After being expelled from Ilvermorny for a particularly daring prank, Thalia Scamander finds herself having to readjust to life at Hogwarts. Lucky for her, she hits it off with a group called the Marauders...evidently she hit it off with some more t...
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It was 5am. It was Saturday. Enough said. Thalia tiptoed down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room as she did every Saturday morning, dressed in black athletic shorts and a pale blue tight sports top. She plopped herself down on the nearest sofa, oblivious to the figure in the corner, gawking at her bare legs and fitted torso. Lacing up her trainers (which matched her top), and twisting her hair into a casual bun, a few strands escaping and framing her face, she grinned to herself, anticipating the excitement of feeling the wind through her hair. Despite the biting late-November air, she refused to wear anything other than her 'normal running gear' to train in. She put in the headphones of the muggle 'walkman' her grandfather had got her last Christmas, into her ears, and tucked the device itself into her waistband. As soon as she hit play, her personal mixtape began playing (it was a combination of almost every Beatles and Beach Boys song out). Jumping up and down a little to brace herself against the upcoming cold, she pushed open the portrait hole and jogged down the corridors until she exited the castle, eventually arriving at the quidditch pitch. The lithe girl ran lap after lap around the pitch as the sun rose higher and higher. This was how she collected her thoughts and de-stressed, and she loved every second of it, her feet pounding a rhythm on the grass that soothed her overactive mind. 80 laps...85...the girl continued to run, overtaking a number of students that seemed to have a similar idea to her. 'Amatures.' she giggled to herself, watching how many of them grew tired and stopped after three or four laps. As she hit lap 93, she noticed a dark haired, muscular figure enter the pitch. He waited until Thalia passed the entrance to set off, keeping pace with her, indicating that she slow slightly so they could keep conversation.
"Hey Thals, been out long?"
"Hi James and no not really, only a couple of hours." His face morphed into one of horror.
"Surely you haven't been running this whole time?"
"This whole time?"
"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I saw you leave, I was sitting in the common room because I couldn't sleep. You looked so fixed on the task ahead, I didn't want to disturb you and say hello."
"Oh, no worries."
"So you like running then?" The girl's face visibly brightened.
"Yep, I love it! I've been running since I could walk basically. I was part of the cross country team at muggle primary school, and I always ran at Ilvermorny. I've tried to get Elle to run with me over the past couple of months, but she's a lazy git, so I've run alone, really. What about you? Or did you just come to see me?" She asked with a cheeky smirk.
"I...uh...well..n-no...um...I like running too! Yeah definitely!" He stuttered, and the tips of his ears grew red. The girl sent him a shrewd look, even being as dense as she was sometimes, she saw right through James' pathetic attempt at an excuse.
"If you're such a dedicated runner, try to keep up." She winked, and began to sprint around the stadium. Despite being a good eight inches smaller than James, she had incredible speed and her legs were a blur as she ran faster and faster, keeping up to James' pace and never tiring. Despite passing the hundred lap mark, she continued around the pitch, waiting for James to get tired. His long legs gave him quite the advantage, and he managed to keep up with her for a good 10 laps, but soon had to drop out, watching in awe as she lapped, and re-lapped many people, her pale face pink from the cold, and shining with joy. Eventually she came to a halt, breathing hard and beaming at James, who laughed at her childlike wonder over something so simple.
"Merlin's beard Thals, how much do you train?"
"I come down every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday night, as well as Saturday and Sunday mornings." She shrugged nonchalantly, and he covered his eyes, screaming with mock-horror.
"Too much! It's too much exercise! I can't do it! I won't make it!" He cried dramatically, falling to the floor and clutching his heart. Giggling she prodded him with her foot, which he grabbed and yanked, sending her tumbling to the floor with a blood curdling scream emitting from her mouth. After a 'tickle war' as James declared it, he offered her a piggyback, as the small girl was still doubled over, recovering from the torture of James' ticklish fingers.
"Yes please." She managed to choke out, and somehow crawled onto his back, which he had managed to bring to her height by ducking a considerable amount. James sauntered up to the castle, Thalia on his back, enjoying the ride, and the wind flowing through her now loose hair - (her bun had fallen out quite a while back without her realising it). Suddenly the girl sniffed very loudly and dramatically. "You smell." She whispered in his ear, causing him to choke slightly and sniff his armpits, which in reality, did not smell at all. All she could smell was his shea aftershave and the scent of broomstick polish that never seemed to leave him. After realising that Thalia was winding him up, James began running towards the lake at full pelt. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? OH MY GOD BE CAREFUL!" She yelled, clinging on to him in fear as he slipped and slid on loose stones and wet mud. Upon arriving at James' chosen destination - which happened to be the Black Lake - did he exclaim;
"If I smell, I suppose I better take a bath!" Without warning, he launched himself into the icy waters, holding tightly to Thalia, who had no choice but to remain on his back as they were submerged in the otherwise still body of water.
"Oh m-my g-god! It's f-freezing!" She shrieked at him, thanking Merlin that her walkman had fallen out of her waistband before James jumped and treading water to remain afloat, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes.
"It's not that bad! In fact it's rather l-lovely, I think!" He retorted, struggling to hide his shivering. Thalia however was making no attempt to hide it, as she adopted her best puppy dog face and milked the shaking for all it was worth. The messy haired boy began to feel bad, as he swam over to her, and wrapped his arms around her, giving her what little heat he had left.
"Lets g-go and get some b-breakfast." He chattered into her ear, and she nodded, too cold to give an answer, as they swam to the shore and squelched their way towards warm dry clothes and a hot meal.
