The Order of Mischief I

1.13

The sky grew dark and grey as it welcomed the winter season. Students and staff piled into the bleachers, attentively watching the match. Each quarter of the stadium borders flashed either blue, red, green or yellow colours. Everyone watching the match wore large cloaks and scarves around their necks, unlike the players that stayed in their uniforms and gear.

Hufflepuff was ten points ahead of Gryffindor, as the chasers threw the quaffle through their opponent's hoops. The crowd grew wild as another point was scored, while Gryffindors displayed brilliant sportsmanship and booed their temporary enemy. Slytherins and Ravenclaws enjoyed the match, either cheering on their friends or simply celebrating every goal scored, regardless by who.

"Where's Remus?" Sahara asked, leaning in towards James. Although Sirius was closer to her, she avoided talking to him, since he started to annoy her like most boys do. Once, he tugged at her hair during a Transfiguration lesson to ask her if she had a spare quill to lend him.

James looked at her, "He's not feeling well."

She flashed concern in her eyes, "What? Is he okay?"

He nodded, "He'll be fine, he just needs time to recover, I guess. I don't know what happened but I do know that he wants privacy. He would not let us meet him."

"Must be his pride and ego," she suggested, nodding as he refused to correct her or tell her otherwise. He was uncertain of why their roommate would not want them around, but he thought it best to respect his wishes.

James smiled, "Make sure your cousins show up to the mini party at the astrology tower tonight." Sahara nodded and smiled, eager for the evening celebrations.

As Nahara said, he birthday was sung at every meal so far. James did arrange a playful quidditch match between his Gryffindor peers, in the early morning, for an hour. Madam Hooch was reluctant to give the boy what he asked for, but she acknowledged his determination and gave in. Of course, she secretly watched them play, in case the friendly match grew too risky for the children to safely play. When the hour ended, the boys disappeared to their changing rooms, the girls following into their respective ones, before attending their classes. Of course, the first celebratory event required everyone to wake up early, which left each eleven year old to tuck themselves into bed hours earlier than usual, on the night before.

A golden snitch flew past the Hufflepuff seeker, and the player flew after it. A blur of red merged with the yellow and slammed against it as the chase began. The match quickly grew aggressive as the crowds cheered and gasped at every action. The house pride ignited a sense of competition within all the students, encouraging them to dramatically react to each movement. The chasers of both houses watched their seekers briefly before continuing to fight to score more points, to ensure that they would score more points.

A sport like quidditch was unpredictable and could easily become never-ending, which encouraged players to score as many points as they could. The game was rapidly becoming slightly dirty, in terms of game play, as beaters used their bats to hit the bludgers towards the other players, namely the seekers and chasers. A Gryffindor chaser was hit the same time its seeker pushed forward and scooped the golden snitch from the air. The audience gasped as the sixth year student struggled to steady himself on his broom, before their seeker flew about the pitch, firmly holding the tiny ball and showing it to the crowd. The seventh year seeker laughed as he was celebrated. He landed on the ground and his peers followed, running to embrace him. The maroon house screamed and cheered.

"Tonight is going to be one hell of a night!" Sirius shouted as he pulled James and Peter out of the stands and towards the pitch where the champions stood. His best friends were as ecstatic as him when they joined the celebration. Although it was not the house cup, it meant that their house was going on to soon play against the remaining houses.