The Marauders' Legacy

Chapter 3

Sirius laughed, and led Barry out to the dining room. "Here, have some snacks," he encouraged. "The kids are with Remus for Potions for the next fifty minutes, so we have time to catch up - I think he mentioned brewing the Antidote to Common Poisons. I swear, that man can get worse than Severus - I saw Harry and Hermione reading a book entirely about unicorns and potion ingredients that can be harvested from them."

"Not calling him Snivellus anymore, Sirius?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "That was a childhood thing. I think being with these four kids and Remus, instead of James, has matured me somewhat," he admitted, surprisingly sincere. "But anyway, how's your Quidditch going?"

"It's great!" Barry replied, his face lighting up. "I might not get a starting position in the coming Cup, but I hope I can get reserve, which would help me become a starter for the next World Cup after."

The two old friends chatted on for a long time, until Sirius realized the time. "Remus would have taken the kids to the Quidditch room by now. We should go; otherwise, they'll be chasing after all of us to find out what the change in schedule was for."

At the same time, Hermione was changing into her Quidditch gear. The uniform consisted of a black set of tight-fitting robes with silver trim. Thankfully, the sleeves were tighter and shorter, and the robes didn't fall to her feet, but rather cut off at the shins. She also had black shin and arm guards, and fingerless gloves that helped with gripping the Quaffle, which was invaluable even though the latter had gripping charms placed on it.

Pulling her gloves on, she left the changing room and ran into what they had dubbed the Quidditch room, never having been and not ready to be late for anything. They had all been surprised when Uncle Moony had told them to go to the Quidditch pitch rather than continue onto Charms, and Hermione wanted to know what it was.

She was thankful that she had met Harry, and had the opportunity to discover her magic long before she would normally have. As a muggleborn, she knew that she would have worried about being behind everyone else in classes at Hogwarts, particularly those with wizarding backgrounds. But now she didn't have to worry - in fact, she would probably be ahead. Being ahead was where she liked to be.

She saw Blaise and Harry there already, and picked up her broom from the rack before heading over to join them. She noticed Susan right behind her, doing the same thing.

"Do you know what's happening?" Susan asked them.

Hermione shook her head in response. "I asked Uncle Moony - he just said it was a surprise," she answered in frustration.

The surprise wasn't long in coming, however, and they saw Sirius enter the room with a man behind him. He was rather tall and well-built, with light brown hair, and he looked at them expectantly. Even after glancing at each other unsurely, the New Marauders just stared at the man without much recognition.

"They don't know me," the man determined with satisfaction. "That's ten Galleons, Sirius."

Sirius just sighed. "Kids, this is Barry Ryan-"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by Blaise. "Keeper? You were selected last year to attend the training camp for the Irish National Quidditch Team. Is that you?"

"Yup, that's me," Barry replied. "Sirius, I'll call this a tie."

"You bet on whether we would recognize you?" Hermione asked, slightly scandalized. She didn't think much of gambling, though she was too smart to pass off an offer she knew she would win.

"Yes. You recognized my name, but not my looks, so I suppose there's no definite winner this time."

Sirius smirked. "Don't bet against a Marauder, Barry. I would have thought you'd have learned that by now."