Harry Potter - After the Epilogue

by PotterFanSteve

Continuing the storyline from 'After the War', this book focuses on the Hogwarts years and beyond for Albus and Lily Potter, Rose, and Hugo Weasley, and their family and friends. I hope you will enjoy this imagining of what happens in the Harry Potter universe - After the Epilogue!

36. Summer's End with Family and Friends

Chapter Thirty-Six – Summer's End with Family and Friends

They still had a bit more than two weeks left of their summer holidays, but their vacation definitely felt as though it was over on Sunday morning as Al, Gwendolyn, Lily, and Jonah helped Harry and Ginny out with getting packed up and ready to take their Portkey home from the island. Rolf, Luna, and the boys didn't stay until they left, and instead took care of their goodbyes early; so that they could still put in a full day of exploring. That helped to make the parting easier for Ginny and Luna; since they were both busy for the rest of the morning. Harry and Ginny had everything ready to go by mid-morning, including taking a short walk to the beach and back with the kids; and then they headed home – and got back to work reversing the process and getting started on the chores that needed to be done there.

Al wasn't surprised to find out that James had no intention of being home until he was finished work on Monday, but that just made his life easier; and it was much more fun working on the chores with Gwendolyn. With a lot of magical help, they had all of the work done by lunchtime; and then they headed over to the McCormack's home to spend the afternoon with them – and with the gang of family and friends that Kirley and Gwenog were hosting for a play afternoon. That reunion was short and sweet because they weren't the first guests to arrive, but the fun level kicked up a few notches as they joined in on the fun for the hour or so they had until they'd all be sitting down for a major lunch meal. Al and Gwendolyn spent a bit more time with her parents at first; but then they went and joined Lily, Jonah, and most of the other teens and tweens to go for a swim in one of the two portable pools that had been set up side-by-side so that the swimmers could still talk with each other even if they were in the other pool – or play games between the pools.

"Let's get started on the news we've missed from around home while we've been gone," Gwendolyn suggested as she and Al floated around in the water near to where most of the Quidditch playing teens and tweens were hanging out. "What's new, Tory? We haven't talked much all summer – and only crossed paths for a couple of minutes at the opening day match."

Tory shrugged. "Not much of anything. It's been boring around our house since training camp started. We practice Quidditch every day, and go to our team practices; but we haven't done much of anything else in weeks now. I'll be glad to get back to Hogwarts; and Drew can hardly wait to get there for the first time."

"This is going to be a big year for firsties from Harpies' families," Al suggested. "We'll have Drew from your family; Riley and Roxanne from ours; and Greta from Gwendolyn's family – though I guess that's a niece thing instead of a son or daughter."

"Maybe it's for the best that we're all moving up to the senior teams," Gwendolyn half-joked. "Earning a spot on the junior teams is going to be tough this year."

"Don't remind me," Jonah told her as he floated over and joined their group from where he'd been with some of the younger cousins. "I could end up playing Chaser with Stephanie if Riley ends up in our House."

"As if the firstie Chasers will be so much easier," Gwendolyn countered. "There are at least two kids from the Campbell clan starting this year too. They both want to be Chasers too, don't they, Al?"

"Yeah – Chris Madley and Bryson Campbell," he answered and added. "We haven't played any Quidditch with them yet this summer; but I'm sure they've been getting ready for tryouts. If I remember correctly; their parents were all either in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."

"Madison's mentioned them," Tory said with a nod. "Chris is her cousin too through her Mum and his Dad. Maybe they'll both end up in Hufflepuff with Drew."

"I wasn't thinking about that connection," Al admitted. "Have they been training with the Hufflepuff junior team this year?"

"No, but Ricky's doing his own thing for summer practices; and Drew's the only firstie practicing with the junior team this summer."

"Maybe I'll talk to Ryan about them when he gets here," Jonah suggested. "We might be able to get them to come to our last four practices."

"I was hoping to do our practices together," Lily told him. "We'd need to take turns during the scrimmages; but we could all use the extra competition."

Jonah shrugged. "We can ask Ryan about that too, but I haven't even heard how their practices have been going while we've been away yet; so he may be doing something completely different by now."

"I doubt he'll mess with what's been working for Ravenclaw for the past few years," Lily offered, "but if that idea doesn't work for him; I'll be able to draft some of the parents to help out with our Gryffindor practices."

"Maybe you could get Rose to talk to the Cannons and have them play against your team," Tory suggested with a grin. "They are undefeated so far this season – and that isn't only because they haven't played a match yet as is normal for the start of most seasons. I still can't believe they beat the Bats in their first match."

"We heard about that yesterday," Gwendolyn advised her. "Santini got a bit lucky when the Bats' Seeker got hit by a bludger Santini managed to dodge. Even the Cannons can get a lucky break now and then – and it isn't as though they lose every match."

"No, just the vast majority of them – for more than a century straight," Lily added. Rose wouldn't help me out with that even if I wanted to embarrass the Cannons by having our junior team beat them in a scrimmage. She doesn't want to do anything that might mess up her plans for the future by having the Cannons find out that she's interested in their team in any way."

"Sure, because they don't notice half of their season's tickets holders," Gwendolyn joked. "She might be able to stay off the radar of the league scouts for the next couple of years if she's Louis' back-up at Keeper for Gryffindor; but she won't be able to avoid the attention in her sixth and seventh year – unless she's planning on getting Hugo to play Keeper for the senior team instead just to keep that from happening as part of that master plan." She smiled when Al laughed.

"I'm not sure if that's a brilliant strategy for Rose – or for you and the Ravenclaw teams for those years," he explained; earning a round of laughs too. "We do want to play for Gryffindor too, though; so I'll guess that she won't go for that idea – even though it is a good one."

"I don't get that; since she wouldn't get any decent job offers even from the pittance the Cannons would offer if she doesn't at least have a record of being good-enough to make the school teams," Tory told him; and Al shrugged.

"That won't matter if she figures out a way to buy the team," he pointed out. "How are the the Hufflepuff practices going this summer with the senior team? You must be having fun with Alex as Captain – and everyone must be fired up after an undefeated season."

"I'm not going to talk about our team with you," Tory told him seriously; and Al sensed the change in her attitude too late to do anything about it. "That's never worked out well for Madison and me while we were on the junior team; so we're going to do our own thing now when it comes to Quidditch – and with our studies too."

"I'm sorry," Al told her sincerely; knowing it was too late and that she was shutting them out again.

"Don't be," she told him bluntly. "I don't want your pity – I want to win Quidditch matches and prove that I'm good-enough to play in the show after we graduate. You might be okay playing for a team as awful as the Cannons some day; but I want to play for one of the best teams and win league titles and Quidditch World Cups!"

"Would that mean that this is a bad time to ask if you and Drew would like to get in on a scrimmage with Jonah on your team against Al, Gwendolyn, me, and anyone else we can round up to join us?" Lily asked sweetly; and Tory scowled at her.

"It would be a very bad time," she spat; not even remotely amused. "I knew that I should've insisted on staying home today. The last thing I need is to hear about how brilliant all of you are compared to me – including from my Mum. I'm sick of it!"

With that said; she swam away from them; climbed out of the pool; and stalked off after grabbing her towel and wrapping it around herself as she left.

"Note to Al – do not ask Tory or Madison about Hufflepuff Quidditch ever again," Lily said after a long, uncomfortable few moments of silence. "It's so wrong of me, but now I'm tempted to get that scrimmage together right now just to mess with her."

"It is wrong," Drew told her; "but I'd still sign up for it anyway – and then get the silent treatment from Tory for the next week or two."

"With that kind of bravery; you might end up in Gryffindor," Lily suggested; and Drew shrugged.

"I'll likely be Hufflepuff too, but as long as I'm not Slytherin; I don't care which House I end up in."

"From what we've just heard, it sounds like it'll be tough making it on any of those three remaining junior teams," Greta told him as she joined in on the chat for the first time. It's too bad that we can't know ahead of time which House we'd have the best chance in before we're sorted."

"We do know that for the second and third-year students we'll be up against – or at least we know that for the returning junior team players," Drew pointed out. "I don't know if I'll be good-enough to play for one of the House teams in my first year or not; but that won't be any different than it will be at every other level – and it'll get harder if we want to play in the show."

"Especially for the Wizards," Al added; laughing when that comment got everyone's attention. "Well, we can't play for the Harpies; so that's already fewer chances for us to get one of the spots on the other twelve teams – and that's not even including the teams most of us wouldn't want to play on – like the Falcons."

"True, but you should have an easy time getting to play in the show," Lily told him with a grin. "It's not as if there's a long line-up of players wanting to work for the Cannons; and you're already better than anyone they have now."

"Maybe, but they are a top-seven team right now," Al reminded her; grinning too. "There are only seven undefeated teams – eight if you include the one still left that hasn't played yet."

"Don't do that," Lily told him. "It'll be bad enough listening to Uncle Ron between now and when we head back – or at least until the Cannons lose their next match."

"Longer than that," Al guessed. "If they lose; they'll still be doing okay with a win and loss; so he'll be happy until they have a losing record again."

"He's happy when they have a four-win season," Lily only half-joked. "I didn't want to go there, though; so let's move on. Have you guys picked up your books and supplies yet? We've done everything except our school robes and we leave getting the sweets and pet food until right before we head back so it doesn't get stale – or eaten."

That question had been directed at the soon-to-be firsties around her; and they were happy to talk Hogwarts with her for a while. Al and Gwendolyn stayed and swam until lunch was ready; and then they went to fill plates and find a place to sit while enjoying their meal. They ended up at a table with some of her cousins of various ages; and had fun talking with them about everything from work and Quidditch to Hogwarts and home schooling. While they hadn't been put to work before the meal; they were on the clean-up crew; which is why they missed out on the first afternoon scrimmage match – and that was also why Tory agreed to play in that match along with her mother, brother, and a mix of adults, teens, and tweens. As usual, Quidditch was a big part of the afternoon fun at the McCormack's, but Al and Gwendolyn only played in one scrimmage; and managed to stay out of the spotlight for the rest of the day. They had fun playing and doing a lot of swimming through until the party began breaking up by late afternoon; and then Al went home with his parents and sister in time to have a late dinner there – and so that Harry and Ginny could both spend the evening getting ready to go back to work again on Monday.

When Al woke up on Monday morning, it felt as though life was back to normal again as he got ready for the day and then went downstairs to work on making breakfast for four. Harry joined him by the time the pot of coffee was done brewing; helped out with the work; and then they enjoyed the morning chat with Ginny and Lily while having that meal. Harry headed for the Ministry of Magic as soon as he was finished eating; Al and Lily took care of the clean-up; and Ginny went to spend some time getting organized for her work plans for the day. Gwendolyn, Jonah, Rose, and Hugo all came over to spend the day with Al and Lily, and once they were all there; Ginny worked with the three teens to make some new toys for a couple of hours while Lily, Jonah, and Hugo played outside.

The Animorphmagus toys that they were working on during the last two weeks of summer were for new additions that would come out for the Halloween season; so there weren't any cute and cuddly toys because the toy company had wanted a line of creepy, crawly action figures. The girls had ideas for a few dolls too, but they were still meant to be mildly-scary fun for the kids too – even if they could also be cuddled with by those kids. Ginny needed to get to work before lunch, though, because the Harpies had their next match on Tuesday afternoon and she had to spend time at the practice pitches for both teams, so when she needed to leave; Al, Gwendolyn, and Rose went out to play for the rest of the day. First up for the fun was joining their younger siblings in the portable pool for a swim, so they split up to get changed into swimsuits first; and then hopped into the pool with Lily, Jonah, and Hugo.

"How did the toy making go today?" Lily asked. "I hope you're all going to remember your favorite little brothers and sister when you're rolling in the galleons from having the hottest-selling toys of the year."

Rose grinned at her. "I'm already thinking about all of you – and we'll have a blast together after we use that money to buy the Cannons in about four years."

Lily rolled her eyes; but laughed too. "Jonah and I have already heard enough about the Cannons from Hugo to last us a month. "You shouldn't be happy about them winning any matches; since that'll just mess up that plan of yours if the team actually stops losing money every year between now and when you graduate."

"That really could mess up my plans," Rose admitted, "but if the Cannons actually started winning; it might just mean that we could get jobs with them and help take the team to the next level from there – not that I'm holding my breath for that being very likely."

"I'd rather talk about the new Animorphmagus toys," Jonah advised them. "You're working on Halloween-themed toys; so what did you come up with today? Spiders? Snakes? Wolves?"

Those rapid-fire questions sent their conversation off on a non-Quidditch vector; and they ended up tossing a Fanged Frisbee around while playing in the pool for a while. They went for a bike ride after that; had a pre-made lunch that only required putting together sandwiches to go with the cold side dishes, snacks, and drinks. Lily led the way for a Quidditch scrimmage after that; they had more play time in the pool; and Al and Gwendolyn went off on their own for an hour of songwriting fun that only included a bit of snogging. Rose and Hugo left first when Ron stopped by to get them so that they could head to London again – and they did that because Rose wanted to spend the rest of the day with Kyle while visiting her Granger grandparents. Gwendolyn and Jonah went home with Gwenog after she stopped by to get them after work – and at the same time that Ginny came home from observing the Harpies' afternoon workout. Harry brought James home with him; and got there in time to sit down for the dinner that Al and Lily had helped Ginny to throw together in the interim between her return and theirs.

"You look happy, James," Ginny told him as they began filling their plates. "Tell us all about your week while we were gone. The Catapults' managers and players must be happy after their win on Saturday."

"They're happy with their Seeker – and with me," he answered. "Not so much with the rest of the team. I doubt they'd have won if I hadn't been having Seeker duels nearly every day while they had their useless old reserve Seeker have a nap or something. That old fool wasn't very good when he did play in the show back in the middle ages; and they ought to have him use a Firefly now instead of a good broom; since he hasn't a clue of how to use one properly. Did you see replays of that catch? He learned that move from me in our duels."

"I saw the replay," she agreed with a nod; and James didn't notice that her answer wasn't a full confirmation of his claim. "It sounds as though you're having fun at work; though you might want to be careful with how much you're helping their Seeker. If he gets too good; you'll have one less job opening available in a few years when you graduate."

"I'm winning half the catches against him now," James scoffed dismissively. "When I'm ready to play in the show; every team will want to have me – except the Harpies, of course. They'll only wish that they hired Wizards for the next fifty or sixty years after I'm in the league while they try to best the Cannons at most seasons without a league title."

"That won't happen," Lily told him. "You'd better hope to do well between the time you graduate and I do, 'cause once I'm playing for the Harpies with Gwendolyn and Victoire; you'll have to settle for no-better than second best for your team."

"Don't start that again tonight," Harry told them. "We haven't seen James in more than a week; and I don't want to spend the night listening to you fight."

"Then it's likely the wrong time to ask James about whether he's done any of his back-to-school shopping yet," Ginny half-joked. "Al and Lily still need to have a shopping day to get their robes and back-to-school clothes; but they picked up the books and supplies on their lists already."

"Of course they did," James agreed with a dismissive wave toward Al. "The loser's likely finished reading all of his textbooks by now too."

"Only about a quarter-done," Al offered mildly; earning a laugh from Lily.

"I've been busy with work," James continued after snorting in response to Al's comment. "There hasn't been time to shop for all of that crap."

"Then if you don't have time; get me your list and I'll make sure it gets done," Ginny told him. "You are starting your OWL year, James; and you need decent marks to continue on into sixth year – not to mention needing to pass as many of them as you can to be allowed to use magic at all once you're seventeen."

"I know all that; so you don't need to beat me over the head with it," James retorted; sounding a bit angry now. "Stop going on about it. I'll muddle through and do just fine – regardless of the fact that half of what they teach us at Hogwarts is total rubbish."

"I'd say only about a quarter of it is rubbish," Lily joked; doing her best imitation of Al while mimicking his response to James' earlier taunt; and earning a laugh from James for her effort.

Her joke sent their conversation off in a new direction that kept the mood at the table light, and while Al didn't escape more taunts and insults; they actually had a pretty good meal and evening together that included some Quidditch and a long swim in the pool befoer they all went inside for the night and watched mirror network shows for an hour or two – depending on when they each decided to head up to bed. Al was first to do that; and did some textbook reading, but he also worked on a couple of the Christmas songs that he and Gwendolyn were still trying to get ready for her father before the end of summer; and had a bedtime mirror chat with her that included going over those ideas with her until they were both ready to get some sleep.

Al and Lily ended up having a quiet morning on Tuesday while Harry, Ginny, and James all went to work and they stayed home and split their time between doing some chores and playing. They had a Seeker duel that Al won three catches to one because Lily insisted he try his best after deciding he'd slacked off for her first catch; they went swimming; and had some Animorphmagus play time with Al, Holly, and Poofy – though Al's Transfigurations just seemed to confuse both of Lily's pets. Kirley came to get them along with Gwendolyn and Jonah; they went to the Leaky in time to have lunch there with Ginny and some of the other game-watching members of their group; and then they headed for Exmoor stadium for the Harpies-Arrows match. They didn't take much time going around the concessions booths, and only picked up a few souvenirs to go along with the drinks and snacks; so they had lots of time to relax and watch the action going on around the stadium while waiting for the game to start.

"I do believe that we have a lot of Witches and Wizards playing hooky from work today," Gwendolyn told Al as she looked toward a group of people that she knew through their parents. "Your Dad was good today and stayed at work; but he's likely bogged down after being away for two weeks."

"He is," Al agreed; "but some of the spectators around here might just be taking part of the day off – or working different shifts."

"Sure," Gwendolyn agreed – "and the rest of them either went home sick or called in sick and took the entire day off. I don't blame them; since this should be another great match. Hopefully it won't be too good of a day for the Arrows, but I'm sure they'll be at their best today."

"Every team wants to play their best against our team – or their worst; in the case of the Falcons."

"True, but then we want to win every match too; so that only seems fair. I see quite a few kids carrying around their Animorphmagus toys. Should we have brought ours?"

"I thought you did," Lily leaned over and teased with a meaningful look at Al. "Maybe some of those kids are hoping that Al will make a few changes and help them to play with those toys."

"Why didn't we think about getting him a part-time job demonstrating them at one of the stores?" Gwendolyn asked. "That would have been a brilliant marketing gimmick."

"Or not," Al disagreed. "I'm already on the way to being a favorite party trick; let's not make that a problem for me everywhere we go in public."

"I suppose that would get old fast," Gwendolyn conceded. "It is nice to see that the toys are popular, though; so we likely don't need to have you do anything like that anyway."

"Maybe not, but Al could have so much fun if he'd just give it a chance," Lily told her. "I was just thinking that it would be hilarious if Al changed into different animals and pranked the pet shops in Diagon Alley."

"That wouldn't be funny for Al if he got locked up in a cage or sold to someone," Jonah pointed out; and Lily laughed.

"He could just change forms for getting out of anything but a sealed container," Lily reminded him; "and it would be even funnier if he got sold and had to run away from his new owners."

"I don't like that idea at all," Gwendolyn told her. "We've already had issues with family and friends' Witches wanting to take Al home with them. He is not going to play those sorts of games."

"That sounds like a few comments I've had about that sort of thing with Harry and his Animagus," Ginny told them. "I let him get away with going home with a cute little girl once or twice for work; but drew the line at playing puppy and getting hugs and kisses from beautiful women while Ron would flirt with them."

"I wonder why Dad doesn't tell that story quite the same way?" Rose mused. She joined the conversation then; but had been talking with Hugo and some of the others in their group – including Teddy, Louis, and Lucy.

"You likely don't," Ginny countered with a smile; "but probably don't want to go there either; so we won't. Did you have fun hanging out in London last night? It's a good thing that you visit us a lot and we have some Quidditch matches to watch; or we might not see you much between now and when you head back to Hogwarts in two weeks."

"I did have a good night," Rose assured her aunt; "and Kyle and I are trying not to think about not having much time left before we both head back to school."

"That will be tough to deal with," Ginny told her sympathetically, "but maybe we can help you out with that; and set up a couple of date nights or outings for you to do with Kyle, Al, and Gwendolyn."

"Jonah and I would help out with that," Lily offered with a grin. "A movie night or another trip to the amusement park would be fun."

Her suggestions led the girls into a chat about possible date options and available times to do that – with time being the bigger issue thanks to everything they all had on the go over the last two weeks of summer. They did come up with some tentative plans by the time the Harpies and Arrows were introduced and the game got underway; and then they were all into watching the match as the two teams battled hard to score goals and try to catch the snitch.

Right from the start, the battle was defensive as the Keepers both won their battles against their Chaser opponents. Eddie Bones had a slight advantage on saves over Vicky; but that was only because he faced more shots on goal from Victoire, Candice, and Hailey. During the first hour, the Harpies scored two goals; and the Arrows earned just one. They scored two goals each in the second hour; and the Arrows tied the match near the end of the third hour by out-scoring the Harpies three-to-two for that hour. Victoire got the lead back for the Harpies in the opening minutes of the fourth hour; and then that was all there was for goals because Gabrielle ended the game by catching the snitch at the three-hour and ten minute mark to give the Harpies the two-twenty to sixty victory.

Ginny needed to get to work for the post-game interviews, so Molly took care of getting Al and Lily home; and helped them with making dinner for seven because all three kids needed to eat early-enough so they could move on to their Quidditch practices – which for Lily meant hosting the practice with both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw junior teams. When she was done work, Ginny picked up James on her way home; Harry got there just ahead of them from Auror Headquarters; and Arthur came over to have dinner with them too – and stay to watch the Quidditch entertainment for the evening too. Harry took care of getting James and Al to the Wood's house for their practice; stayed for a short visit with Oliver and Katie; and then headed home again to help Ginny with kid control while his sons were busy playing Quidditch with their friends and cousins.

Al had been glad to be back and practicing with the team, but not everyone was thrilled to see him back – with Ollie at the top of that list. He found out that part of the reason for Ollie's annoyance with him was because the 'reserve squad' hadn't won a single Chaser duel during the two weeks he was away; and that fact was compounded when 'their' team did win the scrimmage – and did that despite having James catch the snitch. Sure, Al was fired up and had scored twelve goals on Louis, but Rose had played brilliantly too; and had held Olivia, Lucy, and Gina to just five goals. James hadn't been happy either for most of the scrimmage, but had been happy at the end when he'd ended up as top scorer for the match by thirty points over Al; so he was in a good mood despite earning that catch for the loss. He also flew off after his victory lap and was first to jump in the pool to cool off once Olivia had decided they'd worked long-enough to call it a night; so he wasn't around for the practice post-mortem that about half of the teens stayed for while rehydrating and taking their time getting out of their gear instead of leaving it dumped in a pile by the pool the way James and Ollie both chose to deal with their gear in the rush to jump in the pool.

"I think that we need to send Al on vacation for another week or so," Louis told Olivia as he sat down and just took some time to relax before even trying to take his pads off. "Our team was having much more fun over the past two weeks – not to mention that I wasn't nearly this tired by the end of those practices."

"You're suggesting that to the wrong person," Olivia advised him. "I want the toughest competition for you – and Al's a tough challenge for Lucy, Gina, and me too."

"For now," Gina told her; "and your job at Chaser is safe. If Al keeps playing like that; the rest of us Chaser hopefuls will all be fighting it out for the one spot on the team that'll be left after he cleans up at tryouts."

"Maybe Olivia should make the tryouts Witches only this year," Lucy joked.

"That's a great idea – if you want to have as bad a season as we did last year," Olivia told her seriously. "You and Gina and I might do okay; and Rose and Louis are closely-matched; but we'd be in big trouble at Beater and Seeker."

"I suppose it's too late to brew up a batch of Polyjuice ahead of tryouts; or I'd suggest a solution for that," Lucy offered with a grin for the guys in the group.

"Wouldn't that make your idea of a Witches-only tryout pointless – not to mention weird for all of us?" Rose asked her. "I'm sure the boys you're thinking about for using Polyjuice to change into Witches during tryouts will love to hear who you'll get hair samples from so they can do that."

"Or want a say in those picks," Tiberius offered with a grin.

"I so wish I hadn't gone there now," Lucy lamented; though she'd joined in for the laughs. "Try not to have too much fun with that."

"Let's just drop the whole thing," Louis told her. "Some of us have enough to worry about the competition that only let in five goals tonight without adding in any other issues."

"That isn't a big deal," Rose told him. "I have just as many problems against Al as you do; and it's even worse when he's playing on the same team with Gwendolyn."

"I've noticed that now and then at family parties," Louis agreed with a nod. "Do you guys hear much about how the Ravenclaw training is going this summer? The Hufflepuff team won't likely change much; but Ravenclaw will get better just from having Gwendolyn on their senior team this year – assuming she makes the team."

"As if they didn't already have enough going for them with Peter and Pauline," Olivia said with a shake of her head. "We have a lot of talent in Gryffindor too, though; so we'll have to try and make sure that we're doing everything we can to be better than the other teams – and I think we're on the right track for that this summer."

Al thought she was right about that, but let his thoughts wander off as the conversation continued around him. He had avoided commenting on what he knew of the Ravenclaw workouts; mostly because there were things that he and Gwendolyn talked about for both teams that wouldn't be fair to talk about with his own team mates. He did still feel good about their team too; and thought that the tough competition from the other Houses would be an exciting challenge. Most of the others might not agree with his attitude about winning and losing; but then he really did think that made a difference for him with how he played. Not stressing or obsessing about winning made it easier for him to play his best. As he thought about that; he came up with a list of his fellow players that were letting stress get in the way of their game. He didn't know whether he should do anything about that ahead of tryouts – unless he tried to help everyone; but it was something to think about working on once they did have their team picked after tryouts.

"You're being quiet," Rose told him. "Are you still in Quidditch mode; or off on some other mental voyage?"

"Thinking about Quidditch," he answered. "We had a great time on vacation; but I'm glad to be back to our practices again."

"I'm glad to have you back too; since our team won today," Rose offered. "Dad was late getting me here, so we didn't get a chance to talk before the practice; but I talked with Kyle after the match; and he's in for a date night on Friday; so we can work out what we want to do over the next couple of days."

"Sounds good," Al agreed with a nod. "Gwendolyn won't likely have a problem getting parental approval; so maybe we can decide what to do when we get together in the morning."

"We should do something different tomorrow too," Rose suggested. "Maybe we could bike to town after your Mum goes to work and hang out there for a while – or bike or hike somewhere else."

"Somewhere like London?" Al teased; and Rose laughed.

"Not tomorrow," she disagreed. "I can't explain away getting to London too many times in a week when it's supposed to be an hours-long drive each way for us. That's just one more problem I have with dating Kyle, but the good parts of dating him are still way better than the downside; so I'm happy."

"I've noticed that – and it's nice to see," Al told her seriously; though he was grinning too. "Is that helping you out with the Quidditch too?"

"It'll likely help out more once we're back to school and I need to keep busy doing anything other than missing Kyle."

"Should I warn Louis?" Al whispered; and Rose laughed.

"No – not that I have any idea whether that will make a difference or not at tryouts. For all I know; it'll mess me up."

"Or both," Al offered. "Let's go and hop in the pool for a swim. Mum or Dad will likely be here to get James and me soon; so I won't have much time for that."

They still ended up chatting for a while longer, so Al didn't get to have much of a swim before it was time to go; while Rose was able to stay longer while waiting for her father to get her after he was done work at the store for the day. The junior team practice was done by the time Harry got back with James and Al, but Lily was still having fun swimming with some of the other teens and tweens; and James joined them in the pool while Al gave his parents the practice recap and decided to stay dry. James wasn't being too obnoxious to him, but after having a pretty good day, Al didn't want to deal with even the smallest insults; so he headed up to his room after the last of Lily's Quidditch guests and their parents went home – at the same time she went up to her room to get changed and deal with her wet hair. He studied for a while; had a bedtime chat with Lily; and a mirror chat with Gwendolyn after that before getting around to the sleeping part of his night.

Wednesday and Thursday weren't a repeat of the first two days of the week, but there were some similarities. Al, Gwendolyn, and Rose had toy-making fun both mornings; play afternoons with Lily, Jonah, and Hugo while Ginny was busy working; and Thursday evening Quidditch practices for their respective Houses and junior or senior teams. Gwendolyn and Jonah stayed for dinner on Wednesday, but there weren't any sleepovers or camping nights until Friday. Al and Lily didn't have a gang over on Friday morning because Rose was in London for the weekend – and went to stay with her Granger grandparents after practice on Thursday. Ginny needed to work all day – including having a meeting with the toy company to drop off the latest toys that the kids had finished making; so Al and Lily went to spend the morning at the Burrow with Molly. They helped out with chores; had some baking play time with her; and then they all headed for Diagon Alley to meet up with Arthur, Harry, and Ginny for lunch. Al got a small bonus surprise when Kirley brought Gwendolyn and Jonah along for that meal; though they were just early for the planned play afternoon in London.

Harry and Ginny couldn't take the afternoon off to play too, but Al and Lily were happy to have lunch with them; and then go on to hang out with Kirley, Gwendolyn, and Jonah until it was time for Al and Gwendolyn to meet up with Rose and Kyle while Lily and Jonah were having their own evening out with both sets of parents. Since they'd been in Diagon Alley for lunch anyway; they wandered around and did a bit of window shopping once Kirley was on his own with the four kids; ventured out into the city for a couple of hours of random exploring that included a bit of music time and two rides on the underground; and they wrapped up their afternoon with ice cream treats and a bit of park play time. Al and Gwendolyn took Muggle transit to their favorite mall and had time to do a bit of shopping while waiting for Rose and Kyle to meet up with them. Gwendolyn picked up a couple of things while they waited; and then they made their way to one of the mall entrances in time to welcome Rose and Kyle.

"You've either been having a brilliant day; or you're really glad to be parent-free for a few hours," Gwendolyn told Rose while waiting for her turn to hug Al's cousin.

"I'd say both," Rose decided with a laugh; "though we were parent-free for most of the day too. How was your day?"

"Jonah and I did some chores this morning; got to London in time to meet up with Al, Lily, and their parents for lunch; and then Dad wandered around London with us for the afternoon until it was time for us to come and meet up with you and Kyle. I think that Lily and Jonah are a bit disappointed that they're not going out with us; but they do get the parents to themselves for a night; and I'm sure they'll have fun too."

"Hugo doesn't want to go out on dates with Kyle and me; but that's only because he doesn't want to be a third wheel – or ask any girls out."

"I think he's like I was not all that long ago," Kyle told them. "He won't be vertically-challenged for long compared to the girls his age – unless there's a short gene in your family I haven't seen yet."

"Hugo isn't much shorter than the girls his age," Gwendolyn said, "but if that bugs him; he should just look for dates with younger girls."

Kyle shrugged and smiled. "A guy doesn't need to be much shorter than the girls in his year for that to make him feel weird, but I don't know Hugo well-enough yet to say whether my guess is even right or not. Maybe he just isn't ready to start dating yet – or has other reasons. It's not as if the teen drama alone can't be scary-enough for any of us."

"Al and Gwendolyn can't relate to that," Rose advised him with a grin for them. "They've been friends since they were babies; and somehow manage to avoid the usual teen couple problems."

"That can be a problem too," Kyle suggested. "I only know a few couples like that, but they all have their haters; and that's usually teens around them that are jealous of them for being so happy."

"Or because they wish that they were with one or the other instead," Rose added with a nod. "They've had those sorts of problems too; though they're likely past the worst of that now that they've been dating for nearly three years."

Kyle laughed. "I thought we were doing great making it to two months. What was I thinking?"

"Are you counting that from two months ago today; or a few days ago for the day you met?" Al asked.

"Our first official date was two months ago today – though it was only an afternoon outing for ice cream sundaes," Kyle answered; and laughed at the expression on Rose's face. "I'll remember when we met for a lot longer than I'll remember having those ice creams in that diner," he advised her. "I knew I was in love with you before we were introduced to each other."

"I love you too," Rose assured him as she hugged him happily. She took his hand again after the hug and turned back to look at Al and Gwendolyn. "Let's go and have dinner now. I want to have lots of time to play tonight; and we're both hungry too; since we've been busy this afternoon."

"Do I want to know the details for that now; or should we save that chat for later when it's just us girls?" Gwendolyn teased.

"We were outdoors most of the time; hanging out with some of Kyle's friends; and didn't do anything that would get us kicked out of the park or the pool," Rose advised her. "We did have a lot of fun, though; so let's keep that going for all of us tonight."

Al and Gwendolyn were happy to get their date started; they had dinner at the food court, and while that was far from fine dining; it did allow them to eat and then get going again – and on to the little festival they'd decided to spend the evening at instead of going to the movies or doing something else. The music, shows, and games were family-friendly, but there were a lot of teens there in groups or couples; so they fit right in – and joined in for the dancing; played quite a few games; and even managed to win a few prizes along the way. They stayed and enjoyed all of the fun until eleven o'clock; and then headed home – to the Granger's for Rose and Kyle; and to meet up with their parents, Lily, and Jonah for Al and Gwendolyn. From there, the four kids ended up going home with Kirley and Gwenog after a side-trip to get overnight bags; they set up the tent; and wrapped up their Friday with a pair of sofa sleepovers that was unintentional for two out of four of them. The funny part of that was the fact that it was Al and Jonah falling asleep first; while the girls made the decisions for the sofa sleepovers instead of waking the boys up and going off to their rooms.

Ginny had to work one of the Quidditch matches on Saturday, and Al and Lily needed to make an appearance at Percy's birthday party in the afternoon, but Kirley and Gwenog were hosting another family and friends play day because Gwenog had the weekend off and would be busy with the Harpies on the last Saturday of the summer; so Al and Lily spent the morning helping Gwendolyn and Jonah with their party preparation chores through until their guests began arriving at around eleven o'clock. Percy's forty-fourth birthday party didn't start until after lunch, so they stayed to have lunch at the McCormack's; had fun playing with the other kids; and then Gwendolyn and Jonah both chose to go along with them to Percy's party when Harrycame to get them at one o'clock. They took the Floo Network to Percy and Audrey's home in London; and were welcomed by Molly and Lucy. Lily led the round of hugs with her cousins; Harry and Gwendolyn were in the middle; and Al and Jonah brought up the rear.

"Are you here in daughter mode or as a Ministry of Magic representative?" Lily teased after hugging Molly first.

"With Dad's parties; that doesn't really matter," Molly answered with a smile. "We've been part of the politics game since we were passed around as babies."

"Which is one of the reasons I'm going into Quidditch instead of the Ministry of Magic," Lucy added with a nod as Lily hugged her next.

"Why? Did you get dropped on your head by one of those Ministry of Magic people; and think that bludgers are safer?" Lily joked.

"Not that I know of; but that's a good line to use," Lucy answered. "This is your first visit here in a long time," she told Gwendolyn. "I'm sure you haven't been here since you started dating Al. Are you ready for it?"

"Should I be afraid?" Gwendolyn asked; and Lucy shrugged.

"Probably not – though it can get weird whenever there's a gang of Ministry movers and shakers all together in one place."

"Well, that explains why I feel weird most days at work," Harry offered. "It shouldn't be too bad yet, though; since half of the guests will need to be fashionably-late."

"You're among the first two dozen," Molly advised him – "and that mostly includes family so far."

"I'll walk out to the back yard with you," Lucy offered. "Mum's using the drawing room for the adults too, and the teens and kids can hang out in the yard or play room; but everyone is still in the yard for now – at least until we need to start spreading out to have room for everyone."

"We know the way if you need to stay here," Harry told her; but Lucy smiled and shook her head.

"It's all part of the service today; and gives me a chance to spend a minute with Alex too before coming back in here."

"Did he get drafted to help out this morning?" Lily asked her. "Al and I helped Gwendolyn and Jonah with getting ready for the play day going on at their house."

"He had to work this morning; but has the rest of the day off," Lucy answered with a shake of her head. "Mum hired help for most of the party work; and we handled the rest of the work around here ourselves. Molly's likely wishing she'd found her own place already, but the room and board here is a pretty good deal; so maybe she'll hold off on that for a while."

"I might stay for quite a while," Molly advised her. "Dominique and I have talked about getting a place together, since Teddy and Victoire don't seem to want to have her come and live with them; but we're not in any hurry to do that while we're both busy with our new jobs."

"She might prefer to be closer to Puddlemere anyway – if not right in town somewhere," Harry suggested.

"I expect she'll want to get a place close to the sea instead of in the city or out in the country somewhere," Molly said. "You can ask her about that yourselves – she's already here."

Those comments had delayed them a bit, so Lucy led them away and out to the comparatively-small back yard; though that was only compared to the homes and yards for everyone else in the family – and not at all unusual for a London townhome. Lucy set them free once they were there; had a quick visit with Alex; and then headed into the house again while Harry and the four kids spread out to make the rounds with Percy, Audrey, and the rest of their guests. Dominique was there with her parents and brother, but Al noticed that Noel wasn't with Louis – and sensed from his cousin that he was not just single for the day. Gwendolyn didn't know that, though; and asked Louis about Noel as soon as they'd finished the initial greetings.

"Is Noel working or busy with something else today?" Gwendolyn asked Louis.

"She isn't working; but isn't here because we've broken up,' Louis answered. "Before you ask, she broke up with me; but it was semi-mutual; and Noel was just a bit braver than me to be first-out with admitting that things weren't working out for us anymore."

"I'm sorry – or not; depending on which you prefer," Gwendolyn told him sincerely; and smiled when that earned her a laugh from Louis.

"Thanks – or not," he joked. "I think we're both okay, but this was the longest that either of us dated anyone else; so it feels weird not being together anymore."

"That'll likely seem even stranger when we're on the way back to Hogwarts. Did this just happen? Al obviously didn't know about it before now; and he only saw you a couple of days ago."

"We were on the way there for a while now; but it's only been official since yesterday."

"This seems to be a danger zone for break-ups," Gwendolyn suggested next. "Wasn't it about this time last year that Rose and Shane broke up?"

"Yeah," Louis agreed. "The summer break-ups mostly seem to happen right at the start of summer or shortly before we head back to Hogwarts. I guess this will give me a bit of extra time to focus on Quidditch, but we'll see if that helps me at all; since I've heard that Rose is going to be doing the same – if for a slightly-different reason. I hope she'll be okay. Going months without seeing her boyfriend is going to be tough for both of them. I don't know if I could do that; but wish them the best."

"Al and I get teased about it when we spend a day or two apart," Gwendolyn reminded him. "If we had the same problem that Rose and Kyle have; Al would be sneaking off in Animorphmagus mode all of the time and coming to visit me – or just stay with me."

"That's funny, but if you were in the same position as Rose; Al would be a Muggle," Louis reminded her. "That'd make it a bit tough for him to do magic."

"Then let's move on; and I'll be glad that we don't have that problem," Gwendolyn decided. "How are things with you at home? Is the upcoming sisters' first rivalry match causing any trouble there?"

"Not yet. We'll see if that changes after the match – depending on which team wins."

"Something's changed already; since you're supposed to pick the Harpies for the win," Gwendolyn reminded him; and Louis laughed.

"I am not going there, but need to move away from that sooner or later; since I won't be able to play for the Harpies in another couple of years."

"Rose can't recruit you for the Cannons either without putting herself out of a job," Gwendolyn added with a grin. "Belinda won't be going anywhere soon, and only Slytherins want to play for the Falcons; so that takes you down to nine teams. Do you have a favorite?"

"Yeah – the one that will pay the most and let me play in the show. You're scaring me a bit, though; since some of those other nine teams have very good Keepers already too. I should probably worry about my job with the Gryffindor senior team first, though; since Rose won both of our last two scrimmages." He was looking past Al and Gwendolyn as he said that; but Al didn't need to turn around to know that Rose and Hugo were taking the last few steps to join their little group.

"I've told you that it'd be different if I was up against Al instead of on the reserve team with him," she reminded him. "Don't worry about it – I'm sure you'll make the team easily-enough." She was grinning; and Louis laughed.

"You are not going to psych me out with a line like that one," he assured her. "The only way that would be possible would be if you slacked off at tryouts; and you won't do that."

"I won't," she agreed with a nod. "Have you been talking Quidditch the entire time you've been here?"

"Al and Gwendolyn haven't been here very long; and we've only been talking Quidditch for half that time. We started out with the break-up news of the week."

"You and Noel?" Rose guessed as she hugged Louis. "I'm sorry, but recognized the signs from personal experience; so I'm not surprised."

"Thanks, and I think we're both okay,' Louis assured her. "It seems that some of us just can't be as lucky as Al and Gwendolyn."

"Maybe they've been using Felix Felicis," Rose suggested. "That would explain how any Wizard could manage to go three years without any major mess-up with a Witch."

"I suppose that's possible; though I thought that Al is just worried about ending up as a bug if he messes up."

"A bug with a bat-bogey affliction," Lily offered with a grin for Al. "Mum or I would be happy to help out if he does mess up with Gwendolyn."

That little blast of jokes pretty much wrapped up that part of their chat; and it wasn't much longer before Al and Gwendolyn moved on to mingle with the rest of the members of their family and the handful of other guests that were there to help Percy with celebrating his special day. Spending a bit of time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins was a blur of cameo moments of fun, but as the number of politicians in the house and yard climbed; the party got stranger and stranger for Al – mostly because of his extended senses and insights that seemed to kick into overdrive. That was likely due to the games being played by those Witches and Wizards; along with the duplicity he sensed from many of them. It didn't take Al very long to be sure that there were still lots of problems within the Ministry of Magic, and while Kingsley, his father, and others were making a difference; there were still real dangers – and dangerous Witches and Wizards that were waiting for any opportunity to further their less-than-honorable, hidden agendas.

The weird kicked up a notch when James and Patricia arrived. They were among the fashionably-late, and Patricia's parents had apparently apparated them to London – and then came in with them; ostensibly to make sure they were safely passed on to Harry. That allowed her father, Patrick, to talk with some of the movers and shakers at the Ministry as he and Cicelia dragged out that drop-off for nearly a half-hour; and Al noticed that he seemed reasonably happy when they left again. While Al didn't miss much of anything going on around him – or anywhere in the house and nearby area either; he would have liked to avoid being around James and Patricia. The insults in front of a lot of guests that weren't family or friends was only slightly-more annoying than normal, but James happily jumped in to play the games going on around them with intent that was as dark as any of their father's enemies. He also flirted with Witches of all ages, and while that didn't really surprise Al; he was almost shocked by the reactions some of those Witches had to his brother – despite the age differences.

Al didn't try to concentrate on any of that, but couldn't keep from gathering all of the information and processing it even as he and Gwendolyn tried to have fun – and avoid the dangers of the portable political swamp that had temporarily descended on Percy and Audrey's home. They were both chatted up by some of those politicians seeking to gain some advantage through Harry's kids – or Kirley and Gwenog's; but they stayed out of trouble by keeping those chats polite, superficial, and short. They didn't make any new friends doing that, but then they didn't want to be friends with those posers and schemers anyway; so it worked out just fine for them. That wasn't true for James, though; and things just kept getting weirder for Al as the afternoon rolled along. He'd pretty much had enough by the time he saw and sensed what his brother was up to when he left Patricia behind and followed a Thirty-something, married Witch into the house and on to what Al sensed they both hoped would be an intimate hook-up.

"Should we get out of here sooner instead of later?" Gwendolyn asked him quietly after seeing the expression on his face – though James was already in the house by then; so she didn't know the reason for it.

"That might be a very good idea," he agreed; speaking in a whisper so he wouldn't be overheard. "I'm pretty much on sensory overload now – and it's almost certain to go downhill from here."

"Then let's see if your Dad will be okay with us heading back to my house – and see whether Lily and Jonah want to come now or wait until sometime after your Mum gets here whenever the match she's covering ends."

They did that; Lily and Jonah opted to go with them; and Harry only did a mirror chat with Gwenog to make sure they arrived by Floo Network safely instead of going along with them. Lily and Jonah went straight out to the back yard and hopped into one of the portable pools, but Al and Gwendolyn stayed in to have a few minutes alone because she really wanted to know what had happened at the party to upset him.

"I don't know how anyone can stand half of the two-faced games so many of those politicians play," he began, "but the last straw for me was seeing and sensing James going off to meet up with one of those politicians for some inappropriate play time. It was weird-enough that she's closer to Mum's age than ours; but she's also married; and her husband was there at the party."

"That's not just scary – it's gross!" Gwendolyn exclaimed quietly. "It's weird-enough to have Bristol and Patricia taking turns on the weekends with James; but why in Merlin's name would any married women be going after fifteen-year old Wizards?"

"Going on sixteen," Al joked; but shook his head. "This isn't a first for James," he added. "I know that we both look a lot like Dad, and maybe that has something to do with it in this case; but what I can't understand is why they both don't believe that what they're doing is wrong. I thought it was rotten when he went off snogging Bristol at the end of last summer when he knew she was still dating one of his roommates, but this is worse; since being bonded for life is supposed to mean something more than it obviously does for James – or that married Witch."

"We're old-fashioned," Gwendolyn advised him with a grim smile and shrug. "In my case, that has a lot to do with the stories I've heard about the old days with the Weird Sisters – including stories I wasn't meant to overhear. It's too bad that everyone doesn't feel that way about their families, friends, and oaths; but it's the way of the world more often than not. Let's try not to let it bother us too much; and be happy."

"That's tough to do when I'm someplace with such strong, negative emotions and darkness, but we're out of there now; so I'm good with having fun with you for the rest of the day." He smiled when Gwendolyn laughed and then shook her head.

"Let's not go with my first thought on that, since that would be weird; considering what you suspect James is up to right now."

"Definitely; but let's save that thought for later," he suggested.

Gwendolyn was good with that plan; they went outside to join the family and friends fun in the back yard; and that really was a complete change from Percy's party and the problems Al had been having there with the dark emotion overload. They went swimming; got in on a Quidditch scrimmage; had dinner with Lily, Jonah, and most of Gwendolyn's younger cousins; and then helped with the clean-up – the only work they'd been drafted for since getting back from London. There was more Quidditch and swimming after dinner; and a campfire that started at dusk. Al and Gwendolyn were drafted to help with the music; sang several duets; and Al was put to work doing animal changes for the Animorphmagus song – including one bonus dip in the pool when a shark was requested – though he went with a small, playful shark instead of a version that might have scared any of the kids in the dark.

Kirley and Gwenog's guests began heading home at midnight; Al and Gwendolyn helped with the work involved in getting kids ready to go and play day gear rounded up and packed too. As the last handfuls of guests headed out, they moved on to help with the post-campfire clean-up; had a short bedtime chat with Kirley and Gwenog; and then the four kids headed out to the tent for the rest of the night while Kirley and Gwenog went into the house and off to bed. Al, Gwendolyn, Lily, and Jonah all took turns getting ready for bed first, but then they met up in the main room for some couples' cuddle and chat time. Lily and Jonah were first to be together on their usual sofa because Al was last to get bathroom time; so they – and Gwendolyn – were watching a mirror network show by the time Al joined them and got comfortably snuggled with Gwendolyn.

"Okay, the grown-ups are gone, and we've got time to hear the story; so what happened at Uncle Percy's party that had you running for the exits, Al? Did James do something to you guys that I didn't see? He was being a fat-headed git; but mostly playing nice around me."

"He hooked up with a married Witch," Gwendolyn answered before Al could say anything. "I didn't ask if it was someone we know; but maybe I don't want to find out the answer to that question."

"You met her today, and didn't act as though you knew her; so I'll guess you didn't. I didn't know her or recognize her; so she doesn't work directly for Dad, but might be in Uncle Percy's department; since she was at the party – and her husband doesn't work for the Ministry." He smiled and shrugged when Gwendolyn looked as if she wanted more of a hint – or answer. "Elaine and Warren," he added. "We weren't given last names. She has long, reddish-brown hair; gold-brown eyes; and is likely in her early-to-mid thirties."

"I remember seeing her," Lily told them. "It's no wonder that James would find her hot; but what in Merlin's name would she see in a kid half her age?"

Gwendolyn laughed. "Well, I could take a guess at that, since I am dating your other brother for one or more of those reasons; but I still think it's gross. Could you imagine either of our Mums going off to have that kind of fun with one of our friends?"

"No, and I'm trying not to have that mental picture either," Lily said with a shudder. "It's bad-enough thinking about Mum and Dad doing stuff like that together let alone with anyone else of any age."

"That isn't at all the same," Al disagreed. "They love each other and their bond is bright and strong. I needed to get out of there today because too much of what I sensed from a lot of those politicians was really dark and ugly – including what was going on between James and that Witch."

"You've been around the Ministry and those politicians lots of other times," Lily reminded him. "Are your abilities getting that much stronger?"

"Yes," Al answered honestly. "I don't seem to be able to shut it off at all either; and I remember everything."

"That's scary," Lily decided – "both for you; and everyone around you." She smiled at Jonah. "Remind us to stop hanging out with Al and Gwendolyn if we do start officially dating some day. There are some things a sister just doesn't need her brothers knowing about!"

"That is pretty much why we left the party early today," Gwendolyn reminded her. "I don't think you'll have to worry about Al for things like that. He'll just find a way to not be around when you need to be left alone."

"I'm tempted to test that theory right now; but won't do that after Al's already been traumatized by James."

"I appreciate that," Al assured her while Gwendolyn laughed and Jonah blushed a bit – and wondered if Al could sense what he'd been thinking. "What other weirdness was going on there? Anything that Dad or the Minister of Magic should know about?"

"I'm going to mention a few things to Dad just in case he and Minister Shacklebolt don't know about some of what I picked up today, but there wasn't anything particularly scandalous or any imminent threat to the Ministry. There are way too many people at the Ministry that are just in it for the power, money, or other selfish motivation, though; and that's going to need to end if we're ever going to fix all of the problems we have in the Wizarding World."

"Careful, or before you know it; you'll decide to give up Quidditch and go and clean up the Ministry of Magic instead," Lily teased. "Rose would not be happy with you."

"I'm selfish too," Al advised her; "so I'll be playing in the show after we graduate – and for the Cannons; since I really do think that Rose's plan is brilliant. The difference between us and those Ministry of Magic posers is that we don't want to hurt anyone while trying to get what we want – or intentionally hurt others to get more power or wealth."

"That's true," Lily agreed; "so Gwendolyn and I will feel bad when our Harpies keep you from helping Rose out with that imposible dream to win league championships with the Cannons."

"You won't be able to win every year," Jonah offered – "not that I'm suggesting the Cannons would win any of the titles in the years you don't."

"If Rose manages to draft you too; I'll hope you're wrong about that," Al told him; and smiled when Jonah laughed.

"I'm still not sure I'll play in the show. Music is still an option for me; and there are no bludgers."

"No – only groupies that could be far more dangerous if you get too close to them – and happen to be dating Lily too," Gwendolyn offered.

"That is a good point," he agreed. "I'll take that into consideration when I get around to deciding what I want to do when I grow up."

They continued to chat for a while, but Al and Gwendolyn didn't get to have any alone time for snogging because Lily and Jonah both fell asleep on their sofa; they were too comfortable to think about moving into one of the bedrooms to spend a bit of quality time saying goodnight to each other; and they ended up going to sleep for the rest of the night too.

Sunday was a quiet family day at home for the Potters and McCormacks; with James being the only exception while he continued his last weekend away with Patricia. Al's morning started out with a fun little good morning kiss or three with Gwendolyn; he went on to be first to get ready for the day while she napped for a while longer – and Lily and Jonah slept on too; and then he took care of making breakfast for six with some eventual help from Gwenog once she was drawn to the kitchen by the siren smell of freshly-brewed coffee. They spent the morning puttering around the house and yard at the McCormacks; went over to the Potter's house in time for lunch; and then spent the afternoon together relaxing and doing nothing more strenuous than going for a swim. Lily even let them take a day off from Quidditch; and was happy to have a do-nothing day – possibly the last chance they'd have to do that before heading back to Hogwarts in just nine more days.

The McCormacks headed home before dinner because Gwenog needed to do some work in the evening ahead of the work week; and Harry and Ginny both had some work to do too. Once their guests were gone, Ginny and Al cooked a light dinner that was mostly leftovers; Harry and Al took care of the clean-up; and then Al and Lily ended their lazy day with a bike ride and some mirror gaming before deciding to head to bed early – even before Harry and Ginny were done their work in the office. Al had a bedtime chat with Gwendolyn after doing some textbook reading in his room; and was still sleeping before his parents came up to bed too – ready to get a decent night of rest ahead of what he knew was going to be a very busy last week of the summer.

On Monday morning, Al was up early; cooked breakfast for four; and then he and Lily stayed at home and did some house and yard chores while Ginny spent the morning visiting the Harpies' and United' practice pitches. She worked all morning so that she could go along for the robe fittings and back-to-school clothes shopping with Kirley, Molly, Angelina, and a handful or two of the cousins. Al also had a Seeker duel with Lily for a break from the chores and they went for two short swims too, but they had the work finished by the time Ginny picked them up and they headed for Diagon Alley in time to have lunch. Kirley, Gwendolyn, and Jonah met up with them for that meal; they ate at one of the cafes so they could sit outside and enjoy the nice weather; and then they went to do their robe fittings.

"You've grown a foot since last August!" Ginny told Al as she held a robe up to him and looked at it critically. "This is two sizes up from your last robes."

"It's only more like four inches," Al advised her. "You thought about going one size bigger last year; but decided that I'd outgrow my robes either way; and went with the ones that fit a bit better."

Ginny nodded. "I remember; and it seems I was right about that. Would you like to take a guess about whether we could do that this year or not?"

"Probably not," he answered. "Maybe we can do that next year, though – and that might get me through our last three years if we go a bit big and I take care of them."

"Deal," Ginny said with a nod and smile. "Now we need to decide on how many of them."

"Three regular robes are usually enough for me," Al told her; "and one dress robe is all I need for the special occasions."

"That might be enough for you with keeping up with the laundry, but I'd rather order the extras now instead of buying and sending more of them by Owl Post later if you have any of your everyday robes get damaged."

"Considering all of the things that have happened to him; it's a wonder he hasn't ruined more robes instead of just wrecking sweaters, shirts, jackets, and pants," Lily told them with a grin for Al. "If it's okay with you; I'd like to stick with five robes again this year. Some of us don't leave our bags of laundry for the House Elves every day."

"We'll go with five for each of you," Ginny decided. "We should definitely go one size up for you, Lily," she added. "We'll adjust the hems at Christmas – unless you need to have that done while still at school. You'll likely out-grow Al over this school year."

"Too bad I won't do that and get taller than him too," Lily pretended to lament; "but it will be nice to be a bit-less vertically-challenged."

"At least you're at the high-end for your year thanks to being among the oldest," Gwendolyn told her. "It's much tougher to be a firstie when you're closer to eleven than twelve and no bigger than a pixie."

"We're all past that stage now," Lily pointed out. "We want to get to the mall as soon as we can, though; so let's just get this done and move on to the best part of our shopping day!"

The girls in their group were especially-happy to help her out with that; Al, Jonah, and the other guys tried not to slow them down at all; and they were about to meet up with the rest of their shopping group at the mall – including Rose, Kyle, and Hugo. Al ended up doing a lot of his shopping with Kyle and the other guys; Kirley supervised them; and Gwendolyn and Rose were with the girls for most of the afternoon as they swept through the mall and loaded up on enough new clothes to get them through at least until Christmas. Al didn't buy nearly as much as Gwendolyn or Lily did, but he picked up enough for what he'd need to get through a normal school week and weekend; added in a few extras in case of future problems with James, Ollie, or their favorite Slytherin haters; and he only splurged on two really good pairs of trainers because they did put a lot of miles on while walking around the castle and school grounds – along with the walks to and from town for Hogsmeade weekends.

Ginny and Kirley began to lose parent and grandparent support by late-afternoon, but one or two cousins left with those adults; so it didn't make the shopping any tougher for them as they wound down that blast of fun. Harry traded places with Kirley after he was done work for the day; they eventually had just six kids with them for the fast food dinner they had at the mall; and then the kids were set free to go to the movies while Harry and Ginny went to Grimmauld Place for a visit with Teddy and Victoire. They collected James along the way after he'd opted to have dinner in Diagon Alley; and the fact that he'd even agreed to go along for that visit to Teddy and Victoire's place had been a welcomed change in his usual attitude toward the young couple since finding out they'd been given the Black family home.

While they were busy with that visit, the movie date night was a blast of fun for the three couples; they watched a monster-tries-to-destroy-the-world flick; and then Rose and kyle headed to his home while Al, Gwendolyn, Lily, and Jonah went to meet up with Harry, Ginny, and James at Grimmauld Place. They had a short visit and snack break while there, but it was a training night for Victoire; so Harry and Ginny took all five kids home when she needed to turn in for the night. Ginny then went on to take Gwendolyn and Jonah home after that, but Gwenog was heading to bed by then too; so she only stayed for a few minutes to talk with her – and with Kirley; and then she came home again.

Al didn't need to wonder what was going on with James, since he could sense the way his brother was feeling, but while he still fired off the odd insult or razzing at Al; there was also no doubt that he was playing nicer – even though he still had a strong, simmering hatred just below the surface facade he was putting on for his own, selfish reasons. He'd apparently played nice the entire time he'd been at Grimmauld Place too, so while Al wasn't planning on letting down his guard around James; he was glad to see that he was at least faking getting along with everyone else. The darkness he sensed still gave him reason to stay away from James, though; so Al went to his room not long after Gwendolyn and Jonah went home and studied for an hour or so until he was ready to get some sleep.

Tuesday was a home day for Al and Lily, but Gwendolyn, Jonah, Rose, and Hugo came over to spend the day with them. Ginny did one last blast of toy making with the three older teens; they wrapped up a few final adjustments to three of the toys that would be out for Halloween; and then that was it for the toy work for the summer. Ginny worked all afternoon while the six kids stayed home and played; they all stayed for a take-out dinner that Ginny brought home with her while Harry collected James from the Catapults' practice pitch; and then Gwendolyn went on to her senior team practice while James, Al, and Rose did the same for their practice at the Wood's home. As with most of their senior team scrimmages, Al, Rose, and their reserve squad team won that match, but this time; they also won it handily because James and Brandon battled to a draw in their Seeker duel until time ran out for them and Olivia ended the practice. The fact that James wasn't mad about that was another change, but Al also sensed that it was part of some game or plan that James had - possibly to sandbag Brandon ahead of tryouts.

James' apparent attitude change was as welcomed by the other players as it was for everyone in his family, but all was not entirely-well at the practice. Ollie was definitely not happy; and neither were some of the other player-hopefuls – particularly at Chaser and Keeper. Al earned extra hate from Ollie, but even Olivia and Lucy seemed to get a bit annoyed when he consistently out-played them too. The only difference between them and the rest of the Chasers, though, was that Al sensed that they were also excited about the prospect of having him on the team with them this year as their third Chaser. For the Keepers, it was Louis and Rose that had the other Keepers feeling disappointed; since they were both significantly-better than the others – though there were only two Keepers still showing up regularly for the workouts. They didn't get much play time in the scrimmages, but that was of their own doing; since the switch-outs were done after every three goals; and they gave up those goals much more quickly than Louis or Rose did when it was their turns to play.

James had to work in the morning, so he and Al didn't stay for long after the practice – just long-enough for a cool-down swim and post-practice chat. Rose didn't even wait that long; but headed for London to meet up with Kyle for the rest of the evening. By the time they got home, Lily's fellow junior team players had all gone home; she was watching mirror network shows with Harry and Ginny; and they all watched Lee's nightly show before heading up to bed together – another bit of semi-weirdness; since they did that with James and didn't have any major issues with him yet again.

Wednesday was an away day for Al and Lily. Ginny dropped them off at the McCormack's home on her way to work; and they were staying for the entire day and a camping night. While getting to do that together had been the top reason for the play day plan; Al and Gwendolyn also spent a couple of hours with Kirley working on the last batch of Christmas songs with him. They played each of them for him; fine-tuned a couple of them with his help; and he was fairly-happy by the time they were done – though he still wished that they'd record the songs and put out their own album instead of just selling the songs to other artists. Gwendolyn insisted that wasn't going to happen, though, and Al was happy to go along with her on that decision; so Kirley was just going to have to live with the disappointment.

They did that music play time first, so they had the rest of the day open to them to play with Lily and Jonah. They had a morning Quidditch duel for the Seekers and Chasers that included a lot of flying tricks fun; swam and relaxed by the pool a lot for the rest of the morning and a lot of the afternoon; and went for one hike along a nearby trail with just the four kids while Kirley popped out to run some errands – including a stop to work on selling the new songs to the Weird Kids and Graves Robbers through his own band mates. The Graves Robbers only had a few more days left to do any additional recording before some of their members headed back to school; but the Weird Kids could continue to work on a Christmas album for at least another couple of months before they'd need to get it ready to be in stores in time for the Christmas season.

While they didn't play more Quidditch in the afternoon, they did keep track of the Cannons' Quidditch match on their portable mirrors. Al and Lily could have gone to the match with Ron, Rose, and Hugo; but Fred and Roxanne went instead. Spending the day with Gwendolyn and Jonah instead of going to the game had been an easy choice for them, but then they still got to watch most of what was a pretty bad match for the Cannons right up until Santini again shocked everyone by catching the snitch and keeping his team undefeated after their first two matches of the season! The Magpies' players and fans weren't the only spectators watching the match to be stunned by the result; and Santini caught the snitch in just forty-four minutes to give his team the one-seventy to forty victory. Al, Gwendolyn, Lily, and Jonah had been on their hike at the time, but there wasn't any Muggles around them; so they'd been able to both watch the show and then talk about the unexpected results.

"Can you believe that the Cannons and Harpies are both undefeated?" Jonah asked incredulously. "Merlin – they could have a better record than us if we don't beat United on Saturday!"

"Maybe that's why Santini seems so motivated right now," Al suggested. "Their third match is against the Harpies; and this may have been his only chance to look like a winner to Aunt Gabrielle; since they normally don't play against each other until a bit later in the season – and the Cannons have never had a winning record going into that first match."

"They haven't since Gabrielle started with the Harpies for sure," Gwendolyn agreed with a nod. "Still, I didn't think he had it in him; so let's give the guy credit when due."

"Do we have to?" Lily complained. "Uncle Ron is going to be insufferable for the rest of the week – and he'll drive Mum nuts if we don't win on Saturday."

"I say let him have his fun," Al suggested. "He's actually got something to brag about with the Cannons for now; and that won't likely last for long. The Cannons are not going to have as much luck against the top-eight teams they'll be up against over the next few matches; so I'll feel bad for him when the Cannons disappoint him yet again this year."

"I suppose we can give him that," Lily conceded; and then grinned at Al. "Don't think I'll extend that consideration to you if you do go and play for them with Rose, though. You know what you're getting into; and won't deserve our sympathy."

"Maybe you won't have to worry about that at all," Gwendolyn suggested. "If the Cannons actually have a winning season; that might completely mess up Rose's plans. Then she could come and play for the Harpies with us; and Al can play for some other team."

"Sure," Jonah agreed. "I could totally see Al playing for the Tornados with Rachel and Lacey – or for Aunt Meghan with Alice and Francine. I'd suggest United too, but Dominique, Olivia, and Lucy have their own plans; and Al would mess that up if he took one of those spots from them."

"At least two out of three of those Witches are our cousins," Lily offered after laughing at Jonah's suggestions. "Gwendolyn probably doesn't like your other choices for Al's future team."

"I don't like them at all," Gwendolyn assured her. "That is part of my problem with Rose's plan for the Cannons. That might be the best place for Al from a Harpies' perspective; and I could also make sure that she doesn't hire any Witches to play on his team with him that I don't approve first."

"Rose might prefer to hire a team full of hot Wizards instead," Lily teased; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"Now that would be funny. Could you imagine your Uncle Ron in that scenario? He'd be cheering for the team and worried about all of those Wizards around his little girl – except for Al, of course."

"That's true, but it would keep me out of trouble," Al offered with a grin. "I like the idea."

"Well, in that case; let's talk about the available Wizards for those jobs," Lily suggested – "and I mean 'available' for both Quidditch skills and hotness."

Her offer kept Gwendolyn and Lily entertained for a while, but Al and Jonah did not want to offer any opinions on the hot factor for other Wizards – including when Jonah was considered as both a prospect for Seeker and a hot, younger Wizard for Rose to 'play' with on the Cannons' team. They had a quick mirror chat with Rose to congratulate her, but she was more-interested in getting back to London to hang out with Kyle; so they kept that chat short because she was ready to leave the stadium by then anyway. Kirley was still out when they got back from their hike, so they relaxed by the pool and went for cool-down swims when they wanted to do that; and then Al and Gwendolyn helped him out with making dinner after he got home – and had that meal ready to go by the time Gwenog got home from work.

That meal was followed up with a play evening. The four kids had a bit more Quidditch fun while Kirley and Gwenog watched on and she did a bit of Harpies work at a table she conjured by the pitch. They all went for an evening swim; and then Kirley and Gwenog went into the house for the rest of the night while the kids stayed outside and played until they were ready to head into the tent in time to watch Lee's nightly show. The Cannons' win earned top billing for Lee's monologue; and he had a bit of fun with that – particularly when he pointed out that the Cannons were sure to be one of the few undefeated teams left standing after the weekend because four of those still-undefeated teams were playing against each other on Saturday; so only two of them would still be undefeated by the end of the day. Lily and Jonah cuddled together until Lee's show ended; and then they headed for their own beds and left Al and Gwendolyn to have some alone time – and another sofa sleepover without the extra company; if they chose to do that too.

With their younger siblings still in the tent with them, Al and Gwendolyn couldn't exactly have a major snogging session, and couldn't do anything until after Lily and Jonah had taken turns in the bathroom and then gone to stay in their rooms; but they did have a bit of quiet play time after that – a soft, intimate blast of fun that was a perfect way to end a really good play day before going with the sofa sleepover option for the rest of the night.

The countdown really seemed to be on by Thursday morning; and that was mostly because Al and Lily went to the Burrow after breakfast while Gwendolyn and Jonah were going to be busy with Kirley – and spending time with him; visiting family and friends; and getting ready for their return to school on September First. Al and Lily were doing a bit of that too; and Molly had wanted to spend extra time with them while Ginny needed to be busy with work. Fred, Roxanne, and Hugo came over for the day on Thursday too, but Rose stayed in London to spend the day with Kyle; both of them wanting to spend as much time together as they could before they'd be separated until the Christmas holidays. Molly didn't have the kids there to do chores for her all day, but they did help out for most of the morning; and then they played for the rest of the day. They went out to lunch with Arthur; he took the afternoon off; and let the kids play with his favorite airplanes, helicopters, and quad-copters whenever they weren't swimming or playing a bit of Quidditch in the orchard.

Ginny came and picked up Al and Lily early because she needed to get home and have them help her with the end-of-summer dinner that Lily was hosting for the junior team. Al helped out with that until he needed to be at the Wood's home for the senior team barbeque and practice, but by then; Molly and Arthur had come over to help out too – and brought Fred, Roxanne, and Hugo with them. Al had gone on to the Wood's house on his own; and he ended up being there early-enough to help out with some of the work that Ollie's mother and sisters were doing – though Kathryn moved on to his home not long after he arrived so that she could hang out with Lily and the other junior players instead. Harry dropped James off after they were both done work, but Rose didn't get there until right before dinner was ready to be served – and it wasn't because Ron had been running behind schedule as usual; but because she'd lost track of time while possibly having an afternoon snogging session with Kyle at his house.

That team dinner was a first for Al at someone else's home, but while his perspective as a guest was a bit different; it was his stronger, passive talents for sensing everything going on around him that made that couple of hours of fun more than a little strange too. Some of the interactions between the witches and Wizards of various ages wasn't anything new; yet there were still new things to learn – and not all of them were things he wanted to know. Ollie, for instance, hated that Al helped out with the pre-dinner work while he'd been avoiding both his mother and the work, but when Oliver got home; that attitude changed fairly dramatically. That wasn't for any scary reasons, and Ollie wasn't afraid of his father; but Al still didn't like what he sensed from Ollie when it came to how he felt about his parents. There wasn't the same darkness that Al always sensed now with James' reaction to him, but Ollie was so jealous of his sisters that he'd become a true sexist; and acted accordingly toward his mother – and really; around most Witches – even if he didn't overtly treat them badly.

Al found Ollie's reactions to his father more interesting; since it taught him a lot about the other boy. He could sense a strong level of hero worship and a desire to measure up, but underneath the bravado and outward show of confidence; there was doubt and self-disappointment that Ollie turned around and blamed on others – like his sisters, Al, and anyone else other than himself. While he could comprehend those feelings; Al didn't understand them. All of the Quidditch family kids knew the stories about their families from their Hogwarts years, so while Oliver had enjoyed a brilliant, successful career with Puddlemere United; he'd needed to work hard and go through many tough years along the way – especially at Hogwarts while he was Captain of the Gryffindor team. After that, there'd been years of training as a reserve squad Keeper before he finally earned his shot to play in the show; and then there'd been more tough seasons to go along with a few, well-deserved league championships.

The point that was lost on Ollie seemed to be that he didn't get just how much work his father had needed to put into learning his craft before reaching the elite level of the league. That thought had Al smiling to himself because he suspected that Ollie's mother might have more natural talent for Quidditch than his father, though Ollie would never believe that. His train of thought took him from there over to James, and while he didn't sense anything different about his brother; Al decided that at least part of the change in the way James had been acting was directly-related to his summer job with the Catapults. On the nights James had actually been home after work, Al had sensed his general disdain for most of the players on the team, but maybe being around the work ethic every day – and joining in for parts of the training – was rubbing off on him. As he considered that, a review of his team practice memories didn't reveal any added insights, but then he still suspected that James was playing some sort of game; so maybe he was just learning the strategy part of the game.

Al didn't let his wandering thoughts get in the way of having fun too, and once it was time to have dinner; he was happy to get in line with Rose and eventually fill their plates and find a couple of chairs to sit in – once the most-ravenous of their little gang had finished piling one or two plates full of food first. They ended up sitting with Gina and Brandon; making up a table of Auror and Ministry of Magic kids while most of the other teens were in Quidditch groups where that was an option.

"How long has it been since we've sat at the same table for any meals?" Gina asked Al and Rose.

"Seven years and change for both of you," Al answered with a smile. "You were put on kid control for a back-to-school family and friends play day – along with Teddy, Victoire, and some of the other, older teens and tweens."

"I didn't think it had been quite that long," Brandon said in surprise; and Al shrugged. "The year after that, Rose and I turned eight; and the parents let us move up from the supervised tables. Gina helped out with Lily, Roxanne, and some of the other, younger Auror kids for another couple of summers, but you were more into Quidditch and mirror games after that summer and sat with the other, older boys."

"You remember stuff like that from when you were seven and eight?" Brandon asked; and Al smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah. It comes in handy now and then."

"I wish I had that kind of memory to help out with our NEWT year," Gina told him seriously. "Half the battle is memorizing everything."

"More than half for me," Brandon agreed. "The magic is easy compared to all of the tests, reports, and research."

"That's likely true for most of us," Rose suggested; "though I guess we have a few classmates that have more trouble with the magic – at least in a few classes."

"You won't have as many problems with that now that you're in fourth-year," Gina told her. "There are still some mishaps while learning new magic, but by fourth-year; most of the students know better than to just fling the spells around; so there are far-fewer accidents."

"Thank Merlin for that," Brandon offered fervently. "The accidents we do see are bad-enough; and we wouldn't want that to be an every day thing like it was back in first year. I never, ever want to see another splinching accident in my life."

"Me either; though the one we did see was minor compared to some of the horror stories we've all heard."

"Possibly included the one about my Dad," Rose added; earning a round of laughs.

"That wasn't funny at the time; but the stories are now," Al said; smiling wryly at Rose. "Anyone that doesn't know your parents might think that it was love at first splinch; depending on how much of the story they heard."

"I always liked the snogging during the Battle of Hogwarts stories more," Gina told them. "That might even be one of the top craziest stories from the entire war."

"Maybe," Rose agreed; "but the war brought a lot of couples together – and helped everyone realize what's most important – at least for our side."

"Yeah, and look what that got our parents – all of us!" Brandon joked.

"That has worked out well-enough for us; considering the alternative," Gina pointed out; and then grinned at Al and Rose. "Now we might have gotten the chance to play more Quidditch if those Weasleys and Potters didn't have quite so many kids; but I guess it's too late to do anything about that – unless you want to try using a time-turner and going back to change the past."

"That might've helped you, but even if they'd all only had one kid each; I'd have still had the same problems with Victoire and James," Brandon reminded her. "We can hope for the best; but I expect we'll both be back on the reserve squad again this season."

"That used to worry me until Daniella got her job with the Prides," Gina admitted. "Now I know there's still hope for us to play in the show even without getting the chance to play for our team and get seen by the scouts."

"I think you'd both do great in the show," Al told them seriously; and seemed to surprise both of them.

"Really?" Gina asked. "Thanks; but why do you think that?"

"I think that you're one of the top seven or eight Chasers with the Senior teams," he answered. "You'd make a great set-up Chaser for any team in the league – or a go-to reserve Chaser. That isn't something that can be judged at tryouts; but you're better than Olivia or Lucy for that part of the Chaser game." Al turned his attention to Brandon. "I don't know if you'd ever get the chance for a Seeker job on any of the league teams; but any team would be lucky to have you as a reserve Seeker; and a team that can score a lot of goals would be a perfect fit for your defensive style. Seekers get hurt more-often than most of the other players; and you'd give that kind of team a chance to win matches even when their Seeker is out for injuries or other reasons."

Brandon sighed. "So you're saying I can only hope to play in the show if my team Seeker gets injured," he pretended to lament.

"For now," Al agreed candidly. "That could change if you can get better at catching the snitch." He nodded toward where Oliver and Katie were sitting a few tables over. "Ollie's Dad found a way to make the jump from the reserve squad with Puddlemere United; and that isn't easy to do; so you know it's possible."

"Maybe I should be talking to Rose about this," Brandon said; turning his attention toward her. "I hear she's looking to put a team together for after you graduate – though that would mean I'd need to wait for three years to do that with her."

"You are on my list," Rose advised him, "but don't sign up with the Cannons; since I'd rather have you play for some other team – or not at all – instead of learning all of the bad habits their current players have now."

"They're undefeated so far this season," Gina said with a laugh. "I thought that you'd be very happy with your team – and I've already heard that your Dad is thrilled – and razzing all of his old Auror mates."

"He is and has been doing that; but I know that Santini is the only reason they've won those matches – just as he's responsible for every win they've had since he joined the Cannons. Unfortunately, he's in the bottom-half of the Seekers in the league; and our team is down by more than one-sixty before he can win the Seeker duels he does have a real chance at winning."

"I'd actually put him in the top-half of that list," Brandon offered. "He's at a disadvantage thanks to the rest of his team; and would have a better record if he played for nearly any other team."

Rose shrugged. "That'd be true for any of the Seekers in the show; and I still think that there are at least seven Seekers among the rest that would do better than he does even if they were with the Cannons instead. Our Aunt Gabrielle would likely have a winning record with them."

"Except for the fact that they can't afford the best Seeker in the league," Gina said. "That's the part of your plan that I don't know how you'll pull off. Putting together a championship team won't be cheap – even if you could buy the Cannons as they are now at a bargain price."

"I haven't figured out any of that yet," Rose admitted; "but still think new owners will be needed before the Cannons can get better. The current owners just can't get that done – though I'll try to be nice and not offer any suggestions on why they can't or won't put better teams together."

"Well, your Dad is their biggest fan; so maybe he'd let you live at home and work for the pittance the Cannons pay everyone except Santini," Brandon offered.

"Are you trying to sell me on that; or dissuade me?" Rose half-joked. "I love my Mum and Dad; but don't want to live at home for long after we graduate."

"My first thought on that is really wrong; but aren't you expecting to get a new house from your Uncle after you graduate – or will the cousins only get them when they get married?" Her questions earned a round of laughs before Rose responded.

"I don't expect Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny to give me a house at all; but everyone seems to forget that the house was for Teddy; not Victoire – and Uncle Harry wanted him to have it because of his connection to the Black family."

"Sirius left Grimmauld Place to Dad; but I expect he'd have left it for Teddy instead if he'd lived long-enough to meet his cousin," Al told them earnestly. "Dad never felt right about getting that inheritance – especially when he thought that Mum's family – or Andromeda's – had more right to it."

"It worked out for the best this way," Rose offered. "Grandma and Grandpa Weasley would have never been able to fix that place up if it had been given to them; and the same goes for Andromeda – especially when both grandmothers were busy raising their grandchildren."

"Now that you say that – I'm glad that Dad got it too," Al told her. "Could you imagine what the chores would have been like at Grimmauld Place if we'd been there instead of the Burrow?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, I can; since we've heard the horror stories about that place."

That comment had Gina and Brandon asking them about those stories; and that kept them entertained for the rest of their meal. All four of them helped Oliver and Katie with the clean-up; and then it was time to get started on their quidditch practice. For their last practice of the summer; Olivia decided to have a Witches against Wizards scrimmage – though she didn't have two Witches for Beaters or one for Seeker; and had to make an exception for them. She did put Rose on her team, though; and had Louis play on Al's team with the other guys – and with James too; since he'd wanted to make the switch for the night too. Al sensed that had everything to do with wanting to get the win over the Witches; though James pretended that he was doing Brandon a favor. He hadn't intended to do that; but actually did end up helping Brandon.

Al found the change-ups for their match very interesting; challenging; and entertaining. Rose might notice how the game changed for Al playing against her, but he suspected that no-one else would; so they didn't see that Rose won more of the battles with Al than Louis had been winning for most of the summer. He still scored a lot of goals, but he needed to set up more goals too as he adjusted for her goaltending style and skills. That was offset by Olivia, Lucy, and Gina having a better night against Louis; though that just proved to Al that Rose had been getting better all summer too. He liked Louis a lot, but he loved Rose; and couldn't help but hope that they'd both make the senior team in September – even if they'd each feel bad for Louis now that he was down to just two years left for impressing the scouts. That was even tougher after not being able to play in his fourth year and going winless in his fifth despite being the best Keeper among the senior teams; but Al still thought that Rose was going to be the better Keeper between the two of them – if she wasn't already the best in the school.

Those two differences kept the scoring closer than normal for the two teams; and they all seemed to be having more fun. Even James had fun as he caught the first snitch just fifteen minutes into the scrimmage; and that fifty points put his team even more-firmly into the lead – if still well-short of a one-sixty advantage. That early catch didn't help him, though; since he started to act more like his normal-self again in his battle against Brandon. Having the big lead instead of being behind affected him too; and he started showboating and goofing off – knowing that even if Brandon caught the snitch; his team was still too far ahead for that to matter. The one little detail that he did forget, though, was that he wouldn't win his Seeker duel if Brandon caught the snitch – which he did at the one-hour and twelve minute mark of the match. James hadn't even been in a position to try and stop him because he'd been busy flirting with one of the Witches watching the match and showing off for her; so it was too late by the time he realized that Brandon had seen an opportunity to catch the snitch that he took advantage of to get his first catch of the entire summer. Olivia called an end to the practice then, and while James hadn't looked happy about that, his team had still won; and he was soon more interested in resuming the flirting while Al and Rose joined in on the practice post-mortem with about a third of the other players.

"Thanks for switching up the teams today," Louis told Olivia. "I feel so much better now going into tryouts in a couple of weeks than I did after the practice on Tuesday."

Olivia laughed. "I am so not-glad that we helped you out with that. The Witches were supposed to win, and we can't even blame the boys on our team; since they at least plaed to a draw against your guys."

"Which I'm very happy about," Brandon assured her. "One catch for the summer still sucks; but it's better than zero."

"You'll only need one at tryouts," Lucy reminded him; and then grinned. "Fill the stands with pretty Witches for tryouts; and you might get that win. James is easily-distracted."

"I doubt that'd work at tryouts," Brandon disagreed. "I'll still hope for the best, but James is sure to bring his best game; and he is better than I am – when he isn't messing around."

"Maybe," Lucy agreed; "but let's not go there. I really had fun tonight; and I think that we all did – even while we also all played better too."

"That would have been exactly as planned – except for the part where we didn't win," Olivia told her; earning more laughs.

"This time; I'll agree with Al that winning isn't everything," Lucy countered. "We are all on the same team, after all; so these practices are supposed to be about helping all of us to get better – and I think we did that today."

"So you're saying that Al would be perfect for our reserve squad; but shouldn't be allowed to play in any matches?" Gina asked; feigning hopeful excitement. "Yes – the rest of us still have a shot at one of those Chaser jobs!"

Al had joined in for the laugh, but Gina's comment also had him focusing on what he sensed from the other Chaser hopefuls as they considered her joke. Some of them were realistic and hoped to make the reserve squad; while Ollie was at the other extreme and still seemed to be truly-delusional about his own prospects for making the team. Sure, he was biased against Ollie for obvious reasons, but that didn't make him wrong about his assessment of Ollie's current abilities compared to the other Chasers – including himself; and Al knew that Ollie might not even be good-enough to make the reserve squad. It was definitely wrong to hope for that, but if he didn't have to spend the season practicing three times a week with Ollie; he'd find a way to live with that personal flaw.

While the post-practice chat rolled along; they also got out of their gear and went for a swim in one of the two pools that had been set up for the end-of-summer party. James and Al stayed longer to join in on the fun; but still got home before the party for the junior team was finished – so they joined in for the tail-end of that too. James only did that because there were a couple of pretty thirteen-year old Witches still there and in swimsuits; but Al also helped out with the clean-up work that was starting by then because his parents didn't have a lot of adult support by then. Most of their dinnertime help had already gone home for the night because they had work in the morning; and the parents coming to collect their kids just wanted to pick them up and go home instead of hanging around to talk or join in on the fun. It was another hour before the last teens and tweens left, but Lily ended up keeping Roxanne for a sleepover; and they went off with Ginny for some girls-only time before bed while James went to play mirror games in the sitting room; and Al helped Harry with the rest of the work in the yard and kitchen. Al went to his room after that; watched Lee's nightly show; had a mirror chat with Gwendolyn; and then went off to sleep once they'd finished sharing their practice and party reports.

Friday wasn't exactly a wind-down day for the summer, but it felt a bit as though it was to Al and Lily. They managed to get through the early-morning with no problems from James; they spent a bit more than half the day at the Burrow with their grandmother doing some chores and then playing until Ginny picked them up mid-afternoon and took them home; and then they had a quiet evening at home. James had been ordered to be home for the weekend and not have any weekend guests, and while he hadn't liked being ordered to do anything; he'd agreed after finding out that the order applied to Al and Lily too. He also continued to mostly play nice after he got home from work, so while he didn't help out with any chores after dinner and into the evening that Harry and Ginny had wanted to get done ahead of the weekend and the Harpies' Quidditch match on Saturday; he did have a short Seeker duel with Lily; didn't make an issue of it when she won; and then had fun playing in the pool with her afterward. Their family evening eventually wrapped up with watching Lee's show in the sitting room; and then they all headed up to bed – including James; since he had to work with the Catapults on Saturday for their match instead of going to the Harpies' match with his family and their friends.

James' attitude change hadn't been something that Harry and Ginny talked about with Al and Lily – or with their eldest son. Al was sure that four out of five of them were worried about jinxing it if they did do anything more than just enjoy the reprieve and be glad of the break from the past three years of awful. They didn't talk about it on Saturday morning either, but were again happy to have a meal that was free of any teen drama and only included a bit of razzing from James about how 'his' team would still be undefeated by the end of the day while the Harpies would be sure to have another loss to United. Al thought that the odds of both teams losing were higher than any other combination of wins and losses, but he didn't get involved in that banter; and left it up to his mother and sister to defend the Harpies. When they were finished breakfast, Harry took James to work while Ginny, Al, and Lily took care of the clean-up; and then he came home and they did some more chores until mid-morning.

They headed for Diagon Alley then; did some shopping and visiting that kept them entertained until it was time for the game-day lunch at the Leaky; and then they met up with everyone in their Quidditch-watching group – and were there early-enough to welcome all of them too. Thanks to the match-up against United, they had extra guests – mostly because Bill and Fleur had season's tickets for United now too; and had picked up extra tickets for this match. While the rivalry was now at a new level for the two teams; they sat together and had fun with that. Al was having fun by then simply because he'd been reunited with Gwendolyn; and they had a special bonus that came with getting to be at the same table with Aunt Muriel while having their lunch.

"It's a good thing that we have this Quidditch match today; or I might not have seen you again until Christmas," Muriel told Al and Gwendolyn after they'd all been sitting down and waiting for one of Hannah's servers to take their orders. "Molly and Dominique don't seem to be in any hurry to settle down and get married; so I didn't get to see you at any weddings this year."

"We were all at Uncle Percy's birthday party," Al reminded her.

"Yes, but we barely said ten words to each other – and then you took off early – probably because you didn't want to be around there while your brother was chasing after that married Witch all afternoon."

"That might have been a contributing factor," Gwendolyn agreed; smiling as Al blushed and Muriel earned the attention of a lot of the customers in the room because of her loudly-spoken pronouncement.

"Aunt Muriel, this is hardly the place to talk about such things," Molly admonished; but Muriel just laughed.

"It's not as if that story isn't all over the gossip network," she declared. "That grandson of yours is already earning quite the reputation for that sort of thing. Maybe that's even good for him. Gives the boy something to do instead of causing so much trouble – as long as he doesn't end up in a family way at his age while doing that." She laughed again. "Then again, maybe he'd just be helping out those married Witches; since their husbands obviously have a problem with keeping them happy – or too busy with kids of their own to be interested in flirting with boys."

"Aunt Muriel!" Molly gasped; and looked shocked. Muriel just waved her off dismissively.

"It's the truth – no point in sugar-coating it," she told her niece. "He's a good-looking Wizard, but still a boy; so that says more about those husbands than the Witches." She smirked at Al. "It seems I've turned young Albus into a beet, though; so we can change the subject to something that he isn't quite so embarrassed about – though that seems ridiculous; considering how long these two have been dating each other."

"He's a proper Wizard," Molly said defensively. "That's becoming quite rare these days; and I'm glad to see that most of our boys still treat their favorite Witches with respect and honor."

"So you're expecting Albus and Gwendolyn to elope as soon as they're finished at Hogwarts just as you and Arthur did?" Muriel joked; earning a round of laughs and banishing the awkwardness of the conversation to that point.

"That is a wonderful idea," Gwendolyn told her with a smile that had Muriel laughing again.

"You remind me a lot of my Molly. That's a good thing; since your Wizard will likely need a strong Witch to keep him under control – just as Molly's done with Arthur."

"We've managed to muddle through," Molly said modestly. "I don't know how well we'll do with these matches between the Harpies and United now that we have grandchildren on both teams."

"That won't get easier for us when the rest of the kids grow up," Arthur reminded her. "We could end up needing to cheer for half the teams in the league – and I might need to retire just to have time to go to all of the matches."

"Maybe you could get a job as a scout," Al suggested; and Arthur laughed.

"That would only work if I was doing that for one of the teams that didn't have any of our grandchildren playing for them; and I wouldn't want to help any of those other teams find ways to win against you or your cousins."

"Maybe Rose would hire you to help out with her Cannons," Gwendolyn teased; and laughed too when that suggestion had Muriel hooting with laughter. "Is there some reason for why that was funnier than I thought it would be?" she asked once Muriel had caught her breath.

"Probably not," Muriel answered. "That idea just seems ridiculously funny to me – no offense meant, Arthur."

"None taken," he assured her. "That isn't a job I can see myself doing – especially after spending decades teasing Ron about his choice of favorite team."

"Well, if Rose manages to accomplish the impossible; it'll be Ron's turn to razz us," Molly suggested.

"Is there really an 'if' about that?" Muriel asked. "Unlike the rest of you; I took Rose's side of that wager with a few of my friends after I told them about it."

"You did?" Gwendolyn asked in surprise; and Muriel nodded.

"I have – and if you haven't; then you're in denial."

Gwendolyn laughed. "I am going to play for the Harpies," she insisted. "Did Rose put you up to that?"

"No, but I have eyes; and know what I see," Muriel countered. "If it helps you out for now, though; just keep telling yourself that I'm just a senile, old windbag that doesn't know what she's talking about."

"You're not – and you're also the first person to scare me just a bit with that unspoken prediction."

Muriel actually had an expression on her face that looked tender as she smiled at Gwendolyn. "What I see shouldn't scare you at all, dear, but don't worry over it – you've years yet ahead of you and lots of time to get used to the idea."

Their conversation moved on from there, but Al stayed out of it as much as possible. As usually happened in crowds, his mind was working in overdrive as the sensory overload was processed in various ways – prioritized and stored for future reference – even when those details seemed to be completely-useless information. He'd also spent a bit of time thinking about Gwendolyn's true reaction and comments about the Cannons and Quidditch with his Aunt Muriel; and about how much that had changed for her over the past few years since Rose had made the original joke that had started both the entertainment and her interest in actually making that happen. Gwendolyn's feelings – and how that affected her childhood dream of playing for the Harpies was important to Al, but he didn't talk about what he sensed with Gwendolyn; and wouldn't do that until and unless she wanted to do that with him. There was good reason to trust Aunt Muriel's opinion, though, and while it had again been a bit uncomfortable to be in such close proximity to her loud, blunt observations; he also found what he sensed from her unique and interesting. That wasn't a label he applied to many people he'd met so far. Luna was one of those few, special Wizards and Witches; and it was all about having a different way of looking at the world from everyone else.

Aunt Muriel had a different way of looking at the Harpies-United Quidditch match too, and while Al and Gwendolyn didn't sit all that close to her; they weren't far-enough away to miss her comments during the match – or before and after it; for that matter. They did walk around the concessions booths with her – and with some of the parents, Lily, Jonah, Rose, and Hugo; and that made picking up snacks, drinks, and souvenirs very entertaining – particularly when she attempted a bit of bartering with the booth owners or attendants. The first one found out that Aunt Muriel could be – at least temporarily – bad for business when she made sure that everyone within a hundred yards knew all about what his Great-Granny had said about him even being willing to cheat her with his outrageous prices; which was likely why the second vendor negotiated his way into her good graces – and loud praises.

When they eventually reached their seats; they soon found out that Muriel didn't need to use her mirror for Bill, Fleur, and their group to hear her from the far-side of the stadium where they sat with the United fans for the day. They had, apparently, offered a compromise for supporting Victoire and Dominique; but had been told to enjoy the match together instead of splitting up to do that. Al knew that had been an issue for some of the members of their family; but it hadn't been for him. He'd grown up a Harpies fan; and that wasn't going to change regardless of which teams his cousins, brother, or sister ended up playing for – and that was true for his own future in the show. Muriel didn't get any shout-outs in return; but their United-section contingent of family and friends did wave, smile, and laugh at some of what they heard from Muriel before and during the match.

Some of Muriel's pre-game fun included her commentary about only having three Wizards in the match, which she liked a lot; though she wasn't as certain about having Witches for three-out-of-four of the Beaters. Unfortunately for Calvin, she remembered him too well; and knew that his Great-Great-Aunt thought that he was an idiot for breaking up with her own Great-Great-niece, Molly. Al was able to enjoy all of that fun because he and Gwendolyn were not included in any of that commentary; so it just added to the afternoon entertainment. He couldn't help but wonder if James had inherited at least his need to offer game commentary from their Aunt Muriel, but while she could be blunt and a bit vindictive when protecting her own; Muriel's match commentary was usually also spot-on and insightful – proving that she knew more about the game than most of her family and friends might believe possible of her.

They did actually have the main event match of the day to watch too, though; and it was particularly fun to watch the first battle of the Weasley sisters in the show. Despite having two of the powerhouse offense teams battling it out; it was the defensive plays that earned most of the early highlights. In the first hour; Belinda stopped everything that Victoire, Candice, and Hailey threw at her – with a lot of help from her Chasers and Beaters. Calvin and Tina proved to be more than a match for their Harpies' counterparts; and Dominique was definitely motivated – and having a blast – while matched up against her big sister. She also scored the first goal of the match to take the lead in their Chaser duel – the first of two that United scored against the Harpies during that first hour. Belinda's shut-out didn't survive long into the second hour, though; and Victoire tied Dominique in their battle as the teams traded two goals each during that second hour. Victoire took the Chaser duel lead over Dominique during the third hour, but only by a goal; and the Harpies lost ground to United by giving up two goals to that single goal that Victoire scored on Belinda.

United's three-goal lead was insignificant as the match rolled into the fourth hour; and everyone watching the match was sure that it would come down to the Seekers to determine the winner and loser for the day. Gabrielle was in another tough battle; and that Seeker duel raged on through the fourth hour as the Harpies and United again traded just two goals each to head into the fifth hour with a score of one-hundred for United to seventy for the Harpies. There still wasn't any end in sight to the match as they blasted through the first three-quarters of that fifth hour – until it was suddenly over without any real warning at all. There wasn't a spectacular chase for the snitch or acrobatic catch to be worthy of the Quidditch highlights of the day. The United Seeker got one of those truly lucky breaks; crossed paths with the snitch; and managed to trap and catch it before Gabrielle had a chance to do anything about it or make an attempt at the catch instead. United and the Harpies had traded single goals during that last forty-seven minutes of the match; so the final score was two-sixty to eighty for United.

"Well, that sucks for us," Gwendolyn told Al quietly as they watched the United fans celebrate – and kept an eye on the fun above the pitch as Victoire and Dominique met up for a mid-air hug.

"Victoire did win her Chaser duel with Dominique four goals to three," Al reminded her. "It was still a good day for our family to have seven of nineteen goals."

"I'm sure Victoire would prefer it the other way around – just as I would," Gwendolyn said; not at all comforted by Al's 'good news' offer. "Dominique better not have too much fun this year with Jonathan and Dawn, though; or they might decide to stay on for a few more seasons – and that'd seriously mess up the plans Belinda, Olivia, and Lucy had for United."

"I don't think that will happen," Al advised her seriously. "Dawn and Jonathan are ready for a break from all of the work – and they will join Laura on the reserve squad next season to help with training their replacements while giving United the great back-up players too." He smiled as he focused his attention on the two United Chasers. "Our biggest worry this season will be if we can't keep them from earning another league championship during their last season."

"Unfortunately for us; they're looking very good for that right now," Gwendolyn declared with a shake of her head; and then sighed. "Okay, that was a lucky catch, and our team did play a great match; so I'd better let it go and move on. It's getting on in the day; so your parents are going to need help getting the dinner ready for the gang they've invited to come over after the match."

That was true, but while Ginny hurried off to work the post-game interviews; everyone else waited for the first wave of the spectator exodus to roll out of the stadium before packing up their things and heading for the gates. Harry and Ginny weren't having everyone in their group over for dinner, but they did have the MCcormacks, Ron, Hermione, and the kids; and Molly, Arthur, and Aunt Muriel. Angelina brought Fred and Roxanne for dinner, but George was working late at the store while Ron was off for the afternoon and evening; and they had plans to move on after that to spend the evening with the Johnson-side of their family. Al, Gwendolyn, and Rose were all put to work once they got home; they helped with everything from cleaning and cutting vegetables to setting up tables and serving drinks and snacks as the other guests arrived. Harry and Molly had dinner ready by the time Ginny and Gwenog joined them after work; and they sat down to eat right away because it was already early-evening by then. Al and Gwendolyn ended up at one, large kids' table with the cousins; they mostly talked Quidditch as they ate; and it was a bit of a rush because Fred and Roxanne needed to hurry and be on their way again with their mother.

They didn't end up being the only early departures, but they were the first; and it was nearly an hour later when Muriel was ready to be taken home – and Molly and Arthur took care of getting her home on their way to the Burrow. By then, it was nearing dusk, so Harry and Kirley set up a campfire; the three remaining couples and six out of seven of their kids gathered around it; and they wrapped up their busy day with some quiet campfire music and stories time. James wasn't home yet because he'd opted to attend a party with the Catapults instead, but while he'd been easier to get along with during the last weeks of summer; Al was still glad for the continuing reprieve from even the milder razzing and insults – little annoyances that made it hard to have fun while always on-guard against those verbal attackes. Singing duets with Gwendolyn, cuddling with her, and having fun listening to campfire stories or the music that Kirley, Lily, and Jonah took turns leading was all much more fun for him without James around; and he was long-past apologizing even to himself for feeling that way.

James had been glad to be free of his family for the day after Harry dropped him off at work. Not having to put up with the idiocies over his cousins playing their first rivalry match was a bonus – along with getting to miss that match entirely. The work had been fun as he helped out with getting ready for the match between his Catapults and the Bats. The morning highlight was joining in for one last game-day warm-up with the team; the luncheon was great too; and then the fun level kept rising once they all moved on to Yorkshire stadium an hour or so ahead of game time.

The Catapults didn't have anything ridiculous like employee uniforms – other than the team robes; but he did have a team tee and badge that gave him access to most of the stadium that wasn't open to the spectators; and he really enjoyed the fringe benefits that went along with being associated with one of the league teams. Flirting with the prettiest Witches was even part of the job – or it was as far as the owners and managers were concerned. That fact had been one of the reasons that James had for respecting the Catapults' organization – even if they did do a lot of things wrong too. They knew how to use their power, money, and influence; and encouraged their people to take advantage of the benefits that came along with Quidditch fame and fortune – especially when that usually helped all of them to make more money!

The actual match hadn't gone well for the Catapults pretty much from the start, but James didn't really care all that much; since he was too busy having fun while occasionally helping out with the work too. He ended up getting to spend some hot, quality time with two different Witches – though both of those interludes were also a bit rushed due to the risk of being discovered. That was part of the excitement, though; and just made that play time even hotter.

He did watch the match between errands and cameo moments with Witches, though; and knew that the Catapults really needed help at every position. When they took a time-out around the end of the fourth hour; the Bats had built up a two-forty to one-thirty lead; and the time-out had been called because that lead had been growing rapidly over the last-half of that fourth hour as the Catapults' Chasers and Keeper ran out of steam while the Bats' players were doing much better. James gave himself full credit for saving the day for the Catapults when he offered some advice to their Seeker about something he'd noticed with the Bats' Seeker – advice that paid off sooner than even he could have expected.

The 'tell' he'd noticed with the Bats' Seeker hadn't been obvious, and he likely wouldn't have noticed it at all had he been playing instead of watching; but the Wizard had tried the move several times already in the match; and it was a fairly-simple attempt at faking-out his opponent. What wasn't very smart of the guy, though, was doing exactly the same thing every time – a misdirection that was done at exactly the same angle away from the snitch every time. The Catapults' Seeker was very lucky that the guy attempted the move again just seventeen minutes into the fifth hour; since the Bats scored two more goals to just one for the Catapults during that quarter-hour and change – resuming what had become a two-to-one scoring advantage that would have led to the Bats having the one-sixty lead very quickly. His suggestion had given the Catapults' Seeker the chance to make a play that he nearly blew after discovering that James had been right, but he did still get a free shot at the snitch when he didn't fall for the fake – and had an idea of where the snitch would be. He also managed to make the catch and earn the come-from-behind victory – again; all thanks to James.

The man hadn't publicly admitted that after the match, but he had praised James when they were all back in the locker room and it was 'just the guys' around; so that had been fun for James too – especially since the team manager later passed that news on to the owners at the post-game party – and did that while James was with them. Choosing that party over dinner with his family, the loser, and his potty-trainer's family had been an easy one, and that wasn't just because of the hot witches at the team party. He also got to spend more time with the types of Witches and Wizards he wanted to associate with once he was done at Hogwarts; and being around them helped him to learn how to get from where he was with his pathetic family to where they were at the top of the Wizarding World social ladder. Then there was a nice pair of bonuses from the owners and managers – a cash bonus for his work all summer; and a commitment to have him work for them again next summer. He'd accepted both gratefully, and while he'd once scoffed at the idea of playing for the Catapults, after working with them for a summer; he now envisioned a championship team that they'd build around him in a future where he became a member of their group of elite Witches and Wizards; living the kind of lifestyle that should have been his all along!

As he partied on into the night, doing whatever he wanted because he could do that – and was encouraged to do so among his new friends; he was even more-confident than ever that his future was going to be brilliant. That certainly wouldn't happen for the loser – even if he did manage to play in the show for the worst team in the league, so once he was rich and famous; everyone would know without doubt that he'd been right all along – and then he'd tell them all to sod off while he moved on to a life of privilege and power!

Scorpius spent the last Saturday of the summer celebrating his fourteenth birthday. His parents and grandparents could not out-do the Lightningbolt gift of a year ago for his presents this year, but they did throw a party for him; and he had more friends and team mates agree to attend than he'd ever have hoped for even a couple of years ago. That had partially been because the invitation had included tickets to the Falcons' match, and everyone had wanted to watch their former House mates play in that match.

The party hadn't started until eleven o'clock, but he'd had his favorite foods for breakfast; been given his gifts then; and had time to do his own thing after that until his guests began arriving. Davis and Blaise had been first – no surprise there; but the rest of his friends and some former and future team mates all made it to Malfoy Manor by shortly after eleven. That included some of the older teens like Licentia Nott, though she'd have been at the Falcon's match to watch her brothers play anyway; so she'd actually come to Scorpius' party for other reasons. Scorpius had been as surprised and happy as Lysandra had been when her parents had approved accepting her invitation to his party, though that hadn't meant that they could risk revealing to anyone how they actually felt about each other; and she'd advised him that her parents had an ulterior motive for allowing her to visit his home.

The luncheon hadn't been a major meal because of the time limit they had ahead of the Quidditch match, but the offerings had been exceptional and enough to impress his guests. His parents and grandparents didn't go out to many public events, but they made an exception for Scorpius; and earned a fair bit of attention for making the appearance at the match with a gang of teens – especially since they had some of the best seats in the stadium. Scorpius would have liked to sit with Lysandra during the match, but that wasn't an option; so he had to settle for being able to watch her from the row ahead and a few seats to his right while sitting next to Davis in an aisle seat. He enjoyed getting to watch the Falcons pound their opponent-players into the ground for the next two and a half hours; and then Brand caught the snitch for the win not long after his Seeker competition was knocked out of the match with a combination of his own hard hits and after a game-ending bludger to the head that was a lot like the play Brand had used to take-out James Potter in his last match against Gryffindor.

While that win had been a bonus for his birthday, Scorpius had been happy to head home again to resume his party. They went swimming to cool off; and then Lysandra instigated getting him to take a group of them on a tour of the house – the real reason she'd been encouraged by her parents to attend the party. He'd have rather done that with her and without the rest of the teens that wanted to go along – again, including Licentia; but that hadn't been an option either. While Malfoy manor was one of the great old homes of the Pureblood families; that only impressed the least-well-off of his guests – with the one exception of the room that contained his father's vast collection of Dark Arts artifacts and books. Seeing that through the eyes of others did help Scorpius to better-appreciate the value of that collection, though that appreciation was for the social connections that he might gain from it; instead of from any true interest in what the artifacts and knowledge could be used for in their future battle to regain the Wizarding World for all true purebloods.

Lysandra had asked a lot of questions; gotten everything she'd been tasked with discovering; and then had been able to go on to enjoy the party with Scorpius and the other Slytherin teens. She'd artfully walked the fine line between being polite with his parents and grandparents while maintaining her distance from them too, but while Scorpius had been impressed with her social graces; he'd have still preferred to be able to spend some quality time with her – the one and only downside to his birthday party plans. Dinner was an outdoor extravaganza; they'd eaten for more than an hour straight by the time they finished having dessert; and then there'd been a Quidditch scrimmage that worked out brilliantly for Scorpius and Licentia as they led their team to an easy victory over Blaise, Davis, and their team.

Scorpius had been glad for the chance to once again impress Lysandra; and then he'd at least gotten to enjoy a bit more time watching her in a swimsuit when they all went for one last swim. As it neared sundown, the party transitioned to a dance; that was outdoors too; and that did at least give Scorpius an excuse to spend a bit of time with Lysandra – though he didn't try to dance with her more than a couple of times – just as they each danced with other teens or just sat around chatting with their friends. The party rolled on until after midnight; began wrapping up then as some of the younger teens were picked up and taken home; and was pretty much over by one o'clock as the last group of teens waited around to be picked up.

Lysandra was one of those last teens, and she and Scorpius managed to get a brief moment alone that didn't attract any undue attention, but while Scorpius had liked that too-short hug and kiss birthday gift a lot; he'd also wished that he could have just kept Lysandra overnight and spent all of that time with her instead. That too wasn't an option – a reality that he didn't like at all, so when her brother arrived to pick her up; he politely and formally thanked her for the gift she'd given him and for attending the party; and then she'd been gone and back to her 'real' life again – a place that he still wasn't accepted and couldn't yet go.

He would be able to do that someday, though; and now he had one more, beautiful reason for wanting to make that happen!

After his guests were gone; Scorpius had needed to spend some time with his parents before they retired to their suite of rooms, but his grandparents had long-since gone off to bed; and it hadn't been too much of a chore to thank his parents for the party and then assure them that he'd had a great day. The near-total lack of any snogging with Lysandra had left him a bit restless and frustrated, though, so once he was back in his own rooms; he got Thomas' portrait out of its hiding spot; and sat down to have a talk with his mentor.

"I cannot tell just from the look of you whether you've had a good day or bad," Thomas told him; and Scorpius smiled.

"The Falcons won and my party seems to have been a hit with my friends and the other teens, but I could not spend any time with Lysandra where we didn't need to put on our public act for everyone; so it wasn't a best-ever kind of birthday."

"At the risk of being left in the dark for another extended period; I'll suggest that you always want something more and are seldom content with what you already have, Scorpius."

"You're not actually worried over that when we're just days away from being back to Hogwarts. We're both looking forward to resuming my lessons; so there is little you could say to make me mad-enough to give that up. Wasn't that something that was as true for you during your life as it is for me? Your starting point was surely more difficult than mine – at least when it came to money; but you did have the advantage of being Salazar Slytherin's heir. That truth alone raised you up above your peers in a way that I cannot ever hope for when my family is not above the others as yours was."

"That is all true," Thomas agreed; "and my own experience is part of why I mention this to you. I truly did rarely take time to appreciate what I had along my life journey – or enjoy my successes. You've pointed out that I do not know how to have fun, yet after having a full measure of it today; you are still restless and unfulfilled. I'm merely suggesting that you look for a balance that I never found and you have not yet worked out for your own life."

"I've hardly had any successes worth mentioning, and a comfortable prison is still a prison," Scorpius countered.

Thomas laughed. "Would you like to visit Azkaban; talk to some of my former Death Eaters; and get back to me on whether you still believe that to be true once you've done that?" he suggested. "You have had successes too; and they are not just small things. Three years ago you had no friends other than me; and now you are liked well-enough to draw a fairly-large group of teens to your home for a party. You understand what exponential growth is; so imagine what is possible in another three years – or a decade or three. You are doing well-enough with our plan; and I can easily envision you leading an army one day from these modest beginnings – just as I did in my lifetime. That did not happen overnight for me either, but took decades to achieve."

"Now you're scaring me again," Scorpius joked. "I do not want to wait decades to regain what has been taken from me – from all true Purebloods."

"That is just the impatience of youth; and will pass," Thomas assured him. "We are discussing finding a balance in your life, though; and I expect that you will find ways to have fun along the way to your greater destiny."

Scorpius hoped that would be true as they continued to chat for a while, but while he had enjoyed his birthday; he still couldn't keep from wishing for more – which in this case meant that he'd have been much happier if he'd been able to enjoy some quality snogging time with Lysandra Lestrange.

Making that a short-term goal as part of his future plans and musing about ways to make that happen once they were back at Hogwarts was more entertaining than the more serious things that Thomas preferred to talk about with him, though, so Scorpius wrapped up that chat sooner instead of later; and then he eventually drifted off into a dreamland where he could enjoy different scenarios where that new goal could at least be a mental reality!

The campfire had dimmed slowly because they didn't put any extra wood on to keep it going; and their evening fun wound down as their fire was reduced to glowing embers. It had been a very long day for everyone by then; Ron was working at the store all day on Sunday; and Rose was going to be in London for the day to spend that time with Kyle; so Hermione took her husband and kids home first; and then Kirley and Gwenog did the same with Gwendolyn and Jonah – once they'd each been given time to say goodnight to Al and Lily. All of that happened before Harry went to pick up James from the Catapults' party he hadn't wanted to leave – as did the yard and kitchen clean-up. Al and Lily both went to bed after the work was done, but Harry and Ginny stayed up a bit later – again because they were waiting for James – and trying to avoid any end-of-summer teen drama by just going to the party and dragging him home against his will.

Al understood the reasons for that, but had still been glad that James had missed the entire dinner and evening fun; so his contribution to making up for James' inconsiderate behavior on Saturday night was to get up early and make breakfast with their parents' favorite foods. He still took his time with that so that they could sleep in a bit too; which was why he waited until he was done most of the prep work before starting to brew the coffee and cook the food that would be sure to wake Harry, Ginny, and Lily as the aromas wafted upstairs from the kitchen. He hadn't expected to wake James too, since he'd been sure that his brother would be passed out for at least half of the morning or more; and that had been a bonus for him too when that's exactly what happened.

Harry, Ginny, and Lily had appreciated his efforts, and while they did some chores around the house and yard too; they had a quiet, do-nothing together day planned for the four of them. James could have joined them for that, but he'd accepted Bristol's invitation to go with her to Cora's fourteenth birthday party, so by the time he did eventually wake-up when Ginny had to go and rouse him in time to get ready for that party; he didn't end up spending any time at all with his parents, sister, and brother. he got ready to go; ate the breakfast leftovers Al had put aside for him; and then he'd been allowed to go on his own to Bristol's house using the Floo Network when it was time for him to be there to escort her to Cora's party.

While Cora was having a co-ed party this year, Al and Gwendolyn hadn't been invited; and Rose had declined the invitation so that she could spend the day with Kyle instead. Al would have liked to spend the day with Gwendolyn, but it was her last chance to spend some quality time with her mother before heading back to school; and the parents had decided that they'd do their own thing for the day instead of getting together. Missing Gwendolyn didn't keep Al from having a good day with his parents and sister. After James was gone, they spent the rest of the day outdoors; relaxed by and played in the pool; had some Quidditch fun with Chaser and Seeker duels; and had some bonus play time that included Harry taking the kids for rides on his motorcycle; a trip to Godric's Hollow for ice cream treats; and a horseback ride for Lily while Harry and Ginny went along for a short hike while their kids played. Their meals had been light and easy to keep the work to a minimum; and after one last evening swim; they wrapped up their play day and headed into the house so that Harry and Ginny could do a bit of work ahead of the upcoming work week while Al and Lily watched mirror network shows until Harry went to get James from Bristol's house and bring him home.

James hadn't wanted to return that early, so Al and Lily had expected to be in for some teen drama again – especially when they'd known that Harry and Ginny wanted to do their back-to-school meeting with their kids once they had James home again. Their brother surprised them when he got back and didn't do more than offer some mild insults when he was advised that it was family meeting time. He did demand service from 'the loser' for drinks and snacks before he'd be ready for that meeting; had pretended to be disgusted when his mother vetoed his demand for 'something strong-enough' to help him get through the next however-long he'd be forced to put up with his family all together in one room; and then had flopped onto his usual gaming sofa to wait for the inevitable boring that was about to be inflicted on him. Al had help with getting drinks for everyone; Harry and Ginny opted against having any adult beverages; and they all settled onto chairs or sofas once they had drinks – and the snacks that only James had wanted.

"Let's try starting with some good news this year," Ginny suggested with a wry smile. "Allowances should work for that; since they will be going up for each of you this year."

"Sure – that'll soften the blows when you drop the hammer on me," James offered; though he did that without the usual, outward malice. Al sensed that he was interested in the money news, though; and that helped to push aside the darker emotions – at least for a while.

"We'll try not to throw any knock-out punches," Ginny deadpanned. "You'll have more expenses for your OWL year; so we'll be sending you extra for that as well as the increase we're giving all of you." She smiled when a small pouch of money appeared in front of her – and Harry – and floated over to James. "These pouches are to get you through until after the first Hogsmeade weekend, as usual; and we'll send the same amounts as we've done every year so far." Harry delivered the pouches for Al and Lily next; but James was the only one to open it and take account. Once again, Al sensed that James was reasonably-happy with his new allowance; though he didn't admit that – or thank their parents. Lily and Al both did, though, and since that included a hug from Lily for each of them; there was a pause in the meeting while she did that.

"Next up, we want to warn all of you to be careful and watch out for your usual groups of Slytherin haters – and there could be more of them; depending on what Headmistress McGonagall has decided to do about the problems from last June."

"She suspended Ollie and me," James reminded her. "I'd say we should have nothing to worry about if she does the same with that lot."

"There will be other Slytherins hating on us if she does do that," Al pointed out quietly; earning a derisive snort from James.

"Maybe," Lily agreed before James could say anything; "but there might be some Slytherins that will be as relieved as we should be too if Rupert, G-Air, and some of those other Wizards are suspended or expelled. Some of them get bullied worse than anyone in the other Houses because they've got nowhere to hide from the worst bullies in their House."

"Maybe you'd like to help them out with that," James offered. "You did manage to handle your bullying problems last year."

Lily grinned at him. "Thank-you; but I'm not planning on training to join the Aurors by trying to deal with all of the bullies at Hogwarts. I'll be busy-enough playing Quidditch and trying to do well-enough in my classes to get through my OWLs and NEWTs on the way to my brilliant future as the Harpies' next star Seeker."

"Good timing," Ginny interjected with a smile; and then turned her attention to James. "I'm sure you'll hate this part of the meeting, but it's crunch time for you this year. You'll only be taking the seven mandatory OWL classes; and must have O's or E's on those end-of-year exams to be allowed to continue into your sixth year. You can't possibly want to risk repeating your OWL year, since that rarely happens at Hogwarts; so you'll want to earn those marks in as many classes as you can this year."

"So you want me to play nice and be a good little clone this year," James retorted. "What a surprise – not!"

"We want you to put your own future ahead of your vendetta against Al," Harry told him bluntly. "I think you've figured that out for yourself this summer – even if you haven't changed your mind about your brother. You are smart and talented, though; and you could have a brilliant year if you give it a chance."

"Especially with Quidditch," Lily added. "With our cousins, Olivia, the McClaggens, you, and Al; our Gryffindor senior team could be unbeatable this year – and I'd really like the help with winning my first Quidditch Cup." She laughed when James scowled at her. "I'm not taking a shot at you," she promised. "Lucy and Olivia need to impress the scouts this year – even if they are on the short list for United; and that's true for everyone else that wants to make the team too – except for Al. He's the only one of us with a guaranteed job offer from the future owner of the Cannons." James snorted out a laugh at the last part of Lily's comment; and then shrugged.

"I'll hope that Al gets his head knocked off at tryouts and doesn't make the team at all," he declared; "but if I do end up being stuck with him on my team; I'll deal with that too."

"You really should go into politics," Harry said with a sigh. "What you do in your classes and with Quidditch is in your own hands. We'll hope for the best; but aren't going to waste our time going on about it. You know the consequences if you don't earn any OWLs – you won't be permitted by the Ministry of Magic to use magic once you're overage. Quidditch is certainly different for all of you, since your last name will get you job offers; but I'm sure you'd also all prefer to earn those future jobs on your own merits; and that'll only happen with personal success. With Roxanne starting at Hogwarts this year too; this might be the best chance for that for all of you to put a pair of winning teams together – just as that worked for Victoire and your older cousins the two years that you guys started school."

"We could end up with more Witches on both teams this year; so you're likely right about that," Lily offered – the mild taunt directed at her brothers. "The only reason James looks like he has a problem with that is because too many of those Witches are related to him." She laughed at his answering, wolfish grin. "See – you make fun of the Harpies all of the time; but would likely love working on a team with six beautiful Witches."

"Except maybe for the two beautiful Beaters," Harry interjected. "That might be a bit too dangerous for him."

"I could handle them," James shot back smugly. "That won't work, though; since I do want the best players on my team – and then we'll have all of the beautiful Witches flocking around us."

"Some of us do not want to go there," Lily told him seriously. "What's next on the agenda, Mum?"

"The back-to-school checklist," Ginny answered; and then smiled when James groaned. "Don't worry, James. I've learned my lesson; so I'm willing to accept the lies this time around."

She hadn't been joking about that, but had earned the laugh from James – and then he didn't even bother offering up the lies as she went on to ask about summer revision; packing; and any last-minute back-to-school needs that they could deal with on Monday. There weren't any last-day family and friends play plans; but the kids were advised that they'd be spending the morning at the Burrow with their grandparents and younger cousins; and then they'd have lunch and a chance for that last-minute shopping in Diagon Alley before heading home again once Ginny was done work for the day. James had a minor moment of teen drama after finding out that Gwendolyn and Jonah would be meeting Al and Lily in London; but Ginny averted that potential problem by suggesting he could invite someone to meet up with him for the afternoon too. The rest of their little family meeting was easy and painless; they watched Lee's nightly show after that; and then four out of five of them were ready to head to bed after that.

Al wrapped up his night with some more textbook reading and a mirror chat with Gwendolyn. Trading their stories for the day took a while, so by the time they'd finished doing that; they were both ready to crash and nap for the rest of the night. By Monday morning, it felt as though summer was over; and that they were all just in limbo while waiting for the school year to start. Harry beat Al to the kitchen for making breakfast; so it was his choice to go with another 'favorites' meal that included kids' favorites this time. James hadn't been all that enthusiastic about the early wake-up call, but wasn't given an option to sleep in and stay home; so he grudgingly got up and ready for the day – and then demolished three plates-full of food before he was ready to escape the kitchen and avoid helping with the clean-up work.

Spending the rest of the morning at the Burrow didn't end up being the horror James had predicted. Arthur took the morning off from work; shared his toys with his grandchildren; and even James managed to have fun. Al had enjoyed spending the morning with Rose once she arrived from London; and then their lunch break in Diagon Alley had been even better thanks to getting to do that with Gwendolyn. Kyle couldn't do that with them, but Al and Gwendolyn did want to say goodbye to him and wish him the best for the first half of their school year; so after having their meal and then dealing with the last bit of back-to-school shopping; they went 'home' with Rose to her grandparents' house; took care of that with a short visit; and then went on to meet up with Kirley, Lily, and Jonah at the Leaky so that they could head home together – to Al and Lily's home.

Ginny had gone to do a bit more work after lunch, so she met up with them there; they had an hour or so to swim and play until Kirley needed to get home with Gwendolyn and Jonah; and then Al and Lily had Ginny to themselves until Harry got home with James after picking him up after work from Diagon Alley – where he'd stayed so that he could spend the extra time with Patricia instead of going home early and 'hanging out with the losers' until dinnertime. Their last dinner at home until the Christmas holidays wasn't a major, special event, but it was a big improvement from past years; since they managed to get through it without any teen drama at all. The evening got even better for Al when James needed to spend most of those hours in his room getting ready to go back to Hogwarts in the morning.

While James did that, Al and Lily had one last Seeker duel and a swim in the portable pool before packing it up and getting it ready to go to Hogwarts with them. James did take a break from his 'work' to go for a swim too, but then he went back upstairs; and stayed in his room except for washroom and snack breaks. Al and Lily each spent some time in their rooms too; had private chats with each of their parents; and then wrapped up their evening by watching Lee's nightly show before they all headed up to bed for the night. Finally, after he was ready for bed, Al waited for Gwendolyn to call for their last bedtime mirror chat of the summer; and read further into his Transfiguration textbook until his mirror chimed with her incoming call.

"Quiet night?" she asked; and Al grinned at her.

"Not as quiet as my first night of the summer; but a big improvement over the past three or four years."

"Good. That should make the start to our school year better – unless James has just been saving up until he can use magic again."

"I do think that he does have a new plan for this year, so that's possible; but there is a chance that he is going to put aside his vendetta long-enough to make sure he doesn't mess up his brilliant future."

"Let's hope for that – and be ready if it's just another game he's playing to try and lull us into a false sense of security. Instead of going on about that, though; tell me about what you've been doing since I came home with Dad and Jonah."

"We've had a pretty good night. James has been in his room most of the time since dinner. Lily and I had a Seeker duel; a last swim before packing up the pool to bring with us to school; some alone time with Mum and Dad; and then we watched Lee's show before coming up to bed. That's not very exciting; but it worked for us."

"My night was like that too – though we had some music time instead of the Quidditch," Gwendolyn advised him. "I love Lee's back-to-school show – though the one he'll do tomorrow night for the start of the kid-free fall will be funny too."

"No doubt," Al agreed. "It'll be too much information for me, but then that's different this year; and Mum and Dad aren't so stressed that they're as glad for the break as they were last year."

"That is a bit amazing; considering how our summer started with James," Gwendolyn mused thoughtfully. "If everything continues to go so much better for us once we're back at Hogwarts; we might all need to send thank-you gifts to the Catapults."

Al laughed. "Maybe – though I'm not going to do that anytime soon. James is playing nicer; but hasn't changed how he feels about me at all. I'll take the reprieves when they come and for as long as they last; since we've no way of knowing how long this break will be – or what might happen to set him off next time."

"That's true, but I'm still feeling pretty good tonight – and I'm so glad that we'll be back together and get to see each other every day. Would you like to take any guesses about whether we'll have decent schedules this year? I'll like not having the Saturday Quidditch practices; but having the later times with the senior teams will be a bit of a pain for the studying between last classes and those practices. You'll have the late-morning practice time on Saturdays – or on Sundays for the weekends we're booked on Saturdays for matches or Hogsmeade weekends."

"That's going to be a first for me," Al reminded her; and then smiled when his comment startled her. "Rose, Ray, and I didn't get to play in our second year; so we missed out on those Saturday or Sunday practices."

"I hadn't been thinking of that," Gwendolyn admitted with a nod. "Missing out on that year of Quidditch was tough; so I won't make any jokes about that – though I'd be okay if you'd like to take an extra turn at the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday practices so we end up with three each instead of four for me."

"I'd be okay with that – but doubt the other teams and players would agree – especially those players that didn't miss that season."

"You're likely right about that," Gwendolyn conceded with a sigh. "What about our class schedules? Any thoughts there?"

"There isn't much point in speculating; but I'd be okay with having the same last class on as many days as possible. That way, we could just stay and study right there if we could work that out so we didn't have to take the time to get to our usual study classroom."

"I'd like to change that this year anyway," Gwendolyn advised him. "We're past-due for a new view."

"Probably, but do we want to do that and end up losing some of our study buddies to daydreaming while they watched the lake or Quidditch pitches?"

Gwendolyn laughed. "I might be one of those daydreamers," she admitted. "Let's give it a try, and if it turns out to be a bad idea; we can always move back to the old, boring view that you picked on purpose to keep us from getting distracted."

"If I wanted to keep from getting distracted on a regular basis; I'd have to switch to any study group you're not in," Al half-joked; earning another laugh.

"We manage to keep that from getting in the way of our studying – though we should probably re-organize our priorities on that; and make more time for you and me."

"If I manage to spend less time in the hospital wing; we'll have loads of extra time to spend together. We will do better with our studying this year now that we've gotten used to the workload; and I've been thinking about other ways for us to work a bit more efficiently."

"Then cut that out," Gwendolyn told him. "We're trying to work on your reputation; not mess it up even more because you want to come up with ways to study harder."

"I was thinking more along the lines of working smarter; but we can talk about that after we're back at school. How are your Mum and Dad doing? Mine are pretty happy tonight."

"No reason to wonder why they're happy after such a change with James pretty much since we got back from holidays. Dad's having a tougher time than Mum is for having us go back to school, but he'll be okay; and will be busy this fall with his band and other work he's doing with the Weird Kids and other groups and artists. Mum will just work a bit harder with the Harpies – though she's doing that anyway after that loss on Saturday."

"Then I guess they'll all be okay without us for a few months," Al joked. "Now we'll just need to hope for the best for us – though I'm not sure how we'll both manage to have a brilliant Quidditch season. The odds of having three Houses split the team victories for a second-straight year are slim to none."

"That's easy-enough. We'll both be happy if Ravenclaw wins the Quidditch cup and Senior team title; and we'll let Lily win the junior title again."

"Do you think that Jonah and the other junior team players in Ravenclaw will be happy to do that for you?" Al asked. "I'd expect that they'd have a problem with just letting Lily and her team win – especially when Jonah only has one Seeker duel win so far to her three."

"They'd survive if we win the Quidditch Cup again instead," Gwendolyn assured him without any honest conviction to that claim. It's funny that you seem more worried about Jonah and our team than in the implications that has for your senior team."

"You're not wrong. I would be happy for you – if you earn that Quidditch Cup over our team. That won't keep me from trying to help our team to win it instead, though; and you know that."

"I do," Gwendolyn agreed with a smile. "I just don't think I'll be able to be that happy if your team wins the Quidditch Cup instead."

"Well, in that case; we should probably cheer for Hufflepuff," Al teased.

"Only in their matches against Slytherin," Gwendolyn countered. "I'll cheer for my favorite Gryffindors in all of your games except for the matches against my House."

"That doesn't seem fair for Hufflepuff, but then I don't say that about the Slytherin teams when none of us cheer for them; so I guess we're not being fair even when I'm trying to do that."

"I'll cheer for Slytherin when they start playing nice – or I'll at least give them credit where due once they clean up their act – if they do that sometime between now and when we graduate. Until then; I'm never going to like their teams – especially when they get wins by cheating."

"That would be great – except for the Falcons. Who would they have to hire for their team down the road if all of the Slytherins start playing by the rules?"

"They do have other sources," Gwendolyn reminded him. "I'm sure they won't need to worry about finding the worst sorts of Wizards for their teams – though I don't really expect to see a major change with the Slytherin teams either; so that's likely a moot point."

"At least until we're in the show and have to deal with two matches a year against the Falcons," Al pointed out. "Then we'll be wishing that they'd learn to play by the rules too."

"Possibly, but let's not go there either; since we've years to go before needing to worry about those rotters. We should talk about meeting up at King's Cross – or on the train. If James has you running behind tomorrow; I could get on the train early and hold a block of compartments. How many do you think we should try a get? It isn't likely that we'll have many Hufflepuff friends wanting to hang out with us – unless Tory's done a major turnaround too since the last time we saw her."

"I think that Lily's going to have Roxanne hang out with her on the train; and she's going to want to spend a lot of time with some of her friends; so they'll want at least two or three compartments. I want to have Rose with us; since she's going to be feeling sad tomorrow; and I've got some bonus treats to help her out with missing Kyle."

"That's a good idea. Did you get those treats when we weren't looking earlier today?"

"No – I did that shopping during a couple of our earlier trips. That leaves us with three spots in our compartment for whomever you'd like to have sit with us. Whatever we end up being able to do in the morning; let's shoot for getting five or six compartments, and when they're full; we'll have done the best we can with that."

"And then next year; we'll likely be in the Prefects' car instead," Gwendolyn suggested. "That'll be a nice perk – though the extra work will be tough."

"Would you turn down the job?" Al asked; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"Not a chance – even if that's just to get use of the Prefects' baths. I really miss being able to have soaks in the tub when we're away at school."

"Having Uncle George make a portable jacuzzi has been suggested and rejected before; so I won't do that again; but I'd better not think about that too much; or I'll never get to sleep tonight."

Gwendolyn had laughed; helped him out with doing exactly that; and then happily said goodnight to him when she was ready to get to sleep – and he was ready to go and take a cold shower. He didn't actually do that, but it was a while before his mind wound down enough for sleep to be an option. While there were some dreams waiting for him with Gwendolyn and a portable Jacuzzi involved in the fun, when he went to sleep; Al mostly hoped that they'd be able to have a great fourth year – and preferably one that would have a lot less danger and drama.

They'd all need to wait and find out whether that would happen or not, but while it was a risk to go there; Al was feeling moderately-optimistic that those hopes could, for a change, actually come ture!

***End of ATE Year 3***

A/N: Look for ATE Year 4 in time for Christmas 2017! While you wait for that Christmas gift; check out my original series - Heirs of the Magi at the Heirs of the Magi blog or get the books at Smashwords!