Of Quidditch and Weddings

John sat in the chair in Nilsson's office, studying the small figures as they darted around the large play board, his eyes falling on a small 'D' that seemed to whip through the players. He could feel Nilsson staring at him, waiting on a response.

"I think you should move your beaters here and here," John said, standing and pointing out new positions. "That way they'll have better access to the opposing team's chasers without getting in our chasers' way." Nilsson studied the board a bit and then tapped it with his wand, muttering something under his breath. He then stepped back and watched the play again, this time smiling slightly.

"Good eye, Kingfisher," he said, glancing at the man again. John nodded, his eyes following the seeker again. Nilsson glanced back and forth between the board and John before clearing his throat. "Have you been settling in?"

John looked over, not used to his coach asking too many personal questions. Ever since he got back, their conversations had been strictly quidditch and nothing more.

"For the most part. I kept my place on the chance I wanted to come back, so at least I didn't have to worry about that. And the guys are keeping me busy in my free time," he said. "Things are pretty much how they were… besides the job, that is." Nilsson nodded slowly.

"You been going to physical therapy still?" he asked, studying the former beater.

"Yea, twice a week. Still don't have full range in my shoulder, but then again they said I'd never get that back. But it's helping with the pain," he said. "Doesn't ache as much as it used to."

"That's good," Nilsson replied. "I know it doesn't seem like much now, but it'll help out in the long run."

"Suppose you would know best about that," John said. Nilsson nodded, his hand unconsciously moving to his injured leg.

"Noticed you've been spending a lot of time with the Woods in your free time," he said, turning his eyes back to the board. John glanced at him, unable to read his face.

"Yea… still good friends," he said. "Despite everything."

"You know, if it's going to be too hard to work with Daisy, I can-"

"Coach, it's fine," John said, cutting him off. The older man looked over at him, concerned. "It's difficult, I'll give you that, but it'll be fine. Just… need some time. And we're all professionals here. It'll work out."

"I worry about her too," Nilsson said softly. "I think the whole team does, to be honest. Now that everything is out in the open." John looked over at him, wondering just how it was Nilsson figured out what he was thinking. Maybe he was a Legilimens as well. Or just had an uncanny ability to read people. "With everything going on and… that stunt she pulled at the ministry. I worry that she'll get herself into real trouble."

"Well, hopefully the Prostatis will help her," John said. "And she'll figure it out before she gets back." Nilsson nodded.

"It's good she's gotten away for a bit. While she's tough, sometimes I worry how she handles the pressure. With the press and learning new things and everything… could be just a matter of time before it catches up to her," Nilsson said, his brow furrowed. "It wasn't that good last year and the last thing we need is a repeat of that mess. Especially Daisy. She's hard enough on herself as it is."

John thought back to early in the season, when Daisy couldn't seem to get out of her head. She wasn't under nearly the same amount of pressure then as she was now. He was worried as well that she'd crack. It had taken him, Wills and everyone to keep her from completely exploding.

"Pix is one of the strongest people I know. She'll pull through this. And she's got us to help," he said finally.

"True," Nilsson said. "And let's hope this Network doesn't figure out what she can do. They'll be after her again."

"We won't let anyone take her again," John vowed. Nilsson looked over at him and nodded.

"Right," he said, smiling slightly. He turned back to the board, watching it again. "You think Blanks can hit this far?"

"If not, I think I know some drills that will get him hitting that far by the time the season starts," John replied. Nilsson smiled at him.

"Knew you'd make a great assistant coach."


"AGAIN!" Oliver roared from where he was hovering on his broom towards the middle of the pitch. Remus breathed heavily and glared down at him.

"You think he's trying to kill us?" he asked Alan as he flew to a stop next to him, breathing just as heavily.

"Just trying to make sure we're ready to practice with the rest of the team," Alan wheezed.

"Blimey, he wasn't this hard in school," Remus shot back.

"We weren't professionals in school. Guess this is his professional level coaching," Alan replied.

"I don't know how Jamie stands it. Do you think he forgot we won beaters of the year? No need to push us quite this hard," Remus said.

"BOYS!" Oliver shouted again. The two quickly set up and started through the drill again. It felt like the millionth time they went through it as their reaction time lagged while their muscles were screaming in pain. Though thankfully they both managed to keep up their aim. Barely.

"Are you lot playing quidditch or just flying around for your health?!" Oliver bellowed. Alan grit his teeth and sent the bludger flying wide, nearly hitting Remus.

"WATCH IT!" Remus shouted as he ducked out of the way. Oliver sighed and shook his head.

"LET'S TAKE A BREAK!" he shouted at the two and started flying down to the pitch. Remus and Alan landed and immediately sat down on the grass, completely winded. Remus glanced over at his brother, slightly worried. He was looking disheveled, sporting a couple days' growth of a beard and dark circles under his brown eyes. Remus had never seen Alan this worn out or looking so messy. Alan was always the best dressed and best groomed of the three brothers. The other day, Remus noticed that Alan had been walking around the flat in sweat pants after they got back from practice.

It was unlike him.

"You alright?" Remus asked after making sure their father was still out of earshot. Alan glanced over at him and sighed, rubbing his face.

"Not been sleeping well," he admitted. "I keep having these dreams… I'm back there. With the others."

"Is it keeping you up?" Remus asked.

"A bit, but that's not the weirdest part… Sometimes – when I'm not sleeping - I think I hear them," he said, softly. Remus frowned. "The others. I swear I heard Aunt Lily commenting on how messy my room was the other day." Remus chuckled slightly.

"It is a mess," he said. Alan frowned.

"Not as bad as yours," he shot back. "But that's besides the point… I'm hearing the voices of our dead relatives, Remus. That's not normal. I can't tell if it's auditory hallucinations or if it's something else."

"You hear any of the others?" Remus asked. Alan sighed.

"Sometimes. I heard Uncle Fred yesterday," he said. "And Aunt Tonks this morning in the kitchen." Remus stared at him a moment.

"What if… what if this has to do with what happened?" he asked.

"I was thinking the same thing," Alan replied, frowning slightly. "I mean, we don't really know what the side effects could be. Maybe because I was dead for a few minutes, now I can occasionally hear our dead relatives."

"We should try to talk to Pix. See if she's found out anything," Remus said. "You talk to her lately?" Alan shook his head.

"She hasn't been writing. Not sure why she's being so cut off," he replied. "But I should owl her. See if she could look into it or get the professor to."

"Up you two lazy oafs," their father said as he walked up, holding out water bottles. The two stood and grabbed them, eagerly drinking. Alan gave Remus a short shake of the head, signaling that he wasn't to say anything to their dad about what they had just been talking about.

"So… any closer to accepting Wills?" Remus asked with a grin, directly his attention to their dad. Oliver frowned at him.

"That has nothing to do with quidditch," he retorted. "And we're here to get you two up to Puddlemere standard."

"You'll have to accept him at some point, Dad," Alan added, enjoying the change in conversation. The two certainly enjoyed taking the piss out of their father. Especially in terms of Wills. And it was time for a bit of payback after the grueling sessions he had been putting them through. Oliver scowled at the two.

"But not yet," Oliver said stubbornly. Both boys started chuckling.

"They are practically living together now," Remus said, careful how he worded it. Daisy would kill him if he told their dad about her current living arrangements before she had the chance.

"I'm none too thrilled about that," Oliver said. "She's entirely too young."

"You weren't so upset when she moved in with Kingfisher," Remus countered.

"I wasn't happy about that either," Oliver said. "But at least he wasn't that much older than Pix."

"Reckon after what happened in the veil, both of Pix and Wills are fairly eager to take the next step," Alan said. "Might not be long before he pops the question and all."

"Over my dead body," Oliver growled. "And then I'd have Pix bring me back so I can murder Wills with my own two hands." Remus and Alan chuckled again.

"Seriously, Dad. It would be easier to just accept it," Remus said, his eyes twinkling.

"I don't have to accept a goddamn thing!" Oliver shouted. "She's my daughter!" Remus and Alan stared at him a bit, sensing they may have pushed him a bit farther than they wanted to. Oliver sighed heavily and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.

"We get it. We worry about her too. But… she's going to figure this out," Remus said. Oliver looked at him and nodded silently.

"And someday she is going to want to marry Wills," Alan added. The glower was back as Oliver huffed, seemingly searching for something to say.

"Well… not yet. I told them when Pix is 25. Though preferably I'd like her to be 30. She's got her career to think about and all," he said finally, causing Alan and Remus to roll their eyes.

"You been giving Jamie this much trouble with him marrying Lila?" Remus asked.

"That's different. Jamie is older," Oliver said.

"It's not that different. The main difference is you're trying to hold on to Pix," Alan said reasonably.

"Well can you blame me? She's my only daughter. My little girl. And she's only 21. Too young to get married," Oliver said feebly. Remus and Alan glanced at each other.

"Dad…"

"Get back up in the air, you two. I want you to have everything down by the time Jamie gets back," Oliver said gruffly. Remus and Alan sighed while shooting one last glance at each other.

"Yes, Coach."


"Where should we put Great-Aunt Muriel?" Molly asked, looking over the vast seating chart that was spread out over the coffee table at her and Dominique's flat.

"Nowhere near Freddie and James. If they prank her, we'll never hear the end of it. In fact, perhaps we shouldn't put Freddie and James near each other," Lucy said from where she sat in an armchair going over something on a long scroll. She bellowed in frustration and threw it to the floor. "Dad's gone mental! We're only about 100 Galleons over budget and he keeps sending me reports every day showing where we can tighten up!"

"He's only trying to help," Dominique said as she and Victoire walked out of the kitchen with more wine.

"I wish he'd help in some other less infuriating way," Lucy grumbled. "He and Mum are barely paying for anything, so I'm not sure why he's so hung up on the cost. Besides, Ryan makes loads with the Arrows."

"I think this is the only way Dad knows how to help," Molly said as she held her glass up to Dominique, who promptly refilled it. She kept her eyes trained on the seating chart as she reached down with her other hand and moved a few name cards around.

"If it's not Dad, it's Gran. The other day she tried to order pink sashes for the aisles. PINK! Even though I clearly told her my colors are gray and cream," Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, could you imagine a PINK wedding?! With mine and Ryan's hair color!"

"Still trying to change things, then?" Dominique asked as she and Victoire sat on the floor and started reaching for a pile of RSVPs to help Molly with the seating chart.

"Of course, she is. I swear, she clearly ignored me at the florist's the other day when she, Mum and I went in to discuss my bouquet," Lucy said. "Baby's breath… what is she thinking?"

"Perhaps she was thinking it'd be a nice touch," Molly muttered only so Dominique and Victoire could hear. The two women chuckled and then abruptly stopped when they saw Lucy glaring at them.

"You know, it would help if you loosened up a bit," Victoire said diplomatically. "Planning a wedding is stressful enough without letting every single, tiny thing get to you."

"Yea, and it would make things loads easier for us," Molly added. Lucy glared at her sister.

"I am NOT being unreasonable," she stated. Molly, Dominique and Victoire all just stared at her. "What?! Come on!"

"You yelled about napkins for three hours the other day," Molly said blandly. "Napkins, Lucy."

"And you sent your mum a howler for not keeping Gran in check," Victoire added.

"You have been way more uptight than I can remember," Dominique said.

"Well, I mean… it is my wedding. It has to be perfect!" Lucy exclaimed, sitting up.

"New flash, it's not going to be perfect," Victoire said with a smile.

"But yours was!" Lucy whined. Victoire laughed loudly.

"Absolutely was not, and you know it! The flowers were late to the venue, Freddie managed to set something on fire before things got started. AND the triplets got Teddy so drunk the night before that Aunt Iris had to brew up a quick batch of ultra-strength hangover tonic just to get him on his feet," Victoire replied. "And that's just part of it."

"And let's not forget all the drama that was going on with Daisy and Toby," Dominique said, rolling her eyes. Lucy just stared at her. "Look, things are going to go wrong. Some of that is out of your control. Just… relax a bit more. It's supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life, for Merlin's sake!" Lucy sighed and sat back in her chair reaching for her wine glass.

"Suppose you're right…" she said. She glanced over at Molly. "Oh, right. Probably shouldn't put Wills and Kingfisher together."

"Already taken care of. John is Ryan's best man, so he'll be at the bridal party table," Molly said, looking down at the chart. "Wills is with Aunt Iris, Uncle Oliver, Christos, Remus and Alan."

"Don't put him next to Uncle Oliver unless you want World War III," Victoire said.

"I've got Aunt Iris and Christos in between them to run interference," Molly said. Lucy seemed to relax slightly as she watched the three women get to back to work. Her eyes started twinkling slightly as they fell on Dominique.

"So, Dom… Ryan says that Paul's been asking advice on how to propose," she said, smiling. Dominique froze slightly as she looked up at Lucy. Molly and Victoire tried to stifle giggles as the color started draining from her face.

"He what?" she asked.

"Come on, Dom. We all know you two will end up married," Victoire said, pushing her younger sister playfully.

"Yea, but I didn't think he'd ask so soon," she said. "What with everything going on…"

"Suppose that's why he's been thinking about it," Molly mused.

"But… is it such a good time?" Dominique asked. Victoire frowned slightly, expecting Dominique to be happy about the news.

"Do you not want to marry Paul?" she asked softly.

"I do. I mean, I love him and I can't imagine being with anyone else. I just… well… it's not like with Jamie and Lila or Daisy and Wills. We don't have this connection that shows you you're meant to be with someone to fall back on… And I don't want to get engaged and married with everything going on," she said. "I mean, what if he is rushing it because of the war?"

The women were silent a few moments before Molly spoke.

"That's reasonable," she said. "I mean, it would be better to wait until things settle down, if you want to be sure the war isn't the reason why." Dominique nodded.

"And we have only been back together for several months. How long were you and Teddy together before he proposed?" she asked, looking at Victoire.

"Awhile. We dated all through school and then some more afterwards," she said. Dominique looked at Lucy.

"And you and Ryan have been together a bit as well," Dominique said.

"True, but you and Paul were together for about a year before you broke up," Lucy said. Dominique sighed.

"Just… I feel like there are other more important things to focus on before Paul and I decide to get married," Dominique said.

"But what about true love?" Lucy wailed from the armchair, causing all the women to start laughing.

"You and your bloody true love," Dominique replied, rolling her eyes. "True love can wait a bit."

"Just don't wait too long or you'll end up an old maid like me," Molly said, smiling ruefully.

"Oh, shut it, Mols. You'll find someone," Lucy said encouragingly. Molly chuckled.

"Sometimes I wonder," she said.

"You know… you should ask Toby out," Victoire said. All three women looked over at her.

"Why would I do that?" Molly asked, surprised. Victoire just shrugged.

"He's a nice bloke. You deserve a nice bloke," she said. Molly just shook her head and chuckled. She had never really seen Toby in that light.

"We'll see about that," she said.


Thought we needed some insight on where everyone else is at the moment. With all the focus on Daisy and the investigation, I sometimes forget there are other things going on with this story... And we got a taste of Lucy's bridezilla. Plus, I know some folks were wondering what sort of effect being dead would happen with Alan. It's only slight, since he was only dead for a bit. But thought there had to be something.

NiffytheGoldenNiffler - Yea, that does sound like Daisy 100%. She'll gradually start to learn more about her limits as she spends more time with Athanasia. She's definitely pushing herself a lot at the moment because she wants to master everything specifically so she can bring everyone back for her family. Haha! Of course they're all still speculating about Wills. And I felt like we needed at least a mention of the other cousins since they've all been at Hogwarts this whole time.

AleenaBean - As you can see, there was a bit of a side effect with Alan. But at least it's nothing drastic. It comes back into play a couple chapters from now. And in terms of Chris, at first he's suspicious, but as we keep going, you'll find out that he's just sensing her holding something back. But I don't want to give too much away just yet on that...

As always, thanks for reading, following and reviewing!