CHAPTER 13

The Ancient Runes classroom was in a tall tower on the east side of the castle. The class was spent, hour after hour, with the students bent over their notes scribbling word after word, rune after rune. The class was a combined section, with all of the houses together. There weren't many Fifth years taking Ancient Runes.

Remus took the class, as did Lily and James. There were a couple of Hufflepuffs, one brown-haired girl and a pudgy, blonde boy, and a handful of Slytherins, though Anne Warlow and Severus Snape were not among them. Quite a few Ravenclaws filled in the rest of the classroom, for Ancient Runes was a very scholarly subject. There were six boys, two were tall, lanky twin brothers, and two girls, a red haired Scot and a girl with light blonde hair a light brown eyes.

James was decidedly i not /I copying down the runes. He was desperately trying to get Lily to pay attention to him. Remus groaned inwardly, for this certainly meant that James would be borrowing Remus's notes and pestering him for help later that evening.

When James wasn't elbowing Lily Evans, he was looking out the window of the classroom. He could see the Quidditch pitch, and a handful of students in forest green outfits were flying around on their broomsticks. The Slytherin Quidditch tryouts were that afternoon, and James, as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, was eager to get out there and watch.

Class ended and James practically dragged Remus by the arm to the Quidditch pitch. Sirius and Peter were already there waiting on them. The Quidditch Captain was a lanky Seventh year with blonde-ish hair, and he was currently shouting at the gathered Slytherins to begin the tryouts.

Sirius was craning his neck to see if Anne Warlow was there, either up on a broomstick or sitting in the stands. He couldn't spot her.

"Look there! Brian Stanley's trying out," said Peter, nudging James.

"He's a piece of work," James muttered darkly.

Tryouts began in earnest. The Slytherin Captain was a Chaser, and he flew with a handful of Slytherins, tossing the Quaffle around between them.

"They're terrible," said Sirius when one of the aspiring Chasers dropped the Quaffle and the Captain had to fly down to the grassy field to get it.

"Look!" Peter cried, now nudging Sirius and bouncing in his seat.

He had spotted Anne, finally, and she was standing at the base of the stands whispering fervently to Snape, who had a broom in his hand.

" i Snape's /I going to try out?" exclaimed James, suppressing a laugh.

"Wonder what for?" Sirius wondered.

The Chasers finished their tryouts and the Slytherin Captain lobbed several Quaffles at the hoops as he tried out the three Keepers who were vying for the position. Only one of them managed to keep all the shots from going in. There were five Beaters trying out, and Snape wasn't one of them.

"Guess Snape's trying out for Seeker," giggled Peter.

"He and Brian Stanley both," said James.

"And your brother, too, Sirius! Look!" Peter said, pointing.

Brian Stanley, Severus Snape, and Regulus Black all stood at the base of the stands with broomsticks in hand waiting for the Seeker tryouts. The four Marauders all laughed heartily at the trio. After the Beaters had finished their tryout (one of the Bludgers had sailed into the stands and knocked a Hufflepuff girl out cold), the Slytherin Quidditch Captain called the three aspiring Seekers up.

Sirius watched Anne Warlow whisper a final something in Snape's ear before he hopped on his broom and flew up to join the others.

"What year broom is that?" laughed James. "1941?"

Snape shot the foursome a dirty look as he flew by, but it only made them laugh harder. The Captain had a handful of tiny rocks and began to throw them in all directions as the Seekers bolted to catch them.

Brian Stanley wasn't bad. He managed to catch most of the pebbles before they hit the ground or flew out of sight. Sirius rolled his eyes as he watched Regulus attempt to go after the tiny rocks. He'd catch one, occasionally, but mostly he just flew around on his brand new broom showing off. Their mother had bought Regulus a top of the line broomstick just before they'd left for school, saying her i favourite /I son deserved one. But when Snape began his tryout, all four Marauders were guffawing loudly. His broom would hardly fly fast enough to i get /I to the pebbles, and if it managed, Snape could never catch one. The Quidditch Captain threw ten rocks for Snape, and he didn't come back with a single one.

Sirius, James, and Peter were laughing so hard tears were leaking from their eyes, but when Remus nudged them, they paused. Anne Warlow was staring at them with murder in her eyes. They gulped nervously and stopped laughing, but none could keep their faces from twitching into grins.

When tryouts were over, the Slytherin Captain announced the team, and Snape, of course, was not on it. He walked dejectedly back to Anne, who wrapped her arm around his shoulder comfortingly. Seeing that, Sirius felt an odd pang of jealousy.

"We'll kill them this year," James said confidently.

"After that spectacle, I certainly agree," said Remus.

"I can't believe Snape tried out!" Peter laughed.

The next day at breakfast, Snape walked in without Anne, which was a bit unusual. The Gryffindors had been hoping for this. As the gangly, sallow-faced Slytherin walked past the Gryffindor table, they all reached in their pockets and pulled out a handful of pebbles, throwing them at Snape, who ducked and ran the rest of the way to the Slytherin table.

Lily was scowling at James mercilessly. Peter was laughing so hard he was almost crying. But when Anne Warlow walked into the Great Hall, they all turned back to their breakfasts innocently. Sirius turned to look at the Slytherin table. Anne was obviously asking Snape what was the matter, and Snape's gaze turned to the table of Gryffindors. He sneered at the Marauders, but to Anne he just shrugged and shook his head. It was the first cruel trick they played on Snape that year, but it wouldn't be the last..