The Contest
a Harry Potter story
by Rosa
He'd never had to sneeze so badly in his entire life. It felt as if a thousand miniature Hippogriff feathers were tickling his nose. Sirius however was determined not to surrender. He scratched the roof of his mouth with his tongue, moving it in slow circles at first and then more urgently and erratically. It didn't make the slightest difference. In fact, it was as though the Hippogriff feathers had mingled with the finest Unicorn hair to tease every last part of his nose. Sirius shifted in his seat uneasily. It was impossible to sneeze with your eyes open wasn't it?
"10 seconds," interrupted Remus' voice; Peter squeaked excitedly behind him.
Sirius gulped. 10 seconds was that all? It felt like a lifetime had passed. It was, he knew, only a staring contest with James. They'd had hundreds before (and would doubtless share many to come) and it was theoretically only four Butterbeers at stake but as usual things had escalated and now it was a matter of pride. He was sure that the proximity of Lily to their table had had something to do with James' behaviour- he silently thanked Merlin he had never acted so ridiculously over Remus. No, Sirius decided, there was simply no way he was going to lose this contest because of something so silly as needing to sneeze.
A sudden surge in his nose made him reconsider and Sirius found himself desperately pushing his tongue against his teeth and clenching them tight to head the imminent sneeze off. It really was becoming unbearable.
"20 seconds," intoned Remus whilst Peter's head turning wildly between Sirius and James.
However the tickle which had momentarily subsided reasserted itself. If, thought Sirius, If I have to sneeze, although even thinking about it made his nose itch more, if I have to sneeze I shall simply have to do it with my eyes open. I shall become the first person, wizarding or otherwise to sneeze with my eyes open. Admittedly it wasn't quite how he'd planned to capture fame and fortune but he cheered himself with the thought that in the face of such adversity who could possibly fail to be impressed? He railed very hard against trying to sneak a sideways glance at Remus. And besides, if his eyes did pop out of their sockets, well, they could work wonders at St. Mungo's nowadays couldn't they?
It was no good, now it felt as though on top of everything he'd inhaled a face full of Floo powder.
Sirius took a deep breath and crossed his fingers.
"Heh... heh..." Sirius' eyes fluttered shut.
"Hachoo! Hetchoo! Hurchoo!"
Sirius opened his eyes and stared open-mouthed at James, watching his glasses slip further and further down his nose as he continued to sneeze.
"Heshoo! Eshoo! Huhh, huhh, Hurshoo!"
He continued to stare as James unsuccessfully tried to stifle a further half dozen sneezes into a hankie that Remus had hastily handed him. Sirius felt his own nose twitch and jump but infuriatingly not a single sneeze escaped him.
He watched as James drew a shuddered breath before expelling it in a final, "Haptschh!" which was Sirius felt really rather anti-climactic. His mouth hung open in disbelief as James blew his nose violently before pushing his glasses back up his nose and turned, grinning triumphantly to Sirius.
"Thank Merlin you blinked when you did mate, I wasn't sure I could hold out much longer! I have never had to sneeze so badly in my life!"
"But... but..." Sirius spluttered with rage, "You were the one who sneezed. You lost!"
"Nope, sorry mate. You definitely blinked first. Butterbeers are on you."
"Remus, tell James that he sneezed before I..."
"I'm sorry Sirius," Remus interrupted not bothering to hide his amusement at the look of horror on Sirius' face, "You blinked and then James started sneezing. He won fair and square. I'm sorry..."
Sirius swore and stomped off to the bar to buy four Butterbeers.
I own the books, not the rights. My first ever posted fanfic *gasps* This attacked me and I was unable to sleep till it was written.