Sadie and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team stood restlessly in the locker room, listening as Gideon paced back and forth and delivered his pre-game speech. There was a nervous energy in the room that made it difficult to focus much on what he was saying, but, dutiful girlfriend as she was, Sadie managed to give him soft smiles of encouragement from her spot next to her brother. Both Potters shot occasional subtle glances toward the door, exchanging anxious looks each time.
It wasn't until it was time to line up that Gideon finally noticed that something was amiss. "Where is Black?!" He snapped suddenly. Sadie and James looked at each other with wide eyes, both opening their mouths to give some kind of bad excuse, when Sirius finally rushed through the door, stuffing what Sadie knew to be the invisibility cloak into his bag.
"Here!" He announced with an easy grin. "Sorry, got a bit held up." He shot Sadie and James a subtle wink, causing them to bite back smirks. The plan had worked.
Gideon still looked annoyed that Sirius had missed his speech, but there wasn't time to dwell on the matter as it was time to head out onto the field. Single file, the team marched out of the locker room to be met with the roaring cheers of the students in the stands. The exception of course, was the Slytherins, who jeered at them rudely. Gideon led them proudly to the center of the pitch as the commentator, a sixth year Hufflepuff named George Hopkins, announced their arrival.
"And coming out onto the field now is the Gryffindor team! We've got Prewett, Black, Potter, Potter, Larsen, Prewett, aaaand Dudgeon!"
The team stood calmly in front of Madam Hooch, who gave them a curt nod, as they waited for the Slytherins to come out. Several minutes passed, and the cheers of the crowd had died down to curious murmurs. A couple members of the Gryffindor team began to fidget uncertainly as they wondered where their opponents were. Sadie, James, and Sirius exchanged quick, amused glances. Eventually, Madam Hooch gave a huff of annoyance and marched briskly toward the entrance to the locker rooms. It was a few more minutes before she returned, looking a bit baffled, and, following behind her, the Slytherins finally walked stiffly onto the field.
There was a stunned silence in the stands until a few giggled broke out here and there. That was all it took for all of the students besides the Slytherins to erupt into laughter and chatter. It took Hopkins more than a brief moment to collect himself enough to do his job.
"Right!" He coughed into the microphone. "And here come the Slytherins. Flint, Bulstrode, Ellis, Hale, Avery, Mulciber, and, of course, new seeker, Regulus Black!" Sadie felt Sirius stiffen beside her. "It seems that the Slytherins have chosen a rather...unconventional way to show their school spirit."
Carson Flint, the seventh year Slytherin captain, shot a glare up toward the commentator's box as the student body giggled. He, along with the rest of his team, was sporting scarlet hair with gold streaks running through it. Sadie bit her lip to keep from laughing, while James and Sirius weren't even trying to hide their snickers.
Madam Hooch shot both teams sharp looks, causing them to quiet down. They mounted their brooms, and, at the blow of her whistle, they were off.
James was the first one to the quaffle. He tucked it under his arm and sped toward the Slytherin's end of the pitch, where Flint was guarding the goal posts. Sadie and the other chaser, a sixth year named Shawna Larsen, flew down the edges of the pitch on either side, giving him options to pass the quaffle if he needed. It was unnecessary, however. James was a fantastic flyer, and he easily wove around the Slytherin players and dodged a bludger before tossing the quaffle casually underneath Flint and into the left hoop.
With a huge smirk on his face, he flew a lap around the field, running his hand through his hair to mess it up even more than the wind was doing on its own. Sadie rolled her eyes in fond exasperation, imagining the scowl on Lily's face as he blew a kiss in her direction. She was sure that other girls in the stands were sending the redhead jealous glares.
The Slytherins, as usual, were a force to be reckoned with. After about forty-five minutes, they were at a score of 70-60, with Gryffindor barely managing to hold onto their lead. Sadie darted between Sirius and Gideon just in time to see Asher Ellis toss the quaffle toward Corvin Hale. Sadie sped forward and intercepted the pass before expertly whipping around to fly down the pitch in the other direction. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bludger hurtling toward her at terrifying speeds. Her heart skipped a beat, and she raised her free arm to try to protect her head from impact just as Sirius threw himself between her and the bludger and whacked it angrily back toward Mulciber, who had sent it toward her.
"Watch yourself, Sadie Mae!" Sirius shouted after her as she continued down the pitch.
"Why should I when you do such a good job of it for me?" She called over her shoulder, smiling in relief. She was nearing the goalposts, and Flint was watching her dangerously. With a quick glance to the side, she saw that Shawna was in perfect position to score. Sadie raised the quaffle and made as though she were going to aim at the hoops before switching at the last second and tossing it to her teammate.
Just as the ball left her fingertips, she felt a sudden sharp pull at the back of her head. Her head jerked backward, and she felt herself slip off of her broom as Shawna scored and the crowd cheered. Flailing wildly, Sadie managed to grab onto her broom handle with one hand, though it wasn't a good grip, and she could feel herself slipping. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that the ground was a long way away from where she was.
The whistle blew, signaling a timeout, and, a split second later, Sadie felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and hoist her onto another broom. A familiar smell hit her nostrils, and her arms wrapped themselves tightly around Sirius's torso without her telling them to do so. Her heart pounded, and her body trembled with adrenaline.
"I thought I told you to watch yourself," Sirius scolded her breathlessly as he landed. Even after their feet were securely on the ground, he seemed reluctant to release his hold on her.
"What even happened?" Sadie asked shakily. Gideon was speeding toward them, and James was already on the ground, gesturing furiously toward Adrain Bulstrode as he argued with Madam Hooch. Shawna landed next to them and handed Sadie her broom with a relieved smile.
"It was Bulstrode," Sirius answered, eyes flashing dangerously. "He grabbed onto your ponytail to stop you from scoring and pulled you off of your broom." Gideon had reached them now and pulled Sadie gently away from Sirius and into his own arms. Sadie missed the glares the two of them sent each other.
"It's got to be a foul." Gideon shook his head angrily. "It's illegal to share a broom, but I managed to get a timeout called in time for Black to catch you, so we shouldn't be penalized for that. Bulstrode on the other hand..." He sent a dangerous look toward the Slytherin players, who were watching them with sneers on their faces.
Sadie took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pulled away slightly from her boyfriend. "Well, thanks to Sirius, I'm good to go." She shot her best friend a grateful smile before turning to their seeker, Astrid Dudgeon. "Still no sign of the snitch?"
The sixth year was scanning the pitch even as she shook her head. "Nothing yet."
Gideon nodded. "Well, keep it up. It's a close game, but their seeker is only a fourth year. You can absolutely get it before him."
"Don't underestimate him though," Sirius warned, shooting a dark look toward his brother.
Astrid nodded, mostly to placate them, and they all hopped back on their brooms as Madam Hooch awarded a penalty shot to Gryffindor. Sadie took the shot and scored easily, pulling Gryffindor further into the lead with a score of 90-60.
It wasn't until an hour later that the snitch was finally spotted. Astrid suddenly dove toward the ground, Regulus right on her tail. He leaned forward, trying to pull ahead of her, but to no avail. Astrid's fingers closed around the snitch, the whistle blew, and Gryffindor had won the first game of the season with a score of 360-200.
Her muscles almost sighing in relief, Sadie flew to ground and dismounted to join her teammates in celebrating their victory. She leapt onto James's back, and he ran around in zigzags, both of them cheering loudly until he tripped and sent them both sprawling to the ground. They laughed loudly, and Sirius helped them both up, grinning widely. Sadie threw her arms around his neck, and he spun her around in a circle. She pulled away slightly and opened her mouth to thank him again for rescuing her earlier, when she felt Gideon pull her around to face him before grabbing her face and kissing her fiercely. Their teammates erupted into cheers around them, and they pulled away from each other after a moment, grinning sheepishly.
James was the only one who noticed Sirius walking dejectedly back into the locker rooms.
A/N: I know this is a pretty short chapter, but I just wanted give you guys SOMETHING to let you know that, yes, I am still here, and, yes, I am absolutely still working on and invested in this story. Sorry it's been a minute. I just had a bunch of crap hit the fan and have been working through a lot of things over the last few weeks. It's been a little rough. But things are better now! Classes did just start, so I can't guarantee how frequently I'll be able to update, but just know that I WILL be updating as often as I can! As always, thank you for your support! Let me know what you think!
BlueHairedRaven: I love Regulus so much and wish we knew more about him! And, of course, we all love Sirius the best. They'll get their acts together eventually lolz.