Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related!
There was no question as to what Cameron Diggory would do after Beauxbatons. Unlike her younger brother, Cedric, Cameron had been sent to France for her education. There she was the top of her class, one of the school's Quidditch captains, and the best chaser Beauxbatons had seen in years.
So, when she was signed on to Puddlemore United's reserve team, no one was surprised. Though after the events at the Quidditch World Cup, Amos Diggory was tempted to keep her home.
The day before she moved out, Cedric knocked on her door as she was packing up the last of her things. Although they had gone to different schools, they had remained close.
"So, I hear Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year. Are you going to put your name in?" Cameron asked.
"Would you?"
"I'm not much for 'eternal glory' myself, but if someone has to win it, I'd like to be my little brother. You certainly have the talent."
Cedric, who was sitting on the bed, looked up at his older dark haired sister and found he was smiling.
"So you're saying I should go for it?"
Cameron smirked, "I'm not going to decide for you, but if you do it'll give the girls more to fantasize about.
Cedric sighed, "Yeah, just what I need."
"Just flash them a brilliant smile and they'll faint."
"What about you? Soon all my mates will have you plastered on their walls."
Cameron laughed and sat down next to Cedric. She put her arm around his shoulder and said: "We can't help the way we look, Ced. But we can always use it to our advantage.
Cedric chuckled, "You're horrible."
"I know."
"That reminds me! The Gryffindor Captain, Oliver Wood, made reserve keeper. Keep an eye out for him- he's a bit obsessive."
"Well in that case, watch out for some of the Beauxbatons students, they can be sneaky and underhanded."
"Oh, so watch out for anyone like you?"
Cameron punched Cedric's arm and laughed rather loud and obnoxiously.
"Oh! You're so hilarious! Now out of my room, I need to finish packing."
The flat was part of the deal Cameron had made with Puddlemore, and part of the deal was to share the flat with the only other female on the reserve team. She was an American seeker, and her name was Grace Quincy. And true to her name, once she on a broomstick, she was extremely graceful- but not on her own two feet. This is what Cameron discovered the first moment she laid eyes on her. Grace tumbled out of her bedroom to greet Cameron and face planted on the hardwood floor. She jumped back up just as fast as she had fallen and smiled up at Cameron.
"You must be Cameron Diggory! I'm Grace Quincy. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too; you're the seeker right?"
"Yup, and you're the chaser from Beauxbatons." Grace smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not creepy, I read up on the whole reserve team."
Grace was quite the opposite of Cameron; she was petite and a red head, where as Cameron was on the tall side and had dark brown hair.
"You ready for practice tomorrow?" Grace asked.
"I really hope so; I don't want to look like an arse on my first day."
"Me too! I hope I don't fall on my face in front of all of them; they'll judge me before they've seen me on a broom. And I'm an American so…"
"Don't worry about it; you're hard not to like."
Grace smiled gratefully up at Cameron, and then headed towards the kitchen.
"You hungry?"
"Yeah, I'm starving."
"Good, I made some buffalo wings." Grace said as she pulled out a platter and placed the wings on it. Cameron's eyes grew large; she didn't know what Buffalo wings were…to her they could be made of buffalo!
"Is it actual buffalo?" She asked sheepishly.
Grace laughed, "No! Buffalo don't have wings; they're made of chicken and were created in Buffalo New York."
"Oh…"
"Here! Try one, you'll like it.
Grace held out the platter, and Cameron carefully selected a wing and took a small bite. She immediately took another, then another, until it was gone.
"Those are good." She commented as she licked her lips.
"I'm glad you like them, so don't be afraid to really dig in."
"I won't." She said through a mouthful of buffalo wing.
Cameron was a little nervous as she and Grace left the girl's locker room and headed onto the field. The rest of the reserve team was already out on the field, gathered in a little circle.
"Here come the ladies; we can start the introductions now."
The girls joined the circle and looked around the group.
"I'll start; I'm Aiden McBree from England, my position is chaser."
Cameron studied Aiden; he was about six foot with sandy blonde hair, gray eyes, and a lean build. He looked like he was a professional Quidditch player already.
The slightly shorter red haired man spoke up next.
"Me name is Finnley O'Donnall from Ireland and I'm a beater."
The next guy was even shorter and had shaggy blonde hair, and ice blue eyes.
"I'm Ben Willard from England, and I'm also a beater."
"I'm Peter Cutler also from England, and I'm a chaser."
Peter was by far the tallest of the group; he was easily 6'5" and had jet black hair and brown eyes.
"I'm Oliver Wood, keeper. I'm originally from Scotland, but now England."
So he was the guy Cedric had told her about. 6'2", with a muscular yet lean body, messy light brown hair, and hazel eyes.
Cameron was next, so she took a deep breath and felt all eyes turn to her.
"I'm Cameron Diggory of England and I'm a chaser."
Oliver's gaze snapped in her direction; he must have recognized her last name.
"Hey I'm Grace Quincy from America and I'm the seeker."
The coach walked over to them then, introduced himself before giving them a few instructions, and walked away so they could get started. All seven of them kicked the ground and soared upwards as all the balls were released. Cameron felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and got to the quaffle before Aiden and Peter were even close.
"You've got moves, Diggory!" Aiden smiled as the three chasers hovered together.
"Let's put Wood to the test." Peter smirked.
Cameron chuckled, "Alright, let's go."
The three of them took off towards the golden hoops, passing the quaffle back and forth. Peter tried to make a shot first, but Oliver used the tail of his broom to knock it away. Aiden tried next, but Oliver easily knocked it away with his right arm. Cameron knew this was her chance to prove herself, to show up the guys. Cameron used one of her best moves and watched delightedly as the quaffle soared through the middle hoop.
"Brilliant Diggory!" The other two chasers cheered.
Cameron smiled and waited for Oliver to toss back the quaffle.
"Nice one Diggory. I've never seen that move executed correctly until now."
She caught the quaffle he tossed to her and she flew back over to Aiden and Peter. Oliver didn't seem obsessed, but then again she hardly knew the guy.
She had just walked out of the locker rooms when he caught her attention. Oliver was waiting on the opposite wall and straightened when he noticed her.
"Great moves out there."
"Thanks, you're pretty good yourself."
"Are you related to Cedric by any chance?"
"He's my younger brother, and he told me about you."
"Not bad things I hope."
"No, he just told me to expect you."
Grace came out of the locker rooms then, and walked over to where Oliver and Cameron stood.
"Hello Oliver. You ready to go Cam?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, you guys should come over to our flat tonight for a little get together."
"Okay, I'll bring something." Grace smiled. "Maybe my buffalo wings."
Oliver's eyebrows knit together in confusion, but he resisted the urge to say anything.
"See you later."
The two girls arrived; one with buffalo wings the other with a cheesecake, and took in the completely masculine surroundings. Five guys living together could only lead to disaster, but thankfully the flat was much larger than the girls.
"Hey ladies!" Aiden greeted.
"They brought food!" Ben yelled.
The rest of the guys emerged and stared eagerly at the food clutched in the girl's hands.
"You guys didn't make any food did you?"
"No, but we 'ave the fire whiskey." Finnley grinned as he pulled out two bottles of the stuff. No one rushed forward to get a shot.
"We have practice tomorrow, Finn." Aiden reminded him. Finn sighed and put the fire whiskey away.
"Here, have some buffalo wings." Grace said as she put the tray down and removed the plastic. The guys seemed to stare at the tray without moving.
"Just eat them." Cameron ordered.
"Ooh, such fire in you." Peter teased.
"She's the one to watch out for." Aiden agreed.
Cameron was about to reply, but Grace distracted her by tripping over someone's stray Quidditch boot. Before her face could meet the floor, Aiden reached out and grasped her waist to stop her fall.
Grace giggled shyly, "Oops, I guess I didn't see that there."
Aiden finally took his hands off of her waist and picked up the boot.
"You alright?" He asked staring down into Grace's eyes. Grace blinked up at him rather bashfully and nodded.
Cameron smiled at the two of them; fully aware of the connection that had just been made between them. The guys, however, remained oblivious as they ate the food.
"So, why didn't you go to Hogwarts like your brother?" Oliver asked curiously.
"My Mom wanted me to go to Beauxbatons."
"That's too bad; you could've made for some great competition at Hogwarts."
"That's what Cedric has told me." Cameron chuckled. "But I caused quite a stir at my own school."
"Guess what I heard!" Peter yelled, cutting off all other conversations. "Lucy Pemble might be pregnant, and if she is that means one of us chasers will be moved up."
Aiden sighed, still standing close to Grace, "It's just a rumor; I bet she isn't even pregnant."
Cameron shook her head, "Look at the facts; she's been married to Adam for five years and she said back then that they had a five year plan. That means she's most likely pregnant."
"Oh, so that's what that means!" Ben said as he grabbed the last buffalo wing off the platter.
After all the cheesecake was gone, the girls grabbed their platters and went home to their own flat. The two of them were starting on the dishes when Cameron decided to ask.
"So, what was that about with Aiden earlier?"
Grace paused mid-wash and a small smile crept across her face; and it didn't go un-noticed.
"Oh, I see."
"He just caught me, so I wouldn't fall on my face." Grace blushed.
Cameron let it drop, but she knew something was going to happen between the two of them.
It was dinner night with her parents tonight and Cameron decided to take Grace along. The Diggorys immediately took to Grace, and she to them.
"So, is Cedric all settled in at school?" Cameron asked over dinner.
"For now, but I have a bad feeling about the Triwizard tournament." Her Mom replied.
"He's a Diggory, Miriam, he'll be fine." Amos said smiling proudly.
"Oh, they told us about the Tournament at school!" Grace said excitedly.
"The names haven't even been picked yet, Mom."
"Well, I suppose you're right, but it still doesn't feel right."
The other three ignored her, and turned back to eating their dinner. When dinner was finished and cleaned up, Grace and Cameron returned to their flat where an owl was waiting. Neither of them knew the owl, but Cameron detached the note and read it aloud.
"Dear Grace, I know I should ask you in person but we only see each other for a few minutes at practice. Back to the point; do you want to go to dinner with me sometime? If so, we can set up a place and a time. Aiden."
Cameron looked at Grace after she was finished reading. She was blushing and smiling at the same time.
"Should I?"
"You'd be dumb not to! There's no harm in at least giving him a try!"
"Alright, what should I say?"
Cameron waited until Grace pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment.
Aiden,
I'd love to have dinner with you.
- Grace
"Short, simple, and to the point. It's perfect." Cameron smiled. "Now send it."
After it was sent Grace turned an uneasy smile on Cameron.
"Is it bad to get involved with a team mate?"
"No! There are loads of Quidditch couples out there. At least you two are on the same team."
