I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
The Family that Chooses You
Chapter 132 – Glimpses
Harry watched the sunrise.
He sat on the couch, having had a restless night. He slept fitfully and eventually conceded defeat, rising earlier than normal. He puttered about the kitchen, unable to concentrate on studying, and sat to nibble on toast and drink some tea, waiting for the day to start.
His chest felt heavy. Today he would be walking onto the pitch for the first of his last three games. It would be his first game without anyone from the original team.
His first family.
He knew this day was coming. It was ludicrous to not see it coming. To think anything else would be naïve at best, deliberately ignorant at worst. He still had to do his best. The scouts would be out today and he desperately wanted to make the League. Not only that, he had to be a good captain to the team now, to lead them properly, to play his best for them. He had to showcase Ginny's efforts since she would be going for the League too, and to any of the others that one day might try for it.
Focusing on that made him feel a little better. Not better really, but it let him focus on something besides the emptiness in his chest.
He blinked, noticing a small dot approaching the window. It became snow white and Hedwig flew in. She landed in front of him proudly, hooting at him and nipping his fingers. "What's this?" he asked her, undoing the ties on her legs. "A bit early for post, isn't it?"
Hedwig hooted smugly, stealing the rest of his toast and fluttering to sit on his head.
"You're going to get crumbs all over my head," he complained half-heartedly. He looked at the envelopes in interest, wondering who sent him letters this early in the morning. He opened the first one and smiled, seeing Oliver's messy scrawl. You got this Sir Harry! You're the Captain. Lead them to Victory!
Go Rabbit! Finish the year strong! Establish the dynasty!
Ignore Oliver and Angelina! Quidditch is silly but you're the best baby bird!
You got this Harry! Channel your inner Weasley! Phrasing? Shut up Gred. You shut up Forge.
Harry smiled at the small pile of notes. He should have realized that they would remember him on this day. He should have had more faith in his team, his family. On a whim he walked into his room and looked at his candle. Good luck today my Captain! Love you!
Harry looked up at Hedwig. "I'm pretty lucky, aren't I?"
She hooted lovingly in reply, yanking on his hair playfully.
Feeling much better, Harry changed into his Quidditch robes, tucking the notes into an inner pocket. He then wrote on the candle, "I love you, thank you!" He smiled broader when he saw his silver bunny light up and thumping, his sibling stone glowing. He touched them both back, eager to return the positive energy and thoughts. Finally, he dug a few wrapped items from his trunk and walked back into the sitting room.
This time, Hermione was awake as well. She smiled brightly at Harry. "Good morning, how are you feeling?"
He smiled softly. "I'm feeling okay. Feel good about the team. Personally, I'm a bit sad if I'm honest."
"Sad it's your last year?" she asked gently.
"A little but more that I'm going onto the field without anyone from the old team." His voice fell. "My team."
Her smile became sad. "I'm sorry, that must make you feel lonely."
"A little." He shook his shoulders as if to shake the doldrums away. "But I have you and the others and the team now. So I'm not completely alone." He sighed happily when Hermione hugged him tightly. "Speaking of, I have something for you." He handed her a wrapped item.
She took the paper off and squealed. "It's a new jersey!"
He smiled, heartened by her excitement. "Yup! I had a few made. I figured you guys should wear a new one instead of one of my old ones." He coughed as she squeezed the air from his lungs and she hurriedly put on the new one.
"They are so comfy," she said happily. "Thank you!"
They left their dorm, her arm in his, and they made their way to the great hall. Upon entering the great hall, he was greeted with cheers and applause. He stopped, surprised by the positive attention. After a moment he smiled bashfully and waved at those that cheered for him. Even stranger was that no one booed him like his first couple years. Even the Ravenclaws, the team they were playing against today, had no rude words for him. Most of those that learned from him during the Practical Defense Club said hi to him or wished him well, and the seventh years treated him cordially.
He sat near the rest of the Gryffindor team. "How are we feeling?" he asked. His smile grew at their raucous cheering. "Glad to hear it! Alright, time for some breakfast of Champions!" With quick practiced movements, he made everyone sandwiches, once again struck by deep nostalgia from when Oliver made the first one for him seven long years ago,
Luna appeared and she gasped at Hermione. "You have a new jersey!" she said accusingly.
"And I have one here for you," Harry said grinning.
Luna squeaked happily and she hurriedly took off the one she wore but folded it carefully, tucking it into her robes and she swiftly pulled on a new one. "Oh it's so nice and warm," she said happily. Her arms wrapped around Harry and she squeezed.
Daphne and Tracy came over, the latter yawning. Both were also excited to receive new jerseys, pulling them on with Daphne doubling up on jerseys. Lyla got the last one and she put it on without hesitation. "I stole one of Katie's forever ago," Lyla said. "But I'll wear yours now because she abandoned us. Hey, why're you laughing?"
"Something Alicia said about Oliver," Harry said with a smile. "She said the same thing to him when he first left for Hogwarts ahead of her." He looked around and noticed something odd. "Why are people carrying pots and wooden spoons?"
"Oh it's to show support for you," Lyla said happily. "We came up with the idea of carrying pots and hitting them with spoons instead of your usual horns and noisemakers."
Hermione smiled. "Not to mention some people are wearing the pots like hats."
"Yeah!" A couple of second years proudly showed off their new headwear. "We're Potheads! For Professor Potter!"
Hermione choked on her bite of sandwich, coughing while Harry patted her back. Harry looked askance at the beaming second years, wanting to correct them but he did not have the heart to crush their smiles. "Uh, thanks! That's really kind of you. Who suggested the name?"
"Your year-mate," one of them said, pointing at a grinning Dean.
"Dean!" Hermione hissed. "You're a Muggleborn!"
"Yeah, and?" he said, his smile from ear to ear.
"Isn't a pothead kind of a bad thing?" Harry whispered urgently, getting more and more embarrassed as he saw students from all the Houses wearing pot hats.
"Maybe in the Muggle world but in the Wizarding World? It's bloody hilarious," Dean chortled. "Just be glad I didn't offer to decorate them like I originally planned."
Harry saw Hermione swell up from indignation. "Let's go team!" he said and fled the impending storm, knowing what was about to happen. His team followed suit and no one saved Mirabelle seemed to understand the joke, and she was giggling too hard and Harry was too embarrassed to explain.
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Harry walked down the line, inspecting each of his players. He tugged on their padding, making sure the buckles held and buttons were fastened securely. After a quick check over he'd high-five the player before moving to the next. Erica blushed at his attention but looked happy at his nod of approval, her high-five crisp and strong. Jimmy saluted with his bat. Demelza looked proud. Mirabelle hugged him as did Ginny. Ron punched him in the shoulder.
"You all look good," Harry said as he faced them. "Real good. Last year with most of the team being new, it took a bit for us to slide into the groove but we did and we had an excellent year." He looked at Erica. "You're where I was when I started: the new player. It might feel odd trying to fit in but don't worry, you already fit in. You got two veteran players as your fellow Chasers and the rest of us will be there with you."
She stood a little straighter at that, less tense, and smiled brighter.
"Let's go out there and show everyone who we are."
They growled eagerly.
"What are we?" he asked.
"Champions!" Ron and Jimmy shouted.
"Gryffindors!" Ginny and Demelza yelled with Erica following soon after.
"Family!" Mirabelle cried out.
"Exactly! Let's go Lions!" Harry led them onto the pitch. They were assaulted by a wall of sound. People hit pots with spoons all around the pitch. Students shouted and screamed and cheered. Harry saw his closest friends sitting together, their jerseys sticking out and they waved their hands, jumping up and down. He looked up at the teacher's box and his stomach rolled a little, seeing people he vaguely recognized: League scouts.
Pushing the nervousness aside he walked to the middle of the pitch, smiling easily at Michael. "Congrats on making captain."
Michael returned the smile. "Thanks! Are you going to take another hit for me today?"
"I hope not," Harry laughed.
They shook hands and mounted their brooms, flying up to join their teams. The teams waited in their ready positions. Harry closed his eyes, focused on the sound of his beating heart, letting the sounds of the crowd wash over him, through him.
The whistle blew and his eyes snapped open and the game began.
The Quaffle was exchanged between players in a flurry of motion. A swarm of flying Chasers swirled around each other before Demelza punched it up and Ginny kicked it out and Erica made a sweeping dive and caught it, flying for the Ravenclaw goals.
"And Tibbets, Gryffindor's newest Chaser, has the Quaffle!" Lyla shouted into the megaphone. "She's flying close to the ground, weaving side to side. Good shot by Gilroy almost clips her but she just manages to keep a hold of the ball. Weasley and Robins are flanking her now in a triangle formation, passing back and forth. Peakes breaks up the incoming Ravenclaw Chasers with a well-aimed Bludger, and they're swarming the Ravenclaw Keeper! Pass to Robins, to Tibbets, shot by Weasley! Oh good block by Harvey and Li has possession!"
Su and Michael passed the red ball between them, dodging the Gryffindor girls left and right. Gilroy and his partner kept the way clear for them and the two Chasers flew towards a focused Ron. Michael shot and Ron managed to knock the Quaffle away. Su caught it on the rebound and aimed to shoot but Harry buzzed her, making her shoot wide. Erica came up and caught the wide shot.
"Erica! Follow!" Harry shouted and she nodded, hearing his order. He flew high into the sky, peeking back and seeing Erica following him easily. With a grin he suddenly dove, aiming for the formation of Ravenclaw Chasers. They scattered as he drilled through them with Erica tucked in neatly behind him. Ginny blocked pursuit while Demelza slid to Erica's back and left, ready to assist. Gilroy tried to hit Erica with a Bludger but Mirabelle dove in and hit it with a two-handed backhand, hitting the Ravenclaw Keeper squarely in the stomach.
"What a hit by Ramos!" Lyla cheered. "She clears the way and Potter flips around, discouraging Corner. Tibbets shoots, SCORES! First score of the year by the brand-new Chaser! Good job Erica!"
"Victory lap!" Harry encouraged and he applauded when the brilliantly blushing Erica took her well-earned victory lap and the crowd cheered as she passed. He flew to a beaming Mirabelle. "Awesome shot!"
She high-fived him, "Thanks!"
He winked at her. "Looks like we still got a Belle on the pitch. Make sure they know that they aren't safe."
Mirabelle's eyes sparkled. "You got it Captain!" She took his words to heart and it showed.
"That's the third score attempt blocked by Ramos! That's my best friend! She knocked the Quaffle out of the air with the Bludger and oof!" The crowd groaned with sympathetic pain. "Gilroy tried to take advantage of her inactivity but she sure showed him! Returned the Bludger but he's not Peakes and took it to the belly!" She leaned out of the box when Harry flew up to her for a whispered conversation.
Lyla threw her head back and laughed. "That's right! There's still a Belle on the Gryffindor team! You lot better watch out, your bell can still be rung by a Belle! Go get them Mirabelle!"
The Chasers maintained the advantage and while the Ravenclaws put up a good fight, the difference between them was steadily growing. Harry ended the game by seeing the Snitch from his vantage point, high up and above the middle of the pitch. He dove, lying flat on the broom to minimize his profile. He dodged a Bludger, weaved around the opposing Chasers, and Mirabelle sent a Bludger at the Ravenclaw Seeker, knocking him off course and letting Harry grab the Snitch.
"Potter has the Snitch! Gryffindor wins 250 to 80!" Lyla shrieked happily. "What a start to the year! The Ladies of Gryffindor are still very much here!"
The team landed and celebrated. Ron and Jimmy lifted Erica high onto their shoulders, yelling and laughing. She squealed, crimson faced, but laughed in delight as the two players carried her to the approaching Gryffindors. Harry hugged an ecstatic Mirabelle, barely avoiding getting hit by her bat in the process.
Later at the party, she and Erica were the guests of honor. They were surrounded by well-wishers and others eager to admire them. Ginny and Demelza were mobbed by other girls wanting to get into Quidditch and Jimmy was happy to talk about being a Beater. Ron had a large crowd around him and he entertained them with his point of view of things, acting out his observations and making everyone laugh.
Harry sat in the old team corner, once again slightly wistful. He already accepted all sorts of compliments and greetings from the others. He took a few moments to check in with the second and third years, the ones he tutored in the past. After some begging, he agreed to find some time to help them later, which meant he promised to help the new first years too. He spent some time talking to his year-mates and others before retiring to the corner and was mildly surprised to find it relatively empty.
"No one really uses it," Mirabelle explained as she joined him, Hermione, Lyla, Daphne, Tracy, Luna, and Susan there. "If the team is here, we usually sit here and study and stuff, but honestly, people kind of leave it empty."
"Alicia would like that," Hermione said with a smile. "She'd see it as people honoring the space."
Harry smiled sadly. "Maybe I'll do my tutoring sessions here. It feels too lonely to not let it be used."
"How do you find time to do all that?" Daphne asked. "I am taking one less class than you and am busy with all that plus being Senior Prefect. You are Quidditch Captain and Head Boy on top of that."
"Hermione does most of the Head student duties, to my shame and pity. She's better at it though and the one time I tried to do a schedule she redid it."
Hermione flushed while the others laughed. "I didn't redo it. I just redid the color coding it because you did that part wrong. The actual scheduling part was fine."
Harry grinned as she shoved him. "Ron's been doing a lot of the Captain things too. Figuring out other people's schedules and helping me arrange things there. He's a good second."
"So you're taking credit for the hard work of others?" Tracy's eyes widened comically. "How very Slytherin of you!"
"Well, being acquaintances with you two seemed to have influenced my behaviors," he replied in a posh accent.
"Please tell me I don't sound like that," Daphne begged. She pushed Tracy off the couch when the brown-haired girl held her thumb and pointer finger open in a "little bit" gesture.
"I still pull my weight though," Harry said while everyone laughed. "Just keeping busy. There's so much to do this year."
"At least you don't have to worry about applications for work or other things so much," Susan said evenly. "Not saying you aren't working for your future either, but I've had to do so many things for apprenticeships for the DMLE."
"What are you planning to do there?" Tracy asked.
"Not an Auror. Auntie didn't want me to do it and I didn't really want to do it either to be honest. I see what it does to her and it doesn't appeal to me. But I want to help out and do the right thing. I'm thinking of going to Law school and becoming a solicitor. Auntie complains all the time that she has problems finding decent ones."
"Decent?" Hermione asked.
"Uncorrupted ones," Daphne said and Susan nodded.
"What are you all wanting to do anyways if you don't mind me asking," Lyla asked.
"I'm actually doing the same as Susan," Hermione said. "Muggleborns are always having a tough time of things in the Wizarding World and there are so many laws and things that are designed to make things harder for them. So I aim to be a solicitor and either try to help change some laws or help make things easier for Muggleborns."
"I'm joining the family business," Daphne said. "We sell and buy potions materials and ingredients and so I will help with that as well as throw my hat into the political arena. I may do a potions mastery as well to stay on top of things. Also I can charge more for my services if I am a master."
"I'm also joining my family business. My family does realtor work and I'll be helping with that. They also do some construction and repair and other things with land development, so it'll be fun and interesting." Tracy said.
"And you're aiming for the Quidditch League right?" Mirabelle asked Harry.
"Yup but I'm also applying to do a mastery while playing. I'll need something to do when I retire from playing Quidditch all the time."
"Oh what are you going to do one in?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"Transfiguration," Harry said. "Professor McGonagall told me she would see it as a grave insult if I didn't do one after my O.W.L.s score and she says I'll probably do just as well in N.E.W.T.s. She also told me she will duel anyone else if they try to 'poach me' from her."
"Blatant favoritism," Daphne sniffed.
"As if Slytherins never benefited from favoritism," Hermione replied snidely.
"Well, not so much anymore ever since Professor Snape had that stick removed out of his arse," Tracy said and everyone laughed.
"Why are you still applying? It sounds like you already have it ready," Susan asked.
"I still need to go through the application process formally. Just so that it looks right. I also need to wait and negotiate the long form depending on if I get signed onto a team or not. And Professor McGonagall said she needed the application as proof of my sincerity and as a form of insurance to ensure appropriate behavior."
"I retract my claim of blatant favoritism," Daphne said to more laughter.
"Do you know what you're doing yet?" Lyla asked Luna.
"I want to do more with art. I like to draw and paint and there are always ways to apply that. I'm also going to keep helping daddy with the Quibbler but I don't want to be a dedicated journalist. Magazine articles are so black and white sometimes. You can't really stare at an article and wonder. Well you can but it's not as stimulating."
"She's really good at art, I've saved every bit," Harry said. He smiled when Luna hugged him about the waist, resting her head against him.
Mirabelle and Lyla looked at each other with some alarm.
"You still have time," Harry said soothingly. "No need to panic yet. They really should do career counseling a bit earlier than fifth year but lots of people don't figure things out until after O.W.L.s. It's good to have goals early on but don't feel too pressured. Masteries wasn't even something I was considering until my meeting."
"What are you going to do with a Transfiguration mastery?" Tracy asked. "Turn your opponents' brooms into anchors?"
Harry laughed. "I thought the certificate would look pretty on my wall." Everyone laughed and Hermione smacked him. "Well, if you ask Professor McGonagall, she's hoping I teach one day."
"Then you'll really be Professor Potter!" Mirabelle squealed.
"Do you hear that?" Tracy held her hand to her ear while Harry poked Mirabelle. "It's the sound of future Hogwarts students breathing a collective sigh of relief at a much more relaxed Transfiguration professor."
"Brave of you to say that in her own House," Hermione said, looking at the walls as if expecting to see someone listening.
"Don't Gryffindors like the truth?" Tracy said, much more quietly.
"His class would be one no one would ever skive off," Daphne said. Her expression turned gleeful. "So many students wishing to impress their professor."
Tracy shook her hair out and pulled down on her jersey a little, undoing a top button on her blouse. She sauntered over and sat on Harry's lap, arching her back slightly. "Oh, Professor Potter," she purred. "Do you offer extra credit? I'll be sure to earn it." She whooped as Lyla and Luna shoved her off of Harry.
Harry's face was bright red and he shook his head as Tracy, Daphne, Susan and Mirabelle laughed hysterically. Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust. "You two have way too much fun at my expense," he said with a wry smile.
"I'm telling Katie!" Lyla said as she clung to Harry protectively.
Tracy blanched. "You'll protect me, right?" she asked Daphne.
"Hardly. I'll be telling Katie in my next letter to her." Daphne's eyes danced with delight. "At least it will be a while before you get your comeuppance."
"Good thing you're not trying to be a comedienne," Luna said, patting Tracy's shoulder. "I don't think you'd survive."
"This is what I get for trying to be funny," Tracy said bitterly as the others laughed all the harder.
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Katie2001 - There's a very good chance I crafted the entire chapter solely around that one joke. And am glad I did because that chapter was one of the funniest ones in my opinion.
audreypaustin97 - I hope things improve for you and I'm glad to have helped in any way. Thank you.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - I thought of the joke randomly and crafted the whole chapter around it. I mean, I always intended on them to get married, Alicia and Oliver, but the overall chapter just felt fun to me. Hearing your potions making makes sense to me. Some high level chefs rely on their hearing as much as their other skills so I thought potions would be the same. I'll see if I can think of a chapter too for that other one.
alix33 - Or Bridesman
slytherinsal - I'll have to try and make them myself one day. Thank you for the suggestion.
hypnoticageregression - She would be an effective teacher. Just and cruel.