A Ripple In Time Keeperoliver Chapter 12.
Neville sat with his friends in the seats before the ceremony began. He thanked each of them for coming. Harry, Ginny, Fred Hermione, Draco, Luna, Ron, Susan, George, and Katie each hugged him, and congratulated him. Hannah hugged and kissed him, and wished him luck. He then stood up and went into the preparation room, to look for his mum.
It was the day Alice had looked forward to with anticipation. She was finally going to be happy for the first time, since she lost the first person she ever loved. Yes, she still loved Frank, she always would. But one has to move on, if one is to live past the pain. Sirius had helped her with this. She didn't know why she had become so attached to the once biggest flirt in Hogwarts, behind James Potter. He had changed dramatically, and had become very emotional. Loving, caring, and attentive. She was lost in thought, when a knock on her door aroused her. "Come in."
Lily walked in with Neville right behind her. Neville pulled her into a hug, and asked, "Are you ready for this mum? It is time, and I know there is a nervous bloke standing down stairs sweating buckets. I don't know what kind of a spell you put on Sirius, but he keeps mumbling, 'How did I get so lucky?' I think you need to put him out of his misery."
Alice smiled at her son as he broke off the hug and took her hand. "I'm as ready as I will ever be. But before we do this, I need to know for certain that you are OK with this Neville. Are you sure you feel I am doing the right thing? I love Sirius Black, but, he will never replace the love that I had for your father. I do think he would approve of this, as he would want me to move on, but since I don't know this for sure, then I will listen to you for this assurance?"
"Mother, if this makes you happy, and I know it does, then I am all for it. I have seen how you look when Sirius holds you in his arms. When he gently pulls you in for a kiss. When he pays you a heart felt compliment that causes you to blush. I think he needs this as much as you do, if not more, because you have felt this way before, and I don't know if he has. So, yes I am sure you are doing the right thing. Now let's go down there and Knock Sirius Black's socks off." and the three made their way to the exit. Neville was going to be giving his mother away, and Lily was the Maid of Honor. Remus was Sirius' best man, and Harry, Draco, and Ron were the escorts.
Sirius took a deep breath, when the music began to start the ceremony. He watched as the procession began, and when Alice finally showed herself for the first time, Sirius was speechless. She was dressed in a Lilac colored gown with flowers accentuating the garment. It was like a sash wrapped around her bodice, and the flowers matched those she was carrying, and the ones in her hair. She wore no train, so there was no need for anyone to trail behind her. Sirius watched as Her and Neville moved slowly down the aisle. Remus gave Sirius a nudge, pushing him forward, and Sirius knew what he was supposed to do. He went down the steps to meet his future wife, and take her hand from Neville. He then led her up the stairs to stand before the Minister.
Both Sirius and Alice barely heard the words the Minister was saying as each were deep in thought wondering how each of them got here. They were able to answer the Minister when he asked them questions, and before either knew it, they were kissing each other finalizing the marriage. They were now Mr. and Mrs. Sirius Black. This was how the Minister presented them to the guests.
The reception was a very lively affair, and the guests were treated to a wonderful meal provided by the elves from Hogwarts. Music was provided by a live band, and the drinks were provided by the Three Broomsticks, and Madam Rosemerta. At the end of the Reception, they were given a spectacular display of fireworks by the Twins. Sirius and Alice then were wisked away to their Honeymoon Suite by a port key provided by Albus.
Neville watched as they disappeared noticing the smile on his mother's face. She was once again happy for the first time that he could remember. Sirius could never know how much he impacted on not only his mum, but on Neville himself. He was happy for the both of them.
ARIT-}
The next time Neville saw his mum, was when the school arrived in the States for the next Quidditch game. It had been a month since the wedding, and the honeymooners spent that time in Boston, enjoying the sights and sounds of the proud city.
The students were taken to Salem Massachusettes by bus, following historic Route 1. They were brought to a ferry that would then take them to the island where the Salem Institute for Magic was nestled. Unlike Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbaton, there was no castle. It was a modern facility that resembled a university, with separate facilities for living.
After the students were settled into their lodging, they began the routine of setting up their training schedule, and sight seeing. They were surprised when they learned that the school had presented them with tickets for a Hockey Game that would take place in Boston, between the Boston Bruins, and the Montreal Canadians. There was even a drawing for one of the students to become a guest announcer for the game, and Luna was the lucky recipient. She was tickled pink at the honor, and tried to find the right clothes to wear to the game.
The first full day there, was their first practice, and Harry and Ron worked hard to make sure that they would be at their best for the game. The practice lasted three hours, and the team was feeling really good about their chances for a victory. Ron had let very few goals slip past him, and Harry was a blur on the broom of his father. The Pride and the Dominator were the prize brooms for the team. Harry and Ginny were majestic in their handling, and speed on their brooms. It was hard to follow them as they practiced for the three hours.
The following evening was the hockey game, and every one was looking forward to seeing the muggle game played on ice. When they arrived to the arena, they were surprised at how cold it was in the building. It was not frigid, but it was not comfortable either. Something like the dungeon in Hogwarts. Luna was separated from the group as she was to be the guest at the start of the game. She was told the basic rules, and thought that it would be easy to figure out the rest. How wrong could she be?
She sat behind the microphone that they provided her, and She was asked a lot of questions by the other announcers about her life in England, and what she thought of the States. "Well, we don't difer too much from you here in the States as to what we do for enjoyment, but the weather is very different here then in England. It is so cold here almost all the time, and the walls of snow piled all around is like living in a polar region. I expect to see penguins here any time now."
The announcer answered her with a straight face, "OH Pittsburgh will be here in two weeks."
Luna looked at him with a weird look, "What has that got to do with anything?"
"Well you did mention the Penguins."
"And that means what?"
"OH you are not familiar with the other teams. Well one of the teams in the National Hockey league is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Well, there is is about five minutes to game time, is there anything you need to do before we start Miss Lovegood?"
"Yes, I have to get dressed for the game." And she stood up to leave.
"You're not wearing what you have on?"
"OH No, I have to get into my game clothes. It is a tradition for me to be prepared for the game to have the right attire. It will only take a minute to prepare." and she left. Like she promised, she was only gone a minute when she returned.
The two announcers turned to her when she returned and both broke down laughing at what she was wearing.
Luna had donned a costume that resembled a bear cub. Her head piece even roared when she pulled on her ear ring. She smiled at the announcers reaction to her appearance. They even asked if they could pull on her ear ring and she agreed.
The announcers were still laughing when the game began. They began announcing the game, and had Luna add her commentary as the game progressed. Then Luna was presented with her first Icing called, and she replied, "OH Good, cake is being served."
The announcers lost it again, laughing at her comment. They tried to explain Icing to her while still laughing. "So it has nothing to do with cake? It has to do with the pretty colored lines on the ice? I find this very strange. I could go with a nice piece of cake though, with lots of icing. I love icing."
The game further progressed with the two announcers laughing at everything Luna said. During a time out, rather than go to a commercial break they instead had the camera focus on them and Luna so that the viewing audience could see Luna's attire. The reaction was hilarious if one were to see people sitting in front of a television laughing at Luna's costume and her antics. They all loved the way she named the teams. The Bruins she called the Bears, and the Canadians she called the Wheels, because of the emblem they wore on their jerseys which was a wheel.
Once the game resumed, and the announcers tried to sober up from their fit, the play started to get rough. Then something happened that caused Luna to steal the center stage. "DID YOU SEE THAT? THAT WHEEL JUST HIT THE BEAR ON THE HEAD WITH HIS STICK. HOW RUDE. HE SHOULD BE SENT TO TIME OUT FOR THAT. OH LOOK, THE BEAR IS THROWING OFF HIS GLOVES. OUCH, THAT HAD TO HURT. THE BEAR JUST HIT THE WHEEL IN THE FACE WITH A PUNCH. WOW! NOW THE BEAR IS TRYING TO TAKE THE WHEELS CLOTHES OFF. THIS COULD GET INTERESTING. OH WAIT, HE JUST PULLED HIS SHIRT OFF HALF WAY, COVERING THE WHEELS FACE. OW, HE JUST HIT THE WHEEL IN WHERE I PRESUME HIS FACE WOULD BE. NOW HE IS GRABBING THE WHEELS SHIRT AND IS DANCING WITH HIM. HE IS PULLING HIM AROUND THE ICE AS THEY CONTINUE TO DANCE. OUCH, THE BEAR JUST LET GO OF THE WHEEL, AND HE WENT FLYING INTO THE WALL. NOW THE OFFICIALS HAVE GOT BETWEEN THE TWO DANCERS, AND SEPARATED THEM. WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT DO THEY MEAN THEY EACH GOT 10 MINUTES FOR FIGHTING? THE BEAR WAS JUST PROTECTING HIMSELF. A 5 MINUTE MAJOR FOR DRAWING BLOOD? WHO DREW BLOOD? OH THE WHEEL DREW BLOOD WITH HIS STICK. WELL I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT THEY CALLED THAT RIGHT. WAIT, WHY ARE THEY SENDING ANOTHER WHEEL TO TIME OUT? HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DANCE. HE HAS TO SERVE THE FIVE MINUTE WHAT? PENALTY? WHAT PENALTY? OH THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL A TIME OUT, A PENALTY?"
The network had to go to a commercial break as the noise coming from the announcers booth and the crowd was deafening. Luna's whole statement was put over the loud speaker system for the fans to hear. Laughter was heard through out the arena. Even the Canadian bench was laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
At the end of the period, Luna's time as a guest announcer was done, and when the station went to break, the announcers pulled Luna into a hug saying, "Miss Lovegood, we can't think of when we had such a pleasant visit from a guest. You are a remarkable young lady, and the funniest person we ever met."
"Oh if you think I am funny, then you should meet Fred and George. They are the real funny ones. Thank you for this chance to be a part of this game. Although it is a good game, I prefer Qu... our national game much more. Oh and here you can have my ensamble as I don't think I will be needing it again." And she left the bear costume with the announcers. They used it for the rest of the game and pulled the ear ring when ever the Bruins scored a goal, which was quite often that evening. The final score was the Bruins 7, and Montreal 1. But the next morning, the score played second fiddle to the picture of Luna in her costume, and her commentary on the game. The Bruins management had received request from viewers all over the area asking them to bring this young lady back for another guest appearance. Unfortunately their next home game would not be until after Luna was to leave for back home.
The next morning, Luna was surprised when the school's Headmaster presented her with a number of gifts. They gave her a recording of the entire game. An autographed photo of each team. A signed hockey puck with the announcers signtures. An offer to be a guest announcer when ever she was in Boston or Montreal. A letter from the Mayor of Boston, saying that she was welcome back to their city, and would be the guest of the city when ever she visited. She also received 10 dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts. Having never tried donuts before, Luna was surprised when she took her first bite. It was a chocolate glazed donut, which she loved, then she tried a buttercrunch donut, and refused to try any other. This was her favorite. She had to bring some of these home with her when they left.
ARIT-}
Harry and Ron with the rest of the starters were gathered around the official as was the Salem team. Who ever won this game would move on to play Durmstrang for the championship game. Durmstrang was coming off a stunning defeat to the Beauxbaton team. Beauxbaton Chasers had devistated the Durmstrang defense pilling up more points than Viktor could over come. He caught the snitch, but his team still lost 420 to 370.
The official released the snitch, and a minute later, released the Quaffle, and the two Bludgers and the game was on. Harry soared to his vantage point to watch for the snitch and and to watch the two teams as they ran through their plays, but neither team was able to score against the two Keepers, until Tracy used the Bludger to knock the Quaffle lose from a Salem Chaser, which fell into the hands of Mary Aldritch the Hufflepuff Chaser, who passed to to Andrew Goldstein the Ravenclaw Chaser who scored the first goal of the game. The Salem Keeper was caught out of position with the quick move by Aldritch to Goldstein.
That was the score as the Chasers switched out, and Ginny, Angelina and Katie entered the game. Now the game became a one sided affair as Ginny took over the game on her Dominator. By the time the three once again changed, the score was Hogwarts 70, Salem 0. Fred and George kept the Salem Chasers off balance with their pin point precision and accuracy with the Blodgers. Once again though, the scores became scarce, as the reserve Chasers for Hogwarts were not as sharp as the Gryffindor Chasers. Mary even gave up the Quaffle once, and Salem was able to recover the errant pass and scored on Ron for their first goal.
On the next switch the crowd was treated to the most stunning goal they had ever seen. Salem was making a charge at Ron for a goal, and when the Salem player took his shot, Ron was out of position and thought for sure Salem had their second goal. That is until Ginny intercepted the shot and was rushing down the pitch going one on one with the Salem Keeper. She flew right at the Keeper, who had all three goals covered with the position he took. Then his jaw dropped as Ginny changed her position on her broom and came at the Keeper upside down on her broom and fired her shot from this position scoring in the center goal. This turned out to be the final goal of the game, as the Chasers were once again changed.
Harry and His opposing Seeker had been watching for the Snitch and watching the game as well. With the score at 120 to 20, Harry caught his first glimpse of the Snitch, and noticed that the Salem Seeker also saw it. The Salem Seeker was closer to it, but, Harry and his Pride were quicker to respond and beat the Seeker to the Snitch, winning the game for Hogwarts. The final score was 270 - 20. Hogwarts would be playing Durmstrang for the championship in May.
The party after the game lasted until Midnight, and Harry and Ginny spent the entire evening together, dancing, and visiting with their friends, neither of them drinking any of the alcohol that was served at the party. Ron and Oliver however passed out on the couch as they both celebrated Ron's marvelous game. Draco and Luna were like Harry and Ginny, never touching the alcohol.
The next morning after the Party, Ron and Oliver were given a sobbering up potion, as they would never be able to make the trip home in the condition they were in.
Luna was able to get four dozen of her donuts, before they left, and once they were settled back in at Hogwarts, shared them with her friends. Luna took the address of the home office from one of the boxes, and would later look into seeing what it would take to start a Dunkin Donuts in England.
Luna figured the best person to ask was Sirius who was more knowledgable in the ways of law and regulations for starting a business. Sirius and Alice were soon on their way back to Boston, this time for business.
When they returned, Luna was thrilled when she found out that Sirius and Her would be District Managers of the English franchise that would start with three stores. One in London, one in Diagon Alley, and one in Hogsmeade.
They were all shocked when they learned that Coffee was more popular than they thought. Starbucks had opened a franchise in London, and was quite popular. Sirius should have known though after seeing the way Lily and Harry liked their coffee.
They did not realize that Coffee and Donuts would become a smash hit in London. That and the prices were far below those of Starbucks coffee and breakfast cake.
Luna was making quite a name for herself, after her appearence at the American Hockey game. It seemed that not only the USA, but her commentary was heard about in many countries. This also weighed heavily on the success of her and Sirius business venture.
Draco smiled at his beautiful blond girlfriend. He could not believe how everyone that met her fell in love with her. She was so open and honest, you couldn't help falling for her. If Draco wasn't already in love with her, he would be falling in love with her now, as were all the single male wizards in the United Kingdom, and the Continent.
He was going to have to protect her from all the attention she was receiving, and she appreciated it, as all the attention was causing her head to spin. She counted on Draco to keep her from letting all this go to her head.