Lions Inside¹ | James Potter

twenty-seven

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(Freaks//Jordan Clarke)

"Are you sure?" Andrea asked Sirius doubtfully.

"Positive. Besides, Ravenclaw acted last with those exploding ink bottles. It's our turn. That's how a prank war works, silly girl." Andrea rolled her eyes extravagantly.

"I'm not talking about the prank. I'm asking if you're sure that the robes in there are Ravenclaws." "Oh. I think so. You need to ask James, he's the one who's memorized every House's training schedule." Andrea stood properly from her crouched position next to Sirius and stood on her toes to try and spot James. He had a knack for being most alert out of all of them, so lately he had been left to lookout duty. Sirius followed in after Peter and Remus into the changing rooms and Andrea headed for James.

"James!" she hissed. James turned to the sound in alarm but relaxed when he saw it was Andrea coming over to join him. 

She had no interest in joining the others in the boys' locker room as they stuffed itching flower seeds into Ravenclaw's Quidditch robes. "What are you doing?! I'm the lookout and I take my job very seriously. Stop distracting me." 

Andrea flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smug smirk. "Well, sorry to be so distracting to you, puffo, but I came to join lookout duties. And to ask if you were completely sure that's it's Ravenclaw's robes hanging in there." 

James rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, obviously. Now calm down and shut up." Andrea leaned against the stand next to James and looked around at their completely deserted surroundings. 

As he kept looking up and down the empty hills, Andrea's leg started bouncing up and down. "Stop that," James mumbled. Andrea's leg stopped bouncing as she turned to him. "Stop what?" 

"Leg shaking, lip chewing, finger tapping." Andrea looked down to see her hand resting against her thigh, where she had probably just been tapping it against her jean-clad thigh. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"I'm restless." James diverted his eyes from the field to her for a second to give her an incredulous look. "You've been standing still for three minutes." Andrea crossed her arms with a fake scowl. "Exactly." James chuckled and shook his head at her.

"Run along, puffetta. You're too restless to keep-" As a twig snapped behind them both Andrea and James straightened immediately and froze in place, waiting for more sound to follow.
"Come on guys, we haven't got all day. The next match is against Hufflepuff, and then Gryffindor are playing Slytherin so it all counts on this last match before the finals," they could both hear the Ravenclaw Captain directing his team. 

Turning slowly, Andrea could spot the Quidditch team coming down the slope from the main building of the castle. "Ca-caw!" James called out, sounding very much like a bird. They waited in silence for a couple of seconds, and then Sirius, Peter and Remus came running out of the changing rooms at top speed. Passing him, Sirius grabbed James' shirt and dragged him with him to safety. 

As Peter started wheezing and falling behind, Andrea grabbed his hand and pulled him along with the rest of them. "Best idea ever. You're a genius, Pettigrew!" Sirius cheered as they reached the outline of the Forbidden Forest. 

As Andrea saw the pleased expression on Peter's face, she resisted reminding Sirius that the itching powder had been her idea.

Peter needed it more.

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8th of February, Saturday, 1975

Friday nights of sleep were great.