To Have A Home

Chapter 13

     As the end of the term approached, most students at Hogwarts were beginning to stress about exams. James, however, was the most stressed student in the entire school — not about exams, but about the Quidditch final. It was his first year as captain, and so far Gryffindor was undefeated. If they could just beat Ravenclaw, then he would lead his team to winning the Quidditch Cup. In James' mind, the stakes could not be higher. His friends were also anxiously awaiting the match — but mostly because they knew James would be unbearably overdramatic if Gryffindor lost.
     "James, calm down... imagine yourself in ten years. Win or lose, do you think you'll still care about your fifth year Quidditch match? It's not that big of a deal," Remus said, attempting to calm James down at breakfast on the morning of the big game.
     "Are you trying to downplay this pivotal moment in my life Remus? Of course I'll care about this in ten years! I'll still care about this when I'm older than Dumbledore!"
     "Moony has a point, James. You have to relax. Eat some breakfast. You'll play better if you've got more energy," Peter added.
     "Eat? At a time like this? You must be out of your bloody mind Pete..." James replied frantically. Ten minutes later, James was heading to the field with the rest of the team in tow, looking quite pale and lacking his usual air of confidence.
     The rest of the Marauders headed down not too long after James, all sporting Gryffindor colors from head to toe.
     "Merlin, I hope we win..." muttered Sirius. "D'you think James will ever fully recover if we don't?"
     "Dunno" replied Peter seriously. "I'm not sure he'd ever leave the dormitory again..." There was an uncomfortable moment of silence; Peter's words had reminded all three of the boys of earlier in the year when Sirius had hidden in their dormitory for a solid week. Releasing his mistake, Peter cleared his throat and added "Anyway... at least the Cup definitely won't go to Slytherin this year... their team was just awful." Remus and Sirius laughed in agreement and the turned their eyes to the field, where the teams were beginning to walk out.
     Two minutes later, the match had begun! James' nervous energy turned out to make him an even better Chaser than usual. Ten minutes into the game, and he score was 40-10, Gryffindor, with James scoring 3/4 of Gryffindor's goals. However, the snitch was nowhere to be seen, and that 150-point ball was crucial in determining the game's outcome. Another 15 minutes passed, the game was now 80-30, still in favor of Gryffindor, and out of nowhere the Gryffindor seeker dove. Sirius begin to cling onto Remus' arm extremely tightly as the seeker's hand reached out and wrapped around something... then a resounding announcement filled the stands:
     "GRYFFFINDOR WINS!" James landed his broomstick, so overwhelmed with happiness that he was holding back tears, while Peter, Remus, and Sirius rushed onto the field to hug their best friend. All four were full to the brim with pure joy.
     A huge lunch was followed by a lengthy party in the Gryffindor common room, during which James tried (and failed) to start many conversations with Lily Evans. Peter, meanwhile, was towards the edge of the room, laughing and playing cards with Frank Longbottom. Sirius and Remus were sitting together on a couch, laughing and talking to each other.
     Sirius was beyond delighted to be talking again to all his friends – especially Remus, who he thought would never forgive him. As Sirius looked around the room: at James, running his hand through his hair and acting cooler than he was; at Peter, cheerfully winning Exploding Snap; and at Remus, whose gorgeous eyes were sparkling in the dim lighting, Sirius could not help but think about how lucky he was to have these people in his life.

Sorry it has been so long since the last update! I thought I'd add a happy chapter since Sirius has been through so much and will go through more soon... (sorry).  Thanks for reading!