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[Football Match]
winningcaptain: james and i’s rematch football game tonight in the courtyard !!
winngcaptain: @6pm, losing team (james’) buys winning team (mine) dinner !!
—— ☾ ——
Remus Lupin did not do sports. He’d blame his asthma for all eternity, but in reality it was simply because he was horrendously uncoordinated. He was sure if he went for the ball, which he wouldn’t, that he would completely miss and ultimately fall on his arse. Now, these people were his best friends but he still couldn’t suffer that utter embarrassment. So Lily’s cheerful text telling him that his presence at the pitch was required just about ruined his day.
That was until Sirius had texted with the promise of being on the same team and Remus threw out all his usual standards. Now he stood awkwardly on their makeshift football field in the only pair of athletic shorts he owned and James’ special borrowed trainors trying not to stare at Sirius’ legs in his own shorts. Friends didn’t do that. But good god was he pretty like this.
“Hey! Earth to Remus!” A voice belonging to James broke through his stupor, bringing him back to the reality of the game. Just in time to protect his face from the flying ball by squealing in the worst manner and ducking below it. “Focus, kid!”
“I’m older than you!” He shouted back, shaking his head at the dramatics of the whole thing. Sirius came racing past, patting him on the shoulder as he did so. Remus tried not to blush at the reminder that he was here. This whole thing was a trainwreck, in his humble opinion.
He watched as the two boys dribbled the ball down the field, effortlessly communicating without a word. Mary jogged up to him from her position in the goal. “What’s the point of us being here if they’re unstoppable together?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted with a shrug, watching intently as Dorcas and Lily both went to guard one of the boys. “Did Sirius play?”
“Yeah, he was really good too. Could have gotten a scholarship for it but he broke his ankle pretty bad right before year twelve’s season. He plays club here sometimes, though.”
Remus turned to her in surprise, looking down at her much smaller frame with wide eyes. “I find that I hardly know these people every day.”
“Don’t sweat it, you’ll learn soon enough. Aw shit!” Mary exclaimed, sprinting back to the goal as Lily blocked James’ shot attempt and took off back down the field with the ball.
An ex-football star too. What else was Sirius hiding?
—— ❂ ——
James would admit that in his original game against Lily, he’d started off going a little easy at first. He didn’t know how much ‘she played when she was younger’ would transfer and he wanted her to like him so he wasn’t going to be an arsehole about winning. That idea was quickly thrown out the window when she made it extremely clear that she was good.
Today, he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He was out to win, no matter what. They’d been playing for twenty minutes by the time he even had a chance at a goal. Sirius and he dribbled it down the pitch quickly and James was grinning uncontrollably with the look of joy that lit his best friend's face. They used to play together all the time and just like old times, they fell into the same pattern that had proven deadly against the best boys in highschool.
Finally, everything went into slow motion as it always did right before he kicked a goal. From the corner of his eye, James saw Dorcas try to intercept Sirius’ pass to him and miss. He didn’t waste any time stopping the ball after the pass, just followed through with the momentum and shot it toward Peter, who was all but cowering in the goal.
James, however, had not seen Lily running up behind him until it was too late. She stopped the shot with her shin, hardly flinching before she was tearing off down the field toward Mary. “-the fuck?” he mumbled to himself, watching her ponytail swish as she ran before Sirius was in front of him, waving his hands rapidly.
“Come on, you gonna let Lils beat you again ?”
Oh, fuck no.
—— ❀ ——
Lily was hellbent on winning another game and putting James in his place. That didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the way his hair fell in his eyes with sweat and the way his calves flexed every time he kicked. She was the queen of multitasking, after all.
Playing again had her wishing she never quit, especially when she stole the ball straight from James’ glory winning kick. She ran down the field, unopposed as Remus (bless his heart) wasn’t really participating and the other two boys were far behind her. It was almost not fair.
Oh well!
Without hesitation, Lily Evans kicked the ball toward the corner of the goal, much too far for poor Mary to stop it in time. It bounced off the pole and into the net, and her team went wild.
“EVANS! EVANS! EVANS!” Marlene was cheering from across the field as Dorcas came running over. “Fuck yeah, that’s my girl!” Even Remus and James were cheering, screaming her name over and over again as Dorcas and Marlene engulfed her in a hug that was more a collision than one of affection.
“That’s how it’s done, Potter!” Lily called, jogging up to the boy and standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. “Care to admit defeat yet?”
James offered her a high five in return which she gladly accepted, pointedly ignoring the butterflies that erupted in her stomach at the action. He bent down to get closer to her, a grin painted across his shining face. “Never. Get your wallet ready, Evans. You’re gonna need it after we win.”
“A’ight, boys! And Mary- sorry! I’m sorry, it’s a habit!” James gestured for his team to gather in a huddle and Lily turned her back from the beautiful sight of captain James to pull her own into a group.
“Okay, okay. We need a game plan. Marlene, girl, I need you to do something. Standing and looking smoking hot is a full time job, I know, but unless you want to lose to those idiots and your lovely roomie, you’re going to have to start pulling your weight.”
Marlene groaned, but she had a smile on her face regardless. “Aye, aye, captain Lillith.”
“Dorcas, amazing babe. Almost had the ball there but you provided the perfect distraction regardless. Peter, you’re doing great. Hardly needed because we’re too good to let them close, but I’m proud. Okay! Ready, set, break.” With that, she jogged back into place, facing off against James Potter himself.
“I can’t wait to see the look on your face when-” she was cut off by Sirius stealing the ball from Marlene and taking off down the pitch. So much for her pep talk.
—— ✰ ——
Sirius was having a very hard time remembering to focus on the actual game. What with Remus standing there looking all ‘lost Greek god’. There was part of him that couldn’t help but cling to the fact that Rem was only playing because he had convinced him. That had to mean something, didn’t it?
But he couldn’t dwell on such things right now. Not while he had to carry his entire team, James’ resolve having been lost to flirting after Lily’s goal. Right now he had to steal that ball.
Marlene had it, but she was dribbling alone which made for an easy steal. He took it quickly, tearing off down the field and flying past an oblivious James and Lily, still flirting though they’d both be sure to deny it. Peter was screaming for backup, his voice so high pitched in fear that Sirius giggled to himself as he ran. He wasn’t focused on that though.
He was focused on the ball moving across the grass; he was focused on crossing Dorcas so abruptly that he made them trip over herself, falling into Marlene’s arms, which he was sure was by design. But most importantly, he was focused on Remus’ voice screaming for him across the field. Sirius would never dare look back but he could certainly imagine the look on the boy’s face. Cheering. For him . A dream.
It was the calling his name that ultimately led to him kicking the ball over Peter’s head in a beautiful arc that rolled to the back of the net. His teammates exploded and Sirius playfully flipped Marlene off in his excitement. “Take that, Mckinnon!”
He and James took a victory lap, Remus clapping with the prettiest grin Sirius had ever seen written across his face.
He’d make a hundred more goals to relive that moment.
—— ☾ ——
There were five more minutes in their pickup game turned vicious competition and the score was still tied 1 to 1. The crew was drenched in sweat, the evening an unusually warm 22 degrees. Sirius had even pulled out one of those athletic headbands to pull back his long curls. The sight had sent a flutter through Remus’ stomach- but he didn’t know why. There were alot of occasions he got that feeling.
Post Sirius all but begging, Remus was actually trying his hand at the game instead of standing there and waiting for something to happen. He was running . University really was a time for firsts. It was a weirdly satisfying sort of adrenaline to actually be part of it all.
“Lupin!” Sirius’ voice rang through the chaos he’d thrown himself into, pulling his attention toward the boy who had the ball. “Go for it!” he called, nodding his head at the goal before passing the ball toward Remus.
“No. Oh no, what do I do?” Remus muttered as he dribbled the football a few times, brown eyes going wide in horror as he looked around for help. James began chanting his name. Go for it , Sirius had said. So he went for it.
Remus closed his eyes tight and kicked the ball hard, hoping for the best. He thought he could hear Peter squeak, a ding as it hit the upper bar, James’ phone timer blaring the end of their game and then… screaming. A good screaming, though. Cheering from all seven of his new friends. He opened his eyes to see the ball in the back of the net.
“Remus, you fucking superstar!” Sirius yelled as he came running up, pretty grey eyes wide and grin all lopsided with the left corner titled too far. Remus couldn’t help himself. He tackled him into a hug.