Summary: Andrew Knight knew that things were going to change his Sixth Year at Hogwarts. With his friends and the Marauders on his side, he knew it would be full of fun adventures and even some romance along the way. However, it seems a darker path was awaiting them as they reach their Seventh Year . . .
Pairing: Sirius Black/Male OC
Changes to Character(s): N/A
Spoilers To: Harry Potter
Type of Story: Chapter-Filled
Book(s)/Movie(s) Belongs To: JK Rowling
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A/N: Hi, y'all! I wanted to let y'all know that I am starting a Twitter (Username: Soldier_OT_Mist) to post some images of how I see the characters. It will most likely be the main characters, but I am also willing to do minor characters! I am also very happy present to you the new cover for the The Heartbreak Prince! Thank you for the supportand I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
"Do you want some tamales, Pete, Rem?"
Quidditch tryouts had begun earlier that day, and the Marauders had invited Andrew to watch 'real athletes at work.' Although he was never interested in sports, he could appreciate the amount of skills it takes to play.
He almost declined. However—after a bit of thinking and seeing the large pile of Astronomy work on his bedside table—he decided to accept the offer.
By the time he got there, Remus and Peter were waiting for him in the stands—wearing thick coats to fight against the bitter wind, for even a warming charm couldn't prevent it. Knowing how cold it could get in the field, the Veela had decided to bring in some hot food for the group.
"No, thanks," Remus said as his fellow Gryffindor excitedly grabbed a couple. "Did the house-elves make these?"
"Nope," the Hispanic boy said proudly, already opening the banana leaf wrapping. "They helped gather the ingredients, but I made these all by myself."
"They're really good!" Peter said with a mouthful. Seeing the red food stains around the boy's mouth, the Veela passed him a napkin from his pocket. "Do you have any more?"
Andrew shook his head. "Not with me. I'll grab you some before dinner."
The Ravenclaw looked at the field and saw a line of red robes standing before their captain, Orla Switch. She appeared determined as she instructed both the new and old recruits on the events that were to take place.
"Isn't it illegal to invite someone from another House to this?" the Ravenclaw asked, touching his blue-and-silver tie.
Andrew knew how serious most of the school was about the sport, so if anyone were to see him, he would most likely be criminalized at the spot. He remembered hearing that a member of his House was suspended from attending the game for accidentally showing up to the Hufflepuff practice.
"They won't care," Peter answered, causing morsels of chicken to fall from his mouth. "I'm pretty sure they all know about the first year incident."
Nausea crept up on him as memories of their first ever flying lessons went through his mind. He could remember the feeling of absolute terror at the sight of his feet leaving the ground. Vowing to remain on the ground, it was one of the only lessons he ever failed to learn.
He would be lying if he said that it didn't haunt him at night.
Andrew grimaced at the reminder. "I didn't know I had a fear of heights!"
"Regardless, all of the captains determined you to be neutral," Remus assured him. "They know you don't have any interest in quidditch."
The Veela felt a little offended, but accepted the reply anyway. If he could walk the hallways without speaking about broomsticks, it was fine with him.
He held up his thermos to the boys. "Champurrado?"
Once Orla finished her speech, the future Gryffindor players rose from the ground and separated into their collective groups to prepare for their drills. Remus gave him a basic rundown of as he watched James join the Chasers and Sirius to the Beaters, who each held a bat at the ready.
He noticed someone new amongst the latter group.
"Is that Mei Li?"
The Chinese girl had a passive look on her face as she stood amongst the boys. Her stance was defensive, avoiding as much physical contact with everyone else. She looked around her while she tied her brown hair into a bun as if calculating the group's weaknesses.
"That's definitely her," Remus said after some inspection. "Didn't you two date in fourth year?"
They had.
Although it was a brief relationship, Andrew treasured the laughs and the moments between them. She was one of the kindest people he knew and quite brilliant—rivaling that of Lily's and Remus' intuition. However, they mutually decided to end their relationship, seeing that there was no real chemistry between them.
Somehow, over the last two years, they had lost contact with one another since then.
He knew that she had always desired to join the quidditch team, but Mei was never confident enough in her skills. Seeing her trying out for the position, he felt a sense of pride for his ex.
The Beaters were each given ten opportunities to hit a bludger—which was temporarily charmed to hit the captain's intended targets—to test their strength, the ball's distance after each hit, and their reactions to the pitches.
It didn't take long to see that Li was one of the best in the running, along with Sirius and a boy named Tyler Burke. They barely flinched as the three of them hit the rapid sphere into the sky with great force—making everyone else worry when it flew back in anger.
Above them, the Chasers were tested on speed and aim as they flew multiple laps around the pitch, trying to get the quaffle through the goal hoops. Once it was his turn, James would blow them a kiss and profess his great appreciation for his fans. They could only wave and laugh as he did.
After each position finished up, Orla ended tryouts by stating she would post the results by the end of the week. "Now, shower up. I don't want to be receiving complaints from your Houses!"
Andrew and his friends collected their things before descending from the stands. They made their way towards the locker room when he saw someone coming his way.
"Mei!" he greeted as soon as she was in earshot. He excused himself and ran off to meet her halfway. "Mei!"
She stopped abruptly and looked at him before a smile lit up her face. "Andrew! It's been so long. How've you been?"
"I know! I'm doing good," he answered, hugging the shorter girl. "You did great, by the way. I'm glad you tried out."
"Same here. I was just thinking 'We are almost out of Hogwarts, and time is so short.' I didn't want to waste any more time. Now, I just hope I get in."
"Trust me. You're definitely getting on the team."
"We'll see," she said with a bit of a nervous tinge. "I just need to beat Burke. I can't stand him, and Black seems more of a worthy team member."
"Sirius"—he felt something heavy leaning on his shoulder—"is right here."
Andrew could feel the warmth of his body radiate from the boy as Black wrapped his arm around his shoulders. Sirius wiped his face with a towel, only to be replaced by the drips of sweat that fell from his long hair.
He scrunched up his nose.
He never liked the idea of sweat, especially if it meant being touched by it. However, he couldn't help but want to make an exception when it came to the Gryffindor boy, his presence making him giddy.
"How do you do, Li?" Black said, ruffling the Veela's hair. "Excellent job out there."
"Thanks," Mei said, wariness in her voice. She curiously looked at the Gryffindor's stance before quirking an eyebrow at Andrew. "You weren't too bad yourself."
"It's nice to finally have some good competition."
"I suppose," she mused, crossing her arms. "Although, I wouldn't consider much of one since the drills weren't any harder than a game of cricket."
"Agreed. Maybe Orla should take more drastic measures."
"Well, we wouldn't want you to struggle now, Black."
Sirius hummed at the statement.
The Veela became worried as he noticed the sudden shift of the atmosphere. Mei posture became straighter, her eyes calculating as she waited for Sirius to speak. The boy in question's expression remained carless—though his grip became tighter.
Sirius, what are you doing?
"If you wish to join, I suggest working on your uppercut," he continued, a weird tone in his voice. "Your front shoulder is too elevated, so it—"
"Thanks for the advice, Black," she answered back stiffly. "I'll take it into consideration."
"No offense. I'm sure you're absolutely capable."
"That I definitely am."
Andrew, afraid of any further escalation, decided to step in. He turned to the taller boy. "Aren't you meant to be in showers, Sir?"
"I didn't see your pretty face," he said with a cheeky smile. He winked at him before moving to hold the Veela's hand. "You know you're my good luck charm."
"Well, your good luck charm," the Ravenclaw began, pushing away the sweaty Gryffindor boy, "would rather not stink. Go shower. I'll meet up with you in a bit."
"No, it's fine," Mei said, taking a few steps back. She gave Andrew a knowing smile. "I have to go anyway, but maybe we can catch up later, Drew?"
Andrew felt a little surprised at her invite. "Um, yeah. Sure!"
She gave him a wave before leaving the field.
After she was out of sight, Andrew turned towards his friend with a questioning look. Sirius' demeanor was nonchalant, whistling as he turned around and headed back to the boy's locker room.
He knew that Sirius was competitive, even more so now that his position as Beater may be in question for the new school year. However, this felt different and . . . bitter. It was a territory he rarely entered when it came to quidditch.
The only time Andrew ever saw him like this was when the Gryffindor team were close to losing the match.
Andrew shook his head, following behind. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"You know what I'm talking about," the Veela affirmed, trying to match his pace. "You were sizing her up."
"It was just quidditch talk," Black said as they reached the door. He pushed the door open and the smell of sweat wafted through the air. "Nothing you need to worry about."
"I know how you get," the Ravenclaw pushed on, trying his best to ignore the scent. He slid past an array of boys, freshly out of the showers. "Just ease up on Mei, okay? This is really important to her."
"We'll see."
"Sirius!"
The Gryffindor turned around, fully looking at him now. The look on his face must've been enough for the boy considering Sirius let out a sigh.
"Okay," he said, pushing aside a stall curtain. "Now, are you going to stand there the whole time or are you going to join me?"
Andrew turned around and closed the mantle just as Sirius began to peel off his shirt. He waited impatiently for the troublemaker, only having the rustling of the screen and screech of running water to indicate his progress.
He looked around and spotted Remus and Peter speaking to James on a nearby bench and remembered he had a message to pass on.
"James!" the Veela called out, walking towards them. "Lily wanted me to tell you to meet her at the lake in an hour."
"Got it," the Chaser said with a smile, standing up in excitement. A moment of hesitation flashed on his face. "D-do you think she'll forgive me if I—"
Seeing his nerves, Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just hear her out and tell her how you feel. I'm sure you two will find a compromise."
James took a second to collect his thoughts before turning his attention back to the Ravenclaw—his smile returning. "What did you think of the tryouts? Already becoming my number two fan?"
Andrew scoffed. "Who's number one?"
"Sirius, of course."
"I should've known," the Veela said, shaking his head. "I'm going to pretend that didn't hurt my feelings and say you were very impressive."
"How would you know?" Remus said with a mischievous tone. He crossed his arms with a smirk. "You were eating tamales the whole time."
"Remus!" Andrew exclaimed, his eyes widening. "How could you? I was paying attention."
Peter decided to join in the mischief. "To be fair, you wouldn't either if you had his cooking."
"Did you at least save me some?" James asked, a smile on his face. "I especially love the red ones."
"When did I become everyone's personal chef?" Andrew laughed, punching the Chaser's shoulder. "I'm going to start charging all of you from now on."
It was at that moment Sirius walked up to them.
Andrew's eyes widened when he noticed that only a towel covered the boy's body. Still wet from the shower, his hair was tied back from his face, with the exception of two strands on either side, to reveal his handsomely sharp features—making it hard to believe he wasn't half-Fae.
The Veela couldn't help but follow the drops of water as they fell and traveled down the Beater's glistening muscles, hardened by years of quidditch. He felt tempted to reach out and . . .
He didn't dare look any further and turned away, only to see Remus looking back at him. The Ravenclaw knew what the bookworm's gaze meant.
Andrew cleared his throat. "Hey, I have to join Dorcas for our rounds, so I'll meet you boys later?"
Before they could say anything, he grabbed his bag and made his way towards the door. He had only taken a few steps when he heard surprised shouts from the team.
The very girl he was speaking of was calmly strolling through the room, boredom in her eyes as the team attempted to find some sort of decency. "Oi! You blokes aren't as interesting to look at as you believe!"
She sat down on the edge of the bench, almost pushing Peter off the other end. "My dear Marauders."
"Oh boy," James muttered, seeming to already know what she was going to say. "Did we do something wrong, our beautiful Meadowes?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know," she said, sending a small glare in the boys' direction. "Unless, you were involved in the dungbomb explosion in study hall? Hmm, maybe not. It could have been your hands that created the transformation potion that fell on them as they tried to escape?"
"Seriously?" Andrew groaned, looking at Sirius as he recalled their trip. "Did Avery happen to be there?"
Dorcus shrugged. "I couldn't tell through all the beaks and feathers."
"Feathers?" James asked in a bewildered tone. "I thought we agreed on using toads, Padfoot?"
"I was inspired, Prongs," the Beater responded, zipping up his pants. He seemed to have changed while they were talking. "You see as I was staring at the great, blue sky—"
Remus sighed. "You were lazy, and it fell from a delivery owl this morning, didn't it?"
"Right you are, Moony!"
Andrew would be lying if he said he didn't feel a sense of solace at the news. Regardless, he shook his head at the troublemakers. "You know, one day, we'll have to actually report you to Dumbledore."
"You love us too much to do that," Pete said innocently. "You've dealt with us this far."
He was right, but the Veela wasn't going to tell them that.
The Ravenclaw turned to Dorcus instead. "I thought I was meeting you at the Great Hall?"
"I got bored and decided to see what the fuss was about with these quidditch boys," she replied, surveying the room. "Not impressed."
"Well, I'm ready to go," Andrew said, giving Sirius a final glance. "Though, I'm sure you have something else to share along the way, Dorcas."
"I may have a little something planned."
