Author's Note: I'm glad you liked the first chapter, so without further ado, here's chapter two!

Chapter 2 - Farewells and New Friends

That very day, Oliver received an owl. In his opinion it couldn't have come at a more inopportune time, he had just gotten his incomplete team together for the very first time and was trying, in vain to get them to cooperate and listen to him explain plays they'd have to learn if they were going to be on his team. That's when the owl dropped a thick envelope in front of him and flew away. He sat down and tore it open.

"Who's it from, Wood?" that was Roger Davies, ex Ravenclaw Chaser and Captain. He was tall, (yet shorter than Oliver) dark, and handsome, basically what every woman wanted, but he was good at Quidditch and experienced, which was why Oliver chose him as Co-Captain.

"It's from Mr. Everett." he replied.

"Well tell us what it says, will you?" Angelina said.

"Dear Mr. Wood,

I am very pleased to tell you that I have found the seventh member of your team. Her name is Darena Alden; Chaser from the American Side. She will arrive to begin practicing with you next week. Until then, carry on as you have been. She's a quick learner so you don't have to worry about teaching her plays. Darena is also a creative mind herself, I advise you to take her ideas into consideration. I've sent you an article from an American Wizarding magazine about her, it should be very informative as to her personality. I trust she will get along well with you and your chosen teammates, who I've yet to have the pleasure of meeting. Until next week.

Sincerely,
Baxter Everett

"We've got a whole bloody team!" George whooped.

"Oh . . . look at this." Cho said, referring to the article she picked up. It had apparently fallen out when Oliver opened the letter.

The article was three pages long, back and front, with pictures scattered throughout. Two of which were her in action with the other two Chasers from the American Side. The rest were pictures of her after games, in press conferences, at formal events and from photo shoots. Though, no matter if it was a picture of the spunky-looking brunette with two red streaks framing her face and hazel eyes alone, or with other teammates winking and waving at them, they all had a feeling that she'd fit in alright after all.

"You know," Fred began, "She's not all that bad looking."

That earned him a punch from his girlfriend, Angelina.

"Nothing against you, love! I was just expecting some butch American she- male." he amended.

"After that letter, I was too." Roger laughed.

"She looks like a friendly girl, I think we can get along with her. What do you say, Angelina?" Cho asked, ever the optimist.

"Oh, I think we'll get along just fine." she smirked.

"Now, now Darena. You'll be just fine, don't worry about a thing."

Baxter was lucky he was a truly compassionate man. Darena was on edge, ready to lash out at anyone who rubbed her the wrong way. It was time for her last goodbye. Of course she'd see them all again, but she'd never play with them again. She'd have to play against them. That was what made her wince every time she thought about it. She and Baxter emerged into the living room of her city loft, where her teammates - ex-teammates, she had already signed the contract - were waiting.

"Rena, Rena . . . what are we going to do without you." Roxy moaned.

"Well, as long as someone keeps a handle on Rob's temper, you'll all be fine." she smiled.

"Ah . . . that's not good enough, it's your snide comments we'll miss." Rob smirked as he pulled her into a hug.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Darena exclaimed and scampered into her bedroom.

She came back out with her uniform. The navy blue robes, the white pants, and the red and white striped shirt all folded neatly on top of each other.

"Here." she said simply, yet sadly, and offered the clothes to Rob.

"No, keep them. I don't care, wear them as pajamas if you want, they're worn out enough, but just keep them."

She smiled a gracious smile and put them in her trunk. Then, cast a minimizing charm after hugging everyone for the last time.

"Well guys, this is it. I'm going," she paused as if waiting for Baxter to laugh and tell them it's all a big joke, ". . . I'll see you at the Opening Day Ball."

At that she was gone with a faint pop. And Baxter an apologetic smile behind her.

While Darena was getting used to the time difference and settling into a room in the Leaky Cauldron, Oliver was nearly across the country settling into bed. Settling into bed and wondering why a certain picture of a certain person was haunting him at the moment. 'She is pretty.' He admitted that to himself when he first saw her. She's beautiful, there was no two ways about it. But, she seemed more like Davies' type. Not his. Plus the fact that he couldn't love anyone since Katie - no, he had to say it. He had to come to terms with it; it had been over a year already - since Katie died. Oddly enough, even thinking of Katie couldn't get that picture out of his mind. It had been one from a photo shoot. She was wearing a black skirt, of some really soft material - he could tell it would be lovely to caress if he was holding her - and a slinky black tank top on an all white background. Oliver couldn't even begin to describe her pose because she was always moving; waving and winking and smiling that mischievous smile. He rolled over and sighed, he hadn't even met her yet and Katie . . . he couldn't stop loving her like that. No matter that she's dead. He was right, this Darena girl was definitely Davies' type. Not his at all, he liked blondes better anyway. Still, he couldn't help wondering what that smile would be like in person.

Darena stood in front of a full length mirror, nervously smoothing the plain white tee shirt she had on under black Quidditch robes.

"You look fine, dear. Smooth that shirt anymore and you'll stretch it!" the mirror exclaimed.

"Ooh. . . thank you." Darena said absently and pulled her hands to her sides.

Just then there was a knock at the door and she promptly told whoever it was to come in. The door opened and Baxter bustled in.

"Are you ready? We don't want to be late." he asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready. I think." she felt the inside pocket of her robes, "Got my wand. Broom." she took the broom off her bed, "Change of clothes." she hefted the bag on her shoulder, "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good, we have to go now." Baxter said and motioned for her to touch the old sock he was holding.

Feeling that familiar pull on her bellybutton she realized it was a portkey. The next thing she knew she was standing in the middle of a Quidditch Pitch. Baxter tucked the sock into his coat pocket and waved someone over to them. Six people dressed to play jumped out of the stands and made their way across the field to her and Baxter.

"Hello, Mr. Everett." a man said with a heavy Scottish accent.

"Please, Oliver, call me Baxter." he said, "Darena, this is Oliver Wood, your new Captain. Oliver, meet your seventh player, Darena Alden."

"Nice to meet you," Oliver smiled, shaking her hand, "This is Angelina Johnson, Roger Davies, and Cho Chang."

"Hello, I'm Darena Alden." she said and waved.

"And those two are Fred and George Weasley." he added afterwards.

"Don't bother trying to tell them apart, their own mum can't do it." Angelina advised.

Darena laughed, "I'll remember that. Just don't get offended if I mix you up, okay?"

"Don't worry about it, like Angelina said, our own mum can't tell us apart." Fred said.

"They do love to play it up." Cho warned with a warm smile.

"Ah, I should have guessed that. Anyways . . . who plays where on this team?" she asked.

"Me and Angelina are Chasers and Cho's the Seeker." Roger explained.

"So, it's you and Angelina I've got to buddy up to the most." Darena laughed, "I think we'll get along fine."

"We're Beaters," the twins said in unison.

"I should have guessed that, too. I've never seen twin Beaters play, you two must be good."

"Well, we try." George said modestly.

"And this fine specimen of a Captain is a bloody good Keeper." Fred continued.

"I'm warning you, he like early practices and long prep talks." George said out of the corner of his mouth, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Eh, that's all right. He can't be worse than Rob. . . My last captain." Darena laughed.

"We'll hold you to that." Fred said.

"You do that."

"Are we going to practice or what? Let's go, get in the air!" Oliver said firmly and then added to Darena, "I need to see how you fly."

"I'll be going then," Baxter stated, "I have other business to attend to. Darena, I'll put your bag in the locker room for you."

"Thanks, Bax." she said as he disapparated.

"Let's go! I'm letting these Bludgers out wether you're ready or not!" Oliver prompted. The last bit being directed at a fooling around Fred and George.

They all mounted their brooms and kicked off into the air. Roger brought the Quaffle with him and tossed it to Angelina. Darena and Roger fell into a Flying V formation, flanking her on either side. They passed the Quaffle back and forth seamlessly, while flying around the pitch. Oliver announced - somewhat impatiently- that he needed to practice too. So, Darena caught the Quaffle and sped ahead of the others. She banked a quick left turn and shot it through the right hoop before Oliver could get to it.

"You're not bad." He said as he returned the Quaffle.

"I try." she confessed and caught the roughly thrown ball. Did he think he could scare her by throwing the ball hard? Coming from a team where you get Bludgers pelted at you for fun makes getting hit with a Quaffle feel like nothing anyway.

"Do you fake all the time? You'd need a good arm to even get it near the other hoops." he asked, flying closer. In his opinion, it was important for a Captain to get a feel for how his players played.

She threw the Quaffle to Roger and Angelina, "Most of the time, but I try to switch it up. I don't like to get predictable. And I have a good arm, that's why I do it."

Oliver made a noncommital sound, "You know what you're doing. And I'll see if you have a good arm, I have high standards on that."

"I've been playing professionally for six years, I hope I know what I'm doing. It would suck if I've just been lucky all this time." she said, ignoring the part about her arm, but vowing to make up for it later.

"If it is luck, I'll have to kick you off the team as soon as it runs out." Oliver laughed.

"You can't do that to me, I love the game too much. . . . Plus, it's not luck. I'm good." she said with a wink.

"That you are . . . go practice."

Darena laughed and flew back to join Roger and Angelina in the formation. He stared after her for a moment until they turned to take another shot at him. He saved Roger's and Angelina's shots, but when it was Darena's turn again, she stopped so far away from the hoops that Angelina and Roger flew past her because they were expecting her to go closer. She smirked as she fired the ball directly at him with all her strength. It hit him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him, though he managed to hold onto it; wincing.

Practice was over and Darena was dragging her broom behind her as she trudged to the locker rooms with Angelina and Cho.

"You seemed to have fun talking to Oliver during practice." Cho said, nudging Darena.

She shot Cho a confused look and said, "I'm going to be attached at the hip to all of you for the next ten months, I might as well get to know you and act like I've known you all my life."

"That's well and good, but not what Cho meant." Angelina smiled, "Oliver's not had a girlfriend since the war . . . a year ago."

"Why? It's not like he's ugly!" Darena exclaimed.

"Well it's not for lack of women interested." Angelina shrugged.

"I don't understand then."

"I don't think it's really my place to tell you," Cho began, "It's more Angelina's and George's wife, Alicia's. They were both Chasers on his team back at Hogwarts, and I guess that's where it started."

Darena looked to Angelina.

"Alicia should be in the locker room, we're going to go shopping for the Opening Day Ball after this. I'll introduce you and see if she's up to telling the story, she is pregnant, you know." Angelina said, pushing the door open with her back.

Alicia Weasley sat on one of the benches. She was obviously pregnant, about five months along. She had light brown hair down to her shoulders and bright green eyes. After Angelina introduced them, they started to change out of their sweaty clothes and Alicia began to talk.

"Well, I've known Oliver since we were really little, grew up right near each other actually, so I know him better than anyone. There was only one person who knew him better than me. That was one of my best friends, Katie Bell. He only met her when she came to Hogwarts with me, but they were really close. They just understood each other, I suppose. But, anyways, he always liked her. Even though she was two years younger than him."

"She was never interested in him that way, though. She made it clear time and time again." Angelina put in.

"Right, Katie always thought it was a harmless thing he'd grow out of. But, he was always in love with her." Alicia said sadly, "Oliver did go about his life though, went out with other girls and stuff. But, he never got over her."

"Then . . . . then she died during the war. It was hard for us all, I mean . . . we lost a friend, that's just not an easy thing to go through. But, Oliver hasn't looked at another girl since, even when we make it clear she didn't love him and would have wanted him to get over it." Angelina said heatedly, pulling a shirt over her head.

"Oh wow. . . I had no idea. I'm sorry . . ." Darena trailed off.

"It's okay, it was a year ago. We can't mourn forever and Katie of all people wouldn't want us too." Alicia smiled, "If the baby's a girl, I'm naming her Katie."

"And don't worry about the Oliver thing, I had no idea and I've known them all since I was eleven." Cho smiled reassuringly.

"Well, now you know the whole story. . . . are you coming with us to the Ball?" Angelina asked, changing subjects.

"Yeah . . . I haven't a clue on what I'm wearing, though." Darena sighed.

"We're all going shopping for dresses, now! You should come with us, it'd be fun and I always think that shopping is the best bonding experience." Cho joked.

"Sure, I'll come. I have no idea what to wear though, you all better have an idea." Darena laughed.

"You're the one that's been going there for the past six years, you're helping us!" Cho exclaimed.

"I've already got mine, I've got to pick it up though. I had to get it made . . . silly baby makes it hard to get a dress that fits right." Alicia sighed.

They all laughed and quickly got out of the locker room. The headed to the front gates of the Pitch so they could floo to the Leaky Cauldron and walk over to Madam Malkin's from there.

While the girls were heading for the locker room, Oliver, Roger, Fred and George were packing up the gear . . . or trying to. Fred and George were playing some type of tennis with their Beater's clubs and a spare Bludger. "Saw you talking to Darena during practice." Roger panted as he struggled to secure the Bludger in the trunk.

"What? I like to know how my team plays." Oliver said defensively.

"Then why don't you talk to me about how I play?" Roger asked in a feigned wavering voice.

"You dolt, I've seen you play since you got on the Ravenclaw team at Hogwarts!" Oliver exclaimed, "I expect this from Fred and George, not you, Davies. I can't have all the men on this team dissolving into tears every time I turn around."

"Wood, you know you love us!" George exclaimed.

Fred, who was putting the last Bludger away said, "How could anyone not love us? We're the most lovable creatures in the world."

"Oh, of course, right next to imps." Oliver replied dryly.