a/n: Hey...again!! So this is the chapter before Harry and Ginny's wedding...it doesn't have much to do with the wedding but if I get enough reviews I'll update tomorrow!!
The names of all the future children are at the bottom. You can read them if you want to or be surprised in the next one. I've been working on the timeline for all the children and when they'll come into the story.
So on with the chapter!!
Always,
Kylie
Let us win, but if we can not win, let us break in a few heads. – Falmouth Falcons' motto
Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. – Chudley Cannons' motto
Quidditch is something I'll never quite understand. It's a violent sport where people tend to get hurt. They bash each other with Bludgers, throw Quaffles at each other, and fly around in search of a silly gold ball with wings…of course if Ron heard me say this he might actually have a heart attack and then lecture me about the "art" of Quidditch.
The upcoming match on July fifth was the Falcons versus the Cannons. It was a HUGE deal with Ron for two reasons. First, this was going to be Willa's first Quidditch match and he wanted to experience to be a special one for her and second because he was cheering for the Cannons rather than Harry's team. The Cannons had a knack for loosing (whether they were playing the Falcons or not, the team wasn't doing so hot this season. Even I knew this but I humored Ron and didn't say anything).
I was sure this was going to be quite the interesting event…
On July fourth (it was an American holiday called The Fourth of July or Independence Day. I looked up some information when I heard Becki talking about it), Ron and I decided to have a barbeque at our house since it was a custom of this holiday. After the barbeque we were going to walk down to the beach with our friends and watch the fireworks.
To our barbeque (to celebrate the American holiday with all of our friends that we'd met since arriving) we invited Becki, Paul, Anna, Graye, Nick, Jenna, and her husband Nathan. Ron cooked on the grill and we used his new stereo system to hear the music from the backyard. I decorated a little in red, white, and blue and tried to make the place look as festive as possible. So far everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ron was standing at the grill, having a heated conversation about Quidditch with Paul, Nick, and Nathan; Jenna was informing Becki and Graye about how she took care of herself to look the way she does at thirty-eight; and Willa and Anna played with Mimi and Midnight on the blanket that I set out for them. (Apparently Anna loved the new kitten that she got. Its name was Linda, which meant pretty girl in Spanish.)
I placed a bowl of organic corn chips on the table and sat down to talk with Becki, Graye, and Jenna.
"That's amazing." Becki observed, biting into a corn chip. "I am definitely going to check out your book." I smiled at Jenna who loved enlightening younger people on eating right and taking care of themselves.
"I can't believe you get to go to the Falcons and Cannons game!" Nathan said, excitedly. We all turned to the grill where Ron was smiling. Jenna laughed.
"In the VIP box too!" Ron said. I smiled, listening to him brag.
"No!" Paul said in shock. "You'll get to meet the players then." Becki watched her husband get excited about Quidditch and laughed.
"Oh, I've met all the Falcons before." Ron said like it was no big deal. "But tomorrow I'll get to meet the Cannons' Keeper and I've been wanting to get his signature forever! I'm even going to him to sign a little jersey for Willa."
"Can you get the team's signature for me?" Nick asked. Graye chuckled at Nick.
"Sure." Ron shrugged. He was loving this. Soon Paul and Nathan were requesting autographs of Quidditch players while Ron flipped burgers on the grill. He was smiling proudly, really enjoying the benefits of being best friends with the seeker of the Falmouth Falcons.
x
We were up somewhat early the next day so that we could be at the pitch in time. Ron originally painted his face orange but it scared Willa so he ended up washing it all off and wearing the Cannons' t-shirt, hat, and a Cannons' button. He dressed Willa in an orange onesie with a denim overall dress and a Chudley Cannons' jersey over it. He even had a tiny hat for her that she managed to get off once he turned around. Her beautiful light brown hair was prettier without the hat covering it anyways. Unfortunately Ron bought me a new shirt as well so I had to wear the colors to support the Cannons. I paired it with a pair of jean capris and black flip-flops. I didn't let Ron see but I packed a book into Willa's diaper bag for when I got bored during the match.
Once we were ready to go, we Apparated to the destination of the match. I held Willa who looked around curiously at the strange people prancing around, wearing either orange and black or dark gray and white with a falcon emblem.
"Ohahei!" She exclaimed, pointing out someone who was painted a very bright orange and had on a black hat. I tried not to laugh but couldn't help let a chuckle out. Willa giggled as well.
We walked up the million flights of stairs until we reached the VIP box. Harry had fixed it so that for this match only, the box belonged to his guests. Inside the VIP box, Ginny held Lily up to the window where she pointed out everything on the pitch while Neville and Trey, excitedly debated the possible outcomes of tonight's match. Sasha and Luna were sitting in their seats chatting with Angelina and Alicia. Luna was eight months pregnant while Alicia was only five months. Alicia looked as if she could be further along but only because she was (Healer confirmed) carrying twins. Fred and George were off to the side, making a bet on the match. When they saw us, they came over.
"Willa!" they exclaimed together. I handed her to them.
"Is it ok if we take her to go get a foam finger?" Fred wondered.
"We're going to take Lily too." George added.
"As long as it's an orange one then that's fine." Ron said.
"Of course." Fred rolled his eyes and went to go get Lily. When Ginny noticed we were here she hurried over. Ron left to go talk to Neville and Trey.
"Ok, I've got more news in the baby department." she declared, pulling me into a seat next to Luna, Sasha, Angelina, and Alicia.
"Who's pregnant or who popped one out?" I questioned. I had a mild interest in this subject but Ginny seemed to know everything about everyone and their pregnancies. I suppose when you own a dress boutique where women come and tend to gossip, it helps.
"Parvati gave birth to a boy a month ago." Ginny informed me. "Apparently they're doing the whole crazy baby name thing because the baby's name is Maddox Thomas."
"Wow." I said.
"Yep, and Lavender had a girl two weeks ago." Ginny said. "Lilac Finnegan. Do you believe that? Her name is Lavender and she named her kid Lilac. Talk about lack of originality." I laughed. "And you'll never guess who just popped out another one."
"Another?" I questioned.
"Apparently she was buying clothes for the baby and her water broke three weeks early in the store. She was rushed to the hospital and had Little Tristan Draco Lucius Malfoy." Ginny said, watching my shocked expression.
"No!" I said in shock.
"Yes!" Ginny said back. "The woman who works at the baby clothing store was in Ginny Potter the other day and she told me all about it."
"But…Pansy was pregnant again?" I questioned, confused.
"I don't know the whole story with that but I guess so." Ginny responded.
"Gossiping again?" Ginny turned quickly to see Harry dressed in his Falcons uniform. She got up and hugged him. "The match is about to start but I wanted to come up and say hi before I went out."
"Hi!" I said. Harry laughed.
"Hi Hermione. Where's Lily?" he asked Ginny.
"The coveted Potter child is right here." Fred said, holding his niece out for Harry. Harry smiled at Lily.
"There's my good luck charm." he said, smiling brilliantly. He kissed Lily and asked her to wish him good luck.
"Yaieiahya!" Lily said.
"Thank you Lils." Harry said. He turned to Ginny and kissed her. "And my other good luck charm."
"Good luck." Ginny said to Harry. She kissed him twice more before taking Lily who was all decked out in Falcons clothing. All except the orange foam finger.
"What's this?" Ron asked Fred and George, coming over with Willa who had a gray foam finger in her hand.
"I suppose we got them confused." George said with a laugh.
"All right then, I'm off." Harry said.
"Good luck!" We all (except Ron) called to him. He waved back at all of us before leaving the VIP box.
"Yeah…luck." Ron muttered to himself. He traded foam fingers with Ginny and sat down next to me. Willa sat in his lap waving the foam finger because every time she did it said different things.
"Cannons Rule!" said the foam finger. Willa giggled, delighted, and waved the finger again. "Cannons are number one!"
"Look, Wil. You see the orange and black team? That's the team we want to win." Ron said. He pointed out onto the field while Willa waved the finger again.
"Go Cannons! Woo hoo!" The foam finger said.
"Now, I know Uncle Harry is a Falcon and it's fine to cheer for his team – except when he's playing the Cannons. Wil, we're diehard Chudley Cannon fans so even though your godfather thinks he's going to win, we still cheer for the Cannons." he said. "It's just a little rivalry in sports. Don't worry, it's all good fun." Willa didn't really hear him. She waved her fingers again.
"Cannons Rule!" I wondered how long it was going to take her to get bored with that foam finger…
The match was beginning. The commentator announced all of the players for each team.
"And finally…he's the greatest seeker in a decade…he's caught the snitch in more than half of the matches he's played…he's quite the reckless one…he's Harry Potter!" The VIP box went up in cheers. I brought my hands together to clap but Ron shot me a look.
"Sorry." I said. I tried to refrain from laughing. "I meant 'boo'."
"Clap when they announce the Cannons." Ron said. "That way Willa will see you and clap too." I couldn't help from laughing slightly.
"Ok." I agreed. When the Cannons came out I clapped extra vigorously for Ron and Willa clapped too. Ginny booed to try and drown out the cheers and then we had a cheering/booing match going on. Ginny, George, Alicia Trey, Angelina, and Neville booed at the Cannons while Ron, Fred, Sasha, Luna, and I cheered for them.
Once the match started we ceased our cheering and booing to watch what happened.
Falcons scored…then they scored again…and unsurprisingly scored again…
Ron let out loud cheers whenever the Cannons gained control of the Quaffle that were replaced by boos whenever the Falcons stole it back. Willa would excitedly babble whenever Ron was shouting out cheers and when he was booing and shaking his fists at the window, Willa shook her fists. I managed to get a good picture of it for the scrapbook.
Falcons scored…they scored again…Falcons –wait, Cannons stole the Quaffle back and were headed for their goal posts.
"Come on! Come on!" Ron shouted. He stood up with Willa in his arms.
"Aiyeh!" Willa said. But the Falcons Keeper saved it and tossed it back into the game.
"Frick!" Ron exclaimed.
"Aiyoo!" Willa said as if she were angry. Ron chuckled and fell back into his seat with her.
The Cannons managed to score twice out of the entire game. Sadly they were only due to mistakes of the Beaters. For the first one, the beater accidentally hit a Bludger at the Chaser and the Quaffle flew from his hands. The Falcons Keeper was laughing so hard he accidentally let it get by him. On the second one, the other Beater was swinging his bat around doing what looked like swatting a fly. Well, he ended up knocking himself out and fell on the unsuspecting Chaser who was attempting to steal the Quaffle from the Cannons. They made a lucky shot while the team was in chaos.
The Seeker was no better than the other members of the team. Once the Snitch was spotted, he was after it but both he and Harry knew who would get it in the end. I'm pretty sure it was for his own amusement or possibly just to lull the other Seeker into a false sense of security, but Harry hung back a little for as long as possible as if the other Seeker was going to get it. Finally he did a reckless move and grabbed the Snitch.
I looked over at Ginny with a smile on my face but she looked pale. She glanced down at her ring and squeezed her eyes shut. A tear slipped out while Lily played with her hair. Ginny had expressed this concern to me before. Harry found it fun to do tricks that were quite dangerous. It's gotten to the point where those tricks could very well turn into harmful accidents. She's never told him but she's told me. Yesterday she called me on my M-phone, crying and saying that she woke up for a nightmare where she was walking down the aisle. For some reason she had Lily with her but when they got to the end Harry wasn't there. At this point in the dream she was informed that Harry had been in a very serious accident and he wasn't coming back ever. I didn't have to help her decipher the dream. She knew what it meant. She was afraid that one of these times, Harry would be seriously hurt and he would leave Ginny and Lily behind.
"Look, he's fine." I said to her, gesturing to the pitch where Harry and his teammates were cheering while that Cannons sulked.
"I know." Ginny said. She nodded and took a deep breath before opening her eyes. "But there's always that what if moment." She hoisted Lily higher in her arms. "Did you hear that My Little Lily Flower?" Ginny asked Lily as she took another deep breath to control her emotions. "Daddy won again."
"Aieya?" Lily asked.
"Yes. He won." Ginny said. She smiled at Lily. "Daddy is a very good Quidditch player. We knew he would win." I offered Ginny a kind smile and she smiled back. "Time to go play the Fiancée of the Seeker role." She said. She and Lily left the VIP box.
"Is Ginny ok?" Ron wondered. The Cannons were entering the VIP box at the moment and I knew he was eager to go but first he had to make sure his sister was ok.
"She's fine." I assured him. "The stunt Harry pulled at the end kind of freaked her out."
"I know." Ron said. His face got extremely serious. "I've tried to talk to him about it but he thinks it's all for sport. One of these days, he's not going to be so lucky." The fact that Ron thought Harry's tricks were a little extreme scared me. It must have shown in my face because Ron pulled me to him and Willa. "He knows what he's doing." He whispered in my ear. He kissed my forehead and smiled.
"Go meet the Cannons." I said. Ron's smile got even brighter and he pulled out a few pictures of the Cannons for them to sign for our friends back home.
"Come on, Wil. Let's go meet the players." Ron said. I chuckled and fell back into my seat. I was the only one still sitting; everyone else was talking to the Cannons. I turned my attention to the middle of the field where Harry was being interviewed. I noticed Hannah Abbot's replacement reporter from the Gazette, as well as the sports reporter from WTV. Harry was smiling and sweating. He held Lily in his arms while Ginny stood by his side, holding onto his hand with a smile as well. Other players of the Falcons were being interviewed and their significant other stood by their side. However, none of their smiles looked forced like Ginny's did.
Then again…none of their husbands, wives, fiancées, girlfriends, or boyfriends had done a stupid stunt during the game.
There was a post-game party at Harry and Ginny's for everyone in the VIP box. Willa went down for a nap in Lily's room while the rest of us sat in the living room, talking about the match. Harry was the only one not apart of the conversation. He was talking to Molly and Arthur on his M-phone. They'd seen the match on their new WTV.
I sat in a chair, going through my palm pilot. I had a busy week ahead of me. Willa had a doctor's appointment, I had a doctor's appointment, I promised Jenna I would help out at The Book Loft on Tuesday, Sasha was coming up on Wednesday for a shopping day in L.A. and Graye was coming along, I had Yoga (a new relaxation technique I picked up; I had classes every Thursday), and then Willa, Ron, and I had our usual Thursday night dinners with Becki, Paul, and Anna at the ShoreHouse.
Ron took my palm pilot from me and stuck it in his pocket.
"The point of weekends are to distress from the week." he said. I shrugged innocently and leaned in to kiss him.
"Look. A replay of the match!" Trey said. He had been flicking through the channels with his wand. Harry sat down on the couch next to Ginny and Lily to watch himself go for the Snitch. I was not the only one to notice Ginny's expression tighten as she watched Harry do that reckless stunt again. Harry put an arm around her.
"I'm fine." he said. He kissed the top of her head. "Really, it's all for fun." He kissed her lips this time and she smiled a little. The words comforted her and would surely hold her off until the next match but what happened when he preformed a reckless act again?
Quidditch was a dangerous game…especially when Harry tried something stupid. The one thing that I've managed to figure out, having to do with Quidditch, was why Harry did the reckless stunts. I was almost convinced that he only did it because he found it thrilling and had gotten to the point where he was sure that nothing would happen to him.
I still had no clue why Ron was so serious about the game or why people found it remotely interesting but from the look on Willa's face during the match, I was positive that she was going to be just like her daddy: a diehard Cannons fan.
Ok here are the names of all of the furture children in the story...let me know what you think!!!
Ron and Hermione: Willa Elizabeth (we already know this); Nolan Xavier (Nolan means noble and outstanding. Ron picks the name because he thinks it's the perfect Gryffindor name); Austin Dylan; and October Rose (thank you OliviaElliotfan4ever for letting me use the name of her daughter for Ron and Hermione's second daughter!)
Harry and Ginny: Lily-Lyn (we know this); Emmaline Faye (more commonly referred to as Emma); James Sirius; Dane Harry and Liam Remus (Dane and Liam are twins)
Fred and Angelina: Gabriel Fredrick; Jennica Angelina; Henry George and Tyler Ronald (Henry and Tyler are twins)
George and Alicia: Amber Alexandra and Autumn Anne (twins); Lana Marie; Daniel Andrew and Donald Mitchel (twins)
Percy and Penelope: Gregory Phillip (we know this); Delaney Agnes; Sophia Hazel
Charlie and Alison: Maxwell Charles (we know this); Bennett Gideon; Kaleb Fabian; Antonia Alison
Bill and Fleur: Alexis Arthur and Cecilia Molly (twins...we know this); Damon Luc
Tonks and Lupin: Penelope Nymphadora (we know...); Felicity Andromeda; Tabbitha Tonks (Tonks is her middle name)
Sasha and Trey: Viola Katherine; Grier Riley; Trey Michael jr.
Neville and Luna: Phineas Xenophilius (we know...); Obadiah Frank (Obie); Roman Neville; Leonardo Luno (Leo); Tallulah Alice (not your normal names...but I wanted to pick somthing slightly different for Neville and Luna's children)
Draco and Pansy: Ella Lucinda; Tristan Draco Lucious; Gemma Narcissa; Ava Pansy.
Seamus and Lavender: Lilac; Sean
Dean and Parvati: Maddox; Saffron; Rhiahnon
Zacharis and Susan: Elijah; Evan; Emmett
Hannah and Ernie: Samuel
Ok, that's all I have planned and I think I've pretty much covered everything. Let me know what you think!!!
Always,
Kylie