The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XI. Quidditch Tryouts

James looked around the common room, and saw Sirius sitting by himself in a corner. He still looked like he was brooding, even though it had been twenty-four hours since the Sorting. And Remus had nominated James to talk him out of his mood.

James could think of about forty things he'd rather be doing. First and foremost in his mind was practicing for the Quidditch tryouts. He had already given his name to Derek Brown, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and been informed of the day and time of the tryouts. He could hardly wait to start practicing.

As James stood in the middle of the common room, trying to decide what to say to Sirius, he saw Olivia walk toward the portrait hole with her broom in hand. She must be trying out, he thought. He looked her up and down, trying to see if she would be a difficult person to beat. Oh, why couldn't he be out practicing too? Why had Remus left him with this impossible task?

As Olivia left the room, James sighed, straightened his shoulders, and marched over to his friend. It was now or never.

"Sirius? Can we talk?"

"What about?" Sirius snapped.

James was a bit taken aback, but tried not to let it show. "About you, you prat."

Now it was Sirius' turn to be surprised. He looked at James with rounded eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I said you're being a prat." James had no idea where any of this was coming from, but he could see that he had Sirius' attention. He decided to run with it. "Remus tried his best to talk to you yesterday, and you practically bit his head off. Peter's scared to be alone in the same room with you. You're acting like a spoiled child who didn't get the toy he wanted for Christmas."

Sirius' eyes narrowed into a scowl. "You don't know what it's like!" he spat. "You don't have a brother who was just Sorted into Slytherin! You have no idea what being a member of my family is like!"

"No, I don't," James said calmly. "But if you want to tell me, I'll do my best to understand."

"It's nothing I haven't told you before."

"Maybe I'm more ready to hear it now."

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you, James. My family is evil. That's all there is to it."

James shook his own head. "That's not entirely true, Sirius. You're not evil. Andromeda's not evil."

"Yeah, she's all right," he replied. He was silent for a moment, considering what James had said. "Andromeda's in Slytherin, too. I guess she'll look after Regulus, right?"

"I'm sure she will. She's been in Slytherin for six years already, and she hasn't turned into some Dark Arts freak like Snape."

"That's true." He sighed. "I'll have to talk to her, and see how Regulus is doing."

"Yeah."

Sirius ran his hand through his hair. Unlike James', his hair fell back into place. "I'm still not okay with this, James. I still don't want him to be in Slytherin."

"I know. So do the other guys. We just don't want you turning into a lunatic who spends all his time raging against the Sorting Hat."

Sirius smiled. "I guess I did overreact a bit, didn't I?"

"Oh, I'd say more than a bit," James grinned. "A LOT more than a bit."

Sirius punched his arm. "Prat."

"Takes one to know one." James returned the punch.

Sirius punched him again. "James?"

"Yeah?"