Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 6

~ When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, and the dimpling stream runs laughing by;

When the air does laugh with our merry wit, and the green hill laughs with the noise of it. ~ 

***

James had been promoted to the rank of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain the following year and his ecstasy was beyond explanation. He was standing on the pitch with a determined face and had called up people for the try outs. The team needed one beater and two chasers as those members had graduated.

"Baron, you're next!" he called as a gangly boy with sandy hair that fell into his eyes stepped forward, "what post you're trying for?"

Baron who was probably a third year looked up, "beater, I guess?"

He looked at the person standing in front of him as if weighing out the pros and cons, "alright. And don't worry, Madam Pomfrey will be here if anything happens." James patted his back sending him towards the tryout field where he was given a club and the bludgers were to be released.

"You sure he's gonna survive?" Sirius whispered in his ear.

He shrugged, "doubtful. But maybe he will, maybe he won't. You did tell Madam Pomfrey that we're holding tryouts today, right?"

Sirius nodded," sure did, mate. She said she had a few beds already prepared just in case someone gets injured."

It was not like James and Sirius were planning to injure every single player that came for the tryout, but the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts were known for being hard. Gryffindor house had won the cup last year and by no chance did they want to lose it this once. So obviously, the Captain made sure that every member on the team was fitting for his/her position.

After the stressing tryouts that lasted for more than one and a half hour, James had picked the right candidates for the team and was quite pleased with his selection. Sirius was still unable to digest that the lanky boy, Baron, made it and not only did he survive but also got chosen as the beater for their team.

And after such an exhausting training session, everyone was obviously looking forward to food and a little rest. Soon as James entered the Hall, his eyes got caught by the clock which had struck nine. At first he stared at it trying to remember for which appointment he had got late for. And then it hit him. He had to attend his first tutoring lessons at eight and he missed them. 

Not only was he late but he was a full hour late. And if that Ravenclaw had been waiting for him to turn up at the library for that long, then he knew he would better be prepared to face another attack at his self esteem.

"What happened to your face, James? It looks much paler than usual," Sirius remarked.

"I... I have a situation to deal with. You go to the common room and I'll see you there. After the said situation has been tackled," he replied and soon after rushed up the flights of stairs that led to the library. When he got there he was much out of breath and after a five minute search he concluded that Latvia had possibly just left after waiting there for ages.

But he was also aware that he had to do something about the lesson he missed. Something like rescheduling the time and promising not to be late again. Or else his mother would be disappointed at his lack of interest and Professor Sinistra too would let Euphemia know about his careless attitude. So he set out on his search for a short fiery Ravenclaw who would probably explode at him whenever given the chance.

He found her by the fourth corridor talking to a fellow house mate. "Latvia," he approached her, "I got caught up in the Quidditch tryouts today and couldn't come. How about we set another day for the lesson?"