Nora sat and looked around the stadium in awe. She had been to a lot of sporting events, but this… this was something beyond her. They were in a box that had to have been at least 50 feet up in the air, looking down as people zipped around in the air on broomsticks.

"Okay, this is bizarre," she said, her eyes wide. Marcus chuckled from next to her.

"This is quidditch, Nor," he said. She shook her head slightly, looking over at him. "You remember how it works?"

"I think so," she said, looking back out at the field as Laura laughed from next to her. "You into this too?"

"A bit. I was a huge Harpies fan back in school," she said. Nora took in the Puddlemere jersey her best friend was wearing.

"I see you've changed your alliances," she commented.

"Still a Harpies fan. I just root for Puddlemere when they aren't playing the Harpies," she said.

"Who are we playing again?" Nora asked, squinting as she tried to make out the uniforms of the other team.

"The Falcons. Should be a good match," Marcus said.

"Didn't you get an offer from them?" Laura asked. Nora turned to look at her boyfriend in surprise. Marcus smiled and shrugged.

"Professional quidditch wasn't an option for me," he said.

"Really? Fuck, I'm not sure I want to meet your parents," Nora said, crossing her arms. "Wouldn't let you do something you love and all…"

"Nor, it's fine. Things worked out for the best," he said before kissing her cheek. "I'm not sure I was cut out for professional quidditch. A bit different than playing in school."

"Obviously you were if you got an offer," Nora muttered. Marcus chuckled.

"It's ancient history, Nor," he said. Nora glanced up at him. "Besides, I vaguely remember someone turning down a music career…"

"The game is starting. Shut up," Nora said quickly, causing Marcus to laugh. The three sat up in their chairs, tuning into the toss-up. As soon as the game started, Nora was enthralled. After about 30 minutes, she had a decent enough grasp of the rules and such that she started shouting at the players.

"How could he miss that pass!" she said, jumping to her feet and pointing. Marcus stared at her in amusement.

"Just wait until you go to a baseball game with her. Or even American football," Laura said, chuckling.

"That was clearly a foul!" Nora shouted. Marcus pulled on her arm, forcing her back into her chair.

"It wasn't, Nora," he said, laughing.

"It should be!" she shouted, indignant. Several people around them chuckled at her outburst.

"Think it's about time for a beer," Laura said, standing and making her way across Nora and Marcus.

"What was that!" Nora shouted. Marcus looked at Laura.

"Nope. She's all yours," she said before disappearing towards the bar.

"First time at a quidditch game?" a younger man asked, leaning up towards Marcus and Nora. Marcus looked back at him, recognizing him as the Arrows star chaser, Jacob White. He nodded and laughed.

"She's apparently taken to it," he said, smiling. Jacob laughed and then noticed the name on the back of her jersey.

"Blimey, where did you get your hands on a Pucey jersey?" he asked.

"He's my cousin," Nora said without turning to look at him. Jacob's eyes widened.

"You're related to Adrian Pucey?" he asked. Nora turned and looked at him.

"Seriously? Adey was that famous?" she asked. Jacob laughed.

"Almost as famous as Oliver Wood," he said. "He was one of the reasons I decided to go professional." Nora's eyebrows shot up. "How is it this your first quidditch match? I know they have a league in America, which is where you're from, right?"

"Long story short, I didn't know about magic until a few months ago," she said. "I thought he played football." Jacob started laughing.

"How on earth did you think football and quidditch were anything alike?" he asked. Nora shrugged.

"I don't really like football so knew absolutely nothing about it," she replied before turning back to the game. "Fuck! How is that legal?" Marcus looked back at Jacob, who shook his head slowly.

"Keep hold of that one," he said, pointing at Nora. "I've yet to find a woman this into quidditch."

"Apparently she's into baseball, too," he said. "We've got tickets to a game next week." Jacob chuckled.

"I try to catch games when I can. But it doesn't hold a candle to quidditch," he said.

"Got that right," Nora replied as she took the beer that Laura had offered to her upon her return.

"Christ, it's going to be nothing but sports talk from now on," she said, rolling her eyes. Jacob's face lit up as he caught sight of her.

"Not into quidditch are you?" he asked, smiling.

"She's taken," Nora said without looking. "She's with my cousin." Marcus nearly spit out his beer as Laura's face turned bright red. Jacob laughed.

"Fair enough," he replied.

They spent the next four hours of the match chatting with the chaser. Nora often turning to ask Marcus or Jacob questions as Laura laughed at her. Both were patient with her and Nora's excitement about the game was infectious with more and more players sitting around them joining in with explanations and conversation. Nora's gift of pulling in people coming into play.

By the end of the match when Nora jumped to her feet cheering at Puddlemere's victory, she was grinning at them all as though they were long-time friends.

"See you lot at the after party?" Jacob asked as they all started to leave. Nora's face lit up as she looked at Marcus.

"Please, please?" she begged. Marcus chuckled.

"I suppose we could," he said, not wanting to deny her anything. "It's been awhile since I've been to one. But I know Adrian will want to go."

"Where is it?" Nora asked, turning to Jacob.

"Puddlemere won, so I suspect it'll be at their chaser's place," he said before explaining the directions to Marcus. Nora hopped around in glee as Jacob waved at them and walked off.

"Never been to an after party for a game," she said, grinning. "Will there be a lot of famous players there?" Marcus chuckled as he led her out towards the apparition points.

"I suspect we might hit up a few now that you know about everything. And yes, you'll meet a lot of players," he said. Nora laughed.

"This is going to be fun! Be sure to point out the good ones."

An hour later, they were standing in the living room of a large, extravagant apartment. Nora had just done a shot with the Puddlemere players, all of whom were beyond elated to meet Adrian's American cousin. None of them seemed the least bit put off by the fact she was non-magical. Marcus stood at her side, gazing down at her in happiness.

"Seriously, Adrian, you should have brought her out long ago," the Puddlemere center chase, Ian Kelly, said. Adrian grinned, tightening his arm around Laura's waist.

"Would have done so sooner if I could have," he said. "Warms my heart to see she's taken with quidditch."

"Seriously, this sport is amazing. Even if it makes no sense," Nora said, smiling. "I want season tickets." Adrian looked over at Marcus, who just laughed and shrugged.

"I won't fight her on that," he replied. Adrian sighed and shook his head.

"I suppose I could pull some strings," he said.

"OLIVER!" Nora shouted, stepping over and pulling him into the group. "Such a good game." He frowned at her slightly.

"How would you know? It's your first match," he replied.

"I'm a quick learner," she said. "But I really think you need to work on your defensive strategies."

"Blimey," Marcus said, rolling his eyes. "We've created a monster." Wood frowned down at her.

"I've got good defensive strategies," he said. Nora looked around, quickly locating the Puddlmere beaters.

"Wright, Bogwater!" she shouted.

"It's Bogswackle," the beater in question responded.

"Whatever," Nora said. "Bogs something. You should really-"

"Nor, I think we should get another drink," Marcus said, starting to pull her away.

"No! I'm not done!" she whined.

"Let's leave professional quidditch to the professionals," he said as the two beaters started laughing. Oliver shot him a grateful look.

"No, no, I want to hear this," Wright said, grinning. Oliver shot him a look.

"Trust me, you don't," Adrian said. Nora shot him a dirty look. "Seriously, Nor. It was your first match."

"I'm a quick learner!" Nora shouted in protest. Adrian sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Not baseball, Nor," he replied.

"You like baseball?" Wright said, perking up. "Which MLB team is your favorite?"

"St. Louis Cards," Nora responded immediately. Wright grinned.

"Always been partial to them. Ever since they won the World Series in 2006," he said. Nora lit up.

"I was there!" she declared. Adrian shot her a look. "Okay, so not there there, but I snuck into Busch Stadium right after they won Game 5."

"Really?" Wright asked.

"I was there for a journalism conference in university. We watched the game from a bar down the street and then got into the stadium right after," Nora said.

"You don't say," he said. Soon the two were in an animated discussion about the Cards pitching lineup while Oliver watched the two in awe.

"She really does get into sports," he said.

"Should have seen her during the match," Marcus said. Laura rolled her eyes.

"You really don't know what you've done," she said before wandering off to get another drink.

"Tell me she wasn't yelling at the players," Adrian replied.

"Learned some colorful new words today," Marcus said.

"Blimey, you've got yourself a keeper," Wood said, still watching her.

"I've no doubt about that," Marcus said with a chuckle.

"I take it you like quidditch?" Marcus asked later that night when he and Nora were settled in bed at his flat. As the party was in Diagon Alley and Nora had gotten quite drunk, he thought it better to just walk to his place rather than apparate them to hers and risk Nora throwing up all over the place.

"It's so fun!" Nora exclaimed with a giggle as she looked over at him. "Seriously. Fun. Can we go to all the after parties?" Marcus chuckled.

"Not sure you'll want to go to all of them. We're not as young as we used to be," he said. Nora sat up and looked at him.

"Marcus Flint. I refuse to let you think that you're old," she said, crossing her arms.

"I am 43, Nor," he said.

"Age is just a number," she replied. "Your only as old as you feel."

"And right now, I feel tired," he replied, smiling. Nora rolled her eyes and settled back down in bed next to him.

"You're not old," she said.

"Goodnight, Nor," Marcus replied with a soft.

"Seriously. Not old," she said with a yawn. Marcus leaned over and kissed the top of her head as her eyes drifted closed. "I mean it."

"I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too…"

Added this in when I realized that I didn't have a chapter where they introduce Nora to quidditch. Turned out a entertaining to write, for sure.

Lothelisse: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Aphrodite-Venus-u.k: It was a lot of fun to write! That meeting was a bit tricky. I rewrote it a few times before I got it in a way that I liked. And I couldn't have her meet George without going to the Burrow, now could I? Haha!

Thanks everyone for reading, following and reviewing!