𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘆, sirius black

˗ˋ 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH SIRIUS SETS
HIS BROOM ON FIRE

. . .

Nancy seemed to have been lying to not just James, but the entirety of his friend group - which yes, did include the girls she dormed with - as well as their head of house. 

He knew she would have a talent in Quidditch that they didn't have; flying in much tougher conditions on tree trunks would surely ensure you develop your flying skills in a more unique way, but James seemed to have discovered a player who would guarantee their win of the Quidditch Cup that year.

"Bloody hell." He breathed out, eyes still on the figure. "Sirius I think she's better at flying then the rest of us combined."

"Don't be an idiot." Sirius was leant against the exposed framing on the Quidditch stands, his broom leant in the nook of one arm, the other holding a cigarette up to his lips. "Sure, she's a good flyer but you're over-exaggerating. If you let her hear any of this it'll inflate her ego and she'll go around thinking she can use her weird magic on anyone."

"Or her weird magic will get us a win or two." James mused, tilting his head to the side. "Like it'll probably restrict her from falling from her broom and stuff like that." 

Sirius took another drag of the cigarette, blowing out a cloud of smoke tinged red. He always bought a pack of them from a shop down in Hogsmeade for a good price and they were much funner than just plain muggle ones. "Fine, so she might not slip from her broom. But all we're watching her do is chase around a little golden-"

At that moment, Nancy swooped down to the boys, landing nimbly and holding out her gloved hand. "Sorry that took so long, the little bugger kept swerving around like nobody's business." Her gaze swept over to Sirius for just a moment, expecting a comment, but not getting one, she turned to James and placed the Snitch in his open palm.

"Well done." James grinned. "If I had a stopwatch I would say it's record time, but I wouldn't know. Sirius - put that out we are quite literally in the middle of the biggest wooden structures I'm aware of and the twigs on your broomstick are on fire."

"Whatever." Sirius dropped the cigarette and crushed the end with his shoe. "You owe me at least two Knuts for that." 

"Sirius - the ends of your broomstick?" James didn't care about the money, more about the fact they were ever-so close to setting the entire Quidditch pitch on fire. Which only meant one thing - there would be no Quidditch for the rest of the year, a thought so utterly unbearable to James that he raised his wand to put out the fire himself, but found that Nancy had beat him to it. 

"What the hell?" Sirius wiped his hair back from his face. "I had it sorted out!"

"Sorry." Nancy frowned. "I just didn't want this to end up in disaster, you know?" She offered a weak and quickly ignored smile, her gaze dropping when she saw his expression. "I'm sorry - I'll try and stop using my magic like that.. I know it makes you uncomfortable.""

"It's fine." Sirius now felt bad. Perhaps his teasing had gone a little far. "It's just uncontrolled magic makes me uncomfortable."

"Oh of course, I get that." Nancy nodded earnestly, before turning to James. "What should I do next?"

"Sirius, is your broom still in good enough shape to fly?" James offered a smile to Nancy as he turned to his friend, who was busying tucking curls behind his ears whilst looking through the singed twigs. "It looks like it didn't lose that much?"

"No, it didn't." Sirius confirmed, raising his wand and muttering a few spells under his breath. Quickly, the broom was back to the perfect condition it had been in just minutes before. "So, Captain, what are you needing me to do."

After the apology from Nancy and the admission that Sirius was just plainly uncomfortable with the magic she exudes, the two seemed to have reached a level playing field. At that thought, James surpressed a giggle. He loved puns. 

"Well, Sirius, I was wondering if you could help give Nancy a quick test on how well she dodges Bludgers." James replied after calming himself. "I'm assuming that's alright with you as well, Nancy?"

"Of course. Yeah - I'm ready whenever you are." She smiled, swinging a leg over her broom and flicking the hair that framed her face away. 

Sirius did the same, retrieving his beater's bat from where it had been discarded on the floor. He was going to play well - he knew it - and she would end up getting properly tested.

Because Quidditch could be a brutal game, and Sirius wasn't planning on weakening his hits at the Bludgers, or going easy on her at all.

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