Marauders in Time

Quidditch

Word about the new students spread fairly quickly around the school, particularly of one Daniel Barone. The boy with blonde hair and emitted some serious self-confidence. Him and his group of friends, always so close together, always doing the same things. Never saw one without the other three. Not much talk went around about the new girl though, who although she talked to the group occasionally, never really hung out with them. She kept to herself mostly. And not many people talked to her, at least not as much as the Marauders. But the talk about the new students quickly died down as the first Quidditch match of the season approached. There had always been animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and this match was no different.

"Time to get down to business," Sirius clapped his hands at the breakfast table the morning of the match. "Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Boy, I want to beat them. That Malfoy boy is getting on my nerves. He's worse than his-"

He stopped himself once he caught Remus's eye. Its a wonder no one had caught on to their consistent mistakes. Everyone seemed too careless to notice. However, Hermione seemed to realize something was up as she kept giving Sirius questioning looks. But she never pestered.

"Good luck Harry," a girl said nicely from behind him. She looked like she was from Ravenclaw. And Harry's reaction told everyone else that he was, simply put, embarrassed. 

"You will be fine Harry," Hermione assured him. "This is something you can definitely beat Malfoy at."

"Yeah good luck Harry," James said.

The Marauders walked towards the stadium and found their seats before being joined by Lily. She was closely followed by Ginny and Hermione. Ron and Harry were somewhere below this massive crowd, James thought, because he had been in the same position before. In fact, he thought it felt weird to be watching from the stands seeing as he had always been in the team.

"Nice to watch for a change," Sirius grinned at James. "Seeing as you're always playing."

He leaned in closer to whisper directly to him, "And now you get to see if your son has inherited your Quidditch skills as well."

This was something James had been looking forward to as well. He had been forbidden to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch practice because Angelina, the captain, didn't want Ron to play in front of a crowd. Apparently he doesn't do well with nerves. And despite his attempts at trying to sneak out to look for him, he had been thwarted many times, first by Filch, then Lily, and then by McGonagall. So this is the first time he would get to see his son on a broomstick.

"Go Harry!" Hermione and Ginny cheered as the Gryffindor and Slytherin players mounted their brooms and kicked off.

The game was a feisty one seeing as the Slytherin team were resorting to dirty tactics to beat the much more talented opposition. Typical, James thought to himself. He kept his eye on Harry as he circled the stadium looking for the snitch, with Draco Malfoy following closely. The game was fast-paced, with Gryffindor having a lot of the possession. the Gryffindor Chasers, all girls, were much better than their rather large and brutal opposition.

"Those Weasley twins are something!" Sirius exclaimed in awe.

The twins were the Beaters, and each had successfully knocked the Quaffle out of Slytherin possession more times in the first 5 minutes than the two Slytherin Beaters combined. The only problem was Ron. Unfortunately, James could see what Angelina meant be nerves. He could see Ron struggling to stay on his broom as Slytherin went up 50-30. What made it worse was the fact that the Slytherins had come up with a chant to taunt Ron; somewhere along the lines of 'Weasley is our King'.

"Come on Harry," James mumbled, watching Harry's eyes wonder the stadium.

In a sudden flash of concentration, Harry started to speed and Malfoy did the same next to him: they had both seen the Snitch. 

"Go Harry!" Hermione was cheering.

Harry weaved left and right to evade a Bludger and then Malfoy, showcasing his skills on the broom before sticking his arm out and falling off his broom as he lunged forward, closing his hand as he did. As he landed on the ground, the entire stadium gasped. As he stood up, Harry raised his arms and the Gryffindors could just about make out the tiny golden ball that Harry was holding.

"YES!" All the Gryffindors cheered in elation, Hermione and Ginny were jumping up and down and hugging each other while Remus and Sirius did the same. James celebrated on his own, proud of what he has just seen.

"Lets go down to him," Hermione suggested, moving to the front.

The rest followed, ready to embrace him. James was halted by someone as he followed.

"He certainly has your talent," Lily said to him, smiling at him for the first time ever.

"I know," James smirked again.

But the celebrations were put on hold when there was a scream. James and Lily turned to see what was going on. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher and referee, was forcefully pulling Harry and George Weasley off Malfoy whereas the 3 Chasers of Gryffindor were trying to hold back Fred Weasley from presumably doing the same. 

"STOP!" McGonagall had arrived and was trying to keep everything under control. There was a large circle formed around the scenery as McGonagall stared daggers at Harry and George.

"What do you think you are doing?!" both Hooch and McGonagall screamed. "Attacking a student like that!"

The two boys were dragged by McGonagall to her office along with Fred Weasley, leaving the 3 Chasers panting. Hooch waved everyone else off to leave and the pitch was quickly emptied as people went back to the castle.

"What happened?" James asked, catching up to his friends.

"I have no idea," Sirius replied. "My view was blocked."

"I saw something," Peter said. "That Malfoy boy said something to Harry. Said something about his parents."

"Did he?" James asked, flaring up.

"Don't," Remus warned. "Don't do anything rash just yet."

The Gryffindors returned to the common room, most of them unsure of how to react. Some were definitely in high spirits, probably because they never saw the brawl that occurred right after the match ended. But most were either on the verge of celebrating but at the same time, feeling uneasy. Hermione and Ginny were particularly scared, unsure of what is to happen now. Lily sat next to them, looking equally as frightened. Sirius, James and Remus sat down on the floor and said nothing while Peter played with his fingers by the side.

"Surely McGonagall won't punish them too harshly," Sirius said suddenly. "We just won."

"Snape will want to interfere," Hermione said bitterly.

Sirius sniggered, "Snape. Oh Snivellus. If he does anything..."

"Don't," Remus said again. "He is a teacher!"

"Not to me he ain't," Sirius said cockily. Lily rolled her eyes.

James didn't say anything. He was worried about Harry. He had just won the game for Gryffindor and showed his Quidditch talents. There was no doubt he may even be better than him. But what would happen to him now that he attacked that Malfoy boy?

The common room portrait door opened after a prolonged period of silence. In came George followed by his brother Fred and Harry. All 3 of them were looking glum, and when they reached the Marauders, Fred finally said, "We have been given a lifetime ban."