Wolfstar And Marauders Hell

Quidditch

James walked out of the Quidditch locker rooms and onto the pitch, nervously. He was met with deafening roars and screams, as well as some boos and jeers from where the Slytherins were sitting. Gilderoy Lockhart, a Ravenclaw fourth year, was busy telling some Hufflepuff first years about some of his "exploits". None of them were true. James watched Snape roll his eyes. For once in his life he sympathised with him.

'Potter's a rotter!' roared Avery, cheered on by Mulciber. Severus Snape was sitting beside them both, looking very gloomy indeed. He curled his lip at the sight of James. James winked at him, carefully fixing his glasses with his middle finger, looking more confident than he felt.

'Happy 17th!' called another voice from the huddle of Gryffindors on the pitch. James turned to meet the bottle-green eyes of Lily Evans. Her hair flashed like fire in the sunlight, and all his nervousness melted away at the sight of her encouraging smile.

Remus, who was standing beside Peter, held the other side of the Gryffindor poster he and Lily had made together. All Marauders save James were wearing face-paint, but Sirius had opted for a more wild look: instead of swirls of house-coloured paint brushed on tastefully, he had more of a tribal warrior look, complete with a bare, painted chest, and feathers threaded through his long hair. The look was completed with his studded black leather jacket flung carefully-but-carelessly over his arms, hanging loosely from his biceps.

Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius pretended to hump the wooden railings of the Quidditch stands. He sneaked a quick glance at Sirius's bare chest, subtly ogling him, but evidently he was not as sneaky as he thought, for Sirius grinned, noticing him, and gave him a flirtatious wink. Remus flushed puce, before turning away.

Peter yelled encouragement at James, splitting a Honeydukes bar with Remus, and Marlene McKinnon snapped a quick photo of them, capturing each of their essences perfectly. Well, Sirius's at least, thought James, watching him do obscene things to the poor railing.

As Marlene took her place at the commentating post, beside Professor McGonagall, who was busy trying to stop Sirius and assign him a detention, James joined his team on the centre of the pitch, their brooms flung across their shoulders.

' 'Ello, captain, Happy Birthday!' grinned Frank Longbottom. 'And not a moment late,' he said, conspicuously checking the gold watch his parents had given him on his seventeenth.

'Watch the attitude, Longbottom,' James grinned in return, slapping Frank's back as he passed him. The Gryffindor Quidditch team of '77 huddled round their captain and Head-boy as they planned strategies.

James beckoned to a younger boy standing at the edges of the huddle, clearly uncertain. 'Come here, Reeves. Since Sirius's gone and got himself banned for the season, the bleeding blighter, you'll be standing in as Beater, alongside Frank.'

Frank nodded at the anxious fourth-year. 'Alright, Donald?'

Donald swallowed and whispered, 'Yeah, fine thanks.'

'You'll do just fine,' added Alice Prewett, the team's Seeker. She had the perfect build for it, being extremely quick on a broom, and with a light frame. Once upon a time, James would have liked to have the position of Seeker, but now he was happy to be a Chaser with Drew Bridgewater and Lily, who also happened to be Head-girl.

James turned to Mary MacDonald, the third-year keeper, and said, 'Remember to keep track of all three of the hoops, Alice, keep an eye on Regulus, and only catch the Snitch if we're more than 160 points up, or else bleedin' Hufflepuff will win the Cup.'

Lily frowned at this. 'Hufflepuff aren't that bad.'

James smiled. 'Alright, love, I'm sure Hufflepuff are great. A kiss for my birthday?' He held his cheek out playfully, expecting his girlfriend to reprimand him for calling her love, but instead she turned his face back, and gave him a long and hard kiss on the lips. James stared at her through his steamed over glasses, hardly daring to breathe, even after all this time. The Gryffindor team whooped and cheered, turning to face the Slytherin team who had just finished conferring with one another.

Evan Rosier, one of the Chasers, threw the Gryffindors a dirty look. The Captain, Regulus Black, Slytherin's Seeker, walked forward to shake hands with James, a neutral expression on his face. 'Potter,' he said, squeezing James's hand a wee bit harder than was normal.

James squeezed his hand back, but smiling, as they were both friends, and it was all in good spirit. 'Black,' he returned. Dolohov sneered over Regulus's shoulder, and Regulus looked apologetically at James, conveying what could not be said in front of the other Slytherins.

The players all got into position, and Marlene tapped her wand to her throat. 'SONOROUS!' She made a high-pitched squealing sound into her wand on purpose, making everyone clap their ears and groan. McGonagall tried to grab her wand, but Marlene ducked away quickly. Poor Professor McGonagall sighed, and sat down heavily, giving up. 'Worse than Sirius Black, that one,' she muttered. Speaking of the devil, Sirius had quit molesting the railings, and had joined Marlene at the podium, looking even wilder than before.

As McGonagall took in his appearance, Sirius smirked, and smoothed his precious hair back. 'Sorry, Minnie, bit of a wild one, she is,' he giggled, stroking the fencing gently. Minerva McGonagall wrinkled her nose and turned away in disgust.

Marlene cleared her throat. 'Aaaaaand, today, I'll be joined by a special guest, Siriuuuuuus Black!' The crowd burst into whoops and cheers.

Remus covered his face. 'This is not going to be good... Not going to be good...'

Peter unwrapped his third Cauldron Cake, oblivious.

'As you can see,' boomed Marlene, 'Sirius's been banned for the season, a Bludger to Mulciber's slimy head, a valiant effort on his part if you ask me...' (Mulciber shook his fist at Sirius from across the stands), 'So, he's been replaced by Gar-Goyle as Beater, with Dolohov, Black Junior as Seeker,' (Sirius hollered something unintelligible into the wand), 'Rosier, Emma Parkinson, and Crouch as Chasers, and Betty Horan as Keeper.' Sirius and Marlene had punctuated this speech with a large amount of booing, aided by other Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall attempted to take away the wand again, but Marlene dodged her once more.

Sirius took over. 'And they take off! You already know the Gryffindor team, no need to introduce them, ruddy brilliant team they are, they'll blast the sorry arses of the Slytherin team in no time... And, might I add, a very Happy Birthday to you, Potter!'

Sirius and Marlene's commentating faded into the background as James leant forward on his broom, intent on scoring as many shots as he could. Donald kept a close eye on him, knocking away many a Bludger that Dolohov and Goyle shot James's way. James took notice. Not quite as good as Sirius, but with some more training, he would make an excellent Beater.

His attention was drawn back to the game as Evans shot the Quaffle into the Slytherin hoops twice in a row. The Gryffindors went wild, and Sirius set off a Filibuster, which resulted in McGonagall dragging him off the podium for a good few minutes and assigning him another detention.

The Slytherins booed, as Betty Horan vibrated on her broom with anger, cracking her knuckles, and Sirius made a very inappropriate gesture upon his return. With this kind of behaviour, he'd never be allowed back on the Quidditch pitch.

As Emma Parkinson scored Slytherin's first goal, James realised he had some catching up to do with Lily. The sun beamed down, blindingly bright, and created a glare on his glasses, making it harder to see. He dove back into the game, and dodged another Bludger, scoring a third goal for Gryffindor, and then a fourth, and then a fifth... Drew had also scored her fair share of goals, and soon Gryffindor had scored 150 points, but the Slytherins had also caught up, at 150 too, despite Mary MacDonald's excellent skills.

Alice had spotted the Snitch, but couldn't get it until one of the Chasers had scored another goal. She tried to signal this to James, before Regulus  noticed.

James noticed, and indicated that she should subtly follow it until he had a chance of scoring. He glanced over at the stands, and noticed with alarm that Sirius had noticed the Snitch, too. It would be just like Sirius to blurt that out to the whole pitch. He had to score a goal before Sirius could talk.

James spotted Rosier with the Quaffle. He flew over, knocking it out of his hands, and tossed the Quaffle at the goal... Just as Ali Prewett's fingers closed about the Snitch, but then a solid, heavy object hit him in the back of the head, and he was falling, falling, falling...