Chapter 19: Regulus Black
"Where is he?" James craned his neck to look over the first years, but unfortunately Johnathon Applebaurn's six feet self was in his way. Peter, who was the shortest of the group had stood up but shook his head. "I can't see him either. Remus?"
Remus put down his omnioculars "Nope."
"There!" Sirius pointed once again. "Oye Johnny move over." He pushed past the boy and pointed to a dark haired boy that stood out from the rest crowd of eager first years. His robes were tailored, his hair swept handsomely to the side, his light eyes blinking nervously as he watched McGonagall introduce the sorting hat and explain how they were to get sorted. Besides the brown eyes, he was a carbon copy of Sirius Black.
"That's little Sirius." James grinned looking at Regulus standing up tall and strong in the midst of the first years. Even at 11 years old he immediately radiated the air of one being pureblood.
"That's Regulus." Sirius agreed grinning. It wasn't the first time Sirius had mentioned his brother with a huge grin on his face. James suddenly felt a sense of loneliness creep onto him. He had always wanted a brother.
"Where do you think he'll get sorted?" Peter asked jumping up to catch a glimpse of Regulus.
"Gryffindor, of course." Sirius joked. "Well maybe Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw- you won't believe the amount of books he's read. I think it may even be more than you Remus-" Remus shook his head. "Impossible."
"Not Slytherin?" James cut in quickly, mildly curious.
Sirius's face hardened. "Let's hope not."
"I thought you had talked to him." James whispered to Sirius.
"I tried too." Sirius explained. "I tried to tell him that it was wrong but he just looked at me with this face like he was confused like he didn't understand what I was saying."
"Guys!" Peter jumped up excitedly. "I think I see him!"
"Regulus Black!"
James head shot up as Regulus Black walked over to the sorting hat and place it elegantly on the top of his head. James turned to tell Sirius but to his surprise his friend was praying, his eyes closed. James watched as Sirius Black begged- and begged that his brother would be placed anywhere but Slytherin.
"-anywhere but Slytherin. Please." he could hear Sirius mumbled under his breath.
And when the sorting hat yelled out Slytherin- James too felt like he had lost. Because Sirius had lost. His hands dropped to his side immediately and he looked dejected sitting back down. Remus and Peter noticed too and so when everyone clapped they didn't join. James turned to the Slytherin table where several Slytherins were patting the young Regulus Black on the back and congratulating him. He knew Sirius wouldn't be able to bear it. He nodded towards Peter who shrugged helplessly. James thought hard and said the first thing that came to his mind.
"I'm thinking of trying out for the Quidditch team." James said loudly hoping it would distract Sirius from hearing the sounds of everyone congratulating Regulus. "What do you think?"
Sirius hung his head and said nothing.
"If I try out now I could be captain later and can you imagine all the havoc we can wreak during the games?" James continued very carefully avoiding the word Slytherin.
Peter realized what was going on. "Yeah! I'm afraid of heights so I won't try out of course- but James could be Gryffindors very own Mick Radley!"
"Who?" Remus asked, puzzled. He had no idea about the world of Quidditch. Poor chap.
James however was offended. "Mick Radley? Everyone knows Puddlemere is better than the Arrows!"
Peter shook his head. "Remind me again who won the cup for three years in a row James? I'm pretty sure Puddlemere isn't even in the finals this year."
"That doesn't mean they're not a good team!" James retorted. "We've got Wilkes, Ahamdun and Crimpen!"
"Regulus likes Quidditch." Sirius said speaking up.
Remus looked towards Peter who quickly shifted the conversation to food and wondering how long it took the house-elves to make the rolls so soft and fluffy and how compared to last year they're better.
"Yeah," Remus adds in enthusiastically taking a cue from Peter "They're really getting ahead on those rolls-softer and softer every year."
"Regulus would like the rolls here." Sirius sighed. He looks forlornly towards the Slytherin table where Regulus Black has piled a couple of rolls on his plate. "Yeah I told you, Reggie likes those rolls."
Remus and Peter turn tooJames now. As usually he was going to save the day, he thought smugly but it didn't matter of course when it came to his mates. He knew he was going to regret this but as James took another look at Sirius's crestfallen face he knew it didn't matter anymore.
"I like Lily Evans." James said quickly.
Sirius looked up and turned to James. His small smile eventually grew into a large grin as he shouted out a triumphant. "I KNEW IT!"
James rolled his eyes and shared a secret glance with Remus who smiled in response. Of course it wasn't the truth but he knew it would take Sirius's mind off of Regulus for a while.
"I knew it!" Sirius grinned looking at Peter and Remus. "Didn't I tell you? I know these things! Ever since that day when James and her were-"
"James?"
James looked up a second too late and fell headfirst onto the ground. He groaned as he pulled his head up. His eyes traveled from the dark shoes to the face of Lily Evans that looked down at him. Her green eyes were wide with concern and her red hair looked shorter than it had last year. James wondered idly how he had known that.
"Are you okay?" She asked extending a hand to James that practically ignored. He would never take help from a girl.
"I'm fine. I thought I saw a spider- don't want a recount of what happened last year you know." James said quickly hoping she would take the explanation instead of hey I'm James Potter and I just slipped in front of a girl.
Lily blinked and her face visibly hardened. "Not funny." With that she threw her chin up and walked right past him, making sure to nudge his shoulder on her way.
"Wait," James turned around. "Did- you need something?"
Lily didn't turn and James hand went automatically to his hair-making is messier than it was already. Girl's were weird.
Truth be told Lily Evans was weird. He didn't understand why she didn't get along with him, why she casually threw his name around not understanding the weight of the Potter surname. She didn't understand what it meant to be a Gryffindor and continued to break the unsaid house rules but interacting with that git Snape. And unlike everyone else in the school she didn't get his jokes. It wasn't that she didn't understand, she just didn't take them well getting overly defensive and riled up about it. And yet it was amusing to James who was looking forward to what his second year with Lily Evans would entail.
When he finally reached the Gryffindor table it was a sight to behold. Peter was snoring over his bowl of oatmeal while Sirius was leveling spoons on top his his mousy brown hair. Remus was ignoring them both being preoccupied with his early owl morning copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Morning boys." James greeted them loudly, successfully getting their attention. Sirius sighed, the spoons he was leveling a top Peter's head clattered to the ground. Peter woke up with a start knocking his bowl of oatmeal which landed on...Remus's head.
Remus set down his paper and looked at James. "Thank's a lot James."
"Anytime Remus." James laughed.
"Did you find Lily?" Remus asked suddenly from behind his newspaper that he was reading once more. This time the crosswords section.
"Lily?" James asked, confused. "Why?"
"She said she was looking for you." Remus said as if that explained everything.
"Lily Evan's was looking for James?" Sirius asked curiously. "Our James Potter. Sounds like someone's got a crush."
James rolled his eyes, this was a lie that he was definitely going to regret. He shared a glance with the others who shook their heads vigorously. A lie that kept Sirius happy and his mind off of Regulus was a lie he would keep.
"Did she say why she was looking for me?" James asked, curious.
Remus shook his head. "Just that she was looking for you."
James nodded. "Okay. Okay then." Lily had found him- so why hadn't she said anything he wondered.
"-And make sure you're there aight?"
"You know me, right- I'll be there but give it a chance and let me know how it goes?"
James froze. He knew that voice and before they could get far he bolted after them shouting as loud as he could. "Colton! COLTON!"
The boy looked back startled as he hadn't walked far from where James was. He stood there eyebrows raised as James reached him, panting "Hi. I'm James Potter. I want to tryout for the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
Colton Breckbridge grinned down at James in a most curious way. "I'm sorry, how old are you?"
"I'm 12 but I'll be 13 in March." James told him confused by the question. "Where do I tryout? Tomorrow? I asked McGonagall and she said to talk to you- I even got the newest broom, a Silver Streak 3000- my dad says it's the best broom in the-"
"Woah slow down kid-James right?" Colton Breckbridge put a gruff hand on his shoulders. "You're a 2nd year?"
James nodded eagerly. He just wanted to get past the small talk so he could know when to try out.
"Look-" Colton started eyes wavering as a girl neared him and whispered in his ear loud enough for James to hear.
"Is it about the tryouts?" James said excited looking between them. He looked up at the girl. "Is it?"
The girl almost laughed. "Uh Colt who's this?"
"I'm James-" James started.
"I got this Maya- get the others ready. I'll meet them by the tower." the girl nodded and walked away. Colton turned back to James. "See we don't really-"
"Look," James said raising a hand and interrupting the surprised captain. "I can ride a broom- I've been riding since I was born and my dad says I'm good and he's usually right. He's an Auror at the ministry, maybe you've heard of him Fleamo-"
Colton sighed and looked up like he thinking. "Okay, kid look we've got tryouts next Friday at 3. If you're sure about this just come to the pitch- but don't worry too much if you don't make it, everyone who comes doesn't usually get in the first time around"
James grinned. "Don't worry. I'll make sure not to boast in front of them."
Colton looked like he wanted to say something but the same girl from before was calling out his name. "See you then." He said finally turning away his red Quidditch robes billowing behind him.
James grinned and turned to face Sirius. "So?"
"I'm in!" James grinned. "I'll have to go to tryout today but I'm not worried about that."
"My mate on the Quidditch team!" Sirius said slapping James on the back. "YOU HEAR THAT PETEY OUR JAMESIE IS GOING TO PLAY QUIDDITCH!"
"Sirius you can't just add 'ie' to all our names." Remus rolled his eyes.
"I sure can Remmie." Sirius whispered into his ear.
"You're all going to be there of course." James said. "I want 'GO JAMES POTTER' posters and "WE LOVE YOU JAMES' banners."
"Peter will get right to those." Sirius said looking towards Peter with a wink.
"Sure I'll get them right away." Peter said sarcastically. "Would you like your portrait on all of them as well?"
"And make sure you put a lot of-" James added. He wanted something big so that everyone one would know that James Potter was going to be on the Quidditch team.
"I can't-"
Three sets of eyes went directly to Remus lupid who had put down his paper and looked down at his food silently not meeting any of their eyes.
"Why not?" Sirius asked. "Is it because I called you Remmie? Look I promise- wait no I won't call you Remmie all the time-"
"I can't. I'm leaving." Remus said still looking down, wringing his hands with the sleeves of his robes.
"Leaving?" James sat down and asked carefully. "Where are you going?"
"My mothers sick." Remus said eyes downcast. "She's very ill. I told her I would be with her." he looked up. "She needs me."
"Oh." James said understanding despite the tinge of disappointment that Remus wouldn't be there to cheer him up. "Well don't worry- go to your mom. Sirius will tell you all about it when you come back."
"Me too!" Peter agreed. "Hey I can tell my mom to send some of her herbal essence thing that smells like rat piss. You said it made you feel better-maybe it will make your mom feel better too."
Remus nodded and let out a weak "Yeah."
"You're not going to cry are you?" Peter asked nervously.
Remus shook his head. "No. But I think Sirius might be."
Sirius Black was laughing his head thrown back, and tears streaming down his face. "Remus..." he chocked out. "Oatmeal. Head."
James frowned and looked up where the bowl of oatmeal was still on Remus's head.
"Thanks a lot James." Remus said once again looking up at the bowl of oatmeal he had forgotten completely about.
"Anytime Remus." James laughed joining Sirius and Peter.
"Come on Sirius, it'll be fun!" James protested nudging Sirius with his new broom. McGonagall had taken his Streak last year so James had asked his dad for a new one. The new Streak 3000 was a beauty. Its dark vine wood handle was chiseled to perfection, and James and Peter had spent all morning polishing it to the point where it sparkled brighter than Mary MacDonald's new necklace.
"I don't want to James." Sirius said poking his Snarfalump plant. It shriveled back and sunk beneath the dirt again. "Mate, look what you made me do!"
James sighed and looked around the well-lit Herbology green house. Professor Sprout had given the 2nd years the task of extracting seeds from the Snarfalump plants and placing them in new pots for the 5th years to use.
"Why can't the 5th year do this themselves?" Liam Carter complained from the front where he was struggling to pull his Snarfalum plant while a annoyed Marlene McKinnon watched.
"Because they're not all tenacious prats like you." Marlene snapped. "Now focus."
James smiled. Marlene McKinnon was something else entirely.
"James-a little help here!" Sirius handed James a pair of fluffy pink shears. The Snarfalumps were withering wildly and James had to duck as it swung it's tentacles around.
"Careful they're attracted to fingers." Dorcas Meadowes said from behind him. She pointed to the yellow bug like things on the tentacles that James had thought were polka dots at first glance.
"Canoodlers are most commonly mistaken for these fine creatures." Professor Sprout informed them once she had made sure everyone had acquired a pair of pink shears and were doing well with the first set of instructions. "Can someone tell me why?"
A thin girl with long hair that was the envy of every girl in the room answered, "They both have long tentacles- however Canoodlers howl when the are touched and are completely harmless in contrary to Snarfalumps, Professor."
"Correct Ms. Knightshade 5 points to Slytherin." She beamed and turned to the class. "Now once you're done with the first part, grab the shears and using them I want you to carefully cut the roots …"
Sirius and James rounded the plant armed.
"Now what?" Sirius asked Dorcas Meadowes who had offered to help after noticing the several failed attempts they had acquired.
"Ready?" Dorcas asked raising her shears looking remarkably like she was going to kill someone. James mentally noted to never let Dorcas Meadowes near him with shears alone.
Sirius moved forward determined and pulled on the pod. Dorcas immediately put the shears forward cutting the Snarfalump lose as they wriggled determinedly. James positioned the pot right underneath it, a bright pink shovel in his free hand, with which he pushed the Snarfalumps deep in the dirt.
"The seeds, Sirius!" Dorcas hissed. Sirius nodded and poked the plant with his shovel making it cough out the seeds from its mouth.
"Ew." Dorcas moved back inspecting the slimy brown things in Sirius's hands. "Well there you go. That's how you do it."
"Five and five." Sirius was counting his fingers frantically. "I've got all ten, what about you mate?"
"Nine." James grinned wiggling his fingers. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Excellent Mr. Rivers, Ms. Meadows. Ten points to both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!" Professor Sprout congratulated Eric and Dorcas-moving right past James and Sirius to their station.
James looked at Sirius disbelievingly. "We deserve 20 points too. Look at all the seeds that we got!"
"Nah man." Sirius dropped the seeds in the empty pot. "Not worth it. I've got a reputation to maintain. I can't be Sirius Black the smart bloke."
"You've already got Sirius Black- the only Black in Gryffindor." James pointed out before remembering about Regulus. Sirius got quiet all of a sudden and James hated himself for bringing it up again.
"Everyone take note of how Mr. Rivers and Ms. Meadows here handled their Snarfalump!" Professor Spout announced causing Dorcas to blush. "Oh Merlin" She turned to Merlin Dunphy who was looking a bit green at the back of the classroom. "Off to the Hospital Wing you go. There's always one every year. Don't touch anything while I'm gone." She told the class leaving with Merlin who had begun to throw up.
"Sirius," James turned to him forcing him to speak. "Just try out with me. It's not like you'll get in anyways."
"What do you mean?" Sirius raised his brow. "Is that a challenge?"
"Well I mean do you even like-play Quidditch?" James asked.
"I do!" Sirius said pompously. "And you know what I will try out! And I'll be using your broom-that's right!"
"Hey! We can't both tryout on the same broom!" James protested trying to come up with a good excuse."
"Why not?" Sirius question. "Think I have a better chance at it than you?"
"As if." James folded his arms. "I could beat you with my eyes closed-"
"James?" Theresa Mendez had tapped on his shoulder to get his attention and he looked towards her confused as she handed him something. "These are for you. Micheal said that he got this from Liam who got this from-" there was a long pause before she continued. "someone to give to you."
James frowned but took the two chocolate frog cards from her. He looked at them realizing they were the cards Frank was supposed to give him last year! He caught sight of Lily Evans looking up at him- she looked away quickly and turned to Severus avoiding his eyes. And for the second time that day James reached the same conclusion that girls sure were weird.