Chapter 4: Snowflakes and Snitches.
Disclaimer: HP and all associated characters belong to JK Rowling, WB etc. All characters recognisable from my stories belong to me, as do Roche, LJ Potter, J Weasley etc.
The next four weeks of the autumn term passed in a flash, and soon it was the first match of the Quidditch season. That morning when Robin went down to breakfast, only Lena was at their usual spot at the house table. "Where're James and Lily?" he asked her as he dropped into his seat and helped himself to porridge.
Lena looked up at him in surprise, "Don't you know?"
"If I knew, why would I ask?" enquired Robin.
"True." admitted Lena, "It's the first Gryffindor match of the season to-day."
"Yeah. And…?"
"Oh, of course. I keep forgetting that not everyone knows the in's and out's of this place like I do. Harry, Lily's dad, comes up for every match Gryffindor plays. When it's a morning match he comes up at breakfast time and eats with Ron and Professor Granger. Lily, James and the twins join them… sometimes Anne does too, never Barty though. You might get to meet Virgil as well."
"Virgil?"
"Lily's younger brother, he'll be coming to Hogwarts next year."
"Oh. Right."
After a good breakfast, the two friends headed down to the Quidditch Stadium with the rest of the students. Harry, Lily, and James caught up with them just as they were about to climb up into the Gryffindor stand. A small, wiry boy accompanied them, he had Harry and Lily's unruly hair, but a closed, impassive expression. "Hi Sparky."
"Hi Harry. Hi 'Gill." replied Lena. The small boy nodded slightly. "This is Robin Banks, he's a good friend of ours." she turned to Robin, "This is Harry, Lily's dad, and her brother Virgil."
"Hello Harry, hello Virgil." Harry offered his hand and Robin shook it warmly. Virgil gave her only a tiny smile and a barely audible 'Hello', before turning his attention back to the Quidditch stand.
"Don't mind Virgil." Lily told Robin, "I think he likes you, it's just… Well, he's the quiet one of the family, the 'cool head', the logical, rational one." she paused, and then added, "Although James has his moments."
"That's okay."
With Harry at the front of their little group, they had no trouble getting to the best seats. They arranged themselves in a line, with Harry in the middle, flanked by his children, James and Robin on Lily's side, with Lena on Virgil's left.
"Hello everyone, in today's match the defending champions Gryffindor take on Slytherin!" Marcus Ward announced, "Playing in red today for Gryffindor today are… Olafsen, Valquez, Jordan, Weasley, Clarke, Stoakes, aaannnd CONROY!"
"Is she related to you?" Robin asked James, shouting over the cheers from the Gryffindors, and most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
James nodded, "A cousin."
"And in green, for Slytherin… Blade, Quinn, Heidler, Oldham, Naga, Wilson, and NEEDLES!"
The hundred or so supporters in Slytherin colours roared with approval as their team stepped out onto the pitch, broomsticks clutched tightly in their hands.
"The captains shake hands and Professor Weasley releases the Bludgers and the Snitch… the Quaffle is in the air… and they're off, Gryffindor immediately take possession, Chaser Conroy of Gryffindor with the Quaffle speeding towards the Slytherin goal, he ducks a Bludger sent his way by Beater Wilson of Slytherin, dodges one Chaser, then another. He shoots, and scores for Gryffindor! Thirty seconds into the game, Gryffindor lead ten to zero." Ward fought hard to keep the exultation from his voice, but Lily's keen eyes could just make out Sirius' warning glare from across the stand.
"Looks like it's going to be a typical match." noted James, as Gryffindor Beater Olafsen deflected a Bludger away from Anne Weasley and hit it at one of the Slytherin Chasers who was vying with Stoakes for the Quaffle. Stoakes gave her a congratulatory thumbs-up then accelerated and sped for the Slytherin goal. "And Chaser Stoakes of Gryffindor puts another one away and Gryffindor lead twenty to zero!"
"Yep." confirmed Harry as a Bludger smashed into Conroy's chest as he dived to grab the Quaffle, knocking him off his broom. "Including the brutal tactics."
"Conroy goes down and Slytherin have possession, Blade of Slytherin with the Quaffle, passes to Heidler, who passes back to Blade. Blade shoots… and it is saved by Jordan, Gryffindor in possession, Clarke with the Quaffle heading up the pitch… she's blocked by Needles, she goes down and Quinn gets the Quaffle, she shoots and pulls one back for Slytherin. Slytherin still in possession, Heidler aims for another one… ohhh, that's gotta hurt, she gets a Bludger in the back and drops the Quaffle, Jordan grabs the Quaffle, passes it to the remaining Gryffindor Chaser, Peter Stoakes, who speeds for the goal… Blade, Wilson and Needles in hot pursuit…"
"This is not looking good." said James, though he smiled slightly as Stoakes scored again for Gryffindor, Harry and Lily looked in two minds. "We're only twenty points up and there's no way Stoakes can keep going long against those three harpies."
"They aren't harpies," Harry told him grimly, "I've met a real harpy, they're much nastier."
"I'm sure Stoakes will be very relieved to here that Uncle." commented James sarcastically.
"Slytherin score again. They now lead forty-thirty!"
"Can this get any worse?" asked Robin, who was still a little confused about what was going on.
"Uhh-huh." replied Lena from the other side of Harry, "Oldham could catch the Snitch before Anne does. Then they'd flatten us."
"That would be bad. What're the chances of that?"
"Well considering Slytherin haven't managed it in twenty-two years… Pretty remote." Harry assured him.
"Especially considering it's Oldham, who's certainly not the sharpest tool in the box." added Lena.
"Quinn scores again for Slytherin. They now lead fifty-thirty! And are still in possession…"
Despite Conroy regaining consciousness and returning to the game, Slytherin continued to press their numerical advantage and scored three times more within twenty minutes. Five minutes later, Conroy and Stoakes managed to double-team in a skilled Porskoff Play to pull one back for Gryffindor. "Team Captain Conroy of Gryffindor scores again, Gryffindor now trail 40-80! Slytherin back in possession…"
"We're pulling it back." Lily declared.
James shook his head. "Not unless Anne can catch the Snitch, the Slytherins're playing far too aggressive a game. We don't have the power-play."
Sure enough, despite the best efforts by the out-numbered Gryffindor team, Slytherin scored again ten minutes later regaining their fifty-point lead.
"Anne needs to put an end to this quick." James declared. "And I think she might just be about to…" he added as his cousin seemed to spot something out of the corner of her eye and make a U-turn in mid-air and go into a shallow dive.
She was. "Weasley has spotted the Snitch, she's diving, will she get to it in time…?" Ward asked the assembled crowd. "Oldham has seen her, he's in pursuit and closing fast."
"Darn."
"Don't worry Sparky." Lily told her best friend, "The Nimbus 3000 may be newer than the Firebolt, but that broom's got a lot of history of success."
"Really?" asked Robin, "What do you mean?"
Harry answered before his daughter could reply, "That used to be my wife Ginny's broom when she played for Gryffindor, because she doesn't play much Quidditch normally she donated it to the team when she left Hogwarts. That broom's helped Gryffindor win ten of the last fourteen Quidditch Cups." he explained, "Besides she's a Weasley, they're naturally unbeatable when it comes to Quidditch."
Lily grinned mischievously and added, "Except by Potters." James growled in annoyance, which quickly turned to a roar of victory.
"Weasley catches the Snitch! Anne Weasley of Gryffindor catches the Snitch, and Gryffindor wins 190 to 90!"
"What did I tell you?!" crowed Lily, "We won! We won!"
"That's my Anne!" shouted a voice about twenty feet away. Lily turned to look who the speaker was and grinned.
"Who was that?" asked Robin.
"Barry Launders, a fifth-year Gryffindor." answered Lily, "He's been trying to get Anne to go out with him for the past eighteen months."
"Early bloomer isn't he?" commented Robin. Lily nodded. "He actually persuaded her to join him for a Butterbeer in Hogsmeade last week, I think it's made him bolder." James nodded in agreement. "Let's get back to the castle, I've got a Transfiguration assignment to do."
Reluctantly, after the other Gryffindors admitted they too had work to do, the five of them followed James down from the stand and headed back to the castle. Harry and Virgil followed them as far as the Fat Lady's portrait and Harry gave Lily a hug, said good-bye to the others and walked away with Virgil trailing behind him.
"So that's your father." said Robin to Lily as they entered the common room. "He's a nice man."
"He's the greatest."
----
A week later, Gryffindor dropped to narrow second place in the Quidditch Cup after Ravenclaw came out of their match against Hufflepuff with 200 points to Hufflepuff's 110 points.
"There's still everything to play for." James asserted the next morning over breakfast. "Here comes the mail." He told them, seeing a flock of all-sorted owls including three very familiar ones. A snowy white male landed in front of Lily and she took a thick parchment from it. "Hi Mercury," she said, stroking the owl's feathers gently for a moment. "you don't need to wait." The owl hooted at her and after dipping his beak in her orange juice, he took off.
James followed the path of the other owls, both tawnies, as they flew over the other house tables and dropped off letters at each of the house tables before flying out of the hall. "Caduceus and Ptolemy just dropped off letters some letters too." he told them idly. "What's the news?"
Lily shrugged and slit open the envelope.
Dear Lily,
I'm glad your first term at school is going well. I'm looking forward to seeing you again at Christmas, Harry told me you're looking well but I want to see you for myself. Your grandmother has a huge feast planned for Christmas Day and you're all invited of course. She says it going to be just for family and close friends. Well I think that'll be enough don't you? There are about forty of us! Your new friend Robin will of course be welcome if he doesn't have other plans.
See you soon,
Your loving mother,
Ginny.
"It's from Mum." Lily told her friends, "She just wanted us to know that Grandma is planning a Christmas Feast this year at the House and we're all invited."
"Great." said James, already salivating at the thought, "The feasts at the House are usually great fun, Uncle Fred and Uncle George usually manage to liven things up a bit. Then there's the food." He licked his lips. "You'll come of course Sparky?"
"Naturally, like I'd miss out on the fun." Lena told him, "Is it just a family event?"
Lily nodded, "Family and close friends."
"Good. Then I might be able to persuade Orion to come with us. Normally he avoids Sanctuary events, because all the crowds of people, but if it's just the Weasleys and friends, he'll probably go for it." Lena thought out-loud, "I know Yukio would like to spend Christmas with him, she can never spare the time to come up when he says at Hogwarts. Her job keeps her too busy."
"Who's Yukio?" asked Robin.
Lena paused, considering her answer carefully, "Her full name is Yukio Yashana, she also goes by the name of 'Shadow'. I guess you could say she's my adoptive mother, though she's never been that way with me… my 'mother' is more likely Professor Granger or Joan Grayling, the woman who helped Orion find me. Truthfully, she's just Orion's girlfriend. We get on well enough, and she taught me quite a few hand-to-hand fighting tricks that he doesn't know, but she's not one for big emotional connections, probably why she and Orion get on so well."
"Gotcha." said Robin, "You've got a pretty complicated family you know that, Sparky."
Lily chuckled, "You think that is complicated? At least it's small. Look at my family."
"What do you mean?"
"Well. On my dad's side, there's not too much to consider admittedly. There's Dad; Padfoot and Moony, Professors Black and Lupin to you; Wendy Rivers and Lauren Crawford, Padfoot and Moony's girlfriends; and my great-aunt and uncle and second cousin Dudley, but they're Muggles and particularly odious ones at that so the less said about them the better." she paused to take a breath. "Then there's my godparents, who I don't see very often: Tom Aquanis, or to use his full name — Crown Prince Zomas Aquanis of the Mako Clan of Pacifican Merpeople, and Aunt Bird — Petunia Falco-Monk of the Chudley Cannons Quidditch Team to non-Potters."
She paused again, taking a couple of mouthfuls of bacon and egg before continuing. "It's a lot to remember. And it's worse on Mum's side… she got seven brothers and they've all got girlfriends or wives!" She began to tick them off on her fingers, "From the top; Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, Anne's parents; Uncle Charlie and his girlfriend Julia MacFusty; Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny, Barty's parents; Uncle Fred and Uncle George, and their girlfriends Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, and their friends Lee Jordan and Katie Bell; then Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, who you already know." She took a big sigh, "There are a few great-aunts, great-uncles and second cousins on the Weasley side but we never see them so I don't bother about them."
Robin's eye's bulged as he tried to work that all out, "You weren't kidding when you said it was complicated."
"My dad has a genealogy of his family going back to the ninth century but I've never been allowed to read it. There are some very powerful spells in that book, most of which haven't been used in centuries, so Dad reckons it's too dangerous for me to read."
"That's a long time," said Robin. "That must be unusual?"
"It is. Most pureblood families, even the Malfoys, can't trace their ancestry back more than fifteen generations. Only a family in one of the Seven Great Books can trace their family back further."
"What are the Seven Great Books?" asked Robin, he was beginning to feel as if his friends were taking another language entirely.
James took up the narrative here. "The Seven Great Books are the foundations of advanced arcane lore, both light and dark. Only three are definitely known to still exist: The Leonine Codex, the Anguisa Almanac, and the Eternity Book — The Codex, written by Godric Gryffindor the founder of our House, is currently housed at the Rubeus Hagrid Sanctuary for Orphans in Uncle Harry's office; The Almanac, written by Salazar Slytherin, was recovered from a old mansion in Little Hangleton by Order agents after Voldemort's defeat at the Battle of Hogwarts, and is currently rumoured to be in a high-security lock-down at Order Headquarters in London; The Eternity Book is the work of Myrddin Ambrosius, also known as Merlin the Magician, and is believed to be in the custody of Albus Dumbledore, the English Minister for Magic.
As for the other four books… the Book of Thoth, the oldest and perhaps greatest of the seven, was hidden by the Magi millennia ago… The Corvus Compendium, Rowena Ravenclaw's book has been lost since her death, some believe it destroyed. I do not. Helga Hufflepuff's book of prophecies, the Meles Magicarium is only a rumour, no one knows for sure if she ever wrote it… and the Diseno de Fuerza, which is supposed to list all the powers that those with the Mark of Sedit, could possibly achieve, and spells designed to make the best use of each, has never been found either."
"How do you know all this?"
"I read a lot, and I remember what I read."
"That's the understatement of the century." quipped Lena and with the ease of long practice ducked James' mock-swipe at her.
"So what are we going to do today?" asked Lily, changing the subject.
"I don't know." said James, slipping quickly back into decision-maker mode. "We'll think of something."
As it turned out they had a big snow fight, as the winter's first snowstorm had happened while they were asleep. They picked sides and James' side (him, Lena, Connor Wood and Gary Stevens) were winning against Lily, Robin and Donald Olsen until Barry Launders, Anne, the Weasley twins and most of the Sanctuary kids joined in the fight. James' excellent reflexes, Roger's unerring aim and the occasional bit of wandless magic from Lena were no match for the Barber twins' blinding speed and agility. After ten minutes of being pounded from all directions, James, Lena, Connor, Gary, the Weasley twins and Hufflepuffs Danny and Billy were forced to surrender.
"Do you do snow fights that those a lot?" Robin asked James after they got out of the showers.
James nodded, opening the door into their dormitory and walking in, "This is the first time Barry, Connor, Donald and Gary've joined in, and you of course. But Lena, Anne, the twins and I usually take on the Sanctuary kids in a big snowball fight on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. I only ever win if Paul and Marie don't play."
"How can they be so fast?" wonder Robin, "It's not normal!"
James nodded, "You're half-right." he admitted, "Wizards aren't that fast, but they've got the Mark of Sedit, same as you and Sparky. They have photomancy."
"Photomancy? What's that?"
"Abilities to do with manipulating light." explained James, "Theirs manifest as flight, unnatural speed and light generation."
"Could you wait till Boxing Day? I want to be with my parents on Christmas Day, but I'll come over on Boxing Day if it's at all possible."
"Good idea." agreed James, "I won't want to be away from my family at Christmas. In fact Mum, Dad, the twins and I will be visiting Mum's parents on Christmas Eve to spend some time with them. They don't come over to the House with everybody else, because they don't really feel comfortable being the only Muggles in such a large group of wizards and witches."
"I can understand that." admitted Robin, crossing to his bed and getting in. "'Night James."
"Good night Robin."
A/N: Please review.