The Marauders: Year Seven Part One

The New Gryffindor Seeker

Nothing would have torn James Potter from bed at five o'clock on a Saturday morning except for one thing.

Sirius was dragging his broomstick and beater's bat behind him down the path to the Quidditch pitch, eyes closed and leaning his forehead against James's shoulder as he trailed along behind, ignoring it as James talked about how nervous he was. 

The sun was barely up by the time they'd slugged their jackets into lockers and strapped on their Quidditch gear. James tightened the chinstrap on his helmet as he paused to tap his palm against the frame of the chalkboard containing Derek Bell's last play for good luck. "Help me have a good year, Bell," he begged, staring up at the smiling photo of Derek in all his gear, chin held high and cape fluttering slightly in a breeze. He drew a deep breath and walked out onto the pitch.

The grass was still soaked with dew, and he carried the box of Quidditch balls to the center of the pitch, followed dutifully by Sirius, and set down the trunk, looking about at the sets of rings on either end and the high stands with their House colours and banners. The smell of the morning was invigorating and James could feel the adrenaline filling him up, coursing its way through his veins as he stood there in his Gryffindor red and gold. "Gods," he moaned, grinning as he looked around at it all, "It just makes me feel so alive to be back out here, like I'm utterly invincible. You know? Like the world is on balance, and nothing will set it off kilter ever again." James's eyes glowed with passion, "We're going to have a marvelous year, I can just feel it in every bone of my body, Sirius. We're going to win the house cup this year if it kills me to do it. I'm so ruddy glad to be back out here. I'm so glad that I listened to you lot and Evans and I'm just -- so -- ready -- for -- this. Are you ready for this?? Sirius???"

Sirius had sat down on the case of balls and fallen asleep, doubled forward against his knees, his beater's bad and broomstick in the grass at his feet.

James stared down at him, then nudged his head with his trainer. "Wake up, you tosser."

"Fivemoreminutes, Moony, then I'll do anything you want," Sirius murmured.

James made a face, "Urrrgh!" He decided to leave Sirius to it - he was clearly hallucinating things in a way that only Sirius Black could. Instead, James took a peek at Sirius's pocket watch for the time and took to the sky alone, sweeping the length of the pitch in long loops.

The wind in his hair was everything. He gripped his broomstick with the new dragon hide gloves he'd bought in Diagon Alley, which gave him excellent handling capability without any slipback. He dropped into a spiral and swooped so close to the earth that his back was wet from the dew when he rose back up into the foggy sky, slowing only to tug his goggles down over his glasses to keep the rain from clouding him over.

He'd been flying trick patterns and making tight, near impossible turns, warming up for nearly an hour when Lily Evans flew up neck-to-neck with him, her hair in a long braid tucked into her robes.

"YOU'RE A BLEEDIN' SHOW OFF, POTTER," she shouted, grinning over at him from behind her own pair of goggles that seemed to magnify her green eyes by several sizes.

"IT ISN'T SHOWING OFF IF I DIDN'T KNOW ANYBODY WAS WATCHING!" James replied, smirking.

"WELL NOW YOU KNOW," Lily answered, and they slowed down to a hover. "Good morning," she said once they'd come to a stop and pulled their goggles up to their foreheads to see each other properly. "Very impressive flying, by the way, since I didn't say that before."

James pretended to be shocked, "Are you complimenting me now? Is that how this works? I do something show-offish and you actually think it's cool?"

Lily laughed, "Shut up." And she dropped her goggles back over her eyes. "Race you back down."

James broke into a dive without even fixing his goggles, the pair of them flying off his head and falling to the earth nearly as fast as he was flying. Realizing they'd fallen off, he spiraled and caught them before landing neatly on the ground at a jog beside the balls case, where Sirius had tumbled onto the grass asleep. Lily landed beside him a mere beat after he did. James grinned and held up his goggles before pocketing them.