Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 57

"YES!" Jenna cried out in triumph as she caught the Golden Snitch, clutching it in her hand as she stared down at it in disbelief.

     But when she looked down, she caught sight of James who was laying on his back on the ground, struggling to get up. With the Snitch held tightly in her grasp, Jenna turned her broom around and leaned on it, causing it to move forward with a little more speed until she neared the ground.

     As soon as she reached him, Jenna got off the broom and landed on her two feet, moving closer toward where her brother laid.

     "You okay, J.P?" Jenna asked softly, feeling a bit guilty for making him fall off his broom.

     "No." James groaned bitterly.

     Jenna held out a hand for him, offering him as and apologetic and guilty smile. James looked up at it for a moment longer before taking her hand, and so Jenna helped him up to his feet.

      "Potter!" They turned around as someone called, only to see that the Captain had also landed on the ground along with the other Gryffindor players, all in their red and gold Quidditch robes.

     Jenna had a hint of a proud grin on her face as she walked toward Mei, handing her the Golden Snitch.

     "That was a dangerous move you did back there," said Mei, observing the Snitch in her hand with a smile. "You had to be a damn brave girl to do something like that, on your first try. Either very brave, or very foolish."

     Jenna shrugged, her grin widening. "They both work in my favor."

     "That's the spirit we want on this team," said Mei, and Jenna felt her stomach lurch in excitement. "Welcome to the Gryffindor team. First official practice will be on Thursday, four o'clock."

     With one last flash of a welcoming smile at her, Mei turned around to tell the others that their work here was done, and thanked them for showing up for the tryouts anyway.

     Jenna smiled broadly as she shook the hands of the other members of the Gryffindor team and chuckled as some of them patted her on the shoulder as congratulations. She couldn't believe that as of this moment, she was actually a real Quidditch player.

     Once the others had gone, Jenna turned to face her brother, who was standing behind her and waiting for the rest to leave. Jenna had expected that he would be mad or at least disappointed that he hadn't gotten the spot for himself, but she was surprised when she turned around, only to find him grinning at her.

     "Sorry you didn't get the spot," said Jenna, though she was unable to suppress her excited smile after getting on the team. Her heart was still pounding in her chest in happiness. "You're not mad at me for doing that move, are you?"

     "Are you kidding?" James laughed. "That was the coolest thing I'd ever seen!"

     "Yeah?" Jenna grinned back, relieved that there was no hard feelings between them.

     "Hell yeah!" James nodded fervently. "I mean, sure, I could've broken a hip or something — but still it was brilliant!"

    Jenna chuckled. "Next year Mei Yang will be graduated from Hogwarts, so we'll have a new captain. They'll probably hold tryouts for a brand new team. You can sign up next year. You'll definitely make a good Chaser."

     "I definitely will." James's smirk then faded into a warm smile as he nudged her with the elbow playfully. "What matters now is that we have a real Quidditch player in the family. Mum and Dad will be so happy when they hear!"

     "True." Jenna laughed as they started making their way out of the field, carrying their broomsticks in hand.

     "I'm proud of you, little sister." James threw an arm over her shoulder coolly before ruffling up her hair which had turned orange ever since she had caught the Snitch.

    Jenna gave him a look. "I'm not that much younger than you! Only eleven minutes!"

     "Best eleven minutes of my life." James grinned, before they both broke into laughter.

***

There was a celebration in the girls' dormitory that evening after Jenna had told her friends the good news about getting into the Gryffindor Quidditch team as their new Seeker.

     Lily excitedly bombarded Jenna with questions on how she had caught the Snitch, and then promised she would go to the library the next day to get all the books they had on Quidditch so she could give them to Jenna, saying that she could get many tips from them.

  Alice kept congratulating her, saying that she knew all along that Jenna would get the spot. But it was Marlene who surprised them all when she shared her candy bar with the girls as celebration.

"Don't get too used to it, though," said Marlene, reaching for a Sugar Quill. "This would be the first and last time I'm giving someone my sweets."

  It was two hours before curfew when Jenna took out a parchment and quill, wanting to write to her parents immediately and give them the good news. Afterward, with the envelope in hand, she left the girls' dormitory to make her way up toward the Owlery.

     Although just as she was about to leave the common room, the portrait of the Fat Lady opened and Remus walked inside, coming along her way.

    "Oh. Hello." Remus smiled at her slight, a large book hugged to his chest.

     "Hey, Remus." Jenna gave him a small wave, smiling back. She realized with a jolt of pith that he once again looked rather sick, the bags underneath his eyes darker than the previous week.

     "I heard the news, by the way," said Remus, snapping Jenna out of her thoughts. "Congratulations on making it to the team."

     She chuckled. "Thanks."

     "Going to the Owlery?" he asked, looking down at the letter in her hand.

     "Yup. Want to let my parents know. They'll be thrilled!" Jenna said excitedly.

Although she couldn't help but glance again at the heavy and old-looking book in Remus's hands. It had a black leather as its fragile binding, with golden writings on its cover. But Jenna couldn't quiet make out the name of the title.

"Whachu got there?" she asked curiously.

    "Oh, this?" Remus laughed rather nervously. "I got this from the library for a bit of light reading. It's for Potions."

      "Light?" Jenna repeated, giving him a look.

  She then craned down her neck to take a better look at the title. It read 'Potions, Poisons, and Plants'. There was also a warning written underneath it in a smaller font, but before Jenna could make out what it said, Remus turned the book abruptly, so Jenna could now only see the black and plain binding of its back.

     "Anyways, I better get going," said Remus, already making a move to get past Jenna. "Don't let me keep you waiting."

     "Okay..." Jenna muttered, wondering why he was acting so odd. "See you later."

      Remus walked toward the boys' dormitory after waving her goodbye. As soon as Jenna climbed through the portrait hole and left the common room, he let out a sigh.

     That was a close one, he thought to himself in relief, making his way up to the boys' dormitory to meet up with James, Sirius, and Peter as planned.

It was time for revenge.