(no subject)
Title: Licorice Sticks and Aniseed Balls
Chapter Title: Not Quite the Straight and Narrow
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine
Pairings: Harry/James, Lily/James
Chapter Summary: Sirius is angry and Harry is spiteful. James is upset and Harry is gay.
Author's Notes: Post-practice scene inspired a cookie from the SS Expelliarmus Cookie Jar (Harry/Zacharias) at SCUSA - it was by Nightrunner. Also, you may notice that I have given in to the make-Harry-seeker section - hope you like!
Previous Chapter
Chapter 12: Not Quite the Straight and Narrow
Upon his entry to the common room, Remus had been promptly cornered by his three best friends, who wanted to enquire after his wellbeing. They received the standard response - a smile, and a quiet assurance that he was fine, now that he was out from under Madam Pomfrey’s all-too-watchful eye.
Sirius, James and Peter all laughed, but that was when something rather less ordinary occurred.
Remus went silent for a moment, and then blurted out, ‘Blackmoon came to see me. While I was recovering, that is.’
Their laughter died, leaving an ominous silence in the wake of his declaration. James went pale. Peter started fidgeting. Sirius looked almost feral.
‘How- how could he have been able to see you?’ James asked, flabbergasted. ‘How did he get past Madam Pomfrey?’
‘This means he knows, right?’ Peter’s voice was quiet and horrified. ‘I- I…-’ he shook his head, clearing it. ‘What did he say, Moony?’
Remus opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short when Sirius stood up suddenly. Remus frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, but received no answer: Sirius had already stormed out of the room.
‘Oi! Blackmoon!’
Harry turned around, wiping his still-damp hands on his robes. He stared blankly for a moment, taking in Sirius’ furious expression with no small amount of confusion.
‘What did I do this time?’ he asked eventually - Sirius, if possible, looked even more enraged when he heard it.
‘What do you want?’ he demanded. ‘From Remus, that is.’
Harry blinked, and then blinked again. Sirius, he thought, doesn’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt. And then- Why is he asking me this, anyway? Didn’t Lupin tell him that I was okay with everything?
‘I want to be his friend,’ Harry answered simply, and then made to leave the bathroom - Sirius, snarling, grabbed his arm, halting him before he could take a step.
‘You so much as touch him and you’re dead, Blackmoon - I don’t care about consequences.’
Wrenching his arm out of the older boy’s grip, Harry replied, ‘You’re not doing him any favours, behaving like this. If I hadn’t completely meant it when I told Lupin that I meant him no harm, then I would have been tempted to test that promise of yours.’
There was silence for a moment, and when Harry looked around, Sirius’ head was slightly slumped, his arms hanging limply at his sides. ‘You really mean it?’ he asked, and Harry’s eyes widened when he realised that Sirius’ voice was hoarse. ‘That you won’t hurt him?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Harry said, nodding, though Sirius couldn’t see the movement. ‘I want to be his friend. But the real question is, do you trust me enough to let me try?’
Sirius shrugged, still scowling at his feet. ‘Do what you want,’ he said, before leaving the room.
By the time Greene escaped from his talk with James, he was practically spitting with rage. The first half of the practice session had gone just as expected - dismally, and more than a little of that was due to the seeker.
‘Need to get your eyes checked, Greene?’ Sirius jibed, not bothering to hide the large smirk on his face. ‘Why don’t you go to Fleming? She’ll fix it for you.’
Greene just glared. ‘Thanks but no thanks, Black,’ he said tersely, ‘I’d actually rather not go blind, if it’s all the same to you.’
Sirius snickered into his palm, just as Harry spoke up. ‘He has a point, you know - I saw that snitch almost 10 minutes before you did.’
The fourth-year rounded on Harry with a snarl. ‘You were on the ground - it’s much easier to see from there.’
‘Actually,’ Harry stated simply. ‘as long as you’re not in the clouds (which you weren’t), then it’s easier to find the snitch from the air - why do you think Potter always makes you circle so high?’
‘FINE!’ Greene screamed, red in the face. ‘WE’LL GAME-DUEL! AFTER PRACTICE!’
He stormed out of the locker-room dramatically - or tried to, at least: he was blocked in the doorway by James, who had probably been drawn to the noise in much the same way that a moth was drawn to an open flame. It was a good thing, Harry noted absently, that this flame didn’t burn.
Sirius, gaping slightly, managed to stutter out, ‘Hey, Greene - I don’t think Blackmoon was trying to challenge you.’
James’ eyes glinted with amusement, as he began to puzzle out the situation. ‘Or,’ he added softly, ‘are you challenging Blackmoon, for his… substitute beater position?’
‘BE THERE!’ Greene yelled - presumably at Harry - before pushing angrily past James, and heading out to the pitch.
There was a long silence between the remaining team-members, and Harry looked over at Alice, who was trembling slightly. ‘Are you okay?’ he whispered to her in concern, only to be taken aback when she burst into giggles.
‘That idiot,’ she said. ‘He won’t know what hit him.’ Calming down, and meeting Harry’s eyes, she added, ‘Game-duels are competitions between team-members, to see if someone else is better suited for a position. The name is stupid, I know - Potter came up with it in fifth-year.’
James scowled at the two of them, and the rest of the team laughed - Greene was forgotten, for the time-being.
It seemed almost as if Harry was the only one unsurprised by James’ request to talk to him after practice. Alice frowned, before marching away to walk back to the castle with Lily, who had come down to the pitch with Lupin, at Sirius’ urging, in order to see the game-duel between Harry and Greene.
James, leaning against the bottom of the Gryffindor stands, alternated between staring at Lily, and staring at Harry, before Harry actually decided to approach him. ‘Congratulations on making seeker,’ he forced out, looking torn between glee at the idea of finally getting a decent player in the position, and resentment, simply because he and Harry had never managed to get along.
All that Harry offered in return for his words was a single, completely fake smile.
Neither of them spoke for a while, and James’ head shot around to look at Lily and Alice again - they had their backs turned, and their heads together, giggling over something-or-other that Harry decided that he probably wouldn’t understand, even had he known what it was.
‘Stay away from her,’ James said eventually. ‘Stay away from my girlfriend. I put too much effort into this relationship to let you ruin it now.’
Harry blinked in surprise - many theories had run through his mind about what James wanted to talk about, but this certainly hadn’t been one of them.
‘Potter,’ he said after a moment of consideration.
James’ eyes narrowed. ‘What?’ he snapped.
Harry paused for a moment, before grabbing the front of James’ school jumper in his fist, and pressing the older boy’s lips against his own. ‘I’m gay,’ he stated, and then walked away from his flabbergasted captain, the taste of licorice still lingering in his mouth.
Next Chapter
Chapter Title: Not Quite the Straight and Narrow
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine
Pairings: Harry/James, Lily/James
Chapter Summary: Sirius is angry and Harry is spiteful. James is upset and Harry is gay.
Author's Notes: Post-practice scene inspired a cookie from the SS Expelliarmus Cookie Jar (Harry/Zacharias) at SCUSA - it was by Nightrunner. Also, you may notice that I have given in to the make-Harry-seeker section - hope you like!
Previous Chapter
Chapter 12: Not Quite the Straight and Narrow
Upon his entry to the common room, Remus had been promptly cornered by his three best friends, who wanted to enquire after his wellbeing. They received the standard response - a smile, and a quiet assurance that he was fine, now that he was out from under Madam Pomfrey’s all-too-watchful eye.
Sirius, James and Peter all laughed, but that was when something rather less ordinary occurred.
Remus went silent for a moment, and then blurted out, ‘Blackmoon came to see me. While I was recovering, that is.’
Their laughter died, leaving an ominous silence in the wake of his declaration. James went pale. Peter started fidgeting. Sirius looked almost feral.
‘How- how could he have been able to see you?’ James asked, flabbergasted. ‘How did he get past Madam Pomfrey?’
‘This means he knows, right?’ Peter’s voice was quiet and horrified. ‘I- I…-’ he shook his head, clearing it. ‘What did he say, Moony?’
Remus opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short when Sirius stood up suddenly. Remus frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, but received no answer: Sirius had already stormed out of the room.
‘Oi! Blackmoon!’
Harry turned around, wiping his still-damp hands on his robes. He stared blankly for a moment, taking in Sirius’ furious expression with no small amount of confusion.
‘What did I do this time?’ he asked eventually - Sirius, if possible, looked even more enraged when he heard it.
‘What do you want?’ he demanded. ‘From Remus, that is.’
Harry blinked, and then blinked again. Sirius, he thought, doesn’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt. And then- Why is he asking me this, anyway? Didn’t Lupin tell him that I was okay with everything?
‘I want to be his friend,’ Harry answered simply, and then made to leave the bathroom - Sirius, snarling, grabbed his arm, halting him before he could take a step.
‘You so much as touch him and you’re dead, Blackmoon - I don’t care about consequences.’
Wrenching his arm out of the older boy’s grip, Harry replied, ‘You’re not doing him any favours, behaving like this. If I hadn’t completely meant it when I told Lupin that I meant him no harm, then I would have been tempted to test that promise of yours.’
There was silence for a moment, and when Harry looked around, Sirius’ head was slightly slumped, his arms hanging limply at his sides. ‘You really mean it?’ he asked, and Harry’s eyes widened when he realised that Sirius’ voice was hoarse. ‘That you won’t hurt him?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Harry said, nodding, though Sirius couldn’t see the movement. ‘I want to be his friend. But the real question is, do you trust me enough to let me try?’
Sirius shrugged, still scowling at his feet. ‘Do what you want,’ he said, before leaving the room.
By the time Greene escaped from his talk with James, he was practically spitting with rage. The first half of the practice session had gone just as expected - dismally, and more than a little of that was due to the seeker.
‘Need to get your eyes checked, Greene?’ Sirius jibed, not bothering to hide the large smirk on his face. ‘Why don’t you go to Fleming? She’ll fix it for you.’
Greene just glared. ‘Thanks but no thanks, Black,’ he said tersely, ‘I’d actually rather not go blind, if it’s all the same to you.’
Sirius snickered into his palm, just as Harry spoke up. ‘He has a point, you know - I saw that snitch almost 10 minutes before you did.’
The fourth-year rounded on Harry with a snarl. ‘You were on the ground - it’s much easier to see from there.’
‘Actually,’ Harry stated simply. ‘as long as you’re not in the clouds (which you weren’t), then it’s easier to find the snitch from the air - why do you think Potter always makes you circle so high?’
‘FINE!’ Greene screamed, red in the face. ‘WE’LL GAME-DUEL! AFTER PRACTICE!’
He stormed out of the locker-room dramatically - or tried to, at least: he was blocked in the doorway by James, who had probably been drawn to the noise in much the same way that a moth was drawn to an open flame. It was a good thing, Harry noted absently, that this flame didn’t burn.
Sirius, gaping slightly, managed to stutter out, ‘Hey, Greene - I don’t think Blackmoon was trying to challenge you.’
James’ eyes glinted with amusement, as he began to puzzle out the situation. ‘Or,’ he added softly, ‘are you challenging Blackmoon, for his… substitute beater position?’
‘BE THERE!’ Greene yelled - presumably at Harry - before pushing angrily past James, and heading out to the pitch.
There was a long silence between the remaining team-members, and Harry looked over at Alice, who was trembling slightly. ‘Are you okay?’ he whispered to her in concern, only to be taken aback when she burst into giggles.
‘That idiot,’ she said. ‘He won’t know what hit him.’ Calming down, and meeting Harry’s eyes, she added, ‘Game-duels are competitions between team-members, to see if someone else is better suited for a position. The name is stupid, I know - Potter came up with it in fifth-year.’
James scowled at the two of them, and the rest of the team laughed - Greene was forgotten, for the time-being.
It seemed almost as if Harry was the only one unsurprised by James’ request to talk to him after practice. Alice frowned, before marching away to walk back to the castle with Lily, who had come down to the pitch with Lupin, at Sirius’ urging, in order to see the game-duel between Harry and Greene.
James, leaning against the bottom of the Gryffindor stands, alternated between staring at Lily, and staring at Harry, before Harry actually decided to approach him. ‘Congratulations on making seeker,’ he forced out, looking torn between glee at the idea of finally getting a decent player in the position, and resentment, simply because he and Harry had never managed to get along.
All that Harry offered in return for his words was a single, completely fake smile.
Neither of them spoke for a while, and James’ head shot around to look at Lily and Alice again - they had their backs turned, and their heads together, giggling over something-or-other that Harry decided that he probably wouldn’t understand, even had he known what it was.
‘Stay away from her,’ James said eventually. ‘Stay away from my girlfriend. I put too much effort into this relationship to let you ruin it now.’
Harry blinked in surprise - many theories had run through his mind about what James wanted to talk about, but this certainly hadn’t been one of them.
‘Potter,’ he said after a moment of consideration.
James’ eyes narrowed. ‘What?’ he snapped.
Harry paused for a moment, before grabbing the front of James’ school jumper in his fist, and pressing the older boy’s lips against his own. ‘I’m gay,’ he stated, and then walked away from his flabbergasted captain, the taste of licorice still lingering in his mouth.
Next Chapter