Disclaimer: I don't own the Marauders, but I sure wouldn't mind if I did. ;P They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do, however, own Leah Matthews and the other OCs. Don't steal, please!
Girl of His Dreams
Chapter Twelve: Loss and Gain
It was the first Quidditch match of the year, and it was exhilarating. Leah had never felt so alive, so excited. She twirled swiftly through the air, the Quaffle tucked beneath her arm safely as she approached the scoring hoops. It had just started snowing the other day, and there was now several inches of white that covered the ground. Not that it mattered to the quidditch players; they weren't on the ground, now were they?
"Ashley!" Leah hurled the mahogany ball toward the brunette, grinning with satisfaction as the girl twirled and snatched it out of the air before lobbing it past the Slytherin Keeper and through the giant hoop. Leah watched the others play, her eyes lingering on a certain dark-haired boy who was wearing a confident smirk on his handsome features.
The sky was cloudy and gray, but, thankfully, the snow had stopped for the game. This made seeing from a distance much easier, and her cerulean eyes flickered back to her boyfriend.
"Bring it on," he called loudly, and the bludger that had whizzed toward him was repelled with a swing of his bat and a loud cracking noise. Leah vaguely wondered how he had managed to not break his club, but he continued twirling it around in his hand, clearly not worried about it.
"The score is now 60 to Gryffindor and 50 to Slytherin, thanks to a good pass-and-score between Ashley Corret and Leah Matthews," the announcer called. Leah did not recognize the voice. "There's still plenty of time to catch the snitch; James Potter has been flying circles around Regulus Black, the Slytherin seeker…"
Turning her Star Tail around so that she could follow the rapid exchange of the quaffle between Gryffindor Chasers, Leah managed to get within range of their hoops and reached out as the other chaser, a boy named Erik, chucked the maroon ball toward her.
"Oh no, you don't!" Leah heard the voice and looked down to see a Slytherin beater glaring up at her. Just as the quaffle landed into her open arms, she heard the cracking noise of a bludger being repelled.
"LEAH, LOOK OUT!" Ashley's piercing scream echoed through the air and Leah looked down again just in time to watch a bludger zoom up toward her and slam through her broom, splintering the polished wood before whizzing away from her.
Leah felt the air leave her lungs and gasped as she was lifted up off her broom and then backwards through the air by the force of the bludger's impact. She began to plummet through the air, her broken broom handle still in hand, and watched as the ground rushed up to meet her, faster and faster until her vision was nothing but white, snowy grass-
Suddenly, as the ground was bracing itself for her, she was knocked sideways through the air with rough force; someone had knocked her out of the air. They tumbled to the ground, Leah landing onto her back. Her lungs ached from the lack of air and as she and her savior rolled to a stop in the cool snow, she began hacking desperately.
"Leah? Leah, are you alright?" A hand rubbed her back gently, as if trying to massage air into her lungs. "Breathe, baby…" It was Sirius.
"Si-Siri-" She coughed again, cutting off her words. She looked up at the Slytherin beater who had aimed the bludger at her. She recognized the slick blonde hair and haughty gaze; it was the same man who had disarmed her during her fight with Bellatrix. There was a pause, and suddenly the Gryffindors were standing, cheering, and Sirius pointed to James, who had the snitch gripped tightly in his hand.
"GRYFFINDOR HAS THE SNITCH," the announcer cried. "JAMES POTTER WINS THE MATCH FOR GRYFFINDOR!!"
Amidst the uproar from the Gryffindor crowd, all the players touched down to congratulate James, but Sirius was not paying attention to James; as soon as the beater who had knocked Leah off her broom had touched the ground, Sirius was on his feet and walking toward him. Leah stood and grabbed his arm, tossing the now useless piece of wood aside.
"Sirius, don't!" He wasn't listening. Leah dragged him to the ground to try and keep him from starting a fight, but only succeeded in falling unceremoniously into his lap. Sirius glared up at her angrily, his face only inches away from hers, but before he could say anything, she pressed her lips to his in an urgent, distracting kiss. His reaction was immediate: he fisted a gloved hand into her hair and pulled her closer, his other hand moving around her hip and onto the back of her thigh as she straddled him, her lips open, inviting...
"Mr. Black! Miss Matthews! Stop that inappropriate display this instant!"
Leah and Sirius broke apart in surprise, staring embarrassedly up at McGonagall. She huffed and started to reprimand them, but James approached them, grinning from ear to ear. McGonagall's face changed immediately.
"Mr. Potter, that was an excellent dive you made! You certainly made Gryffindor proud…" The crowd surged around them, and with a warm smile at the team, she hurried away, escaping before the people became too much for her to handle. James glared down at Leah mockingly, ignoring his fans.
"What the hell?! I win the match, and Sirius gets a snog? That's not fair, he didn't do anything but swoop down like a great bloody hero wannabe and…!"
"James!" Lily maneuvered her way through the crowd, a brilliant smile on her face. "That dive was amazing! I guess you're not all talk after all…" Leah laughed at the bewildered look on James' face, and Sirius pulled Leah back for another kiss.
"Don't scare me like that," he murmured into her ear. "You were coughing so hard I thought you'd swallowed the bloody thing."
Leah laughed and climbed off of Sirius, helping him to his feet. His arm wrapped around her protectively in the excited crowd, and Leah leaned in to his chest, a broad grin on her face as they stood by their ecstatic best friend, who, as he tended to, loved the attention.
"It was a pretty good dive, wasn't it? I wasn't really trying…" James ran a hand through his windblown hair, grinning proudly.
Sirius looked down at Leah, his silver eyes shining. "I love you," he told her.
"I know. I love you." Among the cheering Gryffindors, the confetti, and the teachers, Leah and Sirius shared another kiss; slow and passionate, unlike their other kisses, which were usually short and sweet. Sirius pulled away, nipping her playfully on the lip as his hand brushed flecks of snow out of her hair.
With a loving smile, his girlfriend joined Lily in congratulating James on his great capture of the snitch, leaving Sirius to sort out his sudden, inexplicably dirty thoughts.
"There you are, Padfoot." Remus brushed past a group of Hufflepuff third years and gripped Sirius' shoulder affectionately. He then noticed Sirius' dazed eyes and shook him slightly, but Sirius' gaze didn't move from Leah's form. "Padfoot? Sirius!"
"Huh?"
"Merlin, Sirius, you scared me! You looked a little… out of it."
"Did I?"
"Yes… Are you sure you're alright?"
"I hadn't noticed," Sirius said absently. He suddenly grinned and wrapped his arms around Moony's shoulders. "Hey, Moony! Did you watch the game?"
"Are you sick?" Moony reached out and put a concerned hand onto the beater's forehead. "You're acting very strange…"
"Does being lovesick count...?" Remus rolled his eyes in exasperation and headed toward Leah and the others with Sirius beside him. The crowd had mostly dispersed, eager for supper, and Leah waved to Ashley, who was walking away.
"Leah!" Erik ran toward her, holding the two halves of Leah's Star Tail. "Leah, I found them!"
"Thanks, Erik…" Leah took them dejectedly, and Erik clapped her on the back.
"It's alright," he said. "You can get a new one before the next game."
"Yeah…" Leah watched him walk off, and pulled her wand out. "Incendio." The broom burst into flames and turned to ash in the snow. "You'll be missed," she said sadly. Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"It had a nice life."
"Yes."
"I'm done here," James said loudly, swinging his broom over his shoulder. "Let's go eat, I'm starving!" He led the way into the castle, still swaggering importantly ahead of them, chatting animatedly with Lily. Leah turned, smiling at Sirius as he gripped her hand. James sighed mockingly, turning to face them as they reached the top of the stairs that lead to their common room.
"You two are so bloody cute. My dearest Padfoot has finally found his soul mate! I'm so happy!" He swaggered ahead of them, still teasing, and Sirius muttered behind her,
"He thinks he's the happy one…"
"Blibbergut," Leah said to the Fat Lady, and grinned from ear to ear as a wave of affectionate warmth washed over her. She leaned into Sirius' chest as his arm pulled her closer.
"I can't wait for Christmas," Lily stated suddenly. Remus, who had been quiet during their conversation, turned to Leah.
"Are you staying for the holidays, Leah?"
"Yes."
"Great! We'll have so much fun!" Lily clapped her hands together excitedly.
"Tomorrow's the first day of the holidays," Sirius said, his fingers entwining with Leah's. He gave her a handsome smile as they plopped down onto a couch by the fire to warm up before they changed and went down to supper. "Would you like to come with me to Hogsmeade or something?"
"Oh," Leah said. "Sorry, but I have a date already."
Sirius' eyes went wide with disbelief. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I have a date," Leah repeated, glancing slyly at Lily. Lily burst into giggles, and Sirius growled lowly, missing the connection.
"You're telling me, your boyfriend, that you can't go on a date with me because you have another date with someone else?"
"Not with another man," she replied.
"What? Is that supposed to make it better?!"
"It could be," James said suggestively. Sirius shoved him.
"Leah and I are going Christmas shopping tomorrow, no boys allowed," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "It's not a real date."
Sirius heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
"I didn't think you'd take it seriously," Leah said. "I'm sorry."
"I take everything 'sirius'ly," he replied, smirking at the pun. Leah couldn't help the smile on her face as his hands wrapped around her wrists, pinning them playfully against his chest as he leaned down for a kiss.
"You know I wouldn't cheat on you," she said, breaking away.
"Yep." He beamed down at her, leaning in for another quick kiss. "Good luck finding someone as handsome and perfect as me."
"Oh jeez," Leah said, rolling her eyes. "Deflate that ego before I do it for you…"
"What ego? I'm being honest," he protested. "You don't think I'm perfect?"
Leah couldn't resist his puppy dog pout. "I do," she admitted. "It's almost unfair."
"I don't see why you would think so," Sirius teased. "I didn't always have everything…"
"Is that right?" Leah shook her head at him. "What changed?"
"I met you," he murmured, pulling her into his lap. Leah blushed warmly and kissed him, holding his face between her hands as the silver-eyed man ran his hands along her back slowly. James whistled.
"Can't you do that somewhere else?"
Remus pulled out yet another novel and started reading, hoping to tune out the impending argument.
"Shut up, you big git! You're just jealous!"
"Am not," James replied.
"Both of you shut up," Lily snapped.
Remus sighed. It was going to be a very long two weeks.
--
A/N: Here it is! And Chapter 13 will be up soon. Anyway, thanks for the patience! PLEASE REVIEW!!