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!

87. A Very Orange Halloween

Chapter Eighty-Seven – A Very Orange Halloween

The Cannons had three more Quidditch matches on the schedule for October, along with a full slate of family and friends or work activites, so the last Sunday in September was a chance for Al and Gwendolyn to catch their breath and get ready for the non-stop fall and Halloween adventures. That didn't really mean slowing down much, since they were busy with their parents; the visit with Victoire, Teddy, and Dora; and two interviews – the first a Sunday morning interview with Teresa and Kylie for their Sunday morning mirror network sports news show; and the second with a Quidditch magazine reporter. They did still get to play for most of the day, though; and then it was time to get back to work again on Monday.

With only six training days to get ready for their match against Puddlemere United, Al had to put some effort into keeping the training fun – and not allowing Rose to overload them with 'extra' work – even if that was just watching United's previous matches so far this season as part of the prep work for their respective, hoped-for player assignments. Rose did insist on doing that, but Al worked around her by making up highlights compilations for each of the United players; so they both got what they wanted – a happy and prepared team! As always, the reporters covering their training insisted that they had no clue how to train properly; and once again predicted the worst – and a certain victory for United.

Extra training wasn't booked for the weekend, but they did have media, social, and charity activities and events booked for both days; and on the personal side of their lives, the first match of the Hogwarts junior team Quidditch season and a Jones' family wedding were both scheduled for Saturday too. Before getting to all of their weekend adventures, Al and Gwendolyn also got to celebrate Gwenog's birthday in person with her for the first time in seven years on Friday. Kirley and Gwenog came over for breakfast in the cafe with Al, Gwendolyn, Harry, and Ginny; they all went to work for the day after that; and then got together for a birthday dinner at Al and Gwendolyn's – along with a handful of Gwenog's parents and a handful of friends. Al and Harry took care of the work for making that meal; their favorite girls hosted their guests during a social hour in the atrium; and then they sat down to enjoy the meal and entertain themselves with a mild birthday roasting for Gwenog.

"If you're just trying to look tired and sad to keep us from roasting you tonight; it won't work," Ginny teased as they all settled in after filling their plates and the first round of passing platters and bowls was pretty much done. "You still have a full week to get ready for the Arrows, and you have that wedding tomorrow; so this should be a fun weekend for you."

"I am tired; but not sad," Gwenog advised her. "Maybe I look annoyed that you're all so happy-looking at the end of the work week instead of tired out too. After your last two wins, every team in the league is going to try even harder to be the first to best you – and prove all of the naysayers right; so that ought to worry you."

"It worries some of us," Ginny assured her, "but we're also having so much fun that it's impossible not to be this happy most of the time."

"That is what you hoped for when you made me give up on my Harpies' dream," Gwendolyn reminded her mother. "Don't tell me that you were really hoping that we'd fail and then switch to our back-up plan!"

Gwenog laughed. "That's actually a cheery thought," she teased; and then smiled ruefully. "I am happy for you, but even while I feel that way; it's still tough to find out that we might have issues with the Harpies that we weren't even aware of before getting to watch you so far this season."

"The Harpies are the most-successful team over the past twenty-five years," Ginny reminded her. "What we're doing is working out well so far, and you can always take the parts of it that you like and use them too, but we won't even know for another couple of years – or more – whether everything Al wants to do will work out for the best or not."

"And it won't be for every team and player," Al added. "I'm not even sure that most teams could get everyone to check their egos at the door and think of the team first above all else – and I'm including the owners for that comment. The Harpies already have one of the best organizations; so maybe you shouldn't even think about messing with that very much. A lot of my ideas start from what I grew up learning about the Harpies and the other best teams."

"Well, that may be true, but Mum has still managed to steer us away from her birthday roasting; so we should get to that instead of talking shop all night," Gwendolyn told them with a grin for her mother. "It doesn't seem as though much has changed since the last time we got to be home for your birthday. That last time, you got to have a kid-free night while Jonah and I stayed with Al and Lily; and you get the added bonus this year of having your birthday on a night when you can go out and party all night if you want without worrying about a team curfew!"

Gwenog laughed. "I'd say there have been a few changes – like having this dinner at our daughter's home instead of ours or elsewhere. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow too; so we won't be staying out late either."

"I'm good with that plan," Kirley offered with a meaningful smile for his wife that had her laughing again.

"You're still scaring the kids – just a little," Gwendolyn advised them.

"Especially since you're taking the twins tonight," Ginny suggested. "It is Gwenog's birthday, though, so she ought to be allowed to have more fun than her kids now and then."

"We'll have fun too," Al protested with a grin. "It'll just be in a kid-rated sort of way."

"That one is too-easy, and Jaimie and Lorie are included in those jokes; so I won't go there," Kirley told them while doing that in a backhanded way anyway. "Are you taking them to the match at Hogwarts tomorrow? Your Hufflepuff cousins won't be getting much family support because of the wedding."

"We'll go for as long as we can," Gwendolyn answered. "That's the least we can do; since we had so much support with getting to see the twins so often during our last three years there."

"We'll take turns when needed," Harry assured her. "The girls are getting old-enough to go out and play in the winter more-often now too; so we might even be able to make a few extra trips this year and next."

"We'll come along for some of those visits," Gwenog promised – "though our match schedules won't work out every weekend we have a chance to get together with Lily and Jonah."

"Their Ravenclaw-Gryffindor match is on an off-weekend," Kirley pointed out. "That could be the best match of the Hogwarts season."

"If they're going to start having many multi-day matches; someone ought to think about opening a better Inn in Hogsmeade," Ginny suggested. "That's a lot of extra traveling for some Witches and Wizards; and even the rooms at the Three Broomsticks aren't very good – though they're five-star compared to the Hogs Head."

"A cardboard box is better than those rooms," Gwendolyn joked; and then laughed at the expressions on their parents' faces. "Every kid at Hogwarts goes in there at least once to take a look just as I'm sure they did when you were kids."

"Yet Al still managed to avoid taking you to the tea shop," Ginny teased. "I'd have picked that over the Hogs Head."

"I've checked out the tea shop without him," Gwendolyn admitted – "though that was with some of the girls; and not during our little break up at the start of our OWL year. That place could use an update too – by about fifty years."

"There isn't a lot of business for those stores and Inns outside of Hogsmeade weekends," Harry reminded her. "They do the best they can in a small, isolated town."

"No," Gwendolyn told Al; and he laughed.

"Okay," he agreed simply; earning a round of laughs.

"Was that supposed to mean something to the rest of us?" Kirley asked.

"I don't want Al to make any suggestions related to Hogsmeade to Malorie for GO MagiSports," Gwendolyn explained. "They have enough on the go; and we don't need to look at investing in Hogsmeade for any reason."

"I can think of some good reasons," Al told her; "but we can talk about that some other time."

"Or not," Gwendolyn disagreed; though Al could sense that she was curious to at least know those reasons. "We seem to keep losing track of the roasting; so maybe I should ask you about any news on the wedding front for Donna and Ewan."

That change in subject kept their dinner conversation going; they had fun together through until they'd finished dessert and taken care of the usual birthday entertainment and gifts; and then they had some play time in the atrium before Kirley took Gwenog home for the night; and Al and Gwendolyn took custody of the twins. Jaimie and Lorie were fired-up about their sleepover with their aunt and uncle, so Al and Gwendolyn needed a couple of hours to finish tiring them out before getting them off to sleep; and then they wrapped up their work week with their second-favorite bedroom activity – sleeping!

Lily and Jonah were still on their way out to the school gates when they met up with Al, Gwendolyn, and the twins. Jaimie and Lorie were handed off to them for first hugs; and then the hugs and kisses between brothers and sisters usually included a twin in the middle. There were other visitors arriving and passing them; and they were all amused when Al and Gwendolyn were asked for autographs two times – and that they were recognized and watched by pretty much everyone. That attention wasn't new for them elsewhere anymore; but it was a novelty at Hogwarts.

"Don't have too much fun with that," Lily warned. "You might get jeered when we go into the stadium."

"Al's hoping for better," Gwendolyn suggested, "but I know that we'll still have more than our share of haters – especially among the fans of the teams we've bested."

Lily grinned at them. "You might need to include Harpies fans in that group soon if you win against our team," she only half-joked. She seemed ready to say more, but then remembered that they had little ears with them; and laughed instead when she saw that Al knew what she'd been thinking anyway. "This could be a good match today. There are some unknowns on both teams, but Slytherin still has the Parkinson twins, and with Preston at Captain; maybe they'll surprise us and play nice."

"We can hope," Jonah agreed, "but the Carrow brothers are on the team at Beater; and they're getting a reputation around the castle for being bullies; so our cousins and friends on the Hufflepuff team should be ready for anything today." He turned his attention toward Gwendolyn. "How long can you stay before needing to leave and get ready for the wedding?"

"We need to have Jaimie and Lorie home before lunch," she answered. "That won't give us a lot of time to get ready for the wedding, but we don't have any responsibilities beyond being there to help celebrate; so we won't have any trouble getting there on time."

"No – the trouble won't start until the magnet gets to the party," Lily teased. "Do you want to stop by the locker room and wish your cousins good luck, Gwendolyn?"

"What do you think, Jonah?" Gwendolyn asked in return. "That might just make Brett nervous – even if Christy would be okay with it."

"We should likely stop," Jonah decided. "They aren't going to have any other visitors today; so your support should help Brett. He's definitely nervous this morning."

"He is," Lily agreed. "Let's see if you can help him out with that."

Lily led the way to the stadium and locker room; Jonah went to get their cousins; and they ended up having most of the Hufflepuff junior team come outside for the visit with Al and Gwendolyn. They had fun with that; Al in particular helped Brett with his nervous fear; and then they headed into the stadium and up to the seats that were being saved for them on the border between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Lily stayed with Jonah so that she could be with her brother, sister-in-law, and nieces too; and didn't mind being away from her senior team because the Gryffindor junior team players could do their own analysis of the Hufflepuff and Slytherin teams. They got settled into their seats; and it was only a bit strange for Al and Gwendolyn to be in the visitor section while Jaimie and Lorie were hanging out with Lily, Jonah, and some of their favorite Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Hugo, Alyssa, Fred, and Katrina were all together too, so the two girls – and Stephanie – were closest to Lily and Gwendolyn so that they could chat while watching the match.

"Do we know the new junior team announcer?" Gwendolyn asked when they saw the young Witch getting set up for the game-calling. "She looks vaguely familiar."

"I'm sure you've met her before – though it's likely been years since you saw her last," Al answered with a nod. "Rachel Cresswell is an Auror kid – Matthew and Anne Cresswell's daughter. Maybe she decided to give game announcing a try because of Colin."

"That's what Denise thinks," Lily advised him with a grin. "She thinks that Colin may be Rachel's little girl crush."

"If she tries to imitate his big voice; Denise could be right," Gwendolyn suggested. "Is there any good gossip going on around here this morning?"

That question started an entertaining chat among the girls, but Al stayed out of that; and enjoyed spending the time with Lily, Jonah, and most of their favorite Hogwarts teens and tweens. When Rachel began her pre-game show, it was nothing like Colin's announcing, but she was quietly-confident; and delivered her Quidditch summary of the previous season with moments of humor and enthusiasm for the game. Her team introductions were quick and concise; with a quick-facts format for the individual player accolades. Al didn't like what he sensed from some of the Slytherin players, but the Captain's handshake before the match was friendly-enough; and then Mr. Peakes got the match started.

What followed that quaffle toss over the next hour and twenty-nine minutes was a junior team rated, yet fiery mix of good and bad Quidditch – at least from Al's perspective. On the Hufflepuff side of the quaffle, the good Quidditch was led by Christy and Brett. He played brilliantly right from the start; and did very well in goals against Preston and Priscilla Parkinson – the two most-talented Slytherins in the match. Christy didn't have much competition from Slytherin's new firstie Seeker, Heathrow Higgs, but her true battle was against Kevin and Alec Carrow; Slytherin's Beaters. They were the worst of the bad for Slytherin; and tried their best to knock Christy out of the match. That appeared to be a planned strategy from what Al sensed, so while the Parkinson twins played fairly; they didn't have a problem with getting team mates to bend the rules or play their worst.

That reminded Al a bit too-much of Louis, Miya, and Roman; which was why he was glad that the strategy didn't work out as planned for Slytherin. Thanks to Brett playing well against the Parkinsons, and because Slytherin's Keeper wasn't very good either; Hufflepuff was able to earn a small lead; and then keep it even though Slytherin definitely had the advantage at Chaser. They had a seventy-to-fifty lead when Christy ended the match with a clean, well-done play that was helped out by Ethel Ackerley as she temporarily got the Carrow brothers out of Christy's way so that she had the chance to win the day for Hufflepuff and give them the early lead in the race for the Quidditch Cup.

Having a short match worked for Al and Gwendolyn too. They still spent as much time as they could with Lily, Jonah, and some of their cousins and friends, but then they were still on the way home a half-hour earlier than needed; they ended up dropping off the twins with Harry and Ginny instead of Malorie for lunch; and then they got ready for the wedding before heading out to Grandma and Grandpa Jones' home – the location that Donna had picked for her wedding instead of her childhood home or at one of the halls or Inns. They were soon seated with Kirley and Gwenog in the 'family of the bride' section of the pavilion, and thanks to the still-warm afternoon weather; the pavilion 'wall's were open and tied to the poles so that the wedding guests had a wonderful few of the fall colors that surrounded them in Gwendolyn's grandparent's back yard.

"How did the match go this morning?" Gwenog asked them after sharing a round of hugs and kisses and then sitting down again. "Is it still goign on?"

"Christy won the match for Hufflepuff in an hour and a half," Gwendolyn answered. "It was a pretty good match; Brett and Christy were the stars today; and the Slytherins didn't really get nicer with Preston Parkinson at Captain. That was mostly thanks to the Carrow brothers playing Beater for them; and they're already well on the way to follwing the last few sets of Slytherin Beater brothers down the path of being brutes and cheats."

"I don't want to speak ill of that entire family, but that doesn't surprise me at all when it comes to the Carrows that I do know anything about. I'm glad that the season has started well for Christy and Brett. It's been a while since Hufflepuff has had much to cheer about with their Quidditch teams."

"Alex led his House to a senior team title in our third year," Gwendolyn reminded her; and Teddy won a lot of awards for Hufflepuff during his years on the team too. They will still hopefully have a tough time against Ravenclaw again this season." She grinned at Al while saying that – and excluding Gryffindor in that statement; and he laughed quietly.

"Will you pick your cousins over your sister-in-law for that senior team match-up in February?" he asked – "or wil that depend on which House is helped least by the win by then?"

"That might be exactly what I'll do," Gwendolyn agreed. "That'll only be the half-way mark of the season, though; and it might be too-soon to tell which team I should cheer for that day."

"We can talk about that sort of thing another time," Gwenog told her. "We're supposed to try not to talk about Quidditch today – though I have no idea how you'll manage to do that when you and Al are sure to get a lot of attention from at least some of the Quidditch fans in the pavilion."

"Before you try to do that; I'd like to know how your first visit to Hogwarts since becoming Quidditch stars in the show went for you today," Kirley interjected with a grin. "Do you suddenly have hundreds of fans there?"

Gwendolyn laughed. "Maybe dozens," she answered. "We got a rousing round of jeers when we walked into the stadium; and only a smattering of cheers that might have only been from our cousins and friends. Some of the other visitors asked for autographs, but there were only a few students brave enough to ask for them too – especially after the first kid got razzed for doing it." She smiled at Al. "She didn't seem to care about that; and got a bonus Animorphmagus Catapult toy from Al out of the deal too."

"And Al's got another little fan for life," Gwenog added with a nod. "Moving on, we should be in for an interesting afternoon and evening with the mix of friends that Donna and Ewan have through work and from school. We'll be spending the rest of the day with Healers, musicians, and even a few Quidditch players."

"Donna and Ewan were part of an amazing graduating class," Al offered quietly; and smiled ruefully. "I guess that's true more often than not, but while they didn't go for flashy careers; they do have quite a few famous friends from Hogwarts."

"They do," Gwenog agreed. "I think that you have a junior fan heading our way," she added in a whisper. "Try to be quick. It won't be long before the ceremony will be starting."

"If the flower girl and ring bearer stop for autographs during the processional; I want pictures," Kirley added with a grin.

Al and Gwendolyn shared that quiet bit of fun with one of Ewan's youngest cousins; and didn't have any autograph moments during the processional. Four-year-old Johnny Jones was the ring bearer; and the flower girl had been chosen from Ewan's family – an adorable five-year-old with braids, dimples, and a happy smile as she carried her bouquet proudly and practically danced next to Johnny as they made their way to the front of the pavilion. As always, the wedding ceremony seemed very short – at least to Al, but there were differences that he noticed too; and for Donna and Ewan's bonding; he compared that to her brother's wedding in August. Cyren had been insistent about getting married to Dennis before his little sister was married too; so that ceremony had been tinged by a sense of Cyren's elation at finally catching her Wizard. Donna and Ewan had a more-balanced relationship, so while Al knew that both couples would be happy; that was going to be for different reasons.

Some parts of the ceremony and party were at least similar for every wedding they'd attended so far, but being there for the bride's side of the family had some benefits – like getting through the family photos earlier instead of later. That worked for Al and Gwendolyn; since they were able to hang out with some older friends that they didn't get to see very often – including some of her Weird Sisters' cousins. Teddy and Victoire were there because of her friendship with Ewan that was particularly-strong when they were Head Boy and Girl. They had more fun with a few junior fans during the social time while the photos were being taken; there was a break for the wedding party after that while the pavilion was set up for dinner; and then they were glad to be seated with Kirley and Gwenog for that meal – along with Gwenog's brothers, Gordon and Garrett; and their wives, Tonya and Chloe.

Al and Gwendolyn didn't mind being the only 'kids' at the table; and they got to talk Quidditch during their meal because Garrett and Chloe were very proud of their two youngest kids – especially after Al and Gwendolyn praised their efforts toward earning the win for Hufflepuff. The dinner was catered, but not an over-the-top, lavish extravaganza; so they were able to enjoy the food and desserts in a bit over an hour; and then move on to having fun at the dance. The Weird Kids on the Block were not booked for the comparatively-modest wedding, but there was a live band; and the members of the Weird Kids that were in attendance gave the happy couple a first few dances music gift that impressed everyone there before the 'wedding band' took over for the rest of the night. Most of the guests were spectators for those songs, but that was still a lot of fun; and then Al and Gwendolyn spent a lot of time after that out on the dance floor.

Usually, they danced together, but there were dances with her parents; Al got asked to dance with two little girl-fans; and Gwendolyn picked young Wizards to dance with each time those girls 'cut in' on her – though both of those dances were with her youngest cousins. The social chat time was almost entirely done in brief cameo moments for the rest of the evening; and everything about the party was great for them – including a comparatively-early end. Donna and Ewan did their last goodbyes by eleven-thirty; and Al and Gwendolyn headed home by shortly after midnight because her family had hired a clean-up crew and didn't need help with any work. Ending a really great Quidditch and family day with some hot-rated play time for two in their bedroom was brilliant too; and then they eventually crashed and napped for a few hours before needing to get up and going again early on Sunday morning.

After getting Saturday off from work, Al and Gwendolyn were booked for most of Sunday with interviews and social events for the team. That kept them busy from morning until not long before their training curfew. The play time with kids at a luncheon and then an afternoon charity hike that was both an adventure and fundraiser were two of the best parts of their day. Their interviews were a different kind of fun, but they really were getting good at turning attempts to make them – and the Cannons – look bad into good public relations. There was time for dinner with their parents; a bedtime mirror chat with Lily, Jonah, and the friends hanging out with them; and then they got some sleep to be ready for their last full training day ahead of their match against United on Tuesday evening.

Al didn't have to deal with any doubt issues anymore while leading 'his' parts of the team training, but each opponent offered up different challenges, so while he continued to make their workouts and scrimmage fun on Monday; few of the reporters even noticed the subtle ways that he helped his team mates to get ready to play against United's strengths. Most-obvious was Belinda in goals; Tina and Calvin were, truly, one of the best Beater duos in the league – if not the best; and they played well as a team. Alex was a talented Seeker too, but Al pretty much left it up to his father to work out his own game plan for trying to win that duel with help from Brandon and Seth; while he focused on winning the Chaser and Keeper battles. Most of their work toward that goal was physical on Monday; Al and Gwendolyn went to bed even ahead of their game night curfew – and got the extra sleep too; and then they only did a light workout on Tuesday morning; followed that up with a game planning meeting after lunch; and then they moved on to a warm-up and pre-match snack at the stadium in the late afternoon that had them at Exmoor at least an hour before the United team players and managers arrived.

That non-news story earned them some ridicule from a couple of reporters covering the match for mirror network news shows at dinnertime, but Al had made sure that everyone had fun; and that extra time at the stadium was actually part of his game-readiness plan.

"Warning – United fans in the room," Michael Macmillan announced as he walked into Lily and Jonah's study classroom – and had most of his Hufflepuff senior team mates with him. He was smiling; and earned a round of laughs.

"You're welcome," Lily assured them with a grin. "Most of us are Harpies fans; so the match tonight is no big deal for us."

"Well, that won't be any fun being here to watch the match if we won't have any Cannons fans to razz when our team wins tonight," Leanne joked. "I guess that we should just..." She trailed off when she saw the portable pool that was set up; and laughed. "...stay and go for a swim – I mean study and watch the match with you."

"Or all of the above," Lily offered. "I don't know if you'll get the chance to razz Hugo and the other three Cannons fans in the room or not, but this should be an awesome match; and we are expecting to have fun – even with all of the boring studying."

"Says the Witch with only five classes," Denise interjected; and Lily laughed.

"Do we really have to mention that every time, Denise? You'll be seventeen on Friday, so if you really hate the extra classes so much; you can drop them and not worry about what your parents think anymore."

"True – I'd only need to worry about where to live over the holidays for the next couple of years," Denise countered; and then grinned. "Do you think that Jonah would mind if I stayed with him? He does have that beautiful townhouse now with lots of room for guests."

"You're on a roll," Lily complimented her – "and we so need to work on getting you a next boyfriend so you'll stop making jokes about moving in with mine." She returned her attention to Michael and the rest of the teens with him. "Grab a worktable – or a sofa – and join us," she invited. "The expert predictions are up next – not that we expect any surprises there. Has your Dad ever picked the other team since Alex started with United, Leanne?"

"No," Leanne answered as she walked over to an open work table next to the one being used by some of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw NEWT students – including Stephanie and Cyndia. "Mum bugs him about that when he doesn't pick our Harpies, but he's still doing well-enough with his overall predictions – even if he sometimes loses a bit of ground for picking Alex's team regardless of whether United should be favored or not."

Lily laughed. "I keep forgetting that the Harpies have been your favorite team too," she admitted – "especially since Alex joined United. That must be as weird for you as it has been for me with Mom, Dad, Al, and Gwendolyn signing up with the Cannons."

Leanne shrugged. "Not really," she disagreed. "It's been weird seeing your Mum play for the Cannons, and we always thought that Gwendolyn would play for the Harpies; but our brothers couldn't play for them; so it doesn't really matter to me which team they ended up with – and I was sure that Alex would make it into the league." She laughed then. "I've played against Al, so I know how good he is, and agreed with the majority that he was a bit nuts to want to play for the Cannons with Rose; but they've been proving us wrong about that so far. I just hope that they won't keep that trend going tonight."

"You're in your NEWT year," Lily said next. "Can you tell us about the teams that must be talking with you about a job in the show?"

"No," Leanne answered – "though it's no secret that the scouts from most of the league teams talked with me after matches last season. It's tough following so many really great Keepers that have made it to the show so recently. It leaves fewer good options for me."

"Maybe the Cannons' scouts will talk with you this season," Lily suggested with a sidelong grin for Hugo.

"We all know that Hugo and Alyssa are going to join Rose's team," Leanne advised Lily. "I wouldn't want that job anyway; since I'd never want to play half the season."

"It works for us," Alyssa offered – "especially after we had so much fun last summer." She nodded toward the mirror. "Here come the predictions."

There was a pause in their chat as Lee and his experts unanimously picked United to win; and then their conversation moved on as they watched the team introductions and got started – or back to – their studies. Focusing on their revision was soon tough as the match began and the action was non-stop and brilliant. The Chaser and Keeper battle opened in favor of the Keepers and Belinda and Rose traded save-for-save, but that didn't make the game play boring; since the scoring opportunities rolled along at a furious pace. For United, their game plan seemed to be an attempt to set as fast a pace as possible – possibly to keep Al, Gwendolyn, and Ray from having time for their best tricks; or in an attempt to see if their Lightningstorms could out-fly the Hurricanes with flat-out speed.

Alex was trying the same with Harry in their Seeker duel, and he appeared to be trying to tire out the 'old man' by getting him to constantly chase him; though that seemed to be a problem for Alex too because it didn't allow him much time to actually search for the snitch. The Beater contest wasn't tentative, but it did start out strategically on both sides; with Calvin and Tina trying to soften up Rose and Harry more than the others; while Brandon and Seth worked to defend their team mates and use the bludgers to break up plays – or put holes in the United Chaser defense. Al ended Belinda's shut-out before the end of the first half-hour, but Rose continued to stop everything that their cousins and Olivia could throw at her. Belinda was mad about giving up that first goal, and got angrier when Al scored his second a bit more than twenty minutes later; and then Gwendolyn earned her first just ahead of the end of the first hour. The thirty-to naught lead going into the second hour wasn't large, but it did affect how all of the players on both teams were playing – something that all of the spectators watching the show could – or should – notice.

"I know that he's your brother, and you love him, Lily, but I can relate to Belinda right now; and have wanted to smack him too for smiling like that and having so much fun all of the time," Leanne told Lily as they watched a replay of Al's third goal of the match. "The smiling and cheerfulness are bad-enough, but add in those mid-air hugs with Gwendolyn; and it's really annoying – even when I'm just watching it from here."

"I think it's brilliant – and she's my sister," Kathryn offered. "Maybe that's a Chaser thing, or vicarious sibling revenge, but having that much fun was one of the things I liked most about training with Al and Rose – even when it was annoying to lose Chaser duels; and not be good-enough to earn a spot on the team." She shook her head. "Ollie was always the worst when it came to being bad-tempered, but Belinda and Olivia can let their tempers get the best of them too."

"Gwendolyn's only scored one goal against Olivia, and Ray's still looking for his first goal of the match against Lucy," Lily pointed out; "so I don't get why Olivia's getting mad – even if Belinda's frustrated. "Dominique, Lucy, and Alex look a bit grim too; though they don't look angry – just determined."

"While all of the Cannons players look as happy as Al and Gwendolyn," Leanne countered. "I'm not suggesting that Tina should knock those smiles from their faces, but it might be a strategy that would help to best the Cannons. Maybe they wouldn't play so well if they weren't having so much fun."

"That sounds like the game plan that the Catapults had for the Cannons," Hugo suggested. "It didn't work out for them; and I'd hope that teams like United and the Harpies will never try to cheat like that – or even play to win at any cost."

"Shouldn't you look at that the other way?" Denise asked him. "Leanne's talking about trying to stop the Cannons from having fun, but if that really is so successful; then why wouldn't the other teams want to try and emulate them – and win by being even happier?"

"That's an interesting theory," Lily told her; though she seemed more amused than serious about the idea. "Al would agree with you, but one team has to lose each match; and most players will not be happy win or lose the way Al claimes that he is when he loses games."

"Except that he still hasn't for any games that really matter here at Hogwarts or so far in the show," Cyndia pointed out.

"That's not entirely-true," Denise disagreed. "It is for Quidditch, but not for other things. He's been happy when other Houses have won the House Cup or he's been runner-up for academic awards. I think that he really is serious about being able to be happy win or lose because he's shown that he can be – even if that hasn't been while playing in the matches that you think of as being most-important."

"Careful,' Lily warned. "You're in a room full of Quidditch fanatics. Quidditch isn't just a game – it's our life!"

Denise shook her head. "Let's agree to disagree," she suggested. "You remind me a bit too much of some of the politicians at the Ministtry of Magic when you talk like that. They think that their jobs are their lives too; and believe that the work they're doing is more-important than anything else."

"Now you're scaring me," Lily decided. "Let's change the subject."

They did that – and got back to work and the gaem-watching. Rose continued her shut-out through the second hour, but Belinda gave up a second goal to Gwendolyn and a first to Ray – both thanks to brilliant set-ups from Al. While the scoring was still all for the Cannons through the third hour, the Seeker battle rolled on between Alex and Harry with no end in sight – right up until it ended rather abruptly at the three hour and two minute mark. To that point in the match, Harry had appeared to play a defensive game against Alex – chasing after him every time that Alex tried either a fake or true race after the snitch. That was what proved to be Alex's undoing. He got so used to Harry automatically chasing him that he forgot to keep an eye on him; launched an attack; and then didn't notice until too-late when Harry didn't follow and instead made his own, unopposed run for the snitch. His catch wasn't flashy either – he just got the job done and earned the two-forty to naught victory for his team!

"I am an idiot," Alex offered with a rueful smile as he met up with Harry after futilely attempting to catch up and still being too-far away to do more than watch the catch. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Harry answered while they shook hands, "and you're not; since I liked your strategy for tonight a lot."

"Except that it didn't work," Alex pointed out; and Harry laughed.

"That's because it's one of Lily's favorite strategies too; so I've practiced against it a lot over the years," Harry advised him. "Your timing for that last fake was just a bit unlucky – or good luck for me."

"I don't think that luck had much to do with our loss," Lucy offered as she joined her husband and shared a mid-air hug with him. "We thought that luck was with us when we didn't have Aunt Ginny playing against Alex, but we were wrong; and should probably stop believing anything we hear or read about from any of the reporters covering the Cannons." She smiled at her uncle. "I've seen you lose a lot of Seeker duels over the years, Uncle Harry. How often was that just for show?"

"Fairly-often," Harry admitted candidly. "That isn't any big secret, Lucy. Ginny and I have always been competitive in our Seeker duels. That's why we have so much fun. This match was great too; so thanks for playing."

"Playing – or being played," Lucy offered with a grin. "I'll pick the latter."

The win over United had the Cannons still-undefeated through the first quarter of their season, but even that accomplishment didn't help their cause with the reporters that were growing to hate them for proving them wrong week-after-week. Angry Puddlemere players made the post-game part of their night a bit less fun; and Al in particular wished that his cousins could have been happier – even if Belinda and Olivia needed to hate on him – and did. They weren't any kinder to their own cousin, but Ray hadn't been upset by that; and had instead almost seemed to have more fun thanks to the family rivalry. Three hours for an evening match was a good number when it came to the entertainment after the match, so the interviews took a while; and then there was the fan-time that was only amazing for the Cannons because they had more fans by the end of every match – even when they earned more haters too.

That added up to a late night by the time Al and Gwendolyn got home and went to bed, and since it was still a work night; they still needed to get up at their normal time in the morning on Wednesday and get back to work with just eight training days until their next match. Al and Harry helped out with some fatigue healing before breakfast for their team mates, but Al also added in extra play time; and Rose had a strategy meeting to plan for their match against the Magpies. Part of their preparations for that game included watching the Magpies' match against the Catapults on Thursday evening; and work and play came together for that activity because Thursday was also Brandon's twentieth birthday.

Brandon's birthday breakfast with the team and other friends was a great way to start the day on Thursday, and Al tried his best to make the entire workday special; since he expected that he'd need the extra love and happinesss ahead of the Catapults-Magpies' match. He was sure that James would be looking to take out the most-recent losses on the Magpies – as well as pound on his former best mate and his 'new' team. October wasn't a good time of year for a water play day at the beach without an international Portkey trip, but Al's 'training' included a morning hike and caving adventure; and then they had a long swim in the lagoon after a comparatively-short scrimmage. They wrapped up their workday an hour early; and then met up again for Brandon's birthday dinner at the cafe with nearly two hours available for the food and birthday fun ahead of the start of the Quidditch match.

Al and Gwendolyn weren't at the table with Brandon and Rose because he had that meal with his parents, Seth, and Susannah – and did that before his parents headed for Ellis stadium to watch Landon's match live instead of on the mirrors at the pub. The fact that they had multiple teams to support for their sons shouldn't have been odd for Al, but it still was something he hadn't thought about very often; and that was despite the fact that it was exactly the same for Brandon's parents as it was for his own parents, Gwendolyn's, his Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, and other parents and families that he knew through Quidditch or the Aurors. He still didn't even really think about the Magpies as being Landon's team as well as Ollie's; since he had very little contact with either Wizard despite their visits to the Cannons' community – to hang out with Brandon for Landon or visit Lacey Finnegan for Ollie.

Those connections were something that he thought about as they settled in to watch the start of that match as the teams were being introduced into the stadium. Most of those silent musings were about the potential effects of cousin and sibling rivalries for Brandon and Landon or Ray and Ollie; though Al wanted to come up with ways to make sure they all had fun while still trying to win that match. Gwendolyn and Brandon had trained with Landon for years, so they had a lot of information about him, but since Landon hadn't made his senior team at all; Al hadn't played against him very much at all in the past four years. The Magpies were one of the other teams that had a similar view of the game to Al's, though, and Ollie had changed a lot since joining the team; so Al hoped that they could have a good match – even after the battle against James and the Catapults that started out as horridly as Al had expected.

"I know that we're watching this to get ready for the Magpies," Brandon told his game-watching tablemates – including Al and Gwendolyn now; "but I have to wonder why they don't seem to be more-prepared for the way the Catapults are playing. They should have expected this – especially since Ollie was on James' team."

"Answering that might make any of us sound egotistical," Gwendolyn offered with a smile. "Instead of suggesting that we're just that good, though; I'll suggest that we're just seeing the difference tonight because the Magpies don't have the same advantages that we do – and for that matter; they don't even have a full set of Lightningstorms. That's a huge advantage for the Catapults – just as our brooms and equipment are an advantage for us over the other teams."

"So you're saying that we should never let Al sell any of his Quidditch gear or brooms to the Catapults," Rose declared with a grin for Al. "I'm good with that."

"I doubt that James would ever use one of my brooms – especially since that'd mean working with me; and we've talked before about whether my brooms would ever choose players like James and the McClaggens."

"When I see them playing like this; I have to wonder if your brooms would even help them," Rose suggested seriously. "They'll certainly help most players to be better, but their best capabilities might just be lost on brute-force players."

"I don't know," Gwendolyn disagreed. "They're helped by the Lightningstorms. That's something to consider – the fact that the other teams have put big money into those brooms already. How many years does that normally take for that kind of investment to actually pay off before they'd consider buying another new set of brooms? The Firebolt came out in nineteen ninety-three; so there have been five brooms in that line over thirty years – and that's not even close to as many upgrades the other major broom-makers have had in that time. That can't be an expense that most teams could handle every season."

"Including for our team," Al agreed with a nod. "That is one of the reasons for why it takes years for professional teams around the world to upgrade their brooms – and some never do that to the best-available brooms. We don't notice that most of the time – other than during Quidditch World Cups when we get to see more of those other brooms in action."

"Aren't we supposed to be analyzing Quidditch?" Seth asked them. "You're just talking business now."

"We are," Rose agreed – "though I'm already wondering whether we'll learn anything useful from this match. The Catapults are just trying to beat up on the Magpies, and we will never play like that."

"We wouldn't," Al agreed, "but we are learning more about the Magpies. Ollie isn't retaliating, but he is not letting Scorpius get the best of him. Landon's playing pretty well against Miya too; and I'd give her only the slight nod so far for winning that battle against him when I thought that was going to be a bigger advantage for the Catapults. The Magpies are playing more-defensively than I thought that they might tonight too, but that probably won't work for them tonight; and they'll get tired out using that strategy."

"I'd suggest that they're trying to do the best they can to compensate for their disadvantages," Gwendolyn semi-disagreed. "They're not going to win an offensive battle against the Catapults and their faster brooms."

"Being too-agressive would cost them on the scoreboard too," Rose added with a nod of agreement. "They'd get caught behind the plays on every transition from offense to defense."

"That is a problem," Al agreed, "but if they keep letting the Catapults impose their game plan without even trying to disrupt it somehow; they're eventually going to start losing players as the McClaggens pick them off."

His prediction eventually proved-out, but not before their game-watching birthday party wrapped up in time for their training curfew. By then, Al didn't want to watch it anymore – even though the Magpies had been holding up better than expected. While Al was oblivious to what was going on at Ellis stadium while he played and then slept with Gwendolyn for the rest of the night; James had the McClaggens help him out with knocking the Magpies' Seeker out of the match; they went on to do the same to Ollie and Landon's Chaser partner; and then James pretty much just flew around and enjoyed watching his team run up the score until he got bored and ended the match at the eight hour and eight minute mark of their horrid display of the worst sort of Quidditch.

The good news – if there was any – for the Magpies was that Ollie and Landon played their best without ever giving up through to the bitter end, and considering that they played without a third Chaser for a bit more than three hours; the six-eighty to two-ten score proved that out. That didn't keep James, Tiberius, and Brock from razzing their former friend and his team mates that were still standing at the end of the night, and the reporters weren't much kinder, but then none of those Wizards and Witches placed much stock in losing a match with honor and integrity intact when all they cared about was winning at any cost.

Welcome back!" James said grandly as he walked into the locker room – last as always after the post-game interviews and fan 'in-your-face' time. "That's the way we should be winning every match – two down; and five only-barely still standing!"

"Thanks – it's good to be back," Tiberius offered. "Can we have tomorrow off now, boss?"

"Sure," James answered magnanimously before Daniel could answer; earning laughs from Tiberius, Brock, and Scorpius.

"We only have six training days until our next match," Louis reminded them. "That's a really bad idea."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Daniel told him, "but that was a long, tough match; and you'll all be better-off taking the day off tomorrow – today. Ritchie and I will be at work and get started on the plans for our match against the Wasps, and you're welcome to have your own optional workouts or help out with that planning; but you officially have the day off."

"I already said that," James declared loftily. "You don't have to waste your time with that game plan nonsense either. Do what we did tonight – or shoot for making those old fools on the Wasps look even worse than the Wood-Knot Wonder and his pathetic excuse for a team looked tonight!" he sneered when Miya got up and looked disgusted as she headed for the Witches' shower room. "Did I offend you with the truth, Miya the Mutt? If the game is too-hard for you – feel free to quit anytime. You'd be doing us a favor!"

"In case you haven't figured it out yet; I never quit," Miya told him. "I also don't have to like the way you play the game – and want the rest of us to play it."

"No – you'll sit there on your high horse and pretend to be better than the rest of us while riding our broomtails to league championships; and then pretend that you actually did something to earn them too," James scoffed. "You're a pathetic hypocrite, Mutt!"

"I am that," she agreed seriously. "Nobody's perfect. Have fun celebrating your wonderful victory, James – and leave me out of it."

"As always," James agreed. "Run along, Mutt. Leave the partying to the real Quidditch players in the room – just as you do out there above the pitch."

Al was happy to get back to work on Friday. He and Gwendolyn didn't have any involvement in Denise's seventeenth birthday fun, but they did get updates from Lily through mirror messages; and he needed all of the happy he could get to counter the rest of the bad news from the Catapults' match that also led to insulting questions from reporters that were hoping to goad him into quotes that would make him look bad. Their training didn't include as many alternate workouts as they'd had for Brandon's birthday, but they had some kid time with Jaimie, Lorie, and Ruth's kids; a family-friendly VIP luncheon; and then a quiet family dinner with their parents. The Harpies were playing on Saturday, so Gwenog had to be home ahead of a game day curfew, but while that wasn't a problem for Al and Gwendolyn; they didn't go out and party all evening. They opted for a quiet night in that included watching the next episode of The Healer; and then they went to bed for the night – if not to sleep for quite a while once in their bedroom for the night.

On Saturday, it was Harry and Ginny's turn to visit Hogsmeade with the twins, so Al and Gwendolyn were kept busy with morning show interviews and an appearance for a supplier sales event that gave the guests a sneak peak at the Christmas toy line-up. That little showcase was kid-friendly; and Al was there not just to promote the team and Animorphmagus toys, but to entertain the kids with some Animorphmagus play time. That kept them busy through lunchtime; so they missed the gameday lunch at the Leaky, but they caught up with their group at the stadium just ahead of the team introductions and were ready to take a break. Actually resting a bit wasn't really possible, since Jaimie and Lorie needed to sit with them and tell them all about their adventures in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, but they were at least sitting; and the Harpies and Arrows offered up a brilliant Quidditch match right from the quaffle toss.

They were happy to have the chance to watch their favorite team, and do that with their family and friends, but both teams were going to be upcoming opponents; so using the match to get ready for those matches was important too – and changed the way they needed to feel and think about the Harpies. Talking about the game from a rivals perspective with some of their Cannons team mates while surrounded by Harpies fans needed to be done carefully, but then that was really only different because of their new perspective; since they'd been analyzing matches they watched at Hogwarts and for the league teams for years.

"Madison's off to a good start against Gabrielle," Gwendolyn told Al quietly. "I really hope that she doesn't have as much success as Pauline has had against our team."

Al grinned at her; and Gwendolyn laughed. "Yes, I knew what you meant; though I'll also hope that Madison has exactly that much success against our Cannons – and the lack of it for what you were talking about. Madison is a good fit for the Arrows; though I don't think she's the final piece of their puzzle."

"Do you think that tory is?" Gwendolyn asked; and Al shrugged.

"I don't know – and maybe we should hope that they don't put together that best team for them anyway."

"You're in an odd mood," she decided. "That's not your normal kind of comment about hoping that everyone gets to play their best and have fun." She nodded toward the Chaser action above the pitch and heading toward the Arrows' goals. "Victoire is playing great again so far too. "Maybe you're hoping that she wouldn't be up to game speed again ahead of our match, but she's there now; and even seems to be having fun."

"She is closer to our end of the spectrum for that with Dominique in the middle; and Louis closer to the other end – which is really too bad; since he used to have fun when we were younger."

"He has joined Victoire in the league champions club," Gwendolyn pointed out. "If that didn't make him happy; then I don't know what will."

"Louis may have found out that winning that award the way they did makes their victory a bit hollow while Victoire has good reason to be proud of her accomplishments."

"Well, he'd be right about that," Gwendolyn offered, "but I don't know if that's true or not; since he is still playing for the Catapults and standing by his team no matter how awful they act."

"We'll see eventually," Al predicted. "I'd like Louis to be happier – and wish we could get back to having a better relationship with the cousins we're having trouble with now."

"And the brother?" Gwendolyn teased.

"As always," Al agreed. "That might be a wish too far; but I'll keep hoping anyway."

"While you're doing that; let's get back to talking about this match," Gwendolyn suggested. "I love Vicky, but she's playing at about the same level as Eddie today; so Victoire is the difference maker for the Chaser battle – and it isn't a big advantage yet."

"The Harpies are already making some adjustments," Al told her. "That difference is going to get more-noticeable. I agree with you about Eddie and Vicky, but also think that he's under-rated because of his Chaser defense." He smiled at Gwendolyn's reaction. "I don't want to pick on your former House and team mates, Gwendolyn, but they didn't make your Ravenclaw teams based on defensive skills; and they were both better because of their team mates. That's been different since they joined the Arrows. They either need help; or have to figure out how to step up to the next level – the same way Miya did with the Catapults even when she was playing with a group of team mates that didn't even try at all."

"Which is ironic; since she holds back in most of her matches now – unless the Catapults are losing," Gwendolyn told him; though she'd nodded at his comments too. "I half-get that, since she doesn't want to run it up on the other teams, but she still plays along and earns a lot of assists on the goals that Scorpius scores for the Catapults instead." She shook her head. "Louis and Roman are the same way; so I don't want to pick on Miya – and we're getting distracted again."

"Okay – so what should we do to best the Harpies; since they're the team we'll play first?" Al asked.

"I don't know; since I half want us to lose," Gwendolyn teased. "The Harpies fan in me might give us bad advice."

"We could just shoot for having fun and not worry about the winning and losing," Al suggested. "Going for the fastest snitch catch is an option; but that wouldn't be as much fun for the rest of us if it worked out – not to mention that I wouldn't want our team to break that record against the team that currently has it – even if Mum broke her own record to do it."

"I've never even come close to doing that again," Ginny interjected; smiling at Al and knowing he'd offered that last comment loudly-enough for her to overhear on purpose. "Then again; I haven't tried either – not like we did that day."

"Then you might be overdue," Al suggested, "but I'm still serious about not doing that against the Harpies."

"Which team would you like to try it against?" Gwendolyn teased.

"You know that the Falcons and Catapults would be at the top of my list," he answered honestly. "Having Mum break the record against the Falcons for a second time – with a different team – would be a bit mean; but they haven't learned anything from the last time; so maybe we could hope for better from them in the future."

"I'd like to see that – starting with our match against them on Halloween," Gwendolyn told him.

"Let's not worry about that today," Al suggested. "We'll deal with the Falcons when we have to, but I don't want to let them mess with our happy anymore than absolutely necessary."

Gwendolyn went along with that; they enjoyed the ongoing quidditch action and play time with the twins and their family and friends; and they got to do that for the rest of the afternoon. Victoire led the Harpies as they began to build a lead and take control of the Chaser-Keeper battle. They earned the one-sixty lead by mid-way through the fifth hour; and then Madison ended the match by catching the snitch for the loss nearly an hour later. The two-eighty to two-fifty score looked better for the Arrows, and Al hadn't expected that any amount of time would have allowed the Arrows the comeback, but he also wasn't sure that the capitulation with the lead still that close to one-sixty was the right move for their team.

They had been entertained enough by then that nobody was disappointed with the end of the match – other than because of the loss for the Arrows' fans; and Al was happy to go home with Gwendolyn; have a late dinner with Harry, Ginny, and some of their friends and neighbors; and then they headed for their beds early – even though they didn't have a training curfew to worry about. The second-half of their weekend included a couple of team-related activities – an interview and a luncheon, but then Al and Gwendolyn spent the rest of the day with their parents; there was a visit to the Burrow and then to Aunt Muriel's; and then Harry and Ginny hosted dinner for six and a quiet evening together that included mirror chats with Lily and Jonah.

The top news from Hogwarts was all about their first apparition lesson, and while Jonah and Hugo would need to wait to take their tests until after they were seventeen; they'd each gotten one of the 'extra' fall spots so that they could take the lessons with their girlfriends. There was other news from school too – including recaps of Quidditch workouts and game-watching fun, but first successful aparitions were exciting; so it was no surprise that Lily and Jonah were happiest about their latest magical accomplishments. Al and Gwendolyn stayed with their parents until it was time for all of them to head for their homes and beds ahead of team curfews; and then they wrapped up their weekend with just a little more newlywed-rated fun before getting some rest ahead of another busy work week.

The countdown to the Cannons-Magpies' match was actually quiet by comparison to their more-newsworthy battles against the top-ranked teams; though some reporters were setting up a storyline to compare the Catapults' win over the Magpies with how the Cannons would do against them on Saturday – as if that would somehow prove their own views and expert opinions regardless of the fact that the Cannons were the only still-undefeated team in the league. Al enjoyed having fewer issues with the reporters; he made sure that his team mates had fun with their training; and then he and Gwendolyn wrapped up their work week with another quiet evening at home that included watching the Healer again and then heading to bed ahead of their game night curfew so that they'd be ready for that battle.

"I should get over being annoyed with Al for not being here at Hogwarts anymore," Lily told Jonah, Hugo, and Alyssa, "but I really miss having him here to do all of the work; and it sucks to be stuck with them now that we're the teens in charge."

"It does," Alyssa agreed with a grin – "which is why I'm going to play for the Cannons so that I can go back to letting him do all of that work for me while I just get to have fun!"

Lily laughed. "You're messing with me," she deduced. "Is this going to be as weird for you today watching your brothers play against each other as it was for me when Mum and Al were playing against James?"

"I don't think so," Alyssa answered. "Brandon and Landon get along, and while things haven't gone exactly as Landon dreamed; he is still in the show; and I hope he'll do well with the Magpies." She grinned again. "It might be weirder for you if Landon is matched up against Gwendolyn today. He does still have a thing for your sister-in-law."

"Now that's scary in an old-Cannons-team sort of way," Lily told her. "You should really hope that Landon doesn't end up being another Santini."

"I was only messing with you again," Alyssa protested. "Landon isn't going to be like that – and he's likely figured out that he was never a match for Gwendolyn anyway – not to mention that he'd have resented her for being the better Quidditch player. He feels that way a bit about Brandon and me too, but at least we're closer to his Quidditch level; while Gwendolyn and Al are two of those really special players – whether the experts want to admit that or not."

"I'll pick 'not' on that one," Lily joked. "Instead of going on with that, though; what would you do for your game plan today against your brother's team? Brandon and Seth aren't the head-bashing kind of Beaters, but that has to affect the way that Brandon plays; and he certainly wouldn't want to run up the score on Landon's team the way the Catapults just did last week."

"I'd also take into consideration the players that might not be fully-recovered from that match," Alyssa added with a nod. "You really don't want to have many really short matches, but I'd try to keep this one short – especially when we have the Falcons next for that Halloween night match. I'd have my team play for an hour or two; and then get Brandon and Seth to help your mum with getting the snitch catch."

Alyssa's suggestion was almost-exactly what the Cannons went on to do. The pre-game fun at center pitch included inter-team hugs and even a couple of kisses – which earned some laughs when Ginny had both a hug and kiss for Geoffrey Hooper – a cameo moment that left Geoffrey grinning like he was a school boy again – which he was to a point; since some of his team mates razzed him about it. Ginny had hugs for Ollie and Landon too; but then Brandon had a hug for his brother; and Gwendolyn hugged Landon when they lined up for take-off while Al was paired up with Ollie for the opening chase for the quaffle.

Those good feelings helped to set the tone for the match, and while Al, Gwendolyn, and Ray soon earned an early goal against Geoffrey; all six Chasers were having fun as they got into their group and individual battles against Rose or Geoffrey. On the Keeper front, Rose won that contest as she kept the Magpies from scoring at all through the first hour while 'her' Chasers earned five against Geoffrey. Rose lost her bid for another shut-out early in the second hour, but Al and Gwendolyn added three more goals before Brandon gave Ginny the help for a clean shot at catching the snitch – which she did at the thirty-five minute mark of that second hour to give the Cannons the quick, two-thirty to ten victory. That was disappointing for the Magpies, but you wouldn't have known that from how happy all of the players were as they met up at center pitch again.

"I am so glad that you've come out of retirement," Geoffrey told Ginny after their post-game hug and kiss. "There just haven't been enough fun days like this – or inter-team hugs and kisses; and it's a bonus that your husband isn't Head of the Aurors anymore. I won't have to worry about getting arrested after all of the spectators go home."

Ginny laughed. "We have Rose and Al to thank for that," she advised him.

"And you too," Al told him as he and Gwendolyn walked up to them. "Part of what we hoped to do with the Cannons came from the way you and your team are as a group – and with your fans. Your Quidditch family is at least as important as the game."

"I'd agree with that," Geoffrey told him with a nod and smile. "So how do we get from there to winning more matches too? We could, obviously, use the advice; since that part of your plan for the Cannons has been working out pretty well for you so far too."

"Do you have a former Quidditch World Cup champion Mum to hire at Seeker?" Al joked; and Geoffrey laughed.

"No, and that's surely part of it for you; but there's more than that going on with your team."

Al shrugged. "There is, but I'd be in trouble with our Manager if I help all of the other teams with that kind of thing."

"What we're doing won't work for every team anyway," Ginny added. "You've been around for a while, Geoffrey, so you might be okay with sharing your job with another Keeper, but that won't be the case for most players – not to mention that the team owners would have issues with agreeing to pay for fourteen players good-enough to do that and have a better team."

"I'm not sure that I'd want to share my job even now," Geoffrey admitted. "We will keep an eye on how you do the rest of the season – especially whenever you're wearing that new uniform!"

"Now you're scaring the kids," Gwendolyn offered with a grin for Al.

"Actually, I was going to thank him – for giving me a good quote to save up for when Dad is our Seeker for the next match we have against the Magpies," Al said; earning a round of laughs.

"Maybe I'll have preferred it if he'd still been an Auror by then," Geoffrey joked. "Congratulations again. I hate losing a match that used to be a near-certain win for us in the past, but this is the most fun I've had in a long time fora match that we didn't win."

"Let's switch to the ugly match of the day," Lily suggested after they'd watched the first fifteen or twenty minutes of the Cannons' post-game action.

"I'd agree with dirty, rotten, cheating Quidditch action," Kathryn offered, "but the Catapults do have some hot players; so I wouldn't say ugly."

"Call it ugly on the inside then," Lily countered. "I've been keeping an eye on that match too; and the usual Catapults' culprits are doing their very worst again today."

"I think that they're beginning to believe that they can't win any other way," Jonah offered seriously. "It isn't funny – or maybe even surprising, but it does seem that James and Al are taking their teams in opposite directions."

"Except that they're both winning a lot of matches," Denise added. "I don't like the way the Catapults play either, but can't deny that they've been more-successful when they play that way. Has anyone ever looked at their record for wins and losses in matches where they've knocked players out of the matches compared to when they haven't? Maybe they really can only win when they play their worst."

"They do win most matches when that happens," Lily advised her, "but nobody has ever denied that cheaters win – and probably do that more often than not. Our point has always been that those wins are tainted; and I'd never want to win that way." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "I felt horrid after that match against Jonah when I caught the snitch instead of letting him catch it for the loss; and that wasn't really even cheating – just really bad sportsmanship."

"That worked out for Ravenclaw in the end," Jonah reminded her. "Our senior team had a lot of motivation going into that last match of the season; and Ollie might not have been so over-confident if their points lead had been three hundred points smaller."

"So you're saying that losing the Quidditch Cup that year was Lily's fault?" Melissa teased. "I've always been told that Al was to blame!"

"Rule number one," Lily reminded her. "That's still true – at least when bad things happen."

"Then the Wasps can blame Al for what's happening to them today," Fred suggested. "Before we totally move on from the Cannons' match, though, what did you think about what we saw before and after the game with the Magpies? Ollie actually seemed to be having fun with Al, Gwendolyn, and Ray even though they lost – and Ollie scored the only goal against Rose. He also didn't get called for a single foul. Is he officially a completely changed Wizard now?"

"I think that he is changed," Cyndia answered before Lily could. "Lacey's still being cautious, but thinks that he truly is becoming the Wizard she thought he could be."

"A Wizard more like my father," Kathryn added. "I have to tell you that it was strange watching him acting like that just now while Belinda and Olivia were mildly-horrid to Al, Gwendolyn, and Ray after their loss to the Cannons. I'd have never predicted that happening."

"Belinda has always hated losing, and Olivia's had issues with Al in the past; so it doesn't surprise me that they don't like losing to the Cannons," Lily offered. "Belinda has a league Championship and a Quidditch World Cup, but they've fallen a bit behind the other top teams since then; so I expect that they're all getting a bit frustrated now – and you did tell us that they have really high expectations this season."

Kathryn nodded. "Yes, and that just doesn't work out for them when they even lose matches to the worst team in the league."

"Which team is the worst for this season?" Denise asked. "The experts are trying to convince us that the Cannons are still there; but I don't ever actually look at the standings to find out."

"The Kestrels haven't won a match yet; and are currently last with the Bats in twelfth place," Lily answered. "They've only won once."

"It's the top-end of the rankings that are taking the hit," Jonah added. "If you give the Cannons credit for averaging one-in-six wins each season; then five teams already have one-fewer wins than normal – and that includes all of the top-eight teams that the Cannons have played so far. Al's told us that a successful Cannons' team would really shake up the league; and we're seeing that play out."

"It hasn't mattered so far whether the players on the other teams have bought into the nonsense from the reporters trying to tear down the Cannons," Cyndia offered, "but I'll guess that the players that get most-surprised are also the ones that get mad about those losses."

"It does suck when you can no longer substitute your own reality for the real one," Lily joked. "Speaking of that, and since I don't want to talk about that hit James just got away with on Cameron's Dad; what did you think about the episode of The Healer last night? I don't know nearly as much about Healing as Al does, but Lysandra manages to convince me every week that she actually is one – and can save the day with her magical medical brilliance."

"In about an hour," Jonah added with a nod and grin. "We do know that their stories are based on true cases; so that helps with making them believable – even when those 'real' cases usually didn't end so happily."

"The Healers in those cases probably weren't nearly as hot either," Hugo offered; and then grinned as Alyssa punched him. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, and the other girls can feel free to smack their boyfriends for thinking the same thing and keeping their mouths shut," she answered and suggested – and then there was a round of laughs as most of those girls did exactly that. "Do you think that Lysandra would ever agree to do shows based on some of the Healing that Al's done? She'd likely hate any of those scripts."

"Probably – for both parts of that," Lily agreed, "but I still love the suggestion that she get an Animagus-gone-wrong pet for the show; and then grinned. "Better yet – she could get an Animorphmagus-gone-wrong that now randomly changes into different animal forms while never being able to become human again."

That suggestion sent their chat off in a 'what-if' direction with lots of suggestions for that kind of storyline. Imagining coming home to an elephant in the flat one day and Merlin-only-knows-what the rest of the time was very entertaining; and helped out with making the rest of the day fun for them while the Quidditch action was so horrid. With the short Cannons' match, they'd still had lots of time to watch the Catapults through until dinnertime; so they did that; took turns going for swims; and then continued to watch the Halloween-worthy Quidditch horror. James did not earn any fans when he got away with another cheap shot foul that helped set Aaron up for a bludger hit and crash that knocked him out of the game and into his bed at St. Mungo's. Cameron had spent some quality time after that verbally bashing on James and wishing she could be there to pound on him in person.

Watching the match didn't get easier after the Wasps lost their Seeker because the Catapults' game play just got meaner and worse. James flew around taunting the Wasps and their fans while leaving it to his team mates to run up the score; which was why Lily, Jonah, and everyone else watching the match were still doing that for most of the evening. The Catapults kept bashing their way toward the inevitable blow-out win until shortly before the end of the eighth hour. When Scorpius earned the goal to give the Catapults the five-hundred to eighty lead; James seemed to arbitrarily decide to end the match; and caught the snitch just minutes later – with just a bit of time to spare before Lily and Jonah needed to pack up ahead of curfew. While game time was seven hours and fifty-eight minutes; the time-outs for injuries and other reasons had pushed the 'real' time past nine hours; so even the spectators were tired out and a bit relieved that it was over.

Lily still didn't look at the really rotten matches quite the same way that Al did, but by the time Jonah walked her 'home' ahead of his Prefect patrol; she was definitely moving away from the middle between her brothers and toward Al's side of the issue.

Her Harpies still had to play their first match against Al's team, though, so she reserved the right to change her opinion depending on whether her 'good' brother would deserve to get bashed for beating her team!

"This isn't New Year's Eve," James told Louis and Deanna as he swaggered toward them. "What was up with the midnight snogging? That isn't like the two of you right out here in public!"

"It's Louis' birthday," Deanna advised him; her voice cool and polite as she always was when speaking to him.

"Is it?" James asked. "Well, Happy Birthday, cousin. We got you a Quidditch win for your birthday. Do you like it?"

"I liked the midnight kiss from Deanna better," Louis joked and hedged to avoid a true answer. "I'm surprised that you even noticed us."

James shrugged. "You're usually at the center of the second-dullest area of the room – unless you're with Miya and Roman; so the change from the norm probably caught my eye."

"Well, that explains it," Louis agreed with a nod. "We'll try to avoid distracting you anymore from the real partying."

"I'd suggest that you join the party, but you never really do; so I've given up on you for that. Try to have a happy birthday anyway; and I'll have all of the kind of fun that you're too-boring to enjoy."

Louis and Deanna watched as he strode off again; and then they returned to focusing on each other.

"Let's not even talk about it," he suggested quietly. "At least he didn't make any lewd offers to you tonight."

"Yet," Deanna amended. "We haven't been here long. Give him time to get drunk first; and then he'll be sure to be making all sorts of offers that every Witch should find inappropriate." She sniffed disdainfully. "That sort of nonsense goes on at Ministry of Magic parties too, but at least those gits usually have enough sense to be quiet about their indiscretions."

"Are there any Ministry gits making inappropriate offers toward you that I should know about?" Louis teased; and Deanna smiled and shook her head.

"None that you need to worry about. I can take care of myself; and there are parts of my job that are as much of a challenge as in yours." She shook her head again. "It's your birthday now. Let's not talk about work or politics tonight. We could both use the break."

"We could," Louis agreed, "but what does it say about us that we aren't happy with our jobs even when we've had as much success as we could have ever hoped for when we first started talking about sharing our life together a few years ago?"

"That we should blast your cousin for being so happy," she suggested with a laugh that was slightly tinged with bitterness. "Teresa and Kylie were covering that match today instead of yours; and I'm jealous that she's so brilliantly happy too – with her work; her new home; and everything else."

"With the real problem there being that I'm wondering if I picked the wrong brother to follow into the show; and we're both wondering whether we're wrong about a lot of other things when the Animorphmagus-cousin-we-won't-name seems to be right about so many other things."

"I can't get those memories he gave us out of my head," Deanna half-whispered. "However he did that; I've never experienced anything in my life quite like it – and I have no idea how he can include everything he's feeling and sensing like that. I keep trying to deny it all, Louis, but I can feel the hatred that went into those killing curses that day – the hatred directed at so many of the people that we love." She sighed and smiled ruefully. "So much for not getting serious about anything for your birthday. Let's get fresh drinks and then go hang out with the other most-boring couples in the room. They're the Witches and Wizards I like best anyway."

Sunday was a partial work day for Al and Gwendolyn, but they were able to start out their day with a quiet breakfast – after a bit of shared bathroom fun; and then they spent some time getting some chores done around their townhouse and community before heading out for a late-morning interview; a VIP luncheon; and an afternoon visit to 's to surprise a little Cannons' fan – and the rest of the kids spending time in the children's ward. The hospital stop was toughest for Al because he wished that he could help all of the kids by simply healing them, but some magical or mundane maladies just couldn't be fixed with the wave of a wand; so he had to settle for helping out anyway he could – even if that was just putting smiles on those beautiful faces for an hour or two. A family dinner at Kirley and Gwenog's was followed by some play time in the atrium with some of their favorite kids and friends; they got the latest Hogwarts update from Lily and Jonah near their training curfew; and then they wrapped up their weekend with just a bit of quality play time for two before calling it a night and getting some sleep.

By Monday morning, Al needed to work harder than ever – to help his team mates with having fun while they worried about their first match against the Falcons. Their favorite former Slytherin haters led the way for the verbal assault against the Cannons that the reporters were happy to pass along to their viewers and readers – as well as badger the Cannons' players about in the hopes of getting 'good' quotes. That didn't work out for them, since Rose made sure that everyone played nice when talking about the Falcons, but it did still add stress to their lives that needed to be channeled productively.

That's why Al added in extra 'alternate' training every day. While swimming, hiking, and a cross-country fly helped; the most-popular training event of the week was on Thursday – a combination birthday play day for Angelina that George took the day off to do with her – and the Cannons. they came over for breakfast; the morning training included shopping in London and a gourmet lunch back at the cafe; and then they took an International Portkey to a warm, sunny beach at an undisclosed destination and enjoyed an afternoon of sun and surf before wrapping up their work day with a dinner and play night back at the atrium – until they had to wrap that up ahead of their training curfew.

There were other cameo moments of fun that weren't work-related during the week – like the group mirror chat on Wednesday morning so that the entire team could wish Alyssa a happy seventeenth birthday, but with Halloween fast approaching; their last day of the work week included some more-serious training; and then Rose wrapped up their week with a GO MagiSports meeting once they were done with their afternoon scrimmage and a short team meeting that had mostly been about passing along weekend schedules for the usual slate of interviews and team activities that they all had to deal with even on their 'off' weekends. The other business managers were there for the meeting, and while Harry and Gwendolyn didn't technically have any titles for one or more of those businesses; they were there for it with Ginny and Al – as Brandon and Seth were for Rose and Susannah.

"We're a bit overdue for a meeting with everyone," Rose began when everyone was seated with drinks and snacks as needed; "so thanks for coming; and we'll try to keep this as short as we can so that we can get started on our weekend." She smiled at Malorie. "Let's get a short overview of where we're at with the boring business stuff; and then go around and discuss any changes to our plans that we should make – or new ideas that we should look into doing next."

"We're near or above our high-end projections for everything," Malorie advised them with a grin. "Is that fast enough?"

"If that's it; I could get to love the business reports," Seth offered.

Rose laughed. "Actually, we can all read the latest reports for those details and move on," she decided; surprising some of them with that concession. "We've won every match so far, so it isn't a surprise that business is good. We should take advantage of these opportunities, though; so let's keep going with Malorie. She's getting inquiries for new partnerships; and then I'd like to hear about anything else you'd like to discuss from your respective businesses."

"The most-interesting new opportunities I've been getting are from a couple of other teams looking to GO MagiSports for everything from souvenirs and equipment to actually investing in their teams and helping to turn them around too."

"Can we even do that?" Gwendolyn asked. "The league has rules about team ownership even at the player and employee level. I wouldn't think that we could invest in other teams at all."

"We can't," Malorie agreed, "but we could provide management services; add their ticket sales to our TicketWizard business; and other services that could help other teams to be profitable."

"We'll need to take time and discuss that sort of thing with all of you – and get as much feedback as we can," Rose added. "Helping other teams does affect our team, but as Al's pointed out before; we will need the league to remain competitive; or we'll eventually lose fans and business."

"That's all true for our league," Al offered quietly, "but if we start offering those services to one or two teams here; word would get out; and there are professional leagues all over the world that we could work with – and maybe even other teams that we could invest in eventually too."

"You're scaring the rest of us again," Rose told him. "We're busy enough now without adding in managing and owning Quidditch teams all over the world!"

"I did say eventually," Al protested, "but does that mean that I should wait for the next meeting to talk to you about one of the new ideas that I do want to do sooner than later?"

Rose rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes, but now we're all curious; so go ahead and give it to us."

"I've been thinking about Hogsmeade," Al began; and then grinned when Gwendolyn punched him.

"I told you not to do that," she reminded him. "We are not going to buy the town and turn it into some Wizarding paradise."

"That isn't what I have in mind – though what I do want to do would help everyone in Hogsmeade too. There's a rundown, abandoned old farm between the train station and town across the road from the lake. It's about two hundred and fifty acres; with close to half of it more-suited to goats than farming."

"So you don't want us to go into farming – but maybe into raising goats?" Brandon joked.

"No – I'd like to build a combination camp for kids and a holiday community for GO MagiSports and the charity," he answered; and then laughed when everyone else stopped laughing at Brandon's joke. "We could have weekly camps for kids with some of them reserved for Susannah to use with her charity starting next summer and the rest for paying customers, including, eventually, our own kids; and then I'd build cottages that could be used for vacations and weekend getaways – including team retreats; and something for families that we help through the charity – though I'm also thinking about just having cottages exclusively reserved for Susannah to use."

"I love all of that," Susannah told him; and then laughed at something she sensed or saw in him. "You didn't say that farm was for sale or available," she stated and remembered. "Have you already bought it; and are now just going to convince us that we should do it?" Al laughed too; and Gwendolyn punched him again.

"You are so busted," Gwendolyn declared.

"And brilliant," Ginny added. "I love the idea too – though a Cannons' getaway somewhere on a tropical island might have been even better."

Al grinned at her. "I'll save that one up for next year," he only half-joked; since he had an eye on an island that was for sale too. He was just going to need a bit more time to save up for a while before trying to do that project too. He summoned the deed to the farm; and floated it across to Malorie. "I'll show you the rough plans I've made up so far later; and I want to hear any ideas you'd have to make it an amazing place for everyone that would use it, but if we don't want to do it through GO MagiSports; I'll set up another business and then just donate camp time and cabins to the charity myself. The camp would just be way better if we took the once-a-week day camp and made it better for the kids."

"Don't you think that we should talk about these things first?" Gwendolyn asked him; and Al grinned at her unapologetically while bringing something up on his mirror and then showing it to her. "What's this?" she asked; and then laughed and hugged and kissed him.

"I'm pretty sure she isn't mad at him," Seth teased.

"I'm not – and wasn't," Gwendolyn assured him. "Al just showed me his idea of what those cottages would look like. Think our homes here except Scottish-rustic – or just take a look for yourselves." She passed Al's mirror to her left so that they could do that. "Okay, that idea has my vote."

"Then I should likely just start setting up the new business for GO MagiSports," Malorie suggested. "What do you want to call it – GO Away?"

"I like Camp Cannonball," Susannah offered. "That name has caught on with the cafe."

"This meeting has completely gone off the rails," Rose declared; though she was smiling too; and enjoyed the enthusiasm that Al's idea had brought to the meeting. "Will anyone else even want to talk about their ideas after that one?"

That question was eventually answered, though they talked about Al's ideas for the camp for a while longer first; and then worked their way around the table. Lacey had some good ideas for her business – and working together with some of the other businesses to do more – particularly with the MirrorApp and Mirror Gaming businesses. Her ideas led to others, but then they talked about everything from new game and app ideas to having TicketWizard start selling Quidditch holidays and weekend getaways – and idea that Ruth offered after a Europe Cup Quidditch game was discussed to have ready for the summer competition. They ended up spending nearly an hour and a half in that meeting; which was why more than half of them opted to stay together and have a take-out pizza and wings dinner in the atrium instead of starting to cook a late meal.

Al and Gwendolyn weren't finished with their work for the day because their weekend schedule included an appearance on Lee's nightly show, so after having that bit of food fun; they took time to get ready for that appearance; and then headed for the mirror network studio. As always, there was a lot of waiting around until it was their turn to be on the show; they had fun with Lee's Halloween-scary interview; and then they headed home and off to bed because they had a very busy Saturday booked with Hogwarts Quidditch in the morning and the Harpies' match against the Bats in the afternoon.

"The Cannons' practice pitch was rundown," Gwendolyn told Al as they walked onto 'their' new farm. "This place has likely been condemned!"

"Which is why it was such a bargain," Al pointed out. "Be careful," he added; directing that warning at Jaimie and Lorie as they went exploring. "Stay away from the buildings or any of the junk you see lying around."

"Okay," they chorused while more-interested in their little side-adventure ahead of the Quidditch matches.

"We loved being at Hogwarts," Al said quietly as he walked next to Gwendolyn and just ahead of his parents. "This could be an amazing place for kids – and families."

"How did you get here from talking about having nicer Inns and rooms to rent in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked; and Al shrugged.

"I've thought about a camp for kids for a long time – including when we could have gone to one too. We also talked about Hogwarts Quidditch weekends, and how the stores in town don't get much business outside of Hogsmeade weekends; so this camp would help all of the businesses in town – and provide some jobs for the locals too."

"Including cleaning this place up?" Ginny asked; and Al shook his head.

"No – I'll likely just do that myself. We'll need someone to run the place when it's ready; teens can be hired to be camp counsellors; and we'll work out what to do for everything from food to taking care of the place properly."

"I'm having a tough time picturing what you obviously see," Ginny admitted, "but I still love the idea. This could even be a fun place to go for a winter holiday. I love winters here too – except for when we were here for too-much of each winter."

"There's an area heading up that hill that would work great for sledding or even snowboarding," Al advised her. "I'll need to do some work so that the mountain side of the property isn't a mini-avalanche hazard, but that isn't a big deal."

Ginny laughed. "Sure, because remodeling a mountain isn't even a challenge for you compared to what we've collectively done with the Cannons so far."

"We need to get going," Harry advised them. "The gates will be opening soon."

It took a few minutes to get Jaimie and Lorie to go because they wanted to keep exploring; which was why the gates were already open when they arrived; and Lily and Jonah were waiting for them.

"You're late," Lily told them. "What took you so long?"

"We stopped to see Camp Cannonball," Jaimie advised her happily. "Aunt Gwendolyn said it should be con-dumbed – that's a funny word; but we love it!"

"Condemned," Lily corrected while being hugged by her niece. "What is she talking about?" she asked.

"Al's newest project for GO MagiSports," Gwendolyn answered. "He's bought an abandoned farm that's about half-way between the train station and Hogsmeade; and we're apparently going to turn it into a combination kids' camp and a sort of family resort for holidays and weekend getaways that'll mostly be for GO MagiSports and charity kids and families."

"Will there be a magical amusement park too?" Lily asked hopefully as she moved on to hug Lorie next after switching twins with Jonah.

"No," Al answered; "though I am looking at some activities based on the Muggle adventure parks we've been to before. That's more for the kids' camp and activities that would help with Quidditch training."

"That's disappointing," Lily told him. "If you don't get around to building that magical amusement park for me; I might have to actually think about doing it myself someday – once I've won a few dozen league championships and Quidditch World Cups."

"That must be combined," Ginny teased. "You'd need to play for a very long time to earn a few dozen Quidditch World Cups. There haven't even been all that many players to win two of them."

"I suppose that I can include all Quidditch championships – including the ones from Hogwarts," Lily decided. "I still have a long way to go for dozens of them, though; so I'd much rather have Al build that amusement park so that I can enjoy it while I'm still young."

"Me too!" Jaimie told them.

"Me three!" Lorie added with a giggle.

"Why do I foresee a magical amusement park project in Al's future?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"Because you're better at Divination than your Hogwarts records ever showed?" Ginny joked; she smiled encouragingly at a pair of kids that were approaching their group a bit tentatively while their parents waited for them a half-dozen paces away. "Hello. Are you coming over in search of autographs?"

That's exactly what the kids wanted – from all four of the Cannons' players in their group; Al and Harry provided a souvenir gift for each of them; and then they all headed toward the stadium. They split up so that at least three of them could have quick visits with the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw junior teams; and then they had some fun with working out how they were going to split up again so that they could support their respective Houses. Lily and Jonah needed to be with their own senior teams, so they ended up sharing the twins; Harry, Ginny, and Jaimie went with Lily; and Al, Gwendolyn, and Lorie went with Jonah. Cousins had saved seats for them; and they only had a few minutes to wait before Rachel Cresswell began her pre-game show.

The season-so-far recap was short; the team introductions took a bit longer; and then Mr. Peakes soon got the match started with a quick quaffle toss once the players were set and ready to go. Both teams had a glut of good Chasers, but Al had expected the two teams to be evenly matched with Elle Kirke having an advantage at Keeper over Corey Rivers if for no other reason than because he wanted to be a Chaser; and Al expected that to be off-set by a Chaser advantage for Ravenclaw with Lorcan and Lysander. That didn't prove out, though, because Elle stopped everything Ravenclaw threw at her. As they watched the game; Al sensed why that was happening – and it was almost entirely because of the players that weren't getting to do the jobs they wanted-most.

For the would-be Chasers, that started with Corey. He really did have talent for being a Keeper, but unless he put his heart into the effort; Al suspected that he wouldn't be as good as he could be. That was true for Chasers turned Beaters or Seeker on both teams; so the one exception that was a positive for her team was Caylee at Chaser for Gryffindor. She wasn't any happier about her job on the team, but unlike the other players in that little group; she really helped her team a lot; and worked well with Caroline and Chase.

Add in the talent difference between Cameron Lynch and Lauren Madley at Seeker; and it ended up being a tough morning for Ravenclaw players and fans. It took Cameron two hours and thirty-four minutes to best Lauren in their Seeker duel, but that had mostly been because Ravenclaw's Beaters spent a lot of time helping their Seeker while allowing the rest of their team to go head-to-head with their Chaser and Keeper rivals. That didn't work out either, since Elle earned a shut-out; and the two-fifty to naught score was great for Gryffindor and tough for Ravenclaw – especially when that left them in last place behind Slytherin after the one-loss-each points tie-break.

Al and Gwendolyn were glad that they got to watch the entire match, but by the end; they didn't have much time left before they needed to get to London and their gameday luncheon. During the match, they'd traded twins once; spent an extra half-hour with Lily and some of their cousins and friends; and then they hurried through to post-game fun on the pitch before heading for the gates with a small gang of teens wanting to see them off before heading into the castle for lunch. That blast of fun at the gates didn't take long either; and then there were six in the group apparating to London – with Harry and Al taking a twin each for that trip. More than half of their game-watching group was already at the Leaky by the time they arrived; so that next round of greetings was only slightly-longer before they sat down to have lunch with Malorie and Patrick.

"We've already heard that Gryffindor won, but that's hard to tell from looking at the two of you," Malorie told Al and Gwendolyn. "Shouldn't one of you be disappointed?"

"I am," Gwendolyn assured her, "but we had a lot of fun; and our expectations in Ravenclaw were low – especially once Elle showed up with a brilliant Keeper performance. Lorcan and Lysander are likely still two of the best junior team Chasers at Hogwarts; but they couldn't best her even once today."

"She wasn't happy about losing to Slytherin last year," Al reminded her. "I'd say that whatever she's been doing for her training since then is paying off."

"Maybe she's just emulating Rose," Patrick suggested. "She's had some shut-outs against at least a handful of pretty good Chasers too."

"She has," Al agreed. "We didn't ask Elle about that, but then she had her own Quidditch heroes - including from her own family."

"If there was anything that was a surprise this morning, it was how well Caylee played at Chaser with Caroline and Chase," Gwendolyn offered. "She reminded me of Stephanie; though I'm sure that Caylee would hate that comparison. She wants to be a Seeker as much as Lily does; so I doubt she'll make that switch – and just try harder to get her Seeker job back next season."

"Which is going to be tough for her – and for Cameron," Ginny suggested. "Riley can relate to that kind of battle; and he has the added problem of an overload of Chaser talent on the senior team; so he hasn't had other options beyond playing on the reserve team."

"Well, he hasn't bested Lily in tryouts yet, but that'd be an even bigger shock if he did that next year," Harry suggested.

"Not to mention dangerous," Gwendolyn added with a laugh. "Lily has always claimed to be somewhere between Al and James; so winning the Seeker job over her might prove to be very unhealthy for Riley."

"It's so hard to study while a Bat-Bogey in an Acromatula's nose," Al joked. "How was your kid-free morning, Malorie? Did you just work all the time; or have a bit of fun too?"

"We only had a little fun – once I was done with the work around the townhouse," she answered. "The shopping in Diagon Alley was partly a chore too, but we had fun anyway."

"Shopping?" Jaimie asked; looking hopeful after being diverted from the table-play time with Lorie by that 'magic' word. "Did you get us anything?"

"Yes, but only food and treats for at home," Malorie answered. "You'll already get enough this afternoon at the Harpies' match – not to mention next week on Halloween."

"You're also staying with Uncle Al and me tonight so that your Mum can go out to the Ministry Halloween dance tonight," Gwendolyn reminded them. "Maybe we'll do some Halloween crafts tonight – if we're not watching the Harpies match all day and night instead."

That reminder distracted the girls; they were soon enjoying their meal; and then they headed over to the stadium with their group of Harpies' fans – all of them happy to get another opportunity to watch their favorite team live – something that was not going to work out for them all that often as they headed further into the season.

"We're Gryffindor free – at least for the start of the game-watching while they're partying," Corey said as he sat on a sofa next to Katrina and Jonah; "so would you like to explain to the junior team players in the room how we managed to not only lose this morning; but not even score a point while I got my broomtail handed to me in goals?"

"Can you handle the truth?" Meg asked him; and Corey frowned at her.

"Maybe not when you say it like that," he answered. "Am I going to regret asking the question?"

"Probably," Meg agreed easily, "but you're my brother, and I love you; so I can answer the Keeper part of your question. You're not really even trying your best in goals, Corey. I get that you want to be a Chaser, but you aren't one this season; so stop trying to think like one while playing Keeper. You've also picked up some bad habits that the Gryffindor Chasers took advantage of to beat you; and you didn't try as hard against the Witches while doing a bit better against Chase – even though he's pretty good too."

"So you're saying it's all my fault," Corey decided; sounding disappointed.

"No – she's telling you about the problems you contributed to the loss," Ryan told his little brother. "Gryffindor had a good game plan for our Chasers too, so they messed up your defense and offense. That gave them better chances on your goals; and made Elle's job easier by keeping Lorcan and Lysander from working together as well as they normally do. We knew that we had a disadvantage at Seeker; and were hoping that you could get the one-sixty lead. That didn't work out; so try to learn from it; and move on to get ready for the next match. Meg's right that you need to commit to being Keeper, little bro, or you will keep having trouble. I've had some really bad matches too; so don't let it get you down."

"I don't know how you do that," Corey told him. "I finally get to play in a school match; and we lose two-fifty to naught."

"If you think that's bad; imagine how the players on those teams that got beat by the Cannons without scoring a goal feel," Jonah joked. "You only gave up one more goal than Belinda did for United in the match they lost to the Cannons; so I'd say you're in pretty good company for Keepers that just had a bad day going up against a hot Keeper on the other team."

"Do you think that Elle's hot?" Meg asked Corey meaningfully.

"Cut it out," Corey warned. "In case you haven't noticed; I'm not very happy right now; so blasting you for razzing me is a danger."

"For you if you'd actually try," Meg warned in return. "Jonah has a good point. That doesn't change the fact that you do need to work on your game if you want to do better against the other teams, but even the best players have bad days and lose matches."

"I wish that any of your comments were helping me – but they're not," Corey decided with a sigh. "Maybe I should just sit here, watch the match, and wallow in self—pity."

"If it works for you," Katrina teased. "The Bats aren't getting off to a good start; so maybe you'd have had better luck if you'd been playing against them today."

The Bats didn't have a good day against the Harpies, but they did try their best; and it took Gabrielle nearly six hours to win the Seeker duel – an hour or so after Victoire led the Harpies to the one-sixty lead. They only added a couple of goals to that lead through to the end, but the three-eighty to sixty score was still a statement on just how much better the Harpies played. The longer match meant that some of the spectators didn't stay until the end; since the Ministry Halloween party was a big event at the Magick Hall, but Al and Gwendolyn stayed with the twins; and then they went out for a late fast food dinner before taking them home. After a long, busy day without naps; it was easy to get them off to sleep after just a bit of play time and a story and song; and then Al and Gwendolyn went to bed too – knowing that they'd be up early with the girls again; and they had another busy work and play day ahead of them on Sunday.

A countdown clock seemed to be going off for Al by Sunday morning, with the zero-hour being the start of their match against the Falcons on Halloween night. He wasn't really worried about the problems they were sure to have during that game, since what he sensed for their near-future was mostly good, but as with other times; there were parts of that overall good that felt a bit off; so he decided to be carefully-optimistic as they worked and played from Sunday morning through to Thursday afternoon. Starting that countdown and adventure with the twins was entertaining; and the interviews were a bit darker thanks to reporters hoping for the worst for them on Halloween because they were, obviously, too-nice to have a chance against the Falcons. The afternoon kids' party was Halloween-themed and a lot of fun; and then they wrapped up the weekend with a quiet family dinner and evening with their parents.

Halloween fun continued during the work week, and Al used the holiday to help out with the training. That included 'scary' games; a scrimmage with a golden bat instead of a snitch; holiday-themed food; and play time with their favorite junior ghouls and goblins. On Wednesday, they celebrated Molly's seventy-fourth birthday with breakfast at the cafe; a 'training' visit to the salon for the Witches that Molly was taken along for; and then a family and friends dinner out at the Leaky after an afternoon of 'real' training for the team. Al and Gwendolyn went with Harry and Ginny to the cemetery in Godric's Hollow on Thursday morning because Al wanted to go along at least for the first time that he could in seven years, but this wasn't one of those 'special' anniversary years; there was only a little sadness; and they made a few good, if not entirely happy, memories together while quietly honoring parents and grandparents that they'd never been allowed to know; yet were remembered with love.

With a game to play in the evening, they only had a light workout in the morning; a small Halloween party for kids that included treats and gifts for their favorite day camp kids and the other younger guests; a last planning meeting after lunch; and then Al and Gwendolyn actually took a little break that included cuddle time with the twins while getting them to have a Halloween afternoon nap. When it was time for the team to head for Exmoor stadium by late-afternoon, most of the work around GO MagiSports came to an end too. For some, that was because they were going to the match; while others – including Malorie and the twins – would be busy celebrating Halloween at parties or with other activities. Al would have loved to go out and play with Jaimie and Lorie, but that wasn't an option, so he got focused on the job at hand; led the team warm-up at the stadium; enjoyed the snack-dinner that they always kept light ahead of a match; and then they got into their gear and eventually headed for 'their' player entrance into the stadium.

"Do you have any last words of wisdom?" Brandon asked Rose once they were lined up and ready for take-off.

"Yeah – don't get hurt," she told him; her smile grim and serious. "The Falcons might not want to know what I might do to them after the game if they really hurt any of you."

"We're going to play nice," Al reminded her. "Your rules."

Rose laughed. "Maybe, but I'm the Manager, and have the right to change the rules if I see fit."

That assertion earned some laughs, but while Al and Harry led the effort to lighten the mood; they only had limited success; and then they were called out into the stadium. The jeers from the Falcons' fans far-outweighed the cheers from their own fans, but that was likely all due to enthusiasm; since TicketWizard had sold out of their allotment; and there were just a lot of neutral spectators. Rose and Harry led the way for their lap of the stadium; the referee got into his fair-play speech right away when none of the Falcons even tried to do more than sneer and taunt their opponents; and then they spread out to line up for the quaffle toss after the good-luck handshake was a failed attempt to crush Rose's hand – a fact that just angered the Falcons' Captain. Al lined up with Blaise Zabini at center pitch; and smiled at his rival for the night.

"Good..." he began to say; and then the alarms went off in his head. "Rose, Gwendolyn – look out!" he whispered urgently into his magical earbuds; but it was already too-late. He was already rushing toward Gwendolyn as two loud cracks echoed around the stadium. She was dropping to the ground at the feet of Davis Zabini and Theo Nott. Both boys were grinning viciously and laughing raucously – even after Al knocked both of them away from his wife and knelt next to her.

"We were just wishing her luck," Theo declared. "I guess that she couldn't handle being so close to a couple of real Wizards and fainted dead away!"

"Yeah – I hope that she didn't hit her head too-hard when she hit the ground," Davis added insincerely. "We should step back – I think that the Animorphpotty is about to cry; and we dont' want to get our boots wet!"

"Are you okay, Rose?" Al whispered while putting his hands on Gwendolyn's forehead and shoulder and letting his magic flare out and into her in a silently-roaring torrent.

"Yes," she answered. "I took Gregor's Beater bat on the shoulder instead of the head. Your Dad's with me; and we're playing it up a bit. How's Gwendolyn?"

"She'll be fine – in a minute," Al answered – and then made that happen.

Everyone in the stadium knew that there had been broken bones when there were more loud cracks as he put everything he had into healing Gwendolyn; and he used all of the anger he was feeling to fuel that effort. That's why it was done fast; Gwendolyn was even better than before when he was done; and he was still at full-power and then some as he smiled and welcomed her back to consciousness with a warm hug and kiss.

"You dirty rotten cheat!" Theo bellowed as Al helped Gwendolyn to her feet. He stepped up to Al menacingly; and tried to poke him in the chest with his Beater bat. Al grabbed it and both the bat and Theo stopped abruptly. "You used magic on her! We demand a forfeit!"

Al laughed and pushed him back a step before letting go of the bat. "The match hasn't started," he pointed out; his smile infuriating Theo even more than the words. "That was a brilliant opening move for your game plan, and a pretty good job of bashing Gwendolyn's head in with that sneak attack from behind, but I absolutely can use magic before and after a match – or during timeouts; for that matter. Good on you! Should we get the match started now? I can hardly wait to find out what you have for us next!"

"Then get ready for the pain," Theo declared ominously; and then he sneered at Gwendolyn. "By the time we're done with you; you'll wish that you'd just gotten your head bashed in!" His sneer darkened when she just laughed.

"Good luck with that, but you just did one of the few things that really gets Al mad; so I predict that we're going to have a lot of fun tonight!"

"She really is okay," Ginny assured Gwenog; and she was smiling as she switched back to looking at her mirror again. "It's too bad that you have a training day curfew because those gits are going to find out that it's a very bad idea to get Al and Harry mad at them."

"I'm mad too, and I hate that," Gwenog assured her, "but now that Gwendolyn's okay; I can appreciate the game plan. I'll guess that the referee didn't even see those attacks, so if they'd succeeded in knocking Gwendolyn out of the match; the Cannons would have needed to forfeit for not having seven players."

"That might have been true if they'd gotten Rose too," Ginny agreed, "but I could have stepped in for one of them if needed; since the match hadn't started." She laughed. "Right now; I half-wish that I could stand in for Gwendolyn. It isn't fair that they're going to get to have all of the fun tonight!"

"Getting your head bashed in is never fun," Gwenog challenged, "but I know what you mean – and will watch as much of this as I can before bedtime."

"Now, where were we?" Al asked cheerfully as he lined up next to Blaise again. "Right – good luck – and Happy Halloween!"

"Quit grinning like an idiot," Blaise told him coldly. "We're going to put every single one of you into your beds at St. Mungo's by the time we're done with you – or worse."

"Well, have fun trying!" Al answered cheerfully, "but I'm just going to try and have some scary-good fun instead!"

"What is going on at Exmoor?" Lily exclaimed as she tuned into the match on her portable while walking with Jonah and their usual game-watching gang toward their study classroom. "The Cannons are up one-forty to naught; and it isn't quite the end of the first hour!"

"We've all been in the Great Hall with you," Jonah reminded her – "and we weren't allowed to use our mirrors during the drama club's Halloween Spooktacular. Let me get the match on my mirror; and you can call your Mum and ask."

"Good idea," she agreed; and did that without waiting for him. Ginny answered on the first chime.

"I expected to hear from you sooner," Ginny told her. "Are you having fun watching this?"

"The drama club surprised us with a show after dinner; and we weren't allowed to use our mirrors while they were putting on their little mini-musical," Lily advised her. "What is going on there?"

Ginny laughed. "You can likely find replays of it, but before the match started, the Nott brothers tried to knock Gwendolyn and Rose out of the match. Gregor missed and didn't really hurt rose, but Theo managed to bash Gwendolyn's head in very successfully. That was a great plan – except they forgot that the match hadn't started; so your brother just healed Gwendolyn; and now I'm fairly sure that he's taking the rest of that mad out on the Falcons – in a really brilliant and hilarious way."

"What does that mean?" Lily asked while still trying to process the rest of that news; and Ginny laughed again.

"Al's being super-nice!" she explained. "he's likely taken twenty hits or more so far; and thanks the Falcons' players; congratulates them for their efforts; and I even heard him offering advice once on how to hit him a bit harder next time! While he's doing that, he's tearing up the stadium with his game play – and Gwendolyn and Ray are going along for the ride. Al's scored six of those goals; has four assists; and five steals or interceptions."

"Merlin!" Lily exclaimed; and she was laughing by then too. "That show was great, but now I'm a bit mad that we've missed all of that while we were busy!"

"You have missed a lot of fun," Ginny agreed, "but I expect that we're all in for a very entertaining rest of the night. Al's putting on the real show right now, but your father is mad too – and following Al's lead with all of that happy, cheerful fun in his duel against Brand. I have a feeling that they're just going to keep having this kind of fun until they get past the mad – and that could take a while."

"Well, we want to get to our classroom to watch that, so I'll let you go," Lily decided. "I love you. Have fun – and Happy Halloween!"

"It is turning out to be one," Ginny agreed. "I love all of you too. Have a good night – and try to get a bit of sleep tonight; since you do still have classes tomorrow."

Lily ended the call after another couple of comments; they got to their classroom; and got set up for the game-watching in record time.

"There's the one-sixty lead," Lily declared happily as Gwendolyn earned that goal – and Al made sure that she got the honor in partial payback for the pre-game nastiness that she'd taken the brunt of for the team. "Do you think that Dad is going to back off on catching the snitch?"

"The better question might be whether Brand would be allowed to concede defeat against the Cannons and make the catch for the loss," Jonah countered; and Lily laughed.

"Yeah, that's a tough one," she agreed. "Their fans might riot if he did." She laughed again when they watched Al take a hit; laugh; and offer a high-five to Gregor Nott along with what seemed to be another cheerful compliment. "I'll guess that all of that nice is driving the Falcons' players insane," she suggested. "We'll have to ask if that was part of the original game plan or if Al – and Dad – are doing that now just to do their very-best worst to the Falcons."

"I'll guess that this is a change," Hugo offered. "It's brilliant, but if not for those attacks on Rose and Gwendolyn; I doubt that they'd try to run it up on any team – not even the Falcons."

"They wouldn't," Jonah agreed, "but in this case; I really agree that they need to make a statement here. If that attack had worked before the match – especially when the Cannons only have an official reserve squad of one; then they'd have been short two – or one – players and had to forfeit. Sure, Al healed Gwendolyn, but the Cannons need to send a message to the other teams that trying that kind of attack is a really, really bad idea."

"I am so glad that we're not at the stadium tonight," Malorie told Patrick as they cuddled on a sofa in her townhoouse. It was a bit past-ten; they'd finally managed to get Jaimie and Lorie off to sleep after a too-much-fun day; and they were both worn out from the effort – and having a lot of that fun with them. "We didn't want the girls there to watch the Falcons pound on our team, but while they're obviously having fun; I think that the twins would just be confused if they were watching it too."

"Judging from what little we've actually seen so far; I'd say that the Falcons – and every other team in the league – are finding out that it's a bad idea to motivate the Cannons to play their very best," Patrick offered quietly. "Maybe when we see replays of that attack on Gwendolyn we'll feel differently." He smiled when Malorie laughed.

"I'm mad about that without seeing it; and my comment was more about the parental side of trying to explain things like this to little kids. I already have enough trouble with that for most Catapults' matches."

"I think that telling them that James is like an actor and only playing a bad guy is brilliant," Patrick told her seriously. "That could work for this match too – with Al playing a good guy having fun teaching a bunch of bad guys a lesson."

"That might work – or I'll just hope that they don't hear about the worst of this match." She sighed and lened her head against Patrick's shoulder. "There's no doubt that our team is going to win tonight; so I'd just like to go to bed soon. Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Halloween's over," Susannah told Ginny quietly. "Do you think that they'll decide to put an end to this soon?"

"The Falcons or Cannons?" Ginny asked with a grin; and Susannah laughed.

"The good guys," she answered. "I'm still mad too, and I've had more fun than I should while watching our team play so brilliantly, but isn't this enough? We're only just-past four and a half hours, not including time-outs; and up by more than six-hundred – to naught! I'm fairly-sure that they've proved their point."

"Actually, they haven't," Ginny disagreed seriously with a nod toward where Al was taking yet another double-hit from Blaise and Gregor – and then she laughed as Al did a spinning flip; offered more congratulations; and then took a pass from Ray and blasted off toward the Falcons' goals. "The Falcons are still playing their worst – and hard. It could easily be hours more before they get this message."

She cheered when Al scored another goal after trading passes with Gwendolyn; laughed when they met for a mid-air hug and kiss; and then watched in amazement as they suddenly went into a joint spin; the bludger that theo had bashed at them was deflected; and then it hit Rupert Avery because he'd gone after Al instead of the quaffle. The laughter was back again when Al came out of the spin; let go of Gwendolyn; and helped Rupert to stay on his broom when the hit had nearly knocked him off.

"Are you okay?" Al asked solicitously. "I'd be happy to heal you if there's need and you'd like to call an injury time-out."

"Get away from me, freak!" Rupert spat; trying to punch Al in the face; and then needing to grab his broom to keep from losing control again. He also winced in pain, but Al pretended not to notice.

"Well, I guess we're good to go," he decided. "You didn't even break your sense of humor! Good try on that last play. I'd help you out with a suggestion for defending that move better, but my Manager and Captain think that's a bit too-much good sportsmanship – and I've got to get back on defense again. See you soon!"

"I should've tried to get myself hauled into the Heads' office," Lily decided as she continued watching the match in the Gryffindor common room with the rest of the teens and tweens too-dedicated to go to bed. "We are so going to regret staying up this late!"

"You can at least have naps tomorrow," Melissa reminded her. "Some of us really should go and have a nap now while we still can. Our Professors will not take it easy on us now that Halloween's over. We're going to get dumped on for our weekend revision."

"No doubt," Lily agreed. "What's the score now? My eyes are too-blurry to see the numbers."

"one-thousand and twenty to naught," Melissa answered. "Let's go up to bed; pretend to keep watching it on our portable mirrors; and fall asleep."

"Look at all of those pretender fans," Ron told Ginny. "They're leaving the stadium just because it's getting a bit late!"

Ginny laughed quietly because she didn't want to wake Hermione. "Most of them likely have to work in the morning," she reminded him, but look at the bright side – Falcons fans are too-tough to go home before the end of the match; so they'll be here to the bitter end."

"Can it be bitter when our team is having so much fun?" Ron asked with a grin. "I'm certainly very happy."

"So am I," Ginny assured him. "Al's already done two rounds of Healing – plus that major Healing at the start; so he will run out of steam eventually. He's already lasted longer than I expected."

"He looks as though he could play for another day," Ron suggested. "If anything, I'd say that they're getting better."

"Only compared to the Falcons," Ginny disagreed. She stopped and they watched as both Nott brothers tried to sandwich Al with some help from Blaise. There was a roar of approval from the Falcons fans; and then a collective groan when Al both took the hits and escaped the trap unscathed.

"What happened?" Hermione asked sleepily – only half-waking.

"Just another disappointment for the Falcons' fans," Ginny answered. "Go back to sleep."

"The sun's coming up," Harry told Al through their magical earbuds. "How do you feel about wrapping this up and calling it a night – or morning?"

Al laughed. "Fifteen-hundred is a nice round number," he answered. "Gwendolyn and I will have some fun getting the twenty points that'll get us to thirteen-fifty; and then I'd love to see you put on a bit of a show too."

"Sounds good – though don't do that and blow Rose's shut-out right here at the end."

"Or else," Rose added; since that little chat had gone out to all of them. "If I'm too-tired later to remember – I love all of you. Thanks for making this a remember-forever kind of match for us!"

"You're welcome," Al assured her. "Would you like one of those last two goals, Ray?"

"Yes, but it's more-fitting that you and Gwendolyn do it; so I'll just help out."

They did that; Al scored the first goal less than a minute later; intercepted a pass between Davis and Blaise; and then set up a seriously-in-your-face and brillaint goal for Gwendolyn that messed Rupert up so thoroughly that she could've scored it in any of the goals because he ended up on the other side of her from the goals he was trying to defend. by then, Harry was tracking the snitch; left Brand going the wrong way too; and then really did put on a spectacular play to catch the snitch after spinning away from Gregor Nott's attempt to bash into him. He came out of that wild move; and then went inverted to make the grab to seal the victory. Add in a last minute brake to a stop just feet above the heads of the lucky fans that got to have the close-up view of the catch; and the entire sequence was a heart-pounding, thrilling end to ten and a half hours of amazing Quidditch – or about twelve hours including the time-outs.

"Great game!" Al told Blaise cheerfully as the whistle blew and they knew the match was over because the stadium announcer was croaking out the news of the snitch catch. He laughed when Blaise offered a rather crude invitation to do something anatomically-impossible – at least in human form.

"Thanks for the suggestion; but I'll pass," Al told him. "Good luck in your matches between now and when we play again in the second-half of the season!"

"Except for in the matches with all of the teams we have friends on," Gwendolyn added. "Come on, Al. I've really had enough fun for tonight. Let's land; get the post-game work out of the way; and then you can take me for breakfast before we get started on our first training day of November."

"You're going to..." Blaise blurted out; and then clamped his mouth shut; flew away from them; and went to land next to the Falcons' team mates that had already reached the ground.

"You do know that we'll actually have to go to work now," Al pointed out; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"That seemed like a good idea at the time – and still does; since we can make all the time we need to rest if needed."

"Tell that to the rest of our team," Al suggested; and Gwendolyn laughed again.

"You can help them out with another round of healing – and it'll drive the Falcons' bonkers."

"As if they're not there now," Al added; though he loved the idea too. "Let's do it!"

"Why are you watching that nonsense?" James asked angrily as he walked into the locker room at the Catapults' practice pitch. "The only part of that match that was worth watching happened before the quaffle toss – and Tiberius and Brock should've thought about bashing some heads in when we had the chance!"

"That's still the post-game show," Louis advised him; smiling at James' reaction to that news flash. "Didn't you even check the scores or news this morning?"

James smirked at him. "I was too busy to care. Don't tell me that I actually missed anything good."

"Only if you consider a fifteen-hundred to naught drubbing of the Falcons good – instead of brilliant," Miya offered with a smirk. "You'll hate that, but I enjoyed the parts that I watched – especially when your brother, father, and sister-in-law were all so supportive of the Falcons. They complimented them for good hits and fouls; trying their best to save or score goals; and there was one little montage that was on the news earlier of Al offering the Falcons advice on more-effective hits and play-making."

James snorted. "You're just messing with me now," he decided.

"Actually, she isn't," Tiberius advised him. "You may think that a pre-game head bashing is a good idea, but I'd say that the Falcons were colossally-stupid to try; and that was surely the happiest revenge match in the history of the game."

"Which is why some of us are glad that it wasn't us," Brock added. "Our loss was bad-enough. That one will go into the history books."

"I'm so glad that you're all impressed with the clown brigade," James told them. "Here's a suggestion – go out there on Saturday and play better in our match! I'll be happy to keep the match going for as long as you can keep playing."

"Can you heal the rest of us every few hours too?" Miya asked him. "that's how the Cannons kept going all night at full speed."

"Heal yourself!" James retorted. "If you can't do the job – quit!"

"Hang on," Brock told him. "Did anyone hear that last comment from that reporter?"

"Yes," Louis answered. "He said that they'll be back in an hour live from the Cannons' practice pitch to see if they're actually going to still have a full training day."

"They're going to train all day too – after playing like that all night?" Tiberius exclaimed; and then laughed. "Of course they are! Just in case the Falcons aren't exhausted-enough; now they'll either need to train all day too or look weak."

"They already looked weak – in the first five minutes of that match," James retorted. "That's why I turned it off after that and found something better to do – for the rest of the night!"

"Did you score one-hundred and thirty-five times too?" Brock joked; and James snorted.

"Maybe – I wasn't counting."

The humor devolved from there – at least with Tiberius, Brock, and James; the rest of their team got to work on time; and then their King and his Beater-Knights eventually decided to join in on the workout already in progress by then and pretended to get to work. James ran circles around his reserve Seeker because he could; and he'd also convinced the owners that they didn't need to waste money on anyone with talent because he was never going to miss a match. The rest of their reserve squad was just as useless, but they gave the McClaggens seven players to pound bludgers at and practice their plays against, so while that was usually painful for those Wizards; it at least justified wasting the money on them instead of adding it to his own pay instead!

James was angry about the Cannons' victory and the non-stop talk about it – especially when the reporters started pestering him, but that just motivated him; and he was going to make sure that everyone forgot all about that match by the time he was done with the Wanderers on Saturday!

Al and Gwendolyn fit in their time-stopped nap between getting home and going for breakfast in the cafe. He saved her from getting into trouble with their Manager and team mates when he went around and healed everyone – including some friends that had stayed up late – or all night – to watch the entire game. Their morning meal was then very entertaining; they had fun with morning show interviews; and then they got to work – starting with a full warm-up and physical workout that left all of the spectators looking amazed or angry. The work-play included fun with the kids; swimming in the lagoon; and an amazing scrimmage. There were cameo bits of fun – including Lily and Jonah's mirror chat at lunchtime; a visit from Molly and Aunt Muriel that was loud and brilliant; and then Al and Gwendolyn wrapped up their day with another Friday evening interview on Lee's show that was hilarious as Lee made fun of Al by constantly complimenting him and offering advice on how to do better interviews.

By the time they went to bed for what everyone else thought was for the first time in two days, they were ready to leave Halloween and that Quidditch match in the past; and move on to what would hopefully be an amazing November!