The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Not Good But Better

Not Good But Better

James stood in the doorway of the locker room, staring up at the stands 'round the pitch, trying to spot Sirius and Remus, but all he could see what Peter, who waved eagerly when he saw James was looking his way. James sighed and waved back, though only half heartedly.

It was afternoon and Remus hadn't reported back from the Shrieking Shack about whether he found Sirius or not. James couldn't get the heavy worry that he had over Sirius's wellbeing to go away. The last thing he felt like doing was playing a match like this. Particularly this match. It'd been rescheduled once because of his fall from his broom, and again because of weather in February, and now here it was nearly the end of March and the match needed to be either played or forfeited and James really didn't fancy a forfeit on his record. He swallowed back his nerves and ducked back into the locker room to face the team.

"I know it's sort of dreary out there," he said, "Raining again..."

"It's those bloody dementors," grumbled Frank.

"...but we've got to win this. It'll be the first win for us all year," James was practically begging.

"We'll get it done," said Ali Prewitt with a smirking grin upon her face, "No worries, Potter."

The match was as dismal as the weather - which was as grey as grey gets. The rain fell from the sky in thick curtains so that none of the players could see properly and Meg Johnson had such a horrible visibility and kept missing the snitch because it would duck into view and back out faster than even she could move to catch it. Frank accidentally threw his beater's bat into the stands when his gloves got wet and the bat too slippery and Gryffindor was given a penalty for it.

Which was why it was incredibly amazing when they somehow managed to win.

The stands burst with shock as Meg Johnson came down from the fog over the pitch with her arm held high, the snitch struggling to escape from her hand. People were screaming and jumping up and down and waving Gryffindor banners. It led to a crazy party in the Gryffindor common room that left James spinning through the evening, being toted about on the shoulders of the people who'd been in the stands.

It was the resulting party that Sirius and Remus returned to Gryffindor tower to find. Remus had his arm 'round Sirius's shoulders as they came through the portrait hole. Remus looked up and saw James's face flush with excitement at the win and the attention he was getting, and he directed Sirius up the stairs to the dormitory.

"Here we are." Remus released Sirius as they entered the dorm. "Alright?"

Sirius nodded.

Remus sat on the edge of his bed and reached down to untie his worn shoes. The soles were getting loose 'round the heels and they were horribly scuffed. He'd need a new pair soon, but there was very little money left in the Lupin bank account and his robes were several inches shorter than they were meant to be, too. He'd have to see if he could find a spell to fix the shoes.

Sirius was just standing there, hovering awkwardly by the desks.

From downstairs, there came a great shouting - James's name was being called out, chanted, really, and Remus stared at the door of the dormitory. Suddenly the voices broke into a great wave of cheers. "Sounds like Prongs is up to no good," said Remus.

"Yeah," Sirius said and he turned around and looked in the mirror at himself. He blinked in surprise at how gross he'd let himself get over the last week. His hair was a mess, and his face dirty and tear stained. He leaned closer and poked at a blemish growing on his chin and crunched up his nose in disapproval. "Blimey."