A/N: I own nothing related to these characters or studios
….
….
"Did you see that?" Laura asked her fellow Hufflepuff quidditch members.
"Yeah, that was cool." Pepper said.
"I bet Janet is already working on a defense against it." Clint said.
"Fury too." Tony added from his place on the other side of Rhodey.
"Bruce and Helen are lucky to be training under Ray and Andrew." Laura said.
"If you like to play on the defensive side." Rhodes scoffed.
"So, a good offense is better?" Laura asked.
"A good defense is a good offense." Tony stated.
"Guys." Pepper shook her head. "Let's just watch the game."
"You're just hoping Gryffindor wears out Ravenclaw before you have to play them next." Tony said.
"Well since the Christmas break is coming up, I think they will have plenty of time to relax and rest up." Pepper observed.
"We will still beat them." Clint said standing up to cheer as Gryffindor scored again.
"And that's another 10 points to Gryffindor bringing the score up to 210 against Ravenclaw's 80." Came the game' announcer, Roy Harper. "Now Ravenclaw could still pull ahead if their seeker, 2nd year Cho gets the snitch before the amazing Thea Queen of Gryffindor." Causing laughter in the stands when Professor McGonagall stood up and yelled at him.
"Sorry Professor." He said through his own laugh. "Ravenclaw in possession, Hand to Palmer, to Hand, to May, who barely missed that bludger aimed by new player Barnes. Quaffle back to Palmer…wait! The Gryffindor seeker has taken off followed by Ravenclaw's seeker."
Everyone stopped to watch the seekers race each other toward a glint hovering above the Gryffindor goals, even the chasers stopped chasing the quaffle. Thor hit a bludger toward Palmer, causing him to drop the quaffle when he got hit, but when the ball careened toward Victoria Hand, Maria intercepted and swinging as hard as she could, sent the ball rocketing to Thea.
Thea was focused on the glint of gold she was chasing while looking at Helen out of the corner of her eye, so she didn't notice the bludger coming on her other side. She felt it when it hit the tail of her broom and sent her spinning out of control, she got her broom under control too late, Helen had caught the snitch.
"Ravenclaw caught the snitch, Ravenclaw beats Gryffindor 230 to 210. Good game to all the players." Roy announced the surprised ending.
….
….
"Seems like everyone went home for the holidays." Clint broke the silence as he made it to the top of lookout tower to find Natasha already there.
"Why didn't you go?"
"My home is a traveling circus." Clint shrugged, "Easier to stay here until the summer holidays."
"You live with a circus, and you still get to attend school?"
"Well yeah, I grew up not knowing I had magic, but Dumbledore came to me the summer before last year and told me all about it. Turns out the owners of my circus are a squib and a witch, so they help me out."
"Really? Dumbledore came in person to tell you that you were a wizard?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Just seems a little strange to me that the headmaster of a magically school would leave the school to find a kid and make sure he attended classes there. Either he has a secret agenda about something or you are someone important to him and or the school."
"You have a wild imagination, kid."
"Kid? I'm only a year younger than you boy."
"Boy? That's the best you can do?"
Natasha narrowed her eyes at the Hufflepuff.
"Give me better material to work with and you'll really see what I can do."
"That a challenge?" he teased.
"Figure it out." She turned and headed down the stairs.
….
….
"Hey Phil, are you going home for the holidays?" Roy asked his housemate.
"Nope. I'll be staying here like usual. What's up?"
"I'm going home with Thea and we're not sure if we will be back for the party. Apparently, Oliver has some big surprise at New Year's and we cannot miss it."
"Bet he's proposing." Nick said taking a seat next to them.
"That's what Thea said, but Oliver is denying it."
"So, you want me to take over the party preparations?" Phil asked.
"Please man, you did most of it last year. I'll send the extra supplies in via owls or floo."
"Hogwart's fireplaces aren't connected to the floo network." Andrew said.
"You're forgetting one thing." Melinda said.
"He'll have Felicity on his side." Maria reminded him.
"Girl is pretty smart." Nick said.
"Anyways, yes I'll handle the party this year."
"Thanks man, I owe you."
"I'm staying too if you want me to help Phil."
"Thanks Maria."
"So back to this essay, who wouldn't want to walk around with a tail all the time?" Jasper asked.
"Was that a joke?" Melinda teased. "Way to go Jasper."
"Oh, shut it May."
"Cross-Species Transfiguration." Nick read aloud off Maria's parchment.
"I remember having to do that. Good thing I had Lyla to help." Roy said.
"Good thing we have you." Phil said.
Roy groaned, "alright, alright."
….
….
It was pretty quiet when Trip entered the dining hall for lunch. He had just waved off some friends as they headed home for the holidays, now he had some time to kill. "Well, that's new." He observed the room. There were a few people already seated at the one row of tables in the center of the great hall.
"Hey Trip!"
"Daisy, what's going on with the tables?"
"Apparently this is a thing here. Since there aren't enough students to warrant all the house tables, everyone eats together at a center table." She explained.
"Wait until its actually time to eat, the teachers join us down here too." Janet explained to her younger housemates.
"Wont that be awkward?" Daisy asked.
"Nah, they're just regular people. Dumbledore makes sure everyone feels welcomed and has fun."
"And the Christmas crackers are pretty amazing." Phil said from across the table.
"What are they made of?" Daisy asked.
Phil tilted his head a bit. "Cardboard and brightly colored wrapping paper."
"Oh, so it's not something to eat, its decoration." Daisy surmised.
"It's a party favor. One person holds one end and a second person holds the other end and you pull on it until it breaks apart with a bang. Who ever has the bigger piece when it breaks gets whatever prize was inside." Phil explains.
"Oh." Daisy whispered, a little embarrassed not to know something that everyone else seemed to understand.
"Just watch out for the mice." Maria warned.
"They have mice in them? Real mice?"
"Well, they are magic crackers, and this is a wizarding school." Nick laughed.
"Most of the time they are pretty tame: toys, funny hats, even books and chess sets."
"Remember our first year when that kid got those socks that glowed in the dark." Maria asked.
"Yeah, those were neat. I wonder how long they lasted." Phil said.
"Okay then." Trip said. "So where are the teachers, I'm starving."
Daisy laughed, "You're always hungry."
"You're point? I'm a growing boy."
That was met with laughter as more people came in and took places around the tables.
….
….
The next day Clint caught up with Natasha as she got up from the table, having finished breakfast. He had noticed she tended to stay quiet during these meals while everyone else joked and talked and got to know one another.
"Hey Natasha. Want to hang out?"
"With you?"
"No with the other people standing here." Clint rolled his eyes. "Yes, with me."
Natasha studied him for a moment. "What do you have in mind?"
"Can you fly yet?"
She actually grinned at him, "Better than you."
"I doubt that." He smiled back. "Let's head to the pitch." He said walking away. "We can get the better brooms before the others show up."
"The others?" she asked coming to a stop.
Clint turned around to face her, "Yeah, some of us like to hang out at the pitch during the holidays. Gives us a chance to get some practice in and just have some fun."
Natasha still didn't move.
"Hey, you'll have fun. If you're as bad a flyer as I think, we can go do something else."
She snapped out of her thoughts and started to follow Clint again.
After they got to the pitch and picked out their brooms, they started making laps around the stadium before getting any balls out.
"Not bad, bird boy." Natasha teased when they pulled up to hover by one of the goal posts.
"Bird boy?"
"Well I can always call you bird brain." She teased.
"Considering how smart birds are, I'll take that as a compliment." He grinned.
"Okay, Chicken boy it is." She said flying off to the other end of the pitch.
Clint took off after her, laughing as he finally caught up to her part way around the pitch. They came to a mutual stop at the other goal post.
"I'm at least an eagle or a hawk."
"Whatever you say Birdbrain."
A whistle pierced the air and they both looked around.
"Down here!" came the yell from below.
They flew down and landed by some others who decided to use the day to practice flying.
"So, teams?" Janet asked the waiting students.
….
….
A/N: Please review and let me know what you think.