All in the Family

Chapter 65: Bagman and Crouch

Sirius found himself on all fours in a grassy meadow still blinking bright morning sun out of his eyes, and grinned at the potential for mayhem all around. With not a soul in sight.

Head still spinning like he'd just taken a bad tumble from a broom, he staggered to his feet and stumbled around for a few moments, right into someone's tent. Not his initial intention, but he shrugged and kept at it anyway, even if he would have picked a grander one to start. It's not as if this one was uninteresting.

Instead of supporting either of the current teams here, they seemed to have hung posters of the Tutshill Tornados around. The beddings were even done up in bronze and blue, and there was a Comet Two Sixty leaning against a twin bed at the ready, amusing him for a moment as he imagined whoever owned it had actually planned a pick-up game at the World Cup, he knew he would have.

After only a moments hesitation, he raided their cupboards and found a few things to eat, before eying the bed wearily. It had been a while since they'd taken a break, and he hadn't heard the book going yet. However, he wanted to meet up with James and Remus first, explore with a bit more daylight. Maybe he'd run into everyone and they could all agree to take a nap so no one got any surprise jerk aways.

The peacock cocked his head to the side, and James mimicked the pose. The bird extended its albino plumage and James waved his arms wide. Unimpressed, the other one snapped his beak impatiently to move him along, but James' grin only widened as he once again tried to pass them by, sure there would be something of interest in the tent they were guarding.

"Hey!" looking up and around in surprise, James grimaced at Regulus marching towards him, almost literally. It always fascinated him how much this kid looked like Sirius but acted nothing like him, his best mate hadn't held himself so straight since Filch once threatened to tie a broom to his back.

"Yes?" He asked unenthusiastically, noticing the book in his hand, and turning dismissively back towards the birds.

"Need to talk to you about something."

He was glad he'd turned away now, the resemblance wasn't so uncanny when he didn't have to look at him. "When I want your opinion on my friend's, I promise you, I'm not shy in asking for it."

"Some friend," he scoffed.

James clenched his jaw, but before he could respond he went on primely, "no, that's not what I was going to say. You're probably better at hunting down the lot than I am-"

"Some Seeker," he snorted.

"But I'm going to keep this with me and crash for a few hours," he went on, somehow his voice getting more snooty by the moment. "That way, no one has to worry about not knowing when we're leaving again."

"How considerate," he rolled his eyes.

"Just thought you'd like to pass along the message," his voice sounded just a touch surely now. "I say we meet up at the Weasley's tent, once everyone's there, then we'll all be ready to keep going."

"What an excellent idea," he snarked.

He heard Regulus blow air through his nose in what was too dignified to be called a snort, but felt him still standing behind him. Temptation won out, he glanced over his shoulder and saw him chewing on the inside of his cheek as he continued to eye him. Whatever he was considering saying, he was sure he didn't want to hear it, so finally abandoned the stately tent and walked off.

"I just hope your memory isn't as shallow as your gene pool," he finally called after him. James flipped him the bird and made a quick cut through more tents.