The Quidditch Game
"May I sit here?" asked Remus, gesturing to the seat next to Bellatrix. The professors had organized a meeting of the eight prefects, to discuss the second obstacle in the Hogwarts Best Young Witch or Wizard contest. They had been given the task of conjuring up an idea of how to seat the whole school so they had a clear view of the Forbidden Forest. Thankfully, none of the professors were actually present at the meeting. Professor McGonagall had hastily explained, "We're rather busy with the OWLs, you know. I'm sure capable students like you will manage."
"Certainly," said Bellatrix, and Remus sank down into a cushioned chair. It seemed as though all the prefects were talking at once, but something else was on Remus' mind. He had never known that Bellatrix was so pretty…
"What do you think, Remus?" asked Art Matthews, one of the Ravenclaw prefects. Remus jumped in his seat, and blushed. He didn't even know what Art was talking about… Concentrate Remus! Who cares if Bellatrix is pretty?
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said," Remus said, looking over at Art.
"You know, what do you think the second obstacle will be?" Art repeated, his eyes alight with curiosity.
"Oh, I haven't a clue… Maybe they'll have to fight some other dangerous creature. They've already fought a chimaera," he said. Art nodded thoughtfully. One of the Hufflepuff prefects, Naomi Oakton, considered Remus' words.
"Well, that is an idea. But I have some very big news. You know how in the first obstacle, they had to pick those golden flowers? Well…" at this, Naomi lowered her voice. "Gretchen, Hufflepuff's representative, watered hers a few days ago and a message fell out. And do you know what the message said?" she looked around at the other prefects, her eyes glittering, clearly enjoying the attention. Remus stifled a gasp. How could Naomi be so foolish as to give away such an important clue? Lily was hanging onto every word. Beside her, Bellatrix looked at Naomi darkly.
"Naomi, we're not here to discuss the second obstacle," said Daisy Clearwater firmly. Naomi quickly stopped talking. "We're here to discuss seating," continued Daisy, still watching Naomi out of the corner of one eye. She looked around at the other prefects.
"Well then. Any ideas…?"
"Ok, Lily, Naomi, Timothy and Owen, go and explain our idea to McGonagall. Daisy, Bellatrix and Remus can stay here and clean up the room. Oh, and I'll stay too," said Art, when the meeting had come to a close.
"So… who do you think will win?" asked Bellatrix, as she moved her chair back to its desk. Remus glanced around. Daisy and Art were discussing Quidditch on the other side of the room.
"I don't know," said Remus truthfully. "But I'm hoping it'll be Sirius."
"You would," said Bellatrix, leaning against a chair. "But I sincerely hope it won't be my dear cousin," she said. Remus wondered why Bellatrix hated Sirius so much.
"Bellatrix… what's so bad about Sirius?" he asked her, stopping his work for a moment. Bellatrix paused for a moment, thinking of what to say.
"He and I don't exactly share the same ideas… and because of that, we've fought ever since we could talk," she said coolly. Remus nodded.
"What would those ideas be?" he asked her. Much to Remus' surprise, Bellatrix grinned.
"Only pure-bloods should be let into Hogwarts," she said simply. Suddenly, Remus thought of something.
"But Bellatrix, if you really believe in this pure-blood nonsense, why are you friends with Lily? She's muggle-born," said Remus slowly. Bellatrix sniffed.
"Remus, that is private," she said, but Remus knew that for some wild reason, Bellatrix wasn't telling the entire truth. He knew that Bellatrix, Star and Lily were all very close, yet Bellatrix had just said that she didn't want muggle-borns at Hogwarts… They remained quiet for a minute, Remus studying the way Bellatrix's long brown ponytail fell over her shoulder, shining in the moonlight.
"You know Remus, you're not all
that bad," said Bellatrix suddenly.
Remus was rather taken aback.
"What on earth do you mean?" he asked, gaping at her. She merely smiled absently, and together,
they left the room, Remus only half aware that he was conversing about
Quidditch with Sirius' least favourite cousin…
James was thoroughly excited. Tomorrow was the very first Quidditch match of the season and he was happily anticipating it. He couldn't wait to show Slytherin who were the better flyers, and, he shivered with delight, it would be a perfect opportunity to show off to Lily!
"James, you're not concentrating," said Remus, with a sigh, putting down his quill. He and James were studying for their OWLs in the Library. Sirius was practising spells for the second obstacle in an abandoned classroom with Peter.
"Sorry, my mind just keeps wandering," said James sheepishly. Remus rolled his eyes.
"I know you're intelligent and all, but you have to study if you want to pass the OWLs," he reminded his friend, who clearly wasn't listening.
"All right…" said James, picking up his quill reluctantly. Just then, Lily, Star and Bellatrix walked into the Library. James instinctively reached up and began messing up his hair. Remus, however, was watching Bellatrix carefully. The three girls walked over to James and Remus.
"Studying for the OWLs, I suppose?" asked Star, glancing down at the open book on the table.
"Yes. You too?" asked Remus. Lily nodded.
"I'll be glad when they're over," she said, sitting down opposite James, and taking a quill out of her bag. Bellatrix sat down next to Remus, and whispered so that only he could hear her.
"Remus, meet me tonight at 7:00, in the Entrance Hall," she said, her mouth barely moving.
"What for?" mouthed Remus, startled at Bellatrix's request. She just gave him a tiny wink and said, "You'll see."
As soon as dinner was over, Remus told James that he was going to the Library to study.
"Suit yourself. I'm off to help Sirius," James replied, waving goodbye to Remus, who hurriedly dashed off to the Entrance Hall. There was Bellatrix, casually leaning against the wall.
"Oh, good. I wasn't sure you'd come," said Bellatrix brightly. Not knowing how to answer her, Remus said, "Bellatrix, why are we here? What's the point of this meeting?"
"I thought we could, er, go for a walk in the grounds or something," she said, adjusting the Slytherin badge pinned to her scarf.
"You what?" asked Remus, at a complete loss for words. Bellatrix hastily cut in.
"You don't have to, it was just an idea…" she began, but Remus quickly shook
his head.
"No, it's a lovely evening, we might as well go," he said and Bellatrix brightened up a little. They walked into the grounds and a cool breeze blew through the air.
"I can't believe how much homework we've got," said Bellatrix, shaking her head. Remus tightened his scarf around his neck and shivered in the cool air.
"Well, in no time, the OWLs will come…" he said. Bellatrix laughed.
"Not for a few months," she said.
"True, but the professors are preparing us. Trust me, the OWLs will come sooner than you think," said Remus, gazing up into the night sky.
"Brrrr, I shouldn't have suggested walking tonight. I'm beginning to freeze," said Bellatrix, apologetically. Remus, however, was staring at the sky. Bellatrix followed his gaze and sighed glumly.
"Rain," she said sadly, watching as tiny drops began to fall. Remus tugged on her cloak.
"Come on, we'd better go inside…" he said, and holding their arms above their heads, they ran back inside to the Entrance Hall. Once inside, Bellatrix stopped Remus.
"Remus, I'm not sure why, but… I really like you," she said breathlessly. So that was what that walk was about! thought a very confused Remus.
"I like you too," he said, thinking how strange the whole situation was. Bellatrix stood up on tiptoes and gave Remus a quick kiss on the cheek, before running towards the dungeons, without looking back. Remus stood in the Entrance Hall, bewildered by what had happened. If this was love, then it was certainly very strange…
James yawned and stretched, before leaping out of bed and tearing to the window. The sight that met him dampened his spirits considerably. The rain from the previous night was still falling heavily, and the sky was a bleary grey. With a sigh, James pulled on his robes and headed down to breakfast, where he met up with Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"Morning Prongs," said Peter, pouring himself a tall glass of orange juice.
"Morning," said James, grumpily. Even though he was a brilliant Seeker, in fact, most students said that he was the best Seeker Hogwarts had ever had, the Snitch would be almost impossible to see in these conditions… Gloomily, he loaded his plate with fried sausages and eggs, but he didn't eat one of them. Remus and Sirius tried to persuade him to eat, while Peter babbled on about Slytherin's new Beaters.
"Wormtail, you are not helping," growled Sirius, through gritted teeth. He turned back to James.
"Come on, mate, at least have a sausage," he said, spearing one on his own fork.
"It's not all that bad. You're the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever had," Remus reassured his friend.
"Think of Lily," teased Sirius, letting out a bark of laughter. James smiled.
"I'd better get down to the pitch," he said, polishing off a piece of bacon, and taking a swig of orange juice.
"That's the spirit!" said Sirius, thumping James on the back.
"We'll be cheering you on. Good luck!" said Remus, and with that, James strode down to the pitch.
"Alright then. On my whistle, you can leave the ground. 1, 2…" James gripped the handle of his broomstick and prepared to kick off. He glared at the Slytherin Seeker and then… Peeeeeep!
Seven scarlet-clad figures shot into the air, and seven emerald green blurs streaked after them. James did a quick warm-up lap around the pitch, before stopping to hover several feet above the game. Frantically searching for the Snitch, he listened to the commentary…
"And Gryffindor in possession! Susannah Johnson has the Quaffle! She passes to Thompson, and… ouch, a Bludger hits Thompson on the head, he drops the Quaffle… Slytherin in possession and Chandler is shooting down the pitch… he passes to Horner, Horner heads for the goal. COME ON, JACOBS! SAVE THE GOAL! Drat, the Gryffindor Keeper, Daniel Jacobs just couldn't make the save, Slytherin scores…"
The rain was beginning to get heavier and a swirling fog was starting to envelop the pitch. James could barely see his fellow players, let alone the Snitch. Apparently, his team mates couldn't see the goalposts either. According to the commentary, no one had scored since Slytherin's first goal. Suddenly, an idea hit James and he frantically signalled for time out.
"TIME OUT!" he yelled to the Gryffindor captain, but Susannah couldn't hear him. He dodged a Bludger, and flew closer to Susannah. and this time she understood. Within seconds, the whole Gryffindor team were assembled in the dressing rooms, all soaking wet and shivering.
"This is madness!" said Bronwyn Green, one of the Beaters. Her fellow Beater, Andrew French nodded vigorously. James tried to cut in.
"We can't see a thing!" Daniel Jacobs blurted out angrily. Susannah cut him off and James gladly stepped in to tell the team his plan.
"There's a spell I know that can give us reasonable vision," he said quickly and the rest of the bedraggled team looked at him eagerly. He tapped his wand between his eyes and said loudly and clearly, "Impervius!" When he received curious looks from the others, he shrugged and said, "It's supposed to give you better vision."
"James, I think it's a brilliant idea. Let's all do it," said Susannah, beaming at him. When everyone had put the Impervius spell on themselves, they strode back onto the pitch confidently.
"We'll win for sure. My vision's perfect!" said Andrew happily. Once he was back in the air, James began searching for the Snitch. Gryffindor scored three goals in a row, and then Slytherin scored again. It was at that moment that James saw the glittering Snitch, hovering near the ground. He put on a tremendous burst of speed, and stretched his arm out in front of him as far as it would go. He was nearing the ground… He could feel the Slytherin Seeker hot on his tail…
"Gotcha!" he shouted triumphantly, holding the Snitch high above his head.
"He caught it! Gryffindor won!" shrieked Star, hugging Sirius, then leaping up and dancing in a circle with Lily, who, much as she disliked James, was glad that Gryffindor had won.
Weeks had passed since Gryffindor had defeated Slytherin, and they had gone on to play Hufflepuff, snatching an easy victory. All the fifth years were thoroughly looking forward to the Christmas holidays. Even though they would have to study for most of the time, Christmas cheer was contagious and spread all over Hogwarts. James and Remus had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, to help Sirius prepare for the second obstacle. Remus had told Sirius about the golden flower, but they had been so busy with schoolwork that they hadn't had a chance to water it yet. Peter was the only one going home for the holidays, and they were thankful for this. Sometimes he could be very annoying without meaning to.
On the last day of term, everyone was in a good mood. No one payed much attention in lessons, and eventually the professors gave up trying to teach their students anything. Consequently, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter spent all their lessons playing Wizards' Chess, Gobstones or Exploding Snap.
Finally, the day came to an end and James, Sirius and Remus spent the afternoon lazing around by the lake, watching the girls, who were lounging under a large oak tree. The three boys didn't say much, because each of them was too busy thinking…
Remus was gazing blankly at Bellatrix, thinking how surprisingly nice she was. Once he had gotten to know her better, he had found an optimistic, happy-go-lucky girl. However, no matter how nice Bellatrix was, Remus still thought about how she hated muggle-borns, yet was friendly with Lily…
Sirius was staring at Star, admiring her long dark hair, which was shining in the afternoon sunlight. He dreamt of 'accidentally' bumping into her under a sprig of mistletoe…
James was gazing longingly at Lily, thinking that perhaps he was arrogant… Maybe Lily was right to date Severus… Maybe he, James Potter, was just a big show-off… At this, he shook the thoughts out of his head, but he just couldn't rid the thought of Severus wanting to kill himself. But he hadn't killed himself, and it was all because of the girl sitting a little way in front of James with long red-brown hair and big green eyes…