Chapter 26: Light At the End of a Tunnel

"Come on, James, you'll be fine. You guys can definitely win! You can do it! It's just the Slytherins!" I told him encouragingly.

"Yeah, but you know, due to ahem…new distractions, we haven't gotten as much practice in!" One of the team members said, looking pointedly at me.

"What?" I asked innocently. She rolled her eyes.

"Our dear captain has been very distracted lately. And Slytherin's gotten pretty good. Black? He's actually decent." She told everyone.

"Okay, then we have to, no need to play our best! We can't just sit around and blame the captain…or the captain's beautiful girlfriend, for any loss. Because losing is not an option! We are Gryffindors, and we will fight to the last bloody point!" James told them all, pounding his fist on the wall. The younger team members looked kind of frightened. The older ones just rolled their eyes.

"So melodramatic…" The girl said to herself.

"Okay, chasers, remember the plans we discussed and practiced, and please, don't do anything I wouldn't do." He advised them.

"So we can't be modest either?" The girl asked cheekily.

"Shut it, Gibson!" He barked back. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," He started, glaring at the Gibson girl, "Beaters, you guys are already amazing and have worked excellently together since Day 1. Keep it up, and don't be afraid to play dirty. The Slytherins are scum. Pretend they are scum at the bottom of your shoe! And don't be worried about any threats they give you, we're Gryffindors!" He paused dramatically. The younger members exchanged nervous glances. "We're Gryffindors and we are powerful! We are strong! We are brave!" He ended, flailing his arms around. The Gibson girl broke out in to silent giggles. "Seeker! I need to talk to you!" He barked. The poor third year looked really frightened.

"James! He has a name! And you're not playing dirty! That will get you no where." I admonished him. He growled under his breath, which caused us all to stare at him.

"Okay, John, I need to talk to you for a moment. Everyone else, please start warming up! And don't play dirty." He told them all, mimicking my voice. I glared at him. I left the locker rooms and Sirius, Peter, Marlene and Alex, who Marlene was still going out with, were all waiting outside, and talking.

"How is he?" Was the first thing Sirius asked me. I held back laughter.

"He's being James-y. Yelling at everyone, being dramatic, arrogant and violent." I summed up. He and Peter laughed.

"That's Prongs for ya!" Peter said. And then I noticed Remus wasn't there.

"Where's Remus?" I asked.

"He's commentating!" Sirius smiled happily. "See, I wanted to do it, but Minnie was afraid I'd be too biased or something!"

"Yeah Padfoot, I don't see how you'd be biased. I mean, it's not like you have family on the other team that you just happen to hate!" Peter said dryly.

"I know, right?" He agreed, oblivious to Peter's sarcasm. Peter rolled his eyes.

"We should probably get going," Alex suggested, "The game's about to start." We all nodded in agreement. I moved next to Marlene and Alex moved up to talk to Peter and Sirius.

"So, how's it going with you and Alex?" I asked her, shoving her playfully. It's been a while since I talked to her alone…we were always around other people or the guys.

"It's great!" She smiled. "Alex and I have so much in common, I swear, we find out something new that we have in common every day! He's really nice and sweet, and Merlin, that kid can kiss!" She told me enthusiastically. I laughed.

"Yes, it's been said that he can." I agreed.

"And what about with you and James?" She asked excitedly. I shrugged.

"Nothing new. Visited his parents over Easter break. Took him to my sister's wedding."

"Aww, you guys met each other's parents?" She asked. I laughed.

"Met each other's parents again. The first time was over summer last year." I corrected her.

"If you guys don't get married after Hogwarts, I will lose any faith I have that love exists." She told me dramatically, putting her hands over her heart. I rolled my eyes.

"What about you and Alex? You two've been attached by the hip since you started going out!" I pointed out. She gave me a wide grin.

"You have a good point."

"Come on! We need to make sure we get seats as far away from the Slytherins! They're not going to like it when we beat them!" Sirius said, pulling us both forward.

"Oi! Black! Hands off the girlfriend!" Alex said jokingly.

"It's okay, my heart belongs to Minnie!" He replied dramatically. Peter just rolled his eyes, choosing not to take part in this ridiculous exchange.

"Why don't we sit by the Hufflepuffs? They're too…soft…to do anything and the Slytherins think that they're above dealing with them." Peter suggested, probably in effort to change the disturbing subject. Sirius led us to where the Hufflepuffs usually sit, and I'm not sure if it was my imagination, but they did look like a soft lot.

"Is it me or are they all just so…timid?" Sirius whispered.

"No, I see it too." I whispered back. They were staring at us, some of them emotionlessly and some seemed intimidated. Sirius decided to take advantage of this.

"It's okay, oh timid ones, we come in peace! The mighty Gryffindor lions are coming through. Move your arses or we will eat you!" Sirius sang. He stopped abruptly, causing us all to crash into each other. "HEY! That rhymes!" He yelled. "The mighty Gryffindor lions are coming through! Move your arses or we will eat you!" He started to chant. Soon, Peter joined it.

"THE MIGHTY GRYFFINDOR LIONS ARE COMING THROUGH! MOVE YOUR ARSES OR WE WILL EAT YOU! THE MIGHTY GRYFFINDOR LIONS ARE COMING THROUGH! MOVE YOUR ARSES OR WE WILL EAT YOU!" Peter and Sirius chanted over and over again. The stands were quickly filling up, and most were careful to stay away from us.

"MR. BLACK AND MR. PETTIGREW. PLEASE CLOSE YOUR MOUTHS BEFORE I HAVE TO GIVE YOU DETENTION!" Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the stands. She was using the commentator's microphone.

"ANYTHING FOR YOU, MINNIE!" Sirius yelled back, funnily enough able to talk without having to sonorus himself. McGonagall was fuming and Dumbledore chuckled.

"OKAY so before our wonderful Transfiguration Professor kills my best friend-" Remus was cut off by Sirius.

"YOUR HOT BEST FRIEND!" He said back, this time really sonorused. Everyone in the vicinity covered their ears and glared at Sirius in annoyance, who was oblivious.

"SHUT UP PADFOOT BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT OF OUR DORMS FOR THE NIGHT!" Remus bellowed into the microphone. "ANYWAY, Welcome to the Quidditch Final, between the two rival houses: Gryffindor-" There was a loud cheer from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws, "And the Slytherins!" There was a loud cheer from the Slytherins that could barely be heard over the other three houses booing. "On the Gryffindor team: the captain, James Potter-" We all cheered loudly as he flew out into the Quidditch Pitch. He winked at me as he passed. "Jane Gibson! Adam Murray! Those are our chasers! Sam Hoot! Dean Levy! Our beaters! Charlie McLaggen! Our Keeper! And finally, John Aplinian, our Seeker!" Remus said. By now, everyone was cheering quite loudly, save the Slytherins.

"NO ONE LIKES YOU, SLYTHERINS!" Sirius bellowed. I looked to Alex, Marlene, and Peter.

"Should I silencio him?" I asked.

"That would be mean." Alex pointed out.

"GO FALL OFF A CLIFF, SLYTHERINS!" Sirius yelled.

"Go ahead." Peter told me. Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Silencio!" I said quietly, pointing my wand at Sirius. He opened his mouth again to say something, but discovered he couldn't. He looked at me in astonishment. I gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry." I told him, patting him on the back. He pouted.

"And now the Slytherin team!" Remus said, but not as enthusiastically. "Flint, Higgs, Bletchy are the Chasers, Pucey, Parkinson are Beaters, Zabini is Keeper, and finally, captain and seeker, Black!" Sirius looked ready to punch someone. I put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"It's okay." I whispered. He crinkled his nose. I looked back towards the game. Regulus and James were shaking hands. They were doing that ridiculous thing that the captains try to do: See who can hurt the others' hand the most. And, I couldn't tell whose glare was worse.

"And the Quaffle is being thrown up…" Remus said, starting his commentating. "And Potter catches it! Dodges Bludger, pass to Gibson, pass back to Potter, and pass to Murray. Hoot takes possession of Bludger and hits it at Flint, who's trying to intercept Murray's pass to Gibson! Oooh, that's a miss! Parkinson takes Bludger and aims towards Potter. Nice dodge, mate! Potter takes possession of Quaffle. He's almost near the hoops…and shoots…and it goes through! 10-0 Gryffindor!" Loud cheers erupted from the Gryffindors.

"Good, we've started well…although, Black does look a bit more concentrated…but that's just me." Marlene said. I looked towards Regulus and then John. She was right.

"10-10! Gryffindor takes possession of Quaffle again! Oh look, Black might've seen something!" Remus said, terror clear in his voice. I spotted Black speeding towards the Slytherin goals. John was closely following him.

"NO! NO! There's no snitch there! It's a trap! It's a trap!" James yelled at John as he dodged another bludger that was sent his way. John slowed to a stop and looked up. "He's just pretending! Get back up there!" He instructed.

"Ooh, and that looks like Black's attempt at a fake failed thanks to old Seeker and captain, James Potter!" Black flew away from the hoops, glaring at James the entire time. "And the score's still tied, 20-20! It's getting very interesting, folks."

Two hours passed, and the Final seemed no closer to being finished. Neither seeker had actually come close to finding it, although there were many fakes attempted. People were starting to wonder whether or not the Snitch was still in the Pitch.

"And the score's 300 to 180 Gryffindor!" Remus said, not even trying to follow the players anymore. He looked very tired and impatient. The Slytherins stopped scoring at 180 and were merely going on defense right now because they didn't seem to have enough stamina to be able to go on. The Gryffindors, on the other hand, had long, hard practices, thanks to James, so they were used to this kind of treatment. I just wished they'd catch the Snitch. Marlene and Alex already fell asleep. Sirius stopped trying to make me take the spell off of him and settled to playing Exploding Snap with Peter, and I was watching like a good girlfriend, since James would be upset if I didn't watch. Even McGonagall was losing the spark in her eyes that she usually had during Quidditch matches.

"Even if Slytherin catches the Snitch now, we'll still win!" Peter grumbled. I shook my head.

"No, we won't. We'd lose by thirty." I told him. He stopped playing for a moment.

"Oh yeah…" He said, and then continued playing.

"FINALLY! THEY'VE SEEN THE SNITCH! AND FOR REAL THIS TIME!" Remus yelled into the microphone, causing the entire stadium to finally return their attention to the players. The Seekers were heading upward. They were in the battle for the Snitch, head-to-head, arms stretched out towards it. It was unclear who was going to get it. One moment, it looked like John was going to get it; the next, it looked like Regulus was going to get it. While they were pursuing the Snitch, James managed to score another goal. "I think Black's getting a little close…" Remus said, worry clear in his voice. "Score's 310 to 180… Gryffindor. GRYFFINDOR CHASERS, COME ON! JOHN, COME ON!" He screamed into the microphone. McGonagall was so absorbed in the game that she didn't bother to reprimand Remus for favoring. Regulus seemed to be pulling ahead of John just a little bit, and my heart started to speed up.

"Come on, John…" I whispered. James scored yet another goal.

"Score's 320-180…Gryffindor." Remus said, not even taking his eyes off of the two Seekers. Suddenly, Regulus shot forward, and clasped his hand around the Snitch. "NOO!" Remus yelled. He buried his head in his hand.

"NO!" Peter yelled, along with many of the others in the stadium. Sirius looked like he was going to explode if he couldn't say anything, so I took the silencing charm off of him.

"BLOODY HELL! THAT BASTARD!" Sirius yelled. I didn't bother saying anything…I was thinking that, too. I looked towards James. He was staring into the sky in disbelief. The members of the Gryffindor team were getting down off their broom, one-by-one, and hung their head as they went to the locker rooms, not even looking back. Dumbledore was handing the Cup to the Slytherins. McGonagall's lips were pursed into a thin line as she watched the exchange. The Slytherins were defiant, and yelling and screaming. The rest of the stadium was clearing out, not as happy as they were coming in. James got down from his broom, eyebrows furrowed. He was clearly deep in thought. And that was always a bad thing. I quickly ran down from the stands and ran towards him, catching him before he could enter the locker rooms.

"JAMES!" I yelled out, before catching his arm. He looked very angry. Which was also always a bad thing. "Don't take it too hard on yourself." I told him quietly. I entwined my hand with his. He gave me a troubled look and ran his hand through his hair. I led him away from the locker rooms, a few feet away where we could talk without being seen. He didn't say a word on the way. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I mean, besides the obvious. You're never like this." I told him quietly. He sat down in the grass and I plopped down next to him, my hand still in his. He traced over the lines on my hand.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel right now." He told me, keeping his eyes on our hands. "I mean, I'm so confused right now. I'm feeling so many things at once! Angry, sad, happy, anxious, annoyed, confused, jealous, ashamed. It's just so complicated!" He told me, looking up at me. His gaze proved to be everything he was saying he was feeling. I found myself unable to break away.

"I get most of them…but why confused, jealous, anxious, and happy?" I asked. I was most confused about the happy.

"Jealous because I wanted to be the one taking the Cup from Dumbledore…it was envy as bad as when I saw you and Snape together. Anxious because the entire school was counting on us…but now we just proved the Slytherins to be better. What are they going to think of us now?" He sighed. "And happy because we did accumulate enough points to win the House Cup for the first time since we came here, assuming no one loses too many points until then. And confused because I'm feeling so much at once!" He sighed. "I mean, I'm glad how are chasers did, really proud of them, actually. And John, it was his first match, he was a third year! He was so close! Especially against someone as experienced as Regulus, who already had a way better broom! He put up such a good fight! It's just…" His voice trailed off.

"James, you're giving yourself all the answers!" I told him. He looked at me, very confused. "Okay, so imagine you were John…how would you be feeling right now? That kid, a third year, felt so much pressure this week because of the Cup, and like you said, he still did well! And you can pick that out even though you guys lost! You realized that the chasers did well, and the keeper managed to let in no more than eighteen goals! You've realized that, but James, you need to remember…you're the captain of a team. You're not the only one who feels this way." I told him, as lightly as I could. "You're captain for a reason. There are 6 people inside those changing rooms who need to realize this, too. And you're the only one that can help them with that. They admire you James, they really do. You need to go over there and show them what being a captain truly means, and you need to show yourself what being a captain truly means." I finished. Wow, that was an amazing speech! He ran a hand through his hair.

"You're right…I mean of course you are! But…that was an amazing speech." He added. I smiled and shrugged.

"I try." He rolled his eyes and smiled, less stress in his eyes.

"You're right…" He repeated. "Let's go!" He said, dragging me up and pulling me towards the locker rooms again.

"Wait, why am I coming?" I asked.

"Because you made me realize this. And without you, who knows where I'd be right now?" He said, stopping right in front of the changing rooms.

"I love you." I told him. He leaned down and kissed me.

"I love you, too." He whispered into my ear. We walked into the changing rooms and immediately, we could sense the tension and anguish in the air. They all looked up at us. "Okay guys, gather 'round here." He said, gesturing the area where they usually sit to discuss game plan. James pulled me to the front where he stands to talk to them all. We looked at all of them. They looked really sad, and John probably looked the worst out of all of them. "I know you guys are upset…" James started. There was a murmur of agreement amongst all of them. "But you shouldn't be." He said. Their hands snapped up in confusion. "You all played really well, and I'm not just saying that." He told them all. "Chaser, well done, we scored 320 points! We didn't foul Slytherin at all, and we put ourselves in a great lead for the House Cup!" The Chasers shrugged and realized that everything he said was true.

"Beaters, amazing! We hardly had any Bludgers hit any of us! How many of you feel any pain?" He asked all of them. No one raised their hand. "See?" He said to the Beaters. They smiled a bit, and even the Chasers seemed happier. "And my Keeper, great, great job! I mean, the Slytherins only got the goal in eighteen times. You did really well. Be proud, okay?" He told him. The Keeper nodded and sat up straighter. This was good, James was building the spirits back up, which is exactly what he needed to do. "And finally, John, you were amazing, definitely the best seeker we've seen here in a while. So what if you didn't catch the Snitch this time? You never failed to catch it in your previous matches…and you're only a third year! You have three more chances at the Cup ahead of you, and I have no doubt in my mind you'll go on to do even greater things." John brightened up at this. "So good job all of you, and I'm probably going to see you next year. I like how we work together as a team, and I'm glad each of you are here with me, really. We've all gotten so close this year and I know, next year, we'll be back, and even better than before!" He finished. I was so glad that James managed to lighten up the spirits of all of them, after looking so depressed when we first walked in! I hugged him tightly.

"That was great. You really made these guys happier." I told him. "James, you're always going to find light through a dark situation. That's just the person you are." I whispered. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. We pulled apart and the atmosphere in the room completely shifted. Everyone was happier, almost jovial. They were thanking James, and he had the biggest smile on his face that made my heart warm.

A/N: This wasn't one of my best chapters...I know...But I just felt like putting this one in the story...And it turned out a lot better in my head. But, I hope you guys like it!

For those of you who've read "I Love My Job", one of my other oneshots, I've posted the sequel! And if you haven't read it, then you could still read this one, you don't have to read the first one to understand it!

Review please!

Until next Friday:

Love,

SAM :)