Sirius's head was very jumbled by Halloween. It seemed no amount of preparation could have steeled them against the amount of homework and revision they were doing. Sirius had always joked that he wouldn't go back for seventh year. Now he wished he had taken his joke more literally. N.E. certainly lived up to their name. The first Hogwarts term wasn't even over and Sirius was already feeling as if a Grindylow had dragged him through the Black Lake. Ten times. Every day of the week.
Remus was unusually calm for some reason. Remus was easily stressed during times of assessment and study. But he seemed to be coping well. Although that may have been something to do with the large blocks of chocolate he had been consuming over his homework every night.
Even James was actually working for once. Yes he did always do the essential homework. But now Sirius had started being forced by his best friend to sit and revise with him. When James talked about cleaning up his act at the start of the year, Sirius thought he would probably give up in a bit. However, James was steadily becoming more and more responsible. Sirius hadn't seen the inside of the kitchens all term. But by James keeping up his new Head Boy habits, Sirius had been talking to Ariella even more of late. He kept finding himself staring at the back of her head in classes, and his heart would jump a little when she said hello. Lily was not feeling anything of this sort for James though, and had kept a solemn stance around him at all meetings, and on any patrols she had with him.
Peter was not coping well at all. He only had three subjects to study for, but it turned out that McGonagall had it in her mind that she would work him relentlessly, until he was ready to get an Outstanding in all three. He spent most of his time in the library with Remus. If McGonagall caught him having a break she'd snap at him to get back to work. He had almost cried last time. But the problem was solved with some chocolate from Remus. Willingly given, strangely enough.
On top of all this work and confusion, the first Quidditch match of the season was coming fast. James had held the tryouts in the second week of term. Training was getting brutal, with rainy weather picking up. But the team had not yielded yet. It seemed, since the replacement of McCormack with Lacombe last year, Gryffindor had quite the dream team, and all the same people had been chosen for this year. The Beaters were hitting the bludgers back so that the iron orbs flew across the pitch like cannon balls. James and the Prewetts were passing the quaffle in fast and fluent movements. And they had to get Billson to play Keeper for practice with the Chasers, because with Sirius, they just couldn't get the Quaffle in.
They were confident with their performance, so when the day of the match dawned, the team was up bright and early with excitement. Down in the changing rooms James was giving them advice for playing today.
"Today we've got some shocking weather. There is probably more water falling form the sky than there is in the Lake. So visibility is a big problem. Watch out for other players, or you could get fouled for trying to knock them off their broom. Oh, and Sirius, try not to run into anymore bludgers or goalposts today like you did last year", James added, "If you use the tactics we've been practising we should have a clear shot at the win. So get out there!".
With that, the team slung their brooms over their shoulders and exited the changing rooms. As soon as Sirius walked out, he was almost pushed into James by the wind. His best friend had been right, the weather was shocking. But a Quidditch game had never been called off because of a silly little thing like a storm with a high possibility of causing death. Sirius could hardly hear the crowd's cheering over the howling of the rain.
The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams struggled to the centre of the pitch. Once James and the Ravenclaw captain shook hands and the whistle was blown, Sirius took off from the ground with the rest of the team.
Thirty minutes into the match and Gryffindor was in the lead. Sirius was sure these were the worst conditions he had ever played in. He had already let in two goals due to low visibility. He searched the sky above for Andrea or the Snitch, but saw nothing. Turning his head back to the pitch before him, he couldn't see much there either. But- wait. He could just make out some dark and fuzzy shapes coming towards him. Three large blobs were coming through the downpour. The blobs started to swerve. Sirius realised that they were actually all three Ravenclaw Chasers, bearing down on him in a messy arrowhead formation. He got ready to block the Quaffle. But before any of them could make a move, a black rounded object collided with one Chaser's head. A bludger.
Over the thundering deluge, Sirius could hear Frank calling out over the commentary about Billson. But the action was not over yet. It seemed the first chaser had collided with the other two. Sirius watched as they sank lower to the ground, in a mid-air struggle, before all smashing into the left goalpost with a loud metallic clang. To add to the commotion, Andrea soared down through the now lightening rain, with her fist raised. She had finally caught the Snitch.
Both teams were safely on the muddy ground when the crowd swarmed the pitch. The rain had lightened considerably, and was now lightly drizzling down on their heads. Sirius shook the water from his hair and suddenly became aware of the thousands of hands patting his back and reaching out for a hug. They had won their first match for the season.
Twenty minutes later, the team and the rest of Gryffindor house was in the Common Room (after a quick mud fight in the grounds). The rain may have dampened their robes, but it had not dampened their spirits, and there was soon a full force post-match party going on. The music was thundering loudly out of the old gramophone and the little coloured musical notes rose out of the funnel in time with the beat. Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and Honey Dukes sweets were passed around, causing more noise as people became more and more affected by their sugary properties.
Sirius was laughing with the Prewett twins, when he noticed that James had cornered Lily at the drink table.
"Not again!" said Gideon.
"Surely he should have realised she isn't interested by now", agreed Fabian, as the three of them watched the spectacle.
"Any minute now", said Sirius in a dull voice, "She'll go off in three- two- one-"
"Potter! I told you I don't want any more pumpkin juice!" the vehement redhead shouted, "And if you keep insisting that I dance with you, you are most likely to end up with it poured all over your head!"
Sirius laughed freely as James approached him and the twins, who were trying to cover up their amusement.
"I just asked her for a dance", said James confusedly.
"James, you're a terrible dancer", said Sirius, "She just didn't want her toes stood on, that's all"
"Whatever", said James dismissively.
"Don't worry, James", Sirius said apologetically, "Keep up the Head Boy act and Lily may warm up to you a little, Mr Pumpkin juice."