Zach, I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

"Alberto, it's not 'just a scratch' I'd say it's more of a horrendous gash."

"Well if you hadn't got in my way..."

"You know, if you'd just go to the hospital wing on your own this would be so much easier, I'm tired of having to take care of my team of handlers, especially when they're all older than me."

"Yes mother I know we're all so much trouble," Alberto flashed his gold-toothed smile, "but we're also the best damn handlers this side of Ecuador."

"Well what is it now?" Madame Pomphrey managed to sound exasperated, concerned, and livid at the same time. "As though I don't have enough to do taking care of students, I have careless dragon handlers filling up my hospital wing now. Well, get in bed!"

Alberto rolled his eyes, and took a seat on a bed next to Dierna, the only other occupant of the hospital wing. "What are you in for?" he asked in mock seriousness.

"Oh the usual, some creep tried to poison me, everyone overreacts, I get stuck in this bed. Luckily I finally got my Dad to leave for five minutes, otherwise I'd be a real mental case by now. You?"

"A common welsh green decided that I would make a better lunch than what I was trying to feed him, mother Zach here overreacted, and now I'm stuck in this bed."

Zach sighed, "Well, I'll let you two commiserate together," and he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Dierna reached under her pillow and withdrew a letter, which she held out to Zach, "your grandfather left this with me last night."

Zach took the letter, "thanks, although it's probably just another plea for me to live with him in Paris." He left the hospital wing as he opened the letter.

"So," Alberto turned to Dierna, "how much longer you in here for?"

Dierna frowned, "it better not be long, I'm supposed to be playing in a quidditch match tomorrow."

Alberto grinned, "What position do you play? I was a chaser one year for the Ecuador team."
"Hey Celeste!" Kamen ran to catch up with the tall blond, head girl.

"Yes?" she looked at him skeptically.

"Wow, you look great today," he flashed her a lopsided grin, one that usually made his conquests melt, however it didn't seem to work on this one. "Actually, I'm having some trouble with Transfiguration, and you're the best in our class, I was wondering if you would help me out."

Celeste leveled him with a cool stare, "fine, meet me in the library at 7."

"With pleasure."
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. It was a perfect day for quidditch. The Gryffindor team wasn't very talkative at breakfast. Serena was trying to be cheerful for the sake of the team, but wasn't succeeding very well, and Dierna still hadn't managed to escape from the hospital wing.

Nick was looking rather grim. He didn't like the idea of using two reserve players in a game, but didn't have any other options. Finally deciding that his teammates' melancholy attitude was too much for him to take he left the table, planning on heading to the locker rooms early. But Kamen grabbed him before he left.

The two boys had a whispered consultation, and Kamen pressed a bundle into Nick's hand, "take care of it Wood, she was adamant about it."

Nick frowned, "as long as it's understood that I'm not taking any blame, because you know this isn't going to go over well."

Kamen nodded, "of course."
"Well, what do you think?" Meg waited expectantly while Ginny read the letter from Morgan.

Ginny grinned, "Remus deserves to be happy, now if only they would get married... you've met this woman before, what was she like?"

"It was years ago, Remus and I ended up at an ancient Greek temple on a mission for the Order. The death eaters staged an attack while we were there," Meg shook her head sadly, "this priestess, Kalliope, lost her daughter in the attack. She couldn't have been more than 17 or 18 at the time, these temple women start young. And Remus, well he was still depressed, he still thought that Sirius was dead, and, well, you know how bleak things were looking.
"And the two of them found each other. They consoled each other, and spent countless hours walking on the beach together. I was so surprised that something didn't come of their relationship then."

"Well, I certainly hope that we have a wedding to plan soon."

"How are you doing Ginny?" Meg laid a hand on her sister-in-law's arm.

Ginny sighed, "well, some days are better than others. I just don't know what to do sometimes," she blushed slightly, "Mum says that the next time Harry comes home to just send Lily over to her, that me and Harry just need a couple of nights together to work things out."

Meg couldn't help smiling, "it's certainly worth a shot, maybe you need that physical link, you two have hardly spent any time with each other the last couple of years."

"I just want this to be resolved, one way or the other."
Nick glanced into the hospital wing, making sure that Madame Pomphrey wasn't around. As soon as he was sure that the coast was clear he went to Dierna, "are you sure about this?" he asked as he handed her the bundle Kamen had given him.

"Completely," Dierna pulled out her quidditch uniform, she rolled her eyes at Nick, "could you at least turn around so I can get dressed?"

Nick obligingly turned around, "just remember, this was in no way my idea."

"Hey, you can't have two team members sitting a game out."

"Yeah, you just better not get yourself banned from the team."

"All dressed," Dierna finished adjusting the pads on her uniform, "don't worry about it Nick," she fluttered her eyelashes innocently, "I could have died, I just need to play up how much this meant to me, and how really sorry I am, but I just had to play, and I'll be completely off the hook."

"But your dad..."

"Is so twisted around my little finger."
Ron Weasley joined his father, and several other important Ministry officials, as they began reviewing lists of death eaters who had infiltrated the Ministry.

"I didn't expect the numbers to be so high," Arthur adjusted his glasses, "there is no easy way to fix this problem. Merlin's balls..."

"What is it?" Ron leaned in to look at the list his father held.

"Ron, take as many as the other aurors you need, get the spy out of there. You're taking over this mission."

Serena, Nimue, and Sophia made there way through the crowded stands. "If I can't play I had better have a damn good seat," Serena muttered.

"Girls! Last chance to place bets before the game starts!" A group of seventh year boys motioned the girls over to the front row, where they made room for them.

"What have you got going?" Serena asked.

"Well, we've got bets on the outcome, on who gets injured, the score, you can place money on pretty much everything."

Serena couldn't help smiling at her brother's roommates. Even though she was in a bad mood they were still entertaining. "Alright, five galleons on a Gryffindor victory, and five more says that my git of a brother gets hit with a bludger."

Meanwhile, Nimue was trying to explain the intricacies of quidditch to Sophia. "Don't worry, once you see the game in action it's a lot easier to understand."

"Why don't you play?" Sophia asked.

Nimue gave a dramatic shudder, "because I've seen my siblings play, they're all brutal out there. I have no desire to get knocked around like that."

As the stands finished filling, Kandi took up the enchanted microphone in one of the top boxes. Where, under the watch of Remus, who had brought Kalliope with him, and Sirius, she would provide the commentary for the game. "We've got a great day for a quidditch match. Although it looks like Gryffindor will have to use some reserve players," she practically spat the word, "no offense to our reserve team, but some of us do like to win.
"And the teams are making there way onto the field. Woo-hoo!!! Looks like Gryffindor has a better shot of winning now, apparently chaser Dierna Snape is playing after-all."

She rolled her eyes when Sirius leaned over to tell her to try and provide an unbiased commentary. "And the captains are shaking hands, and I would like to add that Nick Wood is looking particularly good this season, and not just on the field, if you know what I mean girls." She moved farther down the box, out of the reach of teachers. "And he is still single, so get your move on girls; he is one hot piece of property.
"And they're off! Kamen has the quaffle, passes back to William Darcy, another fine specimen of the male species, who is also single. And William moves to pass it back... damn! Hufflepuff in possession of the quaffle, they're moving down the field. And a spectacular save by Nick Wood!"

"How are you holding up?" Kamen asked as he flew past his sister.

"Good so far," Dierna ducked as a bludger soared past her.

"And Gryffindor is back in possession of the quaffle!" Kandi continued with the commentary, "It's Darcy, and the Hufflepuff chasers are closing in on him, come on Darcy, don't let them get it! And he passes back to Kamen, who drops the quaffle straight down to Dierna, who is streaking down the field... and its good! 10 points to Gryffindor!"

Twenty minutes later, the score was 50 to 30, in favor of Gryffindor, wit still no sight of the golden snitch. Dierna winced a little as she pulled a sharp turn, and knew that she was going to be hurting by the time the game finished, but figured that on the whole, she was holding up pretty well.

"And Dierna passes the quaffle to Kamen. He may be a bit of a player, but this is one girl who wouldn't mind taking a chance with him." Kandi jumped a row of bleachers to put more space between herself and her head of house, who didn't look overly thrilled with her commentary, and Professor Black, who was trying to cover his amusement with displeasure.

"Oh fuck!" Kandi swore and barely managed to avoid Professor Lupin's reach, as a bludger slammed into Kamen, "that bludger came out of nowhere, and Kamen drops the quaffle, Hufflepuff back in possession, heading towards the goal... wait a minute, the seekers have spotted the snitch! Go Bridget, go!!! And Bridget Wood has caught the snitch! That's 150 points, and a Gryffindor victory!"

"Excellent game everyone!" Nick congratulated his players, "however..."

The team gave a collective groan.

"However, Lena, you need to work at covering our players better, you let too many bludgers get by you. Chasers, there was some sloppy passing out there today, we're going to start working on some new maneuvers and better communication at our next practice. Bridget," Nick put an arm around his little sister, "excellent work, but see if you can't get the snitch a little faster next time, that was a little too close for comfort."

"Yeah, well next time why don't you work on not letting so many quaffles past you brother dear," Bridget stuck her tongue out at Nick.

"Hey!"

"Great game guys!" Serena came bounding into the locker room, followed by Nimue and Sophia.

As the Snape siblings rehashed the game, play by play, William made his way over to Sophia. "So, how did you like your first quidditch game?"

Sophia's eyes were large, "parts of it were kind of scary, but it was really exciting. Could you teach me how to fly?" She looked at William's broom with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, you can come to practice sometime and I'll let you practice on my broom, either beforehand or afterwards."

Serena and Nimue joined the other girls on their half of the locker room as they changed out of their quidditch gear. By the time Lena and Bridget were changed and off to the Common Room to celebrate Dierna had only started.

"You're taking an awfully long time," Serena commented.

"I'm trying to put of the ensuing storm as long as possible," Dierna said as she pulled a clean shirt over her head, wincing, and knowing that she would have an ugly bruise on her side later, from where she had been grazed with a bludger.

"Yeah, I'd avoid Dad too if I were you." Nimue played with the ends of her hair, "he is going to be soooo mad."

"Thanks, for those words of encouragement," Dierna threw a towel at her little sister.

"You probably should have taken a bludger to the head, he would have been too worried to be angry," Serena inserted.

Dierna rolled her eyes, "so, what do you think the chances of me making it back to Common Room without a confrontation are?"
Cadmus paced the outer sanctuary, wondering why he had yet again been summoned by the head priestess.

"Cadmus, I have a request to make," Rheia spoke with tone that resonated, as she regally made her way into the outer sanctuary.

"I was not aware that you made requests, I only thought you gave orders," Cadmus said as he bowed to the ancient woman.

Rheia leveled him with an icy gaze, "I will allow your insolence man, because you have always served the goddess well. You will go to Britain. I want a first hand account of how Kalliope's task is going."

"How much do you think they will find out?" Macnair asked from his seat.
"Nothing of consequence," Draco swirled the drink in his hand. "They may have our man, but one of the interrogators also belongs to us. He will make sure that his memory is wiped."

"Are you concerned at all?"

"No."

"But..."

"Those fools at the Ministry know nothing! Least of all that muggle loving Weasel... he will regret meddling in our affairs."

"And Snape?"

"Ahhh yes, our dear friend Severus. That really wasn't wise of him to provide the Ministry with a list of our supporters, we shall deal with him yet. Although next time make sure your son doesn't screw things up!"

"But, sir," Macnair stammered, "it is not my son's fault, he made sure that Snape's daughter was poisoned, if Eric had not interfered..."

"Yes, Eric's usefulness is beginning to fade, however, I'm sure our dark lord will want to have some say in his fate. We will have to wait till he is brought back to power to deal with Eric."

"And our plans for Snape?"

"Voldemort will also want some time with him, although I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I finished the job. I will make sure that Severus dies, very very slowly. He murdered my father, and he will pay for it."

"And until then?"

"We will work at slowly tearing his family apart, we shall see how strong he is without his family by his side. But, we also have young MacNeill to deal with. Oh yes, I have a feeling that he will prove to be quite useful."
"I miss playing quidditch! That year I spent of the Ecuador team, man, that was amazing."

"That was a good game today, and I know how you feel. I never played professionally, but I was on my house team here." Charlie grinned, "it would be great to have those days back..."

"Yeah, but I don't think you'd like to give up what you have now either, eh? A beautiful wife... I bet there's all sorts of games you can play with one of those that would blow quidditch away," Alberto flashed a lopsided grin and winked, "but look, I've made Zach blush, come on Zach, I'm sure Charlie could tell some great stories, after all, think of all the work and... research... that he must have put into producing five kids."

Charlie cleared his throat and rushed to change the subject, "did you play quidditch Zach?

"You're no fun, I hope you realize that," Alberto said irritably; however the other two men ignored him.

"Yeah, I played in school. And last year in Australia, the group of dragon handlers I was with formed a team. We played against another study group in the area, just for fun."

"Zach! Come quick! The Common Welshes around the forest are going crazy!"
"Hey Celeste!" Kamen caught up with the Head Girl, "what did you think of the game today?"

"It was a good game, you played well."

"Thanks," he gave a lopsided grin and shook the hair out of his eyes, "I got you these," he handed her a bunch of daisies, "I heard they're your favorite."

Celeste took the flowers from him, "they are, but why..."

"I'm just a nice guy."

Celeste raised an eyebrow, "that's not what I've heard."

Kamen made a show of looking affronted , "hey, I was just trying to be nice, but if in gratitude for the flowers you'd like to go on a date with me..." Celeste shoved the flowers back into his arms and walked away without another word. "Oh, she wants me," Kamen had never felt so confidant.
"Almost there," Dierna looked triumphant, "one more hallway, and I'll be free."

"Just a minute Adelaide."

Dierna had to bite her tongue to keep from swearing, she turned around with a false smile, "Dad, did you like the game?"

Severus crossed his arms over his chest and merely watched his daughter as emotions chased across her face.

Dierna sighed in defeat, "you girls can go ahead, I'll catch up with you later," she gave Serena, Sophia, and Nimue a regretful look.

"That's not necessary," Severus cut in, "I know you want to celebrate your victory with you friends. I just want you to know that we are going to have a little talk later."