Gryffindor, as many of you will remember, came second in last year's table with Slytherin following at a close third. I daresay today will see a few scores settled.'

This last sentence was punctuated by a roar of excitement from the Gryffindor and Slytherin sections of the crowd. That roar got, if possible, even louder as the changing room doors opened and the two teams came onto the pitch.

'And here are the Gryffindors,' Skylar announced, 'Congo, Niven, Rakepick, Longbottom, Cadogan and Farrow, led by Captain Jessica Duffy!' The Gryffindors cheered their team. Remus could see Patricia Rakepick in the middle of the line, looking very calm, her broomstick over her shoulder.

'And the Slytherins, led by Captain Ralph Parkinson,' Skylar went on, 'Redwell, Avery, Appleton, Greengrass, Malfoy and Black.'

That last name gave Remus a start. Looking down, he saw the same girl he had spotted across the lake.

'Oh yeah, I'd forgotten Andromeda was on the team,' Sirius said, sounding almost interested.

'She good?' James asked, also looking down at Sirius's cousin.

'Pretty good, yeah,' said Sirius, 'she taught me and Regulus how to fly when we were little. I remember her zooming off over some trees while we tried to catch up. We only realised later they were toy brooms, wouldn't go more than a couple of feet off the ground.'

Madam Hooch was striding to the middle of the field, the trunk Remus had seen in her office under her arm.

'Captains, shake hands!'

Parkinson strode forward and grabbed Duffy's hand. Even from a distance, Remus thought the Slytherin captain was trying to break fingers, though Duffy seemed just as intent on doing the same thing.

After longer than was necessary, the two came apart.

'Mount your brooms!' Madam Hooch called.

Remus watched both teams rise into the air as Madam Hooch opened the trunk. As she did so, two black balls rocketed into the sky, followed by something small and golden. And then the game began.

'And the Quaffle is taken by Avery of Slytherin, and away he goes. That boy is a very fast flyer – OOH - not fast enough though as Quaffle is intercepted by Niven, that's Niven of Gryffindor, who passes to Rakepick - passes to Duffy - back to Rakepick who's heading for goal – No! - Stopped by Bludger from Slytherin Beater Redwell. Rakepick drops the Quaffle and its grabbed by Appleton who makes for the Gryffindor goal – OUCH - that must have hurt, Appleton hit by second Bludger from Matthew Farrow. But Greengrass takes the Quaffle, so Slytherin still in possession. Greengrass passes to Avery who's heading for goal. First attempt on goal and – Oh nice - Quaffle blocked by Gryffindor keeper Longbottom, who passes to Duffy and away she goes – she passes Greengrass – she dodges a Bludger – Appleton's moving to intercept – OOF – but she's hit by another Bludger from Farrow – Duffy passes to Niven – the goalposts are right ahead – she shoots – Keeper Malfoy…misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORE!'

Gryffindor cheers filled the air along with moans from the Slytherins.

Remus thought he was just about able to follow what was happening. He knew the rules of the game, he'd borrowed a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages from the Library when he knew he was going to watch.

But a book could never come close to describing how fast the action was, nor how full of energy the crowd was. In spite of himself, Remus found himself beginning to get caught up in things. He found his eyes darting, every so often, to the two seekers, Theo Congo and Andromeda Black, who were keeping away from the action of the game, soaring in loops around the stadium. Remus knew each was looking for a tell-tale glint of gold. The snitch, the small gold thing that had flown out of the trunk, that was worth a hundred and fifty points. That seemed a ridiculously high number to Remus but he supposed those who'd invented the game had had their reasons.

A Bludger zoomed at Theo Congo at one point, but it was knocked towards Andromeda Black by Owen Cadogan. Sirius's cousin had to roll in mid-air to avoid it. She did seem to be a very good flyer.

'Slytherin in possession,' Skylar was soon announcing, 'Greengrass dodges a Bludger - dodges Rakepick – dodges Black, wait what's she doing?'

Andromeda had zoomed past her teammate, nearly taking Greengrass off her broom. Remus realised what was going on the same instant as everyone else.

'She's seen the snitch!' Skylar screamed. Above, Congo dived.

Remus watched with baited breath as the two seekers zoomed towards a small speck of gold over by the Slytherin goal posts.

WOOSH! WOOSH!

A Beater from each team appeared to have had the same idea at the same time. Cadogan had sent one rocketing at Andromeda while Parkinson had sent the other at Congo. The two seekers had each been forced to swerve violently to avoid a nasty collision. By the time the two seekers had righted themselves, the snitch had disappeared.

The supporters of both teams groaned with disappointment, but there was a smattering of applause for the two beaters. Parkinson looked surly, but Cadogan grinned and swept into a bow on his broom before speeding off.

'Well a little disappointing for both teams there,' Skylar said through the magical megaphone, 'but play continues, with Gryffindor back in possession.'

Gryffindor managed to score three more times before the Slytherins were able to pass their defences and score a goal of their own. From what Remus could see, there was very little difference in skill between the six chasers. The two teams were very well matched.

'Avery passes to Greengrass, who passes to Appleton – She dodges an interception from Niven and she's nearly at the goal…'

A loud shout of anger went up from the Slytherins a moment later. The two Gryffindor beaters had sent both Bludgers at Appleton at the same time. Appleton had managed to avoid both, but narrowly, and one of the Bludgers had knocked the Quaffle out of her hand.

Remus expected Appleton to dive and retrieve it but, to his surprise, she instead took off after Farrow and Cadogan, screaming threats and abuse while the two beaters rocketed off, both howling with laughter.

'Appleton loses the Quaffle,' Skylar announced, sounding amused, 'the Gryffindor Beaters using the Bludger Suicide manoeuvre there. Greengrass takes possession of the Quaffle - she's heading for goal – and Slytherin scores! Fifty - twenty to Gryffindor!'

Remus looked over at James to see what he thought of this development, the Gryffindor beaters had not done what they were supposed to do as they had been too busy teasing Appleton (they were still laughing while flying in loops around her) but he then realised that he wasn't there. Sirius too had disappeared.

'Where'd they go?' Remus asked Peter, who looked as confused as he did. Above them, Malfoy saved a penalty that had been awarded to Patricia for Cobbing by Martin Redwell.

Peter shrugged.

'They were here a second ago.'

Remus looked back around. The other two were nowhere in sight.

'Gryffindor scores!' Skylar's commentary went on, 'seventy-twenty to Gryffindor!'

A sudden shriek got Remus's attention. And then he knew exactly where James and Sirius had gone.

Snape, howling in fury and embarrassment, was being dragged slowly but surely out of his seat and up into the air by his shoes. Remus did not have to look far to see the cause.

James and Sirius had taken position at either end of the stand and appeared to be using the levitation spell, one shoe each, to drag Snape into the air. Lily was trying to pull him back down, but she was the only one trying to help. The rest of the students were laughing.

Remus supposed a little while ago, he might have helped Lily but after what Snape had tried to do to their brooms, he could not conjure up much sympathy for the other boy. He would not help James and Sirius, of course, but he was not about to stop them. Peter was joining in the laughter and Remus couldn't help but smile too as Snape was hoisted up out of reach of Lily.

'Potter! Black!' the voice cracked like a whip over the heads of the students. Remus looked back to see Professor Winyard, his arm looking much healthier now, his hands on his hips and glaring at his two friends. Snape fell to the ground with a thump as James and Sirius, who had both been crouching, stood up, looking like rabbits who've spotted the fox. 'To my office,' Winyard snapped, 'now!'

Now looking like rabbits caught in the snare, James and Sirius climbed the steps towards the professor. Sirius was just passing Remus when a shout from Skylar made everyone stop and look.

'They've definitely spotted something!' Skylar's voice echoed and Remus saw that both seekers were, again, shooting towards a glint of gold far above them.

Congo was a little ahead, he was smaller than Andromeda and so lighter, but Sirius's cousin was in hot pursuit and gaining. All four beaters on the field were chasing Bludgers but no one sent one towards the seekers. The two were so close, none seemed to want to risk hitting their own seeker.

Suddenly the snitch changed direction. Congo was not able to change direction in time, Andromeda, though, turned in a graceful arc, over and down and, with a swipe of her hand, caught the snitch on the way past.

The Slytherins erupted.

'Slytherin win!' Skylar announced through the megaphone, 'final score: a hundred and seventy points to eighty, Slytherin win!'

Remus felt disappointed. He could not tell why. He hadn't been playing. And yet he watched the Gryffindor team land with a feeling of definite unhappiness. He had wanted his team to win. And then he watched the Slytherin team land and knew how happy he would have been in Gryffindor had won. He now understood why people got so excited by Quidditch. In that moment, he was feeling the same way as everyone else in his house. That evening they would all commiserate together about their loss. And if they had won, they would have all celebrated together. And a spark of happiness shot through his gloom. In that moment, he felt more a part of Gryffindor than he had since arriving at the school.

Slytherins were streaming onto the pitch now, though strangely at the lead was a fair-haired Ravenclaw seventh year boy. He reached Andromeda before anyone else and swept her up in a warm hug before kissing her on the lips. This provoked whistles and cat-calls from the crowd, which only grew louder when Andromeda wrapped her arms around the boy's neck and kissed him back.

Remus looked at Sirius, questioningly.

'He's called Edward Tonks,' Sirius explained, 'he's a muggle-born. Apparently, they started going out at the end of last year. She told me.'

So that must have been where she'd been sneaking off to that day. To have some alone time with her boyfriend. But why make such a secret out of it?

'Her parents are not going to like this,' Sirius said. Remus, who'd been watching the Gryffindor team return to their changing rooms, turned to look at him. Sirius was no longer watching Andromeda and Tonks but was looking down at a blonde girl who was in the crowd around the team. This girl had been talking to Malfoy, the Slytherin keeper, but was now looking at Andromeda, her face strangely blank.

'Black!' The voice came so suddenly it made Remus and Sirius jump. Professor Winyard was still looking down at them, his nostrils flaring. 'When I told you to go to my office, I meant now!'

Sirius grimaced at Remus and then climbed the steps up to where Winyard waited.

The common room was subdued that evening. The Gryffindors sat about, drinking bottles of butterbeer that had been passed around by Patricia, Cadogan and Farrow. Remus wondered where they'd gotten it from but didn't bother asking. Peter sat beside him, looking worried. James and Sirius still hadn't returned from Winyard's office.

Then the portrait hole opened and the two of them climbed in.

'We had to wait for McGonagall,' James explained, darkly as he took a bottle of butterbeer from Cadogan, 'so she could explain every detail about why what we did was wrong.'

'And she still didn't convince us,' Sirius sniggered, 'I'd say it was more than fair. Snivellus tried to knock James off his broom, so we give him a flying lesson.'

'But it was cut short anyway,' James went on, 'Winyard said he had to go out into the forest. "To check on the altar", he said. So he gave us a detention and then went off.'

'Into the forest?' Remus said, before he could stop himself. James nodded, a covert expression on his face.

'We thought the same thing,' he said, 'maybe he's going back to that Willow, right?'

'But I didn't see any altar when we were there,' Sirius said.

'Maybe it's a code for something?' Peter ventured.

The evening passed by as the four of them discussed what "altar" could possibly be code for. It all boiled down to two simple questions. What was the altar? And was it hidden beneath the Whomping Willow?