All rights remain.
I am aware James Potter is a Chaser, but I went along with him being a Seeker.

Remus remembered saying goodbye to his childhood home before he was whisked back to Hogwarts, the last place on his mind yet the one place he wanted to be at the moment. He missed his friends; he wanted to get away from home, forget the tragedy, and get lost in the present, not thinking about the past or the future.

What he did not expect was to find himself at a party in the Boathouse, invited by two Gryffindors they had befriended over the term. Fabian and Gideon were known as the pranksters of Hogwarts and were also known as troublemakers, but they embraced the title and wore it with pride.

Remus had found James, Peter, and Sirius as soon as he returned to the castle; they had proposed they take some time for a well-deserved break, especially everything that had happened recently. Remus, who was in no mood to do anything that involved social interaction, tried protesting. However, his friends were persistent and insisted he join them tonight at the Boathouse.

Being eleven, parties were never his thing; the loud music, the mingling, and the drinking were never in his scene, but he suddenly found himself with fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years together from all houses in the Boathouse, interacting with one another without a sense of tension.

It was a different sight than what Remus had been used to seeing lately.

Word of mouth, the news of Remus's tragedy had reached the ears of Fabian and Gideon, who had organized a small get-together as an appropriate response.

"What's this for anyway?" Remus mumbled as he leaned against the Boathouse's wall, trying to stay warm despite the heating charm surrounding them in a bubble of warmth.

"The twins claim they want to promote a 'united' feeling," Peter said with finger quotes and all. He offered Remus a small shrug and looked over to where James and Sirius were mingling with said twins. "I think they wanted an excuse to do something this weekend."

"I think so, too," Remus said numbly and shrugged impassively before he put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "I reckon I'll head up pretty soon. I'm tired and need some rest."

Peter gave Remus a sad smile but the young lycanthrope did not offer any room for argument. All Peter could do was nod and tell him he would be up in a while, too. Remus looked at James and Sirius one last time before he headed away from the party scene, glad to get out of the stuffy Boathouse.

It was not that he disliked the people there; he was just feeling sore and tired even after a week since the tragedy. He knew he should keep going but it was hard finding motivation to do anything with his mother's death still looming over him. Professor Dumbledore had been kind enough to let him stay with his Grand-mère Beatrice.

She had been good to him and treated him well, sharing the grief so he would not have to endure it alone. But nothing seemed to appease the dull ache always present in the back of his mind. Despite his best efforts, Remus failed to see the bright side of anything anymore.

"Hey, Remy."

Remus stopped short when he heard James's familiar voice in the darkness from behind. He stopped short and looked over his shoulder to see all three of his friends following him up the steep hill.

"I thought you'd be staying," Remus said, gesturing to the Boathouse below with a confused expression. "Why'd you leave?"

"Let's go back to the dorm," James suggested instead with an encouraging smile. He pushed his glasses into place and broke out into a jog so he could catch up. "Up for a game of Exploding Snaps?"

"I always lose," Peter mumbled but gave into James's sideways look. "How about Wizard's Chess instead? We can call teams."

Remus did not admit it out loud, but he was suddenly glad for his friends' presence. He was feeling lonely and isolated at his grandmother's house, missing Hogwarts and his friends, but also too depressed to do anything about it. Remus hadn't smiled since the incident but as soon as his friends came to join him, he broke out into a real and genuine smile.

Once they headed back up to the dormitory, Frank Longbottom was still up, reading in his bed. As soon as he saw Remus, he hopped off and engulfed the young lycanthrope in a warm embrace; the two first years stayed in the hug for a few moments, Remus too emotional to express his gratitude through words, but the way the tension lifted from his shoulders said it all.

"Thanks," Remus finally managed to say, pulling back and giving them all a smile. "Thank you. I...I'm glad you are all here. I've been feeling like rubbish and I reckon it's because I haven't talked to anyone since—"

"No one's blaming you, mate," Sirius said reassuringly and pulled out some chocolate from his stash underneath his bed. He tossed a few pieces to the others before he handed Remus the entire bag. "We went to Honeyduke's and got you the loot."

Remus smiled at that, his heart swelling and beating back to life. "So you 'went' to Honeyduke's?"

"Sneaked," James said offhandedly, waving a dismissive hand. He grinned when Remus lifted one eyebrow at him. "Point is, we knew you were feeling bad so we went to get what you love the most."

Remus smiled; his friendship with his friends was the thing he loved the most, more so than chocolate. He smiled at that and hopped onto the edge of his bed, looking at the boys who had gathered around him.

The five boys spent the rest of the night together playing games, sharing stories, and having a good laugh. They found Frank's old radio and played music throughout the night. Sirius and James had sneaked in a few bottles of firewhiskey and butterbeer, which they shared among the five of them.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

By the next morning, the boys were still up, wide awake and still talking to one another about their favorite Quidditch games and the games that were coming up.

The most recent piece of news about Gryffindor's Quidditch team was their second round of tryouts. Three team members had to set Quidditch aside due to suspension or their inability to maintain their grades and their sports at the same time.

This gave James and Sirius the opportunity to try out their new brooms and take a test run for the tryouts. James, who wanted to be the team's Seeker, had been talking about it ever since the news of the tryouts came up. Unfortunately, first years rarely got on the team and certainly no first year had ever become the team's Seeker. Sirius wanted to try out for the Beater position rather than the Chaser, claiming he would much rather club people with the Beater's bat than fly around and dodge everyone.

Remus and Peter had both decided to stay away from Quidditch, knowing they were not the best. Peter had accepted this fact long ago when he could barely fly the school's broom during their first lesson with Madam Hooch. Remus just did not like the speed or the height or the competition or the violence that came with Quidditch; he would rather avoid that.

But this afternoon, James and Sirius were both dressed appropriately for the winter cold and the Quidditch tryouts being held at the Quidditch Pitch. The Captain of the team, Mateo (pronounced like Mah-taye-oh because he was very specific about his name), had everyone getting warmed up an hour before the actual tryouts.

Remus and Peter had decided to brave the cold by bundling in a hundred layers of warm clothing and sit outside to support their two friends. James and Sirius, in return, gave them a lift to the Quidditch Pitch, which turned out to be the coldest broomstick ride of Remus's life.

Never again would be willingly ride a broomstick in the cold. He couldn't feel his hands!

Mateo blew the whistle to get everyone's attention; he did not bother to show his surprise when he saw two first years strolling up to the field, looking pretty serious. At least he did not dismiss them. Remus and Peter took their seats in the stands right in the front to get a good view while James and Sirius were getting ready to gear up.

Mateo was talking with James first, showing him what the Snitch looked like. With his enhanced hearing, Remus could make out James's voice claiming he knew what the Snitch looked like already. Instead of getting irritated, Mateo laughed heartily and clapped James on the back.

"W-when are t-they starting practice?" Peter asked through his chattering teeth, trying to wrap the blanket around him more securely to block out the angry and cold wind. "My bum will be frozen to the bench in a few minutes, Remus!"

"Hang in there, Pete," Remus said in amusement though he did have to admit; it was too cold to really enjoy watching anything at the moment. He wished he knew that heating charm, but he would not have been good enough to perform it anyway. "I don't think it will be long."

Just as Remus finished speaking, Mateo took to the air, kicking off the ground. James and Sirius both gave each other the thumbs up before mounting their own brooms and taking to the air; James was a blur and as soon as the necessary equipment and four balls into the air. With a shrill whistle, Mateo started the tryouts.

Remus knew James was a good flier, but he never realized just how good the bloke was. He was so coordinated in the air, twisting and twirling, diving and dodging, it looked like he had been practicing his whole life. Remus could only watch in awe as his friend did an upward spiral to avoid an oncoming bludger.

James came to a halt, looking around before he shot straight forward, evidently seeing something the rest of them could not. The other Seeker, who was a fifth year, followed James but not with the precision or accuracy of his adversary. James banked in a deep dive, hand outstretched. It took a while, but Remus came to the realization James was only playing that fifth year for a fool.

There was no Snitch, but James wanted to make the other think there was. Remus had to admit; there was more to Quidditch than he initially thought. But his attention went to Sirius. The eldest Black heir seemed to be less agile in the air but sturdier. With a good swing and aim, he would hit those oncoming bludgers and whack them towards the flying Chasers, who had to artfully avoid getting knocked out.

Peter gave a hearty whoop as James perfected a particularly complicated move; Mateo, who could not hide his impressed expression, smiled when James stopped low to the ground and shot forward. For a fraction of a second, maybe less, Remus could see something glinting gold in the sunlight. It was the Snitch, but James had already seen it before Remus and had taken off.

James twirled and spiraled with skill and ease before he swooped up with his fist pumping the air victoriously. Caught in his hand was the Golden Snitch.

Tryouts may not have been held during the best weather, but Remus was glad he did not miss coming out to watch his friends play. Mateo had ended the tryouts right on time and set them all down on the ground, reading off the notes he had made throughout the practice.

"James, bloody hell, you've got it," Mateo said at once, giving the bespectacled boy a good pat on the chest. He never looked prouder. "It'll be good to have you on the team. You're going to be an asset, mate. You've got some real skill that makes me jealous."

James's lips curved into a faint smile at that but he waited to hear the rest of the results. The third year named Bernard had taken the Chaser position. Bernard was praised on his accuracy and agility. But Mateo soon moved onto Sirius, who was looking a tad nervous.

"You're in, mate," Mateo said and beamed at the first year. "You've got a wicked swing, aim, accuracy, and precision. I dunno what else I am looking for in a Beater, but you've got it all. Congratulations. Gryffindor has never had two first years on the team at once before...especially a first year taking the role of a Seeker."

The two friends looked at one another as Mateo dismissed them, giving them all an encouraging talk and a motivating speech. Remus and Peter rushed down to the changing rooms below and ran up to their friends. Grinning from ear to ear for the first time since his mother had died, Remus engulfed them both in a hug, proud of his friends.

"Cheers," James said when they finished celebrating their victory. "Maybe things'll turn out all right."

Indeed they would.