The Quidditch players quickly finished off their dinner and jumped straight
back onto their broomsticks.
"This is it Charlie. You're going down!" Harry yelled. Charlie laughed and quickly flew 3 loops in the air, without hands.
"Yeah, go Charlie!" Harry heard Hermione and Ginny yell. Harry, determined to impress, quickly nose-dived toward the ground, pulling out just in time. The girls on his team cheered loudly.
The two Seekers continued to try and out-trick each other while the game continued. Just as the sun was setting, Mr Weasely conjured up large flood- lights to shine on the pitch. This made it a million times easier to spot the Snitch. Just as Harry was attempting a quadruple mid-air roll, he felt something sharp hit him in the sides. Letting go of his broom, he clutched both hands over his stinging rib cage. He hands closed over the smooth metal of the Snitch.
"I got it!" he yelled. Oliver looked over, very relieved, and Bill blew the whistle. The game had been going for almost 10 hours, and the scores were at 960-800. All players hit the ground, and while Harry's team engulfed him in a group hug, they also managed to give a few friendly jeers in the opposite direction.
The other team laughed mockingly, and gathered together in a defeated huddle. Putting their heads together, Harry thought they must have been praying or something. Until he felt cold water running down his back. Charlie, and the other graduates from Hogwarts had conjured up buckets of icy water to hang over each opposing team members' head, trickling down slowly.
"Arghhhh....(explicitive) (explicitive)!!" Oliver's team ran around, trying to shake off the buckets. The watching adults were engulfed by laughter, not being able to control themselves enough to mutter a counter-curse. Harry recovered first.
"Sore losers!" he yelled. He whispered a hurried plan to the twins, who looked more than happy to whip out their wands and mutter a curse that would see Bailey's team suddenly feel the insides of their mouth burn, like they had just eaten a pepper.
"Ohhh..Oh.Oh.Oh!" the girls yelled, the boys were a little more profound with their language choice, but Mrs Weasley was giggling so hard, she didn't even yell at them.
Finally, both teams recovered fully from the jinxes. They gathered up the gear, and magicked away the goal posts and floodlights. The walk back to the house was enjoyable, with each Quidditch player occasionally overcome by repercussions of the curse, and feeling a fiery mouth, or icy neck. Harry went to bed that night happy, contented, relaxed, and surprisingly, not dreading leaving the Burrow. Maybe that's because he wasn't going back to the Dursleys, but to the happy home of Remus and Sirius. Anya, Remus and Sirius had stayed late into the night, chatting with Mr & Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie. After Sirius had consumed his 6th Scotch, and had stood up to apparate home, only to find he could see 2 of everything, Mrs Weasely insisted they stay the night. She conjured up 3 mattresses on the floor of the living room, and the 3 guests fell into them.
Harry awoke to the smell of pancakes the next morning, which was slightly odd, because every time he'd eaten breakfast here, there'd always been eggs, bacon, toast, tea, coffee, every breakfast food you can imagine, except pancakes. Harry slowly wiggled out of his sleeping bag on the floor. Ron stirred in his sleep, and called out
'peanuts', but didn't wake. Harry smiled ruefully, and carefully picked his way across the cluttered floor. Walking into the kitchen, he was surprised to see Anya at the stove, instead of Mrs Weasley. Anya was staring dreamily out the window, and humming a song.
"Can I help with anything?" Harry asked, startling her. She dropped the spatula she was holding. "Shit!" she yelped. She immediately looked guilty.
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be saying things like that in front of you, I'm so new at this godmother thing!" Anya repeatedly apologised.
"It doesn't matter, Sirius curses all the time at home," Harry explained, throwing over a dishrag to Anya. He neglected to inform her that he too, was not opposed to using this language.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked, the house was unusually quiet.
"Well, most of the Weasleys went out early for a walk this morning. I think Ron's the only one left still sleeping! And Hermione, I think, is in Ginny's room reading," Anya handed a stack of pancakes to Harry, and he carried them, along with 2 plates and the maple syrup over to the kitchen table.
The sat down, Harry at the head of table, and Anya to his right. Upon sitting on her chair, Anya immediately curled one leg up and under her. With her hair in a big messy bun, and her over-sized sheep pj's, she looked like a little girl. Especially when she dripped syrup down her chin, and starting trying to lick it off with her tongue. Harry grinned at her, and she stopped, looking sheepish. "I like the syrup," she explained, as if it was incredibly obvious. They ate in silence for awhile.
"These are really good!" Harry said, reaching for a 3rd. Anya finished her mouthful.
"Your mum's recipe. She made the best pancakes," Anya said wistfully, remembering all the breakfasts that she, Lily, James and Sirius had shared.
Many years earlier.........
Anya was standing at the stove, concentrating hard on flipping the pancakes sizzling before her. Lily had taught her just a week earlier how to make them properly, and Anya thought it'd be a nice gesture. They had only been living in the house for 2 months now, and she was eager to prove she was actually useful round the house.
Still concentrating, Anya balanced on one leg, with the other right-angled at the knee, with her foot resting on the inside of the standing legs knee. This was made slightly difficult by the long, purple satin nightdress she was wearing, but Anya just hitched the dress up, and promised herself she'd pull it down before people came down to breakfast.
Anya dropped her spatula, but as she was about to bend over to pick it up, she heard a noise in the door way. She quickly whirled around and saw Sirius leaning against the doorframe, unashamedly checking her out, with her dress hitched up around mid thigh. He gave her sexy grin, and ran his hand through his ruffled black hair.
"Morning," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Mmmm, smells good baby!" Sirius took a deep sniff at the air, reminding Anya of a dog. Which all made sense to her of course. He took a step forward to kiss her, and suddenly a look of disgust crossed his face. "What?" Anya asked, worried. Sirius bent over quickly, and came up with the gooey, battered spatula.
"Drop something?" he asked. Anya took the spatula off him, rinsed it and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.
"Sit down and wait for your breakfast like a good boy!" she instructed him, laughing at the puppy-dog face he gave her.
Thinking back, Anya half-expected Sirius to come into the kitchen the same way. When he did rise, it of course wasn't anything like she remembered. He walked into the room, gave a slight smile toward Harry and grumbled about there being no coffee.
"And why is it you so desperately need coffee Sirius?" Anya asked, winking at Harry. Harry knew of Sirius's 6 Scotches last night, and knew to play along with Anya's game. Sirius shot her a glare.
"I think you know why," he muttered.
"No, should I?" Anya asked innocently. Harry worked hard at keeping his face straight, trying to ignore the look on Sirius's face.
"Well, I uh....just coffee. I need coffee!" Sirius wasn't too ready with his usual witty comebacks when he'd woken up with a hangover.
"I'm sorry. Here you go, nice and strong!" Anya magicked a cup of coffee up for Sirius, and he sat down heavily at the table. He half-closed his eyes again, and lay his head on the table.
Ginny wandered in a few minutes later, and stood next to Harry. Anya handed her a glass of pumpkin juice, which she drank with her right hand, allowing her left hand to lightly rest of Harry's shoulder. Sirius groggily looked up a moment later, and suddenly grew very wide-eyed. He shook his head violently, and took a swig of coffee. Harry and Ginny were oblivious to the reaction, as the were involved in conversation, but Anya saw it, and knew what it was. The scene at the table was astonishingly similar to the many meals they'd had when Sirius and Anya were living with James and Lily. Anya knew Sirius had seen her, along with Harry and Ginny, who looked remarkably like James and Lily. She didn't say anything, but it was strangely reassuring.
"This is it Charlie. You're going down!" Harry yelled. Charlie laughed and quickly flew 3 loops in the air, without hands.
"Yeah, go Charlie!" Harry heard Hermione and Ginny yell. Harry, determined to impress, quickly nose-dived toward the ground, pulling out just in time. The girls on his team cheered loudly.
The two Seekers continued to try and out-trick each other while the game continued. Just as the sun was setting, Mr Weasely conjured up large flood- lights to shine on the pitch. This made it a million times easier to spot the Snitch. Just as Harry was attempting a quadruple mid-air roll, he felt something sharp hit him in the sides. Letting go of his broom, he clutched both hands over his stinging rib cage. He hands closed over the smooth metal of the Snitch.
"I got it!" he yelled. Oliver looked over, very relieved, and Bill blew the whistle. The game had been going for almost 10 hours, and the scores were at 960-800. All players hit the ground, and while Harry's team engulfed him in a group hug, they also managed to give a few friendly jeers in the opposite direction.
The other team laughed mockingly, and gathered together in a defeated huddle. Putting their heads together, Harry thought they must have been praying or something. Until he felt cold water running down his back. Charlie, and the other graduates from Hogwarts had conjured up buckets of icy water to hang over each opposing team members' head, trickling down slowly.
"Arghhhh....(explicitive) (explicitive)!!" Oliver's team ran around, trying to shake off the buckets. The watching adults were engulfed by laughter, not being able to control themselves enough to mutter a counter-curse. Harry recovered first.
"Sore losers!" he yelled. He whispered a hurried plan to the twins, who looked more than happy to whip out their wands and mutter a curse that would see Bailey's team suddenly feel the insides of their mouth burn, like they had just eaten a pepper.
"Ohhh..Oh.Oh.Oh!" the girls yelled, the boys were a little more profound with their language choice, but Mrs Weasley was giggling so hard, she didn't even yell at them.
Finally, both teams recovered fully from the jinxes. They gathered up the gear, and magicked away the goal posts and floodlights. The walk back to the house was enjoyable, with each Quidditch player occasionally overcome by repercussions of the curse, and feeling a fiery mouth, or icy neck. Harry went to bed that night happy, contented, relaxed, and surprisingly, not dreading leaving the Burrow. Maybe that's because he wasn't going back to the Dursleys, but to the happy home of Remus and Sirius. Anya, Remus and Sirius had stayed late into the night, chatting with Mr & Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie. After Sirius had consumed his 6th Scotch, and had stood up to apparate home, only to find he could see 2 of everything, Mrs Weasely insisted they stay the night. She conjured up 3 mattresses on the floor of the living room, and the 3 guests fell into them.
Harry awoke to the smell of pancakes the next morning, which was slightly odd, because every time he'd eaten breakfast here, there'd always been eggs, bacon, toast, tea, coffee, every breakfast food you can imagine, except pancakes. Harry slowly wiggled out of his sleeping bag on the floor. Ron stirred in his sleep, and called out
'peanuts', but didn't wake. Harry smiled ruefully, and carefully picked his way across the cluttered floor. Walking into the kitchen, he was surprised to see Anya at the stove, instead of Mrs Weasley. Anya was staring dreamily out the window, and humming a song.
"Can I help with anything?" Harry asked, startling her. She dropped the spatula she was holding. "Shit!" she yelped. She immediately looked guilty.
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be saying things like that in front of you, I'm so new at this godmother thing!" Anya repeatedly apologised.
"It doesn't matter, Sirius curses all the time at home," Harry explained, throwing over a dishrag to Anya. He neglected to inform her that he too, was not opposed to using this language.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked, the house was unusually quiet.
"Well, most of the Weasleys went out early for a walk this morning. I think Ron's the only one left still sleeping! And Hermione, I think, is in Ginny's room reading," Anya handed a stack of pancakes to Harry, and he carried them, along with 2 plates and the maple syrup over to the kitchen table.
The sat down, Harry at the head of table, and Anya to his right. Upon sitting on her chair, Anya immediately curled one leg up and under her. With her hair in a big messy bun, and her over-sized sheep pj's, she looked like a little girl. Especially when she dripped syrup down her chin, and starting trying to lick it off with her tongue. Harry grinned at her, and she stopped, looking sheepish. "I like the syrup," she explained, as if it was incredibly obvious. They ate in silence for awhile.
"These are really good!" Harry said, reaching for a 3rd. Anya finished her mouthful.
"Your mum's recipe. She made the best pancakes," Anya said wistfully, remembering all the breakfasts that she, Lily, James and Sirius had shared.
Many years earlier.........
Anya was standing at the stove, concentrating hard on flipping the pancakes sizzling before her. Lily had taught her just a week earlier how to make them properly, and Anya thought it'd be a nice gesture. They had only been living in the house for 2 months now, and she was eager to prove she was actually useful round the house.
Still concentrating, Anya balanced on one leg, with the other right-angled at the knee, with her foot resting on the inside of the standing legs knee. This was made slightly difficult by the long, purple satin nightdress she was wearing, but Anya just hitched the dress up, and promised herself she'd pull it down before people came down to breakfast.
Anya dropped her spatula, but as she was about to bend over to pick it up, she heard a noise in the door way. She quickly whirled around and saw Sirius leaning against the doorframe, unashamedly checking her out, with her dress hitched up around mid thigh. He gave her sexy grin, and ran his hand through his ruffled black hair.
"Morning," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Mmmm, smells good baby!" Sirius took a deep sniff at the air, reminding Anya of a dog. Which all made sense to her of course. He took a step forward to kiss her, and suddenly a look of disgust crossed his face. "What?" Anya asked, worried. Sirius bent over quickly, and came up with the gooey, battered spatula.
"Drop something?" he asked. Anya took the spatula off him, rinsed it and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.
"Sit down and wait for your breakfast like a good boy!" she instructed him, laughing at the puppy-dog face he gave her.
Thinking back, Anya half-expected Sirius to come into the kitchen the same way. When he did rise, it of course wasn't anything like she remembered. He walked into the room, gave a slight smile toward Harry and grumbled about there being no coffee.
"And why is it you so desperately need coffee Sirius?" Anya asked, winking at Harry. Harry knew of Sirius's 6 Scotches last night, and knew to play along with Anya's game. Sirius shot her a glare.
"I think you know why," he muttered.
"No, should I?" Anya asked innocently. Harry worked hard at keeping his face straight, trying to ignore the look on Sirius's face.
"Well, I uh....just coffee. I need coffee!" Sirius wasn't too ready with his usual witty comebacks when he'd woken up with a hangover.
"I'm sorry. Here you go, nice and strong!" Anya magicked a cup of coffee up for Sirius, and he sat down heavily at the table. He half-closed his eyes again, and lay his head on the table.
Ginny wandered in a few minutes later, and stood next to Harry. Anya handed her a glass of pumpkin juice, which she drank with her right hand, allowing her left hand to lightly rest of Harry's shoulder. Sirius groggily looked up a moment later, and suddenly grew very wide-eyed. He shook his head violently, and took a swig of coffee. Harry and Ginny were oblivious to the reaction, as the were involved in conversation, but Anya saw it, and knew what it was. The scene at the table was astonishingly similar to the many meals they'd had when Sirius and Anya were living with James and Lily. Anya knew Sirius had seen her, along with Harry and Ginny, who looked remarkably like James and Lily. She didn't say anything, but it was strangely reassuring.