TDANTNORR (see previous chapter for meaning): I am very pleased with the response to this story so far. Thank you to my lovely reviewers, but…if you are going to leave me a review, and it is a criticism, please tell me why or how to improve. If you just tell me it's confusing, there is no way for me to help clear it up, or improve on the next chapter, or edit the previous chapter. Thank you for your time.

FYI: THIS, PLEASE READ…PLEASE: I do NOT play football! The closest I have is that my best friend plays. I do watch it an awful lot. I am, however, on a sports team, so I tried to model it after that. I don't want to know if I said something wrong, because then I shall feel stupid. Just…bear with me, or skip the match. I suppose all that really matters is the outcome. I only really focus on the first half anyway, because I ran out of ideas and I know how I want the match to end.

"Catherine, slow down." Harry said, trying to chase after her.

"Keep up, Harry," Catherine shouted back. Harry finally caught up to her and slowed down, panting slightly.

"You shouldn't be too angry at Dad. He didn't tell Nichole to come. Nichole tends to do that," Harry explained.

"I'm just kind of upset at the whole situation. It would have been nice to know she existed before she shows up. I mean, what kind of guy doesn't tell his kid that he has a girlfriend? Oh, and Nichole tends to do what?" asked Catherine.

"Well, she tends to show up in places where no one wants her. She showed up on Christmas, when Dad was showing me the picture of Lily. She showed up at Quidditch award ceremony and she even managed to turn up at Remus' surprise birthday party." Harry explained, "So, if she turns up at the football thing you've got today, please don't be surprised."

"Aw," Catherine said, hanging her head, "Well, speaking of that, we'd better get back to the house. I have to change and stuff." Catherine said.

"All right," Harry said, and they turned around, "Are you in a calm enough to not kill Dad?"

"You really are an asshole aren't you?" Catherine asked, jokingly as they began to walk back to the house.

"I prefer the term 'irritating' if it's all the same to you, dear sister." Harry said laughing.

"Well, dear brother, I will tell you very politely, to suck it," she said, and took off running back to the house. Harry chased after her in false anger back to the house. They burst into the doorway and raced up the stairs. Catherine leapt up the stairs to her attic bedroom and yanked the chain to pull up the floor. She shouted a "hah" through the floor and turned around to see James standing in the middle of her room.

"Uh…Hi James." She said, attempting to keep her anger at bay. She never was a very good actress.

"Hey Kat," he replied.

"Can I help you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Um…what did you think of Nichole?" James asked.

"I cannot believe you," Catherine said, laughing slightly maniacally, "I am horribly pissed off at you, and all you can think of to ask me is 'what do you think of Nichole?' You want to know what I think? I think she's weird and a show-off. And something about her being overly nice to Mom concerns me."

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know." James said, throwing up his arms, turning around and walking down the attic stairs, "Your mother's in the kitchen, by the way."

"So that's it? I bad mouth your girlfriend and that's all you can say?" Catherine said, following him.

"Yeah, that's about it."

"So does that mean you really don't care what I think then?"

"No, it means that I'm not going to fight about it," James said.

"Fight? Fight about what? You asked me what I thought and I told you. Why would you want to fight?"

"Exactly, so do tell me why you're keeping on." James said. Catherine stood still on the stairs. She thought for a minute.

"Because…because…" she stammered.

"Thank you very much," James said before turning and walking away.

"Jesus James, you're infuriating!" Catherine said, before turning to make her way back up the stairs.

"Now wait just a minute there, Catherine," James nearly shouted, "Ever since I got here, you have been determined to be angry with me. You have been looking for little things to piss you off ever since I came here."

"Not exactly. The little things just augment how much I was already mad at you, before, James."

"How can you be mad at someone you've never met?"

"Can you not hear how screwed up that sounds? 'Never met'? Yeah, never met my own father. I think society will make an exception for a case like this. Especially when said father is a cheater."

James opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say in return. Catherine beat him to it, however.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Daddy-dearest." She said, turning to walk back up the stairs. She pushed past Harry and Lily who had apparently been listening at the top of the stairs. She climbed the attic stairs and pulled them up.

She sighed and threw herself on her bed. She put her face in her pillow and screamed a few times. After calming down, she stood up and grabbed her soccer uniform that was sitting on the back of her chair. She pulled it on and sat on her bed to put on her socks. As soon as she'd finished, she'd flopped down on her bed. She breathed deeply a few times before she heard a bang on the trap door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Mum, can I come up?'

"Mom, we'd better go, we're going to be late," Catherine said, however, not making a move toward the door.

"All right, Sweetheart, I'll see you out in the car," Lily said.

Catherine sighed. She suddenly felt very sad and felt tears begin to surface. She bit them back, took a deep breath, grabbed her bag, and was down the stairs. Down the second flight of stairs, she saw the house was empty. She locked up, turned off all the lights and went out the front door. She saw Lily in the driver's seat, James in the passenger seat, and Harry in the backseat. Catherine climbed in and threw her bag in the back, climbing in the back after it.

"Catherine, what are you doing back there?"

"I need to put on my shin pads,"

"All right. Where are you playing today?

"Catherine, what are you doing back there?"

"I need to put on my shin pads,"

"All right. Where are you playing today?"

"I don't know yet. Probably central forward, but he can change whenever he wants. If I get on defence again, I'll…I don't know, but it shall not be pleasant."

"Well, you're hopeless at defence anyway." Lily said.

"That doesn't mean he won't stick me on it. He's a sadist." Catherine said, strapping a pad to her leg.

"But don't you have to win this game to get to the playoffs."

Catherine shrugged. She knew she was going to play offence but she liked being difficult.

Catherine finished strapping the shin pads to her leg, pulling up her socks, and leaning against the side of the boot. She was still in a really bad mood and decided to just sit there and let it simmer. She soon grew bored of the silence and braided her long black hair.

They arrived at the field at about four in the afternoon. Catherine ran off to be with the rest of her team.

"Potter, you're late," Her coach said as she ran up. She sat next to Jess in the grass.

"Sorry. Family thing." She stated.

"Just don't let it happen again." He said, before going into his usual pre-game speech.

"What did I miss?" She leaned over and asked Jess.

"Nothing. He's just been dying to get you with something all season. He didn't even list off positions yet." Jess answered.

"Okay, good."

"So…how'd it go after I left?" Jess whispered.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Oh but I think I do," Jess said smiling.

"Layendecker! Potter! I really hope the match won't get in the way of your little pow-wow over there!" The coach shouted.

"Actually, Coach, a pow-wow is an Indian religious ritual in which…"

"Thank you very much, Avery. You can finish this riveting conversation later. Now…positions." The coach said. This was what everyone waiting for…

Catherine rose from her spot very satisfied. She did get the central forward position. She walked over to Jess who was putting on her goalie jersey.

"I hate goalie. I really hate goalie. Words can not describe how much I –argh (here, she wrenched the jersey over her head) hate goalie." She said, bending down to pick up her gloves.

"Oh come on, Jess. You're good at it. Like…kick arse good at it." Catherine said.

"That doesn't make it any less suckish."

"Well, don't hate it too much. We really need you to not suck today."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Tonight, you are not allowed to get carded in any way."

"Hey, I haven't gotten carded in three games," Catherine defended.

"I know. But you've got you're angry face on."

Catherine sneered at her friend and walked away to look at the field. She went on to check for holes and stones and to survey the other team. They didn't look too formidable. She walked over to the stands and saw her parents and brother sitting there ready to watch the game.

The ref blew the whistle, and it was time to troop out onto the field. She glanced up at her mother as she always did, and just had Harry had suspected, Cormac and Nichole had joined the rest of her family. Catherine stood in the middle of the field, as she was going to call the coin toss. The ref had told her and the girl from the other team to shake hands and decide who was going to call the toss.

The ref flipped the coin, and the other girl shouted, "tails". The ref caught the coin and showed the face. Catherine smirked at the outline of some influential wizard that did something in history and had fun that seemed to smile up at her. She walked off to her end of the field to await the kick off. Soon it came, and the game began.

For the first couple of minutes, there was just a simple exchange between teams. A few goals were shot, but the goalies were doing their job fairly well. The ball was on the other teams field, and they had possession. Catherine was rushing at the girl who had the ball. The girl simply swooped the ball around Catherine and began to tank to the other end of the pitch. Catherine grew angry at her stupidity and started to chase after her with all her might. She couldn't catch her though. She held her breath as the girl wound up to shoot. Luckily, she wasn't paying much attention because Sophie Avery swooped in and kicked the ball toward the left midfielder. The forwards ran down the field, passing the ball between them all, and watched the defenders, not only for stealing, but also for passing off sides.

Catherine had the ball, and wound up to shoot, when she saw the girl who she had tried to take the ball from rushing for her. She dug her foot below the ball and passed it, airborne, to the left midfielder, who jumped up, using the shoulders of the defender going for the ball, and headed the ball into the goal. They threw their hands into the air, and yelled their approval.

Soon the ball was back in play and Catherine was subbed out. She ran into the box and waited for her coach to…well…coach her. She grabbed a water bottle and turned to the assistant coach.

"Good assist, Potter. You need to stick number six (the girl she faced) out there better," the assistant said.

"She's too fast coach, I can't stick with her," Catherine said, breathlessly. Suddenly, groans were heard from the rest of the players in the box. She looked out onto the pitch and saw the other team bowing down (stupid team traditions) to number six, who had apparently scored. They were now tied one-one, "See. Larissa can't stick with her either,"

"Try this. Don't look for her. Watch the ball and go for a piece of field rather than her. That'll keep you open better. Now catch your breath and get back out there."

Catherine leaned against the wall of the box and looked at the clock. Three minutes were left in the half. She held her breath as she saw a striker from the other team rushing down the field with the ball. She weaved in and out of the defenders.

"Come on, Jess." Catherine whispered.

Jess had assumed the goalie position as the striker lined up and shot. Jess dove and curved her body around the ball. There were two minutes left in the half and she rolled the ball back out in front of Larissa who took it down field. She didn't hold on very long and began to pass to the other players. Finally, one of them took a gamble and shot. With such little time left in the half, it wouldn't matter about the outcome of the shot.

The ball however, went in, to everyone's surprise, so they all went into their own little tradition: as many as possible lining up and doing a can-can. The ref blew his whistle, and the other team began idly passing the ball, trying to get the half to run out. They succeeded and the buzzer went off. The team trooped off the field. They got their half time speech and went back out on the field.

The second half did not go as well as the first. Catherine's team did not score for the rest of the game. She found herself greatly distracted. The other team, however, did…twice, partly because number six was a speed demon, partly because they subbed out Jess, and partly because the team was growing tired. As the final buzzer went, Catherine threw her head back with exasperation. She really was not accustomed to defeat, and she walked off the field. She sat on the bench with dejection. Jess sat next to her and looked at her.

"Well, we can't win them all," Jess said, taking the tape off her wrists.

"Yes, but why did we have to lose this one?" Catherine said.

"POTTER!" her coach shouted. Catherine closed her eyes and waited for the fire that was sure to come, "What happened out there, Potter? You need to leave personal matters off the pitch!"

"There were no personal matters, Coach."

"Well, whatever it was, you make sure I don't see that level of distraction I saw out there tonight ever again. The one game where you aren't focused is the one game we couldn't afford to lose. I saw at least three opportunities where you could have taken a shot. It's not like you to miss opportunities like that."

"I'm sorry, Coach. I got in a fight with my dad before I left, and that was stealing most of my attention. I know it was bad, but there you have it."

"Are you sure that's all, Kath? I get worried about you when you're distracted from the pitch."

"Yeah, other than that, life is peachy," She said, giving him a thumbs up.

"All right, Potter, go sit with your team."

"Am I going to be embarrassed?" She said with a smirk.

"Very funny. Get out of my sight," The coach said, laughingly. Catherine sat on the bench with the rest of the team, who were all dejected. They all held their breath and awaited the beast. Their coach stood in front of them.

"All right. Apparently, that was not our best game. We could have beaten these guys, but I guess everyone's minds were elsewhere today. Other than that, it was a great season, and I hate to see it end sooner than our capabilities should have allowed. I hope to see you all again for indoor. Now, go and talk congratulate the other team."

The girls got up and left the box slowly and lined up on the pitch, the other team did likewise. They walked along the half-field line and shook hands with each team member. Number six sent Catherine and Jess a smirk, before turning around and going to her family. Catherine and Jess shrugged and walked off, grabbed their kits and bottles and went to their families.

"Well done, Sweetheart." Lily said, softly to Catherine.

"Right." Catherine said, sadly, taking a swig of her water.

"Oh who would have thought Muggle sport could have been so exciting. Not as fast as Quidditch, mind you, but still…exhilarating. You seem to be really good, Catherine." Nichole said.

"Thanks." She said.

They walked away from the pitch to the car. Cormac was trying to coach Catherine.

"Maybe if you would keep up with her she wouldn't have gotten around you…" He began saying. Catherine tuned him out. She was really upset with herself. She was dazed when Harry put his arm around her shoulders.

"You did well, Catherine." Harry said, quietly, as they climbed into the boot. Cormac was sitting in the backseat with Nichole, and James was in the passenger seat.

"Not well enough, apparently," Catherine said, still upset.

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't have passed and shot and that one point in the second half where that other girl snuck up behind you…"

"All right, Cormac, I've about had enough. Do you play? Didn't think so," Catherine shouted, and watched Cormac shake his head, "Don't talk about stuff that you have no clue about."

"Catherine, be nice. He's just trying to help," James said.

"All right then, going on with his last 'brilliant thought', shot where? There is a goalkeeper. There were two defenders. The chances of me making that shot are about the same as Gandhi being a psycho military bomber. We would have had a better chance if I did pass it. Which I did."

"She's right, you know." Lily said.

"How are you the expert, then?" asked James, "The Lily I remember had no idea of the difference between Quidditch and Underwater Grindylow hunting."

"Things change James." Lily said, glaring at him, "Like when you're daughter has thrown herself into football for almost ten years, and you're there for it, you'll pick up a thing or two."

James threw up his hands in defeat.

"Well, I thought it was a good match," Nichole said, trying to quiet the storms that were Lily and Catherine's tempers.

"Right. It was. Who's hungry?" Lily said, getting the hint. Everyone but Catherine gave some sort of affirmative reply. They ended up going to a fast food place across from Nichole's hotel. They all sat down and began to eat. Catherine sort of picked at her food, eating only occasionally. The door opened, and who should walk in, but number six. Catherine rolled her eyes, as everyone at the table looked down at her. She shrugged at them and popped a fry into her mouth. The girl had brought a friend and ordered some food to go. As luck would have it, she walked over to their table, recognizing Catherine.

"Good game today," She said.

"Thanks," Catherine said, looking up at her.

"What was your season like? Six and seven? Oh that's a pity."

"No, actually, it was seven and six." Catherine said.

"Oh really. That's a surprise. You guys don't seem to have your hearts fully in the game. Maybe you should make room for more dedicated players."

Catherine was, no other word for it, pissed.

"How dare you! We are incredibly dedicated. How can you ignore the individual talent that we've worked so hard to achieve? Perhaps we weren't communicating well tonight, but do not mock our dedication."

"It seemed to me that you were the worst offender. You're far too tentative a player. Maybe you should have ploughed into me or done something. Offered up a challenge of some kind."

"I'll show you tentative." Catherine said, pushing the girl.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that, huh?" The girl said shoving Catherine back. She proceeded to grab Catherine by the braid. She twisted in pain, but was never one for girly fighting. She balled her hand up and punched the girl in the nose. She screamed as blood poured down her face. She looked at Catherine with wide eyes of surprise before looking toward Catherine's family. Cormac and Harry were laughing. James was staring in shock. Nichole had her hand over her mouth and Lily looked cross.

"Catherine Eliza!" Lily shouted. Catherine looked to her angry mother. Mistake. The girl kicked Catherine in the back of the knee, which was quite painful, considering she still had cleats on. Catherine screamed as she landed on her knee sideways. She stood back up and socked the girl in the stomach. They lunged at each other.

A man from behind the counter came and tried to pull the other girl away from Catherine. Harry and Cormac went to work pulling away Catherine, a task that took a while, but they finally succeeded.

"All right, give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops on you both." The man from behind the desk asked. "Oh, I know, because you're both getting out of here right now. You," He said to Number Six, "Go and grab your food and get out. You," he said, rounding on Catherine, "I don't want to ruin the meal for your family, so you can go and sit outside."

Catherine tried to walk out of the door, but felt a great jab of pain shoot from her knee up to her hip. She hissed in pain, and limped out of the place. She sat on a bench outside. She was still fuming.

The first one to walk out was James.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh great." She said, "Couldn't they have sent someone with a better opinion of me at the moment. Like Number Six, or Coach, or Mum or Satan."

"Come on now, Kat." He said sitting down next to her, "Just because I saw you kick some girls ahs, doesn't mean I think lowly of you."

"I did not kick her ass," she said, not worrying about her bad language, "I think she kicked mine. Which makes this ten times worse."

"Yes, but you made her bleed."

"So? She made me limp."

"Yeah, by attacking you from behind. Which is the lowest thing someone can do,"

"Should you really be condoning this? I mean, if Mom could hear you, she'd probably start again, and I don't want that."

"I'm not condoning it. Hitting her the first time was okay, it being self-preservation. After that you probably should have stopped. Could have saved your knee."

"It's just a bruise. I'll be fine," She said, not looking at him.

"Put your leg up here. Let me decide if you'll be fine." James said, patting his leg. She slowly lifted her leg up and placed it in her lap. He pulled her sock down and undid her shin pad. Her knee was an angry shade of purple and green. He poked where the bruising was the worst. She hissed in pain.

"Well, you'll live." James said, "I'll heal up your knee, then we'll head home. Okay?"

"Yeah."

James pulled out his wand, pointed it at her knee, and muttered a smell. Immediately, the purple began to swirl back into her knee. She pulled her leg back and stretched it a few times, before pulling her sock back up. She stood up to find that her knee was still sore, and buckled beneath her.

"All right," James said, laughing a little, catching her, "Come on, lean on me." He said.

She limped around to look back inside the restaurant. The rest of them were packing up and coming out the door. Nichole came out first and looked at Catherine down her nose. Next came Cormac who looked at her and snorted at her current position. Lily came next. She just looked at Catherine, her expression unreadable. Finally came Harry. He looked at Catherine and gave her a thumbs-up. She laughed a little.

They all arrived home and walked through the door. Well, Catherine limped. The point is, that they all found themselves in the living room.

James sat Catherine down on the couch. Harry plopped down next to her, and Lily and James went into the kitchen.

"That was fantastic." Harry said, laughing. "I mean, when you POW. Oh wow, I wish I could have used a move like that against…someone."

"Yeah, and get your knee injured in the process."

"Oh come on. It's just a bit sore. In my second year, I lost all the bones in my right arm, and they grew back in a night. You'll be fine."

"I'm not going to even ask how you managed that one." Catherine said laughing.

"Well, I took a bludger to the arm. The current Defence teacher was an idiot, so he removed all my bones."

"Ow." Catherine said.

"Yeah, really."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, breathing deeply. Catherine decided that she didn't want to sleep yet, so she got Harry to give her a piggyback downstairs, so they could watch television.

Meanwhile…

"I have GOT to do something about Catherine's temper." Lily said, sitting at the table across from James, "She acts so…so…"

"Like you?" James put forth. Lily gave him a quizzical look, "Well, if a person says something to upset her, she'll let them know it, and not so lightly. That girl is lucky Kat didn't have a wand."

"I suppose so." Lily said, "This is the first time she's actually used physical violence, though."

"Yes, but she was provoked."

"True." Lily said, "Well, we'll figure something out. Oh, by the way, did you send that letter to Molly yet?"

"This morning."

"Okay, good. Let's hope an owl can get that far, fairly quickly."

"Let's hope." James said, smiling at Lily.

TDANTNORR part deux: Okay, sorry it took me so long. Stuff came up. Honestly, I was avoiding writing that football scene. But I did it. And here it is.

R&R S'il vous plait.