"Well James, congratulations are in order." Remus Lupin said to him.
James looked up from his position of lying on the Gryffindor Tower floor. "What are you going on about?"
"You've obviously managed to change enough to have a civil conversation with Lily. That's a feat."
James rolled his eyes. "A civil conversation is all I can get."
"It's something, mate." Sirius said cheerfully. "Besides, the prank went well, don't you think?"
James nodded, calling up the memory of the laughter that had erupted once everyone walked into the Great Hall.
Girls were instantly clad in tiny bikinis that magically accentuated every asset. The boys all wore a pair of swimming trunks that glowed neon in the dark. The suits of armor had tiny Gryffindor print bikinis.
James had gasped when he saw how amazing Lily looked her suit. He had to force himself to look away, to pay attention while Professor Dumbledore (clad in a pair of blue and white striped swimming trunks) spoke. The food, which the Marauders had planned carefully, was of no use to him; he couldn't even appreciate the beauty of the prank when he was so near (okay, she was nearly a dozen seats down but still) her.
He was rudely brought back to the moment by a smack upon his head. "What was that for?" He asked, rubbing it.
"To bring you back to earth, mate." Sirius answered. "Stop dreaming of Lily. We've got Quidditch plans to coordinate."
James grinned. This he could do. Besides Lily, Quidditch was his favorite thing.
"Brief me on the stats," James ordered, enjoying his new status as Captain.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Someone's got a big head," he muttered before taking a piece of parchment from Remus. "We've Leoma Mountjoy as Keeper. Keane Wiswall and me as Beaters. And then there's Sennett Van Rensselaer and you as Chasers so we need a Seeker and another Chaser." Sirius glanced up at James.
James sighed. "I think we need tryouts for each position. We need some new blood."
Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Keane's getting a bit kooky in his flying. I think he took one too many bludgers to the head."
"He got hit by twelve during the last match." Peter supplied from his corner. He noticed the surprised looks. "What? I was doing the stats for the last captain."
James shrugged. "Keep doing them, Petey. But we do need to hold tryouts. When do you suppose would be best?"
"Saturday would work." Remus said, glancing at the calendar in his notes. "It's the week before…" he trailed off but it didn't matter. The others knew what he was alluding to.
"Saturday it is," James grinned. "Petey, be a pal and post some notices up, will ya? I've got to get this thing off the ground. What's today?"
"Thursday," Sirius said helpfully.
James's eyes looked panicked for a moment before giving way to excitement. "Remus, you'll have to help me choose."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Not so demanding, Prongs." He said. "But yes, I'll help you decide."
"Am I to try out too?" Sirius looked at him innocently.
James nodded. "Sorry mate but I've got to be fair. I don't want to be accused of playing favorites."
"I surmised as much," Sirius sighed. He looked gloomy for a moment before cheering up. "Why not ask the girls to try out? I bet they can all fly."
James scratched his head thoughtfully. "Could be useful…" He didn't bother to finish his statement. He jumped up off of the floor and ran to book the Quidditch pitch. Then, he waited in delicious anticipation for the tryouts.
---
It was a rare and sunny Saturday, the clouds shading the sun perfectly. James grinned as he walked out to the pitch to look upon the new recruits.
He looked them over before barking out, "Who here is a first year?"
A few hands were raised sheepishly.
"You'll have to leave the pitch," he said, not unkindly, "First years aren't allowed on House teams."
The first years walked dejectedly off the field and onto the stands, where they joined the other bystanders. It surprised James how many people had actually turned out for the tryouts. Besides the former team there was a whole slew of people (mostly girls) sitting in the stands watching.
"So everyone who was on the team last year stand over here. I'll need you to assist in these tryouts." James watched as Leoma Mountjoy and Sennett Van Rensselaer walked over to him. "Where's Keane Wiswall?" He asked.
"He quit. Says he hasn't enough time and needs to study for his O.W.L.s. And he's got a girlfriend." Leoma said obligingly. She was a slight girl of Greek descent. Her hair was cut extremely short and framed a rather prominent nose.
"Bloody hell. Alright then, Sirius you'll have to help me with the Beater tryouts." James said to his friend. "That's what we'll do first."
James spent the next hour watching Beaters fly and hit the bludgers between them. He had them set off in pairs, hitting back and forth. It was a hard task to manage with so many people on the field but after a while he found a pair that worked well.
"Alan Sutton and Pamela Sidney! Into the stands. Black! Come here! The rest of you wait a moment!" James shouted.
Sutton grinned at him and walked off the pitch while Sirius came towards him. Pamela gave him a flirty look, which he ignored.
"Who did you fly well with?" James asked quietly.
Sirius thought for a moment. "Paz Safford was pretty good. She kept the bludgers decently between us and had good aim."
James nodded. "That's what I thought." He shouted again. "Safford! Grab a seat in the stands!"
Paz Safford was a gorgeous mix of Hispanic and English blood. Her skin was tanned to perfection with long and thick dark locks that fell down her shoulders. Besides being a brilliant Beater, she would manage to distract their opponents for at least a little while. It was no wonder Remus had had a crush on her during the summer.
"Chasers and Keepers up!" James set each Keeper at one of the three goals at either end. He gave each one ten minutes to deflect as many goals as the potential Chasers could throw. Then, he sat back with his two advisors to watch.
"Finn Oswald is good," Remus said quietly.
James shook his head. "He's good at aiming but watch him when we have him fly with the bludgers and everything. I've got a feeling he won't be good."
"What about Leola Mackenzie? She's good." Sirius suggested, watching her closely. "She's a decent Keeper."
James nodded. "But is she better than Leoma?"
"That's the question." Remus said. "Why not call them both down and see how it goes with the mock game?"
"That's what I'll have to do, I suppose." James watched for another moment as the last round of Keepers came up. "Alright, suppose it's time to choose," he said to his friends. "Oye you all! Listen up! Leoma Mountjoy, Leola Mackenzie, into the stands as Keepers. Sennett Van Rensselaer, Mary Macdonald, Marcella Lewes, Liam Georgy, and Nolan Heaton as Chasers! Seekers up!"
James watched as a decidedly tired looking group of people walked up. He tried not to grimace as he watched them fly. There was maybe, maybe, one or two decent ones.
"Prongs, you might have to fly Seeker this year," Remus paused as he watched two of the potential Seekers narrowly avoid crashing into each other.
Sirius nodded. "They're bloody awful."
James didn't reply. He stared at them, hoping to find someone. When he realized there really was no one that was even remotely as good as him, he sighed. "Rossa Scully as Seeker into the stands." He picked the one that flew the best. He looked around for a minute. "Is Mirabelle Gilmour still here?" There were a few nods. "Go over to the Chasers. The rest of you can hit the showers or sit around. We're only going to try some mock matches to see how everyone flies together." James pointed. "Mountjoy, Macdonald, Georgy, Heaton, Scully, Sutton, and Sidney… team B. The rest of you, team A. Suit up and be back here in five." James gave Remus a quick look. "Please tell me which ones are decent," he practically begged.
Remus nodded as James and the others walked off the pitch.
James watched from his vantage point above the others. He was playing Seeker and watching the others. As he thought, Paz Safford and Sirius really worked well together. Much better than any of the other arrangements he had tried. He focused as Leoma Mountjoy let in a goal. He bit his lip to refrain from shouting at her. It was the easiest block in the world. Was it possible she had lost her edge? On the other side Leola Mackenzie hadn't let a single goal in. He had made the Chasers switch teams, even insisted on taking the Quaffle in himself a few times. Leola had blocked better, that was all there was to it. Now the Chasers were another story. Mirabelle Gilmour worked alright with Macdonald and Georgy but terribly with the others. Heaton was the easiest to work with, by far. Van Rensselaer had the most talent. He'd have to be put on the team. Now what about the others?
After another two hours of flying, James called the others down to the ground. The sun was beginning to set, his tryouts running much longer than had been expected.
"So the final list is: Keeper Leola Mackenzie; Chasers Nolan Heaton, Sennett Van Rensselaer, and Mary Macdonald; Beaters Sirius Black and Paz Safford. I'll be Seeker this year." James looked at everyone. "Thanks to everyone who tried out." He turned and walked tiredly away from them all, away from the joy of those who made it.
Sirius and Remus caught up to him quickly. "You alright there?" Remus asked with a concerned look.
"I'm fine," James replied. "I'm tired, that's all."
"We've got some real finds though," Sirius said excitedly. "Mackenzie's going to be great. Heaton too. And Safford's so bloody gorgeous she'll distract anyone."
James nodded without speaking, listening to Sirius and Remus chatter on and on about the new players as they entered the locker room. They even shouted to one another over the din of the showers. They were still talking about it as they went to bed.
He pulled the curtains around his bed tightly, trying not to read to deeply into his lack of interest in his team. He was extremely tired from choosing from the crowds. It took nearly an hour but at last, sleep arrived.
---
"Good morning, Miss Evans." James Potter said, pulling off his pirate's hat and bowing. He was walking into the Great Hall when he spotted her.
Wait. Why did he have a pirate's hat? "What's with the hat?" Lily asked pointedly.
"Why it's National Pirate's Day!" James shouted gleefully.
Lily looked at him and laughed. He had replaced his black school robes with a swashbuckling shirt and a pair of pantaloons. "Lovely." She giggled.
"Oh but where's your spirit?" He looked at her. "Let me help you!" James waved his wand and Lily's eyes widened as she spun around a few times.
Her robes, in the spinning, had disappeared and left her in a large and rather ruffle-y dress. "What's with the outfit?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well it's Pirate's Day, duh." James shook his head sadly, wondering how she could so easily forget such an important fact.
Lily rolled her eyes and turned away from him, biting into her toast. She didn't have to look around to know that everyone else had probably been changed into pirates too.
James plopped down into the seat beside her. "Coming to the game today?" He asked excitedly.
Lily shrugged.
"Come on, you can't skip out on your House! It's our chance to flatten Hufflepuff. And our team is pretty great, thanks to yours truly."
It was the wrong ending. Lily had been telling him she'd go but when he'd added that last bit, she decided not to say anything at all about going. "Good to see you haven't changed a bit," she said sarcastically.
"What do you mean?" James looked confused.
"'Our team is pretty great, thanks to yours truly,'" she mimicked.
James sighed. "Oh that. It was called a joke, Evans. Ever heard of one?"
"Obviously seeing as how this conversation is fits into that classification quiet well," she replied bitingly.
James stood up from the table, practically falling over the bench in his haste to get away from her. Lily merely shrugged and watched him leave.
He stormed into the changing rooms, glaring at everyone in his path. "Get dressed," he barked at two of his new players, "we're warming up in two minutes."
Leola Mackenzie gave Paz Safford a confused look but the two proceeded to grab their robes extremely quickly.
In exactly one minute and fifty-four seconds the entire Gryffindor House Quidditch team was outside, flying loops and warming up. Hufflepuff came out a few minutes later and the Gryffindor team got off the pitch to watch their opposition.
"Dammit Hufflepuff's got a new Seeker." James said softly to Sirius. They watched the Seeker dive down a few times, making sure his broom worked straight.
"It'll be fine," Sirius patted him on the shoulder. "It'll be great."
James didn't trust himself to speak, choosing instead to wait for the referee, Madam Trollop, to call the Captains forward.
"Now we'll have a nice fair match," she looked into their eyes for a moment before continuing, "Now shake hands, Captains."
James shook the hand of the Hufflepuff Captain and new Seeker, Veronica Maurice. She was an extremely tall and pretty black girl, with her hair done up in braids. "Good luck," he said with a smile.
"You too." Maurice replied.
"And now they're in the air, the Quaffle's flying… oh no, now it's falling. Wait, wait, I see Van Rensselaer has caught it. He's one of the few original players left from last year's team for Gryffindor. And he's flying, passes to Macdonald—oohh nice flying! Macdonald very narrowly manages to avoid a bludger sent her way by Hufflepuff Beater Thomas. Macdonald passes back to Van Rensselaer—wait he's dropped it! Hufflepuff's got possession… ohh nice aim Safford! Paz Safford, Potter's new Beater, just decked Powell, who had the Quaffle. She's gorgeous, that one. Oh wait, now the Quaffle's back in Gryffindor's possession… Nolan Heaton has it… he's about to shoot… he's scored! Ten nothing Gryffindor!" The announcer, Edwin Grafton, shouted. "Brilliant play, I must say! Okay, Maxwell throws the Quaffle to teammate Alexandria Jones—stunning girl—and she's flying, passes to Marcel Agnew, Agnew passes to Powell, Powell flies, shoots… wonderful save by new Gryffindor Keeper Leola Mackenzie! That's some skill! Potter's done well with his team!"
Lily watched the flying from her seat beside Marlene. They were decked out in Gryffindor colors, screaming their hearts out. A few rows behind them sat Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Neither looked extremely pleased as Gryffindor began to demolish Hufflepuff.
"Looks like Potter's spotted something… wait Hufflepuff's Seeker Maurice sees it too… they're both flying at it… hope they don't crash—those balls are new and blood is hard to get out—ooff sorry Professor, no need to take the mike from me… anyway, there they go… Potter's advancing… Maurice is too… Maurice is closer… she's reaching her arm out… wait, wait! Potter's waving his arm in the air! What the bloody hell—sorry Professor—has gotten into him?!?" Grafton announced, jumping up from his seat. "I believe he's got the Snitch! Gryffindor wins in thirty minutes with an astounding lead of 590 to 30!"
James was grinning as he met his teammates on the pitch. They had flown brilliantly and he had no qualms about letting them know it. "You bloody rule, all of you!" He shouted, his previous hang-up about Quidditch gone. "You all did amazing! Party in the Tower!"
Sirius beamed at him as he was engulfed by a group of girls. James himself was surrounded but he managed to pull Remus and Peter next to him. "Enjoy it!" He yelled. "We earned it!" Peter grinned idiotically as girls, in their haste to get to James, clung to him.
Marlene and Lily walked down to the pitch together, laughing as they passed the team in their excitement. Sirius ran over with Mary, upon seeing them.
"Enjoy the game, ladies?" He asked with a wide grin.
"Amazing," she effused, "you lot are great."
Lily smiled and nodded. She had practically lost her voice from screaming.
James saw her in the crowd but turned away. He wasn't going to let another confrontation ruin his spirit today. He pulled out his wand and muttered a quick spell.
"PRONGS!" Sirius shouted as he looked down at his clothes. Instead of his regular Gryffindor Quidditch robes he wore a most swashbuckling pair of pantaloons with a billowing white shirt. Around him, everyone stood in a similar state of apparel.
"What?" James asked innocently.
"HAPPY PIRATE'S DAY!"