Hours later, Remus and Alan were walking up to their dorm, arms around each other's shoulders, singing off key. Jamie didn't even know what song they were singing. Chris was in front of them, laughing. They had gotten a bit too boisterous and Molly had sent them up to their dorm before Professor Longbottom came in to complain.

As the party had gone on and the more he drank, the angrier Jamie got. Chris - who was supposed to be his friend - had been secretly dating his little sister. Remus and Alan knew and never said anything. He had a few choice words for all of them.

The four arrived in their dorm and Remus and Alan collapsed on their respective beds, laughing, while Chris went to his trunk and pulled out a pair of pajama pants, glancing over at the two. Jamie stepped into the dorm and stopped, looking at the three of them.

"Ah, come on, Jamie. You've been in a sour mood nearly all night. We won! What's got your knickers in a twist?" Remus said, grinning over at his brother. Jamie took a deep breath and looked at him, then over to Alan. Finally his sight fell on Chris, who was looking him with a confused look.

"When were you going to tell me? Or were you even planning on telling me?" he asked, staring at Chris. His eyes widened as his face paled. Jamie had found out.

"You found out, then?" Alan said, sitting up.

"Wait, what? How did you know?" Chris asked, looking over at Alan.

"Caught you two sneaking out of the old divination tower right before break," Remus said, sitting up.

"That's beside the point. How long have you been secretly snogging my sister behind my back?!" Jamie demanded. Chris looked back at him.

"It's not like that, Jamie-"

"Isn't it? That's what it was like with all those other girls," Jamie shouted. "Date them a bit then break up with them when you get bored." Chris frowned.

"That's not fair. You know I wouldn't-"

"What? Hurt her? You're damn right you won't hurt her. Because I won't let you continue to date her," he said.

"Come on now, Jamie. Don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction," Alan said, standing.

"Really, I think you're going a bit overboard," Chris said stepping towards Jamie. "I'm not just stringing her along or anything. I do actually care about her-"

"Sure you do," Jamie said with a laugh, though his brown eyes remained cold. He then looked over at his brothers. "And you two… you weren't going to tell me?!"

"We thought it best that Chris and Daisy tell you on their own terms," Remus said, turning serious. "It's Daisy's first relationship. Don't you think it best that we stay out of it? You remember what happened with Prentiss…"

"I'd rather she not speak to me for the rest of term if it means protecting her," Jamie shouted looking back at Chris. He walked over to him and got into his face. "You will stay away from her," he said, his voice low. Chris straightened up to his full height, though he was still a bit shorter that Jamie.

"Or what? Are you going to hit me?" he asked. "I'm not Prentiss, mate. She actually likes me." Before anyone could react, Jamie punched Chris and watched as the chaser fell back against the wall. Chris looked up at the irate keeper, his hand to his face. Almost growling, he lunged for him. Remus and Alan watch for a bit as the two large teens scuffled, knocking into beds and trunks.

"YOU WILL BREAK UP WITH HER!" Jamie shouted.

"I THINK THAT'S DAISY'S DECISION!" Chris shouted back.

"When should we try to break this apart?" Alan asked, glancing over at Remus.

"Probably should have jumped in when we saw Jamie walk over to him," Remus replied.

"YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER!"

"THIS IS WHY SHE DESPISES YOU!"

"Yea, I think now's a good time to stop this. Else we won't have a dorm left," Remus said. He and Alan jumped into the fray, attempting to pull the two away from each other. Jamie had landed a few more punches, while Chris got in some of his own. Alan had managed to grab hold of Jamie, while Remus dodged an errant punch in his attempt to grab Chris.

"Watch it!" Remus shouted. He tried to dodge another punch, but instead it landed in his mouth, splitting his lip. Remus stumble back a bit, not sure who threw it, but enough was enough. He managed to get his arms around Chris and using all his strength, yanked him away.

"LET ME GO!" Jamie shouted as he fought against his brother's grip. Remus had an easier time with Chris, being much larger than him.

"You're both being ridiculous!" Alan shouted. "And no, we're not letting you go until you promise to stop destroying the room!" Jamie stared at Chris, breathing heavily. His cheek was starting to swell and he had a cut above his right eye. A black eye was starting to appear on Chris along with a split lip.

"Now then. I'm sure we can come to a sensible resolution," Remus said, looking from Chris to Jamie. "We've all been best mates since first year."

"You have to break up with her," Jamie said.

"Not that again..." Alan said.

"Why would I break up with her?" Chris shouted. "I do actually care for her!"

"Yea, yea, we know. You'd never intentionally hurt her," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Who's side are you on anyway?" Chris asked, struggling against Remus.

"If you must ask, Daisy's. But would you stop?" he said. He looked over at Jamie. "First of all, everyone just calm down, got it?" Jamie and Chris glared at each other then both nodded silently. Alan and Remus looked at each other. They both let go and stood, ready to grab them again.

"Okay. So… Daisy and Chris are a couple," Alan stated. "Jamie - you're worried that Chris'll break her heart, am I correct?" Jamie continued to glare at Chris.

"Yes. And I'm worried you'll distract her. She should be worrying about school and quidditch. She needs to stay focused," he said. Alan tried to avoid rolling his eyes. "And you should have told me!"

"Right, so first of all… Chris, apologize for not saying anything before now," Alan said.

"What? Why?" Chris shouted.

"Just do it," Remus said. Chris looked at Remus and back at Jamie.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We had actually planned to tell you tomorrow," Chris said, finally lowering his voice from a shout. Jamie huffed and laughed haggardly.

"Sure you were," he said. Alan punch him lightly in the shoulder. Jamie looked back at him.

"Shouldn't you apologize for overreacting?" he said. Jamie looked back at Chris.

"I'm sorry I punched you," he said, begrudgingly.

"Alright then… now what would make this situation better?" Remus asked.

"If Chris breaks up with Daisy," Jamie said immediately.

"Not an option," Chris replied just as quickly. Jamie started to move towards him, but Alan grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Now, now," he said. "Surely there's some sort of compromise here. I don't think it's necessary to break them up."

"It's a conflict of interest. And what if you two fight? It'll ruin the team dynamic," Jamie said.

"Bollocks. We've been together since right after Halloween. Hasn't affected either of us on the pitch so far," Chris said.

"See? Nothing to worry about there," Alan said.

"But… Jamie's got a point," Remus said. All three boys looked at him.

"Seriously, Remus?" Chris asked.

"I'm happy for you two, really mate. But this year is not just about winning the Cup. We've got scouts to worry about. What if you do get in a fight?" he said.

"I fail to see how that will affect you and the scouts," Chris asked, exasperated.

"Anything that affects how we play as a team will affect what the scouts think about us. Plus, we'll be too distracted worrying about Daisy," Jamie responded. Chris looked over at him.

"That's the daftest thing I've heard from you," he exclaimed. "You just don't want me dating your little sister!"

"Either you break up with her or you quit the team," Jamie said.

"That's a bit much, Jamie. Don't you think?" Alan asked.

"No, it's not," Jamie replied. The four were silent.

"I'm not breaking up with her just because you want me to. And I'm not quitting the team," Chris said. "You need me to win the Cup."

"If you won't break up with her, then I'm kicking you off the team," Jamie said. Remus and Alan balked.

"We have a match in less than two months! You can't replace our lead chaser in that amount of time!" Remus shouted.

"My decision is final," Jamie said, turning towards his bed.

"At least sleep on it," Alan said. "You'll see sense in the morning."

"No," Jamie said. He then climbed into bed and shut the curtains around him. Remus, Alan and Chris all looked at each other. All the fight seemed to have left Chris as he stared down at the floor.

"Guess it's a good thing I have auror training to fall back on," he said, defeated.

"Don't worry. We'll talk some sense into him," Remus said softly, patting Chris on the back. "You don't have to give up your dreams of maybe playing professional quidditch." Chris smiled appreciatively.

"Sorry about that," he said, pointing to Remus' face. The beater shrugged.

"Not the first time I've been hit. Won't be the last either. Let's get to bed. Hopefully he'll come around in the morning," he said. Chris nodded and walked over to his bed, climbing it. He certainly hoped they could work things out.

The next morning, Daisy ran down the stairs with Lucy following. Her stomach was in knots. On the one hand, she was happy to finally get her relationship with Chris out in the open. On the other, she was most certain that Jamie would overreact and her brothers would end up doing something ridiculous.

Which is why she almost wasn't completely surprised when she found Chris sitting on a sofa sporting a black eye and split lip. Immediately, she ran over to him, dropping to the floor in front of him, gingerly checking out his injuries.

"Merlin, which one was it?" she asked, guessing that it had been one of her brothers.

"Jamie," he said. "He read our minds last night and confronted me after the party," he said, grimacing slightly when she hit a sore spot. Daisy huffed as her eyes flashed red.

"Idiot," she said. "I knew he would overreact. Please tell me you got a few good punches in." Chris smiled slightly.

"A couple. But then he kicked me off the quidditch team." Daisy's eyes widened as she jumped up.

"He did what?! He can't do that! We need you for the Hufflepuff match and the Cup final! Not to mention, you won't have a chance with the scouts!" she shouted. She looked towards the stairs leading up to the boys' dorms and started stomping towards them.

"Daisy, what are you doing?" Chris asked, standing.

"Going to give him a piece of my mind, is what," she said, scowling. Chris grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Just… wait a minute," he said with a sigh. Daisy looked up at him. "He said… he said I could choose either quidditch or… you." Daisy studied him a moment.

"He gave you an ultimatum? Break up with me or quit the team? And you chose to quit the team?" she asked, confused.

"Well… to be honest, I refused to choose, so he kicked me off instead," he said. "Remus and Alan are trying to talk sense into him." Daisy looked a bit surprised.

"You mean, those two are okay with us?" she asked.

"Apparently they caught us sneaking out of the tower before break. They've known for awhile," he said.

"Well... we did suspect they knew," she murmured. Though she couldn't help but be a little surprised that they hadn't try to use the information to their advantage. Maybe those two were capable of being reasonable after all.

"So… what do you do?" Lucy asked after Daisy and Chris were silent a few moments. Daisy looked at her cousin and back at Chris.

"For now, I guess, wait to see if Remus and Alan make any progress," Chris said, flopping back down on the sofa. "Surely he at least lets me back on the team. As ridiculous as Jamie gets, he's usually more practical when it comes to quidditch. He wants to win that damn Cup more than any of us. And we all want it pretty badly." Daisy nodded, walking over and sitting next to him. What she wanted more than anything is to go upstairs and knock some sense of her own into her older brother.

"Maybe we should go get something to eat?" Lucy suggested. "We don't know how long they're going to be." Daisy looked at Chris.

"I am a bit peckish," he said. Daisy nodded and then stood up.

"Let's go."

Chris was mostly silent throughout breakfast. Daisy watched him cautiously, wondering what was going through his head. But at the same time, she couldn't blame him. She herself was a bit thrown off. Jamie had done pretty much what she had expected. He overreacted. But she hadn't seriously thought he would go as far as he did - kicking him off the team. Several different emotions were fighting for prominence in her head at that moment. She was angry at her brother, worried about Chris, concerned about the team and how they would do without Chris on the team. And a bit of her was scared - what would this bit of drama do to their relationship?

"Is it true?" James said as he flopped down on the bench next to Lucy, looking across the table at Daisy and Chris. They both looked up.

"Is what true?" Daisy asked, confident that at least 20 different rumors were flying around Gryffindor Tower at the moment. Especially after Chris had appeared that morning with a black eye and busted lip.

"Did Jamie beat you up and kick you off the team?" he asked, unusually serious and concerned. He studied Chris' face.

"Yea," Chris said, staring down at his plate. Daisy furrowed her brow.

"But nothing is set in stone yet. Remus and Alan are trying to talk him out of it," Daisy said, looking over at her cousin. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, for a moment there I thought all was lost," he said, smiling. "What on earth did you do? I could still hear the shouting from their room when I passed by it coming down for breakfast. Daisy and Chris looked at each other, eyebrows raised in shock. Apparently the news about them had yet to hit the rumor mill.

"Jamie went ballistic when he found out Chris and Daisy were dating," Lucy said nonchalantly before taking a bite of eggs. Daisy whipped her head around to glare at her cousin. "What?" Lucy said with a shrug. "Everyone is going to find out anyway."

"How long has this been going on?" James asked, shocked.

"Since early November," Chris said.

"November?! You've been dating behind your brothers' backs for over two months now?" James said, shaking his head in disbelief. "And no one picked up on it? Not even Jamie?" Daisy shook her head no.

"Jamie decided to read our minds last night," she said, scowling. James looked at Lucy and Toby.

"Did you know?" he asked.

"Of course we knew," Lucy scoffed. James looked back at Chris.

"Sorry, mate. Looks like Jamie did a right good job with that eye," he said. Chris smiled slightly and shrugged.

"I've had worse," he said. "You should see Jamie and Remus. Turned into a proper scuffle last night in the dorm." Daisy glanced over at him. He was smiling, but she could see in his eyes that he was still concerned. And confused. Like he was battling with a decision. She sighed heavily and turned back to her food. Nothing that could be done about it now.