I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 69 – Victory Road
Takes place directly after the last chapter.
"Go Shelia!" Harry shouted from the sidelines. "You got it!"
Shelia dove, turning in midair and diving down at a sharp angle. The Bludger that was aimed at her missed and flew through the space she just left. The woman twisted and flew down and to the left, cutting the distance between her and the Snitch. The Brazilian Seeker tried to follow but he was obviously fatigued and his reflexes slower. Shelia looped and flew up, hand clenched around the Snitch.
"Innis has the Snitch!" Kenneth shouted gleefully and the stadium roared. "England ends the game and comes out at 200 to 120 against Brazil! What a game!"
Harry punched the air, cheering with the rest of the waiting team and staff. He applauded proudly with the England fans in the stands as the team took a victory lap around the Brazilian stadium. The Brazilian fans clapped too, showing good manners and appreciation for the visiting Team England.
"Good call Harry," Cailey from Caerphilly said as she clapped alongside. "Their Seeker was really out of it by now."
"From game start he was harassing me," Harry said. "And when he subbed out pretty early for one of their reserves, and when they started sticking with me, I figured that was their tactic. I guess they banked on the fact that I was the best Seeker on the team and thought I wouldn't swap out. Not to mention Shelia's just as good if not better than me."
"I'm still surprised you had the stamina to outlast their tactics twice over," Miles from Falmouth said.
"Me too," Harry laughed. "But I stuck it out as long as I could and let Shelia in to take advantage of them tiring themselves out." He and the others happily high-fived and hugged the team when they ran over, celebrating together. "Great catch!"
"Thanks!" Shelia hugged him. "He was flying like a slug. You really wore him out. You probably still could've got the Snitch before him though."
"Maybe," Harry said plainly, "but I didn't want to chance it. You were fresher and it was more of a certainty with you seeking."
"They clearly didn't think you had your ego under control," Shelia laughed.
"Me? Ego?" Harry asked, eyes wide and a hand to his heart.
"You're so egotistical, you don't think you have one," Katie smiled and kissed him sweetly.
"Well with you around, I don't need one," he said, kissing her back.
"Don't do that around me," Ginny said, making a face with faux disgust. "I have to see George and Ron kiss their wives all the time. Why am I surrounded by gross brothers?!"
"Not our fault you have so many," Angelina laughed. "But I'll stop kissing George and you get to tell him why."
They assembled in the locker room and Oliver and the coaches did a quick rundown and overview as they waited for the stadium to empty before they would take their leave. "Great job everyone," Oliver praised at the end. "That's the last of the bracket games and we won all three. We're going to be in really good placement now besides qualifying."
He stretched his arm as he spoke. "We won't know the state of things for another week while the rest of the brackets finish but by the end of next week, we will see the quadrants and have an idea of who we're playing in the final run."
"So vacation and sweets and drinks until then," Atton said airily and everyone laughed.
"Just remember whatever you put in, I'll work out when we reconvene," Oliver smirked.
"You mean your practices can get worse?" Cailey asked, horrified.
"Much worse," Angelina and Harry and Katie intoned.
"I'm not that bad," Oliver protested, "…anymore."
"I actually asked Harry once to write out some of the stuff you did at Hogwarts," Tanya said. "When I said that it was a big list with lots of options for practices, he said that was an example for just one practice."
"Made the rest of us shut up about Tanya when we saw it," Shelia said. "We all thought Harry was exaggerating for the longest time. Then you joined the team and took over practice ideas and we learned otherwise."
"Nate and Flora and Tina kept buying me ice creams for weeks," Harry smiled. "Said that they felt really bad for me when I was younger."
"Alright, out with it," Oliver sighed, blushing slightly while everyone laughed. "Get it out of your system."
"I'll defend you," Ginny said. "Granted I wasn't on the team when you were captain but Harry was my captain for two years and had a couple of brutal ones."
"Oh? What did you do?" Silas asked, intrigued.
"I'll have you know that those practices had ideas from Captain," Harry said.
"I don't think Oliver would inflict Hedwig on us," Ginny said, glaring at Harry.
"Even I have my limits," Oliver gasped.
"What did they do to you to deserve that?!" Angelina asked, shocked.
"They kept calling me Papa Potter and taking the mickey," Harry sniffed. "Only the bunnies can call me Papa Harry."
"That was way before they were born!" Ginny protested.
"Who's Hedwig?" Atton asked.
"She was my co-Captain my last year," Harry smiled. "And my owl."
"Oh! Angie's favorite post owl," Lisa from Tutshill laughed.
"What could an owl possibly do on the pitch?" Cailey asked.
"What can't she do," Angelina sighed. "She's a bloody menace, that bird."
"She helped with evasive flying and flying drills," Harry said with a fond smile. He gave Ginny a look. "You said it helped."
"Not saying it didn't but I'm also not saying it was pleasant! I still have nightmares of a white Bludger flying around me and cackling at me!"
"Say Sir Harry, would you bring Hedwig to practice next week?" Oliver asked.
-0-
"I love coming home," Katie sighed when they reappeared at the main apparition point in Potter Village. "Visiting other places is fun and exciting of course, but coming home is a real nice thing."
"Especially here," Angelina smiled. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. "The air here is just better."
"Plus the welcoming committee," Oliver grinned and pointed at the people walking up, trailing after three fast running little forms and one toddling right behind.
"Welcome home!" Dahlia cried and jumped up, fully trusting for Harry to catch her and he did.
"Did you miss us?" Harry asked, kissing her cheeks.
"Yes!" she said and hugged him then Katie hard and kissed them back.
Oliver swept up Hadley first then caught Melanie when she arrived and Angelina hoisted Hailey high. Hermione trailed behind them carrying Iris and she hugged everyone, passing Iris over to Katie who was reaching for her mother. "We were having class when the alert sounded," Hermione said. "How was the trip?"
"Not bad. International Portkeys are still a little rough but we had a layover in the States," Harry said. "Made things more stable with a few shorter ones and not as stomach churning."
"I did a trip to Africa once on one Portkey," Alicia said, making a face. "Would not recommend." She hugged Oliver and kissed him before hugging the rest. "Glad to see you all home."
"How were things here?" Angelina asked.
"Good. We all sat around the wireless and listened to your game in Brazil. The girls were all very well behaved." Alicia smiled. "Something about presents."
"We have plenty and yes we remembered souvenirs for you this time," Angelina smiled back.
"Did you or did Harry get extra?" Alicia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"They got them," Harry laughed. "I'm not saying seeing me go shopping for them might have reminded them, but they definitely got them."
Later that night, more people came to share in a large outside dinner and to welcome them home. Luckily the trip was only a few days so despite being a little more tired due to the time difference, they had not gotten used to it in Brazil and they enjoyed the companionship greatly.
"Oh, so I can finally share my good news." Sirius took a gulp from his goblet. "I managed to get a box set aside at the World Cup Stadium in Japan."
"Whoa, really?" Harry goggled at his godfather. "How much did that cost?"
"A good amount of gold that I can easily afford," Sirius said, waving his hand. "Plus I arranged to do some international duties for the Ministry in Japan at the same time so it works out honestly. Two spells with one wand flick. But yeah, I'll be there to support you guys!"
"Brilliant," Oliver grinned. "We'll need it."
"So since I have the box, I can have a few guests and if you lot are okay with it," he nodded at Katie and Harry, Angelina and George, and Alicia and Oliver, "We can watch your children. I knew you were debating on keeping them here or taking them with you."
The three couples looked at each other.
"I didn't want them there if it was just us and the team," Angelina said slowly. "Not enough people watching them in a place like that. But if people come along to mind them and take care of them, I wouldn't be against it."
"Ted and I will be going," Andromeda said. "We will not be going until the day before the game but we managed to have time off to go and we would love to watch over them and care for them during the game. We will bring them over with us as well."
"I don't know if we could inflict all of our sprogs on you," George grinned.
"Please, we raised Dora," Andromeda sniffed. She rolled her eyes when Tonks blew a loud raspberry. "Case in point. Your children, despite being more of them, will be less trouble."
"We still have tickets to the game itself," Oliver said enthusiastically. "That won't be a problem at all. We all got some but with the distance to the game, we didn't really have a lot of people to give the tickets to."
"I'll cover costs for Portkeys and I'm renting a living place," Sirius said. "Anyone that wants to come and can, by all means. Join us."
"I can try to get the time off," Alicia said. "I can do my research work before the trip. I hadn't considered it before considering the arrangements and what not. But with most of that being accounted for, I think I can manage it."
"I'd love to have them there," Angelina said wistfully. "It's a huge thing. Wish everyone could go honestly…"
"Yeah but being adults and with jobs and stuff," George said ruefully. "Fred said I could go but summer is busy for us and I wouldn't want to go without him either and we'll be here with Alex and Abby. They're a bit too young for this kind of trip."
"I'm staying and I'll watch Rilly," Samantha said. "Happily of course." She smiled at Alicia and Oliver. "And I'll be more than happy to watch Melanie if Danielle can't."
"Covering everything must be really expensive-" Harry said.
"I can and will and want to," Sirius said firmly. "If you must, consider it an early Christmas gift of sorts."
"I would feel a lot better with the bunnies there with people we know and trust," Katie admitted. "Thank you so much Sirius and MumAndi and Ted and all of you."
"It's really our pleasure to," Ted said warmly.
"Oh and I have another surprise," Sirius said. "So Remus took one of the mirror rune arrays and messed with it with Bathsheda and we managed to finagle it where if we make it audio only, it's a pretty stable connection and can go pretty far. We'll make a link on a few and you lot here can listen in while the game plays. I know it'll be on the wireless but we can at least hear each other chat and cheer."
"Ooh that sounds delightful," Daphne said.
They talked into the night and over the next few days. Luna would be accompanying Andromeda, Ted, Alicia, and Sirius on the trip to Japan and they would be taking care of Dahlia, Hadley, and Hailey. Sirius would go over first to do his Ministry things and get things ready and the rest would arrive the day before the game. Hermione, Daphne, Tracy, and Tonks could not go but were more than happy to stay and help take care of Melanie, Iris, Alex, and Abigail with the various families. They would have a big gathering at the Village to listen in on the big game.
-0-
"This is beautiful," Katie said, staring up into the air at Trafalgar's Pitch. "I remember you telling me about that practice during your last year, but I grossly underestimated how beautiful it must have been."
She watched while Hedwig chased the players in the air. The owl was having the time of her life, barking and hooting with unmistakable glee as she dove at the players, cuffing them with her wings and playfully nipping at them with her beak. Every once in a while, she managed to snag and scratch one with her talons, making satisfied noises all the while.
Harry sat on the ground, still breathing heavily. Despite what some of the rest thought, Hedwig had not taken it easy on Harry at all. It had taken him a long time to get the required three misses and he was still out of breath. Hedwig had of course fluffed up and snuggled with him right after, cooing contritely. He had of course had not blamed her in the slightest and he watched fondly as she enjoyed herself chasing the others about.
"Told you," he grinned. "Best flyer I know."
Cailey sprawled out on the ground. "Okay," she gasped, "I no longer question what an owl could do on the pitch. How did you teach your owl to do that?!"
"I didn't teach her anything," Harry said proudly. "Everything Hedwig does is self-taught. Though she does have a large motivational factor for doing things."
"Which is?" Cailey asked.
"Bacon. She's obsessed with it," Harry said.
Angelina landed and she sat down heavily. "I'm exhausted," she coughed. "I don't dodge constantly like that during actual games!"
"You looked really good up there though. That hair-pin dodge you did was perfect," Katie praised.
"I hate saying it but that was the only way I could dodge her," Angelina grumbled. "I always had trouble with it but now I don't. She's still a bloody menace, great snowy chicken."
"Shhhh!" Cailey shushed loudly. "Don't draw her attention down here!"
"There's no danger of that right now," Katie laughed. She pointed up and the rest laughed at Ginny chasing Hedwig and screaming at the cackling owl.
"She did that during that practice too," Harry smiled.
Silas landed and he sighed deeply as he rubbed at a scratch on his arm. He thanked Katie as she healed it. "Harry, your owl is a terror. If I ever offend you, please, tell me how to make amends and never send her after me. No amount of gold will be unreasonable to avoid her."
"Now I know why you dislike her," Lisa muttered to Angelina. "She's scary as hell."
Eventually everyone finished the exercise and they all sat on the ground, trying to recover from their exertions. Katie and the rest of the medical team healed up the minor nips and scratches easily and most of the players gave Hedwig wary respectful looks though a few glared at her.
Hedwig sat on Harry's head, hooting in a very self-satisfied way and looked falsely innocent with fluffed up feathers.
"Sir Harry, if you ever lend her out for practices, you'll rake in the gold," Oliver said.
"Or be paid to not be trained by her," Atton muttered. "Protection money."
"Still, you can't deny that we learned a lot about evasive flying and how to improve dodging," Oliver said genially.
Ginny glared at Hedwig. The owl had managed to pluck out a long strand of crimson hair during their aerial battle and had it proudly tied to her ankle as a trophy. The irate Chaser made hand motions that resembled plucking a fowl and Hedwig incensed her by waggling her tail feathers at her.
"Can we send her in as a player?" Shelia asked. "Is there a rule about that?"
"I'd be willing to draft up a letter to the Quidditch Rules office to allow it," Tanya said seriously.
"Apparently there is a rule about animals in Quidditch," Oliver said. "Nothing with obvious wings."
"We can paint her black and let her pretend to be a Bludger," Silas offered.
"She won't do that. She is very vain about her feathers," Harry said. Hedwig nodded primly and waggled her tail feathers once more as she danced from side to side. "Yes, they are very pretty," Harry praised and rubbed her belly.
"I think we can call it an early practice," Oliver grinned. "But a fruitful one."
"Sure, but let's not do it ever again," Angelina said and the majority of the team nodded emphatically.
"It's okay," Harry said, hugging a slightly miffed Hedwig. "I love you and you're going to get so much bacon tonight. Yes you are. You're such a good owl." He cheeped at her lovingly and she nuzzled him gratefully.
"Wow, he really spoils his owl," Sita remarked.
"He loves her dearly and she loves him," Katie smiled.
-0-
Angelina caught the Quaffle and flew straight towards the Italian goals with it tucked under her arm. Flying level, she counted down in her head, mentally guessing the speed and distances. At seemingly the last possible second, she did a hair-pin turn, practically folding half-way along her broom length and dove straight down. The intercepting Team Italy Chaser clearly did not expect her to dodge like that and flew straight on, head swiveling in shock.
Angelina performed another tight turn and pulled up, flying off at an incredibly tight angle in a completely different direction, dodging the Bludger neatly. As another Italian Chaser lined up another intercepting path, she turned again and punched the Quaffle hard.
Miles caught it neatly and twisted while doing so, making the Bludger shot at him go wide. He continued to fly and continued to roll, holding the Quaffle secure and giving the opposing Chasers fits as they tried to guess where he would right himself. He finally straightened and threw the ball forward.
Ginny swung in, catching it with one hand and spun, throwing it in the same motion. The Italian Keeper lunged and managed to touch it with her fingertips but the ball was not deflected enough and it sailed through the open hoop, almost touching the inner rim.
"Goal!" Kenneth shouted. "What a three-person pass! From Johnson, to Shaw, to Weasley and just managed to shoot it past Rinaldi! England 130 to Italy 90! A whistle from the Italians and they're calling for a time out. Both teams are heading to the ground for a quick breather. What a game! Team England is showing some incredible evasive flying this game and it is helping them out!"
"I'll buy her some bacon before we go, okay?" Angelina huffed, rolling her eyes at Harry's pointed look. "We're in Italy and she likes pancetta, right?"
"You might need to do more than that, her feelings were very hurt," Harry sniffed.
"I'll buy her a whole pig," Angelina sighed.
"Don't look at me," Oliver chuckled. "I already made a copy of my captain's badge and sent it to her."
"We're doing really well," Tanya said, rolling her wrist a little. "We're pretty much ahead on possession of everything and their Seeker is trying to pull a Potter but it isn't working as well."
"We play them enough in the European League and they've been trying to adopt the interfering Seeker play more and more. Harry's better at it," Oliver said proudly.
"Want me to try and distract him more instead of their team?" Harry asked.
"Any glimpses of the Snitch yet?" Oliver hummed when Harry shook his head. "Let's do 2/3rd on team interference and up your attention to hunting. That might distract him more. I don't want us to get cocky and lose this."
"Play resumes!" Despite it being the third game of the run, and despite having announced all the bracket games, Kenneth's enthusiasm and energy was still high. Not for nothing was he known as the voice of UK Quidditch and England specifically, and he let his love for the game show. "The Italians are rallying a bit now and their Chaser team is doing a wonderful formation right now, I'm told it's translated as a Trellis formation, they weave around a fixed point quite well. Vinci to Pellegrini, back to Vitale, to Vinci! Nice dodge around Weasley and Vinci shoots! Blocked by Wood! Pellegrini with the rebound and shoots again and Wood saves again! He passes to Johnson who throws it long and Shaw catches!"
Tanya grunted and hit a Bludger with a solid smack. The heavy iron ball flew right at Miles from behind, causing watchers to gasp and think it was an error. However, Miles looped neatly and the Bludger flew on, scattering the two Italian Chasers that were flying right at Miles. The English Chaser tucked in behind the missile and let it break ground for him. When the Bludger began to turn, Miles passed the Quaffle and dove to avoid it.
"Weasley catches the Quaffle and she and Jonson are doing passing it back and forth. Look at that speed and handling! They aren't even looking at each other and are maintaining a fast pass speed! Vitale tries to intercept and it goes through! Alberts hits the Bludger at Rinaldi and she dives and Johnson shoots and scores! Right through the middle hoop and as sure as a spell! What a shot and England is at 140 po-oh my goodness look at them go!"
Basile, the Italian Seeker, dove with Harry following right behind. Both men had seen the Snitch and were racing pell-mell for it. Basile had the slightest advantage and was trying to take advantage of it, having seen the Snitch a moment before Harry did. He flattened himself over his broomstick and poured as much speed into his broom as he could.
Harry gritted his teeth and rolled, dodging a hasty Bludger shot from one of the Italian Beaters. He flew slightly above Basile and leaned down to reduce drag as well. He was gaining on the other Seeker but it was unclear if it would be fast enough.
Ginny saw the flashes of gold and she looked around wildly for Tanya. Seeing her, Ginny whistled and pointed at a spot in front of the Snitch. Tanya nodded and she flew straight at a Bludger and shouted a war cry as she struck the iron ball with a double-handed grip on her bat. The Bludger flew where she aimed, whistling menacingly.
"White hits the Bludger but that's too far forward to hit Basile!" Kenneth shouted in dismay. The England fans shared his mood while the Italians cheered, thinking the shot was made in error.
It was not.
The Bludger flew through the space where Tanya had aimed for and directed by Ginny. The Snitch, zooming along in front of the Seekers, felt the presence of the Bludger coming for it and it stopped flying forward and immediately flew straight up and back, away from the enchanted ball. Basile had seen the incoming Bludger and rightfully knew that he was safe from it. The sudden deviation in flight path by the Snitch startled him but he was going too fast to course correct.
Harry, flying just a bit behind Basile, saw the Snitch change course and was able to change his flight path and within moments caught the Snitch before it could speed up and disappear completely. He pulled out of his dive; hand raised in victory.
"Potter has the Snitch!" Kenneth shouted, dismay becoming delight. "White must have hit the Bludger where the Snitch was going to be and the Snitch avoided it! Flying straight into England's Seeker's path! What a shot and what a play! England wins! 290 to 90! ENGLAND IS HEADING TO THE FINAL FOUR! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES ENGLAND IS WITHIN SIGHT OF THE CUP!"
Harry hugged Ginny hard as they collided in mid-air. "Awesome idea Ginny!"
Her eyes danced as she laughed, hugging him back. "Glad it worked! And Tanya is a menace with a bat!"
Tanya slammed into them, hugging them both. "What a play! We have got to try and do that more!"
The team landed and waved to the fans before hugging and shaking hands with the Italians. Since they had played each other so much during the European League, the teams were on good terms with each other. Despite being sad about losing, the Italians were still very friendly with the England team and promised to support them to the end.
They gathered in the locker room to go over things when the door slammed open and Katie came running in. "I just heard from Aimee! France beat Bulgaria!"
"No way!" Angelina shouted.
"Yes! The game was back and forth but Chevalier caught the Snitch before Krum!"
Oliver waved his wand at the board and he watched the placard for France move up the track. "So we're facing either Japan or France in the finals if we win against Mexico!"
"We're going to have a tough final match regardless," Silas whistled. "Both teams are excellent but if Japan wins, they will have home field advantage and support."
"It'll be like the game during my fourth year," Harry said. "Ireland being so close and able to support their team."
"If we play like we do today against Mexico, then we're going to Japan," Oliver said confidently. "We're doing amazing and we are so close to our goal in getting to the championship game. We can do this."
-0-
"Innis has the Snitch! What a catch!" Kenneth was jumping up and down in the announcer's box. "She flew between Rodriguez and Hernandez and despite being winged by a Bludger, she caught the Snitch!" His eyes popped open and he shouted as loud as he could. "ENGLAND IS HEADING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES, WE ARE GOING TO THE CUP!"
Shelia was in the process of being buried by her teammates, all of them jumping on her in joy. Harry waded in and helped pull people off of her, pulling her up and hugging her hard. "You got us there!" he screamed.
"Team effort!" she screamed back. "You got us through the game and we got to the Cup together!" She hugged him back.
A hard hit from a Bludger had nearly knocked Harry off his broom. Instead of risking the game, he eagerly and immediately swapped with Shelia. She flew incredibly and managed to make the best catch of her career, threading the needle between two Team Mexico players and having a Bludger graze her.
After receiving the accolades from the crowd and thanking Team Mexico for an incredible game, they gathered in the locker room. The players were dancing and stomping the ground, cheering and shouting with the staff joining in. Ginny fired off a few Weasley Wheeze fireworks and lights and smoke filled the locker room as they celebrated wildly.
"What did I say? WHAT DID I SAY?!" Oliver shouted.
"We're the best!" everyone chorused back.
"WE'RE GOING TO JAPAN!" Oliver howled.
"TO JAPAN!" everyone howled back.
"Remember that we already won!" Oliver shouted and they all went silent. "They didn't think we'd get to the Championship game and we. Proved. Them. WRONG!" He punched the air between every word and the rest did the same and cheered themselves hoarse.
He grinned widely and met their eyes. "But, since we're there, we might as well win it all right?" His laughter boomed out and the others laughed with him. "We got this team! What do we say?!"
"Number one!"
"For England and the Cup!"
"ENGLAND AND THE CUP!"
-0-0-0-
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Hopefully you enjoy today's and the next then.
alix33 - Harry's always in danger of something.
Urgwaew - Oh the next few chapters are sequential for good reason, hopefully you'll like them too. My best to you.
