I hadn't talked to James Potter since Saturday. It was Wednesday now, and I had Quidditch practice. None of the other teams had even had tryouts yet, so we were ahead. And we were going to win! Our only real competition was Gryffindor, but I was going to make sure we won, no matter what it took. I don't care how long and hard we needed to practice, I wasn't going to lose to James, I had a little more pride than that. The only thing is that James seemed a lot more committed this year compared to last year. I wasn't as sure about winning as I was last year.
Classes had been boring this week and the last week; the only thing the teachers seemed to want to talk about was how important our O.W.L.'s were. If they weren't doing that, they were covering and re-covering the material that "was most definitely going to be on the O.W.L.'s." McGonagall was the worst by far—she spent fifteen minutes of every day reciting the exact same speech on how important O.W.L.'s were and how we would fail if we didn't study as hard as possible. I was sick of the exams before I had even taken them. I also was covered with homework, which I had no idea when I would have time to do. Quidditch was taking over all my time.
The weather was getting progressively worse everyday. It would rain for five minutes, stop for five minutes, then start all over again. It was the time of year when it was best to stay inside and do homework or play Exploding Snap. But no, I had to go outside to teach six people how to act like a team and play a game Quidditch that would win us the cup, which we won last year, thanks to me! (A/N: sorry if she's sounding prideful, I'm not trying to make her that way.) I was so sick of being the only one truly 100 committed to the team. Even last year, Louise didn't care that much.
I smiled as I stepped outside, finally seeing the sky without rain, for once. I skipped joyously to the changing room and put on my new Quidditch robes. I looked horrible in green; it clashed with my eyes. I preferred to wear black and purple, it looked better on me, it also helped me be a little more confident, which was something I lacked, a little too much of.
It was 5:30—the time everyone was supposed show up at practice. Kyle was the only one to show up on time. The rest finally came, but they were an hour late. They walked into the room laughing and smiling as if someone had just shared a hilarious joke, but I highly doubted that was the situation. I clicked my tongue impatiently as they changed into their Quidditch robes.
Once everyone was ready, we walked out onto the pitch. I gave the Quaffle to Malfoy and the Bludger to Goyle, who looked at it, confused, as if he didn't know what to do with it. I released Snitch, and Kyle gave it a five-minute start. No one was playing very well tonight. Normally, they were at least a little bit better. It made me sick to my stomach just thinking about how horrid it would be if James saw how badly we were playing.
"Malfoy, you need to pass the ball. Let the others score!" I yelled over all the noise. "And Crabbe, you're job is keep the Bludger away from the team, not at the team! You're all playing as if this is your first time on a broom. Pick it up!"
It had started to rain, again. I was freezing as the wind beat against my wet body. We played for another hour or so, until it was too dark to see anything, and we were playing even worse than we had ever played before. I wasn't sure why we were so bad this year. The only knew player was Kyle, and he was doing great. We landed, and everyone went to the changing rooms.
"Okay, everybody, I'm not gonna lie, practice could have been a lot better. We'll have practice again next Monday at five o'clock, we need as much practice as we can get," I said. "Now, this applies to everyone but Kyle—if you're late again, I'll have to kick you off the team."
I was thrown looks of pure anger from all the others. I didn't really want to kick them off the team, but I didn't have a choice. I needed players who were committed to the team, not to running around and doing secretive dark arts. I finished changing and walked outside. It wasn't raining anymore; I was kind of disappointed. I had wanted to jump around and enjoy the beautiful, stormy, night sky. I loved the rain more than anything else in the world.
The Gryffindors have tryouts on Friday,I thought. Maybe I'll come by to see what we're up against. Not to see James though. Right, I'm just to see the competition. He came to see my tryouts; I might as well go see his. That makes sense.
I walked up and into the castle then into the Great Hall. I was actually able to eat something for dinner before it was all cleared away. Everyone was gone, so I had to sit by myself. Not that I really cared. I normally was by myself anyways, just not literally. It was quiet, giving me time to reflect on all that had happened. It was so much nicer than dealing with everyone around me, eating and making noise. But, still, I wanted to get out of here. The silence was creepy. It was just too quiet. I ate as fast as I could, so I could go to bed. I needed to sleep; it's been so long since I had gotten a decent night sleep.
I was drinking the last of my pumpkin juice Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter walked in, looking as if they had just won the lottery.
"Hey, Prongs, it's Snivellus's little sister!" Sirius yelled, walking towards me.
I was mad at him already. Just 'Snivellus's' little sister, am I? I thought angrily. Sirius was the complete opposite of his brother, who was in Slytherin.
They sat down near me and I automatically looked up at James. His hair was so perfectly messy that I was almost drooling.
"What's the hurry?" James asked me, messing up his hair the same way he did when Lily was around.
I looked around the hall to make sure she wasn't here. Once I was done, I turned back to James.
"Sleep" I said. I began my eating process again.
"That sounds exciting," Sirius said, sarcastically. He was laughing and smiling.
I ignored him and turned to Remus. Out of the three of them, Remus was the most civilized, him being a Prefect, unlike his crazy friends.
"I can't believe Slughorn," I said. Remus and I had Potions together, and we both despised Professor Slughorn. He had his favorites, and although I was the best in the class, he didn't care for me. "He's making me work with Lestrange AND Malfoy. I already have to spend enough time with them at Quidditch practice. They don't work; all they do is talk about random dark arts. I have to do everything myself!"
Remus laughed and pointed at the others. "Try working with them! All they do is goof off and flirt. They expect me to do all the work, myself."
I laughed—Remus was a lot of fun to talk to. Although I was done, I didn't get up. No one else was eating; I was wondering why they were still here. I started looking at James, who was talking to Sirius. They were whispering very quietly, and snickering at various moments. I turned to Remus again started to talk. I couldn't stop laughing for over a minute. Remus was really great.
"Hey, where's the other one, Peter, isn't it?" I asked, finishing up the last of my juice.
"He's in the Hospital Wing, someone cursed him. Actually it was your dear ol' brother," Sirius told me, taking a swig of my pumpkin juice, which I hit him for. "I think he was trying to get James but missed and got Peter instead."
"That sounds a lot like Sev," I said. I looked over at James, but tried to avoid eye contact. He knew how sensitive I got when people talked about Sev around me.
"You done yet?" James asked, changing the subject for me.
"Yeah," I said, taking one last swig of my juice and standing up. I stretched my legs and I was happy to be going to the common room, maybe Sev would be alive enough so I could copy is potions homework, which was due tomorrow, and which I had no time to do.
The moment we all got up, the food disappeared from the table. The lights turned off, and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't see a thing in front of me and I kept bumping into the guys. I must have run into James five times, Sirius three, and Remus seven times. As soon as I made my way out, I tried to walk towards the dungeons. I was happy for the chance for sleep. I was able to take about five steps before James yelled after me.
"Oh no, you don't!" James said, pulling me in the opposite direction. No one said anything until we were sitting down by the lake.
"Andy, do you know why we brought you here?" Sirius asked, smiling.
"No," I said, confused. I looked around. Remus was reading a book in his wand light; Sirius was taking off his shirt. James was looking at me as if he knew something I didn't, which was probably true. I was scared, I knew something bad was going to happen, but I couldn't even begin to guess what.
Shirtless Sirius turned to me. "This is why!" he yelled. Then, he pushed me into the lake. I was freezing; it was probably only thirty degrees underwater. I cursed at Sirius. He just laughed and laughed at me. James offered me his hand, and I took the chance to pull him in. He was under the water for a while; I was scared that the giant squid had eaten him. But, then he popped up, laughing at my worried face. His hair was flat—it was horrible! I couldn't stop laughing at him.
"Prongs, your hair," Sirius said, between laughs. James shook his head vigorously. His hair went back to its normal sexy self. I smiled to myself. It was so hard to stop looking at him. I pulled myself out of the water. Sirius handed me a towel. As I put it on, I felt a sudden warmth fill through my body.
James was out of the water. He was taking off his wet shirt and pants, leaving him just in his boxers. He had a nice six-pack. That Quidditch had sure done him good! A huge smiled grew across my face, which Sirius must have noticed. He nudged me, raising an eyebrow, and nodding at James.
"You like him, don't cha?" Sirius whispered in my ear. He was smiling. I hoped that he was just guessing and joking, I didn't want him to know I liked his best mate.
"No, and even if I did, which I don't, he's too hung up on Lily to notice," I hissed angrily back at Sirius.
Remus looked up from his book and broke into a fit of laughter. I don't blame him; we must have looked strange. Sirius shirtless, James in just his boxers, and me standing with a towel wrapped around me, freezing in the almost full moon moonlight. Just thinking about it I started to laugh. Everyone else joined in. Soon, we were all on the floor, rolling around in a laughing frenzy.
Once we were had gained control of our bodies again, we got up and moved towards the castle. James pulled out his cloak, just in case Filch came by. I decided to let them walk me to the common room, knowing I would probably get caught. It was crowded with Sirius, James, and me under the cloak. Remus didn't was fine, he could just say that he had gone to do his "prefect" work.
I left them shortly before we reached the portrait, so they didn't know the exact location. They waved goodbye and I waved back. I said the password ("Basilisk!") and walked inside. Some people were still up, including Lucius, who just had to ruin my night.
"Where were you?" he demanded. As if he cared.
"None of your business," I told him, walking towards the dormitory stairs.
"I'm a Prefect, it is my business."
"I was..." What was I to say? "I was walking around. You're not gonna tell anyone, now are you? Goodnight, Malfoy."
I walked up to my dormitory, opened the door, collapsed on my bed, and fell asleep. I dreamt of breathtaking, exquisite, gorgeous, faultless James Potter.