Music Recs:
Nicholas Britell - 'Agape'
Kimbra - 'Good Intent'
Fleetwood Mac - 'Everywhere'
Marvin Gaye - 'Got To Give It Up - Pt. 1'
Eve & Gwen Stefani - 'Let Me Blow Your Mind'

A Chance Meeting in a Bar

Cassiopeia woke up with the sweet smell of breakfast food reaching her nostrils from Teddy's childhood bed. As she descended to the kitchen, hardly dressed for proper company, she was happy to find it was only her Aunt Andromeda present.

She was teary upon greeting Cassiopeia which concerned her great niece, until she clarified.

'These are happy tears, darling,' she smiled through, 'I'm just so proud of him.'

Cassiopeia embraced Andromeda, unencumbered by how much she had shown through the tightness of her grip, Andromeda readily accepting this gesture.

As she wiped at her eyes, she returned to the cooking the eggs and bacon properly, as Cassiopeia gravitated toward the cupboards to find the plates and cups for juice for herself and tea for her Great Aunt. When she had finally gathered the cutlery, she had made placements on her kitchen table, a little too immaculately.

When Andromeda came across the sight, she chuckled and shook her head in disbelief.

'I forget how much of an influence my sister still is, even from afar.'

'Oh, you hate it don't you?' Cassiopeia looked over the table setting.

'Not at all,' Andromeda reassured her ever worried great niece. 'I just hope you allow yourself to be messy when not in their presence.'

'The messiest,' Cassiopeia reassured in return, hardly joking. Andromeda nodded in acknowledgment of her understanding.

When the food was cooked, toast popped up and leftover roast vegetables taken out of the oven and plated up, the two sat to enjoy their meal at Cassiopeia's overly done table setting.

'Although after the night I had, I am happy to see an orderly table setting this morning. It makes it feel more routine, and I will need to be these next coming weeks with Teddy away on his honeymoon and retirement coming up soon.'

'You're not even near the category for age of retirement yet, Aunt Romy,' Cassiopeia recalled for her.

'Yes, but I've got enough to live on more than comfortably and I do hope to be helpful for great-grandchildren, completely free of Healing work at St Mungo's,' she mentioned after a bite of toast.

'Of course, you have lived quite a full life,' Cassiopeia reassessed from her understanding of Andromeda's past, forgetting herself for suggesting working until a retirement age for a witch.

The elderly witch patted Cassiopeia's hand meaningfully. 'And I don't regret one minute of it.'

And as Cassiopeia looked up to Andromeda, she saw her commonly sanguine smile once more. She was relieved to see it. Until it twisted into that of a smirk.

'And I should be remarking upon you to live yours to the same extent as I have,' she said, sipping from her tea. 'You seemed to catch James' eyes last night.'

As an adult woman, Cassiopeia was not likely to clam up in front of her relatives regarding any certain subject of possible discomfort. Her family was never likely to attempt it, but Andromeda had been cut from a different cloth when regarding the nature of approach. Less subtle was she, and more to the point. Blunt was how her father had expressed it once. And while Cassiopeia had admired it after years of feeling like there was something left unsaid by her distant grandparents and her oft quiet father, she certainly had wished that this was not a subject so early in the morning, or one at all, even.

'He came to the shop,' she said, careful to choose her next piece for eating as she was in this topic. 'A couple of weeks back actually. I knew he was a wizard within a few minutes, and I tend to stay well away. Knowing he's Teddy's godbrother…it shouldn't change matters too much.'

'You're concerned that he has an issue with your Squib status,' Andromeda commented calmly. 'However, you did suggest that he knew where to find you should he be interested…which I could suggest to mean you would be interested…potentially?'

Cassiopeia munched on some toast before swallowing, rinsing it down with juice, before returning to the conversation with a response. She did not desire to answer, not because she thought she would be letting her Aunt down, but because she knew she was right. Cassiopeia had been more forward with him than she would've been, when it seemed like he was ready to approach her with a request of a date and he then stammered beyond repair. He could have said anything in that moment, and so she just figured it would be the easiest way to convey the message without promising him too much, or hurting herself with a possibility, either way.

'Potentially,' her great niece confessed.

Andromeda offered a warm smile for her honesty.

'You won't tell Mum, will you, Aunt Romy?'

'I don't intend to,' Andromeda promised her easily. 'No, unlike the ways of the Black Family – or any pureblood family's tactics, I trust the process.'

Andromeda placed her teacup down and took Cassiopeia's hand in hers. 'When I met Ted, I was wholly against the idea of throwing myself to the unknown with him. I had to trust my parents had my best interest at heart and it was the only life I knew…I couldn't be certain that a path not chosen for me would end well…'

While her time was cut short with both her husband, her child, and her son-in-law, Andromeda being arguably one of the few who lost the most come the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, she never would've been happier in another scenario.

After her pause on that unspoken moment, she sighed, 'It is worrying not to know the prospect of the future. And yet, letting fate take my hand and heart will always be the best thing I ever did. So, I will not scheme like a fey in a Shakespearian play and I will not allow your family to get involved in a similar way, although I'm sure your father would be thrilled to find out that such a prospect in a romantic partner would be Harry's eldest.'

The two chuckled as she knew her Dad would have expressed the opposite.

'Trust the process,' Andromeda said, 'And if it doesn't come through, then it wasn't meant to be. Then you can settle down with a nice muggle and piss off old Lucius for me while you remain happy.'

Cassiopeia gave way to a brilliant smile at her great aunt's deprecating comment, and knew that whatever happened, she would never not be pleased by the young Malfoy's choices, promising to be more so if they were considerably radical in comparison to the hopes of her grandparents.

James had taken any spare time he could to see the listings Albus had recommended. He had a lot more time set aside Wednesday as it was the one day off that he could get from training as Puddlemere's way of pleading for him to not sue the pants off them for not taking a complaint seriously. On this beautiful day in August, James had managed to drag Albus from his mind numbing job down in the Department of Mysteries within the Ministry, filing away nonsense prophecies, using an obligatory Potter perk as his manager seemed to be a huge fan of the family and was pleasantly surprised to see James request his brother for the afternoon off to help him search for his dream flat. Albus was not pleased with the measures James used.

'The last thing I want them to think is that I pull the strings as I see fit,' Albus seethed to his brother, who just patted him on the head, 'Come now Al, you don't get enough sun down there and it's beginning to show,' James said as he looked at the pale brother's skin next to his sun-kissed arms, freckled to the nines too. 'Besides, you're doing me a favour.'

'Yeah, when did I become your realtor?' Albus asked sardonically

'When you found me that first apartment. I know you have taste,' James said respectfully.

Albus didn't seem to agree with James' assessment, but James was being fully serious. They had looked around two apartments that had been prospective and whenever James had looked to Albus he saw issues in small details immediately when asked his opinion. He would start off liking it, but then he would ask questions and the agent in charge of renting out the flat would start to sweat when the answers might not be the best. Albus would then pull James aside and mention what would be wrong with the apartment long term before James feigned interest to the leasing agent and the two moved on to the next appointment. Albus forced James to stop before the fourth viewing as he was dying for a coffee. James looked confused by the drink option. They went to a nearby muggle café and Albus ordered for him, knowing his brother's taste was nowhere near that of Albus' slightly grumpy demeanour.

'Scorpius got me hooked on the stuff in our last year.'

'Scorpius Malfoy drinks coffee?' James said aloud with blatant curiosity.

Albus' brow arched and he folded his arms as he waited for their order to be called. 'As his sister drinks the stuff, yeah, I suppose she was an influence on him.'

James filed this information away and looked as though it were nothing important, but Albus knew better. Before he could imply anything, his name was called out. A purple protein smoothie was passed over to James after he fetched his cappuccino.

'It's filled with supplements and shit, it's good for post workout stuff but I know you have zero chance at liking coffee,' Albus said at James quirked expression. James took a sip through the paper straw and was pleasantly surprised. 'Tastes pretty good.'

'Of course, it does, you child,' Albus mocked lightly.

'Oh, I just need to check in on something, you don't mind running a quick errand with me?' James asked casually. Albus didn't think on it and allowed his brother to pull him into the apparition for the next location he needed to be.

When they turned up in Diagon Alley in a designated spot, James was heading toward the Leaky Cauldron soon after and Albus almost struggled to keep up. As they went through, James sent Hannah a quick wave, but didn't stop to chat, causing Albus to frown. James rarely went past the Leaky Cauldron into the muggle section.

'What exactly is the errand we're running?' Albus asked carefully.

'Just visiting someone! It'll only take a minute,' James attempted to convince his younger brother, his voice pitched a little higher than Albus knew him to be when casual. Albus eyed him sceptically but hadn't quite formed a conclusion on his odd behaviour, odd for him anyway.

They head down a couple of blocks before they come across a laneway with hanging plants and cafes plotted either side. The hosts attempted to beckon them in with large menus and specials, but they were simply ignored as James stepped through easily. Upon seeing a relatively new sign for a bookshop nearing the end of the lane, it read "Todd's Books" and it finally crashed down on Albus.

'James,' Albus stopped him. 'Why are we here?'

James seems annoyed but didn't resist from stopping. His brother had clearly caught on.

'Just thought I'd see if someone in particular was in today.'

Albus massaged his temples and laughed in disbelief. 'Of course! You want to fuck my best friend's sister,' but stopped laughing sarcastically before turning deadly serious, 'Scorpius is going to kill me if I let this happen, James!'

'Why?' James asked as he crossed his arms.

Albus huffed out an exhale, 'Because you don't understand how protective he and his father are about her. You can't just fuck a woman like this and-'

'I don't want to fuck her – well – not just that –'

'You can't just fuck someone like Cassiopeia, James! She's different, and you should know better than to try this on with-'

'A squib?' James interrupted with a judgemental tone toward his younger brother, who seemed to get more stressed about this.

'No, not just any squib, James,' Albus defended, 'This is Cassiopeia Malfoy.'

'Vela,' James corrected, 'She seems more comfortable with that name.'

'Because she fits in here, James. That's why she's more comfortable amongst other muggles and prospective muggle men.'

There was something his little brother wasn't telling him, something that he wasn't at liberty to admit. But James also knew that Vela was a woman of her own independence from the sound of her literature choices and her lifetime of dealing with this already. He wasn't sure if Albus knew this side of her at all, or if her brother had just been too protective to admit that she was fine without him or her father taking care of her.

James sighed and said, 'She told me to come here if I wanted to see her Al. I'm not doing this blindly.'

'Why her?' Albus asked seriously. 'Of all the people, why?'

'I met her before the wedding. This was the bookshop I ran into when everything went down that day with Larry,' and James watched as recognition from the story he had briefly recounted to Albus and their little sister Lily became clearer in his emerald eyes. 'I was instantly attracted to her. I thought there wasn't much use in trying to flirt in my state but then she ran Skeeter off like an angry woman attacking a rat with a broom albeit with far more class. I came back the next day to see her in a less rushed fashion and she wasn't there. So, I just thought it wasn't worth the effort.'

Albus was intently listening at this point.

'You know I've actually never met Cassiopeia? I think I'm the only one who hadn't. All I could go off of was someone who looked like Scorpius and so it never even crossed my mind until I saw Vela dancing with Teddy like they'd known each other for years.'

His younger brother was ruminating on this new bit of information, 'Why didn't you tell us, about this?' he gestured to the bookshop and essentially to his story about meeting Vela.

'I told Dad,' James admitted sheepishly, 'but he followed the same conclusion I had after I returned and she wasn't working. After that, I wasn't going to tell my brother and sister about it when I had nothing cemented to explore. It wasn't exactly the most concerning detail to Mum, even if Dad had entertained the story with follow up questions.'

Albus' face dropped in realisation. 'He told you to do this, didn't he?'

James gave way to a nervous smile and said, 'I wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions.'

Albus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He should've known their sentimental father would have been supportive. 'Love conquers all,' Albus rolled his eyes.

James smiled and shrugged. 'What can I say? The man loves meet-cutes.'

James had learned the word from Alice. Apparently, lesbians loved meet-cutes. His father was just a sap who saw his mother as his soulmate and wanted everyone to be as lucky.

'Even when it's a Malfoy?' Albus cut through his train of thought.

'I think he believes it makes it juicier,' James joked lightly.

'And also, because he gets pleasure from the other Malfoy child getting involved with his son and how her father is probably questioning how it could happen to his kin twice.'

'Okay,' James said defensively, but stopped. 'You might have a point.'

Yes, it probably was a delicious irony for his father, but his intentions with setting James on this path was overall innocent.

Albus gave a childish groaning noise, similar to when he was forced to wake up during his teenage years during the summer and it was 11 o'clock in the morning, conceding to his older brother's wishes. 'Fine. But don't expect Scorpius to be even remotely okay with this. And Rosie will find you if you even so much as-'

'Fuck this up as it will leave a scar on her reputation as Draco Malfoy's favourite Gobstones opponent?'

Albus' eyes narrowed. 'James,' he pleaded.

'I'm not looking for the short term, if that will reassure you.'

Albus was resigned to believe him. The circumstances were too good to be true and he knew James was surrounded by people who romanticised these interactions, their father coming a close second to his best friend Alice Longbottom. Ryan Wood wouldn't have helped matters all that much as he encouraged James' optimism in working for what he wanted.

'You know the potential consequences of a fuck around?' Albus asked lastly.

'Her brother and I duel at noon by the cherry tree on the Malfoy Manor property line?' James insinuated sarcastically.

'The albino peacock yard,' Albus corrected and James grimaced. Albus rolled his eyes. 'His grandparents live at Malfoy Manor, not his parents.'

'Good, because you had me second guessing for a minute,' James said amused, spinning on his foot as he confidently strut to the entrance of the bookstore, Albus not being sure about how he managed to become an accomplice in practically betraying his best friend and his cousin respectively in helping his brother to pursue Cassiopeia Malfoy.

James stepped into the bookshop with Albus reluctantly coming in from behind him.

Todd was sitting at the counter and merely looked up from his book from the page he'd been reading. He was in a white and green striped cotton shirt, tailored to show off his tan physical work, light brown hair coiffed perfectly and his glasses were at the end of his nose. He did a double take at James' presence, with his brother in tow. Todd placed the book on the counter with a deliciously aware smile, welcoming the two in. Albus decided that muggles were getting less conservative with their expression in clothing as they had been taught growing up.

'Mr. Evans, what can I do for you and your friend?' his eyes sparkled with knowing.

James seemed to clam up immediately and Albus sighed beside him. He asked on behalf of his brother, 'Is Vela in today?'

His smile muted mostly, 'My apologies, but she isn't.'

'Well James, it isn't as you say, kismet,' Albus said quickly, hoping to leave the scene as soon as his feet could allow him and his stone like brother. He turned to Todd quickly. 'Apologies for wasting your time-'

'Nonsense, I can write a note if you have a message for my assistant?' Todd snapped up a notebook next to him with a ballpoint pen in hand. He seemed eager to help by any means. It bolstered James' confidence a little.

'Just let her know I came by, nothing more,' James said with a small smile.

'Of course, Mr. Evans. Is there anything else for today?'

'Uh, no thank you. I might pop by again in the next week or so.'

'Are Wednesdays your day off from whatever mysterious vocation you have, Mr. Evans?' Todd asked, his head tilted.

James didn't think he would get that question. Nevertheless, he answered in the positive which appeased the bookshop owner, as he smiled wider.

The two left, Todd waving them away and James was rather dejected that he hadn't managed to catch her again. Albus was relieved that he wasn't going to be participating in James' attempt any longer.

Vela was humming as she baked. She didn't often bake. Nimble had taught her how to without magic when she was a teenage girl and she was currently latticing a rhubarb and pear pie before it went inside the oven. Music was playing softly as she did so from a speaker set up on one of the shelves dividing the kitchen from the small dining area that had set up. Naima had popped into the kitchen, her curly hair up in a bob and her brown skin, getting darker each day as she went with others and Vela when she had the chance away from work out into the various gardens to drink cider and have picnics to absorb as much Summer London had to offer. Her large reading glasses and her grey loungewear were enough for Vela to figure out that she had no plans to do much else after a long week interning at the firm she'd joined a few months before.

Naima's nose noticed it first, and then when she witnessed the utterly domesticated image before her, she smirked.

'Who did you sleep with, babes?' Naima asked hopeful.

'I didn't sleep with anyone,' Vela admitted nonchalantly.

'Then why are you baking?'

'I wanted to bake,' Vela defended lightly of her actions.

Naima's smile did not slip. 'You only bake when you're in a consistently good mood,' she recollected.

'I'm in a good mood,' Vela seconded.

'And your good moods tend to be spurred on by something…or someone,' Naima said as she moved through the kitchen, intending to make herself a snack.

Vela finished the latticing on the pie and dusted her hands off. 'I suppose you're not wrong.'

'Hmm,' Naima smirked, fishing the crackers from the pantry and the dip from the fridge, tucking the cold bottle of water in her arm and placing them on the small island bench that could be moved here and there so as to not obstruct the kitchen space when not in use. Vela could hear the plastic being torn as Naima suddenly poked her in the back.

'Well, c'mon, who is it?'

Vela shrugged noncommittally and eventually groaned with annoyance. It clicked in quickly though.

'Are you still thinking about that guy from your cousin's wedding?' Naima's smile became cheeky as she came to invade Vela's sight beside her.

Vela's eyes widened, but she wasn't willing to voice what was clearly obvious to Naima. Naima lessened her smile, but still looked fully aware as she said, 'It's a shame this wedding was so anti-mobile phone. Would've loved to have seen a picture.'

'Such a shame,' Vela said sarcastically, knowing if she had, it would have been a nightmare to pry her from the image as she dissected and analysed him based on his choice of clothing. Also, the wizard robes would have been too difficult to pass off as some strange religious thing. Vela had filled the sink with hot soapy water as she placed the pie in the oven and put the timer on.

'I'll tell you what, I'm glad your dad hooked us up for free central air conditioning in this apartment. I couldn't imagine how much a day like this and you baking could damage our bills,' Naima took a stool over to the island bench and started snacking away, pouring herself a glass of water.

'Dad has his ways,' Vela said, biting her lip as she turned to the mixing bowl and utensils she had to clean from her need to bake out of what was a good mood spurred on by James Sirius Potter.

She never thought that would be the case.

Her phone blurted out a notification and its custom noise meant Todd had messaged her.

'Do you mind checking that for me, babe?' Vela asked from the sink.

Naima, continuing to crunch on a cracker, picked up the phone and opened the message. Her eyes widened as she professed, 'I think your good mood is about to get better – although he did also roster you on next Wednesday.'

'What?' the blonde exclaimed from the sink. She let the bowl float in the water, grabbing a tea towel to wipe her hands before Naima handed her phone over.

There was an image that showed a notepad and a written note. 'Mr. Evans dropped by after you, clearly not interested in buying another occult feminist book of essays.'

'A man who reads feminists essays is no stranger to eating out,' Naima said, tongue between her teeth as she gestured inappropriately with her brows.

Vela playfully attacked her bare arm with the tea towel for the double entendre, which only caused her to giggle crudely.

The image of the notepad was followed with a blue imessage from Todd expressing that he has an appointment that can't be avoided on Wednesday. Which means Vela would have to open and close alone. She would be allowed to close for loo breaks, fetching a coffee or a quick lunch break, but she suspected that as Wednesdays were relatively quiet, she wouldn't be doing too much work except maybe stock refills and the online orders. Otherwise it was often her day off, working Saturdays to make up for the day in the week as it paid double for her and was more beneficial to both her paycheck and Todd's scheduling.

Vela waved off the slight annoyance as it being one day and at least being paid to sit around and read books while fewer customers came in then normal.

Naima was keen for a drink served to her after a horrific week filled with a million depositions and required a booth to sit in on a Saturday evening and Vela desired to join her, having not been out since the wedding and her best friend promising a new place. 'I don't want to be anywhere near creepy Trent and his mates at the Pig and Whistle,' she had exclaimed to Vela as they left the flat.

They were avoiding their normal place, The Half Moon, likely due to the fact that Jordan would be there. Naima and Vela had dealt with men like Jordan to know it wasn't worth the time, especially if he tried to play everything off as though she were overreacting. That never went down well. Vela was just pleased to be rid of the dickhead and almost felt their apartment should be sage burned and blessed before bringing anyone else into the place to practice any future potential bullshit behaviour.

Although Vela had hoped that better men had their eyes on her best friend after this unfortunate experience.

She was happy that Naima had chosen to opt for her casual hanging out outfit with her large but fashionable spectacles on her face, when they were leaving the apartment as her intentions were clear. She was heading out for an easy night, which made Vela feel relieved. She wasn't great at talking to strange men who approached her in a public setting, and she didn't even bother with the dating apps. The mere idea of telling her parents that alone would have had her dragged back home and her father would have pulled up all the times someone was raped or murdered or both because of such an app. She really wished she hadn't introduced him to Google, nor that they had chosen to keep the Mac in a secluded part of their home after she moved out.

Naima had no goal, and Vela relaxed at this. As they approached the bar that Naima had seen on her way to work, it was dimly lit and not atrociously loud, but there were occasionally moments of boisterousness that quieted down. Otherwise, it was a nice place for two girls to have a drink and not have to shout at each other. Amy Winehouse's crooning voice was heard from hidden speakers.

Naima spotted a booth in the corner, unoccupied as it was too small for groups and was likely a very good spot for a public snog, if one was wanting to display that sort of thing or was just blind from the varying liquors proudly displayed on the tall bar wall.

Vela took the spot as Naima got them a couple of pints of cider. The two were enjoying themselves immensely as they were most comfortable with each other. Even though they lived together, the two rarely got a chance to socialise properly because of Naima's taxing profession and Vela's bookshop job had her in another spot in the city where Naima wouldn't be able to go to easily during her workday, so it was always good to get a good chin wag in while surrounded by a pub and a good atmosphere. Naima had just finished telling her how the suck up intern tried to place the blame on her for a mistake within filing that could have caused great distress, when it was he who hadn't put enough thought to return the item. 'Maria has a teddy bear nanny cam in her office – don't ask why, I wouldn't want to guess – but she pulled it out when I said it was unfair for him to accuse me of a fuck up that bad and now he has egg on his face and he's back on coffee duty.'

The devious glint in Naima's eye as she finished the story, caused Vela to clink her near empty cider glass with Naima. Noticing Naima was low too, she asked if she wanted to up her drink game since Vela had the next round. Naima requested a gimlet and Vela was heading to the bar.

The door swung open as Hattie's long black hair backed through the swinging door and brought in a tray of shots. There was a hooray from a few of the teammates who were looking forward to this night.

'I hardly think beating the Cannons in a friendly is worth shots,' one of Puddlemere's Beaters named Augie Gittins said seriously. The stocky bloke had his sandy blond hair ruffled by the other Beater, Nicky Nguyen who was nicknamed Nini during games as it threw the opposition off, as she grinned amused.

'Just because you can no longer stomach tequila after I soundly beat you, doesn't mean small victories aren't worth celebrating,' Her Scottish accent spoke with pride. 'Besides, the managers got what they want, and they'll be off our backs for a while.'

Yes. James had proven himself worthy as Head Chaser, even if it was just for a friendly. Being the youngest Head Chaser in Puddlemere history came with heavy scrutiny. While his team had every ounce of faith in him and his mother wrote the sports section in the Prophet, it didn't mean the press didn't speculate as to how he managed it. There were rumours of his parents being investors in Puddlemere – which was how they originally believed he got to be a reserve out of Hogwarts, or that he was just given things based on his name.

The only reason James admired Coach O'Malley was because he didn't see him as Harry Potter's son, or more importantly in his field, Ginny Weasley's son. He saw him as a player for a quidditch team and damn good one at that. He worked him just as hard as everyone else as brutal as the man could be, never received special treatment or gave him extra training outside the other players – that was up to him on his own terms to put in that effort. His lack of much of a love life or social life outside the team pretty much made his life into a training nightmare but it had paid off and no one could say he was spoon-fed this position.

James had even managed to recently swing the day off Wednesdays for the whole team as a way of not overdoing their training to allow time to recuperate and heal sore muscles and rebuilding stamina.

'It's a small one,' Ryan's equally full Scottish accent admitted, 'but it's still worth celebrating. Coach doesn't look like he's about to lose his job anymore for putting you on as Head.'

Ryan was sitting next to him, about to neck a shot, also a legacy and one of James' closest friends after being on the Gryffindor Team together back at Hogwarts albeit the former older by two years, once James made Puddlemere out of school, the two were back at it again on the field, just in different colours. Their Headmistress was ever so pleased at the news and also glad she wouldn't have to discipline them ever again, which was mostly James' fault. The Quidditch pranks against other teams leading up to games were getting a little unruly by the time he left.

The chasers who followed his calls on a majority of occasions, Morgan Lewis, a Welshman and Adio Wallace, one of the Jamaican National Players who took residency to be on the British League when the international cup was off, seemed to signal to James with empty pint glasses in hand. Hattie McDaniel, their quiet and reserved petite Seeker with an edge of mystery to her also slid hers down the table smoothly before knocking two shots of tequila down.

'Your round Potter,' she said musically.

James got up as the rest of the main team on the field that day seemed to empty their glasses in quick succession. Ryan sighed as he finished his too, but knew James would need a hand if he were to do this without causing an accident in front of the muggles in the main area. Ryan confirmed orders before they left.

James headed to the bar with Ryan behind him, as the two planted themselves at the end. It wasn't ridiculously busy, but enough to be forced to wait for a couple of minutes before being served.

'It's a lot busier tonight,' James realised.

'It's London in summer, even muggles like to drink, James.'

'I suppose it's good for Gerald's business,' James mentioned quietly as he followed the bar.

As his eyes trailed further down he was struck for a moment and blinked a couple of times, hoping he wasn't just hoping.

But, sure enough as she received two drinks from Gerald, James knew that it had to be her in a short green summer dress, a denim jacket hanging off her shoulders and a pair of white sneakers.

'What the hell is she doing here?' James said quietly to himself.

Ryan cleared his throat and it brought James to his attention. 'You alright there, you look like you had an epiphany?'

James grinned madly.

'Albus was wrong. It is kismet.'

Ryan had fully frowned with concern for his oldest teammate.

'You want to elaborate on that?'

'She's here, Teddy's cousin,' James said as he straightened up and as Gerald pulled up on them, James slapped down some cash and a heavy tip as he asked for Gerald to take the drinks to the team. Ryan was perplexed at the pep in his step. Sure, he had been thrilled when everything went so well during the friendly, but he almost sapped all his energy for socialising. This renewed him. Ryan wasn't used to seeing it.

'You're acting like you just had ten sugar quills,' Ryan said as he put his hand on his shoulder. 'Which one is she?'

As James pointed nearby the corner, Ryan whistled low as he said, 'She is very pretty. But I didn't think Scorpius' sister was black?'

James closed his eyes and looked at Ryan, 'You're our Keeper, how can you not see that it is clearly the blonde one?'

'I've had a few shots and just like you, everything but my mind is motivating me right now,' Ryan said as he continued to eye up Vela's friend, very happy that she wasn't the one James had been speaking about over the last week since Teddy's wedding. Ryan was having a difficult dry period based on some shite one-stands and his last having a love potion involved.

'You said she was a squib, right?'

'Yeah, she's a squib,' James responded as they continued to carefully watch.

'So, is her friend a witch?'

James turned back to Ryan as he folded his arms. Ryan rolled his eyes, 'Right this is about you – god forbid I might want something similar in my life –'

'You don't even know if Vela's friend is single,' James interrupted.

'Well why don't we go find out?' Ryan said with a simple smile. James clammed up which caused Ryan to question his teammate's confidence.

'As you never failed to remind me when it happened, you were once named bachelor of the year?' Ryan brought up half laughing. 'Are you nervous, Potter?'

'Shut the fuck up, Wood-'

'That's more like it,' Ryan said as he pushed James away from the bar and slapped his back. 'I'll take care of this and meet you over there,' he said sincerely.

James felt put on the spot, but brushed himself off and walked off to the corner spot where Vela was now sitting with fresh drinks on hand with her friend Ryan had seemed to gather interest in. James made his way through the patrons and the darkly lit bar, when he found himself in front of the two. Her friend looked highly disinterested the minute he turned up, but when Vela spotted him within the dim lighting, her eyes widened and she smiled brilliantly.

'James!'

Her friend seemed to recognise the name as her head turned to Vela and then looked him up and down, analysing him and seeming pleased with something.

'Hey, Vela, sorry. I just saw you and thought I should say hi,' James said sheepishly, still a little unsure of how to act in front of her obviously muggle friend and how intimidated he felt by her knowing stare. To his shock, Vela stood up and hugged him, holding him for a few moments in an embrace.

'What are you doing here?' she whispered.

'Celebrating,' James answered honestly as he wrapped an arm around her, trying not to allow the closeness of their interaction to forget the English language. 'It's Puddlemere's bar.'

As Vela pulled away, she frowned at the answer. James' head gestured gently toward the bar which had a name plastered across a mirror back in an old London pub style. She looked and bit her lip at the recognition of the name.

'Bowtruckle's Vine. I didn't realise,' she said quietly.

A small clearing of the throat occurred nearby and the two realised just how close they were in each other's space they were as they looked at Naima's enchanting grin.

'So sorry, James. This is my best friend and housemate Naima. Naima this is James, he's Teddy's godbrother,' she said, finishing with a shy look to the floor.

Naima did not indulge her friend's shyness, merely relishing in this moment as her grin widened and the two shook hands, 'It's a pleasure to finally meet you, James.'

'As it is you, Naima,' James returned with a small smile.

'You know it took me a minute to connect the dots, but you have the same atrociously gorgeous hair as Albus and the voice is dead on – are you two related?' Naima asked as their hands slowly slid out of grip.

James was highly stunned by this revelation, which was why he was glad Vela stepped in to explain.

'It seemed that your brother and mine as well as Rosie had a very heavy night together and thought it wise not to go home but to come to mine,' Vela said chastely, 'Which considering who each parents are, I wouldn't recommend the risk either. Rose and Scorpius didn't have the apartment together yet, so I was the last resort. Unfortunately, Naima got to witness it all.

James shook his head in disbelief, 'There is so much that I don't know about them.'

'Be glad you don't,' she said placing a hand on his arm, 'Three people who haven't experienced a hangover before in my apartment? I was force feeding bananas and coconut water to my brother and Rose vomited in my monstera. That was after your brother misdirected the kitchen for the bathroom the night before.'

Before James could respond to this new and very dangerous knowledge about his brother, cousin and Scorpius Malfoy, Ryan sidled up easily and smiled at him.

'So, the straying stream runs in the family, Potter?'

James face dropped at this as Naima chuckled at the taunt. Vela's mouth dropped open at this slightly in amusement, but was decent enough to look shocked for James' sake. James pulled up and almost cricked his neck in response.

'At least it's not in someone's shoes, Wood.'

Ryan found no offence at this, simply chuckling and clapping James firmly on the back. 'Were you going to introduce me to these lovely ladies, James?'

James gave Ryan a minor glare as he gestured smoothly to Vela.

'This is Vela Malfoy, Scorpius' sister, Teddy's cousin, her best friend and roommate Naima…'

'Watson,' she filled in for James as he turned to her having never been given a surname.

'Vela, Naima, this is Ryan Wood. He's an old friend of mine, who I plan on murdering for the high price of five quid later.'

'Just as sassy as Albus when embarrassed too,' Naima noted highly intrigued, her eyes drifting to Vela momentarily. But then she caught the stare of Ryan, and she heated immediately. Vela knew what was happening in the span of seconds.

'What do you two do for a living, exactly?' Naima asked out of pure interest.

While Ryan seemed to play it cool, knowing that he had clearly attracted the woman he had been seeking out, James blanked at what to say to this very quickly, the panic evident to Vela.

'You're long distance runners, right?' Vela feigned forgetfulness.

'That!' James said pointedly.

'They'll be doing some Olympic level stuff for England next time around, hopefully,' Vela added confidently. Naima seemed surprised by this vocation.

'I thought long distance runners were meant to be on the skinnier side…I would dare say you're both quite, fit,' she took a sip of her drink, before glancing more flirtatiously at Ryan's arms, pure wiry muscle that they were.

'Health regulations,' Vela added, trying to mentally smack Naima down from being overt in her attraction to Ryan, although she couldn't deny their ridiculous atmospheric behaviour of each other. As she turned to James, he seemed to pick up on the same energy.

Gerald called to James for the tray of drinks, which opened up a window of opportunity to allow them out of anymore invasive questions from Naima. They looked to each other momentarily, James regretful to be cutting it off.

'It was really nice seeing you again, Vela,' James said, far more apologetic than he should have sounded, 'Ryan, we better get back to the – long distance running team,' he spoke uncertainly. Once he turned on to look directly at his teammate however, James seemed ready for his next jab.

'Vela, if you see us in the next five minutes, it's because Ryan has been eye fucking your friend-'

'James!' Vela spoke scandalised.

'He's not wrong,' Naima spoke suddenly which only caused to shock Vela further as she chastised her friend with total ease. Naima had a new confidence from this admonishment and the clear indication that Ryan was most certainly keen as she couldn't decipher from the occasional glances between herself and this incredibly attractive, well-built Scotsman. 'But he won't need to return.'

Naima slid over a slim and unfortunately expensive designed business card toward Ryan. Vela knew that being a quidditch playing wizard, he barely understood the function of muggle business cards since they weren't animated and didn't show pictures of Naima, but he was nevertheless pleased. Vela was relieved by the minimum understanding he held, as he flicked it between his fingers and into his jeans pocket, patting it as though its safety was his highest priority. Naima sat back, her eyes shimmering in desire and Vela felt uncomfortably hot all over from being so present during the interaction.

Why couldn't it have been so simple for her whenever she spoke with James?

As the two departed, James briefly looked back for a moment and the young women were quietly chatting to each other, Vela scandalised at her friend's obviousness.

How was he given so many opportunities and falling flat on his face every bloody time?

Please R&R

Fadinggx