A/N: Thanks so much if you've made this a favourite or added it to your alerts, it's really nice to know people are enjoying it - of course, if you wanted to communicate your sentiments verbally through - I don't know - a review, maybe? That would be nice too haha. Anyway I'm feeling a bit uneasy about this chapter... It's actually fairly sparse in Sirius himself, but I quite liked the idea of looking at the James/Sirius dynamic. I don't know, tell me what you think. Also, from here on I've got a couple chapters written-up already, but before I put them up I wanted input: do you like random snapshots i.e. after this chapter, a story from when they're older, then after that another one when they're young, OR would you prefer it to be entirely chronological? Please do let me know, and I hope this chapter is at least readable... Thanks!
It was a bright Tuesday evening and the late spring light was pouring through the windows of Gryffindor Tower, pooling it in gold. James Potter – fifth year quidditch captain – and his best friend, the much-coveted Sirius Black (James would be much coveted too but he had long-ago made it clear he was only interested in the feisty Lily Evans) were not soothed by this lovely weather however, and were instead having a loud argument.
Their latest attempt at a prank – as they told it, trying to steal a Niffler to chuck on Snivellus, who was so shiny the Niffler was bound to get confused and attack the greasy git – had been discovered by Professor Kettleburn, who had reported it to Professor McGonagall. However, they had only caught Sirius, as James had somehow disappeared in the nick of time – later, Astra would discover the existence of his invisibility cloak – and thus without proof, McGonagall could not out rightly punish Potter too, even though she had enough experience to know that both of them must have been involved.
So instead, on top of a week of detentions, she had banned Black from playing quidditch for the rest of the school year – something that pained her with the upcoming final versus Slytherin, but it was the only way she could effectively punish the pair.
And so it was that James Potter was yelling at Sirius Black, because even though everyone knew that Black wasn't half the quidditch player James was, with under a month left until the cup final against the very tough Slytherin team this was a setback the first-time captain really didn't need. But Sirius in turn was just as adamant to blame Potter, because if he hadn't "disappeared" then McGonagall would've just given them both detentions and let Sirius stay on the team.
James was pacing up and down now, muttering in frustration, "This is ridiculous! How am I supposed to find someone to replace you at such short notice? I mean we're meant to be having a practise tonight but… Brown's off with dragon-pox and he's the only semi-decent potential chaser in Gryffindor. I s'pose we could get Smith in as chaser and try to find a new beater instead, but she works really well with Crompton, and you don't want to upset decent chemistry between your beaters if you can avoid it. Then again maybe the team needs a bit of a mix-up to keep things lively – maybe this was a good thing…"
Sirius, meanwhile, looked bored, although there was a definite tinge of annoyance clouding his eyes – the thought of being replaced, though necessary, was not exactly pleasant.
He then glanced up at the clock on the wall and said, in a haughty tone, "Right, well, much as I'd love to hear more about how great it is that I've been chucked off the team, I said I'd meet Nicole before I went to my detention."
Nicole, a pretty Hufflepuff fifth year with silvery blonde curls, was his current girlfriend – not that he kept them long, as he was far more interested in his friends than in girls. Everyone knew that when Sirius said he was going to 'meet' Nicole, what he actually meant was that he was going to have a stupidly long snogging session with her - snogging was widely considered to be the main reason Sirius Black had so far bothered with girlfriends, not that the girls of Hogwarts objected because - well, it was Sirius Black.
A few more tense words were exchanged between the aggravated best friends before Sirius strode out of the portrait hole, but by that point fourth year Astra Tallis, sat by the fireplace, had gone back to slugging her way through her essay for potions – at the mention of Nicole, she had lost interest.
Not that she had any particularly high hopes for herself and the effortlessly elegant Sirius Black – indeed, she had hardly spoken a word to him since that first day on the train. True, Astra had not really spoken that much with any of the four boys who had aided her on the train that first day - they were an extremely close-knit group, and whilst they were generally sociable, they always seemed to be preoccupied with some sort of inside-jokes, and recently were often nowhere to be seen- but with that said, she was still on friendly enough terms with Remus.
Indeed, she could always expect a warm smile of acknowledgement from Peter and James too (although she liked Peter slightly less than the others, if through no fault of his own; she just didn't like that he was called Peter, but he was not her Peter – this grown-boy had nothing to do with her dead younger brother, and she couldn't help but feel slight resent towards Pettigrew as a result of that).
But the one boy from this group who didn't acknowledge her was the one who; if she was honest with herself she – along with just about every other girl at Hogwarts – had a thing for.
She sighed, cursing under her breath as she scratched out the last sentence for what felt like the hundredth time that night – she kept calculating the amount of Murtlap essence needed for the potion incorrectly. When it came to actually brewing potions, whether from instructions or from instinct, she was actually fairly good; however, she was extremely slow when it came to calculating the correct measurements and amounts, but she had to persevere, had to set a good foundation this year for next year's OWL, because she had to get a NEWT in potions to be a healer.
And thus she trawled onwards, now attempting desperately to work out just how many lace-fly wings would be necessary to turn the potion she was writing about the right shade of blue.
This was why, even if she was Sirius Black's ideal girl in all respects (and she highly doubted this), she would never expect anything to happen – she was far too focussed on her schoolwork to let a fleeting crush distract her, besides which she was fairly certain that Sirius Black had not once noticed her since she had been sorted into Gryffindor on that first night. On top of being fairly shy, she had almost immediately immersed herself in work and was more often than not hidden behind a book.
Alice, who had fast become her best friend, often teased her that she ought to have been in Ravenclaw the amount of work she put in, and truth be told the Sorting Hat had been considering it, before it decided that she would work hard regardless of what house she was in, but there was a streak of bravery and nerve within her that being in Gryffindor would help to develop. She was not effortlessly clever like the Ravenclaws either – she spent her time behind books because she had to. Needless to say, when Jack Tallis had heard his daughter had been sorted into Gryffindor – his old house - he had been ecstatic.
Just as she thought she had finally calculated the right amount and moved to open her textbook to check, she heard James Potter swearing – he had been hurriedly sketching out a new quidditch formation on a piece of parchment, but apparently it was no good, and he crushed the parchment into a ball.
"Oh thanks, Potter – I'll just clear up after you then shall I?" Asked an indignant seventh year upon whose desk James had flung the ball of parchment. James shrugged, and murmured an apology before pacing up and down again until Remus and Peter, having finished their revision for the moment, came to join him and discuss matters.
Astra continued to skim through her book, hardly noticing the incredulous seventh year misaiming his toss of James' scrap of parchment into the fireplace, until she glanced up and caught it, barely paying attention as she flung it straight into the fire, eyes still focussed on her book, frowning slightly. As such she was not at all prepared to find James Potter stood in front of her, gaping.
She managed a small, confused smile, although she really did need to get this essay finished, "Uh, hey Jam-"
"Astra, are you any good on a broomstick?" He asked, bluntly.
She blushed, eyes refusing to meet James' as she began, "Well, er, I mean, I can-"
"She's not a natural by any means, but she can fly decently enough if she's confident about it, but she's quite cautious and slow", stated Alice, who was sat nearby, smirking when Astra glared at her.
James Potter heaved a sigh of relief, as though he'd been expecting far worse, "Great, no, that's fine." He looked over to Remus and Peter, yelling with a grin, "And Gryffindor have their new chaser!"
He then looked at Astra again, and misinterpreted her expression, speaking in a placating voice, "Don't worry; we've got a month to integrate you into the team, it should be fine. Thank Merlin! Anyway, come on; it's time for practise."
Astra did not get up, and instead began to peruse her potions book again, while mumbling in a sheepish tone, "It's really nice of you, but I can't."
"No, really, it doesn't matter if you're not that great at flying, as long as you can stay on your broom and work the quaffle like you did that bit of parchm-"
"James, I'm sorry – I can't be on the team", she stated, looking up this time, speaking in a startlingly confrontational tone considering her normally shy demeanour – indeed, James raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I really don't have enough time; I need to get good grades but I'm really slow when it comes to potions, and when I'm not working I'm helping out in the hospital wing. I've just got too much work-"
"Work?" James groaned, looking appalled. "Tallis, you're only in fourth year it's not like it matters—er, but", he added hurriedly, spotting her defiant look, "If it means that much to you one of us could help you out with potions so you can spend enough time on everything else and still have time to be on the team?" He glanced around and then a lopsided smirk appeared on his face, "Evans can help you with potions, she's joint best in the year."
The red-headed girl in question was glaring at him with as much vigour as he was smirking, "Potter, you can't just volunteer me-"
"Come on, Evans; I know you want us to beat Slytherin! Plus," he added, in a slightly deeper, adult voice, "It'll be good revision of fourth year potions for the OWL…"
Lily sighed melodramatically, though a smile definitely twitched on her lips, "Oh all right, I s'pose I can help you out. I'm sure Sev' will be up for helping too."
James scowled slightly but said nothing, instead looking hopefully down at Astra with some newly-found puppy dog eyes, "See; now you're sorted! Please; it'll only be for this match and then Sirius'll be allowed to play again, even though Milne's leaving this year so there'll be a space for a chaser, but if you really don't want to do it again next year, hopefully there'll be some fresh talent. Go on, we can't lose to Slytherin."
Astra gave-up, smiling in exasperation, "All right then, but-", she added pointedly, before James got too into his celebratory war dance, "I don't actually have a broom."
There was a slight hesitation visible on James' face, though no interruption to his boisterous dance, as he replied, "That's fine – bet Sirius won't mind you using his one until you get your own, I'll go and get it."
And before she could say another word in protest, because surely Sirius Black would mind, James Potter was running up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. Astra tried to avoid Alice's smug expression, because Alice alone knew just how squirmy the proposition of riding Sirius Black's broom would make her. It felt like a snitch was zooming around in her stomach; exciting but also nerve-wracking because while such intimate contact with an item belonging to Sirius Black was certainly a pleasing idea, she couldn't imagine that Black would be too happy having his replacement chaser (whose ability to fly was questionable) using his broom.
James was bounding down the staircase again with a sleek, ebony broomstick slung-over one shoulder, whilst his hand tucked away what appeared to be a mirror into his left pocket; at the time Astra had considered that perhaps the rumours of James Potter's vanity were not entirely unfounded.
"Are you sure he won't mi-?"
Potter grinned and replied firmly, "He's fine with it."
There was no point in asking how James knew this as they walked out of the common room – Potter and Black had always seemed eerily telepathic, and if there was anyone for whom Black would lend his possessions to complete strangers, even if he was currently arguing with him, it was James Potter; his best friend. With little else to say, the pair strolled down to the quidditch pitch in silence, James whistling to himself, Black's broomstick still carelessly strewn over his shoulder.
"It must be a pain, losing one of your chasers right before the final", Astra blurted, feeling far less at ease with the silence than Potter appeared to be.
James appeared to ponder this for a moment before replying, slowly, "It's annoying losing a chaser, yeah; but it's sort of more than that. I mean, don't tell Sirius I said any of this," he locked eyes with her in assurance, before continuing in an undertone, "He's not that great a player by himself - in the trials, Brown was probably better than him. But together, me and him, we play incredibly – well, you've seen us."
He casually ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair and grinned nonchalantly as a group of Ravenclaw girls walked past, giggling and nudging each other.
"It's great having your best friend up there playing with you – nothing like it. And what with Pete being afraid of heights and Remus always being-", he coughed suddenly, now speaking hurriedly, "Well, I mean, he's ill a lot of the time and, er, he never really has the time, especially with prefect duties and everything."
He paused once more looking thoughtful, "So, er, yeah, playing the final without him's not really gonna be the same, not just because we've lost one our chasers, but… it's nice flying knowing there's someone up there with you who'll always have your back. And also, he's the only one who's honest with me about whether I'm being a prat."
They had reached the changing rooms, and for a moment James looked quite startled at his own ability to be sensitive, before hurriedly handing her the broomstick and wandering off, muttering about seeking some spare robes that might fit his new chaser.
Astra bit her lower lip slightly as she stared down at the dark broomstick handle she now found placed firmly in her hand. Thinking over his words, Astra got the impression that there were very few people about whom James Potter would speak like that, with such sincerity, and that regardless of what he said the friendship went beyond the mere nicety of having a good friend on the team with him - what he and Sirius Black had, it didn't just seem like a deep friendship, it was like a brotherhood.
She was startled out of her thoughts by the appearance of scarlet quidditch robes being thrust into her arms – "They should fit you, might be a bit baggy but we can always shrink them so they fit you properly after today."
Astra was about to say her thanks when gangly seventh year Grace Milne strode past, groaning as she saw her, "I thought Black being chucked-off was just a bad rumour; typical, putting a stupid prank over the rest of the team."
"It's my fault as much as it is his, so there'll be less of that, Milne", snapped James in an uncharacteristically harsh tone.
"Alright, I was just saying!" she retorted, hands raised in a gesture of innocence, "Anyway, I trust your judgement, Potter, so I'm sure this one will be good." She nodded at Astra with an alarmingly stern expression before going to get changed.
Astra was about to join her, but found that James was blocking her path, a reassuring and grateful smile on his face.
"Thanks for doing this. Don't worry; you'll be fine. Crompton and Smith are good enough that you don't need to worry about the bludgers, and me and Milne will be right there with you." He looked about to walk away, before thoughtfully adding, in an off-hand tone, "Oh, and, er, when Evans is tutoring you…"
"…Yeah?"
"Do us a favour and put in a good word for your captain?"