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!

90. Perfect Cannons Christmas - Part Two

Chapter Ninety – Perfect Cannons Christmas – Part Two

While Al and Gwendolyn – and all of their team mates – were in a great mood as they got back to work on Thursday and Friday; the extra day off just seemed to leave their favorite reporter-haters with a need to redouble their efforts to come up with all-new and more-insulting commentary or opinion about their team. That wasn't surprising, but Al did still feel a bit disappointed that not even the extra joy and love surrounding the Christmas holiday helped to lessen the hate and deep-seated need to tear others down – regardless of the reasons behind those efforts.

Those ongoing attempts to either find any fault or goad them into saying anything that could be used against them was really just a small downside to otherwise amazing work and play adventures, but it was still something that Al thought about a lot as they got ready for their only Quidditch match of the holidays against the Tornados. Along the same lines, there was no lack of quotes from most of the Tornados' players, but while he didn't comment on any of that gamesmanship either; Al couldn't help but be amused by some of the predictions and taunts – particularly from the Harper brothers; since their version of reality was nearly as creative as anything James ever came up with – at least when it came to revising history.

Their jobs occupied a lot of their time, but Al and Gwendolyn continued to enjoy everything they did – even the drama parts that were totally pointless distractions. They didn't get to share their training fun with Lily while she was busy with the Harpies, but they helped out with her Gryffindor team practice on Thursday evening; and they spent as much of Friday evening together as they could until needing to head to bed for their game night curfew. They missed out on the Saturday morning fun – at least for the friends and family entertainment that went on between breakfast and game time while they were busy with the team, but their work was fun too – if not in a post-Christmas shopping sort of way. Whether they played or worked, though, everyone that was going to Bodmin stadium for the Cannons-Tornados' match was hoping for a brilliant Quidditch adventure to be the best part of their day – something that was just as true for the Tornados' fans as it was for the growing legion of Cannons' faithful!

"Smile, James," Bristol whispered while displaying her own dazzling smile for anyone that might be watching her. "There is at least one mirror-cam pointed at us; and we're here to impress; so try not to look so grim."

James did as he was told; but wasn't happy. "It's freezing out here; I'm already feeling ill from the proximity to the stench of Animorphpotty; and wish that we were doing anything else other than this for the rest of the day," he whispered. "I don't know why I let the three of you talk me into this."

"Because it'll annoy your ex-family to see you over here in the Tornados owners' section supporting one of your Slytherin friends," Scorpius answered before Bristol could comment. "The attention helps Lysandra and Bristol for their show too; and getting to spend the day with them is a nice added bonus for us." He smiled as Lysandra squeezed his hand supportively. "Would you rather be watching the match at Ritchie's place?"

"No – especially since he's sure to be watching Kylie's Cannons-propaganda show. I don't know how anyone can stand to watch her – or Teresa. They're the worst!"

"They've had better ratings than Lee's shows for two matches so far this season," Bristol advised him; "so be careful what you say about them. They're doing well whether you like them or not; and you won't want to get their audience mad – especially since they get a lot of Witches watching them."

"Then I'd better not comment on how brainless those viewers must be," James offered with a sneer. "How do you even know how their shows are doing?"

Bristol shrugged. "I'm in the mirror network show business," she reminded him. "We keep track of that sort of thing. They don't quite get the numbers that we do with The Healer, but they're doing better than pretty much every sports shows except for Lee's shows and the matches that he covers. That's still pretty amazing; since he's been building his loyal followers for decades now and they've reached number two in their first season."

"The Healer was number one right from the first episode," Scorpius offered; knowing that his friend and team mate wasn't happy with Bristol's comments. "I'd say that Witches and Wizards all over the Wizarding World are just ready for anything new and better than they've had available before now."

"The two of you included," Lysandra added with a nod. "I don't know whether the Tornados will be very successful trying to make their team more like yours, but there's no doubt that they're trying to do that; and it says a lot about you that other players and teams want to imitate you."

"Maybe," Scorpius agreed, "and they've done well with hiring Andrea, but I think they've made a mistake with the Harpers. They are not nearly as good as the McClaggens – or even the Nott brothers."

"If history is any indication; they're more-likely to knock Andrea out of the match instead of any of the Cannons' clowns," James declared with a snort. "Speaking of the clown brigade – hold your noses; 'cause here they come!"

"Mum, if you're linked into their magical earbuds too; please tell them to stop looking so happy!" Lily told her mother; and then she punched Jonah in the side when he started grinning in response to her demand. "That goes for you too," she told him seriously. "I'm getting terribly put-out with the lot of you this week!"

"If you want to see unhappy; just look across the stadium at your older brother," Ginny suggested. "You're obviously not the only sibling that is annoyed by our extreme happiness."

"I have mentioned that I'm a bit like James too," Lily reminded them. "I'm surprised that he's here at all."

"That's likely for work," Jonah suggested – "and I mean that for The Healer; not the Catapults. It isn't a coincidence that James and Scorpius are here with Bristol and Lysandra."

"You think that they'll be in other episodes?" Lily asked; and Jonah shrugged.

"They sure left that open – at least for there to be more in the show between Lysandra and Scorpius; so I'd expect some appearances – if not as a return patient."

"I could see James going back regularly with excuses to hook up with Bristol or the other Witches he messed around with in those last two episodes," Lily suggested. "Do you think that we'll see many inter-team hugs and kisses today?"

"No," Jonah answered. "It's much more-likely that the Harpers will try something like the Nott brothers did before their first match – regardless of how bad that idea would be for their team."

"We're not going to let anyone get away with that sort of thing again," Ginny advised them – "and I'll guess that most players got the message. Do you dislike the Harpers for any specific reasons? From what I've seen of them so far; they're not as good as most of the other Beater pairs in the league – even with all of the cheating."

"We just have more personal experience playing against them – and putting up with their hate," Lily answered with a shrug. "I'll be happy to see Brandon and Seth take them to school today."

"Not that they'll understand the lessons," Jonah added. "They never learned anything about good sportsmanship while at Hogwarts."

"Well, we won't need to wait long to see what they'll try to do today," Ginny said with a nod toward center pitch. The referee was getting the players to line up for take-off; and the Harpers were apparently getting started on some trash talk that they directed at the Cannons' players closest to them.

"Good," Lily declared. "It's too cold out here to drag the start of the match out for no reason."

The contrast between what he sensed from his team mates and most of the Tornados' players was practically a study in opposites, but Al was still happy and smiling as he lined up next to Rachel Rosier for take-off – and the first race for the quaffle. She pretended to ignore him, but his smile still annoyed her; and she scowled darkly while focusing her attention on the referee.

"Good luck," he offered quietly.

"Quit yapping, dog – you're bothering me," Rachel practically snarled at him.

Al laughed. "Then I'll apologize in advance; since there's a good chance that I'll annoy you a lot this afternoon," he joked. "Ladies first," he added as the quaffle was tossed – and then actually let her take-off first before giving chase.

That just proved his point to Rachel when he blasted past her anyway – just in time to scoop up the quaffle and then go straight onto the attack. He couldn't resist laughing again as she gave chase; couldn't catch up; and was thinking some very bad thoughts about him. He hit the brakes; used her swerve to avoid him to help Gwendolyn shake off Licentia while tossing a pass up to her; and then enjoyed watching his wife score their first goal of the match with an awesome spin-drift and curving shot that just baffled the Tornados' Keeper and left him gaping in disbelief when it went through the left-side goal.

"Nice play, but be careful – you almost smiled there," Harry told Andrea after she successfully defended his latest chase after the snitch. "You do that nearly as well as James – that flying trick; not smiling," he added. "Did he teach that to you; or have you just been watching a lot of matches?"

"You didn't defeat the Dark Lord, did you?" Andrea asked – "you talked him to death by extreme boredom!"

Harry laughed and she did smile this time. "We did have a chat during that last duel, so maybe there's some truth to that. Are you suggesting that if I keep talking that I'll win this Seeker duel too – by boring you to sleep or something?"

"No," Andrea disagreed. "I'm just beginning to understand why so many Witches and Wizards would like to see you permanently silenced."

"That's one of the nicer insults I've had lately. I'll hope that you can understand that sentiment without wishing the worst for me too, but let's just get back to having some Quidditch fun. Are you ready to kick it up a notch or three again?"

He laughed when she took off first in answer and gave chase – even though he knew she hadn't spotted the snitch at all.

"For Merlin's sake – they may as well have a stick hanging in each goal instead of that idiot!" James declared after Ray scored another Cannons' goal early in the second hour – while Rose still had a shut-out going against the Tornados. "That old fool needs to be put out our misery!"

"Some of the Tornados' owners are right here behind us," Bristol whispered; but it was too late.

"You have some advice for us, Mr. Potter?" the owner nearest to them asked; looking amused instead of annoyed. "That seemed to be a tough shot and play to stop to me."

"Your Keeper has already given up six goals – to the Cannons," he pointed out dismissively. "Ray Wood wasn't even a top-six Chaser for Gryffindor when I was Captain of the teams; and I'd say that goal only looked good if you didn't notice how incompetent your Keeper is. If it wasn't for your Chasers saving his broomtail so often; you'd likely already be down one-sixty." He shook his head. "I don't mean to be offensive, sir, but the game has obviously gotten too-fast for your old Keeper. If I were you; I'd upgrade – and do it soon. It'll be a shame for you to hire one of the best new Seekers only to have that not help you because your Keeper can't stop a quaffle unless it hits him in the face!"

"Shouldn't you want to give us bad advice?" the owner asked; and James laughed.

"You're right – forget I said anything."

"That was a great goal," Al told Rachel as she shadowed him on defense while Gwendolyn led the offensive play and had the quaffle in hand. Rachel had finally broken Rose's shut-out; and had bested him to do it. "Are you having fun yet?"

"No – and shut it before I smack that stupid grin off of your face – with a bludger!" she retorted; and then she actually growled when he laughed in response.

"Sorry," he apologized; "but I couldn't help but try and picture the different animals I could turn into so that wouldn't hurt," he explained; and then laughed again when his explanation actually earned a bark of laughter from her too.

"You're a freak!" she declared; scowling at him again and angry that he'd actually managed to give her a moment of true amusement and fun.

Well, it was a start!

The Cannons earned the one-sixty lead over the Tornados early in the fifth hour, but while Harry could back off from defending the snitch; the Tornados' players redoubled their efforts to claw back that lead; and that gave the Cannons new challenges and some opportunities too. A major uptick in attempted cheap shots and fouls was countered by more communication and watching each other's backs; and the opportunities came thanks to bigger risks being taken by the Tornados' Chasers to try and score more goals on Rose. That strategy didn't work for the Tornados, and even though the Cannons increased their lead; Andrea wasn't allowed to catch the snitch for the loss. That was another bad choice by the Tornados' manager, since defending the snitch against a Seeker as talented as Harry for hours was an impossible task – especially when his tactic for that part of his Seeker duel was to do a lot of nothing and enjoy watching the rest of the match – while also helping his team mates to avoid all attacks directed at them.

That strategy was intentional, since Harry could stay warm regardless of what he was doing thanks to his uniform, but floating around doing nothing in the cold weather was tough for Andrea. She still played brilliantly and managed to keep up with Harry during the few races for the snitch that he did try to surprise her with – right up until Dave Harper messed that up for her when they were just minutes away from the end of the sixth hour. The Cannons were ahead by two-seventy to thirty when Harry launched that last attack and chase after the snitch. He was enjoying the challenge, but then it wasn't fun for him either when he was warned and dodged Dave Harper's attempt to bash him and block him into a bludger hit from Caleb; he continued on toward the snitch while sensing the hits that Andrea took instead because she hadn't seen either hit coming their way; and then he caught the snitch without any joy for earning the duel and match victories.

Instead of celebrating; he braked; flipped; and blasted back toward Andrea. By then, she was trying desperately to hold on to her broom and get it under control while barely staying conscious. He got to her first, but just a moment before Al did; and they both helped her to stop and then keep from falling. They both sensed the danger coming at them; and they had matching, blazing emerald eyes as their own anger flared.

"You take care of helping her – I'll deal with them," Harry told his son even as he let go of Andrea and turned to face both of the Harper brothers as they hurtled toward them.

"Batters-up!" Caleb shouted furiously. "Knock his head off!"

That was all that either brother had time to say, but they were both laughing as they swung their bats at Harry. They didn't even understand what he was doing until too-late as he turned his broom sideways; used his forearms to block both hits; and then sent his broom vertical the moment Caleb's and Dave's broom handles were above his – lifting all three of them away from Al and Andrea while accelerating fast. Both Wizards needed to hang on to their brooms to keep from being thrown off, but when they could try to attack again – they did. That didn't work out for them because as soon as they tried; Harry hit the brakes; spun his broom; and knocked them into each other – and into those Beater bat hits while he was ten feet below them by the time those blows struck home with bone-breaking force.

"How's Andrea?" Harry asked while flying away from the Harpers now that they had problems of their own making to deal with.

"Unconscious – and on the mend," Al answered. "I'll do what I can while I can."

"Good," Harry approved. "She played well; and didn't deserve to have the match end like that."

"Dave has a habit of doing that to Andrea," Al advised him. "He has a very bad habit of not thinking about where his own team mates are when setting up for those attacks. Even when he succeeds; he sometimes still injures his team mates too."

"He'd better get a clue about that; or he won't last in the show for long. What can I do to help?"

"You might have time to heal that broken arm before we land," Al suggested. "If you can keep it fairly-quiet; nobody else needs to know – though Andrea will remember."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed as he moved in next to Andrea again; did as asked; and then they settled her onto the ground as gently as possible while all of the players on both teams except for the Harpers converged on where they landed.

"Get away from her!" Licentia spat at them. "You're contaminating her!"

"Okay – and you're welcome," Al answered while already stepping away and toward Gwendolyn.

"When she wakes up; tell her thanks," Harry added as he stepped back too. "She played a brilliant match today; and that was a lot of fun – except for that little problem there at the end."

"You're even worse than the loser," Rachel told him scornfully. "Get away from us!"

"I'd suggest that you look for a new Beater or two while replacing your Keeper," James offered as he stood and gathered his things while Bristol began folding their blanket, "but we'll be happy to play against those three incompetents in our next match against your team in February. That'll be a great belated birthday or early Valentine's Day gift for my team!"

"Don't give them any quotes like that to use for motivation against us," Scorpius told him; and James laughed.

"The Cannons scored twenty-seven goals and Andrea only lost that Seeker duel because Dave knocked her out of the play – again. We've nothing to worry about!"

"What do you mean by that?" the same owner who had been talking to them off-and-on all match demanded.

"Fire your scouts too if they didn't know that Dave has a habit of bashing into his own players," he suggested. "I think that's the third or fourth time he's missed Andrea's Seeker opponent and bashed into her instead." He shrugged and shook his head. "Your manager should've let her catch the snitch for the loss. Your Chasers would have never caught up without a better Keeper in goals anyway."

"Let's get going," Lysandra told him. "I want to make sure that my adopted sister is going to be okay."

James grinned at her. "You're The Healer. Can't you guarantee that she'll be completely healed in an hour or less?"

"I feel bad for Andrea too, but don't go there," Lily warned Jonah; earning a round of laughs.

"I was actually wondering if this was a first father-son damsel-in-distress rescue," Jonah advised her; getting more laughs from their nearest game-watching neighbors.

"For an emergency," Ginny answered. "They did help out with that joint healing after the first day of that two-day match in Al and Gwendolyn's sixth year. It seems that their efforts to help Andrea aren't going over well with her team mates, but I'll guess that she'll have a quicker recovery than she might have had without them."

"No doubt," Lily agreed. "This is a bit off-topic, but did you know that our brooms could do what Dad did with his to get the Harpers away from Al and Andrea? That's a lot of weight that he blasted straight up with; and that's not even counting the fact that the Harpers were going fast in a different direction."

Ginny laughed. "I doubt that your father was thinking about the Arithmancy for that," she joked. "I also think that we may not even find out about things like that for our brooms until we have the need to try."

"Which is fine right up until we try something that doesn't work," Lily pointed out. "That was still awesome, and I'm glad that we were here to see it, but I'm also ready to get out of the cold; so let's go home."

Making it to the half-way point of the season with an undefeated record didn't get as much attention for the Cannons as Andrea's team-mate-inflicted injuries and other stories for the Tornados – at least with most of the Quidditch reporters, but it was an accomplishment to be happy about for the Cannons' players and their fans; and worth having a bit of a celebration for too. They did that back at home – including having a late dinner that started as soon as Rose led her team into the atrium once they were finished at the stadium; Al and Gwendolyn enjoyed the food and fun with their families and friends; and then they still headed for their bed before midnight because they were booked for a very busy family Christmas day for the Jones and McCormack clans.

Al was up as early as usual on Sunday morning; let Gwendolyn sleep in while doing a light workout by the lagoon and then getting cleaned up and ready for the day; and then he cooked breakfast for two and had that ready to go by the time that Gwendolyn joined him. They ate, cleaned up, and then met up with Lily and Jonah before heading over to Kirley and Gwenog's home to spend the rest of the morning helping out with the work that needed to be done for the Christmas dinner and party. They kept busy in and out of the house until noon; had a snack break instead of a meal; and then it was time to relax for a little while and welcome their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few plus-one friends.

Having a family Christmas after the holiday was a bit different when nearly everyone was moving on and anticipating the New Year side of their holiday adventures, but Al wasn't really thinking about their second big-family adventure of the week in terms of holidays at all. Instead, he couldn't resist the mental musings that had him comparing the drama going on within the Weasley clan to the near-total lack of drama with either side of Gwendolyn's family. That wasn't to say that all was perfect, since that was probably impossible for any large family, but compared to the big issues that were causing problems with his family; little rivalries and minor annoyances were barely-noticed; and that made it much easier for Al to be part of a large group when there was a lot more love and joy to off-set the not-so-fun emotions and thoughts.

Pondering serious issues didn't keep Al from having fun all afternoon, but there were differences with the 'what' he and Gwendolyn did as they began first steps in the transition from being two of the 'kids' to being members of the working adults club. Sure, they still played with their younger cousins too, but they also joined in for some of the adult hang-out time in the sitting room; helped out with more of the work before and after dinner; and then they also had a training day curfew that wasn't going to allow them to stay up late and play with the other kids. Not only did they not stay late; they left early in the evening because they had some work to do at home – including getting set up for their first teen day with the Cannons on Monday. Al was definitely fired up about that as they took care of that set up with some help from Rose, Brandon, and a few volunteers before heading for their homes ahead of curfew; and hoped that the fourteen teens that had been invited to spend the morning with them would think that the Cannons' teen day would be one of the best in the league after decades of being the worst!

"What have you done to the practice pitch?" Lily asked Al as she walked up to the table that he and Gwendolyn were sitting at for breakfast in the cafe. Harry, Ginny, and Jonah were with her; and they began sharing a round of hugs before sitting down too. "The reporters are going to think that you are having a circus."

"It's just set up for our teen day alternate workout," Al answered. "I'd say more, but you might get mad at me again if you think that our teen day will be more-fun than the one you're going to; so I won't give you any of the details."

"While insinuating that you'll have more fun anyway," Lily added. "Do you still think you'll have more fun if you're spending the day as a Bat-Bogey?"

"Yes," Al agreed. "I wouldn't be allowed to go to teen day for the Harpies; so even that would be more-fun than doing nothing at all."

"Let me know if you still think so when I change you back at the end of the day," Lily suggested.

"You're not going to do that," Ginny told her – "and stop complaining about the rest of us being happy. If you're not having as much fun as the rest of us; that isn't on us – it's entirely your choice. We'd be okay with it if you were happier than we are while training with the Harpies. Honestly, Lily, I don't know why you aren't; since that is part of your dream coming true."

"Except that my dreams never included any of you going to play for the Cannons; starting out your first season undefeated through the first-half of it; or being so brilliantly-happy," Lily explained – again; since she'd pointed that out many times over the past few months with only slight changes to the claim as the Cannons continued to have success and more fun because of that.

"I don't want to go over this again and again either," Ginny decided. "If you can't be happy for the rest of us while going for your own dream with the Harpies, then so be it, Lily, but stop complaining about it and being mad at us just because we're trying our best to be part of something great here – and the Quidditch is only a part of that for most of us."

"And I'll add that you have an open offer to be part of the Quidditch fun," Harry told her. "You will be a part of the rest – and best – of what's going on around here if you play for the Harpies once you're done school. Your Mum's right, Lily, and it's time to stop bashing on the rest of us about this."

"Fine – I won't bring it up again," Lily promised – "until the next time any of you bug me by doing anything brilliantly-fun without me!"

"That's not good-enough," Ginny told her, "but I really don't want to keep on about it; so let's just change the subject."

"Is there anything else to talk about other than the teen day with the league teams or at the Ministry of Magic?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Well, we could talk about New Year's Eve," Ginny suggested.

That change in topic worked for Al, but he couldn't avoid sensing Lily's ongoing, internal battle because she was being very loud about it – in a mental sort of way. He didn't try to foresee the choices she would need to make, but he did sense that she would be fulfilling at least part of her 'Halloween prophecy' sooner instead of later; and that it really would happen on her own terms. With that bit of drama behind them, they enjoyed sharing their morning meal together; Lily went on to the Harpies practice pitch; and Al got to work again with the final chores that needed to be done before their teen day guests arrived.

Everything looked exactly as it had for all of the teen days that Lily had attended since her first year at Hogwarts – and only a little different from every normal work day for the team too. That didn't surprise her, but she was annoyed – at Al; since she knew that Rose had left him in charge of the 'fun' plans for the Cannons' teen day. She'd detoured onto the pitch just to confirm what she'd expected to find; and she didn't really try to hide how she was feeling when she walked into the locker room and met up with Victoire and Gabrielle – the first two team mates to arrive there ahead of her.

"Good morning, Lily – or not," Victoire offered in greeting. She was smiling while she checked over her gear as she got ready for their teen day workout and play time with their teen guests. "Do we need to guess at why you're frowning again this morning?"

"No," Lily answered. "Would you like me to not talk about it too?"

Victoire laughed. "Yes, but you're not alone with being annoyed by your parents, brother, and sister-in-law; since we wanted our team to be number one heading into the New Year – and never imagined that the Cannons would be there instead – even after knowing most of the details about what they were doing and all of the players they recruited." She laughed again. "I can't even decide what bugs me more – James and the horrid things he's done to be successful in the show or Al for being so bloody nice while winning every match."

"You don't really mean that," Gabrielle interjected. "We'd all pick being bested by a team that plays fair over losing to a team that cheats the way the Catapults do to get most of their victories."

"Have they won any this season without cheating?" Victoire asked.

"No, but they have in the past; and I'll give them half-points for that win over the Falcons," Gabrielle answered; and then smiled at Lily. "Then again, I am cheering for the Cannons to play brilliantly and have as much fun as they want along the way; since that might mess things up for the Witch that wants my job."

Lily and Victoire both laughed. "Mum will find that funny too," Lily told her, "but that isn't going to work."

"I wish that it would," Gabrielle countered more-seriously. "You need to get back to the normal you before the other teens get here, Lily, and I don't want to make that tougher for you, but I'm not ready to retire; so you really do need to start thinking about your dream to play for the Harpies as being something that'll need to happen over time. We'll be okay if you can live with starting out on the reserve squad after you're done school, but if you can't be happy with that; then I will fight for my job as hard as I'm sure you'll fight to take it from me. What I doubt that either of us knows, though, is which of us will win if we do have to battle it out like that. I love you a lot; so I hope that it won't come to that – and the hard feelings that will happen for one or both of us." She sighed at what she saw from the expression on Lily's face. "Just forget about it; let's have fun today; and not worry about something that we don't have to deal with for another year and a half anyway," she suggested.

"Which is fine – except for the part of my dream where I get to play in our next match on Saturday – and in every other holiday match between now and then," Lily pointed out a bit darkly. "Why can't my dream happen the same as it did for Victoire – except with a slightly-early start to it just so that I can one-up my brothers?"

"That doesn't seem fair," Victoire suggested, "but you're not the only Witch with dreams to play for the Harpies; and it doesn't go as planned for most of them – if at all. Do you even remember that playing for the Harpies was once Dominique's dream too? The girls we're hosting today all want to play for the Harpies – including two Seekers. Honestly, Lily, I don't even really get it when we talk about you getting a shot at winning Aunt Gabrielle's job from her. That hasn't ben done for anyone else with the Harpies – or if it ever was done; it was a long time ago. If you weren't your mother's daughter; we wouldn't even be talking about the idea at all. I'd have a problem if the Harpies suddenly wanted to start having tryouts every summer – and there's no way to even guess at the potential consequences. A good team that has the potential to grow into a great one can't do that if there are new players every year and it's like rebuilding the team every season."

"You've been on the winning side of tryouts every year," Gabrielle added. "Riley's been one of the Seekers you've bested; and Caylee found out this year what it's like to lose at tryouts too. You didn't even put your own job on the line for the Gryffindor team this season. Would you really want your job to be on the line like that every year, Lily; or do you expect that once you are Seeker for the Harpies that you'll get to keep the job for as long as you want it – and are good-enough to play for one of the best teams in the league?"

"I want my dream without any of the drama," Lily hedged without really responding to any of the questions or comments. "You're both trying to talk me out of my dream."

"I guess that we are," Victoire admitted; sounding a bit surprised to realize that was exactly what she was doing. "I'm sorry, and I know that I sound like a hypocrite, but I guess that I do pick playing Quidditch with my aunt over you, Lily; and that'll be true for Caylee if she wants her Mum's job before Aunt Gabrielle is ready to retire."

"Except that she probably would retire for Caylee," Lily challenged.

"I might," Gabrielle admitted candidly, "but that's still five-and-a-half years away; I have no idea how I'll feel about my job by then; and I'll also point out that your Mum has essentially offered to do the same for you with the Cannons – and she wouldn't have to retire either if she didn't want to do that for you."

"What's going on in here?" Gwenog asked as she walked into the room and immediately picked up on the sense of drama.

"My adopted aunt and cousin are trying to destroy my Harpies' dream,' Lily advised her. "I'm trying to decide whether to turn them into Bat-Bogeys – or just leave because I'm apparently not wanted – though they assure me that they love me in a not-a-team-mate sort of way. Would you like to side with them too?"

"Not if it means getting turned into a Bat-Bogey" Gwenog joked. "I also don't have to take sides. You've been promised your shot at a spot on the team, but that isn't happening today – or this week, Lily."

"They don't think that should happen at all – that you've only agreed to do that because I'm mum's daughter."

"You knew that was true already," Gwenog challenged – "including that we have issues with doing that at all – especially when the player you want to replace is a brilliant Seeker and very popular player too. Is that really just hitting home with you now, Lily?"

"Apparently," Lily agreed. "This isn't fair. You've all gotten to have your dream; so has Mum; and I want my turn!"

"I never promised you that," Gwenog reminded her. "Be honest, and admit that this isn't even entirely about the Harpies. I don't have time to get into that with you, and we have company on the way; so get ready to go, Lily; and deal with the problems you're having with all of this later."

Gwenog didn't give her a choice in the matter – though Lily was tempted to just leave and skip the teen day and training entirely. She'd been responsible for getting a bonus holiday for the Harpies' reserve Seeker, though; so she had to stick it out or risk looking bad – or like a spoiled brat having a temper tantrum. That didn't keep her from thinking about everything they'd talked about while playing all morning with the Harpies and the other teens – most of them friends of hers; and those sometimes-dark thoughts made it nearly-impossible to have fun. She felt bad when her own feelings messed up the day for Caylee – all because she played her best and won their Seeker duel with three quick catches during the time limit they had for the first scrimmage; and then she wasn't very good during the luncheon. She wasn't sure whether the afternoon scrimmage was terrible for her because she beat herself or Gabrielle bested her every time because she hadn't been happy with how Lily had treated her daughter and the other girls, but the result was that she lost that Seeker duel – and that just added to her level of unhappiness.

By the time she was finished work for the day; the last thing she wanted to do was to go home and find out anything about how the teen day had gone for her parents, brother, and the Cannons!

"Welcome to GO MagiSports first teen day as owners of the Chudley Cannons!" Rose said enthusiastically as she stood at center pitch with her team mates behind her and fourteen teens facing her – all of them looking excited and happy to be there. "We have a lot planned for you this morning, so instead of wasting time talking; we're just going to get started. "I'm sure that you all know my cousin, Al, and he'll be getting us started with the first part of the special workout he's put together for us today."

"Thanks, Rose," Al said while stepping up next to her and smiling brightly. "We're going to start with some easy stretching warm-ups," he advised everyone around him. "Once we've done that; we're going to pair up into teams of two; and compete for some prizes with the obstacle course we have set up all around us."

"We're going to pair up for the warm-ups too," Gwendolyn added. "Some of you will be familiar with them, but for those of you who aren't; we learned these stretching exercises from the workouts that the Aurors do at the Ministry of Magic. That may seem a strange combination, but you'll soon see that each step in our workouts fits together with the next – and that we always have fun along the way!"

It only took a few moments to pair each teen with one – or two – of the team and reserve squad players; and then Al got the fun started. He didn't always have music with the stretching and warm-up exercises, but he did that this time with some current teen favorites; the races that followed were a blast – and earned some awesome prizes for the winning teens; and then they had an hour of position training with the teens working one-on-one or in sets of two or three with the team players. Al and Gwendolyn taught the most-extreme tricks possible for the brooms that each teen was flying, but all of their guests had a blast learning new things that they could then use in the two scrimmages. Al made sure that the kids had fun with that too; and then they wrapped up their adventure with a luncheon in the cafe that included a few more games, prizes, and at least a few souvenirs from the day for all of the teens.

While the official teen day was finished after that; most of the teens stayed to watch the rest of the team workout from the cafe or the viewing platform; the lagoon was made available for them; and they were also allowed to use the VirtualMirror rooms. Malorie and Susannah recruited some help for supervising those teens while the team was focused on their afternoon training session, but then Al and Gwendolyn spent more time with the 'kids' once they were finished work for the day. That's what they were doing when Lily eventually made it home – hanging out in the atrium with Lorcan, Lysander, and all of the cousins that had come to their teen day.

"Let me guess – you've all had so much fun today that your teen day students have collectively decided to move in with us," Lily joked. She was smiling, but that didn't hide what she was feeling from Al. He had to wait for her to share a hug and kiss with Jonah first, but then he hugged her tightly too. "Bat-Bogey," she whispered; and Al laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that their parents want them back, but we did have most of the teens stay to watch the afternoon part of our workout – or play in the lagoon or do some virtual mirror gaming. Don't be surprised if we end up with some extra dinner guests too."

"Well, in that case; I'll wait until later," Lily decided.

"For what?" Gwendolyn asked.

"To turn your husband into a Bat-Bogey," Lily answered; deciding that she didn't care whether she was overheard or not. She shook her head. "I don't want to mess with all of your extreme happiness; so I'll just go find somewhere to hide until dinnertime – and try to be better company by then."

"I'll come along," Gwendolyn decided.

"You really don't want to do that," Lily warned.

Gwendolyn smiled at her. "Yeah, I really do," she disagreed before leaning close so that what she said next wouldn't be overheard by anyone except Al and Jonah. "You need to blow off some steam; and I'm just the sister-in-law for the job; since I can relate. I don't know yet if History is being repeated for a sixth-year Harpies' teen day, but you're as mad as I was that night; and I'm not going to leave you to deal with it alone."

Lily offered another warning first, but didn't resist when Gwendolyn went home with her – or when she sealed her bedroom once they were in it so that she could have her rant without bothering anyone else.

"They don't want me to play for the Harpies!" she eventually advised Gwendolyn after spending a bit of time just stewing without being able to articulate anything at all. "Aunt Gabrielle, Victoire – even your Mum if she wanted to be honest with me about it."

"That isn't true," Gwendolyn disagreed.

"It is – and Victoire flat-out admitted that to me this morning!"

"She told you that she'd pick Gabrielle over you," Gwendolyn guessed. "That isn't the same thing."

"It amounts to the same thing for me," Lily countered. "Aunt Gabrielle doesn't want to retire, and they don't really even think that I should be allowed to try to win her job; since I'm only even being offered that chance because of Mum! You think that this is the same as what your Mum did to you, but I'd say it's worse! At least you were wanted on the team!"

"Not by everyone," Gwendolyn disagreed. "I'd have put someone out of work too – or messed up their dream even if they kept a job on the reserve squad. If Gabrielle was ready to retire; they'd love to have you on the team – and you know it. What stinks about this for you is the timing – and caring about the players that would be affected if you did get the job over Gabrielle."

"I'm not Al – and don't want to sacrifice what I want – even for other people I care about!" Lily insisted.

"That isn't working out too-badly for him," Gwendolyn teased; and Lily scowled at her. "Yes, I know what you mean, but you also still need to deal with reality and figure out what's best for you. Just talking Quidditch, it seems to me that you have four options. Your preference would be to win the Seeker job over Gabrielle and live happily ever after. Option two is that you don't win that job; and still go to work for the Harpies on the reserve squad until you can move up to get that job sometime in the future. For that one, you'll need to decide whether you can be happy with that – and also be okay with the lower pay that goes along with being on the reserve squad. Third – and don't hex the messenger – would be to take the job you've been offered with the Cannons with the good and bad that goes with sharing the Seeker job with Jonah; and finally – you could look at getting a job with one of the other teams in the league. Those are basically the same choices I had two years ago; so I really can relate to how you're feeling right now."

"You think that I should give up my Harpies dream too," Lily accused.

"Yes, but I also think that you should still choose what's best for you regardless of what the rest of us think – with one exception that I really would like you to think about while making that choice."

"What'll make me happy?" Lily guessed; and Gwendolyn shook her head.

"No – what will be best for our favorite team."

"You'd have been what's best for our favorite team if you had been honest when making your choice," Lily challenged – "just as I'd be what's best for the Harpies' future."

"I actually thought so back then; but I don't anymore," Gwendolyn advised her. "If I'd managed to get Glynnis to hire me, Mum would've quit; I'd have had some of the Harpies' players mad at me; and now, in hindsight, I can be sure that I'd have been miserable playing for them while watching Al have such a brilliant start to his career with the Cannons."

"Maybe that wouldn't have happened if not for you," Lily suggested.

"You know that's not true. Al might not have had quite as much fun, but in case you still haven't figured it out; he can take his game to scary-good levels when he needs to do that; and every match could be like that one against the Falcons if he wanted to go full-out in every match. That isn't to say that we can't ever lose, but when we do lose matches – and we will; our opponents will deserve those victories. In a way, you're proving that to me, Lily. You're mad at us for being so happy and successful, and I can picture my own reactions being exactly the same if I'd insisted on sticking with my Harpies' dream and actually getting it too."

"I hate this!" Lily declared angrily.

"Been there – wanted to turn your brother into a bug too," Gwendolyn teased. "Getting back to my point, though, if you're sure that you are what's best for the Harpies into the future – regardless of whether you'd end up with option one or two; then go for it and be happy with whatever happens. If your dream doesn't do that for you anymore, though – including how you feel about everything we're doing with the Cannons; then you need to consider your other options – and you do know that you could be happy playing Quidditch with us because you have been happy training with us over the past two summers."

"Have I mentioned that I hate this?" Lily demanded.

"Yes, you have," Gwendolyn confirmed. "There isn't anything else I can offer to help, though, so why don't you shove all of this aside for now; and we can talk about anything else. Have you picked what you're going to wear for New Year's Eve?"

Al knew that he couldn't help Lily with the problems she was having or the choices she'd need to eventually make for her future – and not just because a prophecy had predicted that she'd choose her own way without help from either brother! While Gwendolyn was trying to help, though, he kept busy with their younger cousins and friends; a take-out dinner plan was eventually decided on while some parents were invited to stay with their kids and have that meal together with the Potter and Weasley members of the Cannons' team. That made for a very entertaining meal out on the atrium patio, and along with Kirley and Gwenog, they had the Scamanders; Jones, Rivers, Boot, Graves, and Finnegan parents and one or more of their kids. Al and Gwendolyn ended up having that meal with her parents, aunts, and uncles, but they spent time with Rolf and Luna after dinner – while playing with the kids and teens too; and all of that food and fun had the bonus of cheering Lily up and distracting her for a few hours.

That was a short-term fix, and Al knew that his sister was still upset on Tuesday morning, but they were also all very busy from before breakfast and pretty much non-stop through to the New Year. Quidditch training with the Cannons or Harpies kept them busy until mid-afternoon – and both teams wrapped up their training early to have time to get ready for New Year's Eve festivities. For Al, that meant switching from Quidditch to party set-up – the family-friendly dinner and party that GO MagiSports was hosting for their employees, community, some VIP's, charity families, and other guests. Renee and Susannah planned and coordinated the event; so Al's contributions were entirely through the use of the magical muscle needed to get everything set up at the practice pitch and atrium quickly so that they were ready to go by the time the social hour started at five-thirty. He'd been happy to help with all of the work, but by the time Al had quickly gotten showered and ready for the party too – and then saw Gwendolyn dressed up and ready to go; he was seriously wishing that they'd decided to stay home and celebrate the New Year with a party-for-two!

"We'll have fun at this party too – and have the twins overnight," Gwendolyn reminded him after he'd joked about skipping the party. "I don't know if we'll get to choose what we want to do on New Year's Eve very often while we're playing Quidditch, since it is always going to be a big opportunity for publicity and good public relations for the team, but we can take turns with the overnight babysitting services; so keep that in mind for next year."

"I'll do that," Al promised. "We'd better go before I try to convince you to stay whether we should or not."

"We can do that," Gwendolyn agreed. "Did you see Lily at all while you were busy working?"

"No, but she may be avoiding me," Al answered. "Rule Number One has applied a lot this week."

"We all know that she isn't really mad at you. She's not even mad at us for what we've been doing so far with the Cannons. The real problem is that things aren't working out as she expected and wanted with the Harpies – in part because her own dreams have been warped a bit to something beyond realistic expectations. Add in that she's not sure anymore whether getting her dream is what's best for the Harpies – or at least the dream she wants right now; and what she's coming up with doesn't look nearly as good as what we have here – and that she could have with us too."

"Then we'd better not tell her how well we're doing – especially if bonus time proves to be as good as what we're on-target for half-way through the season," Al suggested; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"She's dating Jonah – and has a stake in GO MagiSports," she reminded him. "Lily is going to find out. The good news is that I don't think that she'll be able to just keep stressing about this for another six months or more."

"I hope you're right," Al said; and then he smiled ruefully. "It could be even worse for us if she not only finds out that we've done brilliantly on the money side of the business, but we win a league championship; and then she has to pay up on her bet with Rose!"

"That sounds like a New Year's resolution worth at least talking about," Gwendolyn suggested, "but I suppose we'd better not do something like that and risk the fall-out from that sort of prediction if the reporters ever got their hands on a story like that."

"We do need to just keep going one match at a time," Al agreed – "and keep having fun."

"With an emphasis on the last part of that for the rest of today and tomorrow," Gwendolyn suggested.

"Come on in, Jonah," Harry invited; and smiled as Jonah stepped into the Great Room from the atrium-side door. "Ginny and Lily should both be ready to go soon. They're just putting some finishing touches on their hair."

"We still have more than a half-hour before the doors open for our party," Jonah said with a shrug. "I didn't think that you'd be dressing up for the party here."

"We'll likely change a couple of times, but most of us are dressing up for the dinner. We'll see if we need to change when the games start for the kids, but we'll likely go for at least one swim; and then we can get comfortable for the dance out on the practice pitch."

"Maybe we should sneak a portable pool into our party," Jonah joked.

"One pool might be a bit crowded at your party," Harry suggested. "You could always go for a swim here after you get back."

"The way I'm feeling today; I'd rather set up a portable swamp – for a prank at this party," Lily advised them as she came down the stairs a couple of steps ahead of Ginny. She couldn't resist smiling at Jonah's reaction to his first look at her; and was a bit amused to notice that her father could still be as-impressed by her mother – though that was a bit weird too.

"You look amazing," Jonah assured her; "and I'll try to help you out with feeling better for the rest of the day – and year."

"If you want to do that; start with a New Year's resolution that gets me playing on Saturday for the Harpies – and in every summer and holiday match between now and when I can go play for them full-time," she suggested. "Your Mum's the assistant manager – you ought to have some pull with her even if I apparently don't mean very much to her."

"Lily," Ginny chided. "You need to stop that."

"Only if I want to be nice – and I don't," Lily disagreed. "You're the one that has had the brilliant, fun day; and you'll likely have a brilliant, fun dinner and party!" She took a deep breath that didn't really calm her at all. "Let's get going, Jonah. I don't want to mess up all of the never-ending happy around here with my bad mood."

"Don't you want to stop in at the cafe and practice pitch to wish everyone a Happy New Year?" Jonah asked. "We still have a bit more than a half-hour before the doors open for our party."

"Do you think they'd like me to wish them all a Worst-Ever New Year?" Lily retorted. "Have yourself a truly-horrid New Year; hope your team loses every match!" she sang scornfully. "Don't score any goals or have your Seekers get a single catch!"

"I love you," Jonah told her; and LIly scowled at him.

"That's your response to my comment and song?"

"Yes," he agreed. "You definitely need extra love, hugs, and kisses today; and I'm going to help you out with that. We can skip the visit to the practice pitch, but you should still at least wish Jaimie and Lorie a Happy New Year – even if you just call them on your mirror."

"I'll check and see if they're still at home," Ginny suggested. "They likely are, since Malorie worked later than most of us."

James smiled as he walked into the reception area of the Magick Hall and immediately got a lot of attention from the Wizards and Witches around him. Okay – around them; since Bristol was walking at his side and Scorpius and Lysandra were with them too, but all that mattered was that he was sure that every Wizard wished they were him; and the hottest Witches wished that they were with him instead of the dates they were stuck with for the rest of the year!

"Pace yourself," Bristol whispered while still smiling brilliantly. "We have three parties to attend, and if I don't get a better offer before it's time to go home sometime tomorrow; you won't want to be too tired to play with me."

"You'd never get a better offer than me; and I've never been too-tired for that sort of fun," he declared – bragged. "By the time I've finished helping you to ring in the New Year – over and over again; you'll need to take the rest of the week off just to rest up for our next date!"

"This isn't a date – it's work," she reminded him. "The good news for you, though, is that you're just supposed to be you; since that's who your character on The Healer is; so let's get a drink – and you can get to work on flirting with all of the other Witches."

"Only the hottest ones," James amended; and Bristol shrugged.

"That's up to you. The not-so-hot Witches make great fans too – fans that spend money – including on things like Quidditch tickets and souvenirs."

"I'll leave that part of the job up to Scorpius," James suggested. "I'm sure that Lysandra won't mind at all."

"Sorry, but I would – and he can't," Lysandra advised him. "His character is a lot different than yours too; so this is definitely supposed to be a date for us."

"That's okay," Bristol told them. "James and I are okay with having more fun than you will. Let's get those drinks. It's a tough job; but I think we can handle it."

GO MagiSports' first New Year's Eve party wasn't the biggest or best in the Wizarding World, and they didn't even have half of their employees attending; since many of them had chosen to go to one of those bigger, better parties or do something else with their families and friends. They also didn't have many kids, since most of their workers were young, but they did have other kids at the party with their families – or even without them; in a few cases. Al had been behind the push to have a family-friendly party, though, so he was happy with the mix of guests as they gathered together during the hour before they sat down for dinner. They didn't have any activities planned ahead of that meal, but some of the kids still used that time to play – or just go exploring; while the adults enjoyed the chat time that helped most of them wind down from work and get into the party mood.

Renee and Susannah were also in charge of the party – in part because Malorie was splitting her time between their celebrations and the one that Patrick needed to attend at the Magick Hall. That's why Malorie and Patrick were also only there for the first part of the social hour before moving on to the Ministry of Magic dinner; and Al and Gwendolyn were happy to share temporary custody of Jaimie and Lorie while their mother was busy. The family groups sat together for dinner in most cases too; so Harry and Ginny sat with their available kids and grandkids. Rose and Brandon sat with them too; though that was mostly because their parents and siblings were at other parties; and other friends were enjoying their last meal of the year with their own families or other groups of friends.

"I think that one of the best things about this party so far is that the only reporters that wanted to come are Teresa, Kylie, and one of the few reporters that doesn't hate on us anymore," Rose offered as they settled in to eat appetizers that ranged from kid-favorites to a few gourmet pastries.

"Renee said he took the assignment because he was allowed to bring his family," Brandon added as he looked over to where the young-ish Wizard sat with his wife, three kids; and another family of four with two kids – including parents that both worked for Lacey Finnegan. "I'm pretty sure that his kids have become fans of our team."

"Maybe that had something to do with his change of heart," Ginny suggested; and then turned her attention to Lorie. "Try taking a tiny bite of it," she suggested; smiling as Lorie studied the little treat she was holding suspiciously. "If you don't like it; you can just take a drink to help wash it down; but you won't know until you try."

"It looks weird," Lorie told her grandmother.

"A bit," Ginny agreed, "but there have been other weird-looking things that you've tried and liked a lot. I can't promise that this will be one that you like too, but I love them a lot – and some people don't. You'll have to decide for yourself."

Lorie didn't look convinced, but she took a nibble anyway; scrunched up her face; and took a drink of her juice after putting the treat to the side of her plate – where all of the 'yucky' stuff went.

"I'll guess not," Gwendolyn teased. "You can likely feed the leftovers to Uncle Al. He loves pretty much everything."

"Everything and everyone," Rose added with a grin for her cousin. "Could that be why he's so happy all of the time? There's nothing to be mad or sad about if you love everything."

Malorie felt uncomfortable as she sat next to Patrick at an 'Auror' table. That wasn't because of the other couples at their table – they were all rank-and-file Aurors and their spouses or dates too; so they were getting along very well. She ought to be laughing at herself for feeling that way at all, since it was ridiculous for her to be taking a hit to her ego simply because she – and Patrick – weren't among the Witches and Wizards that ranked getting the best tables and sitting with the best Witches and Wizards. There was some jealousy involved too, since she couldn't even dream of being as beautiful and popular as someone like Victoire – which was surely why she and Teddy had seats at a table with some of the other rich and beautiful couples that was also near to the Minister of Magic's Head table. The same applied for James and Bristol; though there was no doubt that James was a bit more-famous than his beautiful escort for the night. Malorie didn't think of them as being there as a couple; since she'd already seen each of them flirting – or more – with other Witches or Wizards.

"Are you wishing we were back at the Cannons' party?" Patrick guessed; whispering that question so that he wouldn't be overheard.

"Only a little," Malorie answered just as quietly. "I'm just being foolish," she added. "I'll never fit in here the way we do at home – even if you could."

"I fit in right here where we're at – and that's okay with me," he advised her. "Most of the Witches and Wizards you're thinking about will never get past their own biases to find out how amazing you are; and we're blessed in the Light to have all of the people in our lives that do love and appreciate us." He smiled at her and laughed quietly. "You should be grateful about the first part of that too."

"Why?"

"Because some of those Wizards and Witches would love to be your friends for all of the wrong reasons if they knew just how important your job is becoming as the Manager for GO MagiSports. It's really a bit amazing that none of them seem to have figured that out already – even if that's just from knowing that the most-powerful Wizard in the world works for you!"

Malorie laughed. "With the funniest part of that statement being that they'd all think that you'd mean Harry," she only half-joked.

"That's funny," Patrick assured her after laughing too, "but fortunately for all of us; we'll never need to worry about finding out whether Harry is number one or two now. Changing the subject, we'll have a social hour or so after dinner and then probably another hour before the dance will really get going; so maybe that'll be the best time to go back to the other party and spend time with the twins."

"You only hang out with me because you love them," Malorie teased; though there was a hint of self-mocking in her voice and expression. She smiled when Patrick captured all of her attention along with the forearm nearest to him; but that expression was self-conscious too.

"I love you, Malorie O'Malley," he insisted. "I love Jaimie and Lorie too; and I will always be thankful that you let me be part of your life because you're the most-important part of mine."

"Then we seriously need to work on getting you a new and better one," Malorie joked.

"Okay," Patrick agreed with a grin; and she frowne din confusion.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Would you like to know what my New Year's resolution is for this year?" he asked instead of answering.

"To go out and get a better life?" she asked and suggested.

"To convince you to marry me so that we can be a family," he answered quietly while clasping her hand. Her eyes widened in astonishment when she felt the ring pressed between their palms. "I do love you with all of my heart – and I love the girls more than I could ever have imagined possible back when they were first born." He smiled ruefully. "I'm not going to be able to offer any brilliant or eloquent proposal, Malorie, since I'm just a regular, average guy without even the slightest gift for that sort of thing, but I will be there for you, Jaimie, and Lorie every day for the rest of my life; so whether you believe me right now or it takes the entire year; I'm going to convince you that we are perfect for each other –and meant to be together forever."

"Okay," Malorie told him; her smile now shy and a bit playful.

"Okay?" he asked. "To the now part or letting me spend the year convincing you I'm right?"

"I'll pick both," Malorie teased. "I do love you too, Patrick. I'm an emotional mess about a lot of things; but I know that as surely as I know how much I love Jaimie and Lorie; so yes, I will marry you."

"It's still nearly five hours to midnight," one of their tablemates called out to them from the other side of the table. "Pace yourselves – or get a room!"

"We were just celebrating," Patrick advised her while holding up Malorie's hand to show off the ring he'd just put on it. "She said yes, so it only seemed proper for me to thank her."

That news got the attention of everyone at their table – including the Auror friends that Patrick worked with every day; and their New Year's Eve celebration immediately went from good to great!

"James alert," Alyssa leaned in and told Lily and Jonah as she and Hugo danced next to them – after making their way toward their friends. "We just saw him in the over-age section – with Bristol, Lysandra, and Scorpius."

"they weren't here at dinner," Lily said thoughtfully. "When was the last time James wasn't too-awesome to come to this party?"

"The year before Al made is one-and-only appearance," Jonah answered. "I'll guess that this is a publicity stunt for The Healer; and they were at one of the other parties for dinner."

"Probably the biggest one," Alyssa agreed; and then grinned at Lily. "Would you like to go over there and get their autographs? They are the most-famous Witches and Wizards we've seen here so far tonight!"

"The scary about my answer would be that I do want to go over there; since most of you wouldn't want to be around to find out how much trouble I could get into by doing that," Lily suggested.

"Well, Jonah and I aren't over-age; so we'd have to watch from over here," Hugo joked. "Would that be far-enough away from the danger to make watching the show fun?"

"Why are you grinning like that?" Lily asked Jonah suspiciously.

"Because I'm being bad and picturing you proving that Al isn't actually the trouble magnet at all," he joked. "Let's not do that; ignore him; and go back to having fun."

His suggestion didn't keep the girls from talking about the idea for a few more minutes, but then the two couples moved apart again. Lily didn't forget about James, and thought about him a bit while dancing with Jonah, but only caught glimpses of him from a distance; and didn't go looking for him – no matter how tempting it was to do so – especially when he'd likely give her good-reason to vent all of the mad she'd been battling for most of the holidays. They were taking a break when she got a mirror message from her mother that was happy news – and a surprise; since she hadn't even realized that Malorie and Patrick had become serious-enough about each other to get to the engaged stage of their relationship.

"I need to go over to the other section to get drinks for us," Lily advised Jonah. Can you track down Hugo and Alyssa and meet me at the railing?"

"Okay, but should I be worried that you suddenly want to start drinking something stronger than soda?"

"Mum just let me know that Patrick proposed to Malorie while having dinner at the Ministry of Magic party – and she accepted."

"Good for them," Jonah offered. "They must be back home at that party for a that visit they'd planned between the dinner and dance at the Ministry party. Did your Mum say how Jaimie and Lorie took the news?"

"No, but I'm sure they'll be happy. They love Patrick a lot. I'll go get in line to pick up drinks. Have Alyssa catch up to me; and we'll meet you and Hugo once we've gotten glasses of wine or champagne."

"Two glasses," Jonah told her. "There are too-many reporters around here for us to risk getting into trouble."

"I can use magic," Lily reminded him. "I can just switch the contents of your glasses for what we have in ours – and those line-ups are so long; it isn't unusual to pick up trays-full of drinks."

"Thanks, Lily, but I can't – won't do that. It's bad-enough when the Cannons get slammed by reporters unfairly; and I'm not going to do anything to give the reporters around here good cause to do more of their worst."

"You so need to stop hanging out with Al so much," she decided. "It's okay to be alittle bad now and then."

"Not in public," Jonah disagreed. "You go ahead; and I'll get Hugo and Alyssa."

Lily didn't have Al's – or her father's – talent for divination, but she did get strong flashes of insight or forewarning now and then; so she wasn't surprised when James stepped up next to her – when she'd gotten about two-thirds of the way through the line-up for one of the bars.

"Thanks for saving a spot for me," he told her; an insulting smirk on his face. "You can go back to the kiddie section before you're caught over here and kicked out."

"You know I'm seventeen now – even if you haven't sent me a birthday gift in years, James. Am I going to be glad to finally have you decide to talk with me again; or will you be spending the rest of the night as a Bat-Bogey?"

"That depends on whether you're still one of the Animorphloser's deluded idiots," James answered. "I did hear that you've been training with the Harpies over the holidays instead of with the clown brigade; so I thought that it might be worth at least asking whether you'd come to your senses yet."

"I probably haven't, since your version of that would require me to reject reality and substitute it with your warped version of it, James, but it's funny that you pick tonight to talk to me; since I've been thinking about the differences between you and Al – and me – a lot during the past week or so."

"Well, at least the first third of that would be fun for you," James joked. "I never think about any of you at all."

"You're lying; but that's okay," Lily told him. "I do miss the brother you once were, James – and don't miss the one you've become. You'll be happy to know that I still get annoyed with Al too – especially right now when he's helped the Cannons to have such a brilliant first-half of the season; and also be so bloody happy all of the time while doing it. I'm trying to find my own way – which is one reason why I'm here instead of at the party going on back home for GO MagiSports, and while this has been fun so far; I'm almost-positive that Al's having more fun with Mum, Dad, Gwendolyn, and the twins."

James snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure he's having fun changing dirty diapers all night – or can they just change into dogs already too and then go outside for that sort of thing? Has the litter-carrier moved on and left him with the puppies?"

"No – she was just busy getting engaged while at the Ministry of Magic dinner," Lily told him. "That's why I'm here getting drinks – to celebrate. Jaimie and Lorie are going to love having Patrick for their step-father."

"That's cause for celebrating?" James scoffed with a bark of a laugh. "You ought to be offering your condolences to Patrick – or trying to knock some sense into him. He's an even bigger idiot than I remember to hook up with that Mudblood Mutt of a litter-carrier and take care of the Animorphlitter when the loser is right there pretending that they aren't his puppies."

"Thanks for proving that you really are still a ginormous git that I don't want to be anything like," she told him. "I guess you didn't think that I was serious either," she added as she drew her wand and fired off a special little non-verbal hex. She waited and smiled happily as James stepped back; and then sneered at her when nothing happened to him.

"I always wondered whether you'd ever be able to back that threat up," he said derisively.

"Oh – I didn't use that spell," she advised him while still grinning. "You'll love this one, brother-not-so-dear. I call it a Butt-Bogey, and since you've been talking out of your arse pretty much since coming over here; I thought it appropriate." She laughed when it became clear that he was beginning to feel the effects. "Don't worry – you're here with The Healer. I'm sure she'll be able to help you out!"

"You..." James began, but then his eyes widened and he groaned.

"And then some," she agreed easily. "If you walk really fast; you might make it to the nearest bathroom in time. Have yourself a Happy New Year, James!"

The celebration at the GO MagiSports party kicked up a notch or two with the news of their Manager's surprise engagement. Al and Gwendolyn were at the center of that fun because Jaimie and Lorie were seriously fired-up by the news; and Malorie and Patrick were happy to share the moment with some of the people they loved-most. They still went back to the Ministry of Magic party after spending a couple of hours with the twins and the rest of the Witches and Wizards having fun at the practice pitch or atrium; and then Al and Gwendolyn were two of the designated kid-control volunteers. They finished tiring Jaimie and Lorie out with a swim and some playground games; helped with putting a few of the other kids to bed in tents and sleeping bags that were set up for them to use until their parents were ready to go home – or pick them up; and then they got to do a bit of dancing while taking a break from the kid play time until shortly before midnight.

They brought about half of the kids over to the dance at the practice pitch in time for the countdown; since they'd needed to make promises before most of those kids would agree to have a nap; and Al and Gwendolyn shared Jaimie and Lorie with Harry and Ginny as they all stood close together and joined in for the big countdown while watching it happen at the Ministry of Magic party at midnight.

"Happy New Year!" they chorused along with everyone at both parties.

"It's already sure to be that for some of us," Harry suggested with a smile for the twins after the round of hugs and kisses.

"Are you making a New Year's Quidditch prediction or resolution?" Ginny teased – "or are you referring to the two of us that are going to be getting a second Daddy this year?"

"You mean us!" Lorie interjected. "Jaimie and me are getting another Daddy!"

"Jaimie and I," Ginny corrected.

"No – you aren't getting another Daddy too. Only Jaimie and me!"

"You are so much like your Aunt Lily," Ginny advised Lorie while hugging her. "I love you – both of you." She added the last part when Jaimie wanted in on the bonus hugs too.

"We love you too," Jaimie assured her; and then yawned. "Can we go back to bed now?"

"Yes, you can," Ginny assured her; and then turned her attention to Al and Gwendolyn. "Why don't you get them into bed; we'll do a round of goodbyes; and then we'll stay with them while you come back for the rest of the party?"

"I like the idea," Al agreed, "but let's reverse that. You can tuck them in; and then come back to the party once we're done doing the round of goodnight and New Year best wishes. If Lily and Jonah need a designated Wizard to pick them up; let me know and I can do that too."

That's what they ended up doing; Al and Gwendolyn needed twenty minutes to do that quick round of visits with the other guests; and then they were able to share a bit of quietly-hot New Year's Eve magic for two after getting home and while the twins slept peacefully in their usual guest bedroom.

James was still-furious while pretending as if nothing was wrong with him as he continued to party into the wee hours of New Year's Day. He wanted to hunt down his sister and blast her, but knew that he couldn't; which had him hating on the loser again too. He hadn't been able to ask for help with the hex that he'd have thought was brilliantly-funny – if it had been used on anyone else; and it had taken him three tries to finally get rid of it. The first two attempts to counter the hex had gone painfully-wrong – pain that still lingered and fueled the fury. He'd had to continually banish the 'Butt-Bogeys' while working out the trick to stopping them; and that had been a pain in the arse too!

He had managed to hide his temporary condition from everyone else around him, but he'd missed out on several play opportunities while busy with his hex problems; he was at least two hours behind on his drinking; and his date for the night was definitely having more fun than he was – and seemed to be happy about hooking up with more Wizards that he'd managed with the Witches. The fact that he didn't really care was one more reason for him to hate on his ex-sister and the loser – and add in a bit more hate thanks to the news that Lily had been so happy to throw in his face about the litter-carrier's engagement. He didn't care a whit about Muttlorie O'Malley and what she did with her pathetic excuse for a life, but he did need to figure out if the loser was setting him up for another attempt to ruin his life by getting a husband for his litter-carrier and puppies. Nothing came to mind for how that could be used against him, but he'd need to watch his own back.

"Do you realize that you haven't talked with anyone for nearly a half-hour?" Bristol asked him as she sat down on the chair next to the one he'd been sitting in – apparently formore than a half-hour.

"I'm pacing myself – as ordered," he lied with a fake but meaningful grin.

"So this is a bad time to tell you that I've got a better offer than to be your playmate for the rest of the holiday," she decided; and nodded when his smile turned cold in an instant. "Yes, I'd say so," she decided.

"Do what you want – but you'll never get a better offer than a night – or day – with me," he told her scathingly. "The only difference between me and the other Wizards you like to go after is that I'm honest with you while they'll tell you whatever you want to hear to get what they want before dumping you – while all you get out of the deal is a tenth of the fun you'd have with me."

Bristol laughed; and he scowled at her. "We do have fun, James, but the funny part of that nonsense is that you believe that any Wizard is in control of my life – including you. I'm not interested in choosing any one of you – any more than you'd want to be exclusively with me or any other Witch. Don't get mad at me. I've still given you lots of time to find another Witch to take home with you – if you can get one to go along; since you've been a bit of a drag ever since I saw you talking with the potty-sister at party number two."

"It's a wonder that she didn't spoil the night for everyone there," he suggested – "just from the stench and look of her."

Bristol shrugged. "I didn't notice – or care, and I only stopped by to say goodnight – and wish you a Happy New Year. I'm sure we'll hook up again – even if that's just for the sake of the show; so I'll see you around."

She hadn't bothered to kiss him goodbye – probably because her choice of Wizard to go home with was waiting and watching; and James was not impressed by what he saw of the guy. He was also sure that Bristol had been feeding him a load of rubbish; since she never picked Wizards that weren't rich and preferably famous too; and he had no doubt that she was trolling her way up to the best she could get her hooks into in a bonded for life sort of way. He didn't care about that – except that he had planned on taking her home because he didn't feel like putting the effort into hooking up with an even hotter Witch.

"Finally – she's gone," a warm, somewhat-drunken, low, and sultry voice declared as the Witch associated with the voice sat down in the chair that Bristol had vacated. "I was beginning to think that you were actually on a real date with her!"

James laughed while taking his time enjoying the view. "If you thought that was just business – you're right – and just in time!"

Even when he was having a lousy day; fortune favored the King – and just like that; he was back to being on top!

"You must've had a good night," Ginny offered quietly as she welcomed Lily home with a hug; and then moved on to hug Jonah too. "I'm glad to see you looking so much happier."

"Well, the party was pretty good; we loved hearing the news about Malorie and Patrick; and one of the highlights of my night was a chat with James that ended with a Butt-Bogey hex that I hope will take him a day or two to counter."

"A what?" Harry asked while Ginny was busy laughing; and Lily grinned while hugging him next.

"A Butt-Bogey hex," she answered. "I warned him from the start that I'd turn him into a Bat-Bogey if he didn't play nice, but then he started talking out of his arse; so that hex seemed more-appropriate. That was my first time actually using it on a Wizard or Witch, but I'm pretty sure it worked exactly as designed; since he suddenly needed to rush off and was walking a bit strangely by the time he reached the doors to the washrooms."

"Lily – that is so bad!" Ginny managed to chide – in between all of the laughter.

"Not as bad as the things he was saying," Lily countered. "He was just as horrid as ever; so I don't get why he even bothered to come and talk to me. There's no way that he could actually believe that I'd ever go along with his version of reality – or act like that."

"It is possible that he did think that," Ginny advised her; getting all of Lily's attention. "He works with Louis," she reminded her; "so he might hear some stories through Victoire. You haven't exactly made it a secret that you haven't been happy about how things are going for you with the Harpies – or that you're annoyed with some of us."

"I haven't gone around acting like he does," Lily protested.

"No – you're shooting for somewhere about half-way between James and Al," Ginny suggested. "I'm not sure whether you'll be able to walk that line without tipping one way or the other, but I'm also not surprised that James tried to tug you over to his side."

"Would you be convinced if I hex Al too?" Lily half-joked; and Ginny laughed.

"No – and I don't think that Al's done anything to deserve getting blasted. It's late, and we should all just go and get some sleep so that we can enjoy most of our bonus day off."

"If you insist," Lily decided. "I do think it'd be fun to find out what happens to an Animorphmagus when he has a Butt-Bogey affliction, though; so I reserve the right to blast him so I can find out!"

New Year's Day was a comparatively-quiet blast of family and friends fun for Al, Gwendolyn, and pretty much everyone in their little community. There were different reasons for that, since some of their friends and neighbors needed some time to recover from their parties, but Jaimie and Lorie had their aunt and uncle up early; they had breakfast on their patio in the atrium; and then went on to play for the rest of the day. By late-morning, they had all of the parents, Lily, and Jonah with them, and while Jaimie and Lorie eventually spent extra time with Malorie, Patrick, and his family; they all got to be in on some of the engagement news fun – particularly when the twins got to share the news with their grandparents-to-be – though Patrick's parents had needed to play along; since they had gotten the news before coming over in time for lunch.

While Al enjoyed the day off, his mind was always going – and dealing with his extended senses; and spending time with Patrick's family was an example of a lot going on that wasn't obvious without his extra abilities. There were some similarities between the older and younger Potter and Towler generations too. Harry and Ginny had gone to Hogwarts with Kenneth and Patricia Towler, but hadn't really been friends with them at all as teens. That changed as adults – particularly when Kenneth joined Hermione's House Elf Liason department at the Ministry of magic; and that was happening with their kids now too. Patrick's younger brother, Sonny, hadn't been interested in a job with GO MagiSports, but he did spend time at the Cannons' community either with Patrick or Kendall; so that was changing his relationship with Al and Gwendolyn from what it had been at Hogwarts too. The new family connection was going to change things for all of them too, but that was all positive – even when it felt a bit weird for some of them; and it was going to take some time to get used to sharing the twins with another set of grandparents and an aunt and uncle too.

Lunch and dinner meals were with small gangs of family and friends – even if that was just groups that were each having those meals in the atrium. Swimming and playing kept them busy all afternoon; and then Al and Gwendolyn eventually wrapped up their day with some quiet brothers and sisters time after Kirley and Gwenog went home and Harry and Ginny opted for some quiet alone time that was helped out when Lily and Jonah decided to stay with Al and Gwendolyn for the night. Before getting to that last blast of quiet time, Al and Gwendolyn had a few chores to get out of the way before going back to work in the morning; Lily and Jonah kept them company; and then they got drinks and snacks; settled onto sofas in that section of the Great Room; and only half-watched a mirror network show while having a bedtime chat.

"We get you tonight, so how are you going to split up your last three nights before you head back to Hogwarts on Sunday?" Gwendolyn asked Lily.

"We'll be with Mum and Dad on Friday; your parents on Saturday; and I was thinking about staying at Jonah's place tomorrow night – and maybe doing that with the twins," Lily answered. "I don't want to think about going back to Hogwarts. This holiday has been too-short; and I'm wishing that I hadn't worked so much – especially since that's ended so badly for me."

"I hope that it ends with you doing a lot to help Gabrielle and our favorite team to get the win on Saturday – and another Merry Quidditch Christmas," Gwendolyn offered. "I love Pauline, but it hasn't been fun watching the Harpies lose so many matches against the Prides since she was hired."

"Then maybe your Mum should've been more-open to putting me in instead," Lily countered. "Maybe I could have put an end to that losing streak."

"Mum made that decision already, Lily," Gwendolyn reminded her, " so if you're so sure that you have a way to best Pauline; then you should just help Gabrielle to use whatever you know to help her on Saturday."

"Yeah – that's what I should do; since helping the Seeker I want to replace to play better is such a good idea! Should I help her out with tips on besting Dad for her match against him too?"

Gwendolyn laughed. "Actually, if you're going to choose the Harpies regardless of what job you end up having with them; then yes, you should help them out with that too."

"I didn't expect that answer – and hate the fact that you used the word 'if' for my future with the Harpies – as well as not having that Seeker job for sure to go along with the rest of your answer."

"The biggest 'if' will be about how happy you can be with whatever team you're with in the show," Gwendolyn pointed out. "You want to win championships – and do that with the Harpies. I get that, but you've said that you're not happy with what you're doing, Lily; and there really are questions about what job you'll get with the Harpies." She shook her head. "We've been over all of this and don't need to do it all again."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked. "You haven't even gotten to the part where my career and life with the Cannons would be everything I could ever dream of – except for the part where my dream has to get crushed to make room for that amazing future!"

"Well, you've done that already now; so we don't need to do it too," Al teased.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to say anything tonight," Lily told him; and Al laughed.

"I don't want to do anything that has me finding out what your newest hex is like first-hand – and you have threatened me with it at least a few times already today."

"As if you'd actually let me," Lily countered. "That does have me thinking about something I was going to ask you, though. I knew ahead of time that James was going to come and talk to me. Not much of a heads-up; but I did get that feeling the way I do sometimes about things that are going to happen. I know that's nothing like what you have, Al, but I'm wondering whether James didn't get that talent at all; since he certainly never saw that Butt-Bogey hex coming."

"He may have the talent," Al suggested. "I don't know; and it's also possible that he never trusted what he sensed if he does have the ability; since forewarning is usually meant to get ready for something bad."

"So if he sensed that one of his pranks would go badly for him; he wouldn't have wanted to believe that – and stopped trusting what he was sensing," Gwendolyn summarized and added. "If he ignored it long-enough; it would likely just become background noise that he didn't even notice anymore – like when we tune out other senses."

"Yes – if he had the talent to start with," Al agreed. "Did you pick up anything about how he's doing, Lily? If he really is partying as much as we always hear; that must be taking a toll on him after years of it."

"Not that I noticed," Lily answered with a shrug. "He looked good; wasn't drunk; and seemed to be happy-enough – in his horrid, disgusting way. I know he acts differently with other Witches and Wizards, but it still amazes me that so many Witches are so impressed with him."

"There aren't that many single Seekers in the show," Jonah reminded her. "He's from one of the most-famous families – regardless of what he says about all of you; it's a safe bet that he's well on the way to getting as rich as he planned; and he's young and handsome. That's a combination that's going to get him a lot of attention from Witches for longer than you can probably imagine."

"As in Dad still gets that kind of attention – even though he's been married for a long time and has two teen kids," Gwendolyn added with a grin. "The fact that he openly hates on his family likely just gets him more attention from the Witches – along with the general bad-boy image. Let's not forget that he's a strong Wizard too – even if it doesn't always seem that way because he lets his emotions get in the way of fully-using his magical talents."

"I don't usually think about that," Lily admitted. "We don't want to go on about James tonight, though, so let's talk about what we'll be doing when we're not having a brilliant or lousy time at work tomorrow and Friday."

They did that; headed for bed in time for their training day curfews; and then they got some sleep before normal life returned on Thursday – or at least what was normal for the tail-end of a Christmas holiday break. Both work days began with morning workouts by the lagoon for Al; the usual team breakfasts at the cafe that Lily joined them for; and then a lot of Quidditch fun. While they weren't playing on Saturday, the Cannons still only had until Wednesday to get ready for their next match; so they worked hard – even if the reporters and visitors to the practice pitch didn't see that because of all the fun they were having.

On Thursday evening; Al and Gwendolyn followed up dinner for two at home with bonus Quidditch fun with Lily and her Gryffindor team; there was time for a group swim in the atrium lagoon before curfew; and then they headed for bed. With just two days left to the Christmas holidays; Friday night included dinner out in London with all four parents and their kids; a bit of shopping; and then some chat time at Harry and Ginny's until Gwenog needed to get home for her game night curfew. Al and Gwendolyn left then too so that his parents could have the rest of the evening with Lily and Jonah; they ended up helping Malorie with getting the twins off to sleep so that they'd be ready for a busy shopping and Quidditch play day; and then they went off to bed soon after that too – though they didn't go to sleep anytime soon once there; since catching up on a bit of play time for two seemed like more fun than just getting the extra rest.

While the cafe was usualy busy for breakfasts on Saturday even when it wasn't a Cannons' match day, Al and Gwendolyn stayed home for that meal; and then met up with their shopping group when it was time to head for Diagon Alley. They didn't need to pick up sweets and treats to take back to school with them as their younger siblings, cousins, and friends did, but Al did pick up some supplies while in the city – and that made their visit to Diagon Alley feel a lot like Hogsmeade weekend Saturdays as he took care of the 'boring' shopping while Gwendolyn got to play with the girls. With their favorite Hogwarts students going back to school on Sunday, though, Al would get back to making more meals for Gwendolyn again; so picking up fresh food seemed a good idea. He did still manage to spend some time with his family and friends while they all had fun with that shopping; and then they met up with the rest of the members of the two groups of game watchers they had for the Harpies and Catapults matches for their usual game day luncheon at the Leaky. With less than a day left to go before the Hogwarts Express would be heading north again, Al and Gwendolyn were glad to share that meal with three of their parents, Lily, and Jonah.

"At the risk of getting into trouble; I'm glad that you're here with us instead of busy with the Harpies all day," Ginny told Lily shortly after their server delivered their meals. "This has likely been the least we've seen of you over a Christmas holiday since before James started at Hogwarts."

"You'd have seen me a lot if I'd been playing today," Lily pointed out; and Ginny grinned at her.

"Your father and I have tickets to the Catapults' match," she reminded her daughter. "Even if you had gotten to play at the last minute; we probably wouldn't have been able to get tickets; since everyone that has one would want to see that match."

"Al would've sacrificed his for you – even if Dad would've been out of luck," Lily stated; and they all knew that was true. "That does bring up the point that you weren't going to see me this afternoon anyway, though; so your initial argument isn't based on much – other than that I'd have missed this meal; and someone else would've needed to pick up my sweets order for me."

"Didn't I tell you that your tickets are for the Catapults' match today?" Ginny asked; her expression totally-serious and completely believable. "I was sure that I had."

"That's fine with me," Lily declared; surprising everyone except Al. "I'm a bit put-out with my team right now anyway; so maybe I should go to the Catapults' match. If James is as much of a git as usual to Erin; I'll have a good excuse to blast him again."

"It is so wrong, but I can't help but wonder what would happen witha Butt-Bogey hex if used on someone while they're flying a broom," Gwendolyn teased; earning a round of laughs.

"That is totally-wrong," Ginny agreed – "and funny. That doesn't mean you can try it, Lily," she added. "If you're serious; I'd love to have you spend the afternoon with your father and I – and the twins. I'm sure we'd be able to find two people from our group willing to go to the Harpies' match instead."

Lily surprised a few people when she chose to do that, but Al knew that she really was mad at Gwenog and the Harpies; and she was offering a not-so-subtle protest in response to feeling snubbed – particularly by Victoire and Gabrielle. While he would have liked to have more time with Lily too, he was glad that she chose to spend the afternoon with their parents – including Kirley; since he opted to go along too and spend the time with Jonah while he could. That didn't change things up too-drastically for Al and Gwendolyn – they just ended up sitting with Rose and Brandon once they got to Exmoor stadium instead of with Lily, Jonah, and Kirley. That change in plans did give them something to talk about, though, and they started with that once in their seats because they hadn't had time to do that while busy getting drinks, snacks, and a few souvenirs after getting to the stadium from the Leaky because they'd been in different groups while doing that.

"Could today be the perfect time to talk to Lily again about joining our team – or the worst?" Rose asked Al and Gwendolyn after getting the full report on why Lily and Jonah had suddenly ended up at the 'other' match of the day.

"I'll vote for the worst," Gwendolyn offered before Al answered. "I've offered my advice, but she needs to work this out for herself; and any pushing one way or the other might just have her hexing back."

"Or hexing back-sides," Brandon joked with a grin. "I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of that new hex!"

"And I'll predict that Lily is going to get tired of all of the butt-jokes," Rose told them. "She really is somewhere between Al and James; since that hex is brilliant – in a really-awful sort of way." She smiled at Al. "You've never understood why Witches and Wizards have spent so much time coming up with nasty uses for our magic instead of good ones, and while James likely hated getting blasted by Lily; he'll also wish that he'd come up with the hex – or start using it if he can figure out how without getting Lily to teach it to him."

"That does have me wondering about what kind of 'good' hexes Al would invent instead," Brandon said; directing that comment toward Al as much as to Rose.

"I wouldn't invent hexes at all," Al advised him. "There are lots of spells that aren't meant to cause harm – even if some of them can if used the wrong way. We've all used and practiced hexes, jinxes, and curses, though; so we also know there are no truly-good uses for any of that magic. If I can manage; I'm going to try not to ever use my magic that way anymore."

"If anyone can do that; it'll be you," Gwendolyn told him. "The rest of us aren't that nice, though; so I won't be the only one getting Lily to teach me that new hex. She joked about using it on James again, so maybe it's a good thing she isn't here; since she is mad at some of our favorite Harpies. It might have been tough for Victoire or Gabrielle to play today with that kind of problem; and I don't want to think about how Mum might react if Lily tried something like that on her. I'm not even sure which of them might win a magical duel."

"Do you think that wood lice can have Butt-Bogey afflictions?" Brandon asked whimsically.

"You're having way too much fun with that," Rose told him; and Brandon laughed and shrugged.

"Sorry, but I can't help it. Blame Lily for coming up with something that offers so much potential for bad jokes. We're just getting started – and there's no end in sight!"

James stopped at the entrance to the stadium; and turned to face his team mates as they followed behind him – as was proper for the supporting cast! He had to fake the smile while waiting for Louis and Miya to catch up – something that they seemed to be doing all of the time; including during their matches.

"Okay, boys, it's a New Year, so let's forget about the first half of the season; get out there now; and show everyone why we're defending league champions!" He frowned when he saw Miya whisper something to Louis and Roman that earned quiet laughs and grins from both Wizards. "You've something to say, Mutt-face?" he demanded.

"Or we could play by the rules; prove that we're good-enough without all of the cheating; and win that way," Miya repeated without hesitation.

"Great idea – except for the part where you'd go back to being a total loser if not for the four of us doing whatever it takes to be winners," James retorted; including Scorpius and the McClaggens in the 'winners' group. "Go back to following us; chew on the scraps we let you have; and don't do anything to screw up the rest of the season for us – or maybe you'll get your wish to play by the rules – on a reserve squad of one of the bottom-five teams in the league; which is where you really belong!"

"Give it a rest, James," Louis told him. "You've been out-of-sorts for days now; and it's time to put that aside and focus on winning this match."

"I don't need to focus on anything," James told him with a dismissive snort. "Erin's going to be in for another day of pain – and more quality time in her bed at St. Mungo's."

"That's not really even a challenge anymore," Tiberius offered. "I'm surprised that she hasn't started calling in sick for our matches – or just saved herself a bit of that pain and checked herself into St. Mungo's since she is going to end up there one way or the other!"

James laughed. "I'll make the offer before take-off," he promised. "If she falls off her broom right away and gives up; we won't pound her into the ground instead. How long do you think I should give her? Five or ten seconds?"

"Maybe I should've checked to find out which stadium was warmer before making the ticket switch," Lily joked as she huddled under a blanket with Jonah and Jaimie while Harry, Ginny, and Kirley were directly behind them; and Kirley had Lorie for his cuddle buddy – though they were right next to Grandma Ginny too.

"We're warm-enough," Ginny told her. "It's going to be a tough day for the players on all four teams, though; so let's hope for shorter matches."

"If the start to this match is any indication; it would be a tough day for the Wanderers regardless of the weather," Lily declared. "I've had the urge to hex James three times already."

"Why do you want to hex Daddy James?" Jaimie asked her.

"It's a sister-brother sort of thing," Lily answered with a grin. "Sometimes, you just want to hex them. Grandma can relate – she's wanted to hex her brothers lots of times."

"Wanted and have done it," Ginny agreed. "Is that what you've decided to do about having two Dads, Jaimie? Call them Daddy James and Daddy Patrick?"

"Lorie just wants to use 'Daddy' for Patrick," Jaimie offered. "I was just trying that out, but it sounds weird."

"A bit," Lily agreed. "Maybe we should come up with other names you could use for James; and use 'Dad' or 'Daddy' for Patrick."

"Like what?" Jaimie asked.

"Be nice," Ginny warned; though she was smiling in amusement too.

"How about 'Dad' or 'Daddy' for Patrick; and 'Father' for James?" Harry interjected.

"Well, that'd work," Lily admitted; "but you're taking all of the fun out of it for me; since we haven't even come up with anything really funny yet."

"I want a funny name for Daddy James," Lorie chimed in with a giggle."

"Not-the-Mama?" Jonah suggested. "I don't remember where I heard that – other than it was something you showed me, Lily. Wasn't it with talking dinosaurs or something?"

Lily laughed. "Yes – the baby Dinosaur would always say that instead of Daddy when talking about his father. I thought it was funny when I was little."

"It is funny," Jaimie assured her. "Not-the-Mama! I like it!"

"Me too," Lorie agreed. "Not-the-Mama! Not-the-Mama!"

"I think we have a winner," Ginny told them. "Let's quit while we're still playing nice."

"Unlike the 'Not-the-Mama' in this match," Lily joked. "Is Myra Graves getting better? I know she's already given up a couple of goals, but she's made some big saves too; and does that despite having one of the weakest Chaser trios in the league to work with. I'd love to see how she'd do with a better team."

"I'd rank her in the top-eight for Keepers," Ginny answered. "Their Chasers are the weakest part of their team, but that only really shows up against other top Keepers – and much-better Chasers. I wouldn't rank them last; but they're likely bottom-three – as a group." She nodded to one of the Wanderers' Chasers. "He's holding his own against Roman, but then that's likely a mistake; since he might also be their best Chaser and ought to be up against Scorpius."

"They're at a disadvantage either way," Harry suggested. "Maybe they're just hoping to score a few more goals by playing this way. Eldon and Calvin seem to be protecting Myra more and leaving Erin to fend for herself against James and the McClaggens – though they're shadowing Tiberius and Brock too. That's helping Myra; but could be a mistake."

"I think that the Wanderers might have a better game plan than last time," Jonah interjected. "Erin isn't trying to defend the snitch at all; and she's really focused on watching everything around her and avoiding the hits. James really is getting a reputation for wanting to run up the score on the other teams; so he doesn't try to catch the snitch for early wins. Slow down the Catapults' scoring to keep them from getting the one-sixty lead early; and in this cold; mistakes can happen in a long match. The only thing I don't know is whether Erin can keep playing against James like this for hours before the first mistake might be hers instead of something that doesn't go right for the Catapults."

"Is that what you'd do if you were playing today?" Harry asked.

"If I was with the Wanderers? Yes. If I was playing with the Cannons, with all of the advantages our team has; I'd try to push hard against all of the Catapults' players and either get the one-sixty lead or an early snitch catch for the win. James isn't the only player on their team that makes mistakes when they get behind – and let their anger get the best of them. Miya's actually the only player on their team that gets better under pressure."

"And there you go being impressed with the only Witch on their team," Lily teased.

"Don't you still believe that Witches are better than Wizards at Quidditch?" Kirley asked her. "We're supposed to be more-impressed with them – and in this case; he's right about Miya. In fact, I'd say that she's gotten into the habit of backing off in matches when they have any kind of lead; since she doesn't want to run it up on the other teams. That doesn't work with what James wants to do; and it affects her even before they get a one-sixty lead. She's less-dangerous when the Catapults are ahead; and the Chaser to watch when their opponent has the lead."

"What kind of player were you?" Lily asked; and Kirley laughed.

"A reluctant one. You've heard that I did alright whenever I did play, but I never really enjoyed playing the game unless it was just for fun." He nodded toward where James was again trying to pound Erin. "The game is tough-enough when played by the rules, but I never wanted to be involved in matches like this one – on either side of the hits." He grinned again then. "Maybe I just believed Mum and Meaghan; and didn't want to be the third-best player in our family."

The Harpies and Prides were very-closely matched, so if there was any difference at all; it was at Keeper – and that advantage was still small – if in favor of Peter over Vicky. Peter actually gave up the first goal, but Victoire earned that early on a great shot; and then the Harpies didn't get to keep that lead for long before Alice earned her first goal against Vicky. By the end of the first hour; the Prides had a thirty-to-twenty lead; and that ratio stayed fairly-steady as the afternoon rolled along. Al and Gwendolyn didn't have kids to take care of while watching the match; so they got to enjoy the Quidditch entertainment while chatting with Rose and Brandon – and with the others closest to them now and then too; along with the odd cameo visit from other people they knew – either when they left their seats to get fresh, hot drinks or breaks from all of the sitting; or those friends stopped by to see them instead.

Most of those visits were with Hogwarts teens, so they were glad for the chance to see them before they headed back to school; and then there was the added fun of signing autographs for fans here and there – particularly when they were wandering around the booths getting food or drinks. They were still there for the Harpies' Quidditch, though, and did have to play both teams again during the second-half of the season; so they were unofficially working too. Analyzing the match from an opponent perspective still felt weird to Al even after doing that for a half-year or more, but he was also really good at it, so the more information he got from watching matches; the better he could help his team mates with preparing to play their best in their matches against the other teams and players.

"If this match is going to come down to the Seeker duel again; it's looking pretty good for the Prides," Rose suggested after they'd watched Pauline racing off with Gabrielle in pursuit – something she'd been doing more-often than not.

"It could go either way," Al agreed, "but Aunt Gabrielle is changing up her game a bit today; and I don't think that Pauline has noticed."

"How?" Gwendolyn asked.

"I think she's conserving energy," Al answered. "So far today; she's only gone on the attack about two-thirds of what is normal for her. She's going along with all of the racing that Pauline is doing too, but I have to wonder if she's figured out when Pauline has actually seen the snitch or is just trying to tire her opponent out. There have been a dozen times so far when she wasn't quite in a position to block a snitch catch – if there'd actually been a chance for a catch."

"You think that Gabrielle will win?" Gwendolyn asked next.

"I think it's still too-close to call, but I wouldn't give the edge to Pauline right now either."

"Well, Lily may be mad right now, but if her training with Gabrielle really has helped today; she deserves credit."

"Even if Aunt Gabrielle is only motivated because she wants to keep her job?" Rose teased; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"Okay, that might not make Lily happy – especially if Gabrielle offers that kind of public thank-you to LIly if our team does win today. While I'm thinking about that, though, I was going to suggest that you'll need to get a decision out of Lily before training camp this summer for what she wants to do when she graduates."

"Why this summer?" Rose asked. "She still has a year and a half to go."

"It was something we talked about that I've been thinking about ever since – that if she's going to play for the Harpies regardless of whether she's their Seeker or on the reserve squad; then she should help them out – even with getting ready to play our team. I know that we would all love for her to play on our team instead, but if she's not going to do that; then she shouldn't train with us anymore."

"Don't you think that your Mum will offer her a summer job?" Al asked; and Gwendolyn shrugged.

"She might. I'm not sure. Lily's been so mad while training with them these past two weeks that if she's going to be like that next summer; it might be bad for the Harpies. Lily might not even take the job without promises to get playing time."

"How would you work that out for having the Harpies use her broom?" Rose teased; though she said that very quietly. "Would that be an extra charge for an entire season; or on a per-match basis?"

"I shouldn't answer that; since my first impression of the idea is that it's a bad one for the Harpies," Al answered honestly. "I could be fighting off hexes for saying that, but because of what we do know about next season; the Harpies really need to focus on playing as a team. Any drama that might mess that up would be a problem."

"They're one of the best teams for that," Gwendolyn reminded him, "but I get what you mean; and two months of the same kind of drama they've had with Lily over these holidays would be a distraction that they won't want or need."

"It doesn't seem to be affecting them today," Brandon pointed out. "Maybe a bit of competition is good for them. I'm surprised that Al's taking that side of this; since he wants all of us to share our jobs; so why is that any different?"

"Because neither Lily nor Aunt Gabrielle want to share the Seeker job," Al answered. "What we're going to do really won't be for every player."

"Yet you still think that Lily could be part of our team," Brandon persisted. "That's a bit inconsistent too, Al."

"I think that Lily and Jonah could be as happy as Mum and Dad are with their jobs," Al explained. "Lily will need to choose that, though; and I definitely have no idea what she'll do – especially when she's so mad at me right now. If she doesn't get all she wants with the Harpies; there's just as good a chance that she'll do something else entirely while blaming that on me too."

"Well, some of us have been there before; so now I'm wondering which team she'd play for instead," Brandon admitted. "Most of the top-eight teams have young Seekers already; I doubt that Aaron Lynch is interested in retiring yet either; and that doesn't leave Lily with many good options – especially when she is so insistent on winning championships."

"That's definitely one of the things that is bugging her a lot right now," Gwendolyn suggested. "It isn't just that things might not work out for her with the Harpies; or that we're doing so much better than she'd expected – it's that she doesn't see any better options."

"Been there too – and found out I was wrong," Brandon joked.

"What is James doing?" Lily demanded as she brought Jonah's attention to where James was now obviously badgering Erin. He'd been watching Scorpius' latest goal – the one that gave the Catapults the one-fifty lead. "I know he quit school in his sixth year, but one-ninety minus forty isn't hard."

"He's setting her up," Jonah exclaimed quietly; seeing something that LIly hadn't. "Here comes Tiberius – and there's Brock lining up a bludger hit."

The play from that point developed so fast that they could only sit and watch as James switched from running circles around Erin while taunting her to an attempt to hit her full-on as hard as he could; Tiberius was hurtling in from behind Erin; and Brock pounded the bludger at her too.

"Yes!" Lily half-shouted as Erin rolled and dove out of the way at the last moment. James swerved, but Tiberius still hit him fairly-hard – and then because that happened almost exactly where Erin had been; the bludger hit James hard-enough to have him crying out in pain and anger while fighting to stay on his broom. He shouted at Tiberius; bellowed at Brock; and none of them noticed that Erin had taken off after the snitch. "Yes!" Lily shoulted again with even more enthusiasm – and then laughed because the Catapults' section that they were sitting in had gone silent when many of the spectators saw Erin make that catch; so her shout of support was heard by everyone – even as the Wanderers' faithful cheered for – the tie!

"Can you sit down again?" Jonah asked her. "It's cold."

"And getting colder by the second," Ginny joked. "We're supposed to be supporting your brother's team, Lily," she added and reminded her daughter; though she was grinning and looked happy too.

"That was an awful play they were trying to hit Erin with," Lily challenged. "It serves them right – not to mention that it was stupid to try before getting the one-sixty lead."

"I'd say it was just bad timing," Ginny disagreed. "They blew the play when Erin had an eye on the snitch and gave her a free shot at it. Yes, that would've been a dirty play at any time, but it wouldn't have led to an ending like that without a bit of bad – or good – luck."

"Don't do it, James," Tiberius warned while clamping a hand on his friend. "You're hurt; it won't change anything; and at least we didn't lose."

"Get your... what?" James asked; his fury momentarily paused.

"She caught the snitch for the tie," Tiberius advised him. "This mistake is on me too – not her; so I'll take the blame. I should've been prepared to get out of your way when we missed; and didn't. Go ahead and blast me instead. I deserve it."

"Fine," James decided; though he was actually feeling angry at Tiberius for somehow robbing him of his righteous fury.

That made no sense, but he knew that it hadn't been his fault; he'd let Tiberius take the reputation hit that might hurt more than his own current injuries; and probably get to have a lot of fun with the Witches that would want to console him for the rest of the weekend!

"So, what would you say is more-unexpected – that tie; or the fact that James didn't try to start a brawl?" Gwendolyn asked Al as they watched a bit of the post-game show on his mirror while also keeping an eye on the battles going on between the Harpies and Prides.

"They're both surprising," Al answered. "If Tiberius talked him out of doing anything stupid, then I'll give him points for that; if not for the way he played during the match."

"That might depend on how he did that – if that's even the case," Gwendolyn countered. "We'll see how they spin this one; since they can't be happy with getting a tie against a team they should have bested; and that sort of thing can prove to be a big deal when it comes to the playoffs."

"It might say more about their team – and how the other teams are starting to play against them," Al suggested. "We'll have to talk with Mum and Dad about it later, but the Wanderers had something working for them to last more than four hours against the Catapults before being on the verge of giving up the one-sixty lead – and manage not to lose any players along the way. Eldon and Calvin must have played pretty well too."

"We'd just have to guess at that; since Beaters don't get much mirror network time during matches," Brandon told them.

"You and Seth get more attention," Al advised him; and then laughed at the reactions from Brandon and their favorite Witches. "It's true – and has a lot to do with our team uniforms," he added. "Try not to have too much fun with that – having a good memory isn't always without consequences; and I get to permanently carry around a lot of little facts that most people wouldn't care about at all."

Lily and Jonah were spending their last night of the holidays with Kirley and Gwenog, but with the Harpies' match still going strong; they had time to help get Jaimie and Lorie home; and then they spent time with Harry and Ginny while watching the rest of the Harpies' match. By the time they'd actually gotten into the townhouse and started watching the game on the mirror in the sitting area of the Great Room; they were able to catch the last forty minutes or so of non-stop Quidditch action through until Gabrielle finally won a Seeker duel against Pauline that also gave the Harpies the victory! That happened in the closing quarter of the sixth hour. The two-seventy to one-sixty score proved just how close the contest had been, and while the Prides' players and fans were disappointed; they still had a lot to be happy about after getting to play in or watch one of the best matches of the season so far!

A couple of mirror chats or messages had them deciding to stay at the townhouse and have dinner for eight. Harry and Kirley took care of getting that together; placing the order; and eventually picking it up; Al and Gwendolyn were there within a half-hour; and then they waited to have that late meal until Gwenog could get there from Exmoor too. They sat around the dining room table; talked Quidditch for an hour; and then Lily and Jonah went home with Kirley and Gwenog soon after they finished eating while being told to leave the clean-up for Harry and Al to deal with. It was still getting later by the time they got home; so they got drinks and then settled onto sofas in the sitting room to wind down and enjoy the last chance they were going to have for much of a visit before Lily and Jonah would be heading back to Hogwarts in the morning – especially since they'd also need one last visit with the twins on the way to London and King's Cross.

"Now that we don't have all of those Cannons players around us – and Jonah can pretend he isn't hearing any of this; I wanted to ask you about whether you really changed your mind and went to the other match because of how mad you are at me, Victoire, and Gabrielle," Gwenog told Lily. "I get why you're mad, but think that you should actually be proud of your contribution over the holidays to that win today; not trying to send me a message by boycotting the Harpies – or whatever you want to call that little display of fan rebellion."

"I'd rather not go there," Lily told her seriously. "We'll be gone tomorrow – until June; and I don't want to end our holidays with a fight – or worse."

"You think that I'm going to give you the same sort of bad news that I gave Gwendolyn two years ago," Gwenog stated.

"Is that what you're setting me up for with that question?" Lily challenged. "If it is – don't. I'd really feel bad about turning you into a Butt-Bogey and then introducing you to an Animorphmagus I'm annoyed with in a really unpleasant sort of way." Gwenog laughed; and Lily scowled unhappily. "I mean it," she insisted. "The only way this conversation could possibly end well would be for you to offer me the job I've been dreaming about for as long as I can remember – including getting to start playing holiday matches next season; since it's too-late for me to do that now."

"Glynnis and I do want to offer you a job, Lily, but not the way you want it to happen – and not at all if you're not interested in putting what's best for the team ahead of yourself."

"You want me to play on the reserve squad and wait my turn until Aunt Gabrielle is ready to retire," Lily guessed. "Are you going to go back on your promise to give me my shot to win the job?"

"Yes – and no," Gwenog answered. "We'd prefer that you don't insist on going through with that challenge – because we believe that's part of what's best for the team."

"I don't believe that," Lily told her bluntly. "Have you considered the possibility that you've completely forgotten what is best for our team ever since you decided what was supposedly-best for Gwendolyn over what was certainly best for the team? I'd say that you're in danger of sacrificing what's best for the long-term future of the Harpies right now by doing what looks to me like everything you can to push me away."

"Most players don't start straight onto the team with us," Gwenog pointed out; and Lily waved that off dismissively.

"I'm a better player than Victoire right now – and she started for you. I might still be a close match for Aunt Gabrielle, but I will be better; and she's near the end of her playing career."

"I don't actually believe that's true – the last part," Gwenog advised her. "Gabrielle is younger than your parents, half-Veela, and could easily play at the top of her game for another twenty-five years or more. You've said that you're going to play for a century. Why do you think that's possible for you and not for other Witches?"

"If you truly believe that about Aunt Gabrielle; then you're not serious about hiring me to be anything more than a back-up Seeker – even if you might throw me a bit more money than normal for that job."

"I didn't say that Gabrielle would play for anywhere near that long – only that she could. She doesn't know when she'll have had enough – only that she is happy and wants to keep playing now."

"And if I don't agree to play nice, demand that challenge, and win?" Lily asked.

"Then Glynnis and I will get to deal with the fallout – even if that means we get fired."

"The owners aren't going to fire you," Lily scoffed.

"Gabrielle is the most-loved player on the team," Gwenog reminded her. "She's loved by her fans; sells more merchandise and souvenirs than all of the players combined on each of several of the other teams; and sells a lot of tickets. I've no doubt that you'd do well too, but it might take some time to recover from losing fans that would not be happy about us replacing her before she was ready to retire on her own terms. No, the owners would not be happy with us – and that might even end badly for all three of us; since they could choose not to approve hiring you at all."

"Would this be a good time to offer you and Jonah a music career?" Kirley tried to joke.

"No," Lily answered. "It might be the worst time." She returned her attention to Gwenog. "I still can't shake the feeling that you're trying to push me away – just in a different way than you did with Gwendolyn."

"It likely seems that way to you," Gwenog agreed while summoning an envelope and then holding it out to her. "That isn't true. I'd love to work with you, Lily, but we both know why Gabrielle's earned the right to keep her job for as long as she's at the top of her game and wants to keep working for us. You're my favorite Seeker to come along and want her job, but far from the only one; and definitely the first we've made this kind of promise to for a chance to try and best Gabrielle to win her job."

"Because of Mum – as you've said already," Lily added; and Gwenog nodded.

"Yes," she agreed. "I've told you what Glynnis and I would prefer that you do – if you want to come and play for us and love the team enough to make some sacrifices." She paused and watched Lily's scowl deepen as she looked over the contract details. "I know that doesn't fit in with your dream, but life doesn't always work out the way we hope, and just because that isn't the start to your career with the Harpies that you wanted; you would be able to play a big part in helping us to continue to be successful – and then take your place on the team when it's your time to do so."

"I am really getting sick of hearing that sort of rubbish," Lily advised her angrily. "You're a total hypocrite! Gwendolyn might have been just as brilliantly-happy playing with Victoire – and for you and the Harpies – as she is playing with Al; except that we'll never know because you supposedly decided what was best for her over what's best for the team! Now, you're giving me the 'best for the team' lines left and right when doing that only seems to apply when it suits you – even when there's good argument for the choice you're rejecting." She waved a hand over the pages of parchment she was holding with the other. "Do you actually believe that any top new player would take a deal like this? What's that low-end number compared to what you offered my Mum more than twenty-five years ago? A tenth? Worse? I'm better than she was back then – even she tells me that!" She stood up and dropped the 'offer' on the table. "I also told you that getting into this tonight was a really bad idea. I'd have much rather had a nice last evening at home with you, but I guess even that little dream was too much to hope for!" She stepped away from the sofa and headed for the door.

"Don't walk away, Lily," Gwenog told her. "Sit down and talk this out with me."

"No," Lily answered shortly; and then glared at Jonah. "don't get up. I'm leaving; and don't want to talk to you or anyone else right now." She drew her wand when he stood anyway. "I mean it," she warned. Jonah had already taken a first step while she said that – and found out that it was a big mistake when she didn't just blast him – she blasted each of his parents too before any of them could even think to draw wands in defense. She was furious by then; and put a dome shield up around all three of them and about half of the sitting room with a shout and angry slash of her wand. "Read my lips," she shouted despite the fact that they'd actually need to do that to 'hear' her words. "Take that crap offer and shove it where the butt-bogeys are!"

Jonah was torn up as he caught the last glimpses of Lily before she was out of sight and on her way out of the house before apparating to Merlin-only-knew-where. The shield stayed in place, though; so he sat down and looked at his parents as a sense of cold despair hit him hard in the stomach.

"You'd better call Al for help – soon," he told his parents even as the first twinges of real, physical discomfort hit him and he didn't need to guess at what hex Lily had chosen to blast them with.

"I can take care of this," Gwenog offered while drawing her wand.

"I doubt it for the butt-bogey hex," Jonah disagreed, "and even if you could get us out of this shield; you might take out this entire section of the house in the process." He shook his head at the expression on her face. "I don't really ever talk about it, Mum, but Lily is a very powerful Witch; and this shield is nearly as good as anything Al can manage – not to mention that she learned the trick of it from him." He shifted on the sofa uncomfortably. "You might really want to rush that mirror chat request. I have no idea how long it will take for a space this small to be totally filled up with butt-bogeys; and we really don't want to find out..." He trailed off and then groaned when something appeared in the air at eye-level above the discarded contract; and the slow progression of Lily's hex suddenly felt mild compared to the boulder that dropped into the pit of his stomach. "Oh, insert really bad word here," he whispered as Lily's promise ring dropped onto the top of the pages of parchment.

"She's just mad at me and taking it out on you," Gwenog told him.

"We have more-immediate problems," he countered without comment. "You'd really better make that call, Mum – and soon."

She did that, and he reached out to take the ring and then hold it possessively in one hand while wishing that he could be holding Lily instead – and knowing that wasn't going to happen again anytime soon – if ever! They soon found out that Lily had added other measures to keep them in the sitting room – and help from getting to them quickly. They did what they could to minimize the problems with the butt-bogeys, but that was also a shared experience that no teen should ever have to go through with their parents; and it was painful for all of them on several levels. Al and Gwendolyn had to work their way into the house from the road – including walking from there while Al broke carefully broke through Lily's defenses. The shield in the sitting room was last – and toughest – for him to overcome; and then he needed to study Lily's new hex for nearly five increasingly-uncomfortable minutes before being sure he had the trick of the 'cure' for it. Once there, he helped them all as quickly as possible; there was some clean-up that was needed – including for Gwenog, Kirley, and Jonah; and then they met up again in the sitting room.

"How did you get to here from where we were not that long ago after dinner when you left?" Gwendolyn asked her parents and brother. "Lily seemed fine – or at least pretty good compared to a lot of the last week or so."

"I tried to talk with her about the Harpies – and that ended far-worse than I expected."

"That's an epic understatement," Jonah suggested; still looking and sounding crushed – "though it's good to know that you weren't expecting Lily to break-up with me as part of your best-case scenario." He opened his hand and stared at the ring at the center of his palm.

"Why do that tonight, Mum?" Gwendolyn asked next. "Lily still has a year and a half to go at Hogwarts."

"I thought – I don't know what I thought," Gwenog answered with a shake of her head. "Having Lily train with us over the past two weeks has caused quite a few problems; so Glynnis and I hoped to work things out with her."

"I saw what was in most of that contract offer," Jonah advised her. "Did you really not know how insulting that would be for any top new player – especially someone as brilliant at Quidditch as Lily?"

"You can't talk about that – and shouldn't have read it," Gwenog admonished. "This is business, Jonah. Glynnis and I sometimes have to make hard choices; and this is one of those times."

"It isn't business for Lily – or for me," he reminded her. "I get why you couldn't talk to me about this either, but if you had; I'd have told you that it would have been kinder to just tell Lily that you've decided to stick with Gabrielle and not offer her a job at all."

"I made a promise," Gwenog reminded him; and he laughed – though not in amusement.

"A promise that you asked her to let you out of in exchange for a reserve squad job and no stated time limit for how long she'd have to wait to take over from Gabrielle." He shook his head. "How long would you expect her to wait? A year? Five? Ten? Why would you even want to think about wasting all of that talent for years in the first place? Just to keep her from playing for any of the other top teams?"

"I can't answer most of those questions – or won't," Gwenog told him stiffly. "As I've said – the contents of that job offer are none of your business and confidential."

"That's convenient for you – especially when I won't be able to tell anyone about why Lily just broke up with me."

"She's just mad at me," Gwenog told him; repeating her earlier assertion. "She'll get over this – and back together with you."

"Will she?" Jonah asked – directing that at Al. "I'd say there's a good chance that she won't."

"I don't know," Al answered honestly. "You know Lily as well as I do, and while I'll hope for the best; there is a chance that she'll tell us all to sod off and go her own way."

"She'll come around," Gwenog insisted. "This is all so stupid. I was only trying to do what's best for all of us."

"Do you really believe that was best for Lily?" Jonah asked her with a wave of his hand toward the pages of parchment that were still on the table in front of him – but back in the envelope. "If you truly believe that; then you're wrong! You could be wrong about choosing Gabrielle over Lily too, but only time will tell for that one; and it'll be too-late to change anything about that by the time you do get that answer."

"I'll live with that decsion as I have with all of the other choices I've made in my life," Gwenog told him solemnly; and he nodded.

"I'm sure, but in this case; so will I – and I'm afraid that the price I'll pay for your choice will be my heart." He stood up when Gwendolyn reached out to put an arm around him. "PLease don't," he told her earnestly. "I'm going to get my bags; and then I'd like you to take me over to my townhouse."

"You're going to leave too – instead of talking this out with us?" Gwenog demanded.

"Yes," he agreed. "I love you, Mum – and Dad; but I don't want to go on about this – especially when there's nothing any of you can do about it now." He shook his head. "I don't want to say anything I shouldn't, but let's be honest, Mum. You wanted to do this tonight in the hopes that Lily would get past all of the mad between now and next June – whether she accepted that offer or not. Maybe that'll even work out for you, but either way; I was sure to be the one to get the worst of it from her – even if you never expected it to be this bad." He took the few steps over to the sofa his parents were sitting on and quickly hugged each of them – though that seemed to take some real effort. "I do love you," he assured them, "but I'm not very happy with you right now; so I'm going to get out of here and over to my townhouse before I lose it." He quickly left the room and went to get the bags he'd be taking along in the morning when he headed back to Hogwarts.

"Lily's hex hurt less," Gwenog declared sadly.

"I'm sorry, Mum," Gwendolyn told her, "but Jonah's right – and Lily would have never been okay with anything less than being the Harpies' next Seeker – and we all know she's far too-talented to be on any reserve squad."

"So you'd have me sack Gabrielle instead?" Gwenog asked.

"That's your call to make," Gwendolyn answered. "I am saying that you had no chance of getting both of them this way."

"Lily could have refused the offer without all of the rest of what's happened," Gwenog pointed out; and Gwendolyn nodded.

"True, but she isn't Al; and you really shouldn't be surprised that she hexed first and didn't ask questions later."

Lily was stil-furious as she paced around the new 'family' cottage near Hogsmeade – the place that she thought of first as being somewhere than nobody would think of to look for her. That choice might have been a mistake. Sure it was warm; and she could conjure furniture for the night as needed, but it was also such a brilliant place – as well as one that she was expected to share with her family – and Jonah – that she wanted to hate it too!

They'd all lied to her – for her entire life! Now, finally, she understood that it had all been a load of rubbish!

The truth was that dreams only got to come true for certain, select Wizards and Witches. Her own mother got to marry the Wizard of her dreams and get her dream job with the Harpies. Her father got to be an Auror just as he'd dreamed. Even James was getting his dreams fulfilled – if in a horrid, cheating sort of way! The list went on and on in her head; and was followed by a shorter list of others she knew that hadn't been among the chosen either and hadn't gotten their dreams-come-true moments.

"Rule Number One – it's Al's fault," she said aloud.

James had a point. Al was a liar too. Was he really even trying to make everyone happy – or just convincing them that doing what he wanted was the best way to be happy? Why was Rose's dream so much more worthy of his help than her own? Not only that, but she'd say that he'd been actively sabotaging her dream! It was his fault that Gwendolyn wasn't playing for the Harpies, and if her parents hadn't taken the jobs with the Cannons; Gabrielle might not have gotten it in her head to keep playing into her forties!

"I should turn the lot of you into Butt-Bogeys!" she declared; and was too-tempted to go around and do that – maybe while they were all happily sleeping in their beds!

She ignored the little voice trying to tell her that she was being childish, foolish, and unfair. It was easy to do that because she didn't think that she was being any of those things! She believed that she was going to be one of the best Seekers in the game – and already was! Every team should be so lucky as to recruit her, but she wanted to play for the Harpies – and she didn't care whether Gabrielle didn't want to retire yet. She'd had a good run, but it was time to make way for the newer, faster, and better future for the Harpies!

Except that she was now certain that wouldn't happen. Gwenog had made sure of that with her unbelievably-insulting job offer! She continued to pace the room while remembering the details. Her pay for being on the reserve squad wouldn't have been much better than her summer job pay with the Cannons – and less; depending on the actual bonuses. If she'd gone ahead with challenging Gabrielle and won; she suspected that her pay would be significantly-less than it was for the Seeker she'd replace – and a lot less than what Rose had offered – and that was to play in only half the matches; playing for a team she didn't want to join.

The little voice tried to tell her that she really would love that job, but she ignored those urgings too.

She stopped at the floor-to-ceiling windows and stared at the incredible view – even at night without a lot of light – just enough to illuminate the snow and offer hints at the beauty of the rugged land around the cottage. There was no sense of peace – only the hard bite of fury that burned through her without reprieve. That was okay with her – she didn't want to stop feeling the anger anytime soon.

The question she was going to need to answer, though, was what to do next now that her dreams had been crushed? She could disown her family – as James had, but while she was furious with some of them; she couldn't imagine not having a relationship with Jaimie and Lorie – and it wasn't easy to imagine a future without her parents or Al either that wouldn't just be awful. Caving in and taking the job with the Cannons was impossible too – especially now that she'd broken things off with Jonah – and he was to be the other Seeker after he graduated.

That thought had her considering whether her promise to her mother still applied. She was seventeen; and didn't need to go back to school if she didn't want to do that. What were her other options? She could go and meet with all of the other team managers and see if there were any offers that she could use as a stepping stone to some quality revenge against the Harpies that could start sooner instead of later! Now that was a cheery thought that kept her entertained for a little while as she imagined winning a couple of Seeker duels against Gabrielle – including during the playoffs; and then proving to the Harpies' owners that their Managers were now out of touch and incompetent for choosing to keep an aging veteran instead of hiring the hottest new talent. There was only one not-so-tiny problem with those visions of well-deserved revenge – a team that could help her get there.

While she was sure that every team would be lucky to have her as their Seeker; she also knew that the true possible job openings were limited – or even really bad right now for a player that wanted to win championships and had the talent to do that with one of the better teams. This news was devastating, but she could imagine worse – like only getting offers from the worst two or three teams in the league. She was not going to be the next Santini!

So where did that leave her?

With a lot of hate filling up her broken heart; and no back-up plan!

"Are you going to try and find her – or know where she is?" Gwendolyn asked Al after sharing a hug and kiss with him once she got home from dropping Jonah off in his townhouse. Al had obviously been waiting for her; and was ready to go out into the cold again.

"No, yes, and I'm going to keep an eye on her to make sure she'll be okay for the rest of the night," he answered. "If she's as mad as we've heard – and I've no doubt of that; then she might decide to do things she might regret later."

"Or worse – not regret them," Gwendolyn offered with a nod. "Okay, do that, but keep me in the loop, Al, and if you need me; I'll be there – wherever 'there' is."

They shared another long hug and kiss; Al went outside; and apparated to Camp Cannonball. He changed into his Samoyed animal form; the color of his fur was perfect for staying hidden; and he was able to get close-enough to the cottage to not only sense his sister, but see her pacing around inside the cottage. What he sensed from her was about as bad as he'd expected; and his heart ached for her. He couldn't avoid feeling guilty too, since he took on the blame she silently hurled at him whether deserved or not – and he had foreseen more than he'd ever have told her about the probable realities for a job with the Harpies; and knew that some of his own choices were affected by his Divination and sensory talents.

Some things he didn't understand about her at all – starting with why she'd felt the need to break things off with Jonah too. She truly had made that choice without considering the consequences to anyone – including herself. From his perspective, her priorities were totally messed up to believe that any job was more-important than the relationships that ought to be the most-important things in her life. That was exactly how James thought about things – with his own desires being all that mattered to him, but he didn't believe that Lily would make those same choices – or hoped that she wouldn't choose such a lonely future for herself when she had so much love to share.

He couldn't be sure whether she was going to be happy with staying alone with her fury or look for ways to vent, so he settled in for a very cold night; and kept vigil for Lily despite the fact that she'd hate him for doing it.

This was not the end to their Christmas holidays that any of them had expected, and he didn't want to think about what this would mean for the coming weeks and months, but that didn't keep him from doing that anyway; and also trying to find some way for another unhappy situation to be turned into an opportunity that would lead to something better for everyone – even when that would also mean having someone he loved giving up on one dream for a new one.