AN:
Thanks for reviewing guys.
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Chapter 10:
"Don't forget to meet your father at the pitch around two okay!" shouted someone from the top floor. Oliver cringed and suddenly felt sympathy for Charlie. He didn't have to endure that pushy voice all of his days, Charlie however could not run away from it as she was bound by blood.
"Yes mother!" Charlie shouted back while the Poppy the house elf look at her in disdain.
"What is it?" she asked the elf. The elf scrunched up her nose and explained that it was not proper to shout at Athena; after all she was still Charlie's mother, reasoned the elf. Charlie however snorted and reasoned that "Do you really want me to go up those stairs with my outside shoes?"
Charlie watched as the elf shake it's head in defeat. "The young mistresses should also know to avoid the diner on Bridgeworth Street. It is infested by rats says the Framer's elf!"
"Thank you Poppy," Charlie finally said as she followed the others out of the house.
Outside Hermione looked back at Charlie with a puzzled expression. Charlie had asked Hermione what was wrong. "Did you tell Poppy to meet us with the brooms at the pitch later?"
Charlie sighed and popped into the house again, it would have been a fast conversation if not Athena's voice cutting in every so often. Hermione tip toed to the open door and found that her aunt was walking down the stairs.
"She's a piece of work" Oliver grimly commented as the three stood in the cold waiting for Charlie to come back. Hermione bit her laughter and nodded. What? Athena was a piece of work!
"At least she isn't hating Liam as much as she did a few months ago" Hermione commented looking at Liam who was shivering and watched as Oliver cast a heating spell on not only Liam and himself but her as well.
"Now we're even" Oliver said. Hermione smiled at him. Just then Charlie walked out of the house huffing. "Let's go" she muttered as she walked towards Liam.
After walking for a bit they reached Regentire Street. Oliver thought that it looked much like Hogsmeade. Looking around he instantly found a store called Quod Quid, he made a mental note to stop by later
"How's about we have lunch at Baxter's" Hermione suggested as she pointed at a cozy looking pub nearly at the end of the street. "Oh but we haven't gone into the Contessa in a while!"
"Contessa is a tea place Charlie!" Hermione reasoned. Charlie then piped up that there were sandwiches sold there.
"But I don't think that would be sufficient for those two" Hermione said as she pointed at Liam and Oliver who had been standing at the window of Quod Quid. She smiled as she watched Oliver explain to Liam how it was humanly possible to float on a broom.
Charlie called after them and said "Meet us at Baxter's, its at the end of this side of the street".
The two merely nodded and headed into the store as Hermione went on and followed Charlie into the robes' shop called "Callista's Wizarding wears"
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Stepping into the store Oliver led Liam to the farthest section where it was the quidditch section of the store. He immediately started to try on a pair of gloves but soon tossed it back into it's pile and looked for something bigger.
"What's this for?" Liam asked as he picked up the gloves Oliver's tossed over.
"These are equipment like how you have so many things underneath your hockey jersey" Oliver said as he proceeded looking at shoulder guards on the opposite pile. Oliver got used to the idea that Quidditch was a second class sport in North America.
"So, you used to play this game?" Liam curious asked as he picked up a magazine with a moving picture for its front page, one of the red headed woman in a midriff and trousers , that laid low on her hips, as she rode a broom with words appearing "The Harpies picked up a red hot Weasley!"
"Yes," Oliver answered as he led Liam towards the till. Liam had a lot of questions and the owner was still juggling two customers at the front of the store.
"Did you play professional?" Liam asked but it was the owner who answered. "Yes he did, It's good to meet you again Wood!"
Oliver smiled widely as he shook the owner's hand. "Well Flint, I didn't even recognize you!"
The owner smiled widely and pointed at his teeth. "Millie had forced on muggle braces on my teeth! She also waxed my eye brows. Goddamned women. But at least I don't look like a troll anymore!"
"Oh sorry, Marcus Flint, this is my friend Liam, Liam this is my old arch enemy in the field, Flint" Oliver said as he introduced Liam, "Though it was all for show for most part"
"Blimey Wood, I always knew you were fruity!" Flint laughed Oliver reached over the counter and slapped his shoulder. Sensing that Oliver looked infuriated Flint hastily added, "Wood I was kidding! News is you two are staying at the Wellingtons!"
Oliver nodded and laughed as he cracked a joke about Liam being Athena's target for her look of disdain. Flint looked at Liam and asked why, of course once it was explained that Liam was the boyfriend of Athena's daughter Flint roared in laughter and wished him luck.
"I thought you were managing the Sweetwater Stars! What are you doing in a shop?" Oliver commented. "Course I am, I'm on paternal leave however. I'm helping my wife out" Flint said and just then a woman walked from the side door carrying a well wrapped baby.
"Millie, you remember Wood?" Flint said as he went over and took the bundle from the blonde woman. She smiled at Oliver and then to Liam before placing a stack of parchments on the counter. They watched as Flint walked from behind the counter holding the fidgeting baby smiling widely, as any parent would.
Peering in, as Flint leaned out to show the baby, Oliver found a pinked face blonde baby wearing blue nappies. "This, my friend, is my son Anthony" Flint said proudly. Oliver smiled and thought; maybe someday soon he'd be a proud parent too.
Oddly enough he saw himself on a broom at his father's estate in Ireland, carrying a two year old excited brunette toddler with him while a woman, whose image was fuzzy, yelling at him to get down or else he was on the sofa. This thought however was stopped when the woman's face focused and saw a very infuriated face of no one else but Hermione Granger as the supposed wife.
Why was he fancying Hermione all of the sudden? Could it be because she saw him in her pajamas that morning? Her bare shoulder shivering every so often until Poppy the elf popped in with a sweater for her.
"Aint he cute?" Flint gushed. "He'd kick your offspring's bottom in the field anytime Wood"
Flint's wife then interjected and said that the two shouldn't bet on their off springs yet as Oliver didn't have any which only caused much teasing from Flint and now Liam who says that Oliver's too picky. The conversation went on as Oliver finally paid for the equipment he bought. In the end Oliver had invited Flint to the pitch later. "You sure you want me there Wood I could kick you bottom still!"
"Unlikely Flint, see you later!" Oliver laughed.
Baxter's wasn't far off down the street and the two guys got to the restaurant only to find that the two ladies had already ordered a platter of appetizers. Walking nearer to the two Oliver then only noticed that Hermione had two shopping bags by her feet while Charlie had another two.
"I don't understand you girls and shoppi-" Liam commented as he took the seat beside Charlie who crammed a chip into his mouth.
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Athena sat silently in her study looking over the parchments she got from work while a black hawk like bird was perched at the edge of the desk watching every move she made. It clucked it's beak and hopped off of the desk before hopping back on with a roll clasped onto it's beak.
"Thank you Judas. Poppy!" Athena said and a faint pop came from the corner of her office where a house elf was struggling holding three brooms together.
"Yes Mistress?" the elf asked after finally clutching the three brooms properly. Athena commented that it was nearly two in the afternoon. "Yes mistress, Master flooed and said he was already at the pitch with the guests and the young mistresses"
"Well off you go then," Athena finally said as the elf bowed and disappeared in a pop. The black bird clucked it's beak at Athena, looking up from her work she looked back at bird saying "Yes Judas, I will go there in a bit…but first! Drop this off at the ministry at the internal mail center."
Athena found it quite annoying that any in bound external parchment had to be processed through the internal mail center. She could only blame a man named Percy Weasley for that, it was implemented in most ministries apparently for safety of ministry workers.
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"I wonder where that elf is" Edwin said to himself as he looked over the snow covered pitch. He watched as Oliver joked with Liam at the edge of the stands while the other boy hopped a few inched away from the edge. His daughter and niece were sitting not too far with a man he knew was owner of the sports shop in town.
The air was crisp and cold but it didn't bother Edwin at all nor did it bother anyone else. He had a feeling that all of the kids had a heating charm on their clothes. His thoughts were interrupted by a pop and an elf wheezing out, "Your brooms master".
Hermione hopped off of her seat and took hold of two brooms taking the load off of the obviously frazzled elf. The elf smiled warmly at her before handing the last broom to Charlie.
"Well then, who is playing!" Charlie said as she hovered her broom by her hand. Liam watched it hover in interest even as to poke at it. Hermione piped up "I'm not!"
"That's four, two on two," Oliver said as he took the remained broom from Hermione since Edwin took one already. "What do you say Charlie? We can kick their asses" Edwin laughed as he hugged his daughter.
"Well I guess I'm with you Wood" Flint said. Oliver smiled as he finally mounted the broom. Finally, he soared up into the air feeling as if he was just freed from something he couldn't explain. Flying was something he always loved doing, it was his sport and was the source of his lively hood for years.
"Best in an hour, no snitches, just plain old hoops and quaffle" Charlie shouted as the four flew up. The game started as Poppy, who had stuck around to take a break, Hermione and Liam, who looked quite excited yet bewildered, watched on.
"Can you fly a broom?" Liam asked just when Oliver deflected one of Charlie's shots. Hermione nodded and said "It's not really my thing. During the war I had to use a broom to travel undetected-"
"War?" Liam interjected forgetting about the game all of the sudden.
"Yes a war, it lasted for a few years-" Hermione started but was cut off by Athena who had arrived. "And our Hermione over here was part of the Trio that ended it. She went against a wizard you could compare to Hitler but even worse and she was merely 18 at that point of her life"
"Wow I didn't know Hermione" Liam said surprised but looked up after when Athena shouted "BE CAREFUL!" while Charlie went to a steep 10 foot dive to retrieve the fallen red ball.
Liam peered over and looked horror struck as Charlie dived lower ending only near the pitch grounds. "And this is why I don't like dating Quidditch players" Hermione loftily added.
"Oliver doesn't play professional anymore Mia dear" Athena added which caused Liam to laugh. Hermione whacked his back and told him to shut up.
"This I can tell you Hermione, my friend over there was rolling around the floor embarrassed for a good hour because of you" Liam said happily. "You two should go out"
"N-No!" Hermione stuttered before looking up to find that Olive was smiling down at her. Her face burned red and she could feel that both Athena and Liam were looking amused at her, hell even Poppy looked amused at her.
"Tall, medium built, dark hair, dark eyes, cute smile, adorable….." Athena listed out and even Liam started joining in adding things like "does not snore, likes cats….".
All Hermione could do was bury her face in her mittens and let them at it, at least they were saying it out loud in front of her face not behind her back.
"You know Liam, I judged you too quickly, I think you are a nice boy for my Charlotte" Athena said. Liam's face broke into a smirk, looking quite pleased with himself. Who knew the way to Athena's good side was being cruelly humorous?
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AN:
thanks for reading.