Dear The Q's and A's Magazine Reader,
Thank you so much for helping make The Q's and A's Magazine the leading magic magazine in England, topping Young Bachelor's Digest, Witch Weekly, and Play for the first time in its five year circulation! As a bonus, we decided to reward our readers with a special pullout section featuring the hottest gossip in Quidditch and more! Thank you very much for your support and here's to a happy Christmas, a great new year, and more of the latest and greatest reporting in sports from The Q's and A's Magazine!
Sincerely,
Katie Bell
Editor-In-ChiefThe British and Irish League End of Year Rank 2003 Compiled by Cho Chang
1) Appleby Arrows
2) Montrose Magpies
3) Puddlemere United
4) Holyhead Harpies
5) Tutshill Tornadoes
6) Kenmare Kestrels
7) Ballycastle Bats
8) Pride of Portree
9) Caerphilly Catapults
10) Falmouth Falcons
11) Wimbourne Wasps
12) Wigtown Wanderers
13) Chudley Cannons
Mid-Season Trades, Acquisitions and Negotiations
By Sophia de Medici
Of course, the biggest names in negotiations right now happen to be living under the same roof for the winter hols, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, although players like Viktor Krum and Alex Woo won't be ignored.
Harry Potter has publicly invested an interest in pursuing an abandoned dream of Quidditch, which he chivalrously gave up in the effort to become an Auror during the Second War, as teaching, training and deskwork in general have already proven to bore the Boy Who Lived. Potter released a statement saying that although he was "interested in a few teams…his number one priority is the Ministry as of right now."
Mr. Potter did not, however, say which teams were highest on his list.
Although Ginny Weasley, the Holyhead Harpies' star Chaser, has lead the Harpies to more commercial success than they have seen in sixty years, owls have been intercepted from the Harpies' team manager Roger Davies to the Puddlemere United team captain Oliver Wood, claiming that although the "shining star of the most aesthetically appealing team in the League" pushed merchandise, "number three team in the League…with a better combination of talented players…featuring excellent chemistry on all sides…is more equipped to handle her commercial success and what it brings."
It seems as if Miss Weasley had not yet been informed, as both teams had nothing to say as of press time.
Viktor Krum, it seems, although he is the pride of his country and his team, being quite the celebrity in Bulgaria and around the world, seems to be interested in traveling to England to play. Krum could not be reached for a comment on the controversial rumors sweeping his countryside.
The Arrows' Keeper Alex Woo has most definitely been dropped from the Appleby team after bewitching a Montrose Magpies Beater with an Unforgivable Curse just minutes prior to a recent match held in Scotland. The Arrows rightfully forfeited while the Magpies found themselves, bound by the League rules, unable to play with full strength. The Arrows, it seems, have lost the security on the top spot in the League, as both they and the Magpies will struggle to find good enough replacements this late into the season. Both teams were disappointed when they were reminded that Viktor Krum, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, the only possibly free players in the League, played Seeker, although Weasley's stronger strength is as a Chaser.
FOUR
Ginny Weasley was throwing a temper tantrum. Anything green in her room, from sweaters to robes to even plant leaves, were being turned navy blue as she screamed.
"Was anyone going to tell me?" She demanded. "Christ, this issue has been sitting around the house for a week!"
"You could have read it yourself." Charlie reasoned gently, nearly being hit by a potted plant.
"He's such a traitor! I made the bastard cookies!" Ginny shook with anger. Christmas Eve, she had woken up in the arms of Harry Potter and before she could sneak away and forget about their terribly terrific snog, he had awoken and she had to awkwardly make an excuse about having to completely read The Q's and A's.
Which, obviously, she had.
"Lower your voice, Ginny!" Percy reprimanded. "The children—"
"The children," Nala, Charlie's wife, began shrilly, "Are outside with Ron and Hermione. The pair should probably get some practice, as Ron is such a horny bugger."
The mood was instantaneously lightened.
"Now, quite frankly I think you're all being a little apathetic. What if it was your job? How they were talking about changing you to a mysterious other department when all your loyalties lied in your own, and you thought you had the same reciprocating from them? You'd be equally upset. Now, Ginny, since you have no choice on whether or not they can buy out your contract yet, you better show the Holyhead Harpies that they made a big risk even thinking about selling their biggest star. They relied way too much on your success to claim that it was the very thing biting them in the ass. Join Puddlemere and really bite off a chunk that they can whine about." Nala instructed and Ginny forced a smile. Nala was very similar to Charlie. She had a good sense of humor, a good head on her shoulders, and a heart of gold.
Slowly, the singles' little guesthouse was emptying and Ginny found herself in a big mess of navy blue. She yawned, tired. She wanted to sleep. It was only afternoon, and the sun was still brightly reflecting off of the snow gleaming almost magically outside.
Ginny strolled into the house and made herself a cup of tea, Harry and the twins sitting at the kitchen table, deeply immersed in talks of investments and stocks, something Ginny had never found quite interesting. That was what Hermione was for. Hermione faithfully handled Ginny's monetary affairs, and although she personally wouldn't take money for it, she never gave back any of the large lumps of Galleons that would appear in her vault.
Ginny went back to her room and changed into her favorite pajamas, a pale pink set including a pair of soft cotton pants covered with little Quaffles, and a matching tank top. The tea wasn't helping her sleep.
She tossed and turned under her soft blanket, her delicate features pinched with discomfort and grief. After five frustrating minutes, she tossed the covers off.
Ginny returned to the kitchen, the boys having disbanded and Harry passing her silently on his way to the guesthouse and Ginny stared at the door of the ingredients cupboard for some time.
Her mother would have seriously disapproved. Molly never approved of using potions except for emergencies, such as homegrown remedies to cleaning problems, and health concerns.
But Molly Weasley, mother of six sons and a daughter, managing to feed, clothe and shelter nine people on a four-person budget, always reprimanded her children and husband for using potions to boost energy, help them sleep, heal a hangover or help them with stress.
"The way you become a poor excuse for a wizard or witch is when on magic you become dependent." She would always quote Helga Hufflepuff.
Molly Weasley's philosophy on potions aside, Ginny was a grown girl and had complete access to the potions cupboard.
So she opened the door and went inside, and almost instantaneously, sank to the floor and began to cry.
"How could they do this to me? After all I've done, after all that work—" She said sobbingly, choking and hiccupping. Her eyes blinded with tears, she reached for the sleeping potion vial; she had memorized this system by heart.
As she made her way back to the guesthouse, the potion quickly taking affect, she failed to notice that she clutched the Extra Strength Sleeping Draught vial in her hand.
A dazed and disoriented Ginny Weasley burst into Harry Potter's room whilst he was changing his soaked robes, having been attacked by Fred and George with snowballs on his way out to the guesthouse.
Her feet were freezing as a flimsy pair of slippers was the only thing keeping them warm and she climbed into his bed, mumbling something about Puddlemere and Davies and was fast asleep before he could protest.
The shirtless and fatigued former Gryffindor, who had woken up with a backache and a particularly skittish young woman, had wanted to take a nap.
"My bed is ocupado." He said suddenly, more to himself than to the tossing figure of his best friend's sister and his former teammate. He noticed with his keen eye that she had a small glass vial clutched in her hand and she was about to crush it.
Harry crossed the room to pry it from her fingers and it fell to the floor after a struggle. He frowned at the label and the fact that he still clutched the tempestuous redhead's stressed hand, which was already curling tightly around his fingers.
Harry tested his flexibility and found that he still could flip over the girl without putting his weight on her in the slightest, and he crawled under the covers, still clutching one hand and taking the other.
He held the small hands in his own and ran his fingers over the knuckles and the palms, soothing her until her hands fell flat.
Ginny still tossed and turned, and Harry's brow furrowed. She had taken a strong potion and she was obviously asleep, but it wasn't a safe sleep. Ginny was shaking with cold and Harry bent over the side of the bed, digging in his clothes for his wand. He pointed it at her feet and the aggressive stirring from the equally violent redhead stopped, although the tossing did not.
Harry was starting to get really worried. His bed squeaked quietly with Ginny's stress and tears. The strong redhead began to cry in her sleep and Harry wished she hadn't taken the potion, because it only seemed to have made things worse. His own eyelids were growing heavy and tears began to fill them, and it seemed contagious.
He had dealt with a case like this before…although he hadn't been the one there, he had just had to solve the problem. An American witch plagued with nightmares had an all too scary dependency on her Death Eater boyfriend until he had to cuddle her to sleep every night just so that she could stay alive—that was how dependent she was on him.
It wasn't like Harry was trying to kill anyone, so he took the idea and ran with it.
Gently, he wrapped his arms around the cotton-clad girl, his bare arms touching her bare arms and he held her closer, until she couldn't move properly. He was worried he would break her—that she might stop breathing or something.
But she was breathing. Stagnantly, at best, but she was breathing, her messy hair ruffling under his chin, her features still tight with pain. He continued holding onto her tightly, his grip gentle but strong all the same. Ginny stopped kicking and her breathing got more regularly, and, without even trying, the pair started to breathe in sync.
Harry fell asleep to the feeling.
To be continued…