James and Isobel
I don't own any of the characters or places you might recognize.
Chapter 5
Football
"Dad!" James opened the door to his dad's study with a loud bang.
"Did you run all the way here?" Harry asked without looking up from the papers on his desk.
It took a second for James to respond. He did run all the way from Isobel's house, and now he had to catch his breath. James leaned against the door frame.
"What's going on?" Harry asked as he put down his work papers and swiveled around in his chair to face his son.
"You played muggle games when you went to muggle school" James said between gasps.
"Yes" Harry said puzzled not knowing where this was going.
"Good, because I have two days to learn how to play football" James said.
"Football?"
"Yeah, see the other day when I was with Isobel I almost let it slip that I play on a Quidditch team. At the last moment I caught myself and said football. I didn't think she'd call me on it. But the church is doing a fundraiser thing for orphaned kids at a park, and they needed volunteers. Isobel said there was going to be a football thing, and I should help out since I know how to play the football."
"Okay, I never really played the game myself but I know all the rules" Harry said.
After twenty minutes of listening to his father talk about the game and draw little diagrams James was completely bored and confused. James was considering this one of the worse times he ever had to sit through a lecture given by a family member. It was right up there next to when Uncle Percy lectured everyone on proper thick bottom cauldrons and when Aunt Hermione decided to gather all the kid Weasleys and Potters and force them to look at her sex education diagrams.
"Dad this is boring, and not working. Did I mention I only had two days?" James said.
"Okay, why don't you go to your Uncle George's house and get Fred and Roxanne and meet me at the Burrow" Harry said.
James was confused but he did what he was told.
Shortly after James, Fred and Roxanne arrived at the burrow Lily, Rose, and Hugo showed up. They all waited around in the back yard not know what was going on. More of their cousins showed up. Lucy and Molly came next. Then finally Harry showed up with Ron, Victorie, Teddy, Luis, Dominique and her fiancé Travie.
"What's going on dad?" Lily asked with a yawn.
"James wanted to know how to play football so I thought we could all help out" Harry said.
"But we don't know how to play football" Lucy said.
"Not yet, I'm going to teach you" Harry said.
Harry transfigured two twigs into goal post. It was going to be a girls verses guys game.
"So we just have to kick balls into that net?" Fred scoffed. "That sounds way too easy."
"The only person allowed to use their hands is the goalie."
"I call goalie for the guys' team" Ron said.
"Well I call goalie for the girl's team" Molly said.
"Five galleons says the girls win" Lily said.
"Now Lily you shouldn't be—"
"You're on" Hugo said and they shook on it.
Harry looked at Ron who just shrugged his shoulders. Well at least they were betting with family not some creep who wasn't going to pay like Bagman.
Five minutes into the game Harry knew he should've rallied one more person to be a referee. Hermione was the only other person he could think of that might know the rules and she was busy at work.
Hugo kicked the ball a little too hard and it hit Molly in the face. After fixing her nose Harry awarded the girl's a penalty shot. Then Lucy got revenge for her twin by jumping on Hugo's back the next time he got the ball.
The guys were rewarded with a penalty shot.
Ron was so in the zone he was singing the Gryffindor version of Weasley is Our King.
Every time Travie or Teddy got the ball Dominique or Victorie would distract them while Lily snuck in and stole the ball away.
"Oh come on, that has to be against the rules" Hugo whined after Lily stole the ball again. "Dom was distracting him with her lady parts."
Dominique and Victorie started laughing. James stole the ball back from Lily he kicked it to the other post and scored.
The score was 2-1 for the guys.
The girls weren't happy that they boys gained the lead so they redoubled their efforts. Most surprising of all the girls was Rose who claimed that she didn't like sports. She stole the ball from Harry four times, scoring on two of those times.
They played for well over an hour. Fred kicked the ball and it went out of bounds and towards Molly's flutterby bush.
There was then a large game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would go get the ball.
The ball suddenly game flying towards Ron and he had to duck so it wouldn't hit him in his head. Everyone looked to where the ball came from and was surprised to see Molly Weasely standing there with her hands on my hips.
"You all have been out here in my back yard for hours and no one even bothered to come in and say hi" Molly said.
"Sorry Nan/Mum/Mrs. Weasley" everyone said.
Hugo was the first to run over and give her a hug. "I am so hungry, after that huge workout. You wouldn't happen to have any food already made would you?"
Lily slapped him in the back of the head and she turned around and hugged her. "I would've come in to say hi, but I though you and grandpa might be busy."
Al flicked his little sister's ear.
"Ignore both of them" Al said and he gave her a hug as well.
Molly Sr. had indeed already made food for everybody. She had entered her kitchen in the hope for making a snack for herself and Arthur when she spied everyone playing through the window.
"What's her name?" Fred asked. It was way too crowded for them all to eat inside so some people went outside to eat.
"Who's name?" James asked and he took a bite out of his sandwich.
"The girl that has you building plushies and learning muggle games" Fred said.
"Her name is Isobel" James said.
"Is she hot?" Fred asked.
"Of course" James said offended.
"Don't act like you've never dated ugly people before. Remember Charity Reed?"
"I told you she asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her and I felt horrible about saying no, so I went with her. It was not a date" James protested.
"I bet you she thought it was a date" Fred said.
"Whatever this girl isn't like the others" James said.
"You know you sound like a girl right now?"
"You're the one who came over here asking about my relationships."
"True, we need to do something manly."
"Nan has got a garden that probably needs de-gnoming."
"Let's go do that, after we eat."
After they finished eating the girl's challenged the guys to another game of football.
At the end of the day James and Fred kept their word and de-gnomed the garden. Lily and Hugo were arguing about the score and who owed who.
Altogether it was a fun day full of family, something they hadn't had in a while.