It wasn't long before the Slytherin vs Gryffindor match, and tensions throughout the castle were high. Remus found himself busier than ever as he and the other prefects took points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor. The fights and snide comments were nonstop. Remus himself was guilty of throwing a few words here and there, but being a prefect allowed him a little more freedom to get away with it. But James, Sirius, and Peter just couldn't and wouldn't stop. Their pranks, too, had become more frequent. But nothing ever went too far.
On the Friday evening before the match, James, Sirius and the team had gone down to the quidditch pitch for one last practice before the game. Being the supportive friend he was, Remus decided to watch the practice as moral support. He was taking Peter's place, who had landed himself in detention over an exploded cauldron. He was also there to keep an eye on his best mates. He was sure that the Slytherin team would turn up just to taunt and piss them off. All Remus hoped was that training would go off without a hitch. Nothing was ever that simple.
The first hour or so of practice had gone perfectly. The team were looking strong and almost unstoppable. If they played this way during the match, there was no way Slytherin could win. Then, the Slytherin team showed up with some of their mates. Remus instantly knew that shit was about to hit the fan. The moment the Slytherin team had entered the pitch, Remus ran down to the pitch. He had to be the peacekeeper to ensure nothing would go wrong. Still, the Slytherin team didn't have an excellent reputation. It didn't matter who they were playing against; they always went to taunt.
The moment James had spotted the Slytherins, he'd motioned for the rest of the team to follow him. Remus watched in horror as James and the Slytherin team captain Ackley Parkinson came face to face with each other. He ran as fast as he could to get to his mates. "Look at the little Gryffindor Lions; it's cute how you're trying to get some last practice in. It's obvious you're going to lose." James tried his best to ignore Parkinson, "What the hell are you doing here? We've got the pitch booked?" James spoke as calmly as he could. Remus caught up with them, he quickly moved towards Sirius. He knew that Sirius was the most explosive member of their group, mainly when it came to Slytherin. "Not according to the logs. You're running into our timeslot. So I suggest that you and your filthy team run back to Gryffindor tower." Parkinson sneered.
James took a step forward; he was burning with anger. The look in James's eyes told Remus that James was about to do something stupid "James, don't do anything stupid. The match is tomorrow." Remus placed his hand on James shoulder, who shrugged it off. "Filth? Who are you to talk? You Slytherins are noting but pathetic scum who think they're better than everyone. And if your team's performance over the last couple of years has shown anything, it's that .Shit." Remus had never wanted to slap James more in his life. Before he could do anything, Elizabeth had pulled James back. She was generally the voice of reason on the team when it came to Slytherin. "This is our time slot. So I suggest you leave quietly." She spoke up; Parkinson whipped his head towards Elizabeth, gave her a smirk, "I see you've got your little lap dog to fight your battles. Pathetic." Remus saw Elizabeth's eyes darken really quickly. He really didn't want a fight to break out, but he hoped that both teams would be smart enough not to start anything. He was so wrong. "Watch your mouth, Parkinson. I'd hate to have to knock some sense into you." Her grip on her bat got tighter, and Remus could see her knuckles turning white.
"Oh, I'm so scared." He mocked her, the Slytherin team started sniggering. "Why don't you run along, blood traitor." Remus instantly jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Elizabeth as she swung her bat at Parkinson. "Stop it, Lizzie. He's not worth it." He whispered into her ear. She struggled in his grasp, "Let me at him!" she tried to swing again, but Remus ripped the bat out of her hand, "Parkinson, I suggest you and your team leave now before I deduct 100 points from Slytherin. I have the paperwork stating that this time is reserved for Gryffindor. When we're finished, it's all yours." Remus released Elizabeth and made his way to stand between James and Ackley. Ackley Parkinson sneered at Remus before spitting on him, ordering his teammates to follow him. Remus saw red, and the wolf inside him took over. He lunged and punching him square in the face. The punch's force had caused the Slytherin player to hit the ground, knocking over one of his teammates in the process. Remus got on top of him, aiming another punch. No one had ever seen Remus get violet at school. James and Sirius jumped into action. They were seething. Still, they pulled Remus off of Ackley while the Gryffindor chaser George Murphy held back Elizabeth. Ackley stood up, glaring at the Gryffindor team, blood coming from his nose, "You're going to pay for that." He spat out the blood that had been pooling in his mouth.
The Gryffindor practise had promptly finished. James instructed the rest of the team to head to the changing room, Leaving just Remus, James, Sirius, Elizabeth and George. Remus' two best friends were still restraining him. While George Murphy was doing his best to calm Elizabeth down, and it seemed to be working. She was a lot less volatile without a bat in her hand, "Moony, stop it! It's over." James shouted at Remus, who was still struggling in his grasp, "I'll fucking kill him!" Remus spat. "Mate, stop it, please," Sirius begged. Sirius was pleading with Remus, something that rarely happened.
Remus, let out a breath he'd been holding. His body relaxed, and his friends finally felt comfortable releasing him. Both James and Sirius would have loved nothing more than to help Remus beat the crap out of Ackley, but there was a time and place for that. Remus sat on the ground, running his hands through his hair. How could he have let Moony takeover? He could've killed him if James and Sirius had not pulled him off. Remus was doing his best to stop the panic attack that he felt coming when he saw Elizabeth push James, "How could you let him do that!?" She hit James before pushing him harder, "He SPAT on your fucking best friend!" She pushed James again, causing him to almost lose his balance. James grabbed Elizabeth's wrists, "I'd have loved nothing more than to beat the crap out of Ackley, but today is not that day, O'Leary." James wanted to be angry at Elizabeth, but he couldn't because he felt the same way. "Sit down, Liz." She reluctantly followed James order. James and Sirius sat down too. They knew that McGonagall would be down soon to reprimand them and to find out what happened. "Thank you, George." James threw a smile. George shook his head, "No problem. I can't believe that he spat on Remus. That's vile."
The 4 quidditch players, plus Remus, remained on the pitch for another ten minutes before they saw the flowing cloak of McGonagall running towards them. They'd never seen her run. "Anyone care to explain why I just had a visit from Mr Parkinson?" The 4 Marauders and Elizabeth remained silent, "The Slytherin team came down during practice. They were taunting us, Professor." George spoke up. Remus was glad that Murphy was doing the talking. "Ackley called Elizabeth a blood traitor, and then he spat of Remus." McGonagall's eyes went wide for just a second before her usual calm expression returned. George looked at Remus; Remus nodded, saying that it was ok to tell her that he'd hit Parkinson. "Then, Remus punched him." McGonagall turned to briefly look at Remus. "Thank you, Mr Murphy. You may leave." Murphy nodded before rushing off the pitch.
"I have to say that I am surprised. I would expect this type of behaviour from Mr Black and Mr Potter but not from you, Mr Lupin." Remus hung his head low, "That being said. I can't blame you for your reaction. Spitting on another student is unacceptable. 50 points from Gryffindor due to your actions Mr Lupin. I expected better of you." Remus felt awful. He had lost his house points and more so that he had disappointed McGonagall. "Alright, I suggest you all go back to the changing room, and Mr Lupin, I'd like to see you in my office tomorrow morning." With that, she stalked off.
Remus, James and Sirius all got to their feet. Relieved that it was over. The 3 boys were making their way towards the exit when they noticed that Elizabeth was not following them, "Liz, it's time to go." James shouted, but she didn't move. She remained seated, her back towards them. "Liz?" this time, Sirius asked, taking a tentative step towards her. She didn't move. He put his hand on her shoulder. She finally turned around; her eyes were red, "Liz? Are you ok?" she shook her head, pushing his hand off her shoulder. She walked up to Remus, "I'm going to hit him tomorrow. I'm going to send him to the hospital wing. He's a vile cunt. He's going to pay for spitting on you." The tears started falling from her eyes. Remus smiled, "I'd like that." She nodded before stalking off towards the changing room. The three boys eyes followed her as she walked away.
The rest of the evening had gone smoothly. The team did some final preparations in the common room. Remus had retreated up to the dorm, curtains pulled around him. He needed a break. While Ackley didn't know of his problem being spat on was a reminder of what the general public thought about those infected. That weighed heavily on him. After finishing up the meeting, James, Sirius and Peter headed back up to the dorm. James ripped the curtains open and hopped onto the bed beside him, throwing his arm around his tall friend. Sirius perched himself on the windowsill while Peter sat on the end of the bed. "You ok, Moony?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded, "I just can't believe that I lost control like that. Just Moony took over. I could've killed him.". Peter pulled out a chocolate bar from his robes, chucking it to him. Chocolate did always perk him up. "If it makes you feel any better, you looked wicked. You wouldn't have killed him. Moony may have come to the front to attack, but you're a softy. You wouldn't have let that happen." Remus threw his pillow at Sirius who caught it with ease. Sirius stuck his tongue out. "Padfoot, knock that fucker off his broom, please." Sirius smiled, saluting his best mate. "Will do! I'm not sure I'll have a chance too. Liz seems dead set on doing it. When she sets her eyes on a target, she's going to do that." Remus smiled, "Just make sure he ends up in the hospital wing.". The four friends continued talking into the night, with James and Sirius heading to bed early, leaving Peter, Frank and Remus to chat away.
Remus woke early the following day. He wanted to eat before he went down to McGonagall's office. Remus hoped that he wouldn't be in too much trouble. Then again, she could take his prefect badge off him. He made his way down to the Great Hall. It was pretty empty with just a few students about and a very perky Professor Flitwick chatting away with a few Ravenclaws. Remus ate his breakfast in silence, with Peter joining him just as he was about to finish. "Alright, Wormtail, I've gotta head to McGonagall's office now. Save me a good seat for the match. "Don't worry, Moony, I won't let you down." Remus laughed and ruffled Peters's hair.
Remus made the long trek up to McGonagall's office. He knocked on the door once before it opened. McGonagall sat at her desk. A pot of hot tea waiting. She ushered him in, "Tea?" Remus nodded, taking the hot cup of tea and taking a sip. "Mr Lupin, I wanted to talk to you about your behaviour yesterday. You know I expected better of you. You have an important role in this school, and you are expected to behave appropriately." Fear bubbled up in him; he was going to lose his prefect badge. He was sure at this point. She had let the Marauders away with some of their pranks against the Slytherins. Not that she would ever admit it, but she did enjoy some of the more humorous ones.
"That being said, I can not blame you for your actions. Spitting on another student is unacceptable. I just wanted to ask. Are you ok?" Remus looked at her bewildered, "Firstly, I want to apologise for letting you down." He gave a long pause, "I'm ok as can be. It just felt like a reminder of how people view others like me. I'm sorry that I attacked him. Just at that moment, I couldn't stop myself. I tried my best to defuse the situation that was bubbling, but I failed." He hung his head. McGonagall gave him a warm smile before placing her hand on his arm. "I understand. However, you will serve 2 weeks of detention for your actions. I'll inform you later about the details. You may leave Mr Lupin., you don't want to be late for the match now, do you?" Remus smiled at her, thanking her before making his way out of her office to head down to the stands.
Remus legged it down to the pitch, he was out of breath, and a stitch formed in his side. He found Peter and moved past the rest of the students to get to him. "All good?" Peter ask. Remus gave him a thumbs up. "Just detention for two weeks." Peter gave him a high-five. The stands were jampacked with students, most supporting the Gryffindor team. Peter had prepped a selection of snacks for them to consume during the game, but most of it they'd devoured before it had even started. When the match started, Peter had basically abandoned all snacks as he was engrossed in the game, leaving Remus to consume most of what was left. It didn't take long for him to abandon the stash too. The competition was fierce; both teams were determined to knock as many players as possible out of the game. The fewer players a team had, the better chance of scoring. It was very close, and at one point, Slytherin had the upper hand. They were 50 points ahead. Remus had been transfixed on Sirius and Elizabeth. Both of them were lethal. They had already sent 2 players out of the game.
One chaser and one beater. Then, he saw Ackley zoom past him, and Remus felt the anger bubble up, "Knock him off his broom!" He screamed, hoping both Sirius and Elizabeth would hear him. Elizabeth already had her sights on him. Sirius sent a bludger towards Ackley, causing him to stumble a little. While he was briefly knocked off balance, that was when Elizabeth sent the next bludger his way. The whole stadium went silent as it collided with Ackley, and a deafening crack was heard as it made contact with Ackley's leg and broom. The broom shattered, and the bone in his thigh had broken through the skin. Ackley screamed as he fell. It was an awful sight, but Remus couldn't help but smile at Elizabeth. She sent him a beaming smile before sending another bludger towards another Slytherin player. The Slytherin team was down to just one chaser. Gryffindor quickly took the lead, but the snitch could change it all. Both seekers saw the snitch at the same time. Both raced for it as it came close to the floor. Two blungers shot past the two players causing both to wobble. It was a close chase, but the Gryffindor seeker caught it just before the Slytherin seeker could get it. The whistle blasted. Gryffindor had won the match.
After the match, Remus and Peter ran down to the pitch to meet their friends. Most of the Gryffindor students ran down to the pitch to celebrate. Remus and Peter enveloped James and Sirius in a bear hug, "You lot were fucking fantastic." Remus hugged the boys tighter, "Oh, stop it. You're making me blush." Sirius slapped Remus before once again pulling him into a hug. "I'm so glad that Ackley went down." James and Sirius smiled at him, "You can thank Liz for that." Remus smiled at his friends; he was thankful that she had gotten revenge for him.
Remus turned to go say thank you to Elizabeth when she crashed into him. Throwing her arms around him. He was knocked off his balance but regained it quickly. He could feel the blush that was rising on his face as she held onto him. His heart was pounding in his chest. He could hear his mates sniggering behind him, "Thank you, Lizzie." Remus smiled, patting Elizabeth's hair. He expected her to let go, but she only held on tighter. She finally looked up at him, "I was so angry at him for what he did. You're so bloody nice. I just…I couldn't let him get away with doing that." He gave her a soft smile. Finally returning the hug, "Thank you.". The two eventually broke apart, but Remus couldn't take his eyes off Lizzie as she celebrated with her friends. He was really falling for her.