✦
chapter four;
the winning flying acrobat
Amaya Santoro was a cocky little witch and James had been ready to make her eat her words and admit Quidditch, was in fact, not easy.
He'd spent years at Hogwarts honing his skills, he'd become captain when his love for the sport had made him the best and if it weren't for the war James reckoned he would've considered a career playing. Only, a career as an Auror was much more practical and reliant in these times.
Amaya's passive face, her lips curved into a soft smile, flashed in his mind and he grinned. She was so going to lose.
Only, he wasn't so sure now, because when he and Sirius found her broomstick leaning against her wardrobe they both had stopped in their tracks, jaws slack.
Her broomstick was a wonder. Slick redwood with carvings of flowers throughout and a golden band linking the stick to the tail. They'd never seen a broom like that—so well crafted it looked like art. And he couldn't fathom someone who wasn't a good flyer to feel the need to have one like that—unless her family was just that rich, then again, if she only had it because of money he doubted she'd bring it along with her when changing countries.
"She won't win, right?" Sirius murmured as they stared in awe at the broom.
"Not a chance."
When they got to the Quidditch pitch at the back of the house they found Remus, Amaya, and Mum talking with conspiring smiles on their faces. James narrowed his eyes just as Dad showed up.
"Alright," said Dad as he showed the little golden snitch in his hand, "Amaya, you and James will compete for the Snitch. He's a chaser so it's not his specialty, and since you've never played I gather that's fair."
"So I just need to catch that?" she asked, looking mighty unimpressed.
Sirius nodded. "Not as easy as it seems, love."
"Oh, so it's easier, good to know, amor," she replied, the word love in Spanish rolling off her tongue like a melody, though she meant it as a taunt to Sirius' pet name.
James grumbled, ignoring the reaction he had to her voice. "You're confident for someone who never played." He stepped closer to her as he handed her her broom. "Looking forward to wiping that smirk off your face."
She looked up at him, her eyes dark under the moonlight, and she raised an eyebrow. "And you're so sure you'll win?"
"Positive."
"Good luck then," she said taking her broom out of his hands before winking at him, "You're going to need it."
And then she was off. It was as if her broomstick took off before her and she just hung onto the stick as she lifted into the sky, throwing one leg over it as she hovered in the air, looking smugly down at him. James didn't wait another moment and soon he was in front of her in his broom, looking down and waiting for his dad to release the Snitch.
"I'm going to let it go now, wait ten seconds before starting," his dad shouted and both of them agreed.
Amaya's eyes met his and, for the first time since they met just a few hours ago, he saw her grin, and despite himself, he nearly smiled at the sight of her dimples he only just noticed. She seemed freer when flying.
"Prepare to lose, Potter," she said, just as the Snitch passed between them and out of sight, its wings buzzing.
"In your dreams, Santoro."
"Oh, I don't need dreams to win."
He glared at her and she laughed, a great laugh, just as his dad said "Go!"
He blinked and she wasn't there anymore.
James stayed put looking around for the snitch, and spotted Amaya already on its tail, a few meters behind. He didn't wait another moment before he took off after both of them. He caught up with Amaya quickly, and they were both flying side by side, chasing the golden snitch around the pitch.
In a few seconds, it had disappeared out of sight again in the darkness of the night, and he grinned when he spotted it again, faster than her this time. It was flying around near hoops. James sped over, the faster he could, but Amaya had been telling the truth, she too was faster and it didn't take her long to catch up with him.
They both reached out their arms as they started nearing the hoops and the snitch, and James saw as she shifted on the broom, her feet resting on the stick almost as if she was about to stand or jump after the snitch. And just before they both collided with the hoops the Snitch flew over them and in the opposite direction it had been.
James came to an abrupt stop as he turned around swiftly in front of the hoops, and his eyes widened, his mouth falling agape as he saw, in slow motion, as Amaya, instead of stopping, jumped out of the broom.
She had jumped back, her body arching gracefully, her arm extended and he saw as her fingers wrapped around the snitch, and she flipped in the sky with a twirl.
He immediately prepared himself to catch her as she fell, scared at the girl's lack of preservation skills as the silence of the night prolonged—not even on the ground there was noise and they'd been cheering them on just seconds ago.
But Amaya didn't need it. Because when she said she was a great flyer she wasn't lying—in fact, he was starting to think she was quite fucking humble.
The moment she started falling, she grasped her broomstick that had been hovering below her with her other arm, an impressive show of fast reflexes, and took off upwards again, easily getting back on it.
By the time they were both on the ground, James still couldn't quite grasp what had just happened. Everyone was as stunned as he was but soon they were congratulating her on her win, and fawning over her, admittedly, unbelievable skills.
Mum looked mighty pleased at seeing Dad reluctantly take the loss, and though Sirius grumbled too he could see the amazement on his face just like in Remus' face. They'd never seen anything like what she'd done before.
Her eyes finally met his and she grinned again, her dimples making an appearance, and he realized he rather liked her smile—it wasn't sweet like Lily's, in fact, this particular smile was painted in smugness, the type of smile that was begging to be kissed off her face. James inwardly shook his head out of his thoughts, before pursing his lips.
"I still think you cheated," he said with a smile.
Amaya shrugged and grasped his wrist putting the Snitch in his hand. "That's what losers tend to say," she informed him with her smile on her pretty lips.
He scowled, and she laughed. She then wished everyone goodnight, saying she was exhausted, and saw his parents and her go back inside leaving him and his friends out at night.
"She's bloody amazing," Sirius informed them, "If she'd been on the team at school we would've won every year."
"We still won most years," said James, "We won the years I was Captain."
But he knew he was right, there was no denying it. Amaya Santoro was a bloody amazing flyer and an artist on a broom, she could quite literally fly in the air, like an acrobat in the circus.
James looked down at the snitch in his hand and his lips twitched up when he noticed she had used magic to carve the word Loser onto it. He didn't know what the future had in store, but from the little he knew about Amaya was that if she was in it, it wouldn't be boring.
That night as he tried to sleep, James was faintly aware of the girl sleeping in the room across from his. She was a mystery in all her might. Even after having dinner, and her mom pestering Amaya with all her likes and dislikes so they could go shopping and decorate her room, he knew close to nothing about the girl.
What he did know was simple: she was stunning; her voice made him feel warm, especially with the lilt in her accent; she was brave; a bloody good flyer; she wasn't able to use a wand and yet didn't struggle at all with whatever wandless magic she'd been taught; she was cocky and assertive and yet polite and guarded; and she was kind to Ninny, treating the house elf with respect, unlike most purebloods.
Sirius had told him the Santoros were one of the oldest families in the Iberian Peninsula, but there was nothing else people knew about them, or the Peninsula in general. Apparently, it'd been quite isolated from the world in the past decades, and before that, it was looked down upon—not using wands meant they were 'barbarians'. Which James thought was utter bullshit; Amaya had carved a word into a Snitch, a magically warded object, with seemingly no effort at all—not to mention the way she could fly. She was clearly powerful and in control of her magic.
For some reason, James wanted to know everything about the girl; his curiosity had been piqued from the moment she stepped into the meeting and it wasn't going anywhere.
He didn't know why, quite frankly, but he would make it his mission to find out more about her. Though he was sure it would be harder than he'd like, because he could see it in her eyes—her eyes, which he noted in the right light were the color of whiskey—they sometimes, when somethings were said, would blank, reminding him of the look in Sirius' eyes when someone mentioned his family.
Padfoot and Moony had noticed too. He was sure of it. Especially since Sirius was quite quick to take a liking to her—and not like he did any fit bird that walked by him, he had hardly flirted with Amaya at all, but like he would a friend. Sirius didn't trust people so easily, especially now during the war, and with his brother off mingling with the wrong people, he'd become more guarded, and yet with Amaya or Maya as Ninny called her, he wasn't. It's not as if he just fully trusted her, or anything, it was just an unspoken connection James had seen between them.
And Moony, well, they had immediately bonded over their like for instigation, and aside from that Remus had told them something interesting when they sat outside after the bet for the snitch.
"My wolf respects her," he'd said quietly, throwing a glance over at the house to see if anyone was listening, "It's like she's... Familiar?"
Sirius had shrugged. "Maybe she's a werewolf."
"I don't think that's it," Remus said, shaking his head. "I think I would know."
She had secrets—and if he had to bet he would say a shit ton of them—and James was suddenly greedy for all of them. Blame it on curiosity, but he wanted her to trust him.
He fell asleep that night, faintly recognizing the fact he hadn't thought about Lily ever since he saw her at the Order meeting. And that he quite liked dimples and whiskey eyes.
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author's note:
First, just wanted to say there is no set face claim for Amaya, I'm just putting gifs that fit the story so if she changes faces throughout it just pretend it's the same girl (and pretend she's Spanish too). Either way, the gif doesn't matter, it's what's inside, right? yeah...
Second, by the way, James isn't 'in love at first sight' or' head over heels' for Amaya (yet). It's just like this fascination he has because she's new, you know, and a puzzle. It's going to start quite superficial, and they'll bond over time (there is attraction though, but that's a given). And Amaya is a complicated character so even if James does fall quite quickly (which I don't think it'll happen, depends on my control of the characters) it will take some time for her to come around, 'cause... issues.
Anyway, thank you for reading <3