A WEEK HAD passed since Isabelle had argued with Sirius Black and it still hurt like a fresh wound in her mind.
It was a Saturday morning, meaning that all students, third year and above, were welcome to visit the Wizard Village Hogsmeade. Despite it being pouring with rain, Isabelle and her two best friends ran into the storm from the castle, leaving all thoughts of Sirius Black behind.
Panting and dripping from head to toe, Isabelle, Marlene and Lily arrived breathlessly laughing in The Three Broomsticks. The displeased owner conjured up some fresh towels to lie on the chairs under the soaking girls so that they wouldn't drench her pub. After, several bottles of warm, frothy butterbeer and almost completely drying off, the three of them shouted their thanks to the pub owner, paying her in shiny sickles, and ran once again.
This time, the girls ended up in Gladrags Wizardwear to buy new dresses. Almost two weeks ago when Dumbledore had announced that the other schools would be arriving soon, and that the teams would be chosen the very same night, the Marauders hadn't hesitated on planning a party. All four schools were invited, so an age limit of fifth year and above was put in place so it wouldn't be too crowded.
Despite being on awful terms with Sirius, Isabelle liked James and Remus and had no problem with Peter, so she decided that she would go. Marlene was just as eager to attend the party; partly because she hoped to make the team, but mostly because she wanted to get drunk.
Arms loaded with bags, filled with new clothes, accessories and sweets from Honeydukes, Izzy, Lily and Marlene were drenched once again, dripping all over the castle's corridors.
If Isabelle had turned around in that moment, she would have seen Sirius Black, smiling sadly at her, eyes full of regret, concentrating on the tiny details about her that no one else noticed. The way she flipped her dripping hair out of her eyes, the way her head titled back when she laughed, the way-
"COME ON PADFOOT!" Shouted James from down the hall. Sirius was loitering behind the group, caught up in a daze. As he jogged up to the other Marauders, Remus whispered in his ear, "I bet she'd forgive you, y'know?"
Sirius stiffened, shaking his head slightly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Reluctantly, Remus sighed, "Okay. Whatever you say."
Two days later, a shout could be heard echoing from all around the castle, "THEY'RE HERE!"
Despite being in lessons, every student and teacher rose from their desks and poured outside. A huge ship rose like a monster from the ocean while some spectacular abraxans lead a powder blue carriage gracefully across the sky as several smaller carriages pulled by magnificent, hippogriffs spilled into the Hogwarts grounds.
It was time.
After being ushered back into their final lessons, all of the students collected their bags and spent the rest of the afternoon in the great hall. As the clock stuck 6, the doors came flying open. Roughly fifty boys from Durmstrang, all appearing to be from the older years, ran through the hall, wielding staffs before sitting with the Slytherins. Next, about the same amount of girls from Beauxbaton swept through the hall, all of them tall and graceful, heads held high before sitting down next to the Ravenclaws. Finally, in came a mixture of students from Ilvermony, cheering and chanting with each other before spreading out across the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables.
Four stern looking officials walked up to the teachers table with long rolls of parchment. Isabelle recognised the woman on the end to be the Ministry lady who had judged her performance and guessed that the other adults had done the same for the other schools. As Dumbledore rose from his chair, the hall fell into an atmospheric silence.
"Welcome to all of our guests who so graciously joined us today, we hope that this will be the beginning of a great friendship between our schools." The attendees clapped politely as he continued. "As you know, a quidditch team has seven players but all of those who travelled to be here with us today will stay for the year to provide moral support. Now, I won't bore you any further, Madame Monet, please proceed."
Everyone, especially the Beauxbatons students, tensed up as she unfolded the parchment. The French quidditch judge then went on to reveal the all girl team to a mixture of forced smiles and genuine cheers. The same thing happened twice more; an all boy team assembled for Durmstrang, and a mixed team of age, gender and height for Ilvermony.
Eventually, it was Hogwarts turn. The stern lady who Isabelle had spotted at try outs cleared her throat before continuing. "Before I announce our Hogwarts team, I would like to say how well all of our wonderful students played at tryouts. You should all be very proud of yourself." She said with a fake smile plastered across her face.
"But there can only be one team."
Isabelle could hear Marlene audibly inhale and hold her breath. "From Ravenclaw, we have seeker Amelia Wilkinson. From Slytherin, we have keeper Elijah Nott. From Hufflepuff, we have chaser Charlie Duncan, and from Gryffindor, we have beaters Marlene McKinnon, Sirius Black and chaser James Potter." Isabelle could hear Marlene exhale on relief but Isabelle felt sick. She hadn't been chosen. She couldn't play quidditch anymore. Just as she was about to stand up, feeling lightheaded, her only dream taken away from her when she was so close, Isabelle counted the players in her head. Wilkinson, Nott, Duncan, McKinnon, Black and Potter. That was six. Six.
Not seven.
Suddenly, the world stopped spinning around her as the Gryffindor table erupted into applause patting her hard on the back. Why was happening?
Flashing a confused glance at Marlene, she screamed, "We did it Iz, we did it! Well done!"
That was when it hit her. She was the final chaser. She was a chaser! After more congratulations, she learnt even better news. Not only was she a chaser for the school, she was the captain!
Looking wildly around the chaos surrounding her, everything seemed to freeze as she made eye contact with Black. Isabelle opened her mouth to congratulate him on making the team as he grinned back happily. For a moment, they were friends again, until a wave of reality came crashing back down on them, washing the congratulations out of her mouth and wiping the smile from his face. Their eye contact broke as they turned away to celebrate with different people.
Nothing had changed.
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Not sure how I feel about this chapter, it was a bit of a filler before things get wild. I had to push through some writer's block but I tried :). Also, I decided to go with the movie's version of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons because I wanted a totally cool, all girls quidditch team.
Votes and comments would be really appreciated.❤️
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All or Nothing (A Sirius Black Story)
FanfictionThey said when it came to love, his heart was made of stone while hers was made of glass; someone was bound to get hurt. They were two pieces of a different puzzle. Two people who could never fit together. Until they did. ⭒A Sirius Black story ⭒ G...
