First Day
James woke up bright and early that morning, beginning the year with a start.
He now had 13 days until quidditch tryouts, and this would not be the year that he didn’t make the team.
James had been quidditch obsessed for as long as he could remember, and didn’t know what he’d do if he wouldn’t be able to play that year just because he’d slacked off.
The sun wasn’t even out yet as he slipped on a red jumper, some shorts, and black trainers. (All of which were admittedly hard to find due to yesterday's contest). He put on some deodorant, and off he went.
He crept through the common room, the quiet of the usually bustling room throwing him off. It was dimly lit and completely empty. He felt a little uneasy, but nothing that wouldn’t brush off the moment he started his jog. James opened the door, and walked through the empty school, waving silent good mornings to all of the paintings as he went.
He thought he saw somebody else in the corridor as he walked, but paid no mind.
* * *
The sun was just starting to come up once James began his jog. The cool morning air brushed against his face and through his hair. He usually made his rounds around the quidditch pitch, and then through the small bushel of trees that lay around the school. But, of course, he never went through the full forest that was just on the outskirts.
Once he’d made it about halfway around the pitch, he saw somebody who could not seem to leave him alone lately .
Regulus fucking Black.
His black hair was bouncing up and down as he jogged, and his face was damp with sweat. He was still a bit far out, and James was wondering if he could just stride right past him and not acknowledge him, but his eyes said otherwise.
He made direct eye contact with him. Those daggers stared right back again. Regulus stopped. So did James.
“Morning, Potter.” hissed Regulus. James wondered if he started disliking him more after yesterday's incident.
“Morning to you too, Regulus.” The name oozed off of his tongue with a mask of disdain. He did feel bad for Regulus, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a bitch when he wanted to be.
“Training for quidditch?” the dark haired boy asked, scanning James’ body up and down.
“You know it. Gotta make sure by the time we play Slytherin, I can kick your arse.”, he chuckled and pointed a finger at Regulus, poking his chest.
Regulus stumbled back, crossing his arms. “Don’t touch me-“ he muttered quickly, looking down.
James took a good look at Regulus, his arms, his legs, but his eye caught one thing. A particularly dark purple shape on his knee. It was sort of greenish in places, but nonetheless, was a bruise.
The brunette looked up at him, with a shocked look. Now that he really looked closely, he had smaller, more healed bruises along his arms.
“Regulus is everything alright?-” Regulus’ eyes shot up, looking at James like he’d just discovered the truth. There was a moment that his eyes looked glossy, as if he were about to cry. Before his face went right back to that catlike look.
“None of your business. I’m off to continue my workout, best of luck in your tryout.” He stormed off, nudging James in the shoulder, causing him to stumble. James turned around, yelling back, “You too!”
He genuinely meant it, too. That’s just who James was. He never wished the worst for people. He suspected the bruises were from Walpurga.
James just continued his jog as usual, thinking about Regulus. However, those thoughts quickly turned to quidditch and what he’d do in his first match.
* * *
When he got back to Gryffindor Tower, it was finally busy with students.
Some first years were double checking that they had everything in their bags, and third years were trying to figure out where their new classes were on their schedule.
He walked back into his dorm room. Peter was fixing his tie in the mirror. Remus and Sirius were both in the bathroom.
Remus was shirtless and combing his hair, and Sirius had his shirt unbuttoned, still in his pajama bottoms, brushing his teeth.
“Good Morning, Potter!” Sirius called through a mouthful of toothpaste. The way he said ‘Potter’ was so friendly, and so different compared to the way his brother had said it about 45 minutes ago.
James quickly grabbed his robes and started getting dressed. He buttoned up his shirt and did his tie, and ran to the bathroom. Luckily, Remus and Sirius were already finished and were waiting on him.
He combed his hair and brushed his teeth at the same time.
By the time James was done, he was hopping out of the door trying to get his shoe on.
“Prongs, come on! We’re gonna be late!” Remus yelled, already at the bottom of the steps with Sirius, exchanging a snicker as they watched James hobble down, trying to make sure his shoe was secure.
“I’m trying! Not my fault you’re going to be late. You could’ve gone without me.” James said as he finally began walking normally. “And miss the first breakfast of the year with you? No way.” Sirius smiled.
The trio frantically ran through the halls to get to the grand hall, their sixth year had officially begun.
* * *
They burst through the doors of the hall. They were about ten minutes late, meaning everyone else was already seated. James suddenly felt a lot of eyes on him as they strode their way through the hall, and felt a particular pair of daggers looking his way.
They sat down, and immediately began eating. Because of their lateness, their food had already gone cold. A certain ginger girl giggled at the three who were inhaling their food. “You guys can calm down. We still have like 50 minutes.” Lily Evans sighed. James looked up at her and smiled.
Lily was a very pretty girl, and James loved her. But, not in the way most would think. Until his third year, he’d had a crush on her that everyone had known about.
But after her constant rejection, he thought it was time to try to move on. And that he did. Now, he couldn’t see the girl as any more than a sister.
“I know but-” James swallowed his eggs, “I don’t want it to get any colder!”
Marlene and Mary were chatting, still talking about how their summers went. James guessed they’d had very interesting ones considering how long they’d been talking about it, but what did he know?
Remus began discussing when he would be studying later that day with Lily. The two had a habit of studying together. That probably explained why they were some of the smartest in the year.
It was crazy to James that they were already discussing studying arrangements. It was only the first day, why would they need to study so much?
Then James remembered their OWLS looming over them, and suddenly realized that maybe he should get in on the study group as well.
“Remus, do you think I could join you later? I want to get a head start on my OWLS.” He asked the sandy blonde boy, and received a smile. “Of course. Library at 6:00.”
James nodded, and started a conversation with Lily about his schedule for the day.
* * *
James’ first class of the day was History of Magic. He had that with Marlene and Remus, which was nice. He sat down next to Remus, with Marlene on the other side.
James began jotting down notes in his fresh notebook as Professor Binns began his lecture for the day.
It was mostly reminding students what this class would be like, and what they'd be learning about for the term. James had already done this for six years, so it wasn’t like it was anything new.
He started throwing bits of paper at Remus, but stopped when Professor Binns gave him an eye from the front of the room.
He just sat in the classroom for the rest of class and listened to what the professor had to say.
* * *
After classes that day, James only had around 3 hours until he was supposed to be in the library for studying, so he decided he would go to the quidditch pitch for a while to get the feel of his broom again.
He went back to his room. Nobody had come back from classes yet, so he was the first. He dropped his things off and readjusted some of his clothing in the mirror before heading back out.
James arrived at the pitch and made his way to the broomshed, grabbing his broom. He’d polished it before he got to school, so it gleamed in the afternoon light. He couldn’t wait to use it.
The brunette boy got into the field and took a deep breath. He felt the firm ground against his feet as he pressed off of the ground and started in the air.
He began with just some simple flying around, not trying to do anything specific. A small breeze was against him, but nothing he’d never dealt with before. In fact, he’d dealt with a lot worse.
Last year during his game against Ravenclaw, the winds were so bad that McGonagall actually considered canceling the match. But in the end decided against it, and Gryffindor came back with another victory.
James picked up his speed a bit. The wind against his face as he soared through the sky was one that he’d never forget as long as he lived. It bit at his skin in the best way imaginable.
He flew around in circles, speeding up as he went. James didn’t know what he was going to do when he didn’t have this pitch to his use at all times. He flew through some of the goalposts and circled the towers for each house, zipping around the pitch all over again a few times.
It was exhilarating, being up in the sky like that. James could see Hogwarts in all of its beauty. It’s aged stone walls and tall towers, and the lake that was below. Just over a hill, James could see Hogsmeade, the small village that lay outside of the castle.
It was perfect.
He put his arms in the air. He was entirely alone. He felt as if he was on top of the world. Nothing mattered.
But, he was brought back down at the thought that he now had to be in the library in 30 minutes.
He swooped down back onto the ground, put his broom back in the shed, kissed it goodbye, and ran back up to the school. This year, James was determined to work harder on his grades than ever before. After all, he did have his OWLS.
* * *
As James walked to the library, he thought about something. It would be nice to have some sort of training partner, especially a seeker considering what they do in the game.
Finally, he made it to the library. He was greeted by Remus, who was currently helping some fifth years out on a Charms assignment. Lily was in the corner, reading up on some Arithmancy.
James put his things down next to her, who looked up at him with the thud of his book.
“Are you working on Arithmancy as well?” She asked, scanning the cover of the book and looking back at him.
“Unfortunately, yes, I am.” James pulled out a chair and sat down, running his hands through his hair as he did so.
Lily smiled and scooted in a bit closer, grabbing his book and turning it to the page she was on. It was a complicated number chart, with decimals and the whole shabang. James fake gagged, taking his book back and getting a closer look at the image.
“Oh, Evans. This is..” he couldn’t finish.
“So great!” The girl finished his sentence with a smile. Why was Lily Evans born with such competence?
“Not exactly what I was going to say.” James chuckled and turned to face the desk, starting to analyze the book and get the hang of the subject. He had been away for two months after all, so he was admittedly a little rusty with numbers. He could tell he was going to be here a while.