Ch 14
"Do you think he's okay?" asked Peter for about the umteenth time that
morning as he shoved the remainder of his breakfast into his mouth before
classes started. He wiped his mouth and repeated himself because with his
chewing and the loud bursts of cheer coming from the Ravenclaw table, no
one had heard him.
James was beginning to get a headache from the louder than usual students who were eagerly chattering about the posting of the Quidditch schedule for that season. James had to admit, he was practically jumping out of pants when he saw that beautiful sheet of paper up on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room that morning. The sun had shone brighter, the birds had chirped louder, and the brilliant blue sky had, if possible, shone even bluer. Just for him, or so he liked to think. Co-captain of the Gryffindor team this year he was, along with his best buddy in the world, Sirius Black. The Gryffindor house expected nothing but utter brilliance from their beloved dream duo and their talented team, and he wasn't about to let them down. The plays they had yet to develop, the strategies, the training- it was going to be bloody amazing.
If only Remus would just show up to breakfast so he could relax and enjoy the last few minutes of his meal without worry. He shot another glance at the entrance of the Great Hall and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted his friend walk in, healthy and unscathed. He seem to be talking to someone, but James couldn't see who it was behind the throng of Ravenclaw students. He wrinkled his eyebrows when he saw Remus start laughing; he was quite curious to see who Remus had been with during breakfast.
Lily Evan's laughing face popped out from behind the crowd of students. James's mouth dropped open for a second in shock, and then a tiny bubble off annoyance began to form in his head. Here he was, worried about the welfare of his friend, while Remus is off...doing what with Evans. He shook his head. It's alright, Prongs, it's alright. Perfectly good explanation for this. Yep. He watched them seperate and waited as Remus came over to their table and grabbed what was left to eat.
"Hah. You're a little late, Moony. I ate most of it," Sirius stated contentedly, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a belch. James looked sharply at Sirius after the burp, staring at him meaningfully, trying not to get annoyed at another friend.
"Oh yeah. 'Scuse me," Sirius said quickly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Manners Marauder.
"Prongs, you really are such a girl, though. Too bad Lily doesn't know how much of a manners-freak you are, maybe then she'd like you," Sirius said as Remus laughed at him. Peter chuckled, always glad of when he was the one not getting picked on.
"Hey! Manners are important!" James cried indignantly. "Burping is disgusting! And Moony, quit laughing. Where have you been?"
"Oh," Remus said. "You know, Hospital Wing. And I met Lily on the way down because she was running late, too." He tried to not make eye contact with any of them. Lying to teachers might be easy, but it was hard to lie to the other Marauders. They knew him too well. But he knew better than to tell them what had happened to Lily. Plus, she would probably kill him. He now knew quite how unpredictable that girl was.
"Little Miss Perfect Evans overslept?" Sirius looked positively gleeful. "She's human after all!" he cried, banging a fist on the table.
Remus saw that James looked doubtful, so he said, "Don't worry, James." He smiled slightly. That was the truth. He'd have to keep the Lily holding experience to himself. Not that it was a big deal to him.
After a couple hesitant seconds, James cracked a wide grin and his eyes sparkled enthusiastically as he immediately jumped into a new topic.
"QUI-I-I-DITCH!" He leapt up and he shouted in a loud, drawn out voice, finally able to burst out with the energy that he had kept pent up inside all that morning. Next to him, Sirius jumped up with a shout and began banging on the table rhythmically. Remus cowered down in his seat and let his two charismatic and insanely expressive friends take over.
"QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH!" James and SIrius chanted in unison, banging on the table. Immediately, their fellow Gryffindors joined in whole- heartedly, and the chant spread through the entire Great Hall like wildfire, each table joining in eagerly. Even a few die-hard Slytherin Quidditch fans couldn't help but join in the ferver. The room echoed powerfully and the Great Hall sounded like the site of last year's Quidditch World Cup.
"QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH!"
The clamor didn't even stop when students were ushered to their classes by angry teachers who were rubbing their temples. Bursts of the Breakfast Chant were heard in hallways throughout the Hogwarts castle that day, and James or Sirius never hesistated to start it up again.
-
The Gryffindor common room that night was alive with cheering students who were applauding their co-captains as they made their pre-season speech. Both James and Sirius were standing atop a table in the center of the room and took turns reciting the speech that they had made up a year ago when they were chosen as captains.
"We will not fall. WE WILL NOT FAIL!" James concluded heartily, emphasizing every word and punching a fist into the air. His hazel eyes were glowing with fiery competetiveness, the mark of a great Quidditch player. Beside him, Sirius took a swig of butterbeer that had mysteriously appeared sometime in the middle of the speech and clapped James on the back. His dark eyes emanated a similar look, but whereas James's were full-out serious, his were carefree and sparkling with excitedness. Cheers erupted from the eager students of the full common room and much hearty noisiness commenced as more butterbeer was passed around. The party only stopped when their Head of House burst into the portrait hole and screamed that they had to all go to bed, taking fifty points from Gryffindor in the process. Everyone stumbled up to their dorms, their spirits only slightly dampened.
James and Sirius walked up side by side, taking turns punching eachother on the arm, quite exhausted by the events of the day (and a bit woozy from the butterbeer), but both were trying to act as if they were fully awake.
"Prongs?"
"Yeah."
"Today was a good day."
"Yeah."
"...We need to...think of some plays.."
"Yeah."
"Kick those Slytherin arses."
"Arses... You got it, Padfoot."
"Oh those royal arses!"
"Yes."
Sirius stumbled on a step and fell flat on his face, his body sprawled out on the stairs.
"Those damn arses, I tell you."
James was beginning to get a headache from the louder than usual students who were eagerly chattering about the posting of the Quidditch schedule for that season. James had to admit, he was practically jumping out of pants when he saw that beautiful sheet of paper up on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room that morning. The sun had shone brighter, the birds had chirped louder, and the brilliant blue sky had, if possible, shone even bluer. Just for him, or so he liked to think. Co-captain of the Gryffindor team this year he was, along with his best buddy in the world, Sirius Black. The Gryffindor house expected nothing but utter brilliance from their beloved dream duo and their talented team, and he wasn't about to let them down. The plays they had yet to develop, the strategies, the training- it was going to be bloody amazing.
If only Remus would just show up to breakfast so he could relax and enjoy the last few minutes of his meal without worry. He shot another glance at the entrance of the Great Hall and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted his friend walk in, healthy and unscathed. He seem to be talking to someone, but James couldn't see who it was behind the throng of Ravenclaw students. He wrinkled his eyebrows when he saw Remus start laughing; he was quite curious to see who Remus had been with during breakfast.
Lily Evan's laughing face popped out from behind the crowd of students. James's mouth dropped open for a second in shock, and then a tiny bubble off annoyance began to form in his head. Here he was, worried about the welfare of his friend, while Remus is off...doing what with Evans. He shook his head. It's alright, Prongs, it's alright. Perfectly good explanation for this. Yep. He watched them seperate and waited as Remus came over to their table and grabbed what was left to eat.
"Hah. You're a little late, Moony. I ate most of it," Sirius stated contentedly, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a belch. James looked sharply at Sirius after the burp, staring at him meaningfully, trying not to get annoyed at another friend.
"Oh yeah. 'Scuse me," Sirius said quickly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Manners Marauder.
"Prongs, you really are such a girl, though. Too bad Lily doesn't know how much of a manners-freak you are, maybe then she'd like you," Sirius said as Remus laughed at him. Peter chuckled, always glad of when he was the one not getting picked on.
"Hey! Manners are important!" James cried indignantly. "Burping is disgusting! And Moony, quit laughing. Where have you been?"
"Oh," Remus said. "You know, Hospital Wing. And I met Lily on the way down because she was running late, too." He tried to not make eye contact with any of them. Lying to teachers might be easy, but it was hard to lie to the other Marauders. They knew him too well. But he knew better than to tell them what had happened to Lily. Plus, she would probably kill him. He now knew quite how unpredictable that girl was.
"Little Miss Perfect Evans overslept?" Sirius looked positively gleeful. "She's human after all!" he cried, banging a fist on the table.
Remus saw that James looked doubtful, so he said, "Don't worry, James." He smiled slightly. That was the truth. He'd have to keep the Lily holding experience to himself. Not that it was a big deal to him.
After a couple hesitant seconds, James cracked a wide grin and his eyes sparkled enthusiastically as he immediately jumped into a new topic.
"QUI-I-I-DITCH!" He leapt up and he shouted in a loud, drawn out voice, finally able to burst out with the energy that he had kept pent up inside all that morning. Next to him, Sirius jumped up with a shout and began banging on the table rhythmically. Remus cowered down in his seat and let his two charismatic and insanely expressive friends take over.
"QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH!" James and SIrius chanted in unison, banging on the table. Immediately, their fellow Gryffindors joined in whole- heartedly, and the chant spread through the entire Great Hall like wildfire, each table joining in eagerly. Even a few die-hard Slytherin Quidditch fans couldn't help but join in the ferver. The room echoed powerfully and the Great Hall sounded like the site of last year's Quidditch World Cup.
"QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH! QUID-DITCH!"
The clamor didn't even stop when students were ushered to their classes by angry teachers who were rubbing their temples. Bursts of the Breakfast Chant were heard in hallways throughout the Hogwarts castle that day, and James or Sirius never hesistated to start it up again.
-
The Gryffindor common room that night was alive with cheering students who were applauding their co-captains as they made their pre-season speech. Both James and Sirius were standing atop a table in the center of the room and took turns reciting the speech that they had made up a year ago when they were chosen as captains.
"We will not fall. WE WILL NOT FAIL!" James concluded heartily, emphasizing every word and punching a fist into the air. His hazel eyes were glowing with fiery competetiveness, the mark of a great Quidditch player. Beside him, Sirius took a swig of butterbeer that had mysteriously appeared sometime in the middle of the speech and clapped James on the back. His dark eyes emanated a similar look, but whereas James's were full-out serious, his were carefree and sparkling with excitedness. Cheers erupted from the eager students of the full common room and much hearty noisiness commenced as more butterbeer was passed around. The party only stopped when their Head of House burst into the portrait hole and screamed that they had to all go to bed, taking fifty points from Gryffindor in the process. Everyone stumbled up to their dorms, their spirits only slightly dampened.
James and Sirius walked up side by side, taking turns punching eachother on the arm, quite exhausted by the events of the day (and a bit woozy from the butterbeer), but both were trying to act as if they were fully awake.
"Prongs?"
"Yeah."
"Today was a good day."
"Yeah."
"...We need to...think of some plays.."
"Yeah."
"Kick those Slytherin arses."
"Arses... You got it, Padfoot."
"Oh those royal arses!"
"Yes."
Sirius stumbled on a step and fell flat on his face, his body sprawled out on the stairs.
"Those damn arses, I tell you."