escape from my hands
James grinned happily to himself as he sat down behind Regulus in the red plastic sled, once they were positioned at the top of the snowy hill not far from the flat that James shared with Remus and Sirius. James could tell that Regulus wasn't completely happy at being trussed up in too many layers and forced to sit down on the sled, but he had given up complaining.
Though it was probably the thick, maize-coloured scarf that James had wound around Regulus's neck preventing him from grumbling too much.
"Have you got your mittens on?" James asked as he put his arms around Regulus's waist and started to shuffle them forwards on the sled. Regulus held up his gloved hand and mumbled something incoherent, so James reached out to pull the scarf down a little. "What did you say?"
"I said they're gloves, you idiot."
"They're your little mitts and you know it. Now, are you ready for the ride of your life?"
"No. This Muggle thing is dangerous. If I die, I will kill you."
"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" James lifted his feet onto the sled, either side of Regulus once he'd shuffled the sled right to the brink of the hill. He gave one final lurch and sent the sled careening over the hill.
Regulus screamed and leaned back against James as the sled flew down the snowy descent, gripping desperately at James's legs for some semblance of safety. James whooped and laughed—right up until something collided with the back of the sled, sending them soaring into the air and then crashing down into a wet drift of snow.
James staggered to his feet, brushing snow off his coat. Regulus was a little further out of the way, stuck in a lump of snow on his back. The thick coat he wore was constricting him so much that he couldn't sit up properly to climb to his feet. "James!" he yelled, and James sniggered as he pulled him out of the snow. "Don't...laugh...at me…" he said through his chattering teeth. He was shivering. "There's snow down the back of my coat."
"You looked like a turtle on its back," James snorted. Regulus made to hit him, but James dodged out of the way. As he turned out of Regulus's way, he noticed two figures standing at the top of the hill, where James and Regulus had just been. James's face fell. "Regulus," he whispered dramatically. "Get back on the sled."
"What's wrong with you?" Regulus snapped. "There's no way I'm getting back on that death trap." He followed James's gaze, and squinted at the people on the hill. "Oh, is that Sirius and Remus?"
James fished in his pocket for his wand and aimed it at the sled, which was stuck in the branches of a nearby tree. "Accio." It landed neatly at James's feet, and James yanked Regulus down onto it, ignoring his protests.
"It's only Sirius, what's wrong with you?" Regulus grumbled as James tapped the sled with his wand. It seemed to suddenly develop a sense of direction, and sped forward with it's own newfound power.
"Potter!" Sirius shrieked from the top of the hill. James twisted his head to look back up the hill. Sirius was now seated on his own sled with Remus behind him, and it was speeding down the hill towards them. "Get back here with my brother, you swine!"
Regulus groaned. "Why is he here? I thought we were having a private date?"
James tapped the back of the sled urgently with his wand, trying to spur it to move faster. "I may have got the idea from Sirius," James replied. "He did mention that he wanted to take Remus sledding. I thought it was a good idea. I didn't think he'd come here though."
"You got our date idea from Sirius?" Regulus called back to James.
"I said I may have."
"And now he's chasing us across the park in his magical sled." Regulus tried to lean around to look back at Sirius. "His magic sled seems faster than ours, too."
"He's done that spell a lot more times than me," James muttered. He raised his voice and turned back to face Sirius, who was gaining on them. "This was just meant to be a little bit of fun!" he yelled. "Why are you making it a drama?"
"He lives for drama!"
"Moony, shush—Prongs, just stop your sled and nobody will get hurt!" Sirius scooped up a handful of snow as the sled gained momentum, and threw it at the back of James's head.
"There's no need to get aggressive!" James shouted. He tilted the sled to the left to try and pitch it in an opposing direction in an attempt to shake Sirius off. It didn't work - Sirius was quick to lurch his sled sideways to stay on their tail. "How is he so good at this? He's terrible on a broomstick, I don't know how he's got such good control over a sled."
Regulus put his gloved hands over his face as they headed straight for the trunk of an enormous, snow-covered oak tree. "It's because he's so determined to make sure you don't sleep with me on a sled in the middle of the snow!"
"I heard that, Regulus!" Sirius yelled. "Potter, stop that sled! You're trying to take him away from me!"
"He's persistent." James veered the sled around the tree—too hard. The sled tipped and rolled, sending James and Regulus flying out of it for only the second time that day.
"Ha!" yelled Sirius, as he stuck his leg out of the sled in an attempt to brake. Remus jumped off the back of it before Sirius could decide to set it going again. "Got you." Sirius ran over to where James was buried in the snow and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"Sirius, will you let him go, you complete idiot—" Regulus grumbled as he struggled to climb out of the snow again. Remus hurried over to help pull him out, just as Sirius started attempting to throttle James.
"There's no point," Remus chuckled. "You know there's no point."
Regulus sighed and shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm associating with adults or wild hippogriffs."
"I hope you know you've ruined this date, Sirius!" Remus shouted into the mound of snow that now contained a squabbling James and Sirius. He shook his head fondly at them. "They're such a pair of idiots."
"Tell me about it," muttered Regulus. He turned his back on James and his brother. "Shall we go get a Butterbeer while we wait for them to fight it out?"
Remus grinned. "Sure."
Written For:
- Assignment #11/Contemporary Circus Performance Task #3: Write about someone trying to escape someone, or something.
- Winter Funfair/Naughty or Nice: Naughty 2. (word) Aggressive
- Winter Funfair/Decorate the Christmas Tree: Topper 6. (setting) Outside in the snow
- Winter Funfair/Hot Chocolate Station: Section 3 - 6. (dialogue) "Sometimes I wonder if I'm associating with adults or wild Hippogriffs."
- Winter Funfair/Shoebox to Charity: 15. (relationship) siblings
- Winter Funfair/Advent Calendar: 2: Remus Lupin
- Winter Funfair/Magical Mistletoe: 7. (weather) snow
- Winter Funfair/Winter Bingo: 09. (object) Sledge
- Writing Club/Gotta Catch Them All: 4. (action) shivering
- Writing Club/Showtime: 1. (action) Screaming
- Writing Club/Elizabeth's Empire: 2. (object) mittens
- Writing Club/Throwback: 29. (trait) determined
- Writing Club/TV Spree: 27. (dialogue) "You're trying to take him away from me!"
- Autumn Seasonal/Days of the Year: 9th November - Chaos Never Dies Day: Write about something supposedly simple descending into chaos.
- Autumn Seasonal/Colours: 10. Maize
- Autumn Seasonal/Crystals & Gemstones: 8. (word) Persistent
- Moony's Neon Cafe/Genres: 17. Fluff
Word Count: 1,121