Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Behind the Burrow sat a large Quidditch Pitch, recently refurbished in order to fit the large family. Harry smiled softly to himself as he walked down, broom in hand. Lucy, Percy's youngest daughter, ran ahead and subsequently fell flat on her face. Audrey quickly scooped her off the ground, fretting over her for a moment before realizing she was okay.
"Alright," Mr. Weasley, being the eldest, spoke in an amplified voice. The entire family fell silent, listening intently for what he was about to say. Only Lily and Hugo continued whispering to each other, but no one paid them any mind. The two were too young to play anyway and they had already decided to leave them, and the other younger kids, with some of the adults in the stands that they had created.
"The captains will be our very own professionals."
Ginny and Alicia stepped forward as the twins waved their wands, causing fireworks to explode in the air. Several of the kids pointed to the air and giggled, but the majority of the adults simply rolled their eyes.
"Alright, we'll flip a coin to see who can choose first," Mr. Weasley spoke happily, pulling out an American Muggle Quarter. He turned to James, who was practically vibrating with excitement, and showed it to him, "I got this on my last vacation. Look, the front of it has a former president and on the back-"
"Dad, just hand it over," Charlie said, rolling his eyes.
Mr. Weasley looked affronted, but sighed as he walked between Ginny and Alicia, "Call it in the air," he told them, before flipping it.
"Heads!" Alicia shouted before Ginny had the chance.
He caught the coin. It was tails.
"Alright, Gin. You get to pick first."
In order to help Ginny see her choices, Hermione (who still wasn't fond of flying) and Cassie (who couldn't due to being a muggle) gathered up the younger children and headed to the stands. A few adults followed, including Percy, Audrey, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny scanned the field but was quick to choose, "I choose Michael."
The man grinned and happily strutted forward. From the stands, Harry heard Lily cheering happily and couldn't stop the small flare of jealousy.
"Alright, Ally," Fred grinned at his wife, who glared at him.
"What have I told you about calling me that?" she demanded, annoyed, and then, as if just to spite him, purposely did not pick him, "Harry."
Fred put a hand to his heart, "Oh, the betrayal," he said dramatically, falling forward and having to be caught by George, who fanned his face as if he had passed out.
James decided that he needed to get in on the joke, "Aunt Ally," he grinned, "Is there something going on between you and dad?"
Alicia gagged, taking several steps from Harry. Fred pulled up immediately, "Harry!"
"For goodness sakes," Ginny butt in, rolling her eyes, "Jamie, you're on my team."
A grin spread across the eight-year-old's face and he happily ran over. Corner affectionately ruffled his hair and James shined with glee.
The picking continued on for several minutes, until the teams had been set. On Ginny's team was Corner as Keeper, James and Charlie with Ginny as Chasers, Freddie and Georgia as Beaters, and Teddy as Seeker. On Alicia's team was Ron as Keeper, Angelina and Sirius with Alicia as Chasers, Fred and George as Beaters, and Harry as Seeker.
The game started and they soared into the air. Harry hadn't gone flying in a while, but his instincts immediately took over and he flew high.
"Angelina has the quaffle, she dodges a bludger aimed at her by her very own son. Not cool, Freddie."
Harry glanced down and saw Bill, sitting with Fleur, at the announcers table. Charlie had really gone overboard when he'd created the pitch.
"Sorry, mum!" Freddie shouted, though he sent yet another bludger at her. She effortlessly dodged it and raced past Ginny as she attempted to block her.
Angelina wasn't professional but she definitely could be.
"She shoots… SHE SCORES! 10 points to Team Alicia!"
The stand cheered happily. Harry glanced over and saw that Hermione had spelled a large poster to read, "Go Dad!"
"Alicia has the quaffle. She passes to Sirius and – OOH intercepted by Charlie. He passes to Ginny."
The poster now read, "Go Mum!"
Rose and Hugo also had their own now, one that read, "Block that quaffle, Dad!"
"Ginny races past Sirius, who attempts to block her. She dodges a bludger sent by George… oh, sorry, Fred. She shoots and… RON BLOCKS! Fantastic save. I haven't seen someone block Ginny in years."
Harry grinned slightly to himself as he heard Rose and Hugo burst into cheers in the stands, matched with Albus and Lily groaning.
Someone flew by him, "Come on, dad, you got to actually look for the Snitch!" James teased.
"I'm just waiting for the perfect time," he smirked at his son, though he let his green eyes soar across the field. He didn't see it. A glance at Teddy, who was circling the field, showed that he didn't either.
"Ginny has the quaffle again. She passes to Charlie, who dodges a bludger from George. Charlie goes to pass to James and- OH! Fred, good shot! The bludger connects with the quaffle and knocks it off course. Alicia has the quaffle now. She shoots and SCORES! 20-0, Team Alicia."
Corner let out an angry shout and flew back to his goals, looking like a bear protecting its cubs.
"Sirius has the quaffle. He soars down pitch and passes to Angelina. She passes to Alicia, who goes in for the shot and- oh, Michael finally managed to block something."
Corner glared angrily at Bill, who held up his hands in defense.
"Alright, Ginny has the quaffle. She dodges a bludger by Fred, and another by George, and another by Fred. They seem determined to knock her off but she's dodging them effortlessly. Go Gin!"
In the stands, the poster cheered Ginny on.
"She passes to James, who shoots and… Wow! He scores!"
The poster now read, "Go James!" as the stands exploded into cheers. Despite it having gotten past Ron, who was on Harry's own team, he grinned at his son and shot him a thumbs up.
He was pretty sure that Ron had let it past, but he wasn't about to let James know that.
"The quaffle goes to Sirius. He passes to Alicia, who passes to Angelina, who passes to Alicia, then back to Sirius. Sirius passes to- oh! Good feint, there. Sirius goes in for the shot… BLOCKED!"
Ginny flew by Michael and grinned at him. Harry watched them curiously. There was definitely something going on between them. He wondered what-
A flash of gold caught his attention as it flew past him. He spun on his broom and his instincts took over as he darted on his broom after it.
"Alicia shoots and scores! 10 points to Team Alicia! The score is 30-10 to Team Alicia and- Oh! Harry's seen the snitch! And Teddy is off behind him!"
Harry reached out for the snitch, the thrill of the chase sending exhilaration through him. It was practically melting away all the stress, all the worry, as he reached forward. A smile was painted on his face. All thoughts vanished. It was just him and the snitch on the field.
His fingers stretched out as he neared closer and closer to the snitch.
His hand closed around the golden snitch.
"Harry caught the snitch!"
A younger voice suddenly spoke. Harry recognized it as 7-year-old Louis, "Team Alicia wins!"
He flew down to the ground, still grinning to himself. Alicia flew down and patted him on the back, "You still got it, Harry."
Lily appeared next to him, hugging his legs, "Yay, Daddy! You caught the snitch!"
Harry laughed, bending down and picking up his daughter. Despite only being four, the girl was definitely into Quidditch. He guessed it made sense, considering who her parents were.
"Dad, that was so cool," James gushed as he flew down to him, seemingly not even noticing that his team had not won. Harry briefly wondered if he should have thrown it for his son, but as his eyes moved behind James and he saw Corner brooding with Ginny talking to him, he felt a small feeling of satisfaction.
The man had flown to the ground and was staring angrily at Harry. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that childish feeling of satisfaction that he would get whenever he would make Malfoy mad back at Hogwarts. He averted his eyes, smiling down at his kids.
"You didn't even hesitate! It was so cool!" James grinned, practically vibrating. Beside him, Albus nodded excitedly.
Hermione walked over and hugged him. His smile only widened.
"Why you became a teacher and not a professional Quidditch teacher, I'll never know," Hermione said with a fond smile.
Harry shrugged, "I like teaching," he simply responded, "Besides, it keeps me out of the spotlight. Being a professional Quidditch Player would be a nightmare with paparazzi. They're already bad enough."
Hermione laughed softly, "Yeah, Rita Skeeter tried sneaking back into Hogwarts the other day. I've never seen McGonagall so furious."
In his arms, Lily giggled, "She was a bug!"
"She was," Harry agreed, "Luckily, she got in trouble for it this time. She won't be coming back onto the property any time soon."
Magical Restraining Orders were a lot more effective than Muggle ones.
Lily began to babble into Harry's ear as James ran over to Cori to gush over the game. Albus walked over to Rose who was talking to Ron. Harry briefly noticed that the boy was keeping an eye on Corner, as if waiting for the man to do something.
He turned his head to him again and noticed the man still glaring at Harry. Once he realized that he was being watching, he turned and punched the Quidditch goal in fury.
A shiver went down Harry's spine. He didn't like Corner. He didn't like Corner being around his kids, but they seemed to adore the man. At least, James and Lily did, and Albus had never said anything bad about him. Ginny definitely seemed to love him.
There was something about him, though. His anger definitely set off alarm bells in his head. He didn't want his kids around the man when he was angry.
They had never said anything, though. Surely, they would tell him if something was wrong.
Right?
Author's Note: This was shorter than I wanted, but I felt like this was a good spot to end the chapter. I've been super busy lately, and my life isn't going to calm down until after May 13th. My last day of school isn't until May 20th, but we never do anything the last week of school and all of my tests will be over on the 13th, so once that is over, I should be able to write to my heart's content!
So, some reviewers are getting clued into what is going on, and I gave a major hint at the end of this chapter. There will be more explanation soon, and I will say that there is a lot of things going on that Harry does not know about. And again, this is not a Ginny Bashing story.
What character would you guys like to see more of? I feel like I should actually have the Malfoy's in the story soon instead of just consistently mentioning them. I will also say that Professor Mallory Martin (who was in the last chapter) will play a pretty big part in this story.
Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!