Chapter Three – Another Lunch, Another Setup

Wills sighed as he walked down the small path to the cottage where his mother and father still lived out in a small wizarding village in the countryside. He was dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt, knowing his mother would be angry if he showed up dressed sloppily. Granted dressing sloppy was something he never did. You never knew who you'd need to impress.

He glanced down at the flowers in his hand, hoping they would appease her since he knew that he would most likely not care for Olive at all. His mother would be disappointed – as usual. Every single one of the setups she had tried to orchestrate in the past had failed miserably. This was sure to be no different. He wondered if the woman even knew him at all even though she birthed and raised him. She always introduced him to women without any sort of color or life to them. All deathly boring.

As soon as he pushed the door open, he put a bright smile on his face.

"Hello? I'm here," he said, looking around. His mother was seated on the sofa with Muriel. Her sandy-blonde hair peppered with gray, though she was still slim and looked younger than she actually was. Muriel, on the other hand, looked a bit older, though her hair was still an attractive shade of auburn. On the other sofa across from them sat a young woman, though Wills could only see the back of her head. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. Still the mousy brown that he remembered.

"Bryan! Just on time," his mother said, standing. He walked in and shut the door behind him, walking over to the two older women.

"Aunt Muriel, looking lovely as always," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek. The old woman blushed slightly and grinned.

"Oh, Bryan, always the charmer," she said, slightly flustered. He held the flowers out to his mother.

"These are for you," he said. She smiled and took them.

"I'll just go put these in water. Bryan, you remember Olive," she said as she walked passed him, her eyes warning him to be nice. Bryan looked over at the woman. She gazed up at him with warm brown eyes hidden behind glasses. She was prettier than he remembered. But still looked like a librarian.

"Of course, how are you, Olive?" he asked.

"I've been good," she replied, her voice betraying that she was no happier about this little setup than he was. Wills smiled more genuinely, happy to find an ally. "See you enjoyed another good season."

"Thought you hated quidditch," he said as he walked over and sat next to her.

"I still find it rather boring, but my co-workers are obsessed, so I can't help but overhear," she said before taking a dainty sip of her tea.

"Co-workers?" he said.

"Olive here works at the Ministry. Department of International Magical Cooperation, specifically with the International Confederation of Wizards," Muriel said proudly. Wills nodded and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"That sounds… nice," he said. Olive huffed softly.

"Not all of us can be famous quidditch players," she said, her face the picture of calm indifference.

"Of course not. There can only be one Bryan Wills, captain of Puddlemere United," he said boisterously.

"Bryan," his mother warned from the kitchen.

"Still see you're as arrogant as ever," Olive said.

"Still see you're as insipid as ever," Wills commented.

"BRYAN!" his mother shouted.

"Apologies. You look lovely, Olive. And I'm sure the Department of International Magic Cooperation is quite fascinating," he said. Muriel sighed and looked up at the ceiling, no doubt imploring to her dearly departed husband to save her from the now obvious disaster she had created with Mrs. Wills.

"Thank you. Saw in the Prophet you were out with the Wood girl again this week. She finally coming around?" Olive asked. Wills sighed.

"Sadly not yet, but someday," he said.

"Bryan Jacob Wills, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Leave Daisy alone. She's put up with your shenanigans for too many years now," his mother said, walking back into the sitting room.

"Come now, mother. Don't you want Daisy Wood as a daughter-in-law someday?" Wills asked, grinning.

"At this point, I'd take anyone as a daughter-in-law," she muttered, not intending anyone but Muriel to hear. Wills chuckled.

"Where's Dad?" he asked.

"Out in the garden," his mother replied. He pushed up off the sofa and started towards the back door.

"Just going to go have a chat with Dad, then. You ladies try not to talk too harshly about me while I'm gone," he said. He heard his mother snort as he opened the door.

"Where he gets it, I'll never know," Mrs. Wills said to Muriel and Olive.

Wills stepped into the warm sunshine and looked around the immaculate garden. It was his parents' pride and joy, though his father spent a fair bit more time there than his mother. He was a retired herbologist, though Wills figured he still dabbled in wild and exotic plants. There was an entire greenhouse full behind the garden.

"Dad?" he called out, not seeing him. At the sound, a head popped up, appearing just over a large shrub.

"Bryan! You've made it!" the older man said, stepping out of the garden. He was tall, like Wills, though his hair was dark gray. He smiled as he walked over and embraced his son. "Your mother really wishes you'd pop over more often."

"Why? So she can set me up with yet another woman from the village?" Wills asked, slightly annoyed. His father chuckled.

"Dare say she's run out," he replied. "Moving on to other villages now."

"It's like she doesn't even know me…" Wills said, shaking his head.

"Just wants you to settle down with a nice, young woman, is all," Mr. Wills countered. Wills sighed.

"I know. Just thought by now she'd finally understand that I'm not ready to settle down," he said.

"You're what? Thirty-three now?" his father said.

"Next month," Wills replied.

"I think she just wants grandchildren somethin' fierce," Mr. Wills said, glancing at his son. "Nearly all her friends have 'em now."

"Sean can give her grandchildren. I still want to play," Wills said grinning, referring to his younger brother who worked at Gringotts. He had just gotten engaged a couple months ago to his longtime girlfriend. Mr. Wills laughed.

"No doubt they won't waste any time there," he said. "Michelle is quite ready to be a mum."

"Besides, you both know I'm waiting on-"

"Yes, I know. Daisy Wood," Mr. Wills said, rolling his eyes. "Though I'll admit, I wouldn't mind having a few ginger grandkids running amuck."

"Curly-headed, too, the whole lot of them," Wills mused. Mr. Wills chuckled again.

"You'll never give up on that Wood girl, will you? You talk about it so much, I'm half tempted to believe you do actually want to marry her," he said, walking over to a table and sitting down. Wills followed, flopping down in another chair.

"Some days I think that if I am ever going to settle down, she's probably the only woman exciting enough that I could stand to spend forever with," he said.

"It's not always about excitement, Bryan," his father said. Wills rolled his eyes. "It's about dependability… comfort… happiness."

"And I'm only happy with someone who is exciting," Wills replied.

"You sure about that? You never could stay long with anyone, even the exciting ones," his father retorted.

"Perhaps I just haven't found the right one," Wills said. "But can we please talk about something else. I might just shoot the killing curse at myself if I have to deal with an entire day of 'Why aren't you married, Bryan?'"

His father laughed and looked over at his son, shaking his head slightly.

"When's practice start up again?" he asked.

"Next week. Coach only gave us a couple weeks off. He wants us ready for the next season even though we've all played together so long we can do the plays in our sleep," he said.

"Any word on the Wood transfer?"

"McIntosh and Truffle are good for another season, though they've both mentioned they're thinking of retiring soon," Wills said. We'll probably have Remus and Alan on the team soon. Think Coach has been putting aside the funds for a few years now so he could afford them."

"I feel for that reserves team of yours. None of them stand a chance of ever making first string on Puddlemere," Mr. Wills said.

"Probably not. Coach has made it abundantly clear he's going after Daisy once Ashley's ready to go," Wills said. "Though I'm certain Nilsson will put up a fight for her. He's quite taken with Pix. She's also pretty adamant on staying with the Arrows."

"That so?" Mr. Wills asked. "She's a fire brand, that's for sure. Haven't seen anything like her since Viktor Krum."

"She's a lot lovelier to watch than Krum," Wills added.

"The Arrows put up quite the fight in the final this year. I nearly thought they'd get it," Mr. Wills commented.

"As did I. It was quite the showdown. Wood against Wood. Mentor against mentee. Father against daughter. The press went wild for it," Wills said.

"You ever think of what you'll do once you retire?" Mr. Wills asked suddenly. Wills laughed.

"I've got some time before I have to worry about that. But Coach has promised he wants to take me on as a chaser coach when and if I do decide to quit playing," he said. "So I don't have to worry about that. I'll be set for life at Puddlemere."

"That's a relief. Not all players get so lucky," Mr. Wills said.

"I've put enough in savings even if I didn't want to continue working, I'd be alright," Wills said. "But I've got several more seasons in me, at least."

"Boys! Lunch is ready!" Mrs. Wills called from the back door. "If you're finished with your quidditch talk, that is."

"We're quite ready, dear," Mr. Wills said as he stood. Wills did the same and followed his father inside.

Once they were all settled around the table, Mrs. Wills looked over at Olive.

"So, Olive. You're mother tells me you've just been assigned to a new, large project," she said, smiling as she glanced over at Wills.

"Yes… I'll be helping coordinate a forum bringing together the heads of all the magical governments around the world set for next year," she said calmly.

"Have they had one of those before?" Wills asked.

"The last was shortly after the war. They meant to make it a regular thing, but never managed. So now they are trying to start again," Olive replied. "I've been meeting regularly with the Minister for Magic to discuss logistics."

"How impressive," Mr. Wills said.

"To be honest, I'm a bit nervous. It's a lot of work and the Minister is rather particular with how things should be done," Olive said. "Though it's been a bit easier the past couple of months. She's been preoccupied with something else." Wills' eyebrows raised.

"With what, exactly?" he asked, surprising his mother. She smiled at Muriel, misconstruing his interest. She always seemed to forget that the Minister was the Woods' aunt. Olive shrugged.

"Not sure. She said it was a bit of a family matter and wouldn't say more," she said with a sigh. "To be honest, I was shocked. Minister Weasley never seemed to be one to let a family problem get in the way of work."

"You don't know her family that well," Wills muttered.

"Pardon?" Olive asked.

"Nothing," Wills said, smiling. "Sounds interesting." Olive studied him a moment before returning to her food.

"Well, I think the Minister has been nothing short of amazing. She's a brilliant woman and being able to balance such a high demanding job on top of being a mother and a wife is no small feat," Mrs. Wills said.

"D'you hear that Pixie is training her daughter now? Seems she wants to be a seeker as well," Wills said, smiling. His mother rolled her eyes, put out that her son had managed to turn the conversation to quidditch yet again.

"No, I refuse to let you turn this into another quidditch conversation," she proclaimed, staring at her oldest son.

"I promise not to mention it if you drop the marriage talk," he sang, grinning. Mrs. Wills huffed.

"How did you find that book I loaned you?" his father asked suddenly, changing the topic before the two got into yet another row. Wills looked at him.

"Found it rather interesting," Wills said. Olive looked at him in surprise. At school Wills was more interested in quidditch and flirting that reading. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen him enter the library in their whole time there. "Might help me out a bit. Been thinking about setting up the flat with a TV and a lot of the charms and such seemed like they could work."

"A TV? Just what was this book?" Olive asked. Her mother chuckled.

"And why on earth would you want one of those muggle contraptions?" she asked.

"The world is changing, Aunt Muriel. And the wizarding world best change with it if it wants to keep up," Wills replied. "More and more muggleborns are popping up and bringing with them their technology. Wouldn't hurt for us to start adapting."

"I wouldn't mind having one, I should think," Mr. Wills said.

"No. I don't want one of those noisy contraptions in here," Mrs. Wills said. "It's one thing if Bryan wishes to pollute his flat with it. It's another to bring it into our home."

"It's not that bad, Mum," Wills said. "There are lots of interesting programs nowadays. You might like it."

"Just where have you been watching telly?"Olive asked, staring at him.

"Jamie and his brothers got one," Wills said. "Seems fun."

"I thought the Woods were all pureblood," Aunt Muriel said.

"Their mum is muggleborn," Wills said. "But they were talked into it by the Arrows beater – John Kingfisher. He's half blood."

"The bloke from the U.S.?" Olive asked.

"She does know about quidditch," Wills said, smiling.

"Bryan," his mother warned.

"Isn't that Daisy Wood's boyfriend?" Olive asked, tilting her head to the side, a small smile spreading across her face.

"For now," Wills said, returning the smile.

"Bryan," his mother said, exasperated.

"Yes, mother?" he asked, turning his smile on her. She scowled at him as his father laughed.

"So, I take it the book was about muggle life," Olive said, coming to Wills' rescue. He returned to looking at her.

"Yes. Namely, how to incorporate everyday muggle items into the wizarding world," he said.

"How is that possible? At least with electronics?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"A lot of charm work," Wills said. "The Woods had their cousin in to help. Seems Dominique Weasley is quite good at them. Though still took her, Daisy, Kingfisher and Remus a few hours to get it right. Ended up calling in Iris to help in the end. Granted it really depends on the location. Obviously the closer to the heart of Diagon Alley a place, the magic is stronger and makes it more difficult." Olive nodded slowly.

"If you're done with it, perhaps I could borrow it? It might be useful for my work," she said.

"Of course," Wills said, catching his mother and Aunt Muriel sharing a hopeful look.

A couple hours later, after lunch had been finished and they settled for tea and conversation for a bit, Wills finally had reached his limit and announced he needed to get back to London.

"Must you go?" his mother said.

"Yes, Mum," he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I've got things to get done."

"Very well, then. Don't wait so long to come visit again, please," she said, standing to hug him. She kissed his cheek and smiled up at him.

"I won't," he said. He looked around the room. "It was good to see you again Aunt Muriel, Olive. I'll owl you the book later."

"Thanks. Good to see you too, Wills," she said. He then turned and left, breathing a sigh of relief as he walked out of the cottage.

"Where to next," he murmured to himself as he walked towards the gate. He didn't really want to go home, but wasn't sure what to do. He then got an idea and grinned. Stepping out of the gate, he gripped his wand in his pocket and apparated.


"Hello, Woods!" Wills called brightly as he walked into the flat. Remus and Alan were watching TV while Jamie was in the kitchen getting something from the fridge. Daisy and John were seated on the sofa. "Ah, Kingfisher. Good to see you made it back in one piece," he said, flopping on the sofa next to Daisy.

"Good to see you're still making yourself feel at home," the beater replied, smiling.

"I keep telling the triplets we need to change the wards," Daisy said, frowning at the blonde.

"But you love it when I pop by unannounced," Wills said.

"Not always," Remus replied, glancing over at him.

"Not my fault your girlfriend likes to wear lacy lingerie when your siblings aren't around," Wills said. Remus rolled his eyes.

"You weren't supposed to be over that night. Which you would have known if you bothered to owl or knock," he retorted. Wills looked over at Jamie, noticing him pulling a few beers out of the fridge.

"Ah, good. Get me one too, will you Jamie?" he shouted. Jamie rolled his eyes and waved his hand, sending the beers across the room, Wills being served last. He popped it open and guzzled down half of it.

"Difficult lunch with your mother?" Daisy asked, her eyes wide as she took a sip.

"Putting it lightly," he said. "Tried to set me up again."

"Poor Wills. Must be awful having beautiful women thrown at you by your parents," John said.

"They're not all beautiful," Wills said. "And most of them are rather boring."

"Ever think about lowering your standards, mate?" Alan asked.

"Certainly not. My standard is Pixie. If they don't meet that, there's no point," Wills retorted, causing Daisy to roll her eyes.

"Who was the poor lass today?" Jamie asked, walking over.

"Girl I went to Hogwarts with. Olive Pentergrass. She was a few years behind me but in Ravenclaw. The daughter of my Aunt Muriel," he said dryly.

"Wait, your mom was trying to set you up with your cousin? She must be running out of women," John said with a laugh.

"She's not really my aunt. Her and Mum have been best friends since school so I just grew up calling her aunt," Wills replied.

"Please tell me you weren't completely awful to her," Daisy said.

"I was my usual charming self," Wills proclaimed. "Though she didn't seem very happy to be set up either."

"What's this? Another woman not completely taken in by Wills' charm? You should marry her," Alan said with a chuckle.

"Not likely. She works at the ministry and hates quidditch," Wills scoffed before taking a drink, this one smaller.

"Sounds horrible," John said jokingly.

"She wasn't all that bad. But still… not my type," he said.

"What? Not blonde and busty enough?" Daisy said.

"Come now, Pix. We all know I prefer gingers," Wills said, winking at her.

"Then just marry one of our many cousins. There are a few gingers still single. Perhaps Molly?" Daisy said, nonplussed.

"The only person from your family that I will consider marrying is you, Pix," Wills declared.

"Not if I have something to say about it," John muttered. Daisy shot him a look as Wills laughed.

"Still feeling threatened, Kingfisher?" he remarked.

"No," John said, frowning at Wills.

"Both of you stop. John just got back. Let's not have a fight," Daisy said, sitting up and looking back and forth between the two.

"I wasn't going to fight him," John said, his eyes wide in innocence.

"Beside, I'll beat him well enough next weekend at the annual picnic," Wills said with a smiled. "Shall we place a bet? Whoever wins gets Pixie?" Daisy groaned as she fell back on the sofa.

"Shut it, Wills," she said as her brothers laughed.

"By the way, I quite enjoyed our date the other night," Wills said.

"Date?" John said, looking down at Daisy.

"It wasn't anything like that," she said.

"Read about it in Witch Weekly. Seems you two were having a lovely little tryst involving champagne and a candlelight dinner," Alan said, grinning at the two.

"That does sound lovely… wish I had thought of it," Wills said.

"That was not what happened," Daisy proclaimed. "It was a pub and tequila."

"Tequila?" John questioned.

"I lost again and had to go out with him as punishment," she said. John chuckled.

"What would Wills have had to do if you won?" he asked.

"Show up at practice in his skivvies," Jamie said. "I was actually looking forward to Dad's reaction."

"As was I," Daisy said, glancing over at the grinning chaser. "I'll win next time."

"Sure you will, Pix," Wills said.

"And one of these days maybe Wills will get you to marry him," Alan said casually.

"I will," Wills said, slightly offended.

"You know I'm sitting right here," John said. Daisy stood and pulled John up.

"Come on, John. Let's go somewhere quiet," she said before sticking her tongue out at Wills.

"What? But I came just to see you!" he whined.

"See you next time, love," Daisy said with a cheeky grin before she and John silently disappeared.

"Why must she be so cold whenever Kingfisher is around?" Wills lamented.

"To reassure him that she's not going to leave him for you," Remus said. Wills chuckled and looked over at him.

"Like that's possible," he said. Remus shrugged.

"You never know. It's always the ones that have been around for a long time that folks usually end up with," he said before taking a drink.

"Right…"

"So was lunch with your parents really that bad?" Jamie asked as he stepped around and sat next to Wills.

"Not that bad. Olive was a bit more entertaining than most. Apparently there's some big leaders forum that she's helping plan," he said.

"I remember hearing something about that from Aunt Hermione. She was discussing security with Harry at the last family gathering," Jamie said.

"Yea, though Olive said the Minister's been a bit off the past couple of months. Something about a family problem," Wills said, glancing at Jamie. The keeper frowned slightly and looked at his brothers.

"Yea, had a bit of a kerfuffle, but it's being taken care of," he said cryptically. Wills sighed.

"Still not in the inner sanctum of the Woods-Weasleys-Potters, it would seem," he said. Jamie shook his head.

"Pixie's already told you. We can't say anything," he said.

"Please. I've known that you could read minds since you were a kid. I know about you and Pix doing extra stuff lately. She also told me about this connection of yours. When do I get to hear the full story?" Wills asked. Alan groaned.

"Pix and her big mouth," he said. Wills looked at him.

"You and Remus got any fancy new tricks?" he asked.

"No," Remus said, frowning.

"Unlike Jamie and Pixie, we're perfect just the way we are," Alan said, grinning. Wills chuckled.

"She and John getting on any better? She mentioned there was trouble in paradise due to this whole connection thing," Wills said.

"They seem better," Jamie said. "But things are still a little tense."

"I don't know why he won't just let it go," Remus grumbled. "It won't do either of them any good to keep going on about it."

"Perhaps it's because secretly she feels a connection with me," Wills said, grinning. Jamie laughed.

"Really, Wills," he said. The tall player sat up.

"Can't you feel the love bursting within me, dear Pixie," he shouted as he placed his hand on his heart. All three Wood brothers laughed loudly.

"Doesn't work that way," Jamie said.

"Bugger. Thought she'd pop back and declare her undying love for me," he said, sitting back.

"Is there anything else we can talk about? Besides our sister and her and Jamie's new abilities?" Remus asked tiredly.

"Any matches playing today?" Wills asked.

"Think so," Alan said, picking up the remote.

"Good. We can talk about that."


Don't you just love cheeky Wills? I know I do.

Good news is I had a spirt of inspiration today and managed to get up to chapter five written. I've also planned out the entire story and wrote the first draft of the final chapter, which may change a little in terms of details depending on how the rest of the chapters turn out. I actually cannot wait to finish this up and post that chapter... I'm quite happy with it.

There will be ten chapters - unless inspiration hits me again and I end up adding something. Since it's short chapter-wise, I'm trying to make the chapters a bit longer. And this one will differ from Nilsson's side story in that it will include significant plot points that move the entire story over all forward rather than just explaining events that have already happened from Wills' perspective. There will be overlap with Dominique's story a little - she'll have a small cameo in this one - but it won't be repetitive. In fact, I'm actually really glad that I'm working on this one first because it's helping me clear up some of the plot trouble I was having with that one.

Should be able to get that one really going once I get back to work on it, though it'll involve some minor rewrites in the chapters I've already written. Though that's fine - I wasn't completely happy with them as it is. That one will have a lot of Molly and Teddy in it as well, which I'm happy about.

Just want to give a quick shoutout to the new followers: HannahNotHannah.

Thanks everyone for reading, following and reviewing! Much love to you all!