Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I have no ownership over Harry Potter and its wonderful universe. I do own my OC's and story line.
Harry Potter - The Marauders Era
"The Princess Marauder"
September, 1976 - Sixth Year
I walked with the rest of my team across the field, glaring coldly at Evan's face as he and the Slytherins joined us in the middle. He and James, our new captain, shook hands with a cracking hostility. When Madame Hooch, one of the most recent additions to the school staff as Quidditch coach and flying instructor, commanded us to mount, I swung one leg over my new Silver Arrow, gripping the broomstick tightly. As she blew the whistle, we kicked the floor and bolted into the air.
Thirty minutes into the game, it started raining, making it even harder to keep a hold of the Quaffle. The new Slytherin Beaters were relentless and they had already taken out one of our chasers, so it was up to me and Lewit, one of our oldest Chasers. We'd scored twice already, but those vile snakes were going on one hundred points by now. I was beginning to get frustrated.
"Fucking hell!" I screamed when Evan cut into the pass I made for Lewit.
He flashed me foul grin. "What's the matter, little cousin, getting a bit desperate, are we?"
I growled, chasing after him. He cackled evilly as he went for a goal but our new Keeper blocked it, passing the Quaffle to Lewit.
"Porskoff Ploy, Rosier! Now!"
I plunged downwards as he flew higher. The Slytherin Chasers followed after him, trying to chase him aside with the Hawkshead Attacking Formation, but Lewit was counting on it. When they zeroed in on him, he dropped the Quaffle and I caught it, speeding towards the goals like an arrow. They were shouting behind me, though I barely heard them amidst the furious sound of the rain and the cheering from the bleachers. I stood on the handle of my broomstick, keeping it steady as I neared the golden arches. I threw the Quaffle–
I scored!
"Fifty more points to Gryffindor by our lovely Rosier!" I heard Alice's voice rumble from the commentator booth. "Suck on that, Slytherin!"
"Miss Howlett!" Professor MacGonagall reprimanded loudly.
Then everything happened fast. One minute I was standing on my broom, grinning like an idiot, and the next I was hit on the back of my head and everything went black.
It was still dark when I came to my senses, and my head was pounding insanely. Where was I?
I wanted to open my eyes but it was straining just to think about moving anything. There were voices. I could hear voices around me. They sounded familiar, and really worried.
"D'you reckon she's alright?"
"Of course she is, Wormtail!"
"She looks terrible, though..."
"Let's hit you in the head with a Bludger and see how you look afterwards, huh Potter?!"
I fluttered my eyes open, blinking rapidly to clear the fuzziness. The first thing I saw were seven heads hovering over me. Lily looked on the verge of tears and Remus like he was about to pass out as he gripped my right hand to the point of turning white.
I chuckled dryly, "You know, love, I sort of need that hand..."
"Aurora!"
"Dear Merlin, are you alright?!"
"You scared us half to death!"
"Does anything hurt?!"
"Well, now my ears do," I grumbled, moving to sit up with Lily's and Remus' help. "Could you lot turn down a notch? My head feels like it's about to burst."
"It nearly did! Shoo, shoo! Let me through immediately!" Poppy elbowed her way through the small crowd to reach my cot. She gave me a glass with a thick purple liquid. It tasted worse than bile as it slid down my throat. She tutted at the face I made. "Be glad you didn't need anything stronger. This is nothing compared to the potion you would've had to drink had your skull been fractured."
I twisted my nose, grimacing, "Always so delightfully positive, Poppy."
She clicked her tongue one more time before disappearing. I turned to James, "Did we win?"
"Yes, I caught the Snitch after you were hit."
"You're completely mad, Aurora," Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You nearly lost your head and you're worried about the outcome of the game."
"That's our Muzzle. Brilliant but bonkers," Sirius quipped playfully as he sat down on the edge of my cot, throwing his arm over my shoulders.
I rolled my eyes, leaning comfortably against him. "What happened anyway?"
"It was our fault..." Gideon said, scowling.
"We should've been paying more attention," Fabian added forlornly.
"That Rosier Snake was trying to blatch into Lewit."
"So we were set on hitting him, but–"
"We didn't even see Mulciber strike the Bludger."
"Sorry!" they chorused.
"It's fine," I chuckled, hoping to reassure them. They did look rather guilty. "Did you at least get Evan?"
Fabian crossed his arms, making a disgruntled face. "No... that vicious prat!"
"Now that I just cannot condone," I joked.
"Well," Gideon started with a dashing smile, "I could always make emends by taking you to Hogsmead next weekend."
My best friends groaned annoyed. I stifled a laugh for the sake of sparing the red-haired boy's feelings. "I'm sorry, Eon, but I promised to go with them. We need to start planning our Halloween prank."
"Fine!" he grumbled sourly, shoving his hands into his pockets and storming off with his brother in toll.
Lily snorted, "You're awful, Aurora."
"I am not," I argued. Though I smirked despite myself. Maybe I was a bit.
"Yes, you are," Peter put in, laughing. "You're cold hearted."
"You string lads along and then shatter their innocent hopes," James teased.
"I'm so proud of you, little princess," Sirius added, matching my smirk.
"Well, I always aim to please, Padfoot," I quipped, bowing my head playfully.
"They're such bad influences on you..." Lily sighed dramatically. "At least Remus is polite."
Remus sat down on the other edge of the bed, "Me? I think he should've been the one hit with the Bludger instead."
"Never mind, you Marauders are all terrible!"
A couple of days after the incident in the Quidditch match, the rain still hadn't stopped. It was depressing really. The sky was dark and gloomy, and the wind was cold, pinching my cheeks every time I tried to step outside the castle or crossed the clocktower courtyard. When I glanced out a window, I would catch a glimpse of Hagrid working on his pumpkin patch and I wondered how on earth he could handle the weather.
Friday rolled in, and I thanked god it did because after Ancient Runes I had the rest of the afternoon free. I decided a trip to the library was in order. I had two Transfiguration essays to write, several pages to read about the several goblin rebellions that had taken place during World War II for next Monday's History of Magic class, and, to top it all off, a report about the effects on too much shredded boomslang on a Polyjuice potion for Professor Slughorn. Oh the fun of being a student at Hogwarts school.
Hours later, I was halfway through my potions report when Sirius waltzed into the library, tugging a blonde-haired girl with him – Mathilda, I think was her name. A Hufflepuff who, I knew, excelled in Charms. He was grinning seductively and the poor girl was all but melting under his undivided attention as he led her into the back of the room. Didn't even notice me, I realized with a slight pang of jealousy. Sirius always noticed me.
I tried to focus on the parchment in front of me, but the giggling and moaning made it quite the hard task. After reading the same sentence three times and losing my train of thought on what to write about as many times, I groaned in frustration. I glanced over my shoulder towards Madame Pince's desk, praying silently for her to do something about the noise. Her nose was deep in a book, however, and it looked as though she wouldn't be coming for air anytime soon. Honestly, of all the times for her not to be an annoying pain the arse.
"Ohh Sirius!" I heard Mathilda moan, a bit louder this time.
Feeling the blood in my veins boil, I jumped out of my chair and stomped my way there. The sight I met made my stomach churn. Both of his hands were under her shirt, one higher than the other, clearly grasping one of her generous attributes, and he was kissing his way down the column of her neck. She had her head tilted back to allow him more access, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing hard, meowing softly while tugging at his hair.
Bloody fucking hell. My hands balled into fists and I cleared my throat as loudly as possible. "Will you two do me the favour of snogging each other somewhere else? You know, some place where people aren't trying to work?"
The look on their faces was priceless, and the way all colour slipped from Sirius' complexion gave me a lot of satisfaction.
"W-What are you doing here, 'Ro?" he asked clumsily, shuffling around with his clothes to straighten them up. Mathilda was doing the same, her cheeks even more red if possible.
"I'm studying, what the fuck else would I be doing?" I hissed coldly. When the girl simply stood there, all awkward, glancing at the floor, I almost lost my head. "Oh for the love Merlin, just get lost, Appleton. I want you out of my sight!"
She let out a squeal and scurried off, bumping into a shelf on her way and sending several books flying into the ground. Some complained incoherently and decided to take off, hovering above our heads. Very temperamental, the books at Hogwarts.
Sirius chuckled nervously, "You didn't have to be so terrifying, 'Ro."
I bit my tongue to stop myself from calling him a rather large variety of colourful insults. Instead, I turned around and stomped back to my table. Maybe now I could finally finish my report in peace. When Sirius followed, taking the seat in front of me, I mentally groaned. Absolutely brilliant.
"Leave me alone, Sirius," I snapped in a low voice, glancing briefly towards Madame Pince. Oh great, now she'd stopped reading?
"Come on, 'Ro, don't be like that," he pleaded quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to see it or to bother you."
I slapped my quill into the table, receiving a very obnoxious "SHHH!" from Pince. Then I fixed him with a cold glare. "As if that makes it any better! Why did you have to come to the library? If you wanted to snog her so badly, you should've taken her to your room!"
"I didn't particularly want to snog her, it sort of happened," he mumbled under his breath. When my glare harshened, he flinched. "I said I was sorry, what more do you want?"
"I want nothing from you. Let me finish my homework in peace."
Sirius didn't move even an inch. Ignoring him seemed like a good choice, so I buried my nose back into the parchment.
Silence dragged on between us as I kept scribbling. The scratching of the quill sounded as loud as a screeching chair, and I squirmed in my seat uncomfortably. Why didn't he just leave? I could feel his eyes burning holes in my face.
"Are you jealous?"
The question caught me completely off guard and I ended up spilling ink all over the table. I let out a loud curse and Madam Pince nearly hexed my head off, ordering me to clean everything before she gave us both detention. I waved my wand, silently vanishing the spilled ink before sitting back down.
Sirius was still looking at me expectantly. "Well? Are you going to answer me or not?"
"I refuse to answer that foolish question."
"Yes, you are," he laughed, leaning over the desk with a twinkle in his eyes. "Admit it, Muzzle. You're jealous."
"I am not," I bristled, every ounce of blood rushed to my cheeks. "Why would I be jealous of those dim-witted girls? They have absolutely no self-esteem, or self-respect for that matter, they throw themselves at any good-looking bloke, and they believe everything that comes out of your mouth."
Sirius leaned back, crossing his arms with a smirk. A part of me desperately wished I could smack that smug look off his face. The other… well, he did look particularly dashing when he was cocky, I'd give him that.
"I believe you're confusing jealousy with envy," he replied casually.
I rolled my eyes. "Sirius, I'm not jealous of you. I interrupted you two because of all the ruckus you were making, that is all."
"Well, if you say so…" Sirius trailed off, still smirking (the blithering idiot) as he set his sight on another table to the right. I followed his line of vision, finding Emmeline Vance reading a book on Divination, her long golden hair pulled over one shoulder. My jaw clenched.
"Don't you dare, Sirius Orion Black."
He turned back to me with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you say you weren't jealous?"
"I'm. Not. Fucking. Jealous," I chewed between my teeth.
"Alright then."
With one last defying glance, Sirius got to his feet and made way towards Vance. When he reached her table, he leaned against it with a heart-breaking smile that her swooning in less than one second. He said something and gestured towards the chair next to her. She giggled an obvious "yes", playing with the ends of her hair as he joined her.
In a fit of fury (that had rigorously nothing to do with jealousy), I hastily grabbed all of my belongings and stormed out of the library.
