It's a Rough Game Quidditch

RATED M

Disclaimer: NOT MINE NOT MINE

A/N: So, let's see what happens now that Gioni and Mary have stopped fighting (again!), Robert's in the hospital, Mary's pregant, and the USA team experienced its first loss.

Chapter Seventeen

Week Sixteen

"What about Gwenog Jones?" Coach Potter asked. "She's been retired for a few years." The two coaches along with Gioni and Mary were grouped in the USA tent.

"Yeah," Coach Wood replied. "Retired for a good reason. Now, we should try to get one of our old friends from Hogwarts on the team."

"Nah, they've all got jobs and lives," Coach Potter laughed.

"I have exactly the person," Gioni spluttered. "Mare, remember back in school, that one girl we could never seem to stump? What was her name?"

"Sarah Norton," Mary said. "I took a few classes with her. She was awesome at, well, almost everything."

"Would she be good enough as a substitute?" Wood asked. "Rob won't be in this game, from what the reports say."

"Oh, she was brilliant!" Mary exclaimed. "I'm surprised she didn't pursue Quidditch. I think she's working for the US wizarding paper now. Editorials."

"Do you think she'd go for it?" Potter asked.

"I'm calling on her right now," Gioni muttered, pulling out a pen.

QCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQC

"We've only got a day to train you, Sarah," Wood said as he, Gioni, and Debbie moved across the Quidditch pitch with their first substitute of the season.

"I'll see if they can keep up," Sarah replied. She wasn't being conceited. She was just that good. With long flowing blonde hair and a toned body, she came off with the air of a goddess, and she almost had the power of such.

Wood watched the three work together, weaving around and coming up with combinations on his command. He was nervous about the team, now that they lost a match. He was sure this team was a winner, through and through, but now with a record of thirteen-one, he was afraid they might not make it to the cup. Sure, they were more than two thousand ahead of second-place Bulgaria, but there were still two matches before the Quidditch World Cup took place near Bulgaria.

"All right!" Wood called hoarsely after two hours. The two women and their captain flew down to meet him. "You guys will do fine tomorrow. Just score, score, score. Show them that we're still a winning team." He was red from screaming, but he had that usual adrenaline rush. This was what he lived for.

QCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQC

Gioni led Sarah down the hall and toward Robert's hospital room. He counted the doors as he went, hoping not to insult his friend.

"Rob?" Gioni asked as he knocked on the door. Robert Greene, IV's and all, turned in his bed to greet them. "Rob, this is Sarah Norton. She's filling in your spot for this next game with the Nordic team."

"We went to school together," Sarah said as Robert put out his free hand. "I remember clearly the time you took Mr. Douglas's glass eye and replaced it with a cherry. He was leaking juice for nearly a month."

"Were you that girl who kicked Johnny Carls in the mouth for charming your hair blue?" Robert asked, his voice weak. The bludger had nearly punctured his lung and had ruptured several nerves. He was lucky to even be in one piece, let alone alive.

"The same," Sarah replied.

"Good choice," Robert laughed. "Both the kick and the replacement. You best do the team well, Sarah, or else I'll have to get out of these damn friggin' wires and do something about it."

"She'll be fine, just not as fun as you," Gioni teased. "How have they been treating you?"

"No bourbon, no Captain, no Jack Daniels, not even sherry. I'm dying, Frederli." Sarah laughed, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe I'll sneak you some later," Gioni said.

QCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQC

"How many weeks?"

"Between ten and thirteen," Mary responded, her pencil in the tip of her teeth.

"So that means..." Gioni layed back on her bed while she sat up with her book.

"I've got to be careful that Debbie doesn't notice my clothes are just a tad snug. Oh, and it probably has organs now." Mary showed Gioni the picture, and Gioni found the diagram potentially confusing.

"It? When can you know what it is?"

"In a little while," Mary told him. "Mainly after Quidditch is over. If I even mentioned anything to a hospital we'd be on every WWN station from here to China." Gioni grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly.

"Well, whatever it may be, I think I'll like it."

"Really?"

"Really, babe."

QCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQCQC

"We won!" Debbie screeched, zooming through the goal posts. Mary had caught the snitch when they were well ahead, thanks to Sarah.

"That's right," Gioni muttered, flying by Mary to giver her a quick peck on the cheek. "We won, in more ways than one."

WEEK SIXTEEN MATCHES

USA vs. Nordic (350, 40)

Spain vs. England (40, 290)

Germany vs. Bulgaria (140, 290)

France vs. Japan (90, 300)

Australia Break

STANDINGS

1. USA 4890

2. Bulgaria 2710

3. Japan 2600

4. England 2500

5. Spain 2040

6. France 1940

7. Germany 1780

8. Australia 1640

9. Nordic 1460