Quidditch and Tricks
So, when the next day rolled around and James had to attend Arithmancy, he didn’t want to be there at all.
All that the professor was saying was going in one ear and out the other. Was it possible to study too hard? If it was, James for sure knew that he’d done just that.
But he had agreed to go back again the same time next week, so he had to keep true to his word.
He wasn’t the type to go back on it, that was what made him one of the golden Gryffindors, if not the golden Gryffindor.
The class ended and James packed up his things, making his way towards the grand hall for lunch. He had Arithmancy with Peter and that was about it.
On the way over to the hall. Peter just complained about how he didn’t understand anything that was going on in that class and how he regretted taking it in the first place.
Once they got there, Lily and Remus were the only ones of their friends who had not yet arrived. Sirius waved frantically to James as soon as he noticed him, calling out;
“James! My love! You’ve arrived!”
This was a running joke between the two of them. They were absolutely madly in love.
James and Sirius only had two classes together this term, so they didn’t get to see each other during the day as much as they’d liked. After spending an entire summer together, the two had to get used to being apart.
The brunette hurriedly made his way to his seat, snickering with Sirius as they sat down, shoving him back into his seat and shouldering him.
“Play nice, boys.” said a voice, and James looked at Marlene with a ‘is-this-any-of-your-concern’ look. Her eyebrow was raised and Mary was giggling next to her.
“Boys, boys, boys..” Lily said as she walked up to them, Remus not too far behind.
“Hey, is it so horrible to miss my best friend?” Sirius asked as their food appeared, quickly digging in.
Just then, Remus sat down and just stared at his friends. “God, me and my idiots.”
“You looove us, Moony.” James chimed in, once again leaning against Sirius.
“Oh shut up and eat your food.” Remus snapped back playfully.
* * *
After the day had come to a close, the boys now all sat in their dorm room, catching up on some homework they’d been given. Remus was off to his study group for that night, so it was just Peter and Sirius in the room with James.
“My question is how do we even do Divination homework? It’s like- we use the ball and we use tea.” Sirius complained as he flopped back onto one of his pillows, leaving his work at the edge of his bed.
“She let us work on it during the class, y’know.” James said as he was hunched over his Potions work.
They were to be making Amortentia in a few days, so Slughorn had assigned reading over it to make sure the students truly knew how dangerous it was.
“Yeah, but like, I just don’t want to do it,” The long-haired boy whined in the corner, looking up at the ceiling with his hands over his torso.
Peter broke in. “I might just go talk to McGonagall about getting me out of Arithmancy.”
James looked at him. “You say that every year.”
“And every year I never do it! That’s why this year has to be the year.”
James just rolled his eyes and got back to work on studying the love potion, ever curious about what might come of it.
Later, the boys decided that after Remus returned, they would try to think of a prank to start the year off just right.
The Marauders were only a year away from leaving the school, so they had to make sure every prank that they pulled this year was worth it.
James opened the door after his shower, the steam from its heat snaking out the door.
He was dressed in his night clothes, and drying his hair with a towel.
Remus had already arrived, and it seemed that Peter had already given him a hint on the prank, because when he walked in, all eyes were suddenly on him.
“So, Prongs..” Remus started.
“Do you have anything you’d like to share?”
James smiled. That wicked smile, the one he made when he was up to something.
* * *
The prank was planned to occur on Friday of this week, and James could barely contain himself.
He was back at the quidditch pitch with Marlene. He thought that he’d get out all of the excited jitters by flying around on his broom and burning some energy.
“What’s got you so worked up?” The blonde asked as she tied her hair back, a few loose pieces falling back into her face.
“Oh, me and the guys have a great prank planned for Friday.” He explained as he got onto his broom.
Her eyes went wide for a moment before she giggled, raising a brow at James for the millionth time in their friendship.
“Should I be worried?”
James pushed off of the ground and looked down at her from the distance he’d made between them.
“Oh, no. If anything you should be thanking me! We’re sure to get out of classes for the rest of the day.”
She shook her head at him and pushed off of the ground.
“James Potter, the person you are..”
The two of them were chasers, so they liked training together. It was nice to get tips from her, especially considering the fact that her brother played professionally.
The two raced for three laps around the pitch. The cool air was harsh against their faces, but their smiles were bright. James’ eyes studied Marlene’s technique when she got ahead of him, and immediately sped up, sticking his tongue out once he passed her.
“I’m going to beat you, Potter!” She called.
“In your dreams!”
As they finished their warmup laps, the two flew to meet in the middle of the pitch, out of breath but smiling with joy. Quidditch was a great escape from their studies and inner thoughts.
“Congrats, idiot. You win.” She rolled her eyes. She wasn’t very competitive, but James could feel a tinge of loss.
“Thank you, thank you. I know! I’m great.” He chuckled, flying away to take a victory lap. The wind blew all over his face, frantically blowing his hair in every direction.
He stuck his hands in the air as he whooped all the way around the pitch, laughing. At that moment, James was young.
“Jaaames!” He heard a voice call from the Gryffindor tower on the pitch.
Sirius and Peter were sitting on the benches, cheering him on. Now, the boy had an audience. As he ended the lap and headed towards Marlene, she was just smiling at him, and jolted her head towards the two.
“I see we have an audience?”
“Absolutely.”
So the two ran through some drills for quidditch, and gave each other feedback on their techniques. James liked getting to practice with Marlene. She was always good at critiquing and not saying it in a passive aggressive way.
Occasionally, Sirius would yell from the sideline at what James was doing. Little nothings like “James is better!” And “James, you did it wrong!” But he was always like that.
After they’d gone over all of the drills the two could think of, they decided to be finished for the night. The four Gryffindors made their way back to the castle as the sun set in the distance.