Love's All a Matter of Quidditch

James was only in front of Platforms Nine and Ten five seconds before being clonked affectionately on the held. It was, of course, Sirius.

"Padfoot, get off me," James said, raising an eyebrow. He couldn't help but crack a smile, though, as Sirius winked at him.

"Hiya, Prongs," Sirius answered, grinning somewhat forcedly. "I was looking for you. How did--" he looked behind him at James' parents, who were watching the two boys fondly. They were always happy to see James' friends. "Er...hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he said loudly.

"Good morning, Sirius," Diana Potter, James' mother, said graciously, patting Sirius on the head. She was friendly looking woman with curly brown hair, dimples, and hazel eyes like James'. "How are you?"

"Fine..." Sirius said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Er, Mum, Dad, we best get going..." James said, pushing his cart closer to the platforms in an effort to get away from his parents.

Jonathan Potter, James dad, coughed and looked expectantly at his wife. He was a tall man with the trademark Potter messy black hair and brown eyes, giving off the appearance of an outwardly stern and solemn fellow, although to those who knew him well, his nature was more laid-back and outgoing.

Diana looked rather distressed. "Oh, all right, dear," she sighed and kissed James' forehead. "You always remember, your father and I love you no matter what." She always said something like that whenever she left James. Like she was afraid he'd think she was abandoning him...or something. James was used to this--his parents were paranoid like that.

"Your mother's right," Jonathan added. "Have a great first term," He patted James on the back and led Diana away. Diana, resisting and looking back at James and Sirius one last time, sighed again and finally turned away.

"Damn," Sirius commented quietly, watching the Potters' retreating backs, "You are so lucky." There was almost a bitter tone to his voice.

James blinked. "What do you mean?"

Sirius shrugged a little. "Don't you see it? They love you," he said bluntly, looking away.

James blinked. Sirius hardly ever spoke of his home life. James himself had only been to Sirius' once, and that had been enough to know he should never visit again. James had heard from his parents that the Blacks were an elite rich family like themselves, but they had completely different viewpoints. The Blacks were purebloods to the core and downright arrogant about it. Sirius was the black sheep of the family--he did not agree with the superior pureblood notion. James vaguely guessed that he fought with his parents more than usual, but Sirius only spoke of them in weak, distant moments, and the boys hated to dwell on negative thoughts anyway.

"Yeah, well, whatever," James said, shrugging. "Anyway, why don't we run through the border?"

"After you, Prongs," Sirius said, smiling again, although his eyes were still somewhat clouded. James strode easily to the platform wall, pushing his cart with his bags, eagle owl Arty, and his fat orange cat Marigold. He was always nervous about hitting the wall, but he hated to admit it. So he didn't start running until he was inches from the wall and--

Suddenly, the red Hogwarts train was in view with students walking, talking, laughing all around. James grinned, happy to be going to his second home: Hogwarts. There, his "group": himself, Sirius, Remus and Peter, ruled the halls. Or that was what they liked to think anyway.

James quickly spotted Remus, somewhat peaky-looking, no doubt from his monthly problems, talking to his father, a light-haired man who looked like an older Remus. James pushed his cart over and tapped Remus on the shoulder. Remus smiled a bit when he saw James. They exchanged greetings and James heard Sirius' cart clanging behind him. "Don't you try to ditch me, Potter!" he yelled, pulling alongside James and glaring at him.

James laughed. "Bah, why did you have to catch up already?" he asked, fake-yawning and leaning against his cart.

Mr. and Mrs. Lupin looked faintly surprised. James always saw them as upstanding people; respectable and kind, but distant. Remus had somewhat of a strange relationship with them; they did not mistreat him, but he always sensed a sort of fear from them that kept him from depending on them too much. Mrs. Lupin, a woman with a soft smile and brown hair usually in a bun, shooed someone out from behind her legs. That "someone" turned out to be Romulus Lupin, Remus' six-year-old brother, a small dark-haired boy with bright eyes. He clung shyly to his mother's legs.

Remus, feeling awkward, said, "Well, Mum, Dad, Rom...I suppose I should board the train with James and Sirius now..."

Mr. Lupin nodded. "Well, have a nice term, Remus," he said stiffly, as usual. Mrs. Lupin at least cracked a smile and blew Remus a good-bye kiss.

Remus smiled a bit, too, and turned his attention to Romulus. "So long, Rom, you'll have to take care of Mum and Dad for me again,"

Romulus blinked and frowned. Finally releasing his mother's legs, he ran over to Remus' legs and hugged them. "Bye, Remy. I'll miss you."

"Goodbye," Remus said, patting Romulus' head and then pushed his cart to where James and Sirius were standing, looking slightly stupefied. "What's with you two?" Remus asked.

James looked over at Sirius, who winked at him. He then looked past Remus to see Mr. and Mrs. Lupin walking away with Romulus trotting along behind them. No witnesses. He grinned at Remus and put on his baby "pity me" face that always worked on his mother. "Bye Remy," he cooed in a high-pitched, little kid voice.

"I'll miss you," Sirius followed, attempting to look little and cute as well, as he clutched James hand tightly.

Remus rolled his eyes at them both. "You two are jerks, you know that?"

"A good thing," James said, cockily.

"Don't be a sour puss, Moony," Sirius said, punching Remus' shoulder. "Bit of fun."

"Hmm," Remus answered, shaking his head. "You could use some brotherly love, Padfoot," he said softly, his eyes following a small pale boy on the other side of the station.

A cold air seemed to pass over Sirius, and his brown eyes darkened. "Not from my brother," he said quietly.

James sensed an awkward silence and quickly clapped the both of them on the shoulders. "Come along, let's board that train!"

They each took their individual suitcases and boarded the train, walking along the compartments, looking for their customary second to last compartment, the one they rode in every year. They found Peter already sitting there, looking out the window. When James, Sirius and Remus walked in, though, he jumped to his feet and smiled.

"I kept everyone away," Peter said, watching the three find seats.

James smiled and took an entire two seats to himself as usual, using the second seat as a footrest. "Nice job, Wormtail...no ickle firsties in our compartment,"

Peter nodded obligingly and the other three took individual seats around James, who was still lounging comfortably. "So," James asked, "how are you all faring? Since our last meeting, that is," Earlier that summer, while James' parents had been vacationing in Australia, James and his friends had a huge party that involved drinking out the Potter alcohol storage.

"All right," Remus said, "but I still can't believe you guys...breaking into Mr. Potter's wine cellar..."

"Don't tell me you squealed," James said impatiently, looking straight at him.

Remus looked irritated. "I didn't, but I really should have. It's not right."

Peter sighed. "That's what my mum said, too."

The other three boys blinked. Then James sat up and glared at Peter. "Wormtail, you squealed!?!!?!"

Peter turned red. "No, Prongs, I didn't...you know my mum, though...she knows everything...I didn't say anything about you guys, though...she just thinks I found something in the house..."

James snorted. "Damn straight," he said, settling back down in his seat. Peter was constantly berated by his mother, the whole group knew, so it came as no surprise. Remus looked apprehensive and was about to speak when the compartment door opened.

There stood a small chubby boy with wide dimples and short hair in sort of a bowl-shaped haircut. He stared curiously at the four boys, who blinked back at them, and then smiled. "Oh, hullo," he said.

James, now feeling irritated at having to sit up so many times, swung his legs back on the ground and looked over at the boy, raising one eyebrow. "Are you lost?" he asked in a mock-sympathy tone.

"Er, no, I was just..." he looked around the compartment, and then caught sight of the empty seat next to James. "Finally, a seat!" he smiled brightly again and started forward, only to be stopped by Peter, who had stood up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked gruffly, from his seat on the left next to Remus, who was watching Peter, James and the boy nervously.

"Oh, I wanted to..." The boy tried to move around Peter, but Peter did an amazingly good job of blocking the boy from all sides. "No firsties," he said firmly.

"Well, I'm a second year..." the boy answered, shrinking back suddenly.

Sirius sniggered. "Like there's a difference," he muttered quite loudly.

James, observing the situation, stood up. "Wormtail," he said coolly, "move aside. I can take it from here."

"James," Remus cut in, using James' first name for once to show that he wasn't happy with his behavior. "There's--"

James held out a casual hand. "No worries, Moony, no worries." As Peter sat down, he slowly walked up to the boy, whose eyes were moving wildly, like a trapped rodent. "So, you're a second year?" he asked comfortably. "Do you have a name?"

"Nicolas," the boy said apprehensively. "Jared Nicolas."

James nodded, thoughtfully. "Nicolas. I see. Now," he continued, "I understand you thought you could sit with us?"

Nicolas nodded, although he was looking like he thought he might regret it.

"If you were intelligent, you would know that you simply cannot sit here," James said in a tone feigning patience. "This is a sixth-year compartment. Nothing below. So find some other compartment."

"But that's not fair..." the boy squeaked, turning away.

James blinked, and his hand moved towards his inside robe pocket. "Excuse me?"

Nicolas seemed to be trying not to be intimidated. "I said, that's not..."

"Maybe," James cut in, pulling his wand completely out, "you didn't hear me properly. I said--"

Abruptly, the compartment door slid open again, this time to reveal a short auburn-haired girl with almond-shaped green eyes--Lily Evans. She stared past James and Nicolas at Remus, who had busied himself with their DADA textbook. "Remus, I knew I'd find you here. We are needed in the prefect compartment..."

Remus looked up and nodded. "Oh, yes, I nearly forgot..." he stood up with a duffel bag, no doubt where he kept prefect papers and walked past James and Nicolas, who had not moved.

Lily made to follow him, finally noticing James and Nicolas. Her eyes fell on James' outstretched wand. "What's going on here?"

James blinked again and quickly placed his wand back inside his robes. "Nothing, Evans, Nicolas was just looking for a seat, and I was offering..." he trailed off and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up, out of habit.

She raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Really?"

James nodded slowly. Lily looked down at Nicolas and said, "If you have any brains whatsoever, you'll not want to sit here. This compartment's full of pricks." She winked at the boy, who blushed a little, and then turned to leave the compartment. James eyes narrowed dangerously, and he had half a mind to hex the life out of the boy, but he realized she was leaving. "Hey, Evans!" he called, turning around himself.

He was met with a closed door. She hadn't even given him a second look. He gaped at the door, completely aghast. Remus looked apologetic as he slid through the door himself. "Sorry, Prongs," he mouthed.

James didn't say anything. He turned and looked at Sirius and Peter, who were looking sympathetic. "Tough luck, Prongs," Sirius said, leaning back against his seat.

"It's a sign," Peter said, shaking his head.

"Shut it, Wormtail," James hissed angrily, and pushed past Nicolas, who was making to sit down in James' seat. "Why are you still here?"

"But you said--" Nicolas started, looking a bit confused, but James interrupted him.

"Get out. Now."

Nicolas scurried out of their compartment as fast as he could. James sighed, cracked his knuckles a few times and then settled back down his seat, trying not to look too dejected.

"Bloody first-years," he muttered.

"You should've just cursed him," Sirius said.

"Why didn't you?" James shot back.
Sirius shrugged. "That would've required me standing up. And I'm quite comfortable right here, thank you."

What did I do wrong? Does she truly hate me? That can't possibly be it. Nobody hates me. I'm James Potter!

At that moment, a group of girls walked into the compartment, and James was just about to comment loudly on how this was a private compartment, until he saw who they were.

It was Jessi Cummings, sixth year Hufflepuff, with long straight blond hair and light blue eyes, and a crowd of girls, most of which James didn't know by name. Next to Sirius, Peter sat up straighter in his seat. The Enthusiasts had arrived.

"Hiya, James," Jessi cooed. "Sirius," she acknowledged Sirius with a nod of her head before pouncing on James and hugging him. James sighed, but let her hold him close a few seconds before gently pushing her away. "'Morning to you, Jessi," he said, rather graciously, he thought.

The other girls started chattering away with Sirius; one was even nice enough to say hello to Peter. The Enthusiasts were basically a bunch of stuck-up girls (with some more laconic followers) that made it their business to follow the lives of James and Sirius, chiefly the former. Now, they all knew better than to bother Jessi Cummings, practically the leader of the self-proclaimed James Potter Enthusiasts, when she was talking to James.

"I missed you sooo much," she continued, drawing a heart with her finger on his vest. "Why didn't you owl me?"

"Because," James said sweetly, patting her on the head, "you expired more than four months ago, dear."

Jessi blinked and looked crestfallen. "But I--"

"That's right," Peter said, his voice breaking through the chatter. "He's after Lily Evans now."

A gasp ran through the compartment, and Jessi covered her mouth in shock. "It can't be true! I heard, but..." She looked over at James hopefully.

James shrugged in a detached manner. "So what if it's true? I can have any girl I want."

"But she hates you!" a voice squealed from the crowd.

"Exactly," Jessi said, wrapping an arm around James' waist. "Why waste your time on her when you've got us who worship you?"

James sighed. "It's a game, don't you see? Like Quidditch. I need to make her realize that she loves me. Then she'll go out with me."

"Do you really think that'll work?" James looked toward the compartment door, surprised--Remus had returned from the prefects' compartment. He saw the large number of girls in the compartment, and Jessi's arm around James and sighed hopelessly.

"Welcome back, Moony," Sirius said from underneath the crowd of girls, his voice sounding strained and somewhat bored.

"Well, anyway, I think now is a good time for you to leave, and take them with you," James said, pushing Jessi away again. "I need to converse with my cohorts."

Jessi sighed dramatically. "All right. Come, girls," she said, turning her golden head and walking out. The girls slowly filed out of the compartment, some bidding farewell to the boys; others just blushing about running off.

Remus closed the door behind the last girl and let out a deep breath. "Looks like I didn't miss much I wanted to see."

Sirius yawned loudly. "Must they flock around us?"

James shrugged. "It's good for the reputation. All though I think Cummings has an unhealthy fixation. I should work on that..."

Remus looked over at James from the door. "Are you serious about what you said earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"About Lily Evans. Wooing her, I mean."

James shrugged. "Sure. It'll be different than dating other girls...a welcome change...I've always wanted to date a redhead."

"10 Galleons says you can't do it by October," Sirius challenged.

James glared at him. "15 says I can!"

Sirius laughed gaily. "You're on, loser," He leaned back in his seat.

"Seriously, though," Remus said, sitting down next to James, "I know Lily Evans well, and it'll take a lot of work for her to accept...she doesn't have the best opinion of you."

"She just says stuff like that," James said dismissively. "Girls always say things they don't mean."

"I think she might really mean it, though," Remus said uncertainly. "You'll need a plan. You can't just...ask her..."

"Moony, Moony, calm down," James answered, rolling his eyes. "I have it under control."

Remus certainly hoped so...he had a feeling his friend would end up sorely disappointed.

~ * ~

James figured he'd wait a few days until after school started to ask her--just so it wouldn't seem too sudden, since he knew most girls hated being rushed. He decided four days was good enough...so on Friday morning he skipped Herbology to "freshen up". Not that he was antsy or anything, but just so he was focused. And it wasn't like he considered that to be a very important class anyway--he could charm Sprout into excusing him any day.

So in the afternoon, James found Lily Evans in the Gryffindor Common Room, sitting on a couch by the fire with a large stack of books beside her and writing on some parchment. Hard at work, as usual, James thought to himself as he reached up to mess his hair up for good measure. He chewed thoughtfully on a hazelnut--he had a bag of nuts with him, part of his grand plan, of course. He walked up behind Lily and peered down at what she was writing. "Hello, Evans, what're you writing?"

"You would know if you had come to Herbology this morning," she said airily, not even glancing in his direction as her quill flew across the page.

"Ah, well, I was feeling a bit ill," James answered. Lily raised an eyebrow to show her disbelief. He took out a walnut and cracked it with his teeth. "Want some nuts, Evans?"

She looked at the bag he was holding out, then at him, and shook her head slowly. She was about to resume working when James leaned closer so that his face was inches from hers.

"How about a date?"

Lily blinked, and a confused look spread across her face as she processed his inquiry. Soon enough, she realized his true intentions, and her mouth turned upward in a sign of sadistic amusement.

"You're so..." she started, shaking her head slightly to emphasize her words.

James, of course, being utterly convinced that she would accept, took this as a delighted smile and the starting of a compliment. "Attractive? Charismatic? Irresistible?" He grinned cheekily.

She laughed. Abruptly, her smile faded and she narrowed her eyes to glare at him. "Try annoying, turgid, and asinine."

James blinked, confounded. "Wait--"

"Nothing has changed from last year, "Lily declared loudly, tossing her long red hair behind her shoulder. "I rejected you then, and I do the same now. I wouldn't date you if you were the last man alive on Earth."

Other people who happened to be in the common room at that moment--James hadn't accounted for this--had dropped whatever they were doing to watch the pair, especially since Lily had started talking loudly. James opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off again as she stuck a finger in his face.

"Remember that next time you even think about asking me out," she finished, pushing his shoulders away so that he was no longer leaning against the couch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to a place where I won't be disturbed by gits like you." With that, she gathered all of her books and parchment in one swoop and walked up the stairs to the 6^th year girl's dormitory.

James was so surprised--by her pushing him away, or by her total rejection; it was hard to say--that he lost his balance and fell to the floor, spilling his nuts everywhere. He heard Lily close the dormitory door above, but he just sat on the floor, still shocked. There were a few giggles amongst the crowd until someone brave laughed aloud, and soon enough they were all laughing. Normally, James would have been enraged, but at the moment he was too dumbfounded.

"What are you all staring at?" James blinked back to reality only to see Sirius standing in front of him, glaring at the people who had crowded around James. "Shove off, all of you."

Gradually, the crowd receded, and Remus appeared next to James, holding a hand out. "Can't say I didn't warn you, Prongs," he said, a bit pityingly as he helped James up.

James, still dazed, stood up and looked around the room without saying anything.

Peter also popped up. "Are you all right?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Say something, mate," Sirius said, waving a hand in front of James' face.

James focused on Remus' face. "You were right, Moony," he said quietly. "What do I need to do?"

Remus sighed. "First of all, you need to regain your mind. Come on, we'll take you up to the dormitory." He held James' hand as they headed up the stairs.

Peter shut the door behind them, and James sat down on his bed, Remus following. Luckily, the other four boys that occupied their dormitory were out at the moment.

"How many fingers do you see, Prongs?" Sirius asked, holding up a fist in front of James' face.

"None," James said, rolling his eyes a little. "I'm fine, now, really...but I'm serious Remus. Tell me what to do. She likes you."

"It'll be difficult. Very difficult. But, you are James Potter, Prongs, and that does count for something, as you managed to get perfect O.W.Ls last year...it's doable." Remus smiled and patted James on the back. "All right, I suppose I'll help you."

"Me, too, for all it's worth," Peter said, smiling at James. "Although Candice is nothing like Lily..."

"It'll be a team effort," Sirius piped in, grinning hugely. "Like Quidditch!"

"Not like Quidditch," Remus said firmly. "Girls are different."

"How so?" James asked interestedly. An idea was forming in his head.

"Well first of all, they're living, while Quidditch is a game, and--"

"Oh, don't be so literal, Moony," James interrupted. "The man makes sense. Love can be played like Quidditch!"

"It can?" Sirius asked, surprised. "I never thought of it like that."

"And since I'm captain this year," James started, "I can try my tactics on both fields!"

"Whatever happened to listening to me?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh, Moony, don't worry, I know this will work," James said impatiently, his mind whirling with the plans he had formed over the summer for Quidditch and how he could relate them to making Lily like him.

Remus heaved a sigh and sat down on his own bed. "Whatever you say, Prongs, whatever you say." He doubted this new plan of James', whatever it was, would work, but his real fear was that his friend would suffer even worse embarrassment before he realized the right way to win Lily Evans' heart.