Potter And His Broomstick
By Lunaleth

8.1.2008

James Potter has an unhealthy obsession with his broomstick. Sirius finally gets tired of it. LilyJames

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, for they belong to JK Rowling. I take credit for the storyline though. XD

James Potter has an unhealthy obsession with his broomstick.
Even I, his best mate and fellow Quidditch enthusiast, can't understand it.
After he got it for Christmas, he started bringing it everywhere with him. And when I say everywhere…I mean literally, everywhere.

He came down to breakfast this morning. Guess what he was carrying across his shoulder.
He was eating his bacon and eggs one-handed with the broomstick across his lap, the other hand petting the handle.
A loud yelp was heard throughout the hall. Everyone in the Great Hall looked around for the cause of the disturbance, which was soon made clear as James Potter jumped up out of his seat and ran towards the doors. He was carefully carrying his broomstick in his hands and looking down at it with a tortured expression.
Everyone stared after him, bewildered.
Lily, who was sitting a few seats down from me, leaned over.
"What's James making such a commotion over at this time of the morning?" she asked.
I rolled my eyes. "He found a scratch on one of the twigs on his broomstick."

We went to down to Potions.
James was already sitting at a secluded table in the back of the room when I walked in. Guess who was his Potions partner for today.
His broomstick lay flat across the chair next to him as he stared at it with a rapturous expression.
I had to partner with Remus today. And Peter, he was forced to sit next to Snape. Poor fellow.
Professor Slughorn started class and put us all to making a new potion. Soon, the room was filled with multicolored steam issuing from our cauldrons, drifting across the room in vibrant clouds and making us all drowsy.
Except for James. He put the ingredients into his cauldron and began to mix them, but it was completely pointless, as he had obstinately refused to light the fire under his cauldron.
"Steam is bad for my broomstick's complexion, sir," James had replied stubbornly in response to Professor's Slughorn's requests that he get to work properly.
By the end of class, there was only one student who hadn't managed to make the potion. He was given detention, but he said he didn't care as long as his broomstick could come along.

We took our free period.
The moment we got back to the Common Room, James rushed away. Guess where we found him.
He was in the dormitory, lying on his stomach across his bed, staring at his broomstick. Which was lying on a pillow. Actually, four pillows, since he had stolen the rest of ours as well.
I slowly waved my hand in front of his face. He continued gazing at his broomstick in a dreamy way, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.
"Hey, James," I yelled impatiently into his ear. "Would you like to stop staring at the bloody broomstick and play a game of chess?"
"I'm not staring at it," he whispered absently, staring at the smooth varnish of his broomstick handle.
I raised my eyebrow disbelievingly. "Then…pray tell what you're doing," I said.
"I'm delving into its inner soul," James replied softly, still staring deep into the depths of his broomstick.
He didn't move as I went downstairs to challenge Remus instead.

We put up with his obsession until February. Before that, it was endearing. After, just plain pathetic.

"It's been more than a month," Peter grumbled. "Stupid broomstick."
Remus nodded his agreement. "We should do something about it. He's completely obsessed about the thing. It's a piece of dead wood, for Merlin's sake."
"Obsessed…" I mused. That sounded strangely familiar. Then it came to me, and I grinned. "Listen. I know he's been preoccupied of late, but I can think of one person that James will always listen to, no matter what…"

It was a quiet evening in the Common Room.
We stood silently in a corner, close to the girls' staircase. James wasn't with us.
Guess what he was doing.
He had put the broomstick on the sofa, taking up enough room for three people, and had knelt in front of it. Staring at it with a blissful air.
Granted, he wasn't staring at the handle this time. He was staring at one of the twigs.
Lily came down the staircase. We smirked and pushed her towards James. After giving us an amused smile, she plopped down onto the sofa next to him.

Hours passed.
Guess what they were doing.
They were still sitting next to each other, talking quietly, laughing and smiling happily. He would tell her a secret, at which she would shriek in delighted mirth. She would whisper in his ear, at which he would chortle his rich, genuine laugh.
James' broomstick was nowhere in sight, and he didn't seem to miss it at all.
Because now, he had something far more precious.
Pleased with the outcome of our master plan, we went upstairs and left the two alone.

We got up the next morning and went downstairs.
Guess what we saw.
They were standing in the middle of the Common Room, together and smiling. He was holding her hand worshipfully and staring at her with a rapturous expression. A very familiar expression, only now it was intensified a hundredfold and sparkled with love.

We groaned.

In a way, our plan had worked.
His broomstick was all but forgotten.
But there was a side effect.

James Potter has an unhealthy, impassioned, and completely hopeless obsession with Lily Evans.

Author's Note: This was fun to write. James cracks me up...Quidditch and Lily are all he needs. XD
Hoped you liked it. Read and review please!

lunaleth