Sirius and Remus were the two beaters and the keeper was an even larger boy than Singleton. He was well over six feet tall and was a mass of solid muscle. He was introduced as Albert Kilburn, a seventh year boy.
"Alright lads, fall in" Frank commanded. "We'll take it easy today and get rid of the cobwebs from the summer" he informed them. "Standard set up and let's see what Harry is made of" he added with a smirk. "First match is against Slytherin in October, so we need to be ready for the filthy bastards" he sighed.
"Who's their team this year?" James asked.
"Same as last" Frank responded. "The LeStrange's as beaters, Black, Avery and Mulciber chasing, Selwyn in goal and Rookwood as seeker" he explained. "Great" Sirius huffed irritably.
"Black?" Harry questioned.
"My Brother Regulus" Sirius grumbled bitterly. "I didn't know you had a brother" Harry stated in surprise.
"Family secret" Sirius returned with a smirk. "He's a prick any way, he's no brother of mine" he declared vehemently.
Harry just shook his head.
"Come on, up we go boy's, let's get on with it" Frank instructed.
The team spent a couple of hours in the air running standard drills while Harry chased the snitch around the pitch, catching it with ease on several occasions and impressing the rest of the team deeply in the process.
"Shit, you weren't joking about him" Frank exclaimed once they had landed and grouped together once more. "Where the hell did you learn to play like that?" he asked seriously. "I've never seen anything like it" he finished with a shake of his head.
Harry shrugged.
"I've always been comfortable on a broom" he deadpanned.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that we have no worries with the snitch this year, he is way out of everyone else's league by miles" Frank declared gleefully.
It wasn't long after that the practice ended and Harry and the rest made their way back up to the tower to relax for the rest of the evening and start putting some final touches on pranks they were planning.
"What about this one?" Sirius asked, pointing to one of the pranks they had been working on.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "I've said it more than a few times, that is not a prank, that is just being a bastard" he pointed out.
"Well the gits deserve it" Sirius grumbled.
"Look, if they do something bad enough to provoke it then that's fair enough, but targeting single people like that is just malicious, that's why people think you're just bullying" Harry replied knowingly.
"Well then you pick one that you approve of" Sirius challenged heatedly.
"Fine" Harry agreed and began leafing through the sheets of parchment. "How about this one?" he asked after a few moments.
"I like it, but who?" James inquired.
"The staff" Harry suggested with a grin. "Let's call it a practice run for Christmas, just without the hat".
"You're mental" Remus interjected. "No one gets hurt and it shows that you won't only target the Slytherin's" Harry shrugged. "I bet Dumbledore will find it amusing" he added.
"McGonagall will skin us alive" Sirius cut in, his eyes alight with amusement. "I'm in" he finished firmly.
"Definitely" James vowed.
"Why not" Peter shrugged.
"Damn" Remus whispered. "If this goes wrong you're taking the blame for this one" he informed Harry.
"Works for me" Harry returned with a chuckle.
(BREAK)
It was the following evening that found Peter making his way to the second floor to meet Rookwood so they could complete their Defense assignment for the week, though the boy couldn't see why he was bothering, especially if it turned out to be anything like it had the previous week.
He had arrived as instructed and Rookwood had simply told him to research the final two spells on the list and the pair completed the work in silence. It had only taken the duo around about an hour to finish and Rookwood had simply grunted his approval before leaving.
Peter sighed as he reached the designated classroom and entered, keen to just get it done so he could return to the tower.
"Same as last week" Rookwood instructed succinctly, his attention never wavering from the book he was buried in.
Peter just nodded and took his place. Perhaps it was better to do it this way and avoid the idle chit-chat. It had been years since the boys had spoken after all, so he took a seat and began working on his section of the spells. It was around half an hour into the session that he noticed that Rookwood was staring at him speculatively and Peter frowned at the boy.
"What is it Augustus?" he sighed impatiently.
"I'm just trying to work out how you ended up in Gryffindor" Rookwood replied curiously.
"Because that is where the hat put me" Peter shrugged.
"We both know you're a sniveling coward Peter" the other boy stated. "You hide behind Potter, Black and Lupin like a terrified puppy, there's nothing brave about that" he added disgustedly.
"They are my friends and we look out for each other" Peter returned heatedly.
Rookwood shook his head.
"They are your friends here, but what happens when you finish school?" he asked. "Do you actually think they will still want a mediocre lackey hanging on to them like a lost kitten?" he asked further.
.
.
.
👓☕️Consider supporting me and enhance your reading experience with the ready-to-read PDFs I have on my Ko-fi.☕️👓
🎯https://ko-fi.com/bstories🎯