CHAPTER XI

Lily woke up and hugged Mizu, who twitched around, a little bothered at the fact that his very sweet and attentive owner was snuggling him like a teddy bear. He meowed loudly, making Lily giggle. She let the kitten go and he proudly lied back down. The girl covered him up with the blanket, something which made him purr delightfully. She then dressed herself up in a loose shirt which left her left shoulder bare and her home jeans.

Mizu, probably wondering whether he'd be left out without breakfast or not, decided to stretch himself and follow her down the stairs to the living room, where it purposefully jumped to perch himself on Lily's shoulder. He purred, admiring the tall view.

The kitchen was swarming with people, seeing as it was New Year's Eve. Ginny was cutting potatoes, helped by Hermione, who had magically enchanted several knives to slice other ingredients as she focused on the more delicate procedures. Ron and Harry were outside, getting the tent ready. Charlie Weasley was with them, which made Lily smirk. Out of all her uncles and aunties, she preferred Charlie the best. She was also his favourite niece.

Lily kissed Mizu's head as she noticed him getting ready to go feed from the milk bowl that stood next to the rest of the litter. Albus and James had already picked theirs too: Albus had named his kitten Ephraim in honour of a very important Quidditch Chaser; and James's was called Nut because he seemed to be just as crazy as his owner. The one left was the only female of the litter, and surprisingly was now owned by Scorpius. Harry had given her to him in a rather tender moment. He hadn't named her yet, or at least never said it out loud. She was a beautiful dark red with stripes. She and Mizu were really good to each other.

Lily grabbed a scone and ran outside to hug Charlie, who easily scooped her up into the air and threw her around. She closed her eyes blissfully: she loved the feeling of flying.

"Well, here's my young and beautiful niece!" Charlie laughed "You get more dashing every time I see you"

"And you lie more and more each time I see you!" she retorted, also laughing.

"They've told me you've made the team as the Seeker. That's my girl! I always knew you were cut out to be a Quidditch star!"

"Could you please be more exaggerated?" she rolled her eyes.

"Is that a scone?" Ron said from behind.

"Yes, Hermione has just taken them out of the oven. I don't think she'll let you grab one, though"

"Why not? You have one!"

"Because she can trust me with not eating the whole lot!" Lily answered back.

Ron blushed a little and turned to Harry.

"Your daughter is getting so cheeky!"

"You had that one coming and you know it" Hugo said, punching his dad's arm, only to suffer the ruffling of his wild hair.

"Well, my niece. Are you up for a football game?" Charlie asked, his eyes gleaming wildly.

The two teams were made. On one side, Harry and Albus played attack, James was goalkeeper and the defence was supplied by Fred Jr. and George. On the other side, Charlie and Lily prepared to attack, Ginny and Victoire were defence and Ron acted as goalkeeper. Scorpius, never having played the game before, decided to watch.

The Potters had purchased a field quite a few years ago, when Albus was born, and the children had made sure to buy goals in order to play their favourite muggle game. They had a TV at home and regularly watched the games. Each was a fan of a different team: while Harry and Albus fanned over Liverpool, Lily was a huge Barcelona supporter. James liked Manchester best and Ginny, though she didn't say, also supported Barcelona.

Hermione came into the pitch with the ball safely tucked under her arm and a whistle in her hand.

"Remember, this is a Muggle sport. So NO MAGIC!" Red card for ANYONE who I see with a wand on the field. Is that clear?"

Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows. What the hell was a red card?

"A red card means that the player making the fault is actually thrown from the game. Officially the player won't be able to play the next match either as retribution. They're usually taken out in serious circumstances" a voice next to him explained.

Scorpius turned around to look at Rose. She was looking at him with a somewhat gracious smile, but her eyes quickly turned to the game. She seemed to be interested in it despite the book on her lap.

"So…"

"Football is really easy to understand. There are normally eleven team members per team, plus the extra ones. They can change only three players during the hour and a half game, no more. There's a goalkeeper, defence, middle-fielders and attackers. The distribution of the players depends on the team and the team they're facing. For example, if you know that your rival has a better attack than you do, you focus on defence, hence putting more defenders and fewer attackers. Main rule is: no hands. As soon as your hand touches the ball, you're out. Only the goalkeeper can use his hands to catch the ball, and when you're doing a thrown-in. Period. Now watch the game and you'll understand"

It was true. Scorpius started to understand the game as soon as he started to watch it. Soon he could identify the fine players. James wass an exceedingly good goalkeeper and Lily and Charlie had to really fight to score the three goals. Fred Jr. was far better than his dad George. Harry was mediocre and so were Ron and Victoire. Albus and Ginny were both quite bad at the sport. Charlie and Lily, however, seemed to be unbeatable when they played together. It was not that they were extraordinary by themselves, but their play style was so defined, almost like they could read each other's thoughts, that no one could tackle them.

The game ended in a three-two score. All of them were sweaty and had to take turns to shower. Lily was called aside by Victoire, who gave her a wrapped package.

"This is your Christmas present. I wanted to give this to you in person. Please wear it today"

"Thanks a lot! I will!"

As soon as she was safe inside her bedroom, she opened the present to find a new pair of vintage black jeans, ripped at various points. The top was a beautiful dark purple sleeveless shirt with the outline of a fading rose drawn on the chest and a lace top to avoid getting cold. Her biggest smile came with the shoes: Victoire, with her exquisite taste, had picked a pair of decently heeled short boots made of dark leather.

'Thanks so much, coz' she thought as she went into the bathroom.

When she got back, she dressed herself in her new outfit, outlined her eyes and tied her hair up in a ponytail. Then she walked down the stairs to help her family. Scorpius was in the living room, already getting prepared to return home for New Year. He walked into the chimney with his backpack and said goodbye to everyone who had gathered there. His eyes fell on her and widened in awe. With a last smirk, he said the name of his home and was swallowed by green flames. She would never forget that look, the slightly surprised but already knowledgeable look in those grey eyes, the spark in them as his lips formed that particularly twisted smile she'd come to love and yearn for…

"Someone's far from this Earth" Charlie whispered into her ear. She jumped in surprise.

"Oh, no… it's just…"

"You're going to tell me all about this Scorpius guy at lunch today, missy. I will not tolerate secrets from you"