Lion pride!

@petrificusstarter​

“Really?” Celia’s fast lit up, with Ganymede having an excited hop along as well. “That would be brilliant for him. And your owls name is Harmony.” Her eyes softened on the little one. “Go one then, Ganymede get acquainted with Harmony. You’ll have a little quest together.” The thought of delivering a letter to someone of importance was exciting, even to Celia. There was never a reason for her to write home and never really a reason for her parents to send her an owl. If they were to ever do such a thing, it would strike fear into her heart. Even she knew, that there were a few distinct subjects for them to discuss with her. Subjects she could gladly keep avoiding.

“How far along is it?” She asked the boy. “I’m definitely a little concerned about the distance. This one hasn’t flown for a long while in a long time and I don’t want him out of breath on the way. Sometimes I convince him to take a few laps around the castle, but it is much, much too sporadic.” Her tone evened out towards the end, more serious than she likened herself to be. “Not that he can’t do it of course. But I also like to know where he’s headed.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟGRINNING FROM EAR to ear, James knew that Harmony would very much appreciate having a flying companion, as she was a fairly social bird. A light laugh escaped his lips as he nodded. “Yeah, when she was young, she used to sing in tune with my mother’s music, so we named her Harmony. It was pretty cute, that I’ll admit.” As he watched the other owl move toward his own bird, he hoped that she could find herself a friend. After all, she’d been known to be a little too hyperactive sometimes. “She’ll take good care of him. She gets really protective,” he explained, finding himself feeling rather silly for basically having a conversation about a bird. 

“It’s about three to four hundred miles, but Harmony’s known for taking breaks. She’ll stop for water and to search for food and continue along her way,” James explained. Sometimes it seemed like it was rather far, but sometimes, it almost seemed a little too close. But he appreciated that at least they’d send him letters every now and then. 

“Oh I know, Ganymede.” Her petted the feathers of the little barn owl before holding out her opposite hand with a small treat for him. The little thing looked back to her as if to question if it was for him. “Go on then, take it. We’ve both been couped up in here a long time. I just don’t have any letters that need delivering, you know.” She offered the snack back to him only to be met with more resistance. “All right then…” She pocketed the few nibbles and rather pulled out a quill and ink with a small scrap of parchment paper. “I hope tomorrow is a brighter day…” She read her writing aloud to the small thing as she then promptly tied and left it in his small claw. “You can deliver that to the first person you see who seems to be down on their luck.”

“Don’t ask me who to bring it to. You can be creative about it. You are the one who is intent on finding something to do.” With a sigh, she pulled out the treat from her pocket once more. “Now will you please have a little something to eat before you go?” The mutual agreement between the pair seemed to be enough to get Ganymede to take a few nibbles from her hand. “No need to be so difficult about it. Now we are both happy.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟCLUTCHING THE LETTER to his parents in his hand, James headed up to the owlery. It’d been a while since he’d legitimately written a letter, but in his parents’ last one, they’d insisted, insisted that he update them on his life and quite frankly, he hadn’t expected to write so much. The envelope was thicker than usual, something James didn’t quite want anyone to see. Because oh goodness, that meant James Potter cared about something other than pranks and the lovely Lily. Humming to himself, he walked in, stopping at the entrance of the owlery, not wanting to interrupt the beautiful moment between the girl and her bird.

He couldn’t help but chuckle, highly amused before tilting his head to the side. That sounded beautiful and James found himself excited to see the reaction on a stranger’s face to that message. Yes, he probably wouldn’t, but that wasn’t stopping him from adoring the idea of it. As he walked in, heading toward his bird, he smiled. She was the daughter of her father’s owl and James adored her greatly. “That’s really sweet of you. You’re not only cheering up a random stranger, but cheering up your owl as well. If he really wants, he can fly with Harmony to deliver a letter to my parents,” he explained as he rubbed the head of the brown and white barn owl in front of him.

Marlene had spent sixteen years by James’ side. All she had to do was glance at him to be able to tell he was less than calm, even if he wasn’t outwardly showing it. At one point when Pomfrey was away getting things, she reached back and tapped his knee, getting his attention to give him a smile in an attempt to get him to think about something else, literally anything other than this. After Madame Pomfrey had finished and let her stay, Marlene adjusted her focus back to James. She moved over a little bit so he had more room, the bed feeling surprisingly nice for being in the infirmary, that or a pillow was just tempting. “And you’re one of my favorites too. I’m good Jamie, I promise.” She said softly, squeezing his hand back. As much as she didn’t want to ignore the game, she knew she was going to have to, he’d get mad if she didn’t.

Was everything okay? Yes, kind of. She was happy with Evan, she was doing well in school, nothing had happened with the girls, and she was doing well in quidditch. But things still bothered her, her fight with Rab definitely bothered her. Then she started thinking about Evan and Rabastan and if she had come in between their friendship. Then her friends disliking Evan, then her parents, then her brother. Marlene was most worried about her brother’s opinion, not ready in the slightest to hear him express his distaste. “Loaded question.” She laughed shortly, her eyes feeling misty. She didn’t want to unload on James, not without him saying it would be okay. Marlene looked at him, a weak smile pulling at her lips, “Or something, yeah.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟHIS FRIENDSHIP WITH Marlene was one that spanned so many years that the Quidditch captain couldn’t count and quite frankly, he never would put a number on it. She was incredibly important to him and that would never stop, so to see her like this, just hurt, from something he’d done, well, James’ heart broke into a million tiny pieces and he hated it. He hated that he’d done this, that he’d not checked on her before he let anyone throw the quaffle at her. Sitting there, he wanted to almost everything he could to make her feel better, but James knew there wasn’t anything that would heal her now, but rest. A soft whimper slipped through his lips at her words, knowing she really did mean them and James knew he should listen to her. “Okay, just let me take care of you for a few days, okay?”

If he had to treat her like a kid and bring her candies, books and any other fun things she wanted while she healed, he would. Because Marlene was James’ favorite friend that was a girl, because girl friend just didn’t sound right. But in that moment, the messy haired Gryffindor knew something was wrong, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He wanted her to tell him, but he knew he couldn’t force it out of her until she was ready. Raising his eyebrows, he got comfy on the seat and put his legs up, sitting criss-cross applesauce and placed his hands in his lap. “Loaded question. We’ve got time. You’re not going anywhere until you heal. You might as well tell me.”

emmeline had just finished rounds – it had been a relatively quiet night, maybe a little incident with peeves and a few third years, but nothing out of the ordinary. it was to be expected and now with it all wrapped up, the girl was feeling a bit peckish. she had a horrible habit of snacking - never eating to her hearts content at dinner, she was often found in the kitchens snacking. right now – her most recent obsession was scones and tea, the girl had shooed the sweet elves away, she wasn’t too much of a brat to keep them out of beds and waiting on her, she could take care of herself is what she had said. 

what she hadn’t expected for was company, “oh hello–” she muttered, mouthful of scone as she gripped onto her mug tightly, sheepish smile toying at her lips as she flushed an unmistakeable shade of pink, “i wish i could say that it’s not what it looks like, but unfortunately – i’m a bit of a hypocrite”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟTHE MESSY HAIRED Gryffindor had a bit of a problem when it came to snacking. He’d eat a full whole meal then an hour later be ready for a whole other meal or snack. How the boy managed to stay so skinny, who knew! James skipped down to the kitchens, humming to himself, trying to decide what he wanted to eat. There were so many options! As he walked inside the kitchens, after tickling the pear, he honestly hadn’t expected anyone else to have the same thought he did, especially because they’d just eaten. 

Tilting his head to the side, James couldn’t help but cackle. “A girl after my own heart. If I’m not greeted by someone with a scone in their mouth every time I walk into this kitchen, I’m not coming in here anymore,” he stated, walking towards her. “Got anymore of those?”

it was well known how vastly underestimated the hufflepuff quidditch team was, but reginald was not yet tired of hearing about it. it only served to fuel him further, spurring him to work harder. “ this is my first year as captain. the pressure’s on, ” he grins, “ so i’ll take anything i can get. ” reg had always learned by observation, the hufflepuffs captains before him his biggest influences. james potter was known for his passion for quidditch, and reginald would be damned if he wasn’t going to take advantage of that. 

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟWHILE JAMES KNEW that sharing tactics with another team captain wasn’t really the best idea, he honestly didn’t mind, because he needed new ideas and knew that the other captain probably did as well. And there was nothing wrong with a little bit of practice. “Sounds perfect. I’ve got time now if you’d like to head out there?” James asked, a small smile growing across his face. He really just wanted an excuse to get back out on the pitch, no matter who it was with. 

WHEN HE TRIED to wipe her tears, Marlene gave him a tiny smile, one that she hoped read out gratitude. She didn’t want him to feel like this was his fault, there was no one except herself that could really be held responsible for it. She watched his face as he picked her up, observing the way he twisted his features to keep from crying. “James look at me,” Marlene coaxed softly, “I’m okay.” The last thing she wanted was for him to be worried about her, it wouldn’t be fair to him. But she didn’t argue as he walked, instead resting her head against his shoulder and trying to ask him about what practice should’ve been if she hadn’t gotten hurt. Madame Pomfrey tsked at the dramatics, but allowed her to sit up on some bed while she looked at her arm and checked the rest of her over while she recounted the accident, even convincing her to let her stay longer than she really needed for the potion to fix her arm. 

After she left, Marlene laid back onto the pillow with a loud sigh, looking over at James after a moment. “I’m sorry, by the way. I know we have a game coming up.” She tried to brighten his mood by giving his arm a squeeze. He had no idea how much it meant to her that he hadn’t just dumped her and left, giving her the chance to maybe finally talk to someone about what’s been going on and what exactly kept her up so late. She wasn’t just going to dump it on him, if he asked she’d be honest, but first she wanted to make sure he wasn’t carrying any guilt over this. “I just wasn’t thinking clearly and stayed up really late last night, I should’ve just told you.” 

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟHIS CHEST MOVED up and down in panic mode, no matter what she said. If only he’d been keeping a better eye on her, she wouldn’t have fallen and he would’ve been able to catch her. But James felt like the worst captain in the world, just absolutely awful. Why hadn’t he flown down faster to catch her? Wasn’t he supposed to be this great flier? He couldn’t even catch his teammate as she fell from her broom. As he carried her into the hospital wing, he tried his best to show her that he wasn’t really freaking out. “You really better be, I swear,” James responded as they finally laid her down on one of the beds. Madame Pomfrey did what she had to do and James stood there, trying his best not to panic and hyperventilate. It just really wasn’t working very well at all. 

Shaking his head, he sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand in his, squeezing it. “Don’t you worry about the game right now. You just need to get better. I need you to be okay. You’re one of my favorite people, Marlene,” James explained, sighing softly. He would quite honestly do anything for her, that much he knew. Shifting, he tilted his head to the side, he looked at her and only sighed. James was notorious for not sleeping properly, especially on nights he’d scheduled Quidditch practice. “Why? Is everything okay? Do we need to have a serious heart to heart or something?”

she knew this was frustrating for him. one, because it was obvious, but also because doe knew james and she knew lily. it was an interesting place to be but it gave her insights that could help. hopefully. “look, you don’t want to come across too strong and lily doesn’t like it when someone makes a scene that involves her. trust me, all of that would be a scene.” dorcas looked past him out one of the windows overlooking the grounds as she thought about an alternative. “best bet. meet her in the entrance hall, give her a rose - but be subtle. then go for a walk and get to know each other or go to hogsmeade and get a drink. try and keep things casual right now.” dorcas didn’t want to say it but it was hard to ignore the biggest piece of information. “she’s still figuring out if she even likes you, don’t scare her away because i know she will.” doe had come around and she knew lily would too.

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟJAMES KNEW DORCAS was right, and knew she was one of the best people to ask about impressing Lily. He’d dreamt of doing all of these extravagant things to impress her and show her how much he liked her, but perhaps it would really just ruin everything. Lily wasn’t sure if she actually liked him just yet, and that was something he most definitely had to be careful with. Sighing, he laid there, looking quite ridiculous in fact. “That sounds really beautiful. Are you sure it’ll work?” James asked, tilting his head to the side to look over at her. He really did want to impress the beautiful redhead, no matter what he had to do. But he knew he was getting a little too intense lately. 

nodding his head nonchalantly as james speaks, reg can’t help the single chuckle that slips from his lips. “ alright, mate. but i won’t forget that party foul any time soon. ” he points a finger at the gryffindor, a half-hearted intimidation technique. he sighs lightly at the mention of the bludgers –– a source of anxiety for all quidditch players, but especially the four team captains. amongst the extra responsibilities that came with the title was a responsibility to the health and well-being of the players on your team, and when there were quite literally cannonballs whizzing about the pitch with the sole intention of knocking you from your broom to fall hundreds of feet to the ground, that was easier said than done. “ i always preach diligence. and role delegation. if everybody’s concentrating on their own job, it’s easier to look out for yourself. ”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟSCRUNCHING UP HIS nose, James stuck his tongue out at Reginald, fully knowing he wouldn’t ever live it down. But he didn’t really care, because in that moment, it was a great moment. “Don’t plan on it. If it makes you more inclined to try and beat us, then by all means, hold it against me,” the messy haired Gryffindor stated, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. He knew he played dirty on occasion, but he couldn’t help it. It was just that James was passionate about his love for Quidditch. Listening to Reginald, he nodded along with him, knowing it was true. If your team was diligent and everyone concentrated on their job, the game would end very well. “You’re not wrong. Did you need another help? Perhaps we could swap drills, I think my team’s getting bored of mine.”

         “SCHOOL?” HE ASKED, as his face faded momentarily. “You mean you were actually studying?” he asked, looking around. His face scrunched in confusion, but he quickly shrugged it off. As soon as James finished his thought, Sirius’s smile had reappeared. “That’s more like it,” he beamed, punching his leg lightly. “Well there’s always my go-to list, but I was thinking we should try something a bit different tonight. Possibly do something that would last the whole weekend,” he smirked.

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟCLEARING HIS THROAT James quickly pushed his books into his bag, trying to hide any evidence that he actually cared about school. He really didn’t want his friends to know, especially Sirius. Because why would you want your best friends, who were massive fans of pranks now that you were secretly a nerd? You wouldn’t. Standing up quickly, he slung his bag over his chest. Wiping off his back, from sitting on the grass, he allowed a smirk to grow across his face. “Slughorn said my potion wasn’t pretty yesterday, I say we do something to him. He’s fun to prank. Could we perhaps give him an abnormal body part that he wouldn’t notice right off the bat?”

SHE HAD SORTA MANAGED TO grab a hold of her broom, the scrambling she did a weak attempt being made to straighten out before she reached the fast approaching ground, but in her panic, it was hardly successful. The funny thing about this was, Marlene wasn’t actually aware she was screaming on the way down, the sound just kinda came out. The not funny thing, as a reflex, she stuck her hands out to break her fall. One of them nicely slid under her face as she turned her head to the side, but as soon as the other hit the ground, a sharp, shooting pain traveled up her arm with an accompanied snap. 

She laid still on the ground, regathering her surroundings and going through her mental checklist of things she could feel and where there was pain. It wasn’t exactly helpful, considering a little bit of everything hurt. After she could kind of gather her bearings, Marlene flipped over onto her back, knees bent up, the arm she was sure that was injured resting on her stomach now. The breaths she was taking were shaky, a few tears sliding down the corners of her eyes. James voice broke her from the stunned silence, a startled sob leaving her as she turned her head to face him. The only thing she did in an attempt to reassure him she was mostly okay was reach her hand out to grab his once he was by her side. “James I—” The two words were all Marlene could manage before her mind drew a blank, thinking again about how she had just fell and back to the pain in her arm. That’s when she realized she should probably go see Madam Pomfrey and have her look at it, because she really didn’t want to look down. “My arm.” Marlene laughed through her tears, hoping that he’d get the picture.

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟJAMES’ HEART SANK into his stomach as he watched her fall, his entire body feeling nothing but pain. He’d watch her miss the ball, it hitting her, knocking her off her broom and he couldn’t believe his eyes. No matter how fast he flew, he couldn’t get to her in time. She lay there, on the ground, in pain and all James wanted to do was cry. He was a terrible captain. How could he have let her fall like that? Why didn’t he catch her in time? Why didn’t he check and make sure she was alright before he sent her up into the sky? As he sat there, next to her, his eyes went straight to her tears, hating himself for what happened. 

His gaze move down to her arm, clearly seeing what happened. You could see the bruise and feel the pain, just knowing she couldn’t look at it. James reached forward and wiped a tear from her eye, hoping that for a split second, he could make her smile enough that he wouldn’t feel so awful. “Marlene, I’m so sorry. I should’ve been watching. I should’ve known you weren’t awake enough to practice. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault,” he explained, his voice cracking as he spoke to her. They couldn’t stay here forever. He had to get her to Madame Pomfrey. Carefully, he leaned over and placed one of his arms underneath her back, “I need you to stay as still as possible, okay? Rest your arm over your chest and try and keep it there, I’m going to take you to the hospital wing.” James lifted her up, clenching his eyes shut, trying not to cry. He couldn’t believe what happened. As he walked to the hospital wing, he tried his best to keep his eyes on Marlene, praying she was alright. Once he walked in, he looked down at her and gave her a small smile. “I’m staying right here with you until you’re better, okay?”

dorcas remembered all too well how much insomnia affected james, they all had seen their share of it first hand. “you say that like losing sleep is normal.” she listened closely to his whole plan and she didn’t doubt that he’d probably thought of a hundred more before landing on this one. and it was…not good. “james, look at me. i’m telling you this because i care and i want this to work for you,” she reached out again, placing a hand on his wrist, making sure his eyes were on hers before continuing. “do not do that. any of that. no. if a giant teddy bear goes anywhere near lily, so help me merlin, i will turn you into one.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟJAMES SHRUGGED HIS shoulders, finding himself unable to come up with a comeback, because it was exactly that, it was normal. At this point, he was so used to his crazy wacky sleep schedule that it didn’t really even phase him. “It is, that’s known by now. It’s why coffee was invented, it’s fine, really,” he explained, picking at his fingernails, looking down at his lap, unaware of what he could really do at this point. Changing it wouldn’t be easy. Hearing her voice, and hearing her ask him to look at her, James sighed. He’d heard that many times over the last year or so. Lifting his head, he looked directly at her, his face dropping. The mop headed boy groaned and let his head fall back and he threw his hands up in the air, whining like a little kid. “Well damn, then what do I do? I’ve got to do something. It’s all really critical right now, Doe.”

          FOR A FRIDAY, Sirius felt as if there wasn’t much to do. That needed to change as soon as humanly possible. The gears were already turning in his head as to what he wanted to entertain himself with, but he desperately needed a partner in crime. After all, any plan was more fun with more people. Walking around the castle, the young man finally found someone he thought would be up for a bit of fun. Sitting down across from his target, Sirius simply smiled. “Hey,” he beamed with his infamous mischievous grin.

@petrificusstarter​

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟON A PARTICULARLY sunny afternoon, James found himself sitting out in the grass, in the middle of the courtyard with his textbooks all around him. He’d been trying to write this essay for days and couldn’t find the strength to actually do it. But finally with a little sunshine, he began. Just as he finished his last sentence, and his hand started to cramp up, he saw none other than his best friend sit down across from him, that famous Sirius Black grin on his face. “You have perfect timing, Pads. I think my brain just exploded from school. Please tell me you’ve got a plan or at least an idea of what mayhem we’re gonna cause. I need to use my brain for something good.”

“at all?” dorcas’s amusement turned more into concern as he spoke. “james, that’s not good if you haven’t been sleeping.” she didn’t mean to, but it wasn’t hard to immediately fall into some kind of mom mode with him. she’d seen it before but as soon as it all came out that this was because of lily, doe’s smile returned along with a reassuring hand on top of his. “i think if she hasn’t realized how insane you are by now, that’s on her.” she laughed softly, taking her hand back to lean her chin on the palm of her hand with her elbow on the table. “what, exactly, are you planning? i know how over-the-top you can be and the way you’re talking…even i’m a little scared.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟFIDDLING WITH THE sleeves of his sweatshirt, he shrugged his shoulders. At this point, he’d gotten used to his insomnia, used to the lack of sleeping which usually was because of Quidditch, but this time, it was because of that beautiful redhead that he couldn’t get his mind off. “It’s been a while though. When Quidditch matches roll around, I don’t sleep much either,” he explained, shrugging yet again. He knew he should’ve rested more and should’ve made sure everything was perfect before panicking, but it wasn’t working very well. “I’m just running out of ideas. Well, I want to have twelve people give her a rose that’ll lead her to me, where I’ll be standing with an extravagant picnic and a giant teddy bear,” James explained, sighing as he imagined what the picnic would look like.

“he showed me that he cared about me, that he saw past my family and my mistakes. he  proved that he wanted me for me, and he takes care of me. not that i think i need to be taken care of, but it’s nice to have someone want to take care of me, you know? he’s just a sweet guy that i’m very happy to be with.”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟTILTING HIS HEAD to the side, James listened to her speak, hoping it wasn’t going to be something insanely cheesy and romantic, because he really didn’t want to hear anything sappy from a Slytherin. It would probably be disgusting. “Oh dear. We’re going sappy. You know what, sure, have your sappy and happy life. Just know that nothing can be perfect all the time, alright?” he stated, scrunching up his nose, really not enjoying hearing this, at all. Pursing his lips, James looked her up and down, “I do have a question though. Who did you manage to acquire, Miss Selwyn?I”

Theseus returned the smirk, arms crossing over his chest as he thought. He had to think for a moment, he had his eyes on a few different girls - as always, each coming with their own pros and cons. Mary was off the list, he knew if he was going to get her back ever, he had to be careful. “How bad is it to go after someone who just went through a break up? Too easy?”

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟRAISING HIS EYEBROWS, James looked at Theseus for a moment, trying to wrap his head around that comment. He’d definitely thought about it before, definitely wondered if it was too sleazy, but to answer his question, no, not necessarily. “That depends on how you do it, mate. You can’t be too cocky or forward about it. And how bad was the break up? That’s important to know,” he explained. James liked to think he knew quite a bit about women and how to get them, but he wasn’t always successful. But he did have quite a bit of good advice. 

the way reg saw it, he and james could share strategies until they were blue in the face and it still wouldn’t affect much on match day. when three out of four of the balls involved in the game had minds of their own ––– strategy could only take you so far. “ more successful than usual, potter? ” he raises his eyebrows, ears really only collecting the subtle dig at the end of james’ sentence. of course he wasn’t actually offended, but it stung a little nonetheless.

━☆ﾟ.*·。ﾟCACKLING AS HE shrugged his shoulders, he tried to throw off the comment like it was no big deal. He had to tease the other teams every once in a while, didn’t he? It was all just friendly fun. James knew he was a good captain, but he knew the other teams were good as well and subconsciously he was hoping he could psyche the other team out. “Hey, I’ve got to tease you a little bit, right? Where’s the fun in Quidditch if I can attempt to psyche you out?” James asked, plopping down next to him, getting comfortable. He did want to share some other ideas about strategies, ways to avoid bludgers, but they’d get to that. “Besides, I’m sure we can help each other out and avoid any serious injuries from those bludgers.”