Chapter Twenty: A Practice and a Surprise

James was staggered by how annoyed Lily was. He had thought that she had reached her pinnacle of wrath sometime during fifth year (against him, of course), but it appeared that he was mistaken. Lily was standing at the door to the Presidential suite, grasping the tabloids viciously, and looking at James with a look that was a mixture of disappointment, amusement, and supreme annoyance. If it were not aimed at him it would have been comical.

"Meaning?"

"Why are all of my friends staying in a famous Muggle hotel in California? Why are our pictures splashed up on this … this, piece of filth?"

James hadn't noticed that all the tabloids were covered in pictures of them. It was quite amusing, really….

"Oh, is that me and you? From when we went to see that Kelpie, remember?"

"Why does everyone have different names? And what's all this rubbish about Sirius throwing furniture out the window? The article said that one girl became a millionaire overnight selling the lot."

"Er…well, we signed Sirius up for a movie."

Lily appeared surprised – this in itself did not seem to be a cause for concern –

"And?"

"He hates the movie."

"But it hasn't been made."

"It's exactly the sort of thing that Sirius would despise."

"No chicks, no tricks, no looks?"

"Precisely. And he's stupid and homeless."

Lily sighed; this was worse than she had expected – even from James and Remus, two members of the dangerously confused quartet.

"Apologize to him; he's your best mate."

"But Remus did it."

Lily counted the days of the month on her fingers, remembered the date of the full moon, and replied imperiously,

"You know perfectly well Remus can't apologize today."

"Can't it wait till he can?"

"Don't be a coward – the door's right there."

James couldn't bear being called a coward, especially by Lily – so he gathered up his remaining courage, and knocked on Sirius' door. He waited for about a minute, and then knocked again. Finally, the door flew open, and a ghastly sight faced him: Sirius was wearing the same Muggle outfit as he had worn yesterday, only it was spectacularly wrinkled. His left cheek sported an imprint of the furry barberry carpet that lined the floor. But his appearance was nothing compared to the room behind him. Every single thing had been removed, by magic it seemed, from the room, except for the rug itself. There was no bed, no desk, no chairs, no refrigerator, no sofa, and not even any pictures hanging from the walls. The shelves in the closet had been forcibly removed, as had the light fixtures. It would have been impressive if it hadn't been so frightening.

For a moment, James almost considered apologizing. But then he remembered that it was Saturday. He faced Sirius menacingly, and commanded,

"Quidditch practice in ten minutes. I want you on the pitch in seven to discuss tactics. Your wrist will let you know."

To others, including Lily, this particular command may have been relatively unintelligible, but to members of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, it was a way of life. Ever since James had become Quidditch captain this year, he had instituted a strict regimen of practices. Each team member wore a wrist band that burned when they were to arrive at Quidditch practice, often leaving a scar at the wrist. It did not matter where you were in the world, or what you were doing, when there was Quidditch practice, it was required that you came.

Sirius was somewhat annoyed, but understood perfectly. He had been Quidditch captain his sixth year, much to James' dismay. He had relinquished captaincy when he decided it was too much of a bother to schedule his own practices, and preferred to hold spontaneous ones. James seemed to have taken the opposite approach – nearly always overscheduling.

"Hi Lily," said Sirius, weakly, surprised to see the red-haired girl in the suite.

"Feeling better?" she asked kindly.

"I'm alright. Is Lummy up yet?" Sirius asked hopefully – he had been a bit tetchy when she had knocked the night before.

"She's not – but I'll send her over to watch you all practice when she gets up," replied Lily, helpfully, smiling at Sirius' impatience.

Within ten minutes, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was gathered in a secluded clearing somewhere in California. Even Sirius was not quite sure where it was. It seemed that the rest of the team was still sleeping when they had been summoned by James. In fact, Sirius was unsure how they had arrived here at all, considering that not all of them were allowed to Apparate, or even use magic. Lucy Phelps, the fourth year seeker, looked as though she was still dressed in her pajamas. Paul Cootes, the other Gryffindor beater, a fifth year, was clad in what Sirius suspected was only a robe, but he truly hoped otherwise. Amy Moran, the truly spectacular third year chaser, looked so tired that Sirius was afraid that she would fall from her broom any moment now. Thomas Bradley, another fifth year, and the keeper that Sirius had discovered last year during tryouts, seemed to have forgotten the difference between his shirt and his pants, for they appeared to have flipped. Andrew Robbins was the last on their team, a sixth year who Sirius seemed to know very little about, other than the fact that he had appeared at practice wearing Muggle clothing.

James was having them practice the Sloth Grip Roll, a move that Sirius had taught the team the year before. As a result, Sirius was merely lounging on his broom, waiting for Lummy to appear in the field below. It was all in all a pretty good practice, considering that half the team was dead. James, however, looked disgruntled.

"I thought Moran wasn't playing up to speed."

"She made more goals than all of the other chasers, including you, James!"

"She was closer."

"James, she's the best Quidditch player I've ever seen, and this is her second year on the team! Cut her some slack, she was jet-lagged."

Personally, Sirius thought that James was jealous of little Amy, but he knew better than to bring it up, so they Apparated back to the hotel.

Lummy had just woken up, and she saw that Sirius had just returned from Quidditch practice. He looked properly sweaty, but oddly attractive, with his slightly long black hair slightly plastered to his head; his cheeks flushed red, and his deep blue eyes glittering with amusement. His mouth was curved into a pleasant half-smile, his muscular physique just visible beneath his Quidditch robes. Lummy hid a smirk when she saw that he had outgrown his robes – his ankles were peaking out underneath.

Sirius hadn't quite noticed Lummy yet – but when he did, his mouth became a full smile, and he was beaming. Lummy was disheveled, her silly pink plaid pajamas wrinkled from sleeping. She, like the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, was suffering from jet lag.

"Hey Sirius," Lummy said, shyly.

"Hey gorgeous, I've got Amelia, if you want her."

"I knew you were interested in some other girl – that's what the tabloid said," complained Lummy, mockingly.

"Well, according to this tabloid," (Sirius checked it to make sure) "You are dating Jamsie here, a guy named Paul," (Philip, Lummy teased gently), "…and…me!"

"At least you made the list," replied Lummy.

Lily and James threw each other a look that implied their amusement with Sirius and Lummy's antics. However, before anything decisive could occur, there was a knock on the door. Lily went over and obligingly opened it. Imagine her surprise when there were two burly American police officers standing in the doorway, looking positively frightening.

"We're looking for Rufus Scrimgeour."

Sirius covered a groan, and replied,

"That would be me."

"Very well then, you are under arrest by the State of California on the following counts: Destruction of public property, destruction of a historical landmark, creating a public spectacle in a commercial area, and one count of second degree murder. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you at no cost. During any questioning, you may decide at any time to exercise these rights, not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand these instructions, Mr. Scrimgeour?"

"Er, yes…murder?" asked Sirius, astounded.

The policemen did not appear to want to ask any other questions, for they wasted no time in handcuffing Sirius, and began to drag him out of the suite. Without a moment's warning, Lummy began running after the officers, shouting –

"He can't go alone! I'll go with him."

Unfortunately, Lummy was not permitted to go with Sirius into custody. Lily and James were very confused, but it was Lily who came to her senses first.

"Lily, what are we going to do? He's going to die there in jail, and we can't do a thing," lamented James, wringing his hands.

"We're going to get him a proper attorney, and he'll get off. And get tons of free publicity in the process."

"How can you say that at a time like this? Besides, who'll be his attorney?"

"That would be me."

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Yay for Lily Evans! Now, be a doll and review, love?