Chapter 43

Tryouts

Sirius didn't need to skip detention. They were careful and didn't get caught. Snivellus was hanging from a chandelier and the teachers were none the wiser when the Marauders left for the Quidditch tryouts. James was more excited then he'd ever been in his entire life. Alright no he wasn't but he was sure acting like it. An hour before it started James dragged them out to the field. He said he wanted to get some practice but the equipment wasn't out yet so they just sat around and chatted. It seemed to take forever but after a while people started to show up.

"What are you guys trying out for?" They heard a voice from behind them. Frank Longbottem stood there smiling at them.

"Frank, You're trying out too?" Sirius asked rather surprised. He never remembered Frank showing any enthusiasm for the game. He even skipped a game last year to study for exams.

"No! No. You couldn't get me on one of those death traps." He said laughing.

"Yes! I'm not the only sane one in the school!!!" Remus said ecstaticly, giving Frank a high five, something he hadn't realized he'd picked up from Sirius and James. Sirius mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'crazy'.

"I'm only here because Alice wanted to try out for keeper. She needed some moral support."

"Oh okay." James replied. "She dragged you here, didn't she."

"Threatened to tell mum that I failed last weeks History test." He explained, they laughed.

"Girls are annoying." Sirius replied with a smirk. He looked around for the captain to see if he had begun testing anyone yet. "James he's calling for the chasers." James quickly looked up then ran off.

"Okay, he's going for chaser then. What about you Sirius?" Frank asked already knowing Peter wouldn't be trying out.

"Beater." Sirius told him and Frank laughed.

"Why am I not surprised."

"I like hitting things." Sirius replied with a small smile. "If Alice dragged you here where is she?" Sirius asked watching James' tryout. He was nothing short of amazing. Most people could only dream of flying half as well as he could. There was no doubt he was going to get the position, and he even had a really bad partner.

"I'm not sure. I'm supposed to be looking for her right now, but she brought me here so I'm just going to let her find me.

"I would ask why you are even friends with her, but when you consider who I'm friends with, it would be rather hypocritical so I wont." Remus teased, Peter and Frank laughed, but Sirius didn't seem to be listening anymore. The others turned to watch James as well.

"Why is he so good at everything?" Frank pouted watching as James landed.

"I don't know." Sirius replied quietly, talking more to himself than to anyone else. He ran over to where James landed and gave him a high five. "That was awesome!" He said excitedly.

"The person I was with kept dropping it, it was driving me crazy." James complained. "I was doing everything right. Right?"

"Ya, it's not your fault, they were just really bad." Sirius reassured.

"Oh, good. I was a little worried."

"Good job, James." Remus said as he, Peter, and Frank walked up to them.

"That was better than just good Moony. Good is practically an insult. That was bloody amazing!" Sirius contradicted.

"That was really cool!" Frank smiled at them.

"Thanks. Oh the keepers are up next so Alice will be going up there to try out." Frank nodded and walked off to find his friend. "They're going to use the chasers to test the keepers so I have to get back up there." He told the Marauders. Sirius nodded.

"I feel bad for the keepers, none of them will get a perfect score." James laughed.

"You got that right!" He replied beaming at the complement. "I'll be right back."

"I'm bored." Sirius complained as soon as James left, his excited composure melting away. Remus had a feeling that it was going to come back the second James landed again. He was right of course. James landed, after getting yelled at twice by the captain that he needed to go easy on the keepers, and Sirius was excited again.

"I hope getting yelled at doesn't hurt my chances." James was watching the captains reaction.

"It won't, I was watching him, he was beaming every time he yelled." Sirius replied happily.

"Oh, good." He said smiling. "You're next."

"I know." He replied when the captain called for beaters. Sirius didn't say anything else as he left.

"He's faking." James said to Remus, giving the werewolf a worried look. "Did I do really bad or something?"

"No you did fine, I think he's just in a bad mood."

"He was fine earlier."

"He's probably just nervous. Not everyone has your impenetrable self confidence you know." Remus reminded him. James sighed.

"He acts like he does."

"Yes, but that is exactly what it is. An act."

"He should know he doesn't have to act around us."

"He knows you want him to be encouraging. So he's being encouraging, because worrying and being nervous isn't going to do him any good."

"I want him to be himself."

"He is being himself, James. That's just how he is."

"Ya, I guess I know that, I just don't like him hiding stuff from us." James said ending the conversation and tuning to watch Sirius try out. He was really good and obviously had a lot of practice. James wasn't worried about him getting on the team. He was much better than all the others.

Sirius landed beaming with genuine happiness not too far from them.

"Great Job Si!" James exclaimed giving him another high five.

"Thanks!" He said beaming. James agreed with Remus, Sirius had definitely been nervous.

"Yay! Tryouts are over, so we don't have to be careful with our pranks anymore!" James cheered, not long after the captain told everyone that he would post the results by tomorrow morning.

"Let's go celebrate." James and Sirius smirked at each other and walked off to find (hex) the closest Slytherins to celebrate.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day they came down to the common room and were surprised to find it was crowded with mostly unhappy people. They found Frank and Alice on the couch.

"What's going on?" James asked when they managed to make their way to see them.

"The Quidditch captain put out the list of who got on the team." Frank answered them.

"Oh really?"

"I've already seen it." Alice told them. "You both made it."

"YES!!!" James and Sirius said at the same time.

"Did you get in Alice?" Remus asked.

"No, but I'm glad I didn't." James and Sirius looked at her in horrified shock.

"Why?"

"I don't really think it's worth spending all my time at practices and stuff. I'm not really as in to the game as some of the other people who tried out." She said honestly.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you non-Quidditch people." James said shaking his head.

"That's good, because us normal people will ever understand you mental people." Frank answered for her with a smirk. "At least we're even now." Sirius and James laughed.

"We like being misunderstood. It makes us feel special."

"Potter! Black!" They turned around and saw the Quidditch captain.

"Ya?" James replied proudly.

"First practice is tomorrow night." He told hem before wandering off to find the other team members.

"Yes!!" They cheered excitedly.

This year was going to rock!

A/N) Somehow I doubt anyone was actually surprised that they got in. It is a necessary chapter, but not really informative.

I decided to make Sirius not as self-confident as James because that is one of the main things people seemed to notice about James, but if Sirius was the same way then they would describe him the same way, but when he is described it is mostly about his trouble-making abilities.