Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Wanna play Exy?
The only thing James loved in his life was Exy. He played nonstop, everyday. No matter where he went, whoever he befriended, or at least attempted to befriend, he would play. Even now, as he hits the ball against the hall, twirling his racquet when the ball is midair. He cursed under his breath every time he missed catching it. Of course this new school he was at had no Exy field, so he just played in the gym. It was 6, everyone left to go home, not like he had a home at this point, he just slept in the men's changing room. As he hit the ball against the wall over and over again, he begins to disassociate, his mind flashing back to his parents, sending him off with tears and fear streaking their face, as a shadow appeared behind them and-
SLAM. James whirls around at the sound of the gym door, clutching his racquet tightly, squinting as he sees two men walking towards him. One is younger than the other, with long curly black hair, half of it up in a messy bun, tattoos of stars and planets up and down both of his arms. The other man was only a few years older, stubble on his chin and his hair well groomed. The younger one had an overly excited grin on his face that made James automatically nervous, as the young boy leaned on the wall and looked at him.
“Saw you playing, you're damn good” he said, grinning “I’m Sirius” He holds his hand out for James to shake, but James just gives him a weird look. Sirius smiled awkwardly and lowered his hand “ooookay….” He looks at the older man for help, who sighs and looks at James.
“I’m just gonna cut to the chase young man” The man said, handing him a piece of paper “I’m an Exy coach, for the Lions, we want you on the team”
James snorts “you're joking right?”
When the man doesn’t falter, James looks down at the paper in the man's hand, as Sirius pipes in “You were hard to find bud, saw you at your previous school, came back and you were gone, took us a good two weeks to find you here”
James takes the papers from the coach's hand, scanning them, and then hands it back.
“No”
“No? Why not?” The coach said, a confused look on his face.
“Don’t want to,” James simply said. Which was a complete lie, he’d kill to play Exy professionally, but he couldn’t be on TV, they’d find him quicker.
“Liar” Sirius pipes in.
James glares at the boy. “You don’t even know me”
Sirius just gives him a smug look, and James ignores him.
The coach just simply hands the papers back to him. “Think about it, you’d be a good fit”
“I’m not doing it” James says, trying to hand the paper back to the coach but the man refuses, and hands him a card.
“Call me when you change your mind” The coach says
James looks down at the card, which reads-
Albus Dumbledore, Head Coach of the Lions
233-764-0976
James opens his mouth to protest but Sirius puts a finger on his mouth.
“Just take it, and call us when you can” He says
James now gets a better look at Sirius’s face, which is covered in scars, one right across his eye. The most prominent thing though was a tattoo of the roman numeral 2 on his cheek, scratched and bloodied, as if someone had tried to rip it off. Sirius notices James looking at his face and snorts.
“Like what you see?” He jokes, and taps the card again. “Call us”
James watched them walk out, glancing back at the card once again, shoves the papers into his backpack, and slips out into the school hallway. The lights were out in the school, and James couldn’t help but wonder how the guys even got in in the first place. James walks into the library, (his second favorite place) and sits at a computer, logging in and typing in “Lions Exy team” His google search leads him to the pro exy website, and reads more into the team. To be honest, James had never watched college Exy before, he found it overrated. He read into Sirius, who apparently wasn’t originally on the lions team. He was on the snake team with his younger brother, Regulus, but after a private undisclosed incident involving Sirius' arm, he left. James clicks on the lions team, looking at the people on the team. There were 2 other boys besides Sirius, and 2 girls. James notices that they don’t have 6 players, and after reading the team's description he understands why. The team only recruits players who have nowhere else to go, outsiders, people who are misunderstood. James hesitates, and looks back down at the card. He then clicks on the Snakes page, and his eyes widen when he sees the players on the team. The captain looks like a maniac, her frayed black hair flying everywhere, flipping off the camera. The others are covered in scars, none smiling. James can immediately tell who Sirius's brother is, as he looks exactly like him, except for his unwelcoming face, shorter hair, and a 3 tattoo instead of a 2. James can't help but shiver at the sight of them, and immediately exits the tab. James stares at the google search screen, and makes a split second decision. He stands, grabs the phone from the librarian desk, and calls the number.