Merlins Beard

gingers are vampires

James Potter was nervous. Despite the confidence he usually radiated, nervousness was typically a common emotion for him. One day had passed since the floral incident on halloween, and pink lily flowers littered the ground in almost every part of the castle. Only a chunk of the Slytherin population had been affected by the prank, but it was obvious that those who were refused to eliminate the certain words from their vocabulary even if it resulted in coughing up flowers. Pandora had gleefully reported to her friends in Gryffindor that most of the mirrors in the Slytherin house had been confiscated or smashed. Evidently the pink hair was not a hit. Tired of picking flower petals out of her shoes, Mary made Eleanor and Sirius agree to undo the hex in at least two weeks.

Even with all the good things happening around him, James found himself unable to sit still or relax. Dorcas Meadows, another Gryffindor in her seventh year, had announced that she was made captain of the quidditch team the morning after the feast. Tryouts were set for Saturday, giving anyone interested less than a week to prepare. Hence why James's nerves were so shot. Last year had been his first year as an official member of the team, as he was only a reserve in the years prior.

To say quidditch was James's life was an understatement. He lived and breathed quidditch. When Marlene joined the team in their fourth year he had been overjoyed. Sirius, Remus, and Peter only allowed him to talk about quidditch for fifteen minutes per day, but Marlene could talk about the sport for days. The unlikely pair bonded fast and became quite the dynamic duo on the team during their fourth year. If Marlene ever spotted the snitch she would scream out a code word that the two had created together, and if an opponent player tried to knock Marlene off her broom, James would 'accidentally' grab one of the beaters bats and 'accidentally' smack a bludger at their face. Normally, a beater would be upset if a teammate did their job without asking, but the Prewett twins were delighted to watch how the pair induced such terror within the other team.

Dorcas was an excellent keeper, and the Gryffindors were pleased with her updated position. But she was known to be blunt, and ruthless when it came to winning. James knew that he had a good chance of reclaiming his spot on the team, but his thoughts always seemed to turn to the worst possible outcome.

"Fucking hell," James whispered, taking off his glasses so he could rub his tires eyes. "Get it together, man." He couldn't bring himself to get up and go to his next class, which had started five minutes ago. Instead he sat in the alcove of a window that overlooked the black lake. Watching the waves crash against the small beach for a while was the only idea he had at the moment.

"James?" He jumped in surprise at the sudden unexpected voice. His head snapped up only to smack painfully against the stone he was leaning on.

"Shit!" He winced and cradled the back of his head tenderly, looking at his intruder through his lashes. Eleanor had an odd look on her face, like she couldn't decide to be concerned or laugh. She settled on the first option, rushing forward and dropping her bag on the ground next to James.

"I'm so sorry," She said earnestly. "Let me see." One of her hands softly grasped his jaw, and the other pushed his own hands out of the way. Her nimble fingers moved his wild hair so she could assess that damage. James let his hands fall to his sides and allowed her to do her thing. The feeling of her hands in his hair was unfamiliar and odd, but not a bad feeling by any means. Unable to stand the silence, James coughed awkwardly.

"What's the verdict, Healer Edwards?" He asked. Eleanor retracted her hands and shook her head with a grim expression.

"I'm afraid it looks fatal. You have five minutes to live." James sucked in a breath through his teeth.

"Bummer," Eleanor smirked at his fake despair, then sat in the space next to his feet, gently moving them out of her way.

"So, what's up with you? I know for a fact that you actually enjoy ancient runes. It's not like you to skip it." She wasn't by any means interrogating him, but James had a feeling that there was no way she would be letting this go and that there was no point in trying to avoid the confrontation.