People are odd.
Strange, how we go on and on about what other people should do, judging them, comparing them, always criticizing one person or another. If one has done well, by default someone else has done poorly. But when it comes to ourselves, we take an entirely different approach.
If we make a mistake, it's okay, because everyone makes mistakes, right?
If someone hurts us, we're a victim.
If life doesn't work out, it just wasn't meant to be.
If we're not happy with who we are….we ignore it, and pretend we are, just so everyone else won't see that we are disappointed in ourselves.
Those were the thoughts that were flying through James' head as he watched his friends sitting in the stands, screaming at the players whizzing by on their broomsticks. Remus sat, still looking ill, but his lips turned up in a smile. Peter was jumping up and down as one of the chasers darted past them, the wind he stirred up rustling Remus and Peter's hair.
"Come on, mate!" Sirius bellowed as he flew by, swinging his beater's bat wildly. "Get the fucking snitch!"
Typical Sirius. He was entirely wrapped up in the game. James shook himself. What was going on? He was usually so absorbed in the search for the snitch that Sirius had once fallen off his broom and landed flat on his back from thirty feet up and he hadn't noticed.
Where was the snitch?
There it was, darting through the crowd, unseen as all eyes were glued to the beaters and chasers as they fought viciously for control of the Quaffle. It hesitated by Remus, and the boy looked at it. His blue eyes and sandy hair made him appear almost quizzical. Then he reached out and closed a thin, pale hand around the snitch, his long, slender fingers encircling the small golden ball, hiding it from view.
James' grinned as a mischievous smile crossed Remus' lips. The Ravenclaw seeker was desperately scanning the stadium, squinting so hard he could barely see. Angling his broom down, James swept past Remus, one hand hanging limply at his side. As he passed he slowed, just a bit, and Remus pressed the little golden ball into the palm of his hand.
"You win," Remus whispered as James passed.
And just like that, they won the game.