scars || sirius black

4 - the moon was full

On the day of the Gryffindor Quidditch team try outs, Emmy was too nervous to eat. The syrupy pancakes she usually had by the dozen only made her stomach turn.

Despite all the times she'd practised with Sirius, she couldn't help but feel like she was making a mistake, that she wasn't as good as he said she was. Her stomach twisted at the thought but she thought of the look on his face when she'd scored that point at the end of the practise last night and couldn't help but smile.

Half an hour later they stood in a line in front of James Potter, the newly-appointed Gryffindor captain, in the drizzling gale winds. Standing next to him was Sirius who gave Emmy a quick wink when she caught his eye. Her lips melted into an involuntary grin as soon as he looked away and Marlene coughed pointedly, eyebrow raised.

Emmy's cheeks went pink, "Oh shut it."

"Alright you lot, grab a broom from the shed over there and then gather round!" James hollered. Emmy tried to pick the least bashed one but to her dismay many of them didn't have more than five twigs on them

James continued, "We'll go through a series of drills and then I'll do individual trials for each position. We're needing a new chaser and a seeker so you lot better be good, it's going to be intense."

Sirius stepped forward, quaffle under his arm.

"Listen up you lot, I'm assistant coach of the team so I'll be running the try-outs today for James. Let's have three laps of the pitch to start with."

He started to walk backwards, staring at their hesitant faces, then said, "Well go on then!"

Predictably, the overconfident boys immediately began to sprint. And then halfway though the second lap, the three girls overtook most of them, enjoying the scowls of annoyance they earned.

Emmy could sense the Alice and Marlene were beginning to tire.

"Come on, you guys. Keep going!" she yelled encouragement over the wind. They gave her tired but appreciative grins.

"You go on ahead, beat those bloody boys!" called Marlene.

By the time she was halfway round the third lap, she had lapped some of the boys who were desperately trying not to be beaten by a girl. She took great pleasure in getting rid of some of their toxic masculinity.

Having the stamina of a werewolf did sometimes come in handy.

She was just about out of breath as she came to a stop next to Sirius and James,

"Nice going, Lupin," said the Gryffindor captain and Emmy found it hard to contain her smirk as she sat down in the grass to wait for the others.

Once everyone had finished Sirius walked forwards.

"That was pathetic, the lot of you! Anyway, let's continue, stand in a line next to the goalposts with your brooms. You have ten seconds."

Chaos ensued as everyone wanted to be near the front, but no one wanted to be first either.

The girls smirked at each other before strolling to the front of the line. Marlene was first, then Emmy, then Alice.

The boys behind them looked suitably embarrassed.

"First up! Name?" called James.

"Potter, we've known each other for three years," replied an exasperated Marlene.

"No exceptions, McKinnon."

She rolled her eyes as he asked her to get on the broom for a lap of the pitch, three goals to get past Frank Longbottom, and then a trick or dive to finish.