Mercy reappeared moments later in a secluded wood. All around her was
green, that and her family at least. She felt a rushing feeling from
behind her as someone lifted her up onto his or her shoulders. "How are
you Mercykins?" a voice she recognized said from behind her.
"Uncle Donny!" she exclaimed looking down at the top of his head.
"You're skin and bones darlin', what are they feeding you?"
"Bird food, you?" Nemo said from behind.
"Hey Nemo," Donny said. He let Mercy down from his shoulders and she gave him a proper embrace. "So, do you know this guy who your mamma's set me up with?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"Yep, Greg Kimball. He's nice, smart," Mercy said.
"Is he hot, you know, in your personal opinion?" Mercy blushed deeply.
"I guess, I don't know."
"Where is your mother?"
"She's over there," Nemo said, gesturing to the red head up ahead. Donny hurried over there. "I hope that Malfoy's not here," Nemo said in a whisper to Mercy.
"I don't know why you don't like him! He's really not that bad," Mercy said in a voice that was much higher then her normal one.
"Why are you defending him? Do you have a crush on Druce or something?" he stopped when Mercy blushed. "You don't do you?"
"No, no of course not," she replied quickly. It was only a matter of time before Nemo found out. She hurried forward to join Ron. "Hey Uncle Ron," she said.
"Hello Mercy, how are you?"
"Fine, you?"
"I'm fine. You've grown, you know. I know your dad doesn't notice it but you have. Any burning prospects?" he was grinning but she was blushing. She did that a lot. One of the few attributes she'd received from her mother's side of the family.
"No, none at all. I don't know what you're talking about," she said quickly.
~Nemo's point of view~
Nemo walked steadily forward. He knew Mercy was hiding something it was obvious. He only hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was. If she liked Druce Malfoy then the stupid, blond, Ravenclaw would receive a huge black eye at the very least. Suddenly, on their way to the stadium he caught sight of Lucy Wood. She was the most popular girl in their year. She was a stunning, tall, talented Gryfindor 2nd year. She had also become a member of the Quidditch team, seeker. She was great, not only at Quidditch but at everything. From her father she had inherited a love and flair for Quidditch and from her mother, Viviane Simpson, an aptitude for her studies. She was rivaled in that department only by Mercy who was top of her year.
"Oh, hi Nemo!" she rushed over to him. They were "just friends".
"Hi Lucy, how's your summer been?"
"Great, how 'bout yours?"
"Good, do you think your dad's going to win today?" Oliver had joined the Chudley Cannons shortly after he left Puddlemere United reserve team. He had lead the Cannons to victory after victory and now, to the first Cup in decades.
"Of course he's going to win!" she said with a look of resolution on her face. "You are going for the Cannons aren't you?"
"You know I am!" Nemo exclaimed. "The Weasleys and the Potters have supported the Cannons the whole time. We're not one's to abandon our team!" Nemo was clearly taking this too seriously.
"Lucy, come on dear, we'll miss the beginning and your Dad'll be looking for us in the box," Viviane said, trying to hurry her daughter along.
"Bye Nemo, I'll see you after we win!" she shouted over her shoulder. Nemo waved and was startled by a shot of arms from the back of him. He jerked around to face the owner of the arms. It was his father. "You nearly scared the bloody hell out of me Dad!" he exclaimed.
"I wouldn't use that type of language if I were you," he said sternly before his face split into a grin. "So was that your girlfriend?"
"No, that was Lucy Wood, my best friend," Nemo exclaimed, his voice cracking. Ginny passed with a pregnant Hermione and Harry heard a low cough that sounded suspiciously like:
"Double standard." Harry looked at her incredulously.
"Come on Nemo, us Potter men need to stay together." He lead his son to the game.
"Dad, can I ask you a question?" Nemo said finally.
"Sure you can," Harry ruffled his hair. Nemo pushed it down instinctively.
"If I did like Lucy, and this is just a hypothetical question o'course."
"Yes, yes, of course."
"How would I go about telling her?"
"That's a doosy Nemo, I don't know. Maybe you could tell her during Quidditch practice. I really wouldn't recommend telling her during the summer."
"Why?"
"Because Oliver would probably find out and then you'd be in a right state. You see, some father's are very protective of their daughters and I wouldn't like to get on the wrong end of Mr. Wood's left hook." They heard a decisive snort from ahead of them.
~Ginny's point of view~
"Harry can be so hypocritical some times!" Ginny whispered to Hermione.
"Tell me about it. I'm not looking forward to protecting Sawyer's and Sebille's boyfriends against Ron, not to mention Luke and Spence," Hermione replied. "It is cute that he's bonded with Mercy and Nemo though. You know it's only been 7 years since they've met."
"Yeah, well it's kind of lost it's cuteness," Ginny answered, hoisting James on her hip. James was a strange child. He was already 4 but didn't speak much and was very small for his age.
"Mummy, can I go see Daddy and Nemo?" the little boy asked.
"Sure James," she let him down and watched as he pelted at the other two "Potter men."
"Are you worried about James?"
"A little, he's just so smart that it amazes me that he doesn't communicate better."
"Don't worry, seriously Ginny, he's more normal then Luke was at that age."
"Hermione, Luke is only a year and a ½ older then James."
"Yeah but still, a lot can change in a year and a ½."
"What do you think this one's going to be?" Ginny changed the subject, gesturing to Hermione's waist.
"I think it's going to be a girl," Hermione said without trying to hide her grin."
"I hope so, then Ron will be over powered."
"He already is, believe me. Sawyer and Sebille are quite enough to make him back down!"
"So have you any names yet?"
"Ron wants to name it Chudley, girl or boy," Hermione laughed.
"Are you serious?" Ginny asked skeptically.
"As the grave. He said we could call it Lee."
"That or Chud, you're not considering are you?"
"No, god no Ginny. If it's a boy it will be Ron Jr. and if it's a girl well I have a lot of different choices. I gave Ron a list and vetoed about ½ of the thing."
"Tell me, were the choices as odd as the ones you gave him when you were pregnant with the triplets?"
"Hey, I wouldn't talk. You named your son Nemo and your daughter's middle name is Arwin."
"Hey, don't get defensive. Just give a sample."
"Okay Hesper."
"No."
"Mairwen."
"No."
"Rhoswen."
"No."
"Nydia."
"Double no."
"Hedwig."
"You were thinking of naming your daughter after Harry's owl!"
"No, I, I just like that name."
"Hermione, if you name your child after an owl then they will forever be teased. Their entire life, Hermione!"
"Fine, Mabyn."
"No, do you have any normal names?"
"Yeah, how about Megan or Meara, or Mora, Nora, Risa, Rory, Helia Mahola, Robin, Ryann, Rory."
"Some of those are fine Hermione. I like Megan and Nora of course it's already taken. Possibly Robin but Mahola!"
"But listen, Meara means full of mirth!"
"Yeah, it's okay. I don't think Ron's going to go for it though. Sawyer was a stretch for him."
"So Meara it is," Hermione said with renewed happiness. They entered the stadium. It was filled to the bursting point with people. They, the Weasleys and Potters started up to their top box. The box was reserved for the most elite people in the wizarding world but to Mr. Weasley it wasn't a status symbol it was just damn good seats. He enjoyed being able to finally be the dad that could be cool.
The Weasley family looked like a small army. There were the 9 originals, then an addition of 7 spouses. Bill also had 4 children, Norah, 12, Owen, 11, Ryan, 10, and Rory, 8. Charlie topped everyone with a whopping 6 children. He had started with the triplets: Parry, Jonathan, and Meira, 12, then Edwin, 10, Wren, 7, and finally the baby of the family, Willow, 5. Percy only had two children, the smallest amount in the family. He and Penny had decided to keep the "P" thing going and even had their children's middle names match. You see, they were destined to be together for her middle name was Isabelle and his was Ignatius. Patrick Isaac was 9 and Piper Imogene was 6. Of course you know Ron's kids as well as Ginny's so I won't go into that.
It took a full 15 minutes to make their way up through the droves of people in part because Mr. Weasley stopped every few minutes to wave and say hello. They finally got there and piled into the room. The room had actually been expanded as to fit all the Weasleys that had come in. The Irish Mistress came to greet him. "Hello, I'm Fiona O'Patrick, you must be the Weasleys. I'm afraid, other then your family there are only a very few seats left," she laughed. She had a nice laugh.
"I'm sorry, it's a chore to find places for all of my family," Mr. Weasley answered. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble. Lord knows planning the Cup is enough."
"Anything for you Arthur, we just have the Ugandan Minister and he doesn't have his family with him. Then a very few honored guests" Molly quickly showed herself at Mr. Wealsey's shoulder sensing the come-ons sent her husband's way. He quickly introduced small bits of his family before the door opened again. To Mercy's great embarrassment, the Malfoys came through the doors. Druce, his father and his mother. Mistress O'Patrick went quickly over to greet them.
Nemo eyed Mercy suspiciously. She looked a lot like she felt something for Druce Malfoy. Harry saw it too and he felt a hot flame of anger flare up. They didn't have time to dwell on it, however, for the game was starting. They quickly took their seats.
"GO WOOD!" Ron screeched from his seat. No one could top his loyalty to his team. Luckily, as it looked now, his loyalty was about to pay off. The Cannons were leading the Patonga Proudsticks 160 to 80 and it looked like their seeker, Cho Chang, was going to find the snitch before Walila Paiva. There was a tedious moment as the two seekers dove expertly.
"No, goodness, it's obviously a feint," Harry murmured. As he had warned, Cho pulled out at the last second and shot up like bottle rocket. Walila didn't even have a chance to recover. He barely pulled out before he hit the grass. Cho was already 20 feet above him and the snitch was in grabbing distance. She reached her hand out and grasped it. Everyone in the stands shot up on the English side. Cheers erupted and they could see champagne shoot up from various parts of the stands. Ron turned and hugged a rather disgruntled Hermione.
The Cannons had won; it was a new day for English Quidditch. There was a lot of jumping, hugging, and screaming from all over but still more in the top stand where the Weasley brothers were doing a victory dance. Ron leaned down to Mercy, Nemo, Norah, Perry, Meira, and Jon. "This is a day out of History ladies and gentlemen. Mercy and Perry snorted for they weren't as big on Quidditch as the rest of them while the other 4 nodded rapped in the awe of the situation.
"This is ridiculous," Mercy heard Piper, who took after her father in all ways. "It's bloody Quidditch. I didn't see this kind of reaction when Dad announced the renewed testing of shoddy cauldrons!" Mercy stifled a giggle. Piper could be very comical at times. She always took things way too seriously. That was when she felt a tap on her back. She turned to see Druce behind her.
"Hey Mercy," he said in a hushed voice.
"Hi Druce, how has your summer been?" Mercy blushed and looked down at her face.
"It's good, yours?" she wasn't given a chance to answer for Nemo was by her side. The happy expression was washed off his face and glare had replaced it.
"Is this git bothering you Mercy?"
"No, we were just talking, now go back to your victory dance," Mercy said through gritted teeth.
"Druce, it's time for us to go," Draco said from the other corner of the room.
"I'll see you at school," Mercy whispered to him. He nodded and followed his father and mother out of the booth. Nemo was still glaring at his retreating back.
"We'll talk about this later Mercy. I'll be telling Dad."
"Tell him what exactly?"
"That you fancy a Malfoy."
"I don't "fancy" him, he's just a potential friend and he was doing nothing wrong. Anyway, even if I did like him, what's it to you or Dad? You like Lucy!"
"I do not and Lucy's a Gryfindor and her father's a member of the Chudley Cannons."
"So, Druce's father works at the Ministry, same as Dad!"
"As I said, we'll talk about this later, with Dad."
"Uncle Donny!" she exclaimed looking down at the top of his head.
"You're skin and bones darlin', what are they feeding you?"
"Bird food, you?" Nemo said from behind.
"Hey Nemo," Donny said. He let Mercy down from his shoulders and she gave him a proper embrace. "So, do you know this guy who your mamma's set me up with?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"Yep, Greg Kimball. He's nice, smart," Mercy said.
"Is he hot, you know, in your personal opinion?" Mercy blushed deeply.
"I guess, I don't know."
"Where is your mother?"
"She's over there," Nemo said, gesturing to the red head up ahead. Donny hurried over there. "I hope that Malfoy's not here," Nemo said in a whisper to Mercy.
"I don't know why you don't like him! He's really not that bad," Mercy said in a voice that was much higher then her normal one.
"Why are you defending him? Do you have a crush on Druce or something?" he stopped when Mercy blushed. "You don't do you?"
"No, no of course not," she replied quickly. It was only a matter of time before Nemo found out. She hurried forward to join Ron. "Hey Uncle Ron," she said.
"Hello Mercy, how are you?"
"Fine, you?"
"I'm fine. You've grown, you know. I know your dad doesn't notice it but you have. Any burning prospects?" he was grinning but she was blushing. She did that a lot. One of the few attributes she'd received from her mother's side of the family.
"No, none at all. I don't know what you're talking about," she said quickly.
~Nemo's point of view~
Nemo walked steadily forward. He knew Mercy was hiding something it was obvious. He only hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was. If she liked Druce Malfoy then the stupid, blond, Ravenclaw would receive a huge black eye at the very least. Suddenly, on their way to the stadium he caught sight of Lucy Wood. She was the most popular girl in their year. She was a stunning, tall, talented Gryfindor 2nd year. She had also become a member of the Quidditch team, seeker. She was great, not only at Quidditch but at everything. From her father she had inherited a love and flair for Quidditch and from her mother, Viviane Simpson, an aptitude for her studies. She was rivaled in that department only by Mercy who was top of her year.
"Oh, hi Nemo!" she rushed over to him. They were "just friends".
"Hi Lucy, how's your summer been?"
"Great, how 'bout yours?"
"Good, do you think your dad's going to win today?" Oliver had joined the Chudley Cannons shortly after he left Puddlemere United reserve team. He had lead the Cannons to victory after victory and now, to the first Cup in decades.
"Of course he's going to win!" she said with a look of resolution on her face. "You are going for the Cannons aren't you?"
"You know I am!" Nemo exclaimed. "The Weasleys and the Potters have supported the Cannons the whole time. We're not one's to abandon our team!" Nemo was clearly taking this too seriously.
"Lucy, come on dear, we'll miss the beginning and your Dad'll be looking for us in the box," Viviane said, trying to hurry her daughter along.
"Bye Nemo, I'll see you after we win!" she shouted over her shoulder. Nemo waved and was startled by a shot of arms from the back of him. He jerked around to face the owner of the arms. It was his father. "You nearly scared the bloody hell out of me Dad!" he exclaimed.
"I wouldn't use that type of language if I were you," he said sternly before his face split into a grin. "So was that your girlfriend?"
"No, that was Lucy Wood, my best friend," Nemo exclaimed, his voice cracking. Ginny passed with a pregnant Hermione and Harry heard a low cough that sounded suspiciously like:
"Double standard." Harry looked at her incredulously.
"Come on Nemo, us Potter men need to stay together." He lead his son to the game.
"Dad, can I ask you a question?" Nemo said finally.
"Sure you can," Harry ruffled his hair. Nemo pushed it down instinctively.
"If I did like Lucy, and this is just a hypothetical question o'course."
"Yes, yes, of course."
"How would I go about telling her?"
"That's a doosy Nemo, I don't know. Maybe you could tell her during Quidditch practice. I really wouldn't recommend telling her during the summer."
"Why?"
"Because Oliver would probably find out and then you'd be in a right state. You see, some father's are very protective of their daughters and I wouldn't like to get on the wrong end of Mr. Wood's left hook." They heard a decisive snort from ahead of them.
~Ginny's point of view~
"Harry can be so hypocritical some times!" Ginny whispered to Hermione.
"Tell me about it. I'm not looking forward to protecting Sawyer's and Sebille's boyfriends against Ron, not to mention Luke and Spence," Hermione replied. "It is cute that he's bonded with Mercy and Nemo though. You know it's only been 7 years since they've met."
"Yeah, well it's kind of lost it's cuteness," Ginny answered, hoisting James on her hip. James was a strange child. He was already 4 but didn't speak much and was very small for his age.
"Mummy, can I go see Daddy and Nemo?" the little boy asked.
"Sure James," she let him down and watched as he pelted at the other two "Potter men."
"Are you worried about James?"
"A little, he's just so smart that it amazes me that he doesn't communicate better."
"Don't worry, seriously Ginny, he's more normal then Luke was at that age."
"Hermione, Luke is only a year and a ½ older then James."
"Yeah but still, a lot can change in a year and a ½."
"What do you think this one's going to be?" Ginny changed the subject, gesturing to Hermione's waist.
"I think it's going to be a girl," Hermione said without trying to hide her grin."
"I hope so, then Ron will be over powered."
"He already is, believe me. Sawyer and Sebille are quite enough to make him back down!"
"So have you any names yet?"
"Ron wants to name it Chudley, girl or boy," Hermione laughed.
"Are you serious?" Ginny asked skeptically.
"As the grave. He said we could call it Lee."
"That or Chud, you're not considering are you?"
"No, god no Ginny. If it's a boy it will be Ron Jr. and if it's a girl well I have a lot of different choices. I gave Ron a list and vetoed about ½ of the thing."
"Tell me, were the choices as odd as the ones you gave him when you were pregnant with the triplets?"
"Hey, I wouldn't talk. You named your son Nemo and your daughter's middle name is Arwin."
"Hey, don't get defensive. Just give a sample."
"Okay Hesper."
"No."
"Mairwen."
"No."
"Rhoswen."
"No."
"Nydia."
"Double no."
"Hedwig."
"You were thinking of naming your daughter after Harry's owl!"
"No, I, I just like that name."
"Hermione, if you name your child after an owl then they will forever be teased. Their entire life, Hermione!"
"Fine, Mabyn."
"No, do you have any normal names?"
"Yeah, how about Megan or Meara, or Mora, Nora, Risa, Rory, Helia Mahola, Robin, Ryann, Rory."
"Some of those are fine Hermione. I like Megan and Nora of course it's already taken. Possibly Robin but Mahola!"
"But listen, Meara means full of mirth!"
"Yeah, it's okay. I don't think Ron's going to go for it though. Sawyer was a stretch for him."
"So Meara it is," Hermione said with renewed happiness. They entered the stadium. It was filled to the bursting point with people. They, the Weasleys and Potters started up to their top box. The box was reserved for the most elite people in the wizarding world but to Mr. Weasley it wasn't a status symbol it was just damn good seats. He enjoyed being able to finally be the dad that could be cool.
The Weasley family looked like a small army. There were the 9 originals, then an addition of 7 spouses. Bill also had 4 children, Norah, 12, Owen, 11, Ryan, 10, and Rory, 8. Charlie topped everyone with a whopping 6 children. He had started with the triplets: Parry, Jonathan, and Meira, 12, then Edwin, 10, Wren, 7, and finally the baby of the family, Willow, 5. Percy only had two children, the smallest amount in the family. He and Penny had decided to keep the "P" thing going and even had their children's middle names match. You see, they were destined to be together for her middle name was Isabelle and his was Ignatius. Patrick Isaac was 9 and Piper Imogene was 6. Of course you know Ron's kids as well as Ginny's so I won't go into that.
It took a full 15 minutes to make their way up through the droves of people in part because Mr. Weasley stopped every few minutes to wave and say hello. They finally got there and piled into the room. The room had actually been expanded as to fit all the Weasleys that had come in. The Irish Mistress came to greet him. "Hello, I'm Fiona O'Patrick, you must be the Weasleys. I'm afraid, other then your family there are only a very few seats left," she laughed. She had a nice laugh.
"I'm sorry, it's a chore to find places for all of my family," Mr. Weasley answered. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble. Lord knows planning the Cup is enough."
"Anything for you Arthur, we just have the Ugandan Minister and he doesn't have his family with him. Then a very few honored guests" Molly quickly showed herself at Mr. Wealsey's shoulder sensing the come-ons sent her husband's way. He quickly introduced small bits of his family before the door opened again. To Mercy's great embarrassment, the Malfoys came through the doors. Druce, his father and his mother. Mistress O'Patrick went quickly over to greet them.
Nemo eyed Mercy suspiciously. She looked a lot like she felt something for Druce Malfoy. Harry saw it too and he felt a hot flame of anger flare up. They didn't have time to dwell on it, however, for the game was starting. They quickly took their seats.
"GO WOOD!" Ron screeched from his seat. No one could top his loyalty to his team. Luckily, as it looked now, his loyalty was about to pay off. The Cannons were leading the Patonga Proudsticks 160 to 80 and it looked like their seeker, Cho Chang, was going to find the snitch before Walila Paiva. There was a tedious moment as the two seekers dove expertly.
"No, goodness, it's obviously a feint," Harry murmured. As he had warned, Cho pulled out at the last second and shot up like bottle rocket. Walila didn't even have a chance to recover. He barely pulled out before he hit the grass. Cho was already 20 feet above him and the snitch was in grabbing distance. She reached her hand out and grasped it. Everyone in the stands shot up on the English side. Cheers erupted and they could see champagne shoot up from various parts of the stands. Ron turned and hugged a rather disgruntled Hermione.
The Cannons had won; it was a new day for English Quidditch. There was a lot of jumping, hugging, and screaming from all over but still more in the top stand where the Weasley brothers were doing a victory dance. Ron leaned down to Mercy, Nemo, Norah, Perry, Meira, and Jon. "This is a day out of History ladies and gentlemen. Mercy and Perry snorted for they weren't as big on Quidditch as the rest of them while the other 4 nodded rapped in the awe of the situation.
"This is ridiculous," Mercy heard Piper, who took after her father in all ways. "It's bloody Quidditch. I didn't see this kind of reaction when Dad announced the renewed testing of shoddy cauldrons!" Mercy stifled a giggle. Piper could be very comical at times. She always took things way too seriously. That was when she felt a tap on her back. She turned to see Druce behind her.
"Hey Mercy," he said in a hushed voice.
"Hi Druce, how has your summer been?" Mercy blushed and looked down at her face.
"It's good, yours?" she wasn't given a chance to answer for Nemo was by her side. The happy expression was washed off his face and glare had replaced it.
"Is this git bothering you Mercy?"
"No, we were just talking, now go back to your victory dance," Mercy said through gritted teeth.
"Druce, it's time for us to go," Draco said from the other corner of the room.
"I'll see you at school," Mercy whispered to him. He nodded and followed his father and mother out of the booth. Nemo was still glaring at his retreating back.
"We'll talk about this later Mercy. I'll be telling Dad."
"Tell him what exactly?"
"That you fancy a Malfoy."
"I don't "fancy" him, he's just a potential friend and he was doing nothing wrong. Anyway, even if I did like him, what's it to you or Dad? You like Lucy!"
"I do not and Lucy's a Gryfindor and her father's a member of the Chudley Cannons."
"So, Druce's father works at the Ministry, same as Dad!"
"As I said, we'll talk about this later, with Dad."
