Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. All characters belong to a woman with a great imagination and determination, capable of creating this world that is the center of so many stories.

Sins of Angels: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it! Anyway, before people start yelling at me, I know for a fact that James Potter was, in the books, a Chaser, and that's according to J.K. Rowling, so I'll take her word for it. Just to clear it up, because I already had one person disbelieve me. Enjoy.

Chapter 22 – Quidditch Practice

James walked to the Great Hall the next morning, tired from lack of sleep. He entered and passed right by the part of the table where Peter, Sirius, and a scratched up Remus were sitting.

"Look at that! Potter doesn't even have enough guts to bloody apologize, does he?" Sirius said loudly. People turned to stare as James closed his eyes and muttered under his breath. He could hear the muttering begin.

Remus looked sadly at James, and frowned at Sirius.

"I can see where he's coming from, Padfoot," Remus said. Both Sirius and Peter stared at him in disbelief.

"Remus, even I won't talk to him. It was horrible, what he did," Peter said.

"He left us, mate," Sirius said, with just the slightest hint of sadness. "He doesn't want us around anymore, anyone could see that."

"I won't deny he's been acting odd," Remus said, frowning. "But we can't just cut him off."

"Why not?" Sirius asked, shrugging.

Remus sighed. "What if he needs us now more than ever?"

Sirius shook his head. "James doesn't need anyone to solve his problems, Moony. Don't you remember, after Charlie's funeral? He never mentioned it again."

"He didn't cry either. Not a single tear," Peter said, shuddering.

"That still doesn't mean that we should assume he doesn't need help!" Remus said furiously. Sirius gestured to James, sitting alone at the end of the row.

"You go talk to him, then," Sirius said. Remus stood up and went down to the end of the table.

"Hi, James," Remus said, taking a seat next to him. James didn't look up.

Blast! Remus still wants to talk to me. I have to now…I absolutely have no choice. I'm doing the right thing, I know it! It's going to save him. It'll save them all.

"James?" Remus said, trying again to get his friend's attention. Instead James shut his eyes and leaned closer to his plate.

"Get away from me, werewolf," James said, loud enough for only Remus to hear.

"Prongs, what are you doing?" Remus asked softly. James turned his eyes on him, full of hatred.

"I said, GO AWAY!" he yelled. Remus jumped back. "It was a mistake, becoming friends with someone like you!" James said. Remus gave him a look of disbelief. James realized how much he had hurt his best friends this week as the young boy he couldn't bring himself to call Moony anymore went back to his seat with Sirius and Peter.

James took his bag and rushed off, going out of a different door rather than walking near Remus and the others again. He brushed shoulders with someone, sending them into a spin from the sheer force of his speed.

"Hey! Watch it!" came Lily's voice. She realized who had done it. "James? James, wait!" she yelled and started to run after him. James quickened his pace and ran into a room, shutting the door and locking it with every enchantment he could. He put his bag on the desk and sat down, his face in his hands.

"Forgive me, Remus," he mumbled. "Forgive my actions. I'm sorry, Remus. I'm really sorry."

He started rocking back and forth, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I'm sorry I'm betraying my friends. I'm sorry I'm being such a prick. I'm sorry."

Determined to finish, as if this would turn back time and make everything okay, James kept going. "I'm so sorry Peter. I'm sorry I got so angry at you for something I'm doing now, when you weren't doing it at all. You don't deserve bad friends like me guys. You all deserve better. Much, much better. Perhaps you'll find someone else to call Prongs. Perhaps my void, however small, will be filled by tomorrow."

Lily knocked on the door, seeing if he was in there. He must be, where else could he have gone?

"I'm sorry Lily," James said, turning his eyes on the door. "I'm sorry that I'm saying no. I'm sorry that the one time you want me to ask you out, I can't. I'm sorry you have to suffer. I know how much it hurts, Lily. I know what you feel. And I hate being the one to make you feel like this. I hate that you said the three words I've been waiting for for six years, and I didn't do anything. It's for the best, Lily. It's for the best."

Lily's shadow under the door left. James looked at his watch and realized that Quiddich practice starts in half an hour. He got up, gaining his self-composure quickly. After all, he still had one more thing to do before the day ended. But it could wait. Now it was time for Quidditch. He went to his dorm, grabbed his broom and uniform and went to the changing rooms to get ready. He went out onto the field and soon, the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was there. Looking over his team, James smiled at them, hoping none of them would notice what a bad smile it was. Sirius was at the end of the row, grumbling, and Remus was next to him, staring at the ground. James cast them both worried looks. Apologizing to an empty room hadn't made things any better. He did not like the idea of giving each of his two, for want of a better word, friends their beater's bats. He had the frightening suspicion they'd want to aim Bludgers at him. Probably not that far from the truth, he thought bitterly.

"Well, team, first practice of the season," James tried to say brightly. Instead, it came out like he was worried. "I know how much all of you want to win the Quidditch Cup again this year, so practice we must!"

A boy on the team raised a hand. He was the sixth-year keeper, Frank Longbottom, and he was trembling. "Out of curiosity, James, everything all right?" he asked timidly.

James smiled, again, not very well. "Everything's fine, Frank. We have a practice to run, don't we? Let's start with some flying drills, hold off on getting the balls and all." And bats, he added mentally. Hold off on giving Sirius and Remus bats.

James kicked off the ground and the rest of them followed. A rush of wind was felt as Remus flew at high speed to close to James, an a cut appeared on his sleeve as Sirius actually grazed him. James closed his eyes and begged himself to calm down.

"Right. I want five laps around the field as I go get the chest with the balls. Get to it!"

They zoomed off and James went in the changing room, taking out his wand to levitate the chest to the pitch. He grabbed the two bats and put them down next to the box. He sighed as he composed himself, hoping that Sirius and Remus wouldn't talk to him at all in the next two hours.

"Right! Black, Lupin, come get your bats!" James yelled. Two brooms separated from the others and went down, their owners dismounting and moving towards James. Sirius came and scowled as he snatched the bat out of James's hand and went back on his broom, soaring away. James flinched as he distinctly heard him grumble swear words at him before lifting off. Remus was more polite, but James wished he wasn't.

"Thanks…Potter," Remus said, sadly using James's last name. He turned to go back up but paused and turned around again. "Look, James, whatever it is that's doing this to you, get rid of it. You're ruining your life."

Remus left, joining the team. James frowned. I may be ruining my life, but it's saving yours that counts, Remus. I hope you'll understand, someday. I really do.

"Right, here come the Bludgers!" James yelled. He set them free. "Alice, the snitch!" he yelled to Alice Harriman, the seeker. "And Katie, Cass, the Quaffle is coming up!"

He released them all and then mounted his own broom, soaring high above the team to see everyone's position. Cassidy had already gotten the Quaffle past Frank once, and James smiled as he caught the big ball, thrown by Katie.

"Come on, James! You're a Chaser too, you know!" Katie yelled at him. James gave her a grin and sped towards the goal posts, doing the one thing that makes him forget everything else, flying. Flying straight at Frank, he suddenly dropped as if he were falling. As the team stared at him, he arched his arm and waited for the right moment. As the Quaffle left his hands, Frank soared to catch it in time, but missed by a foot. James grinned. He'd been wanting to do that all summer. He turned around to be greeted by cheering and…a Bludger? It hit him in the face, cracking his nose. Above him he could make out Sirius's voice going "Oops! Sorry, Potter!"

James didn't blame him. After all, it's what he would have done. He reached up and winced as he cracked his nose back into place. Cassidy had started to hit Sirius, who was cowering from her.

"You stupid git!" she was yelling between punches. "Your job is to keep those things away from us, not hit them towards us, you prat! How James ever let you on the team is beyond me!"

"Look at it this way," Sirius said, covering his face with his arms as Cassidy's onslaught ensued. "At least you know I have good aim!"

"That's the only thing you're good for, Sirius Black!" Cassidy yelled and flew off, scooping the Quaffle from where it fell on the ground. She stopped next to James. "You okay, James?"

"Yeah, Cass, I'm fine," James said and smiled. "Well, he does have good aim."

Cassidy shook her head, smiling. "I have yet to figure out how your head works, James Potter. And I fear I may never know."

"It's okay, you're probably better off."

With another laugh, she handed him the ball. " Your turn again, James. That was some trick you pulled there."

"You liked it?" James asked. Cass smiled.

"It took skill, so of course I liked it. Now get back to showing off, captain."

"Cassidy?" James said. She turned back around.

"What is it?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I just need to talk to you later. Don't leave until I do, okay?"

Cassidy nodded. She flew back up, with James on her heels.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" James said without so much as a glance in Sirius's direction. He took the Quaffle and threw it to Katie, who was halfway down the Quiddich pitch. "This time I'll try to stop you!"

"Okay!" Katie said. She sped off towards the stands and James sped after her. He caught up to her and grinned. Just as he was getting ready to push her into the stands, two things happened. The first was that she dived. The second was the Bludger that caught him in the side and winded him. Katie scored, turned around, realized what had happened, and started chasing a grinning Sirius around the pitch. "I can't believe you did that again!" she yelled as she struggled to overtake him.

"What now, Katie?" Sirius yelled back. "He was on the opposite team! It's my job to hit them!"

"He's right, Katie," James said, holding the Quaffle. Katie stopped her chase. "Okay, you and Cass gang up on me now."

The two girls nodded. He flew out to the middle of the pitch and smiled as they charged at him. The two girls did a loop and took either sides of him as he tried to outrun them. He clung to the Quaffle and cursed under his breath as he noticed that Sirius was about to hit another Bludger. He smiled as he saw the Bludger fly off to the sky, but as he turned back to the goalposts, his vision was immediately filled with a…a…bat? It hit his forehead and he stopped, dizzily rubbing the spot where it hit. The two girls kept going until they noticed his absence and looked back, to see him rubbing his head and Sirius diving after his bat. Before either of them could make a move, Alice beat them to it.

"Stop doing that, you insufferable git!" Alice said, smacking Sirius on the back of the head. He grinned at her.

"It slipped!"

"Sirius Black, there's no way in hell that bat just "slipped" into James's face!"

"Look, I didn't mean to hit him…in the face."

Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm taking your bat away!"

"You can't do that!" Sirius said indignantly. "She can't do that!" he repeated, turning to the others. "Potter, tell me she can't do that!"

James fuzzily looked down at the three Siriuses looking back at him expectantly.

"I…I'm dizzy," he concluded. Remus tried to hide a smile and Frank chuckled. "Practice is over," he said and gently floated down to the bottom. He unsteadily got off his broom.

"I've got the snitch anyway," Alice said, showing him the ball. James looked at it, unfocused.

"Right. Bloody good job, Alice! I suspect we'll win next month!"

"James, mate, why don't you just go to the changing rooms. I'll get everything," Frank said. James smiled at him.

"Frank, you're a good…person," he said, giving off the impression he's drunk. He swayed slightly as he went back to the changing room, and Sirius allowed himself soft chuckles so that the team doesn't attack him again. Instead, everyone but Remus turned to glare at him.

"What?" he asked, acting dumb. Frank shook his head at him, but his grin suggested he had found the whole matter funny. Remus chuckled as the others passed them.

"Git," Katie said, glaring at Sirius.

"Prat," was Cassidy's remark.

"Prick," Alice said, walking away.

"Big vocabulary you three have, isn't it?" Sirius called after them. They turned to glare at him, but decided not to say anything.

"That was a rather amusing show, Sirius," Remus said from next to him. Sirius shot him a devilish grin.

"You think? That prick deserved it."

Remus chuckled. "I can't believe you managed to find some excuse every time you hit him."

"Well, he shouldn't have said those things to you. And he shouldn't have fought with me. He's being very stubborn, Moony."

"Know what, Sirius? I think you miss him already."

Sirius laughed softly as he started for the changing rooms. "Maybe I managed to knock some sense into him."

Remus laughed as they entered. They changed with the rest of the team and were the first to leave. One by one, they all left, except for Cassidy and James.

"James, what did you want to talk about?" she asked worriedly.

James fixed Cassidy with an unstable stare. Then he remembered and his mind became clear. He smiled. "I need you to do me a favor. It concerns Lily Evans."