Chapter 6: The First Day

April had made her way outside, broom in hand just as July had predicted. She had changed into a light green long-sleeved t-shirt and white cotton pants. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, some silvery strands slipping out of the elastic. She hadn't had a good fly for a long time now that she thought about it. Sure, just the other day she had been competing, and winning she might add, against the Slytherins. But just to fly around and enjoy herself without competition? It had indeed been much too long.

She reached the pitch, broomstick that she had snatched from the broom closet. The best one she could find was some old Nimbus 1000. She sighed. "Not even a Twigger 30 yet."

April mounted the broom and kicked off, gripping the handle more tightly than normal when it initially vibrated uncontrollably. She frowned, remembering she wasn't on her streamlined Firebolt any longer. The Nimbus 1000's handle wasn't nearly as smooth and could have used a good polishing. She continued to survey the broom, sitting cross-legged and in ease with her height of a mere thirty feet. The balance of the broom seemed to be a bit off so she figured the tail hadn't been kept straight. Easily fixed but obviously no one on this Gryffindor team cared to take care of the school brooms. She lazily floated along the pitch and thought about moving right but nothing happened as it would have started to with her Firebolt.

She was frustrated now, with the old broom, with the old everything! She resumed a playing position on the broom and decided to see what she could make of it. Having never been much of a fan for flying slow, she gripped the handle, almost threateningly, and leaned down, urging the broom faster and faster.

Red, orange, and yellow-leaved trees, which had only seconds before been in clear view were now blurred to barely being able to distinguish between the leaves on the trees and those fallen on the ground. April pulled the handle up lightly, flying higher into the air. When she reached another twenty feet higher, she leveled out again and grinned when the three golden hoops came into her line of sight. She immediately felt as if she were back in the midst of a game, and longed for the feel of the Quaffle back in her hands again. Quidditch was her escape route when she was feeling angry, sad, anything.

And she was feeling a little angst now.

How could McGonagall expect her to remember something that transpired eleven years ago when she'd been a little kid? Not to mention the fact that she couldn't remember anything that had to do with this era. No, she remembered her childhood the way it had been "planted" in her. Was that her fault? No.

"Come on, just a little faster," she urged the broom, pushing ahead. She plummeted downwards, until she was about ten feet in the air. She knew it was dangerous to go this fast, this close to the ground, but the thrill of doing something possibly treacherous gave her a little thrill and concentrating on her flying this low took her mind off other matters.

This was how James saw her flying when he happened to wander out by the Quidditch Pitch. July had mentioned that April would be flying out around the pitch, so why not take a little jog up there? No harm in that…

Until he saw how close to the ground she was flying. And on a school broom! He assumed that a quidditch player as good as she was supposed to be wouldn't risk breaking her neck on a school broom! At least she wasn't flying the Moontrimmer. Doing what she was doing with one of those old sticks would be suicide.

James meandered over the goal posts, watching her fly for a bit. He'd have to watch her and examine her real skill before he offered her the open chaser position that had opened up on the team. He'd just had a chat with the injured player. She'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't comfortable flying after her fall and that he'd have to find a replacement. Although he felt sorry for Katie, the injured player, he knew that her decision couldn't have come at a better time. So far he was liking what he was seeing. She kept good balance on the broom, looked at ease, even while flying so close to the ground. He leaned against the middle goal post and continued watching.

April flew along, not even noticing James as she made her way to the side of the pitch facing the Forbidden Forest.

A slick, quick, movement caught her eye on the edge of the Forest and as she rounded the corner to go back towards where James stood, the broom shook roughly beneath her. Her gaze left the edge of the Forest to concentrate on getting control as the Nimbus gave another sharp jerk towards the center of the pitch. She tried pulling the handle back on the edge of the pitch but to no avail.

The broom sped on, gaining speed and jerking back and forth, up and down trying to throw its rider but also with no success. April never gave up easily and she wasn't about to be thrown from a twenty-seven year old broom!

James frowned as he watched the broom "take control" and veer towards the middle of the pitch. He straightened from his relaxed position as he noticed the broom go out of control. He shouted across to April. "CONTROL THAT BROOM, MERRIWETHER!"

April heard the shout and looked up, her gaze locking onto his for a moment before she went suddenly dizzy. The broom stopped its thrashing once James yelled and halfway from the middle of the pitch to the goal posts James was positioned near. The broom hovered about four feet off the ground and April slid off, so dizzy she could not hold onto the broom any longer.

She held up a hand, halting James who had ran to her side when she slipped off. "I'm fine." She snapped. She rubbed her temples, allowing James to finally help her sit up. She took a deep, slightly shaky breath, focusing in on something that had just popped into her head…

James frowned, looking over his potential new chaser for injuries. "Are you okay? What in bloody hell did you fall off for?"

"I didn't fall off on purpose you idiot!" She glared daggers at James. "I saw something in the Forest and when I turned back the broom was out of control, how am I supposed to know what's wrong? It's almost thirty years old for Christ sake!"

James frowned and blinked. "The Nimbus 2000 is only ten years old…"

"Whatever… What did you yell at me?"

"Huh?"

"You shouted at me! What did you say?" She focused her gaze back towards the Forbidden Forest; but it was only a wall of mangled trees, dark and formidable even in the daylight.

"I told you to take control of your broom."

"Have you ever said that to me before?" She looked extremely puzzled.

His expression mirrored her own. "I don't know…"

"You must know! As soon as you said it… I got this image from a long time ago. Must have been at least a first year." She looked down at the ground, the green grass blowing gently in the breeze. "First year and I had been outside practicing on my own Nimbus 1500." Her gaze snapped back to James'.

Her sudden angrily piercing face startled James. "What!"

"You! You said that same thing to me… 'Control your broom Merriwether!' on the first weekend of the year, first year. That's one of the reasons I never liked your little group." She turned her glare to a frown, although her emerald eyes were still sharp in focus. "I don't know what triggered that memory…"

"I don't know. But the only reason I messed around with your broom that first weekend was because on the first day of school-" James started.

April finished. "I dumped a bowl of mashed potatoes on your head during the start of term feast. But only because you called me a spoiled twit!"

James frowned. "I never called you a spoiled twit!"

"Must have been Sirius…"

"I called you a rich, spoiled twit." He broke out into a toothy grin.

April glared at him. "Ass."

James shrugged. "I try. What did you see in the Forest?"

He received a shrug for an answer. After a minute, April spoke. "I'm not sure. It looked like a cloak, but whatever it was, it wanted me off that broom." She glowered. "Do you think some kid thought I took his broom?"

James helped April to her feet. Her ankle was a bit sore and they thought it might be sprained so he gave her a shoulder while he walked and she hopped back towards the school.

"No, Apes. I think whoever did that wanted you off that broom. And not because they thought it was stolen…"

July and the others were in the Great Hall. Because sixth and seventh years were the only two with free periods, many students spent their free time in their common rooms or the library studying. The Marauders preferred the Great Hall and reveled in being unique.

"Wonder what's keeping James," Remus pondered thoughtfully.

"Said h-he was going out to get A-April to play on the t-team."

"Shut up Peter," Sirius said, using the automatic response for whenever Peter actually said something.

July looked towards the Great Hall entrance, just as April came in, wincing with her step she took. One of her arms was around James' neck as he helped her in. It seemed they were still talking in hushed whispers. April tried a stupid grin for July when she saw her twin, but her gaze shot to the other Marauders and she said something else to James. He only nodded and continued on. July looked over her sister and noticed green grass stains blotching her white cotton pants. Her light green t-shirt was also stained darker in some spots. She noticed her left ankle was swelled a bit; the fact that she could tell from across the hall made it seem worse than it was.

"July looks like she's going to have a heart attack." James observed dryly.

April grinned painfully. "Whenever she sees me hurt, which is often because I play Quidditch dirty, she gets that same look."

"Speaking of Quidditch…" But he didn't get to finish because July had reached them.

"What happened!" July demanded. "You go out for an hour and come back hurt!"

April grinned while July rambled on about how irresponsible she was.

"Stop smiling like an idiot you… menace!"

"Okay, mummy." April smiled sweetly. She took another step a wince replaced it though. The trio soon reached the Gryffindor table and April finally sat down, massaging her swollen ankle.

"Only four feet."

"Trying to commit suicide again, Vix?"

"Cram it, Black."

Sirius held up two hands defensively though he did look genuinely concerned over her condition. "Did you break it?"

"Probably only sprained."

"That's good. Hurt much?"

April raised an eyebrow. "Well clearly."

July couldn't help but grin while Sirius thought of something to say to make up for his previous sarcastic comment. Her gaze met Remus' over the two's heads and they exchanged a smile.

James cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Something weird happened down there though after April fell off the broom. The broom went out of control. Someone put a Hurling Hex on it."

Sirius and Remus frowned. July looked shocked and demanded, "Why!"

April looked dryly to her twin while she transfigured a nearby class of water into a glass of ice, and a napkin into a towel. She put the ice in the towel and placed it gently on her ankle, wincing then sighing when it started to numb the pain a little. "We don't know why… We don't even know who. James didn't see anyone. I don't even know if I did. It was kind of like a cloak but I can't be sure."

"Well I was telling April about how her parents in this time are big-shot Ministry Aurors and officials. They're pretty high up there, chummy with the Minister and all. That's why a lot of people in the Wizarding World had thought you'd disappeared."

April nodded. "And I remembered something."

July beamed. "Really! What?"

April narrowed her eyes at the Marauders. "Well it was the first weekend and the four of you had already become best mates. James called me a spoiled twit-"

"-I thought that was me!" Sirius interrupted.

"-Rich, spoiled twit." James corrected.

"Whatever. Anyway he called me that on the first day of school-"

"I thought we were talking about the first weekend?"

"Stop interrupting July. I'm getting there." She looked at Remus and Peter. "Get your interruptions out of the way so we can continue."

The two guys shook their heads. April carried on with her story. "Anyway, I remembered that James called me that and so I dumped a bowl of mashed potatoes over his head. He got back at me that weekend when I was out flying and he messed around with my broom and yelled-"

July beamed. "Control your broom, Merriwether! I remember too! It just kind of came to me, I don't know how it happened."

April nodded, grinning. "Pretty neat."

"So we're remembering some stuff. McGonagall mentioned we might. Should we tell her?" July asked the group.

April shrugged. "It can wait. I'd rather go get my ankle taken care of."

"I can't." James said.

April nodded. "Okay well you're ankles not hurt so why would you."

"I mean I can't escort you down to Pomfrey."

"Okay…"

"James hates the woman with a passion," Remus said, grinning. "Though she's not as bad as he makes her out to be."

April shook her head. "No… Actually she's pretty bad, but my ankle needs mending."

Sirius stood up. "I'll take you down."

"I can do it, you don't have to." July said. "But thanks for the offer."

"No really, I don't mind. I could probably get her there quicker, she's a lightweight. I know this from experience."

July shot April a curious look. But April's attention was centrally focused on Sirius and it didn't look happy. "If you bring me, you can't speak."

"Deal." Sirius said. "Trust me, I'd rather get you down there quick and get out. Don't take it personally but slim blondes aren't my type." Liar, he told himself.

April narrowed her eyes and stuck her nose in the air. "We'll I'd rather go sooner than later."

Sirius rolled his eyes and pretty much picked her up off the bench. After setting her on his good foot he took her arm and put it around his shoulder. "Be back soon enough, with any luck."

"Cram it, Black." April muttered.

After the two had gone, July frowned to the Marauders. "How long has this been going on? We've only been here a day."

"Since potions, I think." James said, frowning after the two. "Sirius does know what he likes."

"Well Apes is clearly oblivious," Remus muttered.

"We can help this along gentlemen," James announced to the others. He paused and held up a finger when July cleared her throat loudly. "And lady."

"That's better. Now what did you have in mind?"