Ineffable | Remus Lupin

XI

The quidditch stands were roaring with life - shaking with energetic anticipation. It was the first match of the year and, apparently, it was going to be a big one. Of course, Ingrid had no idea what was going on or what on earth quidditch even was.
Dorcas had tried her best to explain the game but had only been met with a lot of snide remarks from the blonde.

Nevertheless, that early Saturday morning, they found themselves packed into the stands like sardines - surrounded by hundreds of eager fans. Really, that was the only thing that was keeping them warm as harsh wind whipped past their cheeks and their breath turned cloudy in front of their faces.

"On, there, look!" Dorcas pointed to the side and shrieked with glee, "Let's go join them!"
Frowning, Ingrid replied, "Join wh-oh. I do-"
But it was too late, Dorcas had already started weaving through the crowd, leaving the other girl with no choice but to follow.
Then Ingrid caught sight of who Dorcas had spotted in the crowd.

"Lily!" Dorcas squealed as she pulled the girl into a hug, "Has Prefecting been keeping you as busy as it has me?"
The redheaded girl laughed and nodded in agreement, "That's for sure. This is definitely going to be a much needed break."

Dorcas turned back to Ingrid and smiled at her, "Have you met Lily Evans? Marlene, Mary, and Alice too."
Ingrid nodded and forced out a slight smile of her own, "I have, yeah. You guys are all in... Gryffindor, yeah?"

Lily hummed with a smile and a nod, "Yes, and congratulations on your Ravenclaw sorting."
"Well, I didn't really do anything...." Ingrid caught site of Dorcas showing her a disapproving look and she quickly added, "But thanks."

"I don't suppose..." Marlene shuffled down the bench slightly to make room for Dorcas and Ingrid beside her, "You've ever seen a quidditch match before, Ingrid?"
She looked at the Gryffindor girl and had to resist from rolling her eyes as she responded, "I tried but the tickets were always sold out. It's very popular with muggles, you see."

Lily laughed, cupping her hand over her mouth to mask it as Marlene pursed her lips and sat back. "I think you'd get along with Sirius." Lily quipped with a grin.

"Who's Sirius?" She asked.
Marlene scoffed, "Oh, come on," before she was
interrupted by Dorcas explaining, "He's the Gryffindor boy with the messy black hair. Him and his mates are pretty popular in the school."
That was where Lily interjected, "I wouldn't say popular. Everybody only knows who they are because they're constantly causing trouble."

"His mates being..." Ingrid frowned in thought for a moment, "Remus... The-James... And the short one?"
Dorcas snickered, "Yeah, that's them."
"And," Marlene chirped up, "I invited them to come and sit with us. Well... Obviously James will be playing in the match but, you know."

Lily then announced, "Speak of the devils." As she nodded towards Remus, Sirius, and Peter who were making their way towards the group - wading through the bustling crowd of other students.

"Evans." Sirius nodded rather curtly as he looked over the group, "Well, look who it is... It's Temple. I hadn't pinned you as a quidditch fan."
Ingrid scoffed slightly, "I wonder why that is. Do you think it's because I didn't know the game existed until a week ago?"
"Oh, so you're just trying to impress me then?" He raised an eyebrow.

Muttering something inaudible under his breath, Remus lightly hit Sirius upside the head and then spoke, with a louder voice, "Let's just sit down, yeah?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and then pushed through to sit between Marlene and Ingrid on the bench. Remus and Peter stood for a moment and waited as everyone else shuffled down to make room on the edge, where they sat down beside Dorcas.
Before Sirius could land himself in further hot water, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams had kicked off the match and all of the students in the stands had risen to their feet as they watched.

"AND THE GRYFFINDOR CHASER HAS GOT THE QUAFFLE! THAT'S JAMES POTTER HOPING TO SCORE RIGHT OFF THE BAT!" The commentator roared with enthusiasm - his voice ricocheting around the stands.

"So..." Ingrid frowned slightly and brushed some hair out of her face as she tried to keep track of the player with the quaffle with her eyes, "This is kind of like basketball? They're trying to score points by putting it through the hoop?"
Dorcas opened her mouth to reply but paused as she struggled to find the words to concisely explain the game. "Yeah... I, erm, I suppose." She half-shrugged, "But there's two other balls and not everyone is a chaser. There's a keeper on each team - kind of like muggle football."

Sirius turned to the two girls and asked, "What's football?"
"It's-"
"Ugh!" Sirius exclaimed, "It's already boring - and nowhere near as good as quidditch!"

Ingrid snickered slightly and glanced over at Dorcas, beside her, and her gaze momentarily locked with Remus - who was concentrating on the players darting about the pitch before he felt a pair of eyes watching him. Remus then turned to see Ingrid and flashed a small smile.
The blonde haired girl opened her mouth to ask him a question when Sirius suddenly jumped into the air and shouted, "If that Slytherin beater isn't careful, I'll curse his broom! Just you watch!"

"There's no way we won't win." Marlene stated confidently as she leant slightly into Sirius' side.
"What?" He momentarily glanced at her before turning his attention back to the quidditch match as he hummed in response.

Marlene continued, "I mean, we've got such good chasers this year. There's no way we'll lost with Potter on the team."
Sirius didn't reply, his attention wholeheartedly focused on the two seekers that circled the pitch up above everyone else.

"What are those players doing up there?" Ingrid pointed up to the seekers, "Are they scared to get involved or what?"
"What?" Sirius laughed, "They're the seekers. They're like the most important players - they control when the match ends... And other stuff."

That was when Ingrid turned to fully face the boy, "You mean there's no time limit on this game? When does this end?"
"When one of the seekers have caught the snitch." He explained, "It ends the match and wins their team an extra 150 points."

"Is the snitch the crazy thing they keep hitting with the bats?"
"What? No! That's the bludger."
"I thought they were called seekers."

Sirius had now completely stopped watching the match as he tried to explain, "The seekers are the ones that need to catch the snitch. It's the gold one."
"I don't think the gold team are playing." Ingrid shook her head, "What're they-Hufflepuff, right? The gold house?"

Sirius had now grown quite pale and was tugging at the roots of his hair as he stared intensely at Ingrid, "The. Gold. Ball! It's tiny and really fast. That's the snitch. Hufflepuff is yellow and-but that's besides the point."

"Can they not just get their wands out and like... I don't know, make the snitch go to them? There's probably a spell for that, right?"
"They're not allowed to use their wands. It would ruin the game and it wouldn't be any fun!"
Ingrid shrugged, "It's not fun anyway - at least that way this might waste less of everyone's time."

He then desperately exclaimed, "It IS fun!"

Sirius had now gone quite red in the face and he looked past Ingrid to see Dorcas had fallen into absolute hysterics. She was wiping away the tears in the corners of her eyes as she struggled to catch her breath. Remus, behind her, was wearing the broadest smile as he lightly chuckled, "Oh, Ingrid, that was utterly amazing."
She then revealed her own laughter as she said, "I was always told I've got a real knack for winding people up."

"Oh, I see..." Sirius grumbled in displeasure, "You think you're funny, don't you?"
Ingrid shook her head, "Not at all."
Dorcas then chimed in, "I think it's terribly funny."

He ran a hand through his hair and folded his arms across his head as he turned back to continue watching the match. Ingrid raised a hand over her mouth to mask her laugh as she turned towards Dorcas. They smiled at each other and then Ingrid looked past to connect her gaze with Remus, who told her, "Clearly you've discovered how fun and easy it is to wind up Sirius."

"Trust me," She smiled at him, "I'm going to be taking full advantage of that."
Remus then chuckled, "I'll teach you how to annoy Sirius just by looking at him - it's my favourite pastime."