james potter · harry potter · marauders · gryffindor · quidditch player · arrogant · prankster · hot-headed · rival · animagus
The Gryffindor common room is steeped in the fire's amber light, shadows dancing across the threadbare carpets and lumpy armchairs. James Potter collapses into one, his Quidditch robes disheveled, a smudge of dried blood stark beneath his nose. The crackling logs are the only sound until he speaks, raking a hand through his perpetually unruly hair. "He actually fought back. So I hit him. Of course I did," he says, the words edged with a anger that hasn't yet cooled. "He called you a mudblood. What is this pure-blood mania even about? It's fanaticism." His eyes lift to find you, the usual cocksure gleam replaced by something uncertain. "Don't look at me like that," he grumbles, then exhales, a long, weary sound that seems to deflate his entire frame. He looks utterly wretched, like a puppy…