Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Thirty-Five - The First Years' Quidditch Game

Mulciber was nearby with one of those bats, snickering at Remus. "Careful, lil baby! When the Bludger hits, the cradle will fall!" He flew off, cackling, while Remus tried to sit upright again, a little shaky now. Okay, so hovering in one place was probably a bad idea.

"All right there, Remus?" Sirius asked, flying up to him.

"No! I want to get b-back to the ground!" he complained bitterly. Maybe if he flew close enough to the ground and pretended to crash he could get out of this...

"You've got the perfect build for a Seeker, you know," said Sirius, flying in lazy circles around Remus, keeping an eye out for Bludgers. "Get some courage there, you'd do amazing."

"No."

Bulstrode hit one of the Bludgers their way and Sirius blasted past Remus, hitting it back towards the Slytherins, then diving to get back into the game, leaving Remus alone. He drifted higher, looking for that gold ball again. If his eyesight was as good as his hearing or smelling then he'd be set however his eyes were just what he assumed were normal human eyes with the perk of seeing in the dark. At least he wasn't colorblind.

"Doing well?" Silverlocke flew near him, knowing how uneasy Remus was on a broom.

"N--not really," he admitted.

Silverlocke opened his mouth to say something then Mulciber flew between them. "Silverlocke! Don't talk to the enemy! Dummy! Get back to the Quaffle!"

Silverlocke gave Remus an apologetic look before flying off. Mulciber turned to face Remus, looking as though he wanted to just outright hit Remus with the bat. He sneered then took off after Silverlocke, probably to chew him out some more.

By this point the points had been wracking up. 90-60, Gryffindor, though Slytherin scored a moment later. The older students were watching, cheering, enjoying seeing the first years play. There were Slytherins in the stands as well as Gryffindors. Both sides had their Quidditch teams there to watch, to get an idea of who should tryout next year.

A gold flash went past him and he cried out, falling sideways, spinning on his broom, clutching at the handle, hanging upside down. He locked his arms and legs tightly, panting heavily as blood rushed to his head. The Snitch hovered near him, as if taunting him. It was within reach, if he dared let go of the handle. Which he didn't.

"H--help," he squeaked out, no idea how to flip himself back. He was growing exceedingly dizzy, the world going blurry around him.

One of the Slytherin Seekers--Jacknife--sped towards them and the Snitch flew off, her in chase. Sirius also flew over to help Remus get back round the right way. The Slytherins were laughing hard at Remus's absolute failure. Not just the first years, but the ones in the stands as well. Remus's cheeks went bright red as fingers pointed his way.

"Don't worry about it, she's lost it anyway," Sirius said, jerking his thumb towards Jacknife who was indeed doing zigzag patterns as she tried to re-spot the Snitch. "Pardon me!" He went off and hit a Bludger in the general direction of Jacknife and she definitely lost the Snitch after doing a loop to avoid the ball.

120-100 now, Gryffindor. James had one Quaffle... then Hooch blew her whistle as he got hold of the other, pausing the game so she could shout at him that that was against the rules.

"You never said we couldn't!" James complained. Hooch pursed her lips, realizing she hadn't. Apparently it was a rule that he couldn't hold both at the same time. James sighed, visibly cross, but at least he hadn't been penalized. Hooch blew the whistle again, the game resuming. James threw the second Quaffle towards the nearest Gryffindor which was, unfortunately, Peter, who, while a better flyer than Remus, still wasn't very good and he dropped the Quaffle. Slytherin got it, both sides scoring. 130-110.