First of all I want to thank all the people who gave me good
reviews for this story, I'm so glad you guys like it! :-)
DISCLAIMER: Forgot to do this earlier-I don't own or have any rights to Harry Potter or any of the other characters created by Joanne Kathleen Rowling -more's the pity!
Several days passed, and the first years began to get used to the school and its grounds. Professor Grappenhall continued to run her classes as though she were in charge of a concentration camp. Sirius and Jed were given the task of cleaning the floor of the Great Hall and Entrance Hall for their detention. Several times, Slytherins marched purposefully across the clean floor, leaving muddy footprints all over it, but with Professor Grappenhall watching, neither boy could retaliate, or use magic to clean the floor again.
All in all, Sirius enjoyed classes- Professor MacGonagall was strict, but fair and kind. Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, was friendly, and earned a special place in their hearts when she informed them that for their first few weeks, she would not set them any homework. Professor Flitwick, the Charms instructor, was a tiny man, with a squeaky voice, who seemed to be immensely popular among his pupils. The Potions master was a middle-aged man with a steel-grey goatee, named Ralph Mordecai, and last but not least, the astronomy teacher was a young man, in his first teaching post-Professor Bloom.
It was seven o'clock on Friday evening, and James, Sirius and Remus were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Remus was doing his Potions homework ( 'we can copy it off you, can't we?' James had asked pleadingly), Sirius was reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages', and James was polishing his broom- a Skysailor 5000.
'Listen up, everyone!' someone shouted from behind them. Everybody in the common room turned to look at a tall, skinny boy with a crew cut who was standing on an armchair in the middle of the room. He nodded, satisfied that people were listening. 'For those of you who don't know me', he began in arrogant tones, 'I'm Paul MacNally, quidditch captain. Now, our team is looking for a seeker and a chaser this year, and I want to let you know that trials will be held tomorrow after lunch, on the quidditch pitch. First and second years needn't bother turning up, I will only take players from third year and above.' The boy jumped down from the armchair, and people resumed their conversations.
'That's not fair!' James cried, 'I want to be seeker!'
'Well, you'll have to wait 'til you're in third year, won't you?' Remus replied mildly.
'No way', James said determinedly, 'I'm going to try out. Will you try out too, Sirius?'
Sirius thought for a moment, then shook his head. 'I'm not much good at seeking or chasing', he replied, 'I like Beater best.'
James sighed heavily and turned to Remus. 'What about you, Ray? Will you come?'
Remus looked up, and shook his head. 'I've never been much good at quidditch', he said quietly.
Sirius studied Remus; he was quite pale and tired-looking. 'Are you all right?' He asked concernedly.
Remus nodded and said rather quickly 'of course, why wouldn't I be?'
Sirius shrugged. 'You're even quieter than usual, that's all.'
James groaned loudly. 'I'm going to bed', he announced, looking sulky, 'to think of a way to try out for seeker. You two coming?'
'I've got to finish this', Remus responded, yawning, 'I won't be long.'
Sirius stood, and with one more curious glance at Remus, followed James to the dormitory. 'What're you planning?' He asked interestedly. James was standing in front of the full-length mirror in the dormitory, his glasses in his hand, staring at his reflection. He shot Sirius a wry grin in the mirror. 'D'you think I could pass for a third year?' He asked, trying to make his hair lie flat, and failing miserably.
Sirius studied James briefly, then said 'Yeah, s'pose you could. You're not really tall enough, though.' James was several inches shorter than Sirius. He made a face. 'Well, I dunno how to make a Growing Potion, so there's not an awful lot we can do about my height.' He collapsed backwards onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling, screwing up his eyes, trying to think of a plan. Sirius changed into his pyjamas, and continued reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages'.
'Hey, James, what team d'you support?' He asked, glancing up from his book. There was no answer. Sirius saw that James had fallen asleep fully clothed, still clutching his glasses in his hand. He laughed to himself, and couldn't help wondering what hair-brained scheme James had settled on using to get in to the trials.
Sirius was walking along a dark, narrow path, alone. 'Sirius Black, what have you done to us!' came a wail, from somewhere to his left. It was his mother's petulant voice. 'You have ruined the family name! You are a disgrace to the name of Black!'
'Sirius, I disown you!' Bellatrix shrieked again and again. Sirius groped around blindly, trying to find his relatives, because he knew he did not want to be on that path by himself. He tried to step off it, into the darkness, but he couldn't. The reproaches and scoldings from his various faily members were getting louder, and more persistent. Then, through the cacophony, Sirius heard one, unfamiliar voice, say pleadingly, 'the amulet...I need it...please!'
'What amulet?' He shouted, staring wildly around for the owner of the voice.
'Amulet? What're you on about, ya dozy idiot!'
Sirius sat bolt upright, wide awake and breathing hard. Remus was sitting on his own bed, which was opposite Sirius', watching his friend anxiously.
'What amulet?' Remus repeated his question, 'what are you talking about?'
'Wish I knew', Sirius muttered, running a hand through his hair, 'what time is it?'
'Eight o'clock. James fell over my suitcase on his way out of the room about fifteen minutes ago. Woke me up.'
'Where was he off to?' Sirius rubbed his eyes vigorously, and rolled out of his bed.
'He said something about quidditch.' Remus shrugged. 'Wanna see what he's on about?'
Sirius nodded, and dressed quickly. The two boys hurried down to the common room, where they found James standing by the window, talking to a tall, sandy-haired boy with freckles. James spotted his friends, and waved.
'Adam here is on the quidditch team', he informed them as they approached, 'he says MacNally-the captain-is in sixth year, and doesn't really know anyone from the years below him. He might recognise me from the Sorting, though, so I'll just leave my glasses here, and try and make my hair look different.'
'If you take off your glasses, you won't be able to see anything', Remus pointed out sensibly.
'Adam has a phial of pretty good Sight Strengthening Potion, he said he'll let me have it, for fifteen galleons', James explained, his eyes shining with excitement. He turned to Adam. 'D'you promise you won't say a word to MacNally, 'til after the trials at least?'
Adam nodded and grinned. 'Cross my heart and hope to die. I hope you're as good as you seem to think you are! It'll put MacNally in his place if you make the team-he thinks first and second years are useless.'
'Well, I'm gonna show him just how wrong he is', James replied grimly, handing Adam a pouch full of galleons.
James spent the whole morning chewing his finger nails and polishing his broom. 'You're going to wear out the wood', Sirius remarked, as James scrubbed at a non-existent stain with a dirty rag. The three boys went down to lunch together. Adam winked at James, and whispered something to the girl who was sitiing next to him. She looked up interestedly, and grinned over at James, who smiled nervously. Sirius tried to coax him to eat some Yorkshire pudding, but James went slightly green, and shook his head.
Adam seemed to have passed the word on to a lot of people, about James' plan to try out, because Sirius noticed a lot of people glancing at James curiously. A few patted him on the back, and wished him good luck. 'You'll get on', Sirius reassured him, 'don't worry about it.'
James looked around at the large number of Gryffindors who were standing on the pitch with him. He swallowed hard. Sirius and Remus waved, and headed for the stands. A few Slytherins had turned up to jeer at the Gryffindor quidditch team-Sirius spotted Bellatrix, Narcissa and Snape amogst them.
'Of course', Bellatrix said, in a very loud voice, 'Slytherin are looking for beaters this year.'
Sirius felt anger bubbling away inside him. Why couldn't she just leave him alone for a while? He would rather never get to play quidditch again than play for Slytherin.
Paul MacNally strode onto the pitch, and began to issue instructions to his team. He asked the potential Seekers and Chasers to form two seperate lines. Then he took to the sky (he himself was a beater, along with Adam) with his team, and began to play a game. Every few minutes, he would dismiss the players currently trying out, and call forwards two others.
Sirius saw that James had ended up very last in queue, and was gripping his broom so tightly that his knuckles were white. The current Seeker was atrocious-at one point, the Snitch was hovering only inches from his left knee, and he didn't notice. Sirius could see James was itching to get up there and show them all how it was really done.
'You stink!' Bellatrix cackled, pointing at one of the Chasers and laughing. 'Why did you even bother to come out here?'
'Shut up, Bellatrix!' Sirius couldn't take it anymore. Remus placed a warning hand on his friend's shoulder, but Sirius had no intention of doing anything else. He merely glared at his cousin, why returned his glance with a look of contempt.
At last, James' turn came. He kicked off the ground, and shot into the sky. He flew high above the stands, turning his head this way and that, searching for the tiny golden, winged ball. He was superb. MacNally and the rest of the team were all exchanging glances of delight. None of the Seekers had stood out, and MacNally had just about given up hope of finding a decent player, when along came this boy, whom he had never seen before, who flew with fantastic style and skill.
Within minutes, James had caught the Snitch. The Slytherins stared at him, angry that he had flown so well. Sirius noticed that Bellatrix was watching James intently, as though trying to recall something, but the thought barely registered, as he and Remus leapt up and cheered wildly for their friend. James clutched the Snitch tightly, and beamed. MacNally blew his whistle, and called everyone down to the ground. Sirius and Remus left the stands and walked over to the group, anxious to hear what the captain had to say.
'Well done, all of you', MacNally said, looking around, and smiling. 'Most of you were good, a few were very good, and well...there were one or two exceptional players among you.' His gaze rested on James, whose eyes widened. 'What's your name, kid?' MacNally asked him.
'James Potter', he replied, somewhat breathlessly.
'Well done, James. You're our new Seeker. Julia Cleansweep, you're the Chaser. Congratulations!'
It was then that Bellatrix put two and two together. 'Hey!' She called, striding on to the pitch, 'hey you, captain! MacNulty or something, isn't it?'
Paul rolled his eyes impatiently and said 'MacNally. What do you want?'
'I heard you only take people from third year and above?' She phrased it as a question, with a malicious glance in James' direction.
'Oh no!' Sirius moaned. He knew what she was going to do. He had never realised she would go this far, all because some hat said he should be in Gryffindor.
'Yeah', MacNally said agressively, 'so?'
'Well that boy', Bellatrix shrilled, pointing dramatically at James, who had frozen with shock, 'is a first year!'
Paul looked from Bellatrix, to James, to his team mates. 'You play well, Potter', he said, watching the boy shrewdly, 'I haven't seen a Seeker that good in a long time.' He looked at his team again. 'I think we could bend my rules a bit, don't you?'
Adam shrugged and grinned. 'They're your rules, like you said Paul. Personally, I think you'd have to be crazy to reject this kid.' The rest of the team murmured their assent. Paul turned back to James and smiled briefly. 'You're determined, you're quick, and you've got brilliant reflexes. There's no way I'd refuse to put you on the team.'
Bellatrix' jaw dropped. Sirius smirked. Her neat little plan had backfired, and she didn't like it. She flounced off to join the Slytherins again, and they marched up to the school, throwing dark looks over their shoulders. Paul was speaking again. 'Right, you lot, thanks for coming. Pass the message on to all the first and second years-if they want to try out, I s'pose I should let them, but James and Julia will be very tough competition. Tell anyone who has a problem with the try-outs to come to me. Off you go.'
'YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!' James whooped, releasing the Snitch, and laughing delightedly, 'Can you believe it? I GOT ON THE TEAM!'
'You were brilliant', Sirius replied, chuckling at James' euphoria.
'Best Seeker I ever saw', Remus praised him cheerfully.
They headed back to the school, James jumping around in circles, hugging his broom, Sirius and Remus watching, amused.
'That was a nasty trick to pull.'
James stopped spinning, and Remus and Sirius looked up; standing, blocking their way back into the school was the large group of Slytherins. A short, stocky boy with brown hair and an unpleasant leer stood in the front, his arms folded. It was he who had spoken.
'What was?' James asked, clenching his fists. The other Gryffindors, who were all making their way slowly up to the school, sped up when they saw what was going on.
'You think you're so great', Severus Snape spat out, pushing to the front of the group, 'fooling them into thinking you're a third year, showing off on that broom.'
'I just played like I always play. I wasn't showing off', James retorted.
'Leave him alone, and let us pass', Sirius added, glaring at his cousins.
'Ooh, ickle Potter has a whole twoop of loyal fwiends', Bellatrix shrieked, in a mocking, baby's voice.
'What are you, his bodyguards?' Snape sneered. The Slytherins howled with laughter, and James pulled out his wand. Sirius did likewise, but Remus remained still, his face set, a frown on his face.
'You're brave enough now, aren't you?' Sirius shouted at Snape, 'now you're surrounded by all your wonderful pure-blood friends! You weren't so brave the other day, when you hid in the toilet after hexing me, were you, eh?'
Snape pulled out his own wand, and laughed. 'I'm not stupid enough to start a wizard's duel when I've got no back-up', he replied, 'but I wonder who'd win today?'
'Would it be you three pathetic losers?' Bellatrix asked, pretending to be serious.
'Or would it be us?' Queried a pale boy with white-blond hair and a pointed face, rolling his wand between his fingers.
'That's enough! Snape, Malfoy, Miss Black, and all the rest of you, inside! Now!' Everyone turned and saw Arthur Weasley sprinting from the lake, looking furious, his bookbag hanging from his arm, his wand in his right hand.
It was then that it happened. Sirius heard James give a yell, and shove him to the ground-a jet of yellow light had barely missed Sirius' head. James leapt to his feet. 'Attacking while our backs our turned, eh?' He roared furiously at Snape. He raised his wand. 'EXPELL-'
'GLACIARE!' Snape bellowed, before James could finish the spell.
The Gryffindors watched in horror as a stream of blue light hit James in the chest. Ice coated his whole body, freezing him where he stood. Sirius let out a yell of rage, and, dropping his wand, ran at Snape. Remus tried to hold him back, but was pushed violently away, as Sirius bashed into Snape, knocking him off his feet.
'Coward!' He shouted, whacking the other boy furiously. Snape raised his wand, but Sirius slammed his fist down on Snape's hand, causing him to yell in pain, and drop the wand. They fought viciously, and nobody was quite sure what to do. The Gryffindor quidditch team egged Sirius on, while Arthur Weasley aimed a stunner at Snape, but missed by an inch or so.
'Stop it! Sirius Black, get off him now, come on, this won't help anything, gte off him!' Arthur yelled.
'Lift the curse yourself', Lucius Malfoy drawled, his lip curling.
'I don't know how', Arthur looked helplessly around, 'I never saw it before.'
'That's because it's not something they'd teach us at this rubbish school!' Snape choked, as Sirius had a go at throttling him.
'Lift-the-curse-or-I'll-put-you-in-the-hospital-wing', Sirius grunted, banging Snape's head off the ground with each word. Snape looked rather dazed, and Paul MacNally remarked 'I think he'll be heading there anyway.'
'Right', Arthur shouted, 'I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm going to have to- EXPELLIARMUS!'
Sirius and Snape were blasted apart by the force of the spell. Sirius scrambled quickly to his feet, and would have attacked Snape again, if Remus and Adam hadn't caught him by the arms and held him back.
'Take the curse off', Sirius snarled.
'No', Snape was barely able to sit up-he had two black eyes, a bloody nose, a split lip, and a very, very sore head.
'Snape, I'm ordering you to take the curse off James', Arthur thundered. Sirius looked at his friend-he was frozen solid, a look of fear on his face.
'Severus, if you lift the curse, I will see to it that you are suspended', Narcissa spoke for the first time.
'You can't do that!' Arthur looked scandalised. The Gryffindors shouted abuse at the Slytherin students.
'I can. I'm Head Girl. I'm above you. Isn't that right, Lucius?' Narcissa said coolly.
'She's right you know', Lucius Malfoy answered smugly.
For a moment, it looked like all hell was going to break loose. A few of the older Slytherin boys cracked their knuckles menacingly. Several Gryffindors reached for their wands.
'What on earth is going on here?' Professor MacGonagall shoved past the knot of Slytherins at the door, and stared down: She looked from the frozen form of James, to the moaning Snape, to Remus and Adam restraining Sirius, to Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, who were eyeballing each other. Her jaw dropped. She began to tremble with rage. 'What happened?' She demanded.
'Snape attacked James, and refused to lift the curse.' Sirius growled.
'Sirius beat Severus up, Professor', Bellatrix said quickly.
'And the Head Girl just ordered Snape to leave the curse on Potter', Arthur said, glaring at Malfoy.
Professor MacGonagall looked thoroughly shocked. 'Seventy points from Slytherin, Mr Snape', she said coldly, 'and fifty from Gryffindor. Incendiare!'
The ice that surrounded James melted, and he fell flat on his face, coughing and choking.
'How dare you all behave in such a manner', hissed MacGonagall, 'be thankful I was so lenient. Now go, quickly, to your common rooms. You're not to leave them again today. No, Mr Malfoy, not even for dinner. And you!'
She turned to Narcissa, an expression of cold fury on her face. 'You have abused your position as Head Girl', she said, 'thirty points from Slytherin, and a trip to Professor Grappenhall's office for you. Off you go. Mr Potter, are you all right?'
James was finding it difficult to breathe. 'Yes, Professor', he gasped.
'Good. Now come along, inside all of you! Mr Snape, go to the hospital wing.'
***
DISCLAIMER: Forgot to do this earlier-I don't own or have any rights to Harry Potter or any of the other characters created by Joanne Kathleen Rowling -more's the pity!
Several days passed, and the first years began to get used to the school and its grounds. Professor Grappenhall continued to run her classes as though she were in charge of a concentration camp. Sirius and Jed were given the task of cleaning the floor of the Great Hall and Entrance Hall for their detention. Several times, Slytherins marched purposefully across the clean floor, leaving muddy footprints all over it, but with Professor Grappenhall watching, neither boy could retaliate, or use magic to clean the floor again.
All in all, Sirius enjoyed classes- Professor MacGonagall was strict, but fair and kind. Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, was friendly, and earned a special place in their hearts when she informed them that for their first few weeks, she would not set them any homework. Professor Flitwick, the Charms instructor, was a tiny man, with a squeaky voice, who seemed to be immensely popular among his pupils. The Potions master was a middle-aged man with a steel-grey goatee, named Ralph Mordecai, and last but not least, the astronomy teacher was a young man, in his first teaching post-Professor Bloom.
It was seven o'clock on Friday evening, and James, Sirius and Remus were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Remus was doing his Potions homework ( 'we can copy it off you, can't we?' James had asked pleadingly), Sirius was reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages', and James was polishing his broom- a Skysailor 5000.
'Listen up, everyone!' someone shouted from behind them. Everybody in the common room turned to look at a tall, skinny boy with a crew cut who was standing on an armchair in the middle of the room. He nodded, satisfied that people were listening. 'For those of you who don't know me', he began in arrogant tones, 'I'm Paul MacNally, quidditch captain. Now, our team is looking for a seeker and a chaser this year, and I want to let you know that trials will be held tomorrow after lunch, on the quidditch pitch. First and second years needn't bother turning up, I will only take players from third year and above.' The boy jumped down from the armchair, and people resumed their conversations.
'That's not fair!' James cried, 'I want to be seeker!'
'Well, you'll have to wait 'til you're in third year, won't you?' Remus replied mildly.
'No way', James said determinedly, 'I'm going to try out. Will you try out too, Sirius?'
Sirius thought for a moment, then shook his head. 'I'm not much good at seeking or chasing', he replied, 'I like Beater best.'
James sighed heavily and turned to Remus. 'What about you, Ray? Will you come?'
Remus looked up, and shook his head. 'I've never been much good at quidditch', he said quietly.
Sirius studied Remus; he was quite pale and tired-looking. 'Are you all right?' He asked concernedly.
Remus nodded and said rather quickly 'of course, why wouldn't I be?'
Sirius shrugged. 'You're even quieter than usual, that's all.'
James groaned loudly. 'I'm going to bed', he announced, looking sulky, 'to think of a way to try out for seeker. You two coming?'
'I've got to finish this', Remus responded, yawning, 'I won't be long.'
Sirius stood, and with one more curious glance at Remus, followed James to the dormitory. 'What're you planning?' He asked interestedly. James was standing in front of the full-length mirror in the dormitory, his glasses in his hand, staring at his reflection. He shot Sirius a wry grin in the mirror. 'D'you think I could pass for a third year?' He asked, trying to make his hair lie flat, and failing miserably.
Sirius studied James briefly, then said 'Yeah, s'pose you could. You're not really tall enough, though.' James was several inches shorter than Sirius. He made a face. 'Well, I dunno how to make a Growing Potion, so there's not an awful lot we can do about my height.' He collapsed backwards onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling, screwing up his eyes, trying to think of a plan. Sirius changed into his pyjamas, and continued reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages'.
'Hey, James, what team d'you support?' He asked, glancing up from his book. There was no answer. Sirius saw that James had fallen asleep fully clothed, still clutching his glasses in his hand. He laughed to himself, and couldn't help wondering what hair-brained scheme James had settled on using to get in to the trials.
Sirius was walking along a dark, narrow path, alone. 'Sirius Black, what have you done to us!' came a wail, from somewhere to his left. It was his mother's petulant voice. 'You have ruined the family name! You are a disgrace to the name of Black!'
'Sirius, I disown you!' Bellatrix shrieked again and again. Sirius groped around blindly, trying to find his relatives, because he knew he did not want to be on that path by himself. He tried to step off it, into the darkness, but he couldn't. The reproaches and scoldings from his various faily members were getting louder, and more persistent. Then, through the cacophony, Sirius heard one, unfamiliar voice, say pleadingly, 'the amulet...I need it...please!'
'What amulet?' He shouted, staring wildly around for the owner of the voice.
'Amulet? What're you on about, ya dozy idiot!'
Sirius sat bolt upright, wide awake and breathing hard. Remus was sitting on his own bed, which was opposite Sirius', watching his friend anxiously.
'What amulet?' Remus repeated his question, 'what are you talking about?'
'Wish I knew', Sirius muttered, running a hand through his hair, 'what time is it?'
'Eight o'clock. James fell over my suitcase on his way out of the room about fifteen minutes ago. Woke me up.'
'Where was he off to?' Sirius rubbed his eyes vigorously, and rolled out of his bed.
'He said something about quidditch.' Remus shrugged. 'Wanna see what he's on about?'
Sirius nodded, and dressed quickly. The two boys hurried down to the common room, where they found James standing by the window, talking to a tall, sandy-haired boy with freckles. James spotted his friends, and waved.
'Adam here is on the quidditch team', he informed them as they approached, 'he says MacNally-the captain-is in sixth year, and doesn't really know anyone from the years below him. He might recognise me from the Sorting, though, so I'll just leave my glasses here, and try and make my hair look different.'
'If you take off your glasses, you won't be able to see anything', Remus pointed out sensibly.
'Adam has a phial of pretty good Sight Strengthening Potion, he said he'll let me have it, for fifteen galleons', James explained, his eyes shining with excitement. He turned to Adam. 'D'you promise you won't say a word to MacNally, 'til after the trials at least?'
Adam nodded and grinned. 'Cross my heart and hope to die. I hope you're as good as you seem to think you are! It'll put MacNally in his place if you make the team-he thinks first and second years are useless.'
'Well, I'm gonna show him just how wrong he is', James replied grimly, handing Adam a pouch full of galleons.
James spent the whole morning chewing his finger nails and polishing his broom. 'You're going to wear out the wood', Sirius remarked, as James scrubbed at a non-existent stain with a dirty rag. The three boys went down to lunch together. Adam winked at James, and whispered something to the girl who was sitiing next to him. She looked up interestedly, and grinned over at James, who smiled nervously. Sirius tried to coax him to eat some Yorkshire pudding, but James went slightly green, and shook his head.
Adam seemed to have passed the word on to a lot of people, about James' plan to try out, because Sirius noticed a lot of people glancing at James curiously. A few patted him on the back, and wished him good luck. 'You'll get on', Sirius reassured him, 'don't worry about it.'
James looked around at the large number of Gryffindors who were standing on the pitch with him. He swallowed hard. Sirius and Remus waved, and headed for the stands. A few Slytherins had turned up to jeer at the Gryffindor quidditch team-Sirius spotted Bellatrix, Narcissa and Snape amogst them.
'Of course', Bellatrix said, in a very loud voice, 'Slytherin are looking for beaters this year.'
Sirius felt anger bubbling away inside him. Why couldn't she just leave him alone for a while? He would rather never get to play quidditch again than play for Slytherin.
Paul MacNally strode onto the pitch, and began to issue instructions to his team. He asked the potential Seekers and Chasers to form two seperate lines. Then he took to the sky (he himself was a beater, along with Adam) with his team, and began to play a game. Every few minutes, he would dismiss the players currently trying out, and call forwards two others.
Sirius saw that James had ended up very last in queue, and was gripping his broom so tightly that his knuckles were white. The current Seeker was atrocious-at one point, the Snitch was hovering only inches from his left knee, and he didn't notice. Sirius could see James was itching to get up there and show them all how it was really done.
'You stink!' Bellatrix cackled, pointing at one of the Chasers and laughing. 'Why did you even bother to come out here?'
'Shut up, Bellatrix!' Sirius couldn't take it anymore. Remus placed a warning hand on his friend's shoulder, but Sirius had no intention of doing anything else. He merely glared at his cousin, why returned his glance with a look of contempt.
At last, James' turn came. He kicked off the ground, and shot into the sky. He flew high above the stands, turning his head this way and that, searching for the tiny golden, winged ball. He was superb. MacNally and the rest of the team were all exchanging glances of delight. None of the Seekers had stood out, and MacNally had just about given up hope of finding a decent player, when along came this boy, whom he had never seen before, who flew with fantastic style and skill.
Within minutes, James had caught the Snitch. The Slytherins stared at him, angry that he had flown so well. Sirius noticed that Bellatrix was watching James intently, as though trying to recall something, but the thought barely registered, as he and Remus leapt up and cheered wildly for their friend. James clutched the Snitch tightly, and beamed. MacNally blew his whistle, and called everyone down to the ground. Sirius and Remus left the stands and walked over to the group, anxious to hear what the captain had to say.
'Well done, all of you', MacNally said, looking around, and smiling. 'Most of you were good, a few were very good, and well...there were one or two exceptional players among you.' His gaze rested on James, whose eyes widened. 'What's your name, kid?' MacNally asked him.
'James Potter', he replied, somewhat breathlessly.
'Well done, James. You're our new Seeker. Julia Cleansweep, you're the Chaser. Congratulations!'
It was then that Bellatrix put two and two together. 'Hey!' She called, striding on to the pitch, 'hey you, captain! MacNulty or something, isn't it?'
Paul rolled his eyes impatiently and said 'MacNally. What do you want?'
'I heard you only take people from third year and above?' She phrased it as a question, with a malicious glance in James' direction.
'Oh no!' Sirius moaned. He knew what she was going to do. He had never realised she would go this far, all because some hat said he should be in Gryffindor.
'Yeah', MacNally said agressively, 'so?'
'Well that boy', Bellatrix shrilled, pointing dramatically at James, who had frozen with shock, 'is a first year!'
Paul looked from Bellatrix, to James, to his team mates. 'You play well, Potter', he said, watching the boy shrewdly, 'I haven't seen a Seeker that good in a long time.' He looked at his team again. 'I think we could bend my rules a bit, don't you?'
Adam shrugged and grinned. 'They're your rules, like you said Paul. Personally, I think you'd have to be crazy to reject this kid.' The rest of the team murmured their assent. Paul turned back to James and smiled briefly. 'You're determined, you're quick, and you've got brilliant reflexes. There's no way I'd refuse to put you on the team.'
Bellatrix' jaw dropped. Sirius smirked. Her neat little plan had backfired, and she didn't like it. She flounced off to join the Slytherins again, and they marched up to the school, throwing dark looks over their shoulders. Paul was speaking again. 'Right, you lot, thanks for coming. Pass the message on to all the first and second years-if they want to try out, I s'pose I should let them, but James and Julia will be very tough competition. Tell anyone who has a problem with the try-outs to come to me. Off you go.'
'YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!' James whooped, releasing the Snitch, and laughing delightedly, 'Can you believe it? I GOT ON THE TEAM!'
'You were brilliant', Sirius replied, chuckling at James' euphoria.
'Best Seeker I ever saw', Remus praised him cheerfully.
They headed back to the school, James jumping around in circles, hugging his broom, Sirius and Remus watching, amused.
'That was a nasty trick to pull.'
James stopped spinning, and Remus and Sirius looked up; standing, blocking their way back into the school was the large group of Slytherins. A short, stocky boy with brown hair and an unpleasant leer stood in the front, his arms folded. It was he who had spoken.
'What was?' James asked, clenching his fists. The other Gryffindors, who were all making their way slowly up to the school, sped up when they saw what was going on.
'You think you're so great', Severus Snape spat out, pushing to the front of the group, 'fooling them into thinking you're a third year, showing off on that broom.'
'I just played like I always play. I wasn't showing off', James retorted.
'Leave him alone, and let us pass', Sirius added, glaring at his cousins.
'Ooh, ickle Potter has a whole twoop of loyal fwiends', Bellatrix shrieked, in a mocking, baby's voice.
'What are you, his bodyguards?' Snape sneered. The Slytherins howled with laughter, and James pulled out his wand. Sirius did likewise, but Remus remained still, his face set, a frown on his face.
'You're brave enough now, aren't you?' Sirius shouted at Snape, 'now you're surrounded by all your wonderful pure-blood friends! You weren't so brave the other day, when you hid in the toilet after hexing me, were you, eh?'
Snape pulled out his own wand, and laughed. 'I'm not stupid enough to start a wizard's duel when I've got no back-up', he replied, 'but I wonder who'd win today?'
'Would it be you three pathetic losers?' Bellatrix asked, pretending to be serious.
'Or would it be us?' Queried a pale boy with white-blond hair and a pointed face, rolling his wand between his fingers.
'That's enough! Snape, Malfoy, Miss Black, and all the rest of you, inside! Now!' Everyone turned and saw Arthur Weasley sprinting from the lake, looking furious, his bookbag hanging from his arm, his wand in his right hand.
It was then that it happened. Sirius heard James give a yell, and shove him to the ground-a jet of yellow light had barely missed Sirius' head. James leapt to his feet. 'Attacking while our backs our turned, eh?' He roared furiously at Snape. He raised his wand. 'EXPELL-'
'GLACIARE!' Snape bellowed, before James could finish the spell.
The Gryffindors watched in horror as a stream of blue light hit James in the chest. Ice coated his whole body, freezing him where he stood. Sirius let out a yell of rage, and, dropping his wand, ran at Snape. Remus tried to hold him back, but was pushed violently away, as Sirius bashed into Snape, knocking him off his feet.
'Coward!' He shouted, whacking the other boy furiously. Snape raised his wand, but Sirius slammed his fist down on Snape's hand, causing him to yell in pain, and drop the wand. They fought viciously, and nobody was quite sure what to do. The Gryffindor quidditch team egged Sirius on, while Arthur Weasley aimed a stunner at Snape, but missed by an inch or so.
'Stop it! Sirius Black, get off him now, come on, this won't help anything, gte off him!' Arthur yelled.
'Lift the curse yourself', Lucius Malfoy drawled, his lip curling.
'I don't know how', Arthur looked helplessly around, 'I never saw it before.'
'That's because it's not something they'd teach us at this rubbish school!' Snape choked, as Sirius had a go at throttling him.
'Lift-the-curse-or-I'll-put-you-in-the-hospital-wing', Sirius grunted, banging Snape's head off the ground with each word. Snape looked rather dazed, and Paul MacNally remarked 'I think he'll be heading there anyway.'
'Right', Arthur shouted, 'I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm going to have to- EXPELLIARMUS!'
Sirius and Snape were blasted apart by the force of the spell. Sirius scrambled quickly to his feet, and would have attacked Snape again, if Remus and Adam hadn't caught him by the arms and held him back.
'Take the curse off', Sirius snarled.
'No', Snape was barely able to sit up-he had two black eyes, a bloody nose, a split lip, and a very, very sore head.
'Snape, I'm ordering you to take the curse off James', Arthur thundered. Sirius looked at his friend-he was frozen solid, a look of fear on his face.
'Severus, if you lift the curse, I will see to it that you are suspended', Narcissa spoke for the first time.
'You can't do that!' Arthur looked scandalised. The Gryffindors shouted abuse at the Slytherin students.
'I can. I'm Head Girl. I'm above you. Isn't that right, Lucius?' Narcissa said coolly.
'She's right you know', Lucius Malfoy answered smugly.
For a moment, it looked like all hell was going to break loose. A few of the older Slytherin boys cracked their knuckles menacingly. Several Gryffindors reached for their wands.
'What on earth is going on here?' Professor MacGonagall shoved past the knot of Slytherins at the door, and stared down: She looked from the frozen form of James, to the moaning Snape, to Remus and Adam restraining Sirius, to Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, who were eyeballing each other. Her jaw dropped. She began to tremble with rage. 'What happened?' She demanded.
'Snape attacked James, and refused to lift the curse.' Sirius growled.
'Sirius beat Severus up, Professor', Bellatrix said quickly.
'And the Head Girl just ordered Snape to leave the curse on Potter', Arthur said, glaring at Malfoy.
Professor MacGonagall looked thoroughly shocked. 'Seventy points from Slytherin, Mr Snape', she said coldly, 'and fifty from Gryffindor. Incendiare!'
The ice that surrounded James melted, and he fell flat on his face, coughing and choking.
'How dare you all behave in such a manner', hissed MacGonagall, 'be thankful I was so lenient. Now go, quickly, to your common rooms. You're not to leave them again today. No, Mr Malfoy, not even for dinner. And you!'
She turned to Narcissa, an expression of cold fury on her face. 'You have abused your position as Head Girl', she said, 'thirty points from Slytherin, and a trip to Professor Grappenhall's office for you. Off you go. Mr Potter, are you all right?'
James was finding it difficult to breathe. 'Yes, Professor', he gasped.
'Good. Now come along, inside all of you! Mr Snape, go to the hospital wing.'
***