Delicate | James Potter

2.10

~

"Right then you lot, gather round." James Potter demanded at Quidditch practice on one particularly frosty morning. Alice had forgotten quite how quickly it got cold in the autumn months; her teeth were chattering and her hands were red. A warming charm would be convenient right about now, but her wand was tucked safely back in the changing rooms. "Who's ready for next week?"

"Not me." Stanley Santos, the third chaser, mumbled.

"Me!" Theo nodded eagerly. "I am!"

"Good." James grinned. "The Ravenclaw team is no-where near as good as us, we can beat them easy, but they're smart - "

"Are you telling us we're stupid?" Gideon asked, smirking.

"Yes." James replied, but Gideon's smirk just deepened.

"Oi Potter," Fabian tutted, but his own smirk, almost identical to Gideon's, appeared, "ruddy rude of you."

James shrugged and continued giving them the details of the match against Ravenclaw that was fast approaching. He had all sorts of plays and plans in his head, ones he was incredibly eager to teach them all; it was very impressive. Alice caught herself smiling as she watched him talk, hands moving animatedly, eyes shining with enthusiasm. She watched as he demonstrated a spin he'd read about, her eyes flickering to his hair which flopped around messily, but in that way that somehow always looked good no matter how crazy it went. She wondered what it felt like, was it soft? It looked soft.

"Having fun?" Fabian whispered suddenly into her ear, so close his breath tickled her neck. She jumped a little having not noticed him approach, her attention on... other things.

Alice's face turned immediately red. "What?" She whispered back, eyes still trained on James giving instructions.

"I asked if you were having fun. It's a lovely view, don't you think?"

She reckoned she were the same colour as her robes, that's how much her cheeks burned. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you don't." Fabian murmured, and then she felt his presence lessen as he stood back again. She glanced around at him quickly, at his mischief filled eyes and devious grin.

"You - "

"You alright Winters?"

Alice's head snapped right back around to the front, to James. He was looking at her expectantly. The whole team was looking at her and her tomato face. Fabian snickered behind her.

"Yes," she nodded sheepishly, "yes, sorry. Keep going."

Practice went well. It began to rain half-way through, but other than that, things ran smoothly. Already the new team was working together almost seamlessly, though then again, it wasn't much different to before with only two new additions. Stanley Santos was a lot better at being Chaser than their last one, and Alex was just as good as Rob Bell had been, if not better also. Fabian and Gideon must have practiced over the summer too as their strength seemed to have improved significantly; each time they hit the Bludgers to each other they went miles, and when James told them to act as obstacles for the Chasers, they almost knocked them off their brooms. They would have done if not for the fact they were all on the same team.