The Brothers Black

Chapter 34

The next few weeks flew by in a busy state of tests, Quidditch trials, papers, and long nights. It was less social of a month, probably due to everyone's strangely poor attitudes.

The discontentment peaked the week leading up to the Slytherin match. 

Peter ignored everyone all day after James cancelled their Halloween party to focus on Quidditch. James had been quite the tosser with his snarky comments towards me, so naturally I avoided him. Regulus was distant because of Quidditch. Lily and Marlene didn't speak to anyone all week after the boys were at a Hufflepuff party and missed their dance performance. Remus was pissed because George Sandifer asked Erik Drumsten to Hogsmeade. Sirius was upset about all of the above, pointedly the dance performance because he was apparently the star of the show.

Anyway, tensions were high, competition with Slytherin was running through our veins, and the Quidditch team was ready to go.

Or so I thought, until Katie and I entered the locker room on gameday in the glow of the early morning sunlight. No one else was there. James drilled us into arriving two hours early on the dot, and it was only five minutes until 9 am.

Sirius, Marlene, Davey, and the new Keeper, Djamal, all rushed in before the hour struck, but James was still nowhere to be found. 

We started warm-up drills at 9:30, but it wan't until close to 10 that a weary looking James stumbled through onto the pitch. Without his glasses, his dark circles were prominent, looking like he hadn't slept in days. He stumbled onto the pitch so achingly that it looked like he had a limp. 

"James! Merlin's beard. Are you okay?" I flew over beside him, hopping off my broom.

"Bad night's sleep," he murmured, looking into the distance. "Sorry I'm late, lost track of time."

"Alright, Prongs," Sirius said, patting his friend on the back. "Wake up. Let's win this. Besides, you need your strength for tonight."

"What's tonight?" James asked, seemingly half asleep.

Sirius shook his head, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Whomping Willow?"

"Again, already?" James asked. 

I blinked, confused. Before I could think about their conversation anymore, James clapped his hands, summoning the team to discuss the game plan. 

The Slytherins were big and mean. It meant our Beaters had to be locked in and our Chasers had to be ready to dodge. Luckily, Djamal, a 6th year, had been strong in practice and I trusted him as our new Keeper. As for our Seeker, Katie had been studying Regulus's strategy, as well as putting on lots of work on the side. From the lack of Quidditch I knew Reg played this summer, my money was on my bunkmate. 

As Madam Hooch blew the whistle, the familiar voice of Tom Beaney was back on the loudspeaker.

"Well, folks, this is bound to be an interesting game. We've got Sirius Black on Gryffindor with his little brother, Regulus, the captain of the Slytherin team. They're not the best of friends, but Regulus sure is friendly with some of the other Gryffindor team members, if you know what I mean. I would ask the Potters if you're confused, though I'm not sure about James..."

My eyes went wide, and James audibly gagged. I expected Professor McGonagall to shut that down, but Sirius threw a Bludger towards Tom's booth, and that shut him up pretty quickly. I glanced up to Regulus, who, seemingly unbothered, scanned the air for the Snitch.

The game started quickly. Despite an unconventional warmup, we were up 30-0 in the first ten minutes. 

"Once again, a beautiful duo play from the Potter twins," yelled Tom Beaney. "Yes, Professor, I know they're not – yes, I know, but it just sounds better – UGH! Alright, a great play from the Potter siblings, thank you, Professor McGonagall."