James hopped out of bed at 6 am, fully awake. The Quidditch try outs were today and Marlene had made it extremely clear that having been on the former team did not guarantee you a spot on it this year.
Although James did not quite see the point in changing up an entire team that worked so well together when all they really needed was to find a beater to replace Alice, he was determined to do the best he could. He got dressed silently to avoid waking up his friends before running down to the Great Hall and grabbing a quick breakfast.
The second he set foot outside the gates of the castle he knew just how unpleasant the try outs were going to be. The sky was low and dark, and a cold autumn wind was picking up, shaking the trees with such a force the entire Forbidden Forest seemed to be shivering.
James adjusted his cape on his shoulders and walked decidedly towards the pitch. Alice had never allowed them to skip a day of practice, whether it rained or snowed and Marlene would probably do the same.
James smiled thinking of the time McGonagall almost physically pulled the broom out of Alice's hands because the thunder was becoming too dangerous to play. Nothing ever scared Alice. James hoped she was okay, wherever she was, and promised himself to write to her as soon as he could.
He had never truly realized how much he appreciated her company, until the moment she was gone.
Once in the locker room he quickly put his Quidditch robe over his school robe, thinking he would need every layer to protect him against the cold air of the morning.
Marlene was already waiting on the field, the strong breeze tangling her long blonde hair.
"You're the first one here," she said, trying to speak louder than the wind. Her tone was matter-a-fact but there was a slight frown on her forehead and James could tell she was wondering if he was also the last.
"Don't worry, they'll all show."
"Hope you're right," she sighed.
She glanced over at the stands were Lily was already sitting, yawing and disheveled, surrounded by empty seats.
"She insisted on coming, as moral support for me," Marlene continued. "I don't want to disappoint her."
James nodded, trying not to look at the stands for too long. Lily had pulled a long piece of parchment and a quill out of her bag and she was writing, seemingly unaware that the wind made of her hair a sea of red curls. She had the slightest of smiles on her face as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. James didn't want to disappoint her either.
"She's too good for the both of us," said Marlene, and her tone shifted and became almost sad. "Don't break her heart."
James turned to her, confused. He was the one getting his heart crushed over and over again. How could Marlene not know that?
Before he got the chance to ask her, the rest of the team came out of the locker room and Marlene welcomed them warmly, sighing with relief. There was a few new faces, younger students here for the try outs, some James had seen before and some he didn't recognize.
"I'm not gonna put you through any sort of speech, we all know why you're here and I want to see how you fly. Let's wrap this up before it starts to rain."
James had to admit none of Alice's pre-training talk had ever been so concise. Maybe that was the one thing he wouldn't miss about her.
Surely enough, it started to rain the second everyone got on their brooms. It was slow at first, just a few barely noticeable drops, but after they passed the quaffle around a couple of times it was downright pouring.
James's glasses were fogging up every breath he took and it became increasingly difficult for him to see the quaffle and follow its movements. Everyone else was also struggling, mostly with the strength of the wind, which made it impossible to stay static in the air, but also with the soaking wet quaffle, that slipped in between outstretched hands and fell to the ground more times than they could count.
As James was spiking up to catch up to the level of the other players after picking up what felt like an umpteenth lost quaffle, he caught a glimpse of the stands were Remus and Peter had joined Lily. They seemed to have enchanted today's edition of the Daily Prophet to float above their heads and repel the rain. They were all surrounded by the light glow characterizing a warming charm and for the first time in his life, James wished he could be on the stands and not freezing his ass off on his broom.
He caught the quaffle Marlene threw at him at the last possible second.
"James! You're in charge of what goes on in the air," she yelled at him, over the howling wind. "I have to land if I want to have a chance to see how everyone is doing."
"Got it!" he yelled back, joining his answer with a thumbs up in case she didn't hear him.
She dived to the ground and landed roughly in one of the many puddles in the field, projecting mud and water all around. James laughed when he looked down and saw an enormous black dog imitating her, jumping in puddles and sprinting in the rainstorm, looking up to the wizards above him.
Although human Sirius would rather eat the entire Whomping Willow than get his hair wet by the rain, dog Sirius loved nothing more than to play in the mud.
James felt his heart swell. It meant the world to him that his friends had braved the elements to come and encourage him during what was starting to be the worst Quidditch try outs the school had ever known.
It went on for fifteen more minutes, James trying his best to motivate the players remaining. Somehow they were down to ten, which meant three had abandoned the playing field. James hadn't seen them land but then again, he could barely see the end of his broom.
As an icy blast of wind cut through each of his bones and he considered giving up, Marlene's whistle resonated through the pitch and James dived to the ground and landed in a puddle with satisfaction. It was such a childish instinct than to try to make the biggest splash, but no one could resist it.
"There's no point in going any further, everyone get changed and go warm up in the common room," said Marlene loudly. Her hair looked darker soaking wet and it fell flat on her shoulders. She looked defeated, exhausted.
The rest of the team almost made a run for the changing rooms, but James held back.
"That was a disaster," said Marlene, who hadn't moved a muscle, standing still under the rain.
"No it wasn't," said James because it was the right thing to say. "You can't control the weather."
"It's not about that. I don't know why I was made captain. The title clearly belongs to you and we both know it."
Marlene sighed and closed her eyes. The rain pouring down her face looked like tears.
"No," said James softly, so quietly he could have thought she didn't hear him if she hadn't opened her eyes. "You deserve it. You're organized and meticulous. You're incredibly talented yet humble. Everyone respects you. Me, I... well, I'm not all that."
Marlene scoffed and smiled just a little bit and James took it as a sign he could continue.
"I'm constantly late and I don't care for rules. I'm reckless and less of a team player than I want to admit. Sure, I may score more than you during a regular match, and I know how to boost moral. That just means I'm gonna be able to keep up the team's energy when we need to. But it is your drive and your passion that are going to lead us to this year's trophy."
"You sound awfully confident that you're gonna stay on the team, Potter!" smiled Marlene, waving her finger as a warning he was getting too confident.
"Are you quoting Alice right now?" James laughed.
"Well, she taught me everything I know in terms of how to annoy you, so yes."
James rolled his eyes and petted the head of the enormous black dog that was sitting next to him patiently.
"I will never be free of this woman," he grumbled before heading back to the changing rooms.
A couple of players were still inside, teeth chattering from the cold. James waited absent-mindedly for Marlene to arrive but she hadn't followed him.
He got dressed quickly before running under the rain to the West Tower. It was customary that he should meet the rest of the Marauders back in the comfort of Gryffindor common room but James decided to take a little detour through the Owlery.
The dirt footpath had turned into nothing but mud and quickly enough his shoes and robes were the dirtiest they had ever been. Thankfully the clouds were thinning and the sun was starting to come out. James took a second to welcome the rays of warmth he had taken for granted during the whole summer.
A peaceful silence reigned at the top of the Owlery tower. James stepped confidently over the straw, owl droppings and regurgitated skeletons of mice, and sat at the one desk that looked clean enough. He helped himself to the parchment and ink the school put at disposition of the students and started writing.

Dear Alice,

I hope you and your family are well and safe. After what happened in Diagon Alley two weeks ago, I think I finally understood why you want to be an Auror. And if you manage to terrorize this so-called "Dark Lord" like you terrorized your Quidditch team, you will be a bloody great one.
You probably have other things on your mind and I don't blame you, but I was wondering if you knew that McKinnon was made captain this year.
At first it had completely slipped my mind that there would be a new captain, but somehow I was still taken aback that it wasn't me. Was it selfish of me to assume I would get the title? Undoubtedly. That's why I'm very glad Marlene got it.
Somehow I'm convinced that you had something to do with it and I wanted to thank you, although that's probably not the reaction you were expecting to get out of me.
Anyway, we miss you. Quidditch without you won't be as fun. But at least we can hope to win the trophy this year.

Love, James.

He leaned onto the window sill as he watched the school owl fly away. He stood there for a moment, taking in the beauty of the mountains up ahead and of the thousands of trees spreading as far as he could see. The owl disappeared in a cloudless sky.
It had finally stopped raining.