Monday… Tuesday… there's a difference? {g} Had *major* writer's block with this one… no promises for when the next will be out. However, no school is a bonus as it means more time. Until I get a job (fingers crossed!)

I also discovered that the few dates mentioned in earlier chapters are wrong… any mentioned from hereon after are correct. I won't bore you with the details or anything! {g}

I'd just like to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who's reviewed so far… it really means a lot to me. And with that… on with the fic….

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"Lily!" Looking up from where she was sitting on the grass in Hogwart's extensive grounds, Lily noticed a small figure running towards her.

"Who's that?" Bethany asked curiously, shielding her eyes. The girl calling her friend had to be one of the children of the staff, although how the child knew Lily was beyond her.

A big grin spread across Lily's face as the small girl threw herself into her arms. "Hey ya Teryl!" she greeted, looking up to see the girl's mother and sister crossing the grass towards them. "Hey Mandy... Hi Aunt Katie."

"Lily?" Bethany asked curiously, as the small girl in Lily's arms turned to look at the other children sitting together on the grass.

"Oh, this is Teryl," Lily said, as though that would explain everything. "Her mother was at school with my parents."

"Good afternoon Lily," Katie Wood greeted. Once Katie Bell of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, she had since married Oliver Wood, her former captain, and had swapped Quidditch for motherhood and teaching. "Sorry to disturb you, but the girls kept nagging me to see you. We're not interrupting anything are we?"

"No, Professor," Bethany replied politely, as Lily reached up to take Amanda from her mother.

Katie slowly lowered herself to the ground, and rearranged her robes as she sat opposite the first years. "Oh, I'm sorry – you must think I'm terribly rude. I'm Professor Bell, and I teach Ancient Runes. Or, as Lily knows me, Mrs Katie Wood; your flying instructor's my husband."

"Then these are the girls he mentioned," Tom realised, his eyes fixated on the attractive teacher. He was really enjoying himself at Hogwarts, what with all the pretty faces surrounding him.

"Yes – has he been boring you with stories of them already?" Katie laughed, as Amanda came back to sit on her lap and hid her face from the strange people her mother had made her come and see. "He's very proud of them, and I don't think there's a pupil in Hogwarts who hasn't heard at least one story about them. You may think it's cute at first – but just wait until you're in your second term. He's probably worse after Christmas; he's like a big child himself, and I should probably not be telling you all this!"

The first years were all too shy to reply, and Lily was too busy tickling Teryl to listen to what her 'aunt' had been saying. "The who and the what now?" she asked, looking up from the small girl. Katie shook her head in disbelief and laughed.

"I don't know where you get your head in the clouds tendencies from Lil," she teased. "Not from your parents that's for sure."

Lily blushed. "Mum daydreams. I've caught her," she tried to defend herself.

Katie grinned. "Anyway – Oliver tells me you're trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team," she said. "You and a boy. Is that you?" she turned to Tom.

"Yeah, uh yes ma'am," Tom replied. "Thomas Paris."

"I bet you're sick of hearing this, but I know your sisters," Katie told him. "They both took Ancient Runes, although your brother didn't. I was very disappointed when Molly dropped it though."

"She wants to be a healer, so it's not really relevant," Tom explained. "She was agonising about it for ages at home."

"Well, personally, I think it's a great subject… but then again I *am* the teacher," Katie grinned. "Hopefully I'll be seeing at least a couple of you in a few years." She was greeted by stunned silence. "Okay… I know it's your first week. I'll start nagging you about it nearer the time… don't you worry!" She grinned again, making her look much younger than her thirty-two years. "I'm sorry… let's start from the beginning with names here. Lily, I know… probably *too* well for her liking, and Tom's another of the Paris clan and I'm hoping that he's more like his sisters than his brother!"

"I'm Bethany Jamieson," the dark-haired witch replied shyly, although she had relaxed throughout Katie's flow of chatter.

"Alexia Holmes."

"Peter Doyle."

"Darren Mulchaey."

"None of you have had siblings at the school, have you?" Katie asked, trying to place the names. The four young students shook their heads. "Well, I introduced me, but didn't do the girls did I? That's Teryl sitting with Lily there. Say 'hi' sweetie."

"Hi," Teryl replied, big brown eyes like her father staring up at the students. "I'm five now and I'm starting school next week."

"It's her first year, and they start back a week later than the rest of the primary students," Katie replied. "And this shy little one on my lap is Amanda. You gonna say 'hi' baby?" Amanda shook her head, and Katie ruffled the dark blonde hair playfully. "Give her a couple of weeks and she'll be demanding hugs every time she sees you," she informed them confidently.

Darren had been sitting watching the professor carefully, when suddenly his jaw dropped open. "You're… you're Katherine Wood," he realised, his eyes wide. "You were a chaser for 'Montrose Magpies'! You became the highest scoring female chaser in a single game when you scored 470 points against 'Wigtown Wanderers' in March 2003!"

Katie blushed bright scarlet, and Lily grinned at her 'aunt' knowing that Katie had enjoyed relative obscurity at school. They heyday of her Quidditch career had occurred in three years after her marriage to Oliver when she had used both her full name and her married surname. Katherine Bell had played reserve Quidditch while spending four years at university, and had only played for half a year in the first team after that. Katherine Wood had been famous, and some had tried to parade her around as a poster-girl for professional female Quidditch players. She and Oliver had both tried to avoid as much of the fame that had surrounded them both before they retired from the game; her due having the children and him because he wanted a change and a chance to settle down with his family.

"Yes, I'm Katherine Wood," she admitted, her cheeks still bright red from embarrassment. "And yes I remember that game. Hard not to – it lasted three days and we only had two reserve chasers, for crying out loud!" She laughed. "The whole team skipped the press conference after that game and just went home and collapsed!"

"Why did you never play for England?" Darren asked. "You were damn well good enough!"

Katie ducked her head in embarrassment and grinned. "I wasn't good enough for the 2002 cup," she replied. "And I was nine months pregnant with Amanda at the 2006 cup! I semi-retired at the end of 2003 to concentrate on my family. See all my closest friends had children. Ha… Lily's parents are two years younger than I am and they had a five-year-old and a four-year-old. You must know the Weasley twins – either set." They nodded. "Their parents were my closest friends and they had four children each – Daniel and Darren would have been eight at the time… Taylor just one – while Oliver and I had none because there was no way that I could play professionally while I was pregnant. It was a hard decision to make, but I wouldn't swap these two for anything in the world."

Teryl giggled and moved away from Lily to hug her mother. "Now, I think that's all that you ever needed to know about me," the professor said. "How has the first week been so far?"

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Next part coming soon! Just as soon as I figure out what to put in it! {g}