@jegulus-microfic January 6 Word count 636
James wasn’t one to exclude anyone. He went out of his way to include anyone who wanted to be in whatever he was doing.
James was down at the Quidditch pitch on a sunny Saturday afternoon, trying to perfect a new manoeuvre. The Wollongong Shimmy. Was a high-speed zigzagging manoeuvre that had been designed by the Australian team to throw off the opposing Chasers. It was a particularly difficult manoeuvre. The zigzagging movements would be hard enough without the high speeds threatening to fling you off. James had found himself hanging onto his broom by his fingertips a few times. While he was fighting to get his seat back, he noticed a lone figure waiting by the stands. At first, he thought it was Sirius, so he waved him over. It was only when he was finally back on his broom that he saw the scowl.
He lazily dropped to hover in front of Regulus.
He could have told Regulus to go away as he’d booked the pitch for himself to use privately. But as previously stated, James struggled to exclude anyone, and he knew how much Regulus loved flying from Sirius. He chose to try and include him.
“You going up then?” He asked, a smile naturally forming on his face.
“I had hoped I’d be alone.” Regulus was still scowling at James, clearly irritated by finding him there.
“Ah, well, I booked the pitch so I could practice a new technique.”
“You need to practice more. You’re terrible.” Regulus was smirking now.
“Well, you’re still welcome to practice with me.” James grinned as Regulus swung a leg over his broom and kicked off from the ground.
He circled James a few times before shooting off to the other end of the pitch. James watched him hold up his hand and release a tiny golden snitch.
James tried the Wollongong Shimmy a few more times, but it always ended with him having to haul himself back onto his broom in mid-air.
He hadn’t realised how close he’d flown to Regulus until he heard him call out.
“You’re leaning into it too much.”
“What?” James called back. Regulus flew over, hovering close to James.
“You’re leaning into each zag too much, which is causing your centre of gravity to shift, so you’re falling off,” Regulus said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
James tried again but still got the same result. Regulus huffed at him. “You’re still not doing it right. Look, watch me.” He took off, performing the manoeuvre flawlessly. When he looped back around, James was staring at him in awe. “See, it’s not that hard.” Regulus’s eyes flicked to the gold glinting at the side of James’s head and was only mildly surprised when James didn’t flinch as he shot his hand out to grab the snitch.
“That was amazing, Reg,” James was still staring at him. “Can you show me again?” Regulus only protested slightly but showed him again and then allowed James to follow him closely, leaning at the same angle.
Slowly, they built up speed until they were both zigzagging blurs on the pitch.
Eventually, they had to stop. The Hufflepuff team was due to use the pitch next, so they both headed to the changing rooms.
“That was fun, Reg,” James told him as he towelled his hair. “We should do it again sometime.” He looked over at Regulus when he didn’t get an answer.
“Don’t hold your breath, Potter.” He said, collecting his bag and walking to the door. He paused with his hand on the handle and shot James a crooked smile.
See, James, thought, not excluding people got you help perfecting Quidditch manoeuvres and one of the most enchanting smiles he’d ever seen. He hoped Regulus would fly with him again.
