AU! No war. James isn't married to Lily.
Warnings: a couple of swear words
Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
House: Thunderbird
Class: Flying
Task: 5. Captain: achieving something as a team
Bonus Prompt:
9. (location) Quidditch pitch
Word Count: 2269/4500
Coaching the Pink Bowtruckles
"I was just suggesting that Prongs could try some trust exercises with the children. That would let them become friends and they'll be better at playing Quidditch together."
James gaped at the little children chasing each other and screaming their little heads off. He wondered what had possessed him to agree to train the team for Little League Quidditch, but now, he had no choice but to go through with it.
"Listen to me!" James cried, but none of them bothered to even look at him. The Weasley twins were busy smacking Oliver Wood with their little bats, and Katie Bell was wailing at the top of her lungs. Neville Longbottom lay on the ground, chewing on something James was sure he shouldn't have in his mouth.
"Having trouble with your team, Potter?" James twisted his head and caught sight of Regulus Black smirking at him. His heart lurched in his chest at the sight, and he desperately wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.
"No, of course not," James lied through his teeth just as Angelina Johnson punched Katie's nose. "You?"
"None whatsoever," Regulus drawled, pointing at his team behind him, who stood in a disciplined queue. James felt extremely envious of his team but felt guilt overwhelm him instantly.
"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" James wondered out loud, and Regulus grinned.
"Yes, the Healers have already looked over my team, so we're done for the day."
"Good, good," James said absentmindedly, trying to extract Alicia Spinnet's hair from George Weasley's fist.
"It looks like you're… busy today," Regulus said carefully, watching James fumble with the twins. "I will see you later."
"Yeah, sure, later," James muttered, too embarrassed by his situation to look at Regulus. He knew Regulus was Sirius' brother, but Merlin, he was gorgeous as hell.
Regulus smirked as he passed by him, his team obediently walking in a straight line behind him. James groaned when he finally left, wondering why he had assumed he would be able to impress Regulus by coaching the Pink Bowtruckles, a team name he hadn't chosen.
"What's wrong, Mister?" Oliver asked, shoving past Fred Weasley and stumbling into James' thigh. He clutched onto it and stuck his tongue out at the twins, who rolled their eyes and went to trouble someone else.
"Nothing," James grumbled, trying to shake him off. "Why are you stuck to my leg, Wood?"
"They're annoyin' me!" Oliver pointed at the Weasley twins, who were now chasing Katie Bell around the Quidditch field.
James dropped his head in his palms and muttered an expletive under his breath, but Oliver heard it. "Haw! You said a bad word, Mister!"
"I'm an adult, I'm allowed — even encouraged — to say bad words," James said quickly, and Oliver stared up at him with awe, still clinging to his thigh. James stared at the chaos around the Quidditch pitch and thought, 'Merlin, I'm so fucked.'
"Why don't you try some trust exercises with them? I'm sure that'll help the kids become friends," Remus suggested later that evening. James lay sprawled on Remus and Sirius' couch, his arm thrown over his face.
"What's that?" Sirius asked, levitating the food over to the table. He wiped his hands on his frilly red apron and glanced at James. "How's that coaching thing going for you?"
"Ugh! Don't even talk about it! Your brother saw me trying to calm the children down, and I'm sure he thinks I'm a complete berk!" James whined, rolling over and burying his face in the cushions. "Merlin, why can't I just talk to him like a normal human being?"
"Because you're not normal," Peter said, plucking a few biscuits off the plate and taking a large bite out of one of them. "Woah, these are some good biscuits, mate!"
"They are, aren't they?" Sirius boasted, and Remus smacked his arm. "Oof! Okay, I didn't make them — I bought them from the supermarket."
Peter grinned and continued wolfing down the treats. "What were you sayin', Moony?"
"I was just suggesting that Prongs could try some trust exercises with the children. That would let them become friends and they'll be better at playing Quidditch together."
"Mmm, that's a good idea," Peter said, nodding slowly. "You should do that, James."
"What's that? I don't even know what Moony means!"
"Trust exercises help groups learn how to work together, improves communication and cooperation skills. It decreases arguments and fights," Remus explained patiently, and James looked interested in the concept.
"Teach me a few exercises I can try with the kids."
The next morning, when the Pink Bowtruckles assembled on the Quidditch pitch, James noticed Fred and George glaring at each other, their arms crossed over their chests. He sighed and motioned them over. "What's wrong?"
"He stole my pudding!" they cried in unison, pointing at each other.
"Listen, if you two behave today, I'll buy you two as much pudding as you want, all right?" James looked at them pointedly. "But only if you behave."
"Okay, Coach Potter," they exclaimed, their scowls disappearing instantly, and ran off. James suddenly got the feeling that he had been had; he was supposed to be a Marauder, but no, a couple of children were able to trick him. Wow, I've got Marauders-in-training in my team. Kind of impressive.
He turned to the children and called out, "Okay, team! Today, we're going to do a few exercises as a team and have a lot of fun! What do you say?"
"Okay," the team muttered, their spirits low.
"No, I want you all to be energetic! We're going to have fun and then, we'll kick the Green Hippogriffs' heinies! So, are you ready?"
"Heinies," Oliver said with a soft giggle, and the boys all burst into peals of laughter. The girls only rolled their eyes, too mature for stupid jokes.
"So, are you ready?" James yelled, and the team yelled their agreement a bit more enthusiastically. "All right, let's start with a little game called 'buddy walk', okay?"
"What's that?" Angelina asked curiously, and James grinned.
He pulled out his wand and Conjured a few tables, chairs, toys, and cones. He conjured a little slide and a few small tunnels as well. He quickly levitated them onto the pitch and set them at random places around the field. He Accioed a basket, which held blindfolds, sweets and treats.
Once he was done, he turned to his team and said, "This game is simple. You'll each be partnered up with someone, and they'll be your 'buddy' for the game. One of you will be blindfolded, and the other one will stand here on this line and guide the other through the course. But you can't let your partner bump into anything or fall over; otherwise, you'll have to start again. Understood?"
The children nodded, looking interested in the game, and James felt relieved. "Oliver, you're with Neville. Fred and George, you can go together this time. Angelina and Katie, team up. Alicia, you can go in the next round, okay?"
"Okay, Coach," Alicia said, happily stepping over to the line. "Can I be the referee? I'll tell you if they're cheating."
James agreed. Before the children could start arguing over who would be blindfolded, he said, "The referee gets to choose who's blindfolded this time."
The children turned to Alicia, who solemnly pointed at Fred, Neville and Katie. "Will they go again next round?"
"Yes, but the other one will be blindfolded," James reassured them, and the team was happy with the decision. "Now, get ready. Remember, the blindfolded one has to listen to their buddy, okay?"
The children nodded again and got ready with their partners. James made sure none of them could cheat by checking the blindfolds himself, groaning when he saw how loose Fred's blindfold was. Fred grinned sheepishly and tightened it quickly.
"Get ready!" Alicia yelled, clapping and waving them over. When everyone was in position, she said, "Ready! Set! Go!"
James watched as the blindfolded children stumbled around the obstacle course, trying to follow their partner's instructions. He snickered under his breath when Fred stubbed his toe against the chair. Angelina tried to get Katie to go left, but she kept on going right. Oliver was the only one capable of giving the best instructions to Neville, but Neville was the youngest of them all, which meant he kept messing up.
"Where do I go?" Katie yelled, flailing her arms and smacking Fred's head.
"Stop hitting me!" Fred whined, and James groaned. This isn't working.
"Okay, how about you go one by one?" he suggested, walking over and herding Katie and Fred away from the obstacle course. "Oliver, help Neville. The one who gets through in the least time possible will win."
The children relaxed and watched Oliver call out instructions to Neville. James helped him give easier directions to his partner, and Neville reached the line a few minutes later.
"Yay! We did it!" Neville squealed, throwing his arms around Oliver, who grinned and hugged him back.
"Now, Fred and George, your turn," Alicia said, pointing at the course.
Fred cracked his knuckles like he had seen his older brothers do many times but winced at the pain. "We'll do even better, won't we, Georgie?"
"Yes, we will." George got ready to call out directions to Fred. When Alicia told them to start, he said, "Fred, go left! There's a table! Go over it!"
"Go over it?" James asked, bewildered, but George ignored him and continued to yell confusing directions to his twin, who managed to understand everything he meant.
"Tunnel! Chair ahead! Go under it!"
In a few minutes, Fred had slid down the blue slide and completed the course. He removed his blindfold and high-fived George, grinning excitedly. "We were awesome!"
When it was Angelina's turn with Katie, they had a bit of problem navigating as Katie was left-handed, but James helped them along, and soon, Katie had finished the course as well. She pulled off her blindfold and squinted at James. "That was fun, Coach!"
James grinned with delight when the other children agreed. "Now, let's do that again, but this time, Oliver will be the referee, and Alicia will partner up with Neville."
He supervised the children as they went through the course again, making sure they didn't argue over inconsequential matters. Once everyone had passed the course, he noticed they looked happier than earlier. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Next, we'll do the human knot. All of you, stand in a circle."
The children rushed around to do as instructed, excited to do something interesting again. James instructed them to close their eyes and extend their arms towards the centre of the circle. "Now, without opening your eyes, grab someone's hand."
They giggled as they grabbed the first hand they could find, and James smiled, happy they were having fun. "Okay, open your eyes. You need to untangle yourselves, but you can't let go. You need to work as a team and help each other. Start!"
As the oldest of them, Oliver immediately took charge of instructing them. "Neville, don't move. Katie, move under Angelina's arm! Fred, don't let go of George's hand — or whoever you are. Alicia, turn around and come over here — don't let go!"
James was impressed by Oliver's leadership skills and remained silent as his team carefully ducked and twisted under each other's arms to become a circle again. Once they were done, he clapped, proud of them all. "That was wonderful! You all were great! Come on, let's have some ice cream."
"Ice cream!" the children squealed as they hurried after him.
"Okay, we'll do another exercise before we leave for the day," James said to his team. "We'll play the zipper game."
"What's that?" Oliver inquired, wiping his face with his sleeve. There was still some chocolate ice cream on his nose, but no one bothered to tell him.
"We'll divide you into two lines, and you'll extend your arms towards the opposite line. One of you will jog or run in between the two lines — for example, here," James said, choosing Neville. "Neville will ask zipper ready, and then, he'll walk or run or jog in between the lines, and as he moves towards you, you will lower your arms. Got it?"
The children looked dubious at first but hesitantly agreed. James clapped and said, "Okay, line up!"
The boys and girls quickly divided themselves into two groups and stood opposite each other. When they were all ready with their arms extended, Neville yelled, "Zipper ready?"
"Yes!"
At first, Neville walked between the lines, and the children quickly lowered their arms. They fumbled a bit at first but soon got the hang of it. They laughed as Neville ran between them, delighted at their job.
James switched them around to make sure they were all working together, silently thanking Remus again for his brilliant ideas. "You guys having fun?"
"Yeah, Coach!" they cheered and laughed as Fred twirled through the lines, spinning like a ballerina.
James glanced at his watch and realized it was time for them to go home. He waved them over and said, "Okay, team, you did a great job today. Tomorrow, we'll play a mock-match with the Quaffle. So, remember to take your naps! I want all of you bright and early on the pitch!"
The children agreed excitedly and chatted amongst themselves as they walked towards the benches. James was pleased the twins were not causing too much mischief and were even being civil with the girls. He had managed to get his little team to trust each other, and that was an achievement he was extremely proud of.
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