Three hours later, after a relaxing shower, gentle stretching, breakfast, and Dorcas' Numbing Potion running in my system, I was ready to go.
My broomstick was still in usable condition, though it sported a few scratches and bent twigs, signs that indicated that I had not simply imagined last night after all.
I got in a line of twelve people for Seeker try-outs and watched as the Beater try-outs began. To my surprise, I saw Sirius up there, whacking a Bludger solidly with a club. It flew through the air and into the end goal on the other side. I saw a couple girls cheering in the spectator stands. I prayed Marlene was not one of them. Shortly after, in what had to be the least suspense-driven moment ever, Sirius was named Beater to our team along with returning seventh-year Hayden Knight. Sirius Black was a natural. Indeed, he was a natural, it seemed, at everything.
"All right, Seekers, front and center!" Harper called. He looked us over and said, "Kingsley, you'll go last."
So, I watched as all of the other potential Seekers tried out before me. There was one girl in particular- a third-year named Roxanne Weasley, Evanna's sister, who flew exceptionally well. She set a high standard at forty seconds, which was better than my score at try-outs last year.
More than a little nervous, I mounted my broom and took my position. "And go!" I kicked off hard and scanned the field quickly, but I didn't catch anything in my vision. I zoomed up higher, and still nothing caught my eye. The seconds were ticking by. Beginning to panic, I dove to the ground, hoping to see a flash of gold as I passed it by- nothing. I could hear murmurs in the crowd below me, and knew that I was close to passing Roxane's time. Looking down in despair, I noticed my shadow on the ground… and the shadow of a Snitch right behind me! So, it had been tailing me the whole time.
"Thirty seconds!" Harper barked out, warning me.
I suddenly cartwheeled backwards in the air, causing a gasp from those watching. The Snitch reverted directions to avoid me, but I was on it now. I stretched out my hand- and snatched it! Yes! The whistle blew.
"Thirty five point seven seconds. Welcome back on the team," Harper said, clapping me hard on the shoulder as I landed. I smiled happily, though my mind whispered to me that when the Potion faded, that hearty clap of congratulations was going to make itself felt.
Sirius Black walked by me just then. With the adrenaline from try-outs still rushing in my veins, I quickly stepped forward, tapped his shoulder, and said, "Thank you for last night."
Sirius' eyes seemed to display a show of alarm and he let out a startled, "What?"
Another tall Gryffindor girl nearby, a sixth year, snickered, "Yeah, you should be thankful if he gave you time last night."
Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Will you shut up and get your mind out of the gutter, Savannah?"
Ignoring the blush starting in my cheeks, I pressed on, "Alice told me you were the one who brought me up to the castle. To be honest, I don't remember anything but, it seems I owe you."
"Oh, right. Well, don't worry about it." Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "You were a Gryffindor who needed help and we Gryffindors protect our own, right?"
That's right, I thought. That's what I am in your eyes. Just another Gryffindor, out of the many at our school. Just another face in a crowd...
"Do you…?" Sirius began, his voice cutting into my thoughts. Then, he paused and chewed on his thoughts for a second, before asking a different question. "What happened?"
Now it was my turn to pause.
"Um, I was training in the Forest- you know, trying to evade the trees for reflex practices. Must've fell. Clumsy of me," I said uneasily.
"Right, all right then," Sirius said in a tone of barely disguised relief.
I looked at him curiously but when his eyes met mine, I felt somewhat embarrassed. Whether it was because I had just avoided his question or because I struggled with maintaining eye contact in general or because it was Sirius, I wasn't sure. But in that brief moment, I thought that his eyes were so heavy, and unexpectedly dark.
"Hooray for being a Chaser again! Catch!" someone shouted. I turned around and saw the Quaffle flying straight at my face. Needless to say, it smacked me straight in the nose.
"Oh, blimey, I didn't think you were going to catch it with your face!" James Potter hurried over to check that I was all right.
"It's all right, my reflexes are just slower than usual," I explained. "I took a potion and it's wearing off. The side effect when it wears off is slow reaction time." I got up from the ground, ignoring the loud snickers from nearby people.
"Erm… that potion wouldn't be a Numbing Potion, by any chance?" James asked me cautiously.
"Yes… Why?"
"Well, although you can't feel it right now, you might want to check your face because, uh, I might have given you a bloody nose."
"What!?"
I hastily wiped my face and sure enough- blood on the sleeve. I groaned and plugged my nose and said in a congested tone, "Bwilliant."
"Here," James offered me his towel.
I dabbed at my nose, but apparently I kept missing a spot.
"No, right- right there. No, you're not getting it." James sighed and said, "Here, hold still. Don't you dare move! I don't want your blood on me."
I stayed still as he gently wiped my face but as soon as he was done, I muttered back, "And whose fault was it in the first place?"
"It's not my fault your blood's gross!" James retorted back without thinking. Although he simply meant it as a joke and probably meant to say "It's not my fault that blood is gross", the words had already been spoken and the ever-familiar "Mudblood" implication rang so loud and clear that James winced at his own words.
"That's not what I meant," he finally murmured after a stretch of tense silence, running his hand through his hair anxiously. "I didn't- I would never-"
"I know," I replied quietly, but I pointed my wand at the towel and muttered, "Scourgify" before handing it back to him, and I was unable to quite meet his eyes. I parted with him quickly and met up with Alice, Dorcas, Lily, and Marlene who had come to cheer me on.
"Excellent, you and Sirius both made the Quidditch team. Try to get him to come over sometime, won't you?" Marlene whispered to me, grabbing my arm.
I scoffed and simply replied, "Please don't tell me you were one of those girls who cheered for his try-out." By the way Marlene disengaged herself from me and went to cower behind Alice, I knew she had.
Lily scoffed, but said nothing as we entered the castle.
"Where are you going?" Dorcas asked me when I started walking off in the direction opposite from the Gryffindor common room.
I gingerly lifted my left arm. "Poppy."
Poppy was furious. Again. I don't think I've ever seen her in any other state. It was like her anger was the source of her high-level healing powers. "You fractured your wrist, you reckless girl! When will you remember your body is not invincible?"
"This pain is a pretty good reminder," I said through gritted teeth as she tightly wrapped a splint around my wrist. She tapped her wand against my wrist, murmuring a multitude of healing, fixing, and numbing spells.
"Stay for a few hours and we'll see how it goes," Madam Pomfrey said to me sternly.
"A few hours!? It can't be that bad, Poppy. You usually mend broken bones in minutes," I protested. "Besides, I'll miss dinner."
"No arguments, it's your own reckless fault," Poppy retorted before bustling off to another patient.
As the pain coursed through my arm and wrist repeatedly, I couldn't help but think back to how I had been hurt. My focus on defeating the pain and succeeding at Quidditch try-outs had pushed those memories to the back of my mind. But now, the image of the wolf-like creature came swimming to the forefront of my mind. I shuddered and shook my head, trying to wrench the horrifying image from my mind. I hadn't told anybody yet, mostly because I hadn't been able to quite process it yet myself. I mean, I had nearly died. Yet all that left of the event was a white scar on my wrist from falling on the three twigs sticking out of the branch I'd fallen on. The scar was shaped bizarrely. To put it kindly, it was shaped like half a star or a crown. But to describe it realistically, it looked like three ugly rashes connected in the center- like a chicken's foot. But the wolf wasn't even the strangest part. How could there have been a stag and a dog in the Forbidden Forest?
"Hey! Dorcas' cheerful voice broke into my musings. "We figured Madam Pomfrey would keep you here. So we've brought you some food to cheer you up." She and the others approached my bed, carrying loads of food.
"Thanks," I replied gratefully. We all gathered together and ate together.
"I've decided what we should do as an after midterms celebration," Lily announced quietly, keeping her voice down as three first-years involved in a Potions mishap were receiving treatment from Madam Pomfrey nearby.
"What?" Alice asked.
With a devilish glint in her eye, Lily said, "Let's sneak out to Hogsmeade."
"What?!" Marlene cried out.
"Sh," Dorcas snapped. "Keep your voice down."
"How?" I inquired, a bit skeptical. "Do you know how to get there without being seen?"
"Well, no, not exactly," Lily answered, looking slightly put out. But she carried on, "Look, we've got two and a half months until mid-terms. I'm sure we can think of a way."
"I'm sure we can, miss prefect," Dorcas teased.
"They spelled it wrong," Marlene said. "They meant to spell it miss p-e-r-f-e-c-t."
Lily scowled- an impressive feat, considering she had a large piece of bread in her mouth. She swallowed and said to Marlene, "Shut up."
I was released that evening after a final talking-to from Poppy about keeping our faculties intact. The next day, I sat with Alice on the sloping lawn of Hogwarts. We enjoying the brisk autumn sun as we scribbled down our Ancient Runes essays. I was nearly finished, with few lines left. Alice yawned and stretched.
"Finished?" I asked her.
She nodded and said, "Shall we get to dinner then?"
"You should go up first. I've just got a little left," I replied.
"No, I'll wait," Alice said.
"Alice, I know you're starving. Your stomach has been growling like a grumpy cat for the past hour," I pointed out.
Alice laughed but continued to lie down in the warm grass and wait for me to finish.
I finished about five minutes later and we both got up. I bent down to grab my bag and shove my papers into it when suddenly a gust of wind blew my essay out of my hand. It spiraled in the air as I tried to chase after it but my injuries stopped me short. I watched helplessly as the Whomping Willow enthusiastically snatched my paper and violently ripped it into fourths.
I moaned. "Alice, things are really, really sucking lately. Just bite me already!"
A very calm voice a little ways behind me said, "Accio Papers."
The four little pieces of paper zoomed past me and I turned. To my surprise, I found Remus Lupin standing there with my ripped essay pieces collected in his hand.
He quietly took out a sheet of parchment and a quill from his own bag and right there on the lawn, sat down and began to recopy my essay.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, staring at him.
"Your homework just got ripped to shreds, so I'm copying it down for you," he replied.
"Yes, but why?" I asked him, confused. I exchanged glances with Alice, whose astonishment was also written in her eyes. This seemed to be a little past kindness, and into the territory of a little crazy.
Remus looked up at me, and his weary but luminous grey-green eyes stared straight into mine. "It's not your fault your homework was destroyed," he said.
"Well, it's not yours either," I responded. I tried to tug my homework out of his hands. He refused to let go and wouldn't reply to my demands until he was done.
"Here, I can't 'bite' you as you wished, but I did try my best to make it look like your handwriting," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter. He got up and handed me "my essay" before hoisting his bag back over his shoulder. "By the way, that's an amazing essay. You're very intelligent."
And with a simple, "See you around," he left and went towards the Owlery.
Completely confused, I looked down at my reincarnated essay, wondering what in the world had just happened. Alice's stomach growled again. I shoved the essay away in my bag and made my way up to the castle with her. As we were walking together, Alice asked me, "Ray, are you good friends with Remus?"
"No, not really."
"Then why did he do that?"
"I have no idea."
We had Quidditch practice a week before the opening Gryffindor-Slytherin match and the girls decided to take a study break and come watch me (or in Marlene's case, came to watch Sirius) for a bit. As it were, Lily nearly got bludgeoned by a Bludger. Although he was a Chaser, James stopped it by diving fantastically (or fanatically) off his broom and catching it with bare hands before landing and rolling out gracefully in the soft grass.
"You… all right there… Evans?" James panted as he struggled to keep the Bludger down.
"Glacius!" I pointed my wand at the Bludger and it froze.
"Thanks," James said, standing up and wiping his forehead.
"It only lasts for a few seconds," I warned.
"Thank you," Lily said, still a little cool towards him.
James smiled brightly at her and I realized- James really was interested in Lily. Not in just a "you're pretty" way, but in a "I want to get to know you" way. I half-frowned and half-smiled, thinking of all of the possible outcomes of such a scenario.
And then James Potter was smacked straight in the face as the Bludger came back to life. He groaned as his glasses fell off his face.
"I did warn you," I said, more amused than I should have been.
"What's going on?" Harper asked, landing down. "Our match is in a week!"
"James got smacked with the Bludger," I explained succinctly, as I handed James back his glasses.
"Nice look," Sirius commented, laughing and ruffling his hair (a habit he'd picked up from James). Lily took one look at Marlene's puppy face and immediately dragged her over to the stands.
I heard Marlene say to Lily, "I'm allowed to look," and I stifled a laugh.
But then, as James got to his feet in front of me, I noticed that he was bleeding.
"What?" James asked, seeing the concern on my face. "What's wrong with my face?"
"You're bleeding," I said. "Here." I pulled out a towel from my bag.
His eyes flashed to mine and I knew James was thinking about the last time this situation had happened, except I had been the one with the bleeding nose then.
"Thanks," he murmured to me and took my towel.
I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him sitting cross-legged with his messed-up hair and crooked glasses, holding my towel pathetically to his nose.
He looked up at me and I quickly hid my smile but to my surprise, he smiled back at me, and there was both a naturalness and a gentleness to that smile.
"You all right?" I asked him, offering my hand to help him up.
He took it. "Never better."
