Chapter Two

The Invitation

When Mia woke up the next morning, for a minute she wondered where she was, and then she remembered: she'd been to Teddy and Vic's wedding, and now she was on a camp bed on Lily's floor. She sat up quietly – it was still early – and looked around. Lily's room had always fascinated Mia. Like her room at home, it was untidy and crammed full of junk, but in Lily's room it was magical, rather than muggle, junk.

Mia was just starting to look through a stack of photos Lily had taken last summer, when she heard a tapping noise. She looked around for the source of it and spotted a tiny black owl stood in the windowsill, tapping the window with its beak. Mia crossed the room to let the owl in, recognising it as belonging to Will Darrow, who'd played Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in Mia's first year.

She got the window open, and the owl hopped inside, hooting proudly as it landed on the bedpost and offered Mia its leg.

"What's going on?" Lily asked sleepily, sitting up.

"It's a letter," Mia told her. "From Will." She untied the envelope from the little owl's leg, and he took off out of the window again. Unfolding the letter, Mia read, 'Hi Mia, I hope you're having a good summer. Guess what?... (drum roll please)... I've been selected to play for the England Under 21s in a friendly against Japan week after next! I thought you might want to come – I don't think you've ever seen a pro Quidditch game, have you? – so I've enclosed three tickets so you can bring a couple of friends. Hoping to see you soon, Will.'

"What did he say?" Lily asked, as Mia reached into the envelope and pulled out three tickets, printed on thick parchment.

"He's playing for the England Under 21s in a friendly against Japan," Mia told her. "He's sent me three tickets."

"Oh, we're going to that," Lily said dismissively. "Mum's got tickets through work, and she said we could each take a friend. I was gonna ask you, but if you've got your own ticket then I guess I'll take Hugo."

"Who should I take...?" Mia mused, mentally running through a list of her friends in her head. "Louis-"

"His family are in France then," Lily reminded her. "They're going over to meet Teddy and Vic after their honeymoon, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Mia said. "What about Roxanne?"

"They're away too," Lily told her. "I know cuz James originally wanted to take Fred so they could pick up tips from the Japanese Chasers."

"Who're James and Al taking?" Mac asked.

"James is taking Chlo, and Al's taking Scorp," Lily told her.

"I know, I could take Mac," Mia said. "He's mad about Quidditch, and he'll be well annoyed if he thinks his sister, who doesn't even like Quidditch, is going and he isn't."

"Okay," Lily said. "But Mac and who else?"

"Hmm..." Mia mused. "Can't have Alice without Frankie, or Kieran without Alexander... Rachel doesn't really like Quidditch... Zoe?"

"She's away too," Lily said. "Cuz before she and Louis broke up he said it was good they were away at the same time."

"I know!" Mia said. "I'll take Ruby – she likes Quidditch, and she said she was thinking about trying out for Slytherin Chaser this year."

Two weeks later, and Mia was once again waiting in the kitchen for James to come and pick her up. Mac and Ruby had both accepted Mia's invitation, and the whole party was meeting at the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow, and travelling on to the match by Floo Powder. Mia had never travelled by Floo before, so she was a bit nervous, but Lily had assured her it was much more comfortable than apparition.

James knocked on the back door, and Mia let him in.

"Ready to go, squirt?" he grinned.

"I'm not a squirt," Mia scowled. "I've grown a whole inch this summer. And I'm taller than Lily now."

"Yeah, well, Lily's a titch," James grinned. "You're just a squirt. So, are you ready?"

"Uh-huh," Mia nodded. "James, why are you bringing Chlo – she doesn't even like Quidditch particularly."

"I know, but she likes me. And that's the point," James grinned. "Hey, what've you done with your parents?" he asked as they stepped out into the garden and Mia locked the back door behind them. "Surely they haven't left you home alone?"

"Uh-huh," Mia nodded. "They're both at work, but Mum only left like twenty minutes ago. She said she figured she could trust me for that long."

James offered his arm, and as she took it, Mia felt the all-too familiar sensation of being squeezed through a narrow pipe, of tight bands around her chest, restricting her breathing, and then it was over, and she was in the middle of action and noise; James had apperated directly into the Potter's kitchen.

"James Sirius Potter, how many times do I have to tell you to watch where you're apperating?" Ginny said. "Oh, hi, Mia – James, you practically landed on top of your brother."

"Damnit – better luck next time, eh?" James grinned.

"You wish," Al said, and within seconds the two brothers were rolling around on the floor in a good natured rough and tumble.

A blast from Ginny's wand threw them apart. "It's not too late to leave you at home, you know," she said, as James and Al picked themselves up off the floor.

"It's too late to leave me behind," James grinned. "Cuz I can just-" he turned on the spot and disappeared with a crack, only to reappear over the other side of the kitchen, behind his mother "-make my own way there."
Harry came into the kitchen. "James, stop winding up your mother and brother," he said. "Now are we all here?"

"Apart from Chlo and Mac," James said.

"They're coming down the hill," Lily said, looking out of the window above the kitchen sink. Mac was running down the hill towards the gate at the bottom of the Potter's garden, his sister following more sedately.

"Right," Harry said, once everyone was in the kitchen. "Who hasn't travelled by Floo before?"

Mia was the only one, so she watched as the others went first, all taking a pinch of emerald green powder, throwing it into the fire, saying 'Puddlemere United Quidditch Club', and stepping into the flames and disappearing.

"Ready?" Harry asked, when he and Mia were the only people left in the room.

"I think so..." Mia said nervously. What if she got lost, or came out in the wrong place...

"Don't worry," Harry said. "I'll be right behind you."

Mia took a pinch of Floo powder, and threw it into the fire, saying, "Puddlemere United Quidditch Club." Then she stepped into the flames and started spinning, passing other fireplaces where she had glimpses of other wizarding homes, and somewhere which looked suspiciously like Diagon Alley, before she spotted the others, and then several hands reached out to pull her out of the fireplace.

They were all stood in a hall, which was lined with half a dozen fireplaces. At one end were a set of double doors, which Mia guess was the main entrance, due to the volume of people walking through them towards an archway in the opposite wall, beyond which Mia could see a Quidditch pitch.

Harry stepped out of the fire behind them. "Everyone arrived safe and sound?"

Ginny did a quick head count. "All present and correct," she nodded. She began handing out tickets to her family, Chlo, Scorpius and Hugo, and Mia dug in her pocket for hers, Mac and Ruby's tickets.

"James and Chlo, you're going to get left behind if you don't stop sucking each other's faces off," Harry grinned as they joined the queue for the entrance of the pitch. James and Chlo were still stood by the fireplace, James' hands wound into Chlo's hair, kissing.

"Sisters," Mac sighed, averting his eyes. "Who'd have them?"

"Not me," Mia grinned.

"Yeah, you're lucky," Mac said. "Two big sisters can be a nightmare sometimes."

"I agree," Ruby said. "Although I've got a brother and a sister."

"Well, I've got heaps of auxillary elder siblings in the Weasleys... and the Quidditch team," Mia said.

They reached the archway into the stadium, and the wizard on the gates checked their tickets before ushering them through. The Quidditch stadium was much larger than Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts, with rows of seats rising up high on all sides. They'd come out on the edge of the pitch, and far away in the centre, Mia could see the two Quidditch teams, England in white and Japan in red.

As Harry and Ginny debated the merits of by-the-centre-line-but-lower-down vs. higher-up-but-closer-to-the-goal-hoops, Mia saw Will striding away from his team. He hadn't changed much in the year since she'd last seen him; perhaps his shoulders were slightly broader, and his hair a shade darker, but he was still unmistakably Will.

"Hi Mia," he grinned, hugging her. "I'm glad you could come – are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah," Mia nodded enthusiastically.

"Congrats for winning the Quidditch cup, by the way," Will said. "That's something I never managed."

"It wasn't just me..." Mia said. "In fact, I was rubbish in that last game."

"Nonsense," Will told her firmly. "Being beaten by a set of Chasers who are better than you doesn't make you rubbish, and Hufflepuff's front three are notoriously tight."

He moved away to shake hands with Mr and Mrs Potter, and then say hi to James, who'd been his team mate back when he was still at school.

"See you all in the function room for drinks afterwards?" Will asked. "It's players and invited guests only."

They all assured him they'd be there, and then Will hurried away to re-join his team, whilst they all quickly found seats near the England goal hoops; the match was about to begin.

A/N: Two chapters for the price of one today - aren't you lucky? I aim to move to a more sustainable two-chapters per week, so with any luck we'll be all done by Christmas. Enjoy! ~ Nat