The Brothers Black

Chapter 21

"If we don't crush these bloody slithering snakes then each one of you is running laps around the pitch until next season," Marlene shouted.

"McKinnon, you're not the captain," James drawled.

"I am if I want to be! I could punch those glasses right off your face and into your–" she started, squaring James up.

"Marls," Sirius stepped in, gently pulling her back. "Save it for the pitch."

Marlene huffed, scrunching her freckled nose in annoyance at James. I stifled a laugh and Marlene and I exchanged a smirk.

"So did you and Regulus do it then?" James asked. 

"What?" I blurted, spinning around. 

"I was talking to Katie," James explained, puzzled by my reaction. 

"Yeah, we checked the Snitch," Katie confirmed.

"Hey." I felt James' hand on my shoulder. He squeezed my arm. "Head in the game, squirt. You got this."

"Sorry. You too," I nodded. "I'll be open on the left, you know." James kept playing Davey on the right and neglecting me.

He rolled his eyes, then turned toward the team. "You all know the stakes here. The other two teams are crap. Whoever wins this gets the Cup. Either way, we're a team. And a bloody good one at that. Let's get out there and show these bloody slithering snakes how it's done!"

"Hell yeah!" Marlene yelled.

James took a deep breath, facing the stadium. He streaked a hand through his hair. "We're ready," he said with a voice more determined than I'd ever heard.

We all sprinted out onto the field. The stands erupted in cheers and music blasted through the walls. I flashed back to being 7-years-old, dreaming of entering the stadium as part of the Holyhead Harpies. Even if I hadn't made it there yet, this feeling of sheer awe is what I had been expecting. 

The crisp wind blew my braids back and my hand tightened along the end of my broom in preparation. When James mounted his broom, the rest of the team followed suit. We dipped and dived through all the stands, generating screams of joy from the Gryffindor section and boos in the Slytherin section. We landed in the middle of the pitch as the Slytherin team flew into the stadium.

They tried to top us off by performing fancy tricks. A blonde girl landed a perfect backflip on her broom. I almost barfed when I realized it was Lucinda. Right after, a black and green blur shot through the pitch. My breath caught. My eyes followed the boy on the broom around the pitch in a trance.

I had to admit, Regulus Black was fast.

After a lap around the pitch, the Slytherin team dove straight down toward our team, who were standing like scarecrows on the ground. They came so close I almost flinched, but James shot me a death look that said he would've killed me if I had moved. At the last second, they pulled up, landing in front of us.

I tried my best not to look at Regulus, but that ended up being difficult. My thought process had been that if I ignored him for long enough, last week's event would be left forgotten. Instead, it felt like it was a magnet, pulling us together.

When I averted my eyes toward the other members of the team, I accidentally looked directly at Lucinda. She stared back with an expression of pure loathing. I gave her the same look back. I was even more motivated to win now.

"Vanity," James addressed the Slytherin captain, Emma Vanity, with some respect.

"Potter," she said quietly. I noticed she cowered behind Regulus, along with the rest of the squad. It seemed like he had control of the team, even if he wasn't captain by name.