"They won't let anyone in to watch the land squadron try out." Brenda said as plopped down onto the grass that Ron, Harry, Ginny and Sirius had chosen for an impromptu picnic.
"Why not?" Ron asked as he shoved a hunk of cheese into his mouth.
"Oh, something about what the land squadron will be doing is more secretive that the air squad." she answered as she dug around in the basket that Ginny had packed. "We can't see the sea squad either."
"That's not fair." Ron groused. "They got to watch us."
"Its harder to hide a group of people flying about on brooms." Sirius laughed.
"Not if you do some sort of camouflage." Brenda said.
"Can you?" Ginny asked.
"Dunno." Ron shrugged. "Don't even know who'll be on that squad, much less what we'll be doing."
"Who is the other school?" Harry asked.
"Durmstrang." Sirius answered.
"How do you know?" Brenda asked. "We're actually taking part in it and they haven't bothered to tell us."
"I have my sources." he smiled.
"You don't think he'll be here, do you?" Ron asked Harry, disgust clearly written all over his face.
"Who's he?" Brenda asked.
"I don't know." Harry replied to Ron. "Does it matter?" he asked with a laugh.
"No." Ron said quickly. "I couldn't care less."
"Who?" Brenda asked Ginny and Sirius.
"Viktor Krum." Ginny answered with a giggle.
"Oh, well that explains it all." Brenda rolled her eyes.
"Quidditch player extraordinaire, and Durmstrang student who wooed Hermione last year." Sirius told her quietly as Ron tried to hide his agitation at the thought of Krum being there.
"Oh, so Hermione has a foreign boytoy does she?" Brenda joked.
"Shut up." Ron said. "They went to one stupid dance."
"That's how I got my first boyfriend." Brenda replied. "We went to the Valentine's dance, and we dated for four years."
"Well, you're not Hermione." Ron said. "Stupid Durmstrang." he muttered under his breath. "I'm not hungry. I'm going in."
"Oh, Ron, just sit down." Ginny said. "I've got more chocolate frogs."
"I'm not in the mood." he said as he got up. "I need to practice my flying anyhow."
"How are you going to do that inside?" his sister asked.
"I'll go out onto the quidditch field." he answered.
"But you said you were going in." she pointed out.
"Well, I'll go in, get my broom, and head to the field."
"I'll go with you." she said, getting to her feet. "He's so much fun when he's like this." she told the others with a laugh as she followed. "Wait for me." she called in a singsong voice.
"Oh, its times like this I miss my brother." Brenda said as she watched them leave, Ron running to get ahead of Ginny a bit.
"You didn't do or say anything to intentionally torture your brother, did you?" Sirius asked sarcastically.
"No, of course not." she smiled. "I was the best little sister anyone could ever want." she added, batting her eyelashes.
"Do you have any other brothers and sisters?" Harry asked.
"Nope." she shook her head. "One boy, one girl, and they decided we were enough of a handful."
"Did you want more?" Harry asked. He'd always wished that he'd had siblings. Watching Ron with his, he was always envious.
"No, Brian was enough fun all on his own." she said.
"I get the feeling that you still torture him." Sirius said.
"I am so offended by that." she said, "I was never the type to wait until he went to pick up his dates when our parents were gone, and then throw all of my stuffed animals in his room, pin up posters of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. Or hide little frilly nightgowns under his pillow for the girl to find." she added, falling back laughing at the memories she was bringing up.
"You were mean." Harry said, glad at that moment he didn't have a sister.
"No, no." she said. "I still am. Great thing about the girl he married, she thinks like me." she added with a mischievous gleam in her eye.
"So you two can double team him?" Sirius asked, feeling truly sorry for Brian.
"It's so much fun." she said, the thought alone making her happy. "You know, I think it could be quite fun having you down the street Harry." she added, smiling wolfishly.
"Oh god." he groaned.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can work it so you can come live with me at the end of the year." Sirius told him. "Just need to have a talk with Dumbledore and that lovely family of yours."
"You need to talk to Dumbledore before letting your godson live with you?" Brenda asked.
"Long story." Sirius said.
"Well, that means you'd be taking some of my fun away." she said, pouting a bit. "Not sure I like that plan." she turned to Harry. "Oh, I got to see that charming little cousin of yours while I was home. We had a little party before Brian and Christie left for their honeymoon, and he snuck in and was stealing food."
"If he smells food, he'll do anything to get to it." Harry explained.
"So I gathered." she nodded as she took a bag of jelly beans out of her pocket. "Anyone want the black ones?" she asked, offering the handful to Harry and Sirius.
"Thank you." Sirius said as he took them and quickly popped them in his mouth.
"That's just disgusting." she shuddered.
"They're the best ones." he argued.
"If you've no taste. The red ones are best." she said as she held the bag out to Harry, who took a handful.
"That rumor that was going around." he suddenly said.
"What about it?" Sirius asked, feeling a bit exasperated at the mention of it.
"I know its none of my business, but, if you two were, you know...I wouldn't have a problem with it." he stuttered.
Brenda and Sirius stared at Harry before looking at one another. Brenda then turned to Harry with a smile.
"I'm glad you said that." she said, setting her bag of candy down.
"You are?" he asked neverously.
"Yes, it makes what we have to tell you that much easier." Sirius said.
"What you have to tell me?"
"We didn't want you to be too weirded out by this." Brenda said, taking Sirius's hand. "Especially not when the baby comes."
Harry looked at them, completely dumbfounded. He tried to think of something to say, but he was at such a loss.
"We will want you to be the godfather." Brenda continued.
"I...I..." Harry babbled. "Okay?"
"By jove, I do think you really have him believing you." Sirius said, suddenly erupting into laughter.
"I think you're right." Brenda said, holding her stomach as she rocked back and forth, shaking with laughter herself.
"That was not funny." Harry said, the numbness leaving him. "That was just sick."
"Oh, it was just a joke." Brenda said, regaining some of her composure. "Harry, come on." she pleaded as Harry got up and headed for the school.
"Harry!" Sirius called. "Maybe he's just having us on now. He'll come back any second." he told Brenda.
"Perhaps not." she replied as they watched him get further and further away. "I suppose we should go apologize." she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'll go do that, you clear all this up." she added as she jumped up. "Don't miss anything, you don't want to litter." she called over her shoulder as she ran after Harry, leaving Sirius with the remains of the picnic.
"Excuse me." Dumbledore's voice called out as everyone settled in before dinner. "If you would be so kind as to give me your attention, Mr. Thintwhistle will be announcing the squadron leaders."
"I hope you don't mind taking orders from someone younger than you." Malfoy whispered to Brenda as they sat waiting for Thintwhistle to announce the leaders.
"No, I'm sure Oliver will be a good captain." she replied with a bubbly smile.
"I will just get to the announcements, seeing as how that has been the hot topic around the school for days now." Thintwhistle said as he stood in front of the group. "The leader of the Sea Squadron is, Mr. Michael Corner." a round of applause followed the announcement of the Ravenclaw student's name.
"The leader of the Land Squadron, Miss Hermione Granger." all the Weasley's, and Harry let out whistles and loud applause at this announcement. Hermione blushed and told them to be quiet as Thintwhistle announced the leader of the third and final group.
"And, we had the most difficulty in chosing a leader for this final group. But after long deliberation, we came to a majority vote. The leader of the Air Squadron, Miss Brenda Dennison."
More cheers from the Gryffindor table, and hisses and boos erupted from the Slytherin table. Brenda turned to Malfoy and winked at him, causing his face to turn an even deeper shade of red than it had been before.
"If the Squadron leaders would please step forward." Thintwhistle added as the commotion died down. "We would like to give each of you medals denoting your rank among your respective groups." he went on as all three came to stand in the front of the room. He pinned the medals on each of the students, stopping between each to allow those close enough to see them. "These three students showed the most leadership ability, and were most highly recommended by other students and faculty." he explained. "I hope that those who are in their Squadrons will not allow any hard feelings to get in the way of doing what is best for each group." he finished, excusing the three to return to their seats.
"Let me see." Ron said as Brenda and Hermione sat down. "Crossed wands." he said looking at Hermione's medal. "What's yours, Brenda?" he asked.
"Crossed brooms." she said, polishing the medal, barely able to keep herself from running up to her room to write to her family with the good news.
"What was Michael's?" Fred asked.
"A shark." Hermione answered. "I can't wait to tell Mum and Dad." she said. "They're never going to believe this."
The food appeared, and all three captains showed off their medals and accepted praise from their fellow students. Harry was quiet for the most part. He was glad for all of them, he did like them all, even if he was still angry with Brenda for her disgusting joke earlier. It made him feel a little better to see Malfoy glaring at the Gryffindor table all through dinner. He walked along behind the others as they made their way upstairs after dinner. He was eager to get the games over and done with already.
"Good day for your house." Sirius said as he fell into step with the boy.
"Mmmhmmm." Harry nodded, still upset with Sirius as well.
"It was a joke." Sirius sighed. "Besides, you said that if there were anything..."
"I didn't mean that." Harry said, stopping and staring at the older man. "I was thinking more if you two did fancy one another, that was fine, but not that."
"So, if she and I just simply had little crushes on eachother, but did nothing about it." Sirius said.
"Yes." Harry nodded, knowing he was sounding like a child.
"Harry, I love you, I couldn't love you anymore if you were my own son." Sirius said, putting a strong hand on the boy's shoulder. "But, if there is anything there, it would be no concern of yours."
"I know." Harry answered quietly. "I'm sorry."
"I know. So am I." he said, pulling the boy into a hug. "The games start in a few days." he said, watching the group gathering around the squad captains.
"I know." Harry nodded. "Still worried about them?"
"Yes." he nodded. "I don't want any of them to go up."
"Out you mean?" Harry asked.
"Yes, of course." Sirius said. "I just hope I'm wrong. That all will go off without a hitch."
"We'll see I guess." Harry said as they began walking again. "I don't want any of them to end up like Cedric."
