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"Hugo! Hurry up and get your broom! We were supposed to be at Mattie Finn's an hour ago!"

"I can't find it!"

"What do you mean you can't find it!" She stormed into his room. "It's a broom, Hugo!"

"I know, I know," he said, rubbing his short hair.

Rose looked around once, ducked under the bed, and pulled out his Firebolt.

"Oh, that's where I put it," he muttered, taking it and heading towards the fireplace.

3

"Rose!" Mattie Finnegan cried, running up to the younger student and wrapping her arms tightly around her. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"It isn't my fault you're, like, ten years older than me."

"Four, thank you very much." Mattie started laughing. "Hugo, you're huge!" She wrapped her arms around him and he blushed red.

"Yeah, nice to see you, too, Mattie."

"The others here, yet?" Rose asked.

"Ah…no. Actually. I was expecting them to be on time, but it is James and Fred, you know."

"So, Mad Fin," Rose teased, reverting to an old nickname. "How's the ministry treating you?"

"I don't even want to talk about it," she said, scratching her short dark hair. "It'd be one thing if they respected me, and another if they listened. But they do neither. So we're going to end up in a war with the centaurs before too long. Your mum screwed the department with her leave." She sighed. "It's been hard to fill her shoes. I can't, honestly. Maybe - maybe - if Cormack was with me, it'd be fine. But he's still in Hogwarts."

"Graduating this year, right?" Rose glanced up, her question about the Hufflepuff perfectly valid.

"Yeah. He's at an internship with the ministry right now. It'll be awhile before he actually…wow…James brought a very, very, very attractive boy with him…" She tilted her head and stared as the five - James, Frank, Fred, Greg, and Vi - made their way towards the back patio of the house.

"OH, that's Greg," Rose said. "Seventh year Ravenclaw."

"Phew. He can't be single."

"I…I think he might be."

"You've got to be kidding me. That sex beast is single?"

"He's kind of reserved. I wouldn't say that to him."

"Whatever, Rose. You coaching, as usual?" Mattie pushed her playfully.

"I'm not falling off a broom. And Hugo's playing Keeper."

"Alright, I guess I'm quaffling, then." Grinning, Mattie grabbed her broom from against the house and hopped on, hovering and waiting for the others.

"I'm seeker!" Lily shouted, running by Rose and trying to simultaneously take off.

"Keeper!" Molly screamed, taking off.

"Chaser!" Ally ran underneath Frank and started yelling. "Mum told you to wear your helmet! Put on your helmet"

"Shut up, Ally!"

"Frank!"

Uncle Harry chuckled and leaned on the wall next to Rose.

"Energetic, huh?" he said.

"Yeah."

"So how're you doing?"

"Fine."

"Your mother?"

"OK, I guess."

"Your grandmother."

Rose shrugged. "Hugo doesn't like it."

"Doesn't surprise me. He's a lot like Ron in that way. No one else can take care of Hermione but him." Uncle Harry sighed and squinted into the sky. "I'm surprised he actually came, to be honest."

"He tried to act like he lost his broom. It was under his bed."

"Hard time getting him out?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to…I'm going to fix this, Rose."

"You can't fix it, Uncle Harry. You can't fix life."

He grinned wryly and started laughing bitterly. Rose didn't know what was so funny.

"Hugo! Keep your back straight!" She hollered.

"Knees in, James!" Uncle Harry barked.

"Mattie, protect the quaffle!"

"Molly, use your legs!"

"Lily, stop staring at Greg! Greg, don't get distracted!"

"Lily's looking at Greg?" Uncle Harry squinted. Rose laughed.

"Yeah. Evidently he's a looker. Even Mattie thinks so."

"Well, Mattie isn't exactly the most reserved girl," Uncle Harry said. "There's no question about that."

"She's only had one boyfriend."

"One steady boyfriend. Seamus tells me all about her exploits in the ministry. If she didn't…um…"

"Become friendly?"

"Sure…with every unmarried man under the age of thirty, then she might be taken seriously. She has fantastic ideas. Your mum is her mentor, you know."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah. Both of them were very adamant about keeping their work and private life separate." Harry shifted. "They're hoping Hermione will come back, you know. They're banking on it."

"I don't think she will."

"No?"

"She can't even handle being home, never mind working."

"True. It'll take some time. But I can't imagine her being away for much longer."

"Do you know what she's doing?" Rose looked at her uncle, curiosity written on her face.

"What do you mean?" He crossed his arms and looked down at her.

"Well, she stays all day in her room…reading dad's old journals. I was just…wondering if you know what for."

"I knew Ginny shouldn't have given her those." Harry sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "She's just grieving, Rose."

"Still?"

"It's going to…it's going to take a long time. They've been inseparable since they were eleven. You have to understand."

"So they were, like, always joined at the hip?"

"Well…not at the hip, but definitely in proximity. Well…maybe not even proximity most of the time…but they were definitely at their best when in close proximity." Uncle Harry scratched his head. "They fought a lot. Even more than when they were older. About stupid stuff. Ron tended to be a bit more…immature…and Hermione was always level headed."

"What was he like as a kid?"

"Ron? Um…he reminded me a lot of…Charlie…actually. He was goofier when he was younger, probably under the influence of George, but had some - and I do mean some - of Percy's maturity. He would deny it until the day he died, though, and say it was Bill's maturity, and definitely not Percy's." Uncle Harry chuckled. "Uncle Bill's maturity is go off and do what you want until someone needs you. Percy's maturity is do what you think is right. Your father definitely had Percy's sort of maturity."

"So he was…always so self-righteous."

Uncle Harry laughed. "Yes. He was. Half the reason why the two of them fought all the time. Both of them thought they were in the right. Never ends well. If my gut is right - and it usually is - Hugo will find someone similar. And you, too, if you're not careful." Harry looked back to the sky.

"Greg! Choke up on the bat!" Rose shouted.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" he shouted down, swinging at the rock Harry had enchanted.

"Choke up!" She shouted back.

"NO!"

Uncle Harry started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Rose asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the house.

"I think Lily's caught the snitch," he said, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes. He pulled out his wand and summoned the single rock used as a bludger and tossed it in his pocket. Greg landed and walked right up to Rose.

"What do you mean 'choke up'?" He waved the bat in front of him. "If I choke up, then I lose power!"

"If you choke up, you also get more control, which is what you needed! You're playing with a rock for a bludger! You can't hit the rock with the wooden part of the bat or it'll splinter. It has to be the metal. You were chipping away with the wood. You needed more control."

"Bull."

"Ha! Your bat's gonna break before your first game of the season. What then? You're just going to get a new bat and break it in? Look at it. It's already splintering at the top."

"I…oh, shit."

"Told you."

"You need to oil the wood more on the next one and keep it in a dry climate. Your shed outback isn't going to do it." Rose took the bat from him and weighted it. "This one sucks, anyway. You've had this since second year?"

"Yeah."

"It's too light for you. Not regulation at all. Not reinforced, either. You need a different wood, too. This is maple, right?"

"Um…yeah?"

"You should get ash. Won't shatter like this." She stuck her finger in the crack. "I take it Flitwick ordered this for you?"

"Yeah."

"Makes enough sense. Good beginning bat."

"Yeah. I needed a new one, anyway."

"Why?" She looked at him, scrunching her eyes.

"Um…I was invited to some recruitment camps."

"Who?"She dropped the bat.

"Torndaoes, Magpies, Cannons, Wasps, Puddlemere United, Falcons, Arrows, and the Bats."

"That's…that's eight teams!"

"Yeah. For the next two months I'm in one camp a week."

"Do you realize how much quidditch that is?"

"Three days a week for two months? Yeah. I know." Greg took the bat gingerly. "I need one magically reinforced and engraved with my name or I'll be scorned. It's going to cost a shitload."

"Do you have a shitload?"

"Yeah. I haven't bought anything in a while." He sighed. "I was just hoping I could get this one adjusted. Bats are expensive."

"Are you going to need a new broom, too?"

His face paled and he looked at his broom leaning against the house, the handle smudged, bristles askew, the model about a decade out of date.

"For the love of Merlin…" He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to have to ask my father for an early birthday present. I'll ask him to get the bat. That'll be less expenseive than a…"

"You don't need a top of the line broom for beating. Just a sturdy one. The power's in the broom. If you can part with your Comet and go for an older Firebolt - maybe so far back as the second, which you should be able to pick up for cheap - you should be fine. You're enough of a wizard, too, that you can buy a family broom and charm it up."

"That's true." He inhaled deeply. "I'm going to need your help, you know."

"I can't do magic."

"You can if you use Fred's wand." He grinned. "Besides, my dad doesn't know you're not of age. I'll get the broom - the third Firebolt because I can't look like a complete idiot - and you and Fred can come over my place."

"Who do you have to go to first?"

"Um…Arrows. Why?"

"Oh, never mind, then. Puddlemere is notorious for giving out free swag to their recruits."

"Ah. Right. They're last. Do you think they'll give me a broom?"

"If they like you."

"No pressure, though." He grinned broadly.

"Rose, food," Mattie said, draping an arm around her shoulder. "You're a good beater, kid. I hope to see you in the world cup."

Greg laughed. "Thanks."

"Rose, here, is hopeless. No balance. Can't even sit in a canoe without flipping it over."

"That was once, Mattie."

"Yeah, sure. We need to hang out more, kid. I forgot how funny you were." Mattie rubbed Rose's head before slipping into the house.

"She's quite a character," Greg said, following after Rose.