Alecatq – I'm glad somebody doesn't hate Iris completely!! It would be cool to run as fast as a cheetah… *grins at mental image of p.e teachers face*
Not-Harry-Potter – ok, I'll read yours if you read mine. Btw, that means a lot from you, as I know you hate slash. But really, it isn't so bad once you get used to it. A Mary-Sue is one of those perfect characters, who always get the hot guy, and who always get whatever they want. Quite a lot of people hate them, particularly slashers, like me. Iris isn't one, btw. As for being messed up, well, its better than cutting my arm again, isn't it? Keeps me occupied. Plus I love it. Btw, he's a jaguar, get used to it!
Heather – I'll try! I know exactly how its gonna end, its getting there that's the problem!
marauder-luver-forever – Hi! You're new! Prongs came up with the idea – everyone give her a cheer! And all the slash lovers go check out her profile. She's a really, really great writer. I'm really glad you like Iris. I might use her in one of my other stories, if I do more of the marauders. Or she could even turn up in one of the modern day ones… *goes off muttering*
Daughter of Black – no probs! And I am praying for you. I hate writers block, it really sucks ass. I love the idea for the animagus too… that's why I used it, lol.
I Am A Sly Slytherin – Cool. I've held corn snakes at fairs and stuff. Nice name, but one's already been picked.
I-love-Sirius73 – thanks for the review.
Amy85 – Thanks! I'll try, but I have writer block over it! Hope you can cope till I do update it!
Dweem-angel – glad you liked the Jaguar. Thanks for the review!
Autumn reaper – thanks for the review. Get Blind Angel to me, and I'll beta it, if u like. That was such a cool story, you have to get it on here! And pretty please can I have some more of that really cool original story? Cos that was the best. (the one about Black and JC2).
Big-Jeffery – ^_~ what?
The next few days passed in a blur, full of pranks and mischief. The time went quickly and before they realised it was the day before the Quidditch Final, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The night before, Sirius and James, who couldn't sleep due to nerves, woke Harry up at 4am.
"Wake up!" Sirius hissed, shaking him.
"What? 'S all dark…" Harry mumbled, opening his eyes. James placed his glasses gently on his nose, and the blurred faces leaning over him came into focus, both grinning identical grins. Grins that Harry had learnt meant trouble.
"We're putting the books back in the Library. Get up, and dressed, while we wake Mooney."
Yawning widely, Harry scrambled out of bed and reached for his clothes and the cloak.
Five minutes later, Sirius was piling books into everyone's arms. They paired up, James and Harry, Sirius and Remus. Harry could hear the other two talking and laughing quietly, even though he couldn't see them. James was grinning still, his hazel eyes sparkling. They were both carrying stacks of books, and it was hard to see where they were going. They managed the stairs ok, but as they made their way across the common room, James tripped over a set of gobstones that had been left out and fell into a table. When the other three fished him out, he was groaning and holding his wrist.
"I think I've sprained it," he grunted.
"Oh no!" Remus gasped, concerned.
"What will you do? Tomorrow's the match!"
"Well, I can't play."
"Why don't you go to Pomfrey?" Harry asked.
"She'll want to know how I did it. She's had to patch me up enough times."
"Bummer."
"Hey, I know!"
They all turned to Sirius, expectantly. "Harry can play! Give him some sunglasses, and we'll be fine!" He turned to Harry "You'll have to play on Prongs' broom, but you'll be ok, won't you? We don't have a reserve seeker, you're our only hope!"
"Merlin, that sounds familiar."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Something really similar happened to me. My friends were saying I shouldn't play, but I had to because there wasn't a reserve seeker. Never mind. Sure I'll play, if you get me some shades, and Quidditch gear."
"Gear? Oh, robes and stuff. Sure, no worries. You can borrow mine," James said grinning. "Problem sorted! Um… what are shades again?"
"Sunglasses!"
~*~
The next morning, hidden behind sunglasses, Harry sat in James' place at the table, and no one seemed to notice the difference. He laughed and joked as naturally as he could, but his stomach was churning. He had played on James' broom before, but he felt much more comfortable on his own firebolt. And what if he didn't win? Gryffindor would loose the cup to Slytherin, and James would bear the brunt of the failure, not Harry. He couldn't do that to his Dad, he just couldn't!
With butterfly's fluttering in his stomach, Harry headed to the changing rooms with Sirius. James' kit was in his locker there, and he fingered the key in his pocket. Sirius noticed his pale face and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, I've seen you fly, and you're good. We'll beat them easily. The chasers we have are really good scorers, and they'll give us loads of goals, 'specially since the beaters for the Slimeballs are crap," he muttered, leaning down and speaking quietly in Harry's ear. Harry smiled nervously, and nodded.
"I'm just scared that if I fail, Prongs will take the rap," he said.
"Huh? Take the rap?"
"Be blamed, for me failing."
"Look, he's your dad, and I guess it means a lot to you, but he'll always forgive you. You'll be laughing about this with him once you go back to your own time, after you've won."
Sirius meant it to be reassuring, but Harry's eyes filled with tears. He ducked his head, and hunched his shoulders, glad for the sunglasses. As they reached the changing rooms he opened James' locker quickly and hid his face inside. Sirius couldn't know the effect his words had had, otherwise he would suspect something. Pulling his father's Quidditch gear, he changed quickly and grabbed the broom Sirius held out for him. It was a Shooting Star, the broom Madame Hooch had said was like his old Nimbus 2000. Well, at least he was familiar with the design. He had flown on it before, but that was just fooling around, not a proper match. Sirius looked worried, but managed to give Harry a reassuring smile as they headed onto the pitch.
"Prongs is in the stands, under his cloak. Look confident, swagger a bit more, act more like him. That's it. Right, here we go… I'll make sure a bludger doesn't get you, don't worry. Lily would kill me if I let James get hurt."
"She doesn't know, does she?" Harry asked.
"She probably will by now, James would have told her."
"When?"
"3… 2… 1…"
There was a scream from the stands, and the pair looked up to see Lily struggling with Remus and Peter. "YOU LET HIM DO WHAT?!?!?"
Remus managed to sit her down, and appeared to be explaining something. Peter looked down and gave them a thumbs up, mouthing something.
"What did he say?" Harry asked, curiously as they made their way into the starting position.
"Probably something like 'everything's under control, you just win the match'.' Oh, here we go!"
The teacher blew the whistle, and the two teams kicked off. The Shooting Star was much slower, but it turned ok, and the acceleration wasn't as bad as Harry was expecting. It was practically new; James has got his for his birthday a few months before.
As soon as he was in the air, Harry relaxed. This was something he knew how to do, this was something he was good at. It didn't matter what time it was, or who else was on the pitch. All he had to worry about was catching the Snitch. The Slytherin Seeker swerved in front oh him, forcing him to change direction. Gryffindor were 40 points up already. Sirius had been right; their chasers were good.
Harry flew towards the Slytherin end of the pitch, his eyes searching everywhere for the Snitch. He saw it, hovering a few metres above the circle in the centre, but as she dived the Slytherin beater send a bludger whistling in his direction, and he had to swerve to avoid it. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in the stands booed the beater, and the game continued. Gryffindor were in the lead, 80-40 when Harry next saw the snitch. It was fluttering just behind the Slytherin keeper's ear. Harry flattened himself along the handle of his father's broom and zoomed like an arrow towards the Slytherin scoring area. The Keeper dived aside with a shout of surprise, and Harry caught the fluttering Snitch tight in his fist.
Sirius was at his side immediately, crowing in delight, and the rest of the house was cheering loudly. "Gryffindor Win the Cup!!" Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were celebrating, but the Slytherins were all glaring darkly.
A grinning Dumbledore gave Harry the Cup, and he raised it high over the crowd. Winking at Sirius as he did so.
Sorry about the wait! I've been very busy. This story should be finished in the next few chapters, and they should be up soon. Sorry again for the wait! Have a cookie for waiting so long!