Ok then, I am NOT J.K.Rowling. Anything that appears to be familiar does not belong to me. About the only thing I can lay claim to is Ayla and her friends. This is all meant to be fun and not to offend.

Prologue:

It had been five years since Ayla Jenson had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She left with a handful of N.E.W.T's, all of which were Outstanding - she was a Ravenclaw after all, but no idea what to do with them. Her parents had encouraged her to get a job, just something short-term to keep her occupied until she found her place in the wizarding world.

And Ayla did just that. Her position as Sales Witch at Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley was supposed to be a temporary thing, while Ayla decided between being a Medi-witch in Saint Mungo's or a potion maker in a well known apothecary. Yet here she was in the same dead end job her uncle had given her during her first summer as a qualified witch. He who must not be named had both risen and fallen again, Harry Potter was once again the savior of wizard kind and things had therefore returned to as normal as they could in the world of magic.

Although by now Ayla had been promoted to Head Sales witch, in charge of ordering merchandise and the day to day running of the shop. Life was, in a word: dull.

Ok so she got to meet a lot of interesting people. Quidditch stars, legends and the rising stars of the game, were always visiting the shop. Asking after this broom, that new charmed Quaffle that was so good for practicing. There was also the daily arguments which the customers so enjoyed engaging in, this team was better than that team, so and so had obviously fouled whats-her-name in the latest Cup match qualifier. Blah blah blah. The popularity of the game had increased tenfold since the demise of the darkest man known to wizard kind. Resulting in Ayla's quiet little shop job turning into a nightmare and the floo network being consistently jammed at weekends as witches and wizards flocked to the nearest game. Both pro and amateur games seemed to be the only thing anyone ever talked about. It did not, however, interest Ayla in the slightest, but here she was working in a shop devoted to the blasted game!

Of course all of her friends were intensely jealous. As they saw it all Ayla did all day long was socialize with hot young Quidditch players. Socialize. Ayla would hardly call lugging crates of Comet 260's and the entire Cleansweep range around socializing. Nor trying to catch that bludger some idiot child let loose last week.

So what if she knew all the Holyhead Harpies on a first name basis? They were friendly girls. Plus the phrase "any friend of -insert name here- is a friend of mine" seemed very popular in Quidditch. Whether this was actually true or all Quidditch players were mindless, brainwashed drones that repeated the same set of phrases, Ayla had yet to discover.

And yes ok a lot of the male players could be considered quite handsome and charming, but there was also a fair few who looked like they had tried to snog a Bludger too. The only real problem was that all of them, every last one, was completely obsessed with Quidditch. For the love of Merlin she just wanted one conversation, only one, where Quidditch was not mentioned in any way. Just once she wanted someone to comment on how nice the weather was, without noting that the brightness of the sun might seriously affect the Magpies chance of beating the Appleby Arrows that afternoon.

Ayla also felt sure she could get through one whole day without at least one of her friends popping in to see if Aiden Lynch had been in yet. Had he been alone? Did he look in anyway attached to the woman he was with? Was there any possibility at all that they were related in some way? And if it did look like they were a couple, did Aiden show any signs that he was sick to the back teeth of her, could barely stand to be with her much longer, and would he, by any chance, consider dumping her in order to start a whirlwind romance with one of Ayla's friends?

The constant interrogation Ayla endured due to her friends' absolute obsession with Quidditch, no wait Quidditch players, was also a complete nightmare. On the rare occasion that Ayla did get some time off work, she tried her best to spend it with her friends, despite their love of Quidditch gossip. But it was difficult. How could anyone be that interested in a sport?