School passed quickly as Remus settled into a routine of meals, lessons, and exploring the castle with his friends. His second transformation at Hogwarts came and went without incident in early October. Before he knew it the Halloween Feast was upon them.

Live bats fluttered around their heads in the Great Hall and giant orange pumpkins cast an eerie glow over the feasting students. The Hogwarts ghosts put on a show for the crowd, some sort of Muggle tragedy about a man who kills the king and then becomes all sorts of paranoid about it. Unfortunately the play was interrupted by Peeves the Poltergeist pelting staff and student alike with pumpkin pasties and black forest gateaux.

The following day Remus was feeling the usual pre-transformation tiredness when the sullen Severus Snape happened to cross the path of James and Sirius. It had been clear from the first day that Snape seemed to dislike both James and Sirius, and by extension Remus and Peter, for a reason unknown to Remus. So when Snape barged his way past the two friends it wasn't unexpected for Sirius to jeer at his skulking back.

'Hey, Snape! Halloween's over, you can take your mask off now! Oh wait, is that nose really part of your face?'

'Nice one Sirius,' James grinned, high-fiving his best friend.

Lily Evans scoffed at them as she hurried after her Slytherin friend. 'Is that the best you can come up with Black?'

'Well it's too obvious not to go there Evans,' Sirius retorted. 'That hair must be a wig too!' He called after her.

'What, Evans' or Snape's hair?' James asked, confused.

Sirius shrugged, 'I don't know, either?'

Remus shook his head and continued walking up to the library.

'Do you really think Snape's hair is a wig?' Peter asked Remus as they walked.

'No, if it were you'd have thought he'd have picked a nicer looking wig,'

Peter nodded in agreement.

The following day Remus found himself back in the Hospital Wing.

'It's a shame you're ill again Remus,' James said, ushering Sirius and Peter closer to Remus' bed as he pulled the curtain closed around the bed space.

'What are you doing James?' Remus asked, adjusting his sitting position.

'I've got something to show the three of you,' he was practically beaming.

'And you have to show us now, in the Hospital Wing?' Sirius and Remus exchanged a rather perplexed look.

'Yes,' James stood at the foot of the bed. Remus, Peter and Sirius looked on expectantly.

'Spit it out!' Sirius urged.

James' face split into a massive grin, 'Guess what my Dad sent me this morning?'

'Well you wouldn't tell us at breakfast when it arrived, so why are you telling us now?' Sirius shrugged.

'Because I couldn't show everyone in the Great Hall,' James shook his head at his friend's idiocy.

'What is it?' Peter whispered. James' eyes lit up again.

'Guess!'

'A new jumper?' Remus guessed, having no idea what the package looked like.

'Really Remus? Why would I want to secretly show you my new jumper?'

'I have no idea; just tell us what it is!'

'Fine,' James cleared his throat. 'Gentlemen, what I show you now goes no further than this curtain.'

Remus, Sirius and Peter leaned forward, closer to James. James slipped his hand inside the pocket of his robes and pulled out… a blanket? No, a cloak. But it was very light, almost silvery, and very thin.

'What is it?' Peter whispered once more.

'This, my friends,' James also whispered, 'is an invisibility cloak.'

'No way. No bloody way.' Sirius hissed, 'How do you have an invisibility cloak?'

'It was my Dad's,' James said smugly, 'And he's now sent it to me.'

'But how does your Dad even have one?' Remus asked, 'They're really rare!'

'It's been in my family for generations apparently,' James smirked, 'Dad told me in his letter.'

'Why has he sent it to you now?'

James shrugged and scratched at the back of his messy black hair, 'He just said "it was time you had it"'

There was a moment of silence as the four friends considered the possible things they could do with an invisibility cloak.

'So what are we going to do with it?' Peter asked, wide eyed staring at the cloak.

'Well,' James lowered his voice once more, 'I was thinking–'

'What are you three doing in here?' Madam Pomfrey wrenched the light blue curtain back from around Remus' bed. James hurriedly shoved the invisibility cloak behind his back. 'Break time is about to end and my patient needs rest.'

James, Sirius and Peter quickly mumbled apologies, picked up their bags and excused themselves from the Hospital Wing.

'Get well soon Remus,'

'We'll visit you later,'

'I'll drop your homework around,'

Remus waved goodbye to his friends, avoiding the Matron's eye and wondering what James had been planning to do with the cloak.

He didn't find out that week as the entire school became caught up in Quidditch fever as the first match of the season inched closer. Gryffindor versus Slytherin was always the first match, and it was also the most competitive. Neither team wanted to lose the opening game and neither team wanted to be beaten by their fiercest rivals.

Match day dawned to an eerie mist covering the school grounds, but it wasn't to dampen the spirits of the Gryffindor First Year boys.

'WAKE UP REMUS!' James yelled, dancing around the dormitory.

Remus was stunned. They'd been at Hogwarts for two months and James had never once been up before him before.

'Why're you up so early?' He checked the clock by his bed. 'It's six o'clock in the morning!'

'IT'S GAME DAY REMUS!' James jumped onto Remus' bed and leaped across to Sirius' bed. He narrowly missed it and smacked his head against the side of Sirius' bed.

'Wawazzat?' Sirius jerked awake. Somehow he'd slept through James' yelling, unlike Peter who was now yawning and stretching into full consciousness.

'Are you okay James?' Remus asked, half getting out of bed.

James jumped back to his feet.

'I'm good, I'm good! Let's get ready!' He staggered off to the bathroom, his robes in his arms.

Remus sighed and shrugged on a shirt.

'Do you like Quidditch, Remus?' Lily asked, down at the Gryffindor table.

'Yeah, I've never seen a live game though. You?'

Lily shrugged, 'I'm Muggle-born remember? I'd never even heard of Quidditch before I came here, let alone seen a game.'

'Do you want to hear about Quidditch, Evans?' James butted in. 'I know all about Quidditch, I've even got my own broom. I can tell you all about the rules of the game if you want Evans?' He ignored Lily's attempts to decline his offer. 'So you've got four balls – the Quaffle, two bludgers and the Golden Snitch.'

'He doesn't stop does he?' Marlene sighed, looking on at James' verbal assault upon Lily.

'He means well,' Remus smiled. Lily was looking very uncomfortable as James leaned across Sirius to sit closer to her.

'WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE SEASON!' Hufflepuff Fifth Year and Prefect Amos Diggory announced to the packed Quidditch Stadium. 'And it's a lovely day to be here! The wind is right and the sun is rising! We've got a fantastic game for you today Hogwarts! Both teams have very experienced players as well as some new finds! But who will be victorious today? We will find out soon enough as Madam Hooch brings on the Quidditch balls!'

Madam Hooch, the hawk-eyed Flying teacher and Quidditch referee marched onto the pitch, wand in hand, levitating a large oak trunk in front of her. She came to a halt in the centre of the pitch.

Remus watched through binoculars from the stands. He had James and Sirius jumping about like leaping toadstools on one side, and Peter standing on his tiptoes trying to see over Hestia and Marlene's heads on the other side.

'HERE COMES THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM!' Remus stood up and cheered along with most of the stadium as seven scarlet and gold players on brooms darted out from below the stands. 'Arrington! Danson! Bartlett! Glover! Stanning! Ryder! Aaaand Waller!'

Over the tumultuous cheer of the crowd Diggory insisted on giving the crowd information.

'Arrington has been captain of the Gryffindor team for the past three years! His team narrowly lost out on the Quidditch Cup last year, but he's got new blood in his squad now – can they pinch that title back from the Slytherins?'

Diggory knew just how to work the crowd; it was almost like a pantomime. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws went crazy. The Slytherins booed and catcalled.

'AAAAAND NOW – HERE COME THE SLYTHERINS!' The roles reversed and the silver and green flags and scarves were waved in the air and swung around heads as the Slytherin team shot out onto the pitch. 'Laughalot! Lenzly! Stafford! Vanity! Butler! Lawrence! Aaand Fox!'

The two teams lapped the pitch and came to a halt in two opposing semi circles above Madam Hooch. Laughalot and Arrington, the two captains and also the two Keepers, landed and shook hands before taking back to the air.

Madam Hooch's whistle blew sharp and clear, cutting through the noise of the crowd as the match began.

'New girl Vanity has the Quaffle! Passes to Lenzly, cross to Stafford! Oh! Glover intercepts! Bartlett! Danson! Back to Glover! Narrowly avoids a bludger from Butler! She drops it! Lenzly picks it up! Vanity! Stafford! Lenzly! Stafford! Vanity closes in on the Keeper! She's having a good debut so far is Emma Vanity! Arrington saves the shot! That was an excellent save from Robert Arrington!'

Emmeline was waving her Gryffindor flag like crazy, much to Lily's bemusement.

The game was already back in the Slytherin half.

'Danson's taking a shot on goal! AND SHE SCORES! EXCELLENT SHOT THERE FROM ALEXANDRA DANSON! SAILS PAST LAUGHALOT STRAIGHT THROUGH THE CENTRE HOOP! IT'S 10-0 TO GRYFFINDOR!'

'GO GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!' James and Sirius were doing some sort of jig on the bench beside Remus.

'Get up here Remus!' Sirius grabbed Remus by the collar of his robes and yanked him up onto the bench. 'Jig Remus! Jig!'

Remus adamantly shook his head, but Sirius was insistent.

'Come on, have a little fun!'

Remus sighed. 'Get up here Pete! If I've got to jig, you've got to jig.'

The Gryffindor girls found the four of them doing a cross between the can-can and an Irish jig extremely hilarious.

'Lovely pick up there from Stafford as Laughalot gets the Quaffle away from his goal! She shoots off down the pitch, closely followed by Bartlett. Oh, foul by Bartlett!'

Madam Hooch's whistle blew once more.

'A little bit of cobbing there from the Gryffindor Chaser and that has resulted in a penalty for Slytherin!'

The Slytherin serpent waved in the wind on the stand opposite Remus. Remus joined in with James and Sirius' complaints as Stafford lined up to face Arrington at the Gryffindor end.

'What's cobbing?' Mary MacDonald asked the boys.

'Excessive use of elbows!' James answered immediately.

'BRILLIANT SAVE THERE FROM ARRINGTON!' Diggory screamed as the Slytherin Chaser punched the air in defeat. 'IT REMAINS 10-0 TO GRYFFINDOR!'

And so it stayed for the next couple of minutes.

'Another chance for Gryffindor as Glover drives into the scoring area – Vanity intercepts the cross! Vanity, Lenzly, Stafford! It's Slytherin in possession with fifteen minutes on the clock. OH! STAFFORD FIRES IT HOME! SLYTHERIN EQUALISE!'

'SLYTHERIN! SLYTHERIN!' The crowd chanted.

'BOO!' James and Sirius and the rest of Gryffindor house cried. Over in the staff box Remus spotted Professor Slughorn waving his fist as Professor McGonagall sniffed, applauding politely.

'Gryffindor are quick off the mark as the game resumes… Bartlett, Glover, Danson, Glover, DANSON'S SHOT GOES WIDE! Lenzly, Vanity, Stafford avoids a double attack from Ryder and Stanning! Oh, but she's halted in her prime by Glover just outside the scoring zone!'

'This is really exciting!' Lily told Remus. 'Is every game like this?'

Remus shrugged, 'Most games are more exciting!' He shouted over the roaring crowd.

'Arrington clears the danger! Gryffindor have another shot on goal, but Vanity intercepts! Pressure is growing on both teams to gain a successful shot now. Still no sign of the Snitch and we're well into the first match of the season – Gryfifndor versus Slytherin!'

As the tempo of the match increased the Quaffle found itself back and forth over the length of the pitch.

'IT'S 50-30 TO GRYFFINDOR! Was that the Snitch?'

Seekers Waller and Fox finally had something to do as they chased after the tiny golden ball.

'OH! WALLER TAKES A BLUDGER TO THE FACE! LAWRENCE AIMS A BLUDGER AT THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER!'

In the fuss resulting from that dangerous play by Lawrence Jessica Fox, the Slytherin Seeker, was hot on the pursuit of the Snitch.

'Fox there – not distracted by the rest of the game – totally focused on her job. She's gaining on the Snitch, the arm stretches out. It's only inches away from her finger tips!'

The entire stadium was on its feet. Madam Pomfrey was helping Waller off the pitch. Madam Hooch hadn't stopped play.

'Ryder and Stanning desperately try to put off the Slytherin Seeker with a Dopplebeater Defence! It doesn't work; she's too focused on the chase!'

Remus watched, open mouthed, as the green-robed blur that was Fox shot after a tiny glint. She looped the hoops, shot up and down the length of the pitch, up in the air. The Gryffindors watched hopelessly, as their Seeker was off the pitch with no reserve. Danson, Bartlett and Glover suddenly leapt into action at a command from Arrington, their captain.

Below Fox the match resumed as the Gryffindors fought to get as far ahead of the Slytherins as they could. They only managed to score once before Fox finally snared the Snitch.

'FOX HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WIN! 180-60!'

'Noooooo!' James dramatically collapsed to his knees on the bench.

Apologies for the delay in updating, but I hope this extra long chapter makes up for it :)

The usual thank yous... Thank you to xoalisonx34 for adding this to your Story Alerts, and thank you to dreamydaydreamer and RuterDam for reviewing!

Keep up the reviews and support!

LittleGuitar94

P.S. Before I forget - the names of the Quidditch players for this Era are a mixture of names from the Potterverse and the names of players in the Team GB Men's Water Polo and Women's Hockey teams. Also, Helen Glover and Heather Stanning from GB's Women's Pair Rowing who won Gold while I was editing this chapter, so I just had to include them :)

GO TEAM GB!