Chapter 2

The Weasleys

"Oi, Wood!"

Wood didn't answer, as he had barely even registered the fact that someone was calling his name. He was too busy looking at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

He was in Diagon Alley with his mother, shopping for the things he needed for school. As books, potion ingredients, and new robes did not interest him much, Oliver had been getting quite bored, and he suspected that his whining had started to annoy his mother, because she told him he could go check out Quality Quidditch Supplies while she finished up. He ended up not even entering the store, so floored by what was being displayed in its window.

The new Nimbus Two Thousand was sleek and its mahogany handle shone. Supposedly, it was the fastest broom on the market, and Wood couldn't deny that he would sell his soul for one. He knew that his mother would probably sooner let him sell his soul, though, then buy him one. His Cleansweep 7 was a good broom, and he liked it immensely, but the Nimbus-

"Oliver! We were calling you, didn't you hear us?" one of the Weasley twins- Wood could never tell them apart- shouted jovially in his left ear, interrupting his thoughts.

"Earth to Wood," the other twin said, waving a hand in his face.

"Yeah, I heard you," Wood grunted, although he hadn't exactly, "Did you ever consider that I was ignoring you on purpose?"

"Nope," the one on his left said gleefully, "George and I are absolutely charming, and I can't think of a single reason why anyone in their right mind would pass up a chance to chat with us."

"Well, we all knew Oliver was insane, didn't we?" Charlie Weasley grinned, coming up from behind his younger brothers. He turned to them as he added, "Though I don't think anyone would be considered right in the head under that condition. I definitely wouldn't, anyway...."

Wood laughed. "So what's up?"

"The sky," the one on his left- Fred, apparently- said, and even his twin groaned.

"Mum's at Madame Malkin's getting robes for Ron-" George began.

"Is he starting at Hogwarts this year?" Wood asked.

"Yep," Fred replied, "And anyway, apparently we were bothering the air around the Precious Prefect-"

"Percy," Charlie explained.

"He's a prefect?" Wood asked, although he wasn't not really surprised. The third Weasley brother was in Wood's year, although Oliver had always been closer to his brothers.

"Yeah," Fred said, "He's been lording it over us since he got the badge. Like any of us care."

"So Fred and I thought that we'd play a harmless joke on our dear brother-"

"They took his Prefect badge and used a Permanent Sticking Charm to glue it to the back of his head," Charlie said flatly, although his lips twitched. "Right in the middle of Madame Malkin's."

"So Mum and Percy went berserk, and then Madame Malkins got kind of upset 'cause we were 'causing a ruckus' in her shop, and then our dear sweet Mum disciplined us in her normal fashion, which involves the use of her surprisingly powerful vocal chords, and told Charlie to take us out of there," Fred grinned.

"Which was a bit stupid on her part," George remarked, "Seeing as Charlie is pretty much always on our side, especially if we're bothering Percy."

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, pretending to be offended. "I disciplined you, didn't I?"

"You managed to keep a straight face just long enough to get away from Mum, and then you sat down in front of the apothecary and laughed," Fred told him, grinning at Wood, "Like ten minutes later, after you'd recovered, you said you'd buy us something from Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour."

"Well, I reckon Mum's discipline doesn't have an affect on you, so it's time to try a new method," Charlie said, "You want to come get some ice cream, Oliver?"

Wood cast one last look of longing at the broom in the window, then nodded.

"So how did Percy get the badge out of his hair?" he asked as he followed the three Weasleys.

"As far as I know, he didn't," Fred told him, "It wasa Permanant Sticking Charm."

"Mum will be able to get it off someway, though," George said gloomily, "We're not that powerful."

They entered the crowded ice cream parlour and took seats at the counter. Fred and Charlie ordered chocolate cones, George got vanilla, and Wood asked for strawberry.

"Strawberry?" Fred asked disgustedly.

"It's good."

"It's pink," he responded, as though that settled it.

"You'd better not mess with Oliver, Fred," Charlie warned, paying Mr. Fortescue for the ice creams, "He's your new Captain now. If he lets you back on the team, that it."

Fred just shrugged. "Oliver'd never-" he stopped, his eyes lighting up as he spotted someone at one of the back tables, "George, look!" he said gleefully, "It's Marcus Flint!"

"Where?"

"Over there- no, there!"

"Excellent!" George said, a slow grin spreading across his face. Charlie and Wood rolled their eyes.

"How'd you find out?" Wood asked Charlie, suprised that they'd all seemed to know.

"It was obvious, wasn't it?" Charlie said, bemused. "Anna and Sarah graduated last year, and all the other returning players are third years. Besides, I knew McGonagall wasn't going to give it to either of these bozos," he indicated his two younger brothers, who were taking turns making Flint's ice cream cone float away from him every time he took a bite. The shop was so crowded that Flint hadn't realized who was doing it yet, but he kept looking around angrily, and Wood felt sure that it was only a matter of time. Even for someone with Flint's I.Q., the Weasleys were hard to miss.

"You're going to have your work cut out for you this year," Charlie said, biting into the cone.

"I know," Wood answered enthusiastically, glad to have a chance to talk about Quidditch, "We're going to be a really young team. So far it's me, Fred, George, Angelina- and Alicia, I suppose. She was a reserve last year. So that's one fifth-year, and four third-years."

"It'll work out, though, especially in a few years, and age isn't anything anyway."

"I suppose. I don't know where I'm going to find a third Chaser, though, and a new Seeker," Wood said. He has forgotten about his ice cream, which was now dripping onto the counter.

Charlie looked wistful. "I wish I could play another year. I don't know if I could survive the N.E.W.T.s again, though, but still... I'll miss the Quidditch matches."

"Aren't you going to play for England or something?" Wood asked. He'd always reckoned that's what Charlie was going to do.

He laughed. "Merlin, no. I did get a few offers- just asking me to try-out, mind- but I turned 'em down. I love Quidditch, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm leaving for Romania on the second of September, going to work with dragons."."

Wood couldn't believe that someone as talented as Charlie Weasley would choose dragons over Quidditch, but he never got a chance to ask him about it. Flint had just realized who his tormentors were, and Wood reckoned he better get Fred and George out of Florian Fortescue's before he had to find two new Beaters for his Quidditch team.