Thank you everyone for sticking around for another chapter! I'm so excited to bring this to you and to start jumping into more serious wartime topics after this. It's getting serious (no pun intended), but until then enjoy some Valentine's fluff and Quidditch fun.

In the wake of his most recent gesture Sirius began his latest conversation with Marlene in his typical romantic fashion.

"Oi, McKinnon!"

"Yes Black?" She replied, glancing up from her potion, and promptly ignoring the next ingredient in her recipe in favor of looking at Sirius Black's tantalizing grey eyes.

"So, Valentine's Day is coming up."

He said, leaning on her table in an attempt at aloofness, but miserably failing as he burned his hand on her hot cauldron and managed to yipe like a much smaller dog.

Marlene snickered at that, her laughter slightly undermining her next flirty response. "It is, in two days in fact."

"That soon?" He shrugged the information off before continuing. "So, I was thinking we could sneak out of the castle. There's no Hogsmeade trip, which is bollocks, but nothing says we can't go to another village."

"What other village is around here?" Marlene asked, genuinely curious now.

"I guess you'll have to wait until Tuesday night to find out." Sirius whispered in her ear before landing a well-placed kiss on her cheek. Marlene blushed furiously at that, nodding, mind so swept up in thoughts of the cocky, creative boy before her that she managed to add a lizard tail to her mixture. The result was the entire classroom filling with green smoke that smelled of a mixture of pickles and onions and an early end to an already rather boring class day.

James, for his part, was having a far harder time securing his own date for Valentine's Day.

"Oi Evans!"

"No."

Lily said without a moment's pause, making her way along with the throng towards the great hall for lunch after potions class.

"You didn't even wait for my question." James said, catching up to her, and trying to take a hold of her bag but she shrugged him off.

"Do I need to? I'm not spending Valentine's Day with you Potter. I'm going stag this year with Mary and Alice, we're having a girls night in."

"Sounds fun." James said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Mind if I join you?"

Lily shoved him off, but James Potter was nothing if not persistent.

"Now, are you absolutely positive about that decision Evans because I promise I'll make it worth your while."

He stepped in front of her now, blocking her path in the narrow corridor between potions and the delicious-smelling lunchtime awaiting them.

"She said no Potter." A familiar voice spoke up, causing James to roll his eyes.

"Ooh, the great savior coming in. Why don't you mind your own business Snivelly?"

Snape stood up straighter at James' abuse. He looked between him and Lily with distaste before moving to respond.

"Leave it alone James." Lily spoke up before Snape could say a word.

But James, as was his nature, would not back down.

"No, I want to know where this bloody traitor gets off thinking he has any right to control your dating habits." He was standing in between Lily and Snape now, a protector in his own mind.

Snape puffed out his chest, very unlike himself, and stepped closer.

"I'm just trying to protect her from scum like you Potter. You're not worthy to kiss her trainers let alone anything else."

"Oh, like she'd ever have given you that chance anyway Snivellus."

The rage and pure hatred between the two boys was palpable. Lily watched with barely held back fury of her own before stepping in.

"Enough both of you. I'm going to get lunch. Kill each other if you want but leave me out of it."

She then quickly shoved past James, leaving the two boys in their fighting stance. Neither of them wanted to make the first move, despite their long and violent history, but James was not one to sit and wait.

"I don't know what chance you think you have Snivy, but it's foolish. She's already chosen me, even if she doesn't know it yet. You are just another mark in her ledger, just another boy who broke her heart. And me, I'm the one who she's going to be with forever. She just has to come around, and believe me-she will."

Snape was shaking in fury, James' arrogance stabbing daggers into his skin with every word. He could only think about that dreaded word that he had used. The word that slipped out in a moment of weakness. The word that he had worked so hard to avoid since it cost him the only person he'd ever loved. He was right, of course, she would never forgive him, no matter how he tried to convince her. But he would be damned if she would sink so low to end up with James Potter of all people.

"You think pretty highly of yourself, don't you Potter? The perfect quidditch hero who can't even win a match. The perfect suave man who can't even get a date for Valentine's Day, and why not? Because you are nothing but a coward and a worm, a foolish boy who can't get a girl to look him at seriously no matter how hard he tries."

James jumped forward at that, his wand out and ready. Snape didn't take a single step back. He just smirked.

"And even in this moment I have the upper hand."

"How do you figure that?" James asked, his rage put mildly on hold by his confusion.

"You have my book. I want it back, and I'm willing to propose a trade."

"What book?"

James asked, wand still aimed at Snape who just smirked in response. The two boys engaged in a staring contest, both refusing to back down. James finally stepped back, although he didn't move his eyes off the boy before him.

"Alright Snivellus, let's say I could acquire your book, what would I get in return?"

"I understand you've lost track of a certain mirror, is that right?"

James held his tongue, looking across the way at the boy standing before him.

"And how can I guarantee you'll give it back?"
"Because I'm not a twat who steals things for no reason." Snape said, arrogance giving way to annoyance at James' insufferable attitude. "So, I'll have your mirror tomorrow at lunch, and you'll have my book. Do we have a deal?"

"I thought you were a grand potions master who could sort anything out; I thought you were just going to rewrite it." James said, quoting Snape's earlier boasts, much to his chagrin.

"Don't test me, Potter. There's years of work in that book. Just…make the trade or you'll find your precious mirror smashed at the bottom of the astronomy tower."

Snape left at that, handshake long forgotten, oversized robes flowing behind him in a capelike motion, James shouting after him in a last ditch attempt to gain the upper hand:

"Careful Snivy that's seven years' bad luck that is!"

James didn't mention his encounter with Snape to his friends at lunch, but it wasn't hard to notice his sour mood. He didn't stir up his usual trouble in transfiguration either, McGonagall growing quite suspicious at that.

"Mr. Potter, please show us your conjuring spell."

With a sigh James waved his wand, a goblet appearing from thin air before him. With another wave the goblet was gone, and McGonagall's suspicion quickly turned to pride. Peter, seated next to James, made his own attempt at conjuring a goblet but only managed to produce a rather sad puff of green smoke from the end of his own wand.

"Do give Pettigrew some help for the rest of the class please Potter. And Peter, I put you in the NEWT level under the assumption that you could handle the coursework. Please don't shame yourself and my name by proving me wrong."

Peter blushed crimson at that, the other students of the class laughing uproariously, including his three so-called friends which made sink his head even lower.

"Here Wormy I'll show you how to make a cup."

Sirius stood atop the table, always one for attention, and cast his own spell at Peter, turning him into a sorry excuse for a goblet with a rather suspicious looking tale coming off the end, which McGonagall thankfully undid before she or anyone else could get a closer look.

"Do I even have to say it Black?"
"I know detention, but consider this Minnie, rather than the typical writing lines we could make things more interesting." He waggled his eyebrows at her, but McGonogall was not amused.

"And 10 points from Gryffindor for your mouth, Black. Not another word or it'll be thirty."

"Sirius, sit down." James grunted, his patience thinly stretched as it was without Sirius ruining their chances of the house cup more than James already had by losing the first quidditch match.

It was a testament to their friendship that Sirius listened to him, taking his seat and keeping quiet for the rest of the class. Peter was still shellshocked from having been temporarily turned into a cup, and was still shaking after class ended, which was not helped by Siruis' merciless teasing regarding the incident.

"Come on Moony, it was hilarious."
"You could have exposed him Padfoot. It was dangerous is what it was." Remus replied, no amusement in his eyes.

"I felt myself turning to Wormtail. What if they'd seen?"
"They would have thought I had progressed to quite an impressive level of human to animal transfiguration that's all. Buck up Wormtail. You're all far too sensitive right Prongs?"
But James wasn't listening, staring into space, head swirling with thoughts of how to avoid giving Snape the upper hand. He stopped, gesturing to Peter and Remus to keep walking. Not ones to ignore their leader they obliged as James engaged in a private conversation with Sirius.

"You said you got the Slytherin password right Pads?"
Sirius nodded, looking at James as if he was the fool.

"Have I ever disappointed you before?"

James rolled his eyes, so Sirius changed the subject.

"Why do you ask?"

"We'll need it if we're going to get into the common room tonight."

"I thought Moony and I were going Saturday while everyone's at the quidditch match?" Sirius asked, confused by James' statement.

"Yeah, well, the timeline has moved up." He didn't elaborate and Sirius didn't ask, but just listened as James continued. "I want to take Snivellus down a peg."

Sirius grinned, always game for going after Snape. "Whatever you want mate, just say the word."

"Good. We'll go tonight at dinner, before your detention." James said.

"Moony and Wormtail?"

"I think we'll do just fine on a solo mission this time, don't you?"

Sirius grinned wickedly at that knowing that the other boys would not be there to ruin their fun.

That night, while the rest of the school was in the great hall enjoying their dinner, James and Sirius snuck under the invisibility cloak towards the Slytherin common room. They descended the staircase to the dungeons, walking through the stone corridors until Sirius stopped outside of an otherwise uninteresting stretch of wall. James glanced at Sirius expectantly, and he stepped forward.

"Mudblood" Sirius said, causing James to wince next to him.

"It's not like I chose it Prongs."

"Yeah, I know. How'd you get Reg to give it to you anyway?" James asked, following Sirius through the narrow corridor, triple-checking to make sure their feet were completely covered now that they were going into the belly of the beast.

"Asked him very nicely"

"Pads."

"Alright, I threatened to write home to Walburga and Orion and tell them about his most recent failed potions exam." Sirius said with a smirk, having been keeping up with his brother's studies given his upcoming OWLS.

Sirius might not talk to Regulus anymore, but he would be damned if his little brother would have to repeat fifth year because he found himself unable to keep out of trouble with those other "hoodlums" in his house, as McGonogall called them.

"You're brutal." James said.

"Whatever he was looking for an excuse to help me out." Came Sirius' charming reply.

The two boys snuck through the common room, cloak on, although they didn't encounter much trouble. A couple of people were milling about, but the fifth year in the midst of an intense study session didn't even raise her head, while the third year sitting in the armchair by the fire was preoccupied with the cat in his lap, a new pet it seemed by the way he was coddling it.

The Slytherin common room was relatively similar to Gryffindor besides the coloring. Low backed couches and still squashy armchairs stood out, coated in green and black velvet rather than their rougher red and gold fabric. Slytherin banners hung from the ceiling, a bulletin board with the same announcements was placed on one wall. The biggest visible difference that always struck the boys on their few but fantastic adventures into enemy territory was the stony interior from the dungeon walls and the green hue from the glass panel above which showed the murky insides of the black lake. In another life, Sirius might have elbowed James and commented on how wicked it was, might have asked him if he thought they could train the Giant Squid to dance for them through the glass. In fact, if it weren't for the filthy word that some boneheaded prefect decided would be a funny choice for the password this week the Slytherin common room might actually be…pleasant, not that James would ever admit it, nor would Sirius ever even consider it.

James, for his part, shook the very idea from his head, knocking noggins pretty hard with Sirius and practically blowing their cover altogether. Before his friend could grow too cross with him, though, he directed his eye to the dormitory stairs. They were in the same place as in the Gryffindor common room. These stairs led them to the door with a sign which read "Sixth Years" in black carved onto a silver plaque. Only then did they shred the cloak, after a quick glance at the map showed them five sixth year Slytherins sitting perfectly still in the great hall scarfing down their food with the falsest sense of security.

"After you Prongsy." Sirius said, opening the door and bowing exaggeratedly.

James snickered and made his way in, Sirius pausing for a moment, gulping before following him. He didn't love staring at the emerald four posters that came so close to being his. And although Sirius was always one for mischief he preferred to spend as little time as possible in the Slytherin dungeons if it could be avoided.

The two boys made quick work of finding the mirror, Snape having not expected them to pull a stunt so risky of course. How foolish could he have been to leave the thing in plain sight…hidden at the bottom of his wardrobe…in a locked trunk…with an enchantment which left a rather painful, green boil on Sirius' right hand. But nonetheless they got it back, and James told Sirius that if his hand wasn't better by the next day he could go to the hospital wing and blame the whole stunt on Wormtail. It would be better than bringing Pomfrey the truth after all, and they'd certainly had far worse excuses in their history at Hogwarts.

James turned to leave, mirror now secured, but Sirius had other ideas. He pulled out a jar which emitted a high-pitched buzzing noise, a sly grin across his face.

"What are those?" James asked, some worry creeping into his voice. Sirius had a long history of taking things too far.

"Vampyre Mosps. I got them from Hagrid's backyard. He uses them as treats for that monstrous spider of his out in the forest." Sirius replied.

"Sirius." James said, looking from the creatures back to his friend. He wasn't too familiar with the things but knowing Hagrid's history they were likely quite dangerous.

"I thought that was a rather cruel and unusual punishment for these innocent little creatures, so what's the harm in setting them free?"

"In Snape's trunk I take it?" James replied, growing more worried by the minute.
"They like cool, dusty, greasy environments. It's perfect." Sirius said, already preparing to remove the lid, first shaking the jar up to aggravate the creatures.

"Sirius, just wait a second mate."
"What? Come on Prongs we can't let him get off scot-free, look at my hand. It's a fair trade."

James still didn't look convinced. He wasn't sure what those things would do, and he was certain that Snape had known exactly how much damage his spell would cause, which wasn't much all things considered.

"Besides, it was your idea to leave worry-wart Wormtail behind." The unflattering comparison pushed James over the edge. They couldn't be that bad right?

"Alright fine. Do it."

"Attaboy." Sirius said, clapping James on the back as he carefully approached Snape's trunk, placing the jar with the bugs inside. He backed up a good distance, and with a wave of his wand opened the jar and slammed the lid of the trunk shut in almost one movement. Angry buzzing filled the room as James and Sirius left the room, pulling the cloak over the both of them, the former of the two with an awful knot in his stomach.

"These things aren't poisonous are they Sirius?"
"No." Sirius replied, carefree as ever.

"Pads." James grabbed his arm under the cloak, and Sirius faced him with a roll of his eyes.

"Not moreso than any other wasp sting alright?"

"Ok," James agreed with a sigh, sneaking his way through the common room, outside, and back into the dungeons. They waited to remove the cloak until they were well past the dungeons into another corridor for fear of suspicion.

James then handed Sirius the mirror, saying "Well, if you'll take that back to the common room, I've got some business to attend to." He held up the book as he said this with Sirius shooting him a knowing smirk. The boys then went their separate ways, James sneaking back into the dungeons cloak now around only his shoulders.

The next day at breakfast the boys recounted the entire tale to their friends, sparing no detail, while Lily pretended not to overhear from the other end of the table. Her eyes did glance towards the Slytherin table, as did James', noting that Snape was absent that morning.

"Where'd you put the book anyway?" Sirius asked, curious about the mystery trip James had made back into the dungeons.
James broke quickly out of his stupor responding with: "The stupidest place imaginable. Plain sight. I put it in Slughorn's cabinet with the extras."

"That is uncharacteristically brilliant Prongs." Remus replied, actually in favor of this latest stunt given the fair trade of Snape's book for their mirror.

"He always has underestimated our intelligence." Sirius said wincing as the boil on his hand released another unpleasant squirt of green pus.

"Padfoot just go to the hospital wing, will you?" James said, expression a cross between annoyed and worried.

"For what? I'm fine." Sirius said, his already pale skin losing more color by the minute.

"Wormtail!" Peter jumped at his name, mouth full of eggs and sausage, he gulped it down as James continued. "Take him. Make sure he gets there."

"Ok." Peter said, his appetite completely gone at the prospect of dragging an unwilling Sirius to the hospital wing alone.

He looked to Remus for help, but Remus just shrugged taking another bite of his bacon. None of them were all that interested in the prospect, and Wormy had drawn the short straw as usual. Peter stood, Sirius reluctantly following behind, and the two boys made their way towards the exit, Sirius pouting defiantly but realizing as he struggled to walk that maybe the hospital wing wasn't such a bad idea. Before they had made it all the way out James shouted at them before they left:

"Wormy!" Peter turned, noting James' gesture to come back and moving towards him as Sirius waited impatiently at the door.
"Check in on Snape while you're up there alright? I want to make sure he's not too beat up."

Peter nodded curiously, not used to Snape receiving any care for his well-being, but not looking to defy either of his leaders. He scurried off towards Sirius who had begun furiously tapping his foot while forced to lean on the doorway for strength. Quite frankly it made him look rather ridiculous, not that Peter would ever mention as much.

James stood up shortly after that, waiting the appropriate time for the two of them to be gone and muttering his goodbyes to Remus who looked worried for his friend. James had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning, but Remus figured if he wanted to talk about it he would, and allowed James to make his own way out of the Great Hall having hardly touched his breakfast.

He ran upstairs quickly to grab his brand-new broomstick, before going outside to the quidditch pitch, kicking off and breathing a huge breath of relief as he felt the wind whip through his hair. There was nothing like flying for James, a feeling of being completely free from all of his responsibilities, the feeling that he could do anything. This was of course until he looked down and saw something that made him nearly topple from his broom: Lily Evans was in the stands…watching him.

Previously, at breakfast Lily had been talking with Susan when the topic of quidditch came up.

"How's match prep coming?" She asked feigning innocence, while in reality she was very concerned about Gryffindor's standing in the House Cup for the year after the first match.

"It's alright," Susan replied between forkfuls of food, quidditch practice killing over a thousand calories a day for members of the team. "James is losing his mind of course. Jane has been making him practice on his own, so he stops stressing the rest of us out." She said.

"Yeah, Potter's always been pretty crazy with his quidditch." Lily said.

"It's the one good thing about him." Susan joked, looking up as she noticed James walking past them in the middle of the meal, no doubt heading down for a quick practice session before Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I'm going to go check on him. He could use the practice with someone else on the team anyway."

Lily paused, watching Susan start to gather her things.

"I'll come with."

Susan raised an eyebrow.

"What? I like quidditch, and I want to make sure our team is still a solid investment."

Susan shrugged. "Whatever, come on then."

The girls made a pit spot to grab Susan's broom before making their way out to the pitch where James had only been flying for a few minutes. Susan waved to get his attention and the boy flipped upside down at the sight of them, nearly falling from his broom.

"Hey Potter! Need a hand?"

James shrugged, recovering from his previous blunder by pulling off a few loop-de-loops as Susan herself kicked off, rose the fifty feet, and began to throw the quaffle with James, practicing some plays for the match that was still two weeks out. Lily watched them from the stands, eyes barely able to keep up with James on the broom he'd obviously gotten over the Christmas holidays. Always the best for perfect James Potter. Lily tried not to let that bitterness show through, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed that Gryffindor might not be playing fair just because their captain could afford the best of the best while the rest of the school was scraping by on Cleansweep 5s. Susan certainly didn't seem to mind, especially when James let her give his new broom a try. After watching for a little while longer Lily had had enough, allowing the two Gryffindors to continue their little game, making her own way back to class. She didn't notice when the dark-haired boy with glasses turned to watch her leave, took a quaffle to the stomach for his trouble, and yet didn't take his eyes off her retreating back.

The next night Sirius was leaning against one of the podiums in the Hogwarts lobby, pretending he had just arrived, having actually made his way downstairs a half hour before, heart thumping, receiving significant teasing from one James Potter. Marlene caught sight of him, moving his way with a smile.

"Ready?"
Sirius asked, pulling James' cloak out of his pocket and dragging Marlene behind him towards the one-eyed witch passageway. The young lovers made their way beyond the reaches of the Hogwarts gates, still in the tunnel to Honeydukes by that time, when Sirius grabbed her by the arm and apparated to the outskirts of a remote village unfamiliar to her. But to Sirius it had become commonplace, a village nearly 1200 km from Hogwarts School, a village for muggles that he and James had become fascinated by these past summer and winter breaks.

"A muggle village?" Marlene asked, surprised at Sirius' choice of Valentine's activity.

"Beats sitting around choking on steam at Madame Pussyfoot's right?" He made light of it, pretending he wasn't terrified that Marlene would hate it, would hate this place that had become so special to him. But she just smiled, pulling Sirius in for a hard kiss.

"Sirius Black you are full of surprises."

She said before following Sirius into the little village, fascinated by all of the little bits and bobs that were both similar and different to those in the wizarding world.

"None of it moves on its own really?" "How does that work?" "Oh!" Marlene exclaimed looking at little Muggle technologies and trinkets and noticing a picture that was staying still in its frame. They went to a muggle café, got cappuccinos which Marlene had heard of but never tried, and ice cream which melted as they walked to Marlene's surprise. The village was lit up for Valentine's Day, and for one blissful night Marlene and Sirius were like any other young couple walking the streets hand in hand.

They apparated to a meadow a few kilometers away to avoid being seen, and finished the night by launching some Filibuster's Fireworks for a sense of normalcy. They were special Valentine's edition enchanted to explode in beautiful hearts which beat and played some of the top wizarding love hits. Marlene and Sirius sipped from a bottle of firewhiskey, and shared a cigarette as they watched the brilliant explosions above them. Finally, they shared kisses and conversation under the stars long after the fireworks had all burnt out. Around two in the morning they decided that it was probably time to make their way back home, their perfect night having come to an end. And as they made their way back to their respective rooms Sirius and Marlene were full of only thoughts for each other, while the boy and girl in the beds next to them were full of only thoughts of quidditch.

James joined the team again in the weeks approaching the match, Susan arguing that practicing without their captain so close to the match was a bad practice in general.

Jane reluctantly agreed, saying: "But if Potter starts yelling at us about our turn being an eighth of a centimeter off or the wind conditions one more time I swear I will rip his head off."

"Deal" replied Susan relaying the information to James who was all too ready to rejoin his team after weeks apart. Jane was right, the weeks away had given the team time to practice together without their overbearing captain breathing down their throats, and James appeared rather pleased by their progress. He threw in a couple of adjustments here and there, and added his own skills and broom of course to the table. The group all watched James on his broom with great admiration taking an entire morning of practice just to take turns riding it. James claimed it was to raise morale, but Susan privately told Lily she didn't doubt the boy just wanted to show off as usual. Either way, morale was raised, between their rock solid plays, team dynamic, and James' new broom they couldn't lose.

The morning of the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor dawned cold and wet. There wasn't enough rain to fill the air, but enough of a misty quality to make visibility difficult.

"That's alright." James said, his trademark confidence on full display. "Ravenclaw's seeker is bollocks at seeing in the rain. Evans!"

Lily found herself surprisingly but dutifully making her way onto the pitch where the team stood. Readying herself to defend her honor against a lewd comment she was surprised when James simply said:

"I'm not great at charms, and Ellie didn't make it to NEWT level. Can you please charm her goggles to keep off the rain?"

"Yeah of course." Lily replied.

"Thanks." James didn't say another word, making his way to his team as Lily charmed Ellie's goggles, handing them over.

They made intense and deep conversation, last minute changes to strategy and team building morale, before putting their hands in and shouting:
"1, 2, 3, GRYFFINDOR!"

The team made their way to the center, James shaking hands with Ravenclaw's captain, Alexandra Hopkirk.

"Good luck Potter."

He nodded. He always liked Alexandra, even went on a couple dates with her back in fourth year. It fizzled out when they realized that the only thing they had in common was quidditch. Still, he was glad to be facing her in this match, a good, clean competition, James' favorite thing in the world.

"You too."

It was after this handshake that a familiar sound filled the stadium, the sound of Sirius Black with his ever famous commentary.

"Is everybody having a good time?"

The crowd cheered, although far too halfheartedly for Sirius' taste.

"Oh, come on this sounds like a Puddlemere match."

A roll of chuckles from the crowd and a middle finger from James and Sirius was back at it.

"Now, let's try this again shall we. Is everyone having a good time?"

The crowd let loose a far larger cheer this time, enough to shake the entire stadium. Sirius reveled in it. McGonogall shot him an annoyed glance.

"Alright now let's get this party started, Hooch?"

With a roll of her eyes and a tweet of her whistle Hooch kicked off followed by the teams, bludgers, and snitch behind her. Sirius began his announcing.

"And Gryffindor starts with the quaffle. Head honcho and quidditch hunk James Potter throws the thing to beautiful fellow chaser Susan Zeller in a classic match up of beauty vs brains. And oh! Brains has triumphed once again."

The Ravenclaw keeper blocked the first throw. James shook his head, Susan shooting him a look as if to say "ignore him", knowing that this wouldn't be the first time that James let Sirius get into his head.

"And Ravenclaw takes it down the pitch. They're bobbing, they're weaving, shooting past James Potter on his Nimbus. Maybe you should have opted for the Cleansweep good buddy? Or even a Shooting Star anything to give you that edge?"
This time Sirius received a smack to the head by Remus sitting at his side.

"Sorry Moony, I'll be good." Sirius whispered to a now satisfied Remus.

Jane managed to block the Ravenclaw shot despite Sirius' distractions, tossing it to James who weaved through the crowd and managed to score the first goal of the match.

"Good show Prongs, now lets get serious." He paused for effect at that, the crowd catching on and releasing an uproarious amount of laughter. "I believe it's time to play WHERE'S THAT SNITCH" The crowd joined in with Sirius' shouted question, all of them looking, trying to give their team an edge. Finally, a Hufflepuff near the top of the stands caught sight of something shiny and gold and shouted at the top of his voice, receiving some assistance from Sirius once he noticed.

"I see it I see it!"

The seekers took off slamming into one another, their hands outreached. A nasty bludger was shot their way by Marlene's brother William. It hit the Ravenclaw in the leg with a loud crunch, leading to a nasty break in his tibia while Ellie kept going, hand outstretched, reaching out and grabbing the snitch in her hand. The Gryffindor side broke into thunderous applause with shouts of disapproval from the Ravenclaw side given Sirius' supposed interference.

"Gryffindor wins! 160-0. Looks like beauty will triumph today. Until next time I am Sirius Bl-" Sirius looked up noticing McGonagall standing above him.

"Just enjoy the win Mr. Black, and allow the rest of us to do the same."

Sirius shrugged, making his way with the rest of his house down to the pitch where the Gryffindor team was lifting James and Ellie on their shoulders congratulating them on another spectacular win. The group made their way back to the common room, rowdy and overwhelmed with joy. They were not out of the running for the House Cup after all, just one more win against Hufflepuff and they would take it. The Gryffindors, James, Sirius and Remus at the center per usual, were ready to celebrate in their usual way. They had firewhiskey and butterbeer, sweets from the kitchens, and enough joy to carry them through to another match. James was happier than he'd been in a long that time, that was until he caught sight of Peter not joining in the festivities. He was in the corner, and come to think of it, James didn't remember seeing him at the match. He approached him, shaking off the onlookers who were more than happy to give him his space in the midst of their own celebration.

"What's up Wormtail?" James asked, approaching his friend, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"They caught them."

James looked down, a letter in Peter's mother's handwriting, a clipping from the Daily Prophet that James had missed in his single-minded focus for quidditch that morning. The men who murdered Peter's father were finally being brought to justice. The party could wait.