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An Absolutely Brilliant Captain


“Miss. Evans.”

Elphinstone Urquart cleared his throat. “Miss. Evans?”

Sirius snickered and balled up a bit of parchment, leaning forward around James, who was bent over his textbook in deep concentration, and chucked the parchment at Lily’s face, laughing as it bounced off her forehead and fell onto the floor beside her desk. She stirred and looked around in confusion, blinking. James glanced at Lily’s confused expression, then back at Sirius with a raised eyebrow, and then back to Lily, whose face was scarlet red. He made a face at Sirius. James got the feeling he’d missed something, and Sirius’s eyes sparkled brightly with the knowledge that when he’d thrown the ball of paper, he’d caught Lily Evans staring dreamily at the side of James Potter’s head.

“Miss. Evans!” Professor Urquart said, and Lily finally looked up at him, her eyes still a bit dazed. “Well then! Look at this - we’ve been deemed worthy of your attention!” He smirked.

James turned back to his textbook.

“Welcome back, Evans,” Sirius said loudly, grinning at Lily over James’s hunched up shoulders, “Where’ve you been? Anywhere enthralling in your day dream, darling-deer?”

Lily shook her head and James glanced back at her again and Remus elbowed Sirius, muttering what’s the matter with you?

Professor Urquart continued on with his lesson, and Lily tried to pay attention to something besides the way James was itching his chin with the tip of his quill.




November was cold already. Possibly the coldest month that the Marauders had yet experienced at Hogwarts ever. It was as though Mother Nature was trying to get revenge for the unusually hot summer they had all enjoyed by sending sheets of icy rain over the grounds and ribbons of frost over their windows. For the first Quidditch game, Sirius wore two jumpers layered over one another as well as his Quidditch robes. Remus had practically his whole wardrobe on, and Sirius’s ridiculously long Gryffindor scarf wrapped around his neck in several loops. “Look at him, James,” Sirius said, shaking his head as he hovered with the Captain over the pitch, “He’s a shivering blob of werewolf. And he’s here just to see us play.”

“Just to see you play, more like,” James said. “I doubt Rey would be braving this cold just to watch me on a broomstick.”

Sirius grinned. Then he pointed, “And there’s Evans.”

Lily was sitting a few seats away from Remus, bundled up with earmuffs and mittens, hugging herself and patting her arms to keep warm. She was staring up at James and, when she realized the two boys were looking her way, she turned quickly and started a conversation with McKenna, who sat beside her.

“She’s definitely not here for me,” James said, laughing, “Not Evans. Reckon she’d sooner throw the quaffle at my face than brave the cold to watch me play. No - I reckon she’s here for you or Frank or someone.” And before Sirius could react, James had flown off.

Sirius glanced at Lily, then swept after him.

Midway through the game, the air was so cold that Meg Johnson was complaining that she couldn’t bend her fingers. “I almost had the snitch a couple minutes ago - down by the Slytherin Keeper’s knee there, and my fingers are so bloody stiff I couldn’t bend my fingers ‘round the thing to catch it!”

James peeled his gloves off his hands, “Here, Meg,” he said, “Wear these. They’ll help keep you warm.”

“What about you?” she asked.

James shrugged, “Reckon you need’em more than me! The ball I’m playing is a whole lot bigger than the snitch, so my fingers don’t have to bend as tight.” He winked.

Meg took the gloves in surprise, “Thanks, Potter, that’s really sweet of you.” She was flushed - whether from the cold or from the kindness of James’s gesture, it was hard to tell. But the grin on James’s face was wide as he watched her pull on his gloves and he gripped his broom and swept away after her.

Regulus Black hovered about the field, too, bundled in thick black jumpers under his green Slytherin quidditch robes. He wore goggles over his eyes because high up above the pitch the dense clouds were icy and he’d got hit with a hailstone once already and he didn’t fancy a second go at it. He dodged a bludger sent his way by Sirius and flew a curve along the front of the stands, hunkering low on his broom, keeping his eyes roving quickly over the dismal grey of the pitch and the air above it, searching desperately for a gleam of gold and fluttering wings. In the stands, he could see Divinia and her twin sister Danae sitting next to one another, only different because of the colours of their robes and the banners they were waving to support their own houses.

“GO REGULUS!” Divinia shouted as he flew by, “GET THE SNITCH! WIN THE GAME!”

Regulus smiled as he swooped past her so fast that the velocity of his broom made her hair fly about her face wildly.

Not too much further away was Maryrose, who was also cheering him on, waving her hands at him, and he smiled at the sight of her. They’d spent a good deal of time together since Halloween, mostly in the library, where Maryrose would whisper hints to him about the identification of the plants on his Herbology assignment and they’d go and find books in the farthest back shelves just to spend a few extra moments kissing and leaning against the shelves. It felt strange to Regulus, that he was now one of those couples that snogged among the dusty tomes in the library, trying to hide from the glare of Madam Pince’s ever present eyes, but here he was. And he rather liked it, too.

Suddenly there was a great commotion and Meg Johnson went pelting down the pitch, shooting down down down - and he spotted the snitch, too, and dove as well. It was closer to him than it was to her. He pressed himself as flat to the broomstick as he could, but Meg was a much faster flier and before he could ever dream of grabbing hold on the snitch, she’d outflown him, stretched out her dragon-hide gloved hand, and caught the little golden ball with ease.

The stands went absolutely wild.

“Damn it.” Regulus cursed, landing on the frost-coated grass and scowling as Meg flew victory laps about the pitch above and James, Sirius, Frank, and the other Gryffindor team members collided, whooping and cheering loudly, their hands above their heads as they celebrated the victory. He followed his teammates off the field.

Sirius wrapped his arms around James’s head as James as they spiraled downward to the grass of the pitch only releasing him when they fell off their brooms and onto the frosty ground. James leaped up as the others landed around them, rushing over to high-fived Meg with excitement, “EXCELLENT JOB, JOHNSON! That was brilliant! You’re brilliant!” He pulled her into a hug.

“No, you’re brilliant!” Meg replied, “You’re an absolutely brilliant Captain and I love you!” Meg shouted over the sound of all of the other Gryffindors screaming in celebration. James stared at her a moment as the words processed, his jaw dropped slightly, and Meg turned pink and she said, “I mean - I didn’t mean - I --” and, without even thinking about it, James pulled her closer and he kissed her.

Sirius blinked in surprise, taking a couple steps back.

Meg seemed shocked at first, but then she kissed him back.

Sirius and Alice both looked toward Lily in the stands when it happened and Lily stared with a face that appeared even more surprised and baffled than Meg herself had looked. Lily’s eyes met Alice’s and she stood up and hastened away, dodging to the stairs ‘round the still cheering Gryffindors.

Sirius looked at Alice and then back at James and Meg, who had come apart already as Meg was being attacked by the joyous Frank Longbottom and Sirius flew over to Alice and said, “Well. That wasn’t what she came to see, I don’t reckon.”

Alice looked at Sirius, “I’d say not.”




Sirius found Lily before Alice or anyone else did. He snuck off from the pitch quietly as James was hoisted onto Gryffindor shoulders and carried off to be celebrated in the common room, and he paused on the path to tell Remus he’d catch them up, and Sirius drew the Marauder’s Map out of one of the many layers of jumper that he wore and shook it out quickly as he ducked behind the stands, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good,” he muttered and he watched the ink spill across the page, spreading out in great cracks and lines and slowly revealing the castle and the grounds and his eyes sped over it as quick as he could and he spotted her - just ducking into the woods. “Ah Evans, you bloody idiot, you can’t go in the forest alone,” he muttered, “Mischief Managed!” He tucked the map away quickly.

Sirius shoved his wand into his pocket and with a pop he changed into Snuffles and charged along the shadows of the forest ‘til he got to the spot where he’d seen Lily Evans’s name disappearing among the trees on the Map. He could smell her, and he ducked and dodged through the branches until he’d caught her up and then he darted out around her, cutting her off, his big form leaping from between the trees to stop her going any deeper on the path. Lily let out a shriek, stumbled backwards and fell onto the path.

“Sirius!” she exclaimed as he turned back, she was breathless, “You gave me a bloody heart attack!”

He extended his arm out to pull her up. “Well you’re lucky it was me that’s caught you first. You know there are loads of things lurking about in these woods! What the bloody hell are you thinking coming out here alone? I mean we do it but… we’ve got animagus forms to fight off things with and -- oh hell don’t start crying. Please don’t start crying.”

But it was too late. Lily had already started and she threw herself into Sirius, wrapping her arms around him and he went all stiff and cringy as she pressed her face into his chest, as though he were in physical pain from it. “Sirius,” she cried. “I’m a bloody fool.”

Sirius patted her back awkwardly. “I mean… there are smarter things you could’ve done than to be running into the forest but I don’t know if I’d say a bloody fool for it, just a bit… I dunno… thoughtless, perhaps…”

“I mean because of James.”

Sirius was quiet.

“He’s kissed Meg Johnson.”

“Yeah, he did do that.”

Lily clutched Sirius’s jumper in her fist. “She likes him, Sirius, but I never thought -- I mean, he’s always been so -- and I’m such an idiot, pushing him away, all this time, and… but I just want him to be safe -- don’t want to jinx him… and… and --” She shook her head, “I didn’t think it would hurt so much. I forgot how much it hurt seeing him with Maryrose last term and -- but at least Maryrose had him first, I felt… it was justified a little, you know - and Meg she’s only liked him since he’s been Quidditch Captain.”

Sirius didn’t know what to say. She was barely speaking English it seemed, every word was punctuated by gulps and gasps and he petted her awkwardly as she cried on, soaking his layers of jumpers.

“I’m terrible, Sirius,” Lily cried.

“You’re not terrible…”

“I am. I am because I don’t want him to be with anybody else.”

“Evans,” Sirius said solemnly, “I think… and this may just be a hunch, but… I think you may like James Potter.”

She shivered, “I can’t like James Potter.”

“I think you don’t really have much of a choice anymore, darling.”