swim || remus lupin

seaweed

"I can't believe you have a heart," I had said teasingly as we packed up at the end of the period. She scrunched up her face.

"Yeah whatever, just don't tell anyone or I'll rip your face off."

For my second free, I was scheduled to meet James for some extra quidditch practice. Knowing how much he cared about punctuality, I quickly ran up to Gryffindor Tower to change. I threw on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. Holding my wand between my teeth, I exited the dormitory in record time whilst putting my hair up into a messy bun.

"Cutting it close, Squiddy!" The bespectacled boy called from the sky as I approached the green grass.

"Oh shut it, Jimmy, I'm right on time!"

"On time won't get you that chaser spot," he said warningly. I rolled my eyes and mounted my broom, flying up to meet him in the air.

"No, but this will," I stripped the quaffle from his grasp and zipped away laughing. James took off after me and easily caught up, but as he reached out to steal the ball away I looped over top of his head and flew on towards the goals. He recovered, of course, because he's James Potter and is amazing at quidditch, but it was too late and the quaffle sailed through the middle hoop.

"And the crowd goes wild!" I shouted. "Sydney, Sydney, Sydney," James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, that was alright," he admitted. "But, you did have a pretty amazing coach," I furrowed my brows and tapped my chin.

"Did I? I don't recall."

James and I practiced shooting with a defender as well as some speed drills. No matter how much I improved, I knew I'd never beat him in a race, but I came close. After about an hour we headed back over to our dorms to shower quickly before class.

"At the risk of blowing your ego up to Sirius-size," James began as we climbed the moving staircases, "you have improved quite a lot," I grinned.

"Why thank you, Jimbo," I placed a hand over my heart jokingly. "You think I'll beat out Valdez?" Mark Valdez was a boy in our year. He had long black hair and was very tall and muscular. Nice as he was, I was a bit scared of him. Not to mention he was gunning for the chaser spot as well.

"You're faster than he is, he's just a bit more aggressive. We'll work on getting by the defense again tomorrow and you can perfect your throw, yeah?" I nodded. "Ultimately, I have the final vote, so as long as you keep playing how you have been I think he'll be the nervous one."

I showered as quickly as I could, ignoring the slicing pains and praying that the redness would clear up before class time. I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off carefully. Before I dressed, I unscrewed the container of cream that the school nurse had left me. I carefully applied the teal substance to the small cuts which opened across my arms and down my legs. Relief washed over me as I felt my body cool substantially. I let the ointment dry a bit as I brushed out my hair and made use of Marlene's blow dryer. Finally, I threw on my robes and laced up my shoes. I looked in the mirror and realized my face was still slightly red, but my watch informed me that I had no time to deal with it, and so I departed for Care of Magical Creatures.

I arrived by the small hut slightly out of breath and slightly late. Professor Kettleburn smiled at me and continued speaking, and I found a spot beside Remus, my only other friend in the class.

"You alright?" He whispered amusedly.

"James held me up with quidditch training."

"Ah, typical," he nodded. "You're a bit red there," he observed, motioning to my face.