I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Extended Family

Chapter 112 – Drive

Takes place after chapter 80 of The Family that Chooses You.

"Where's Angelina?"

Alicia sighed softly. "Where do you think?"

Katie sighed too. "I thought the pitch was off limits right now with them changing it for the First Task."

"It is. She petitioned to have a set of hoops set up on the other side behind the castle and they did that."

Harry looked at the two girls. "They did? That was nice of them, even if it's only one set."

"Some of the sixth and seventh years went with Angelina and together they convinced the Headmaster. It's for them to practice and what not before they do those camps to show off to the League scouts." Alicia shook her head. "So Angelina's there driving herself mad."

"At least she'll still have next year," Katie said, "not to mention the camps this year like she mentioned too."

"Right, but you know how she can get sometimes," Alicia sighed once more. "I feel for her, I do. But sometimes it's best to let the stone-headed chicken bash its aggression out on a wall lest you become the target of its ire."

"I'm telling her you called her a chicken," Katie smiled.

"A stone-headed chicken," Alicia amended with her own smile. "I've called her worse to her face."

The girls lapsed into silence for a moment. "Say, where did baby bird go?" Alicia asked, realizing that Harry had been extra quiet. When she looked up, she saw that he was gone.

Katie looked around a little before smiling once more. "He's off doing what he does best."

"Get into trouble and scare the living daylights out of us while driving us mad from worry?"

"Okay, he's off doing the other thing he does best."

-0-

Angelina swore loudly as her shot missed. She dove and fumbled the recovery catch, swearing even louder as the Quaffle tumbled away and hitting the ground. She flew down, skimming the earth and snatched the red ball up. Turning tightly, she nearly slipped off from the bad angle and the speed, and hastily shot again. She ground her teeth as the Quaffle sailed neatly between two of the hoops.

"Bloody sodding hell!" she shouted. She floated there, fuming, resisting the urge to cross her arms. After several shuddering breaths that did nothing for her temper, she looked down for the Quaffle, growing confused when she did not see it. She started when the ball came sailing to her and she caught it easily.

"Hi," Harry said, flying up to her on his broom and also wearing his practice gear.

"Hi Rabbit," Angelina said. She sighed, feeling disgruntled and partially did not want him there to see her so upset. She blinked when he wheeled around her and took ready position at the goal hoops. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you practice. I need the exercise too. Hermione said I was getting pudgy."

Angelina smiled despite herself. "She did not."

Harry grinned. "Not exactly but she did say I should be careful not to eat as much sweets as usual."

Angelina snorted. "But you're in Keeper position."

"Well yeah, can't help much as a Seeker right now. I think I can do it." He held his hands out in a fair approximation of how he saw Oliver do it before.

"I don't know," Angelina said, half-teasingly. "You're kinda weedy for a Keeper."

"Don't you body-shame me too," Harry sniffed. "Or do you think I'll be able to block your shots because I'm faster? It's okay, it's just us two. I promise I won't tell anyone if I block your shots."

Angelina stared at him and his cheeky smile. "Okay, game on Potter."

Harry had no idea how much time passed until things ended. He had to spend every bit of his attention and will power in blocking the shots Angelina threw and while he always knew she could throw a Quaffle incredibly hard and accurately, it was one thing to see it from the side. It was a completely different thing to see the Quaffle come rocketing at your face. He had to fight the urge to dodge it at first. The first time he completely blocked it, with his chest, he felt like all the wind was knocked from his body.

Gamely, he continued, gritting his teeth and trying to knock the ball away from the hoops if he knew he could not catch it. Once he tried the spin trick and hit the Quaffle with his broom tail and he swore the impact sent him spinning instead.

Angelina fell into her game state, the place where she focused on the game and the Quaffle and nothing else. Finally playing against someone, practicing with someone, let her focus and she worked out her aggression and stress and feelings that have been mounting for weeks.

Things, however, came to a rather abrupt end and she knew that the shot she made would yield some unfortunate consequences as soon as the ball left her finger tips. "Rabbit! Duck!"

Harry stopped, confused, and the Quaffle hit him cleanly in the face. It bounced off, flying into the air and he grabbed his face with a sharp cry.

"Harry! Are you okay?!" Angelina flew too him as fast as she could, cursing herself. "Let me see," she said, pulling a hand away. She winced. His nose was broken obviously and blood dribbled from his nostrils.

"I'm okay," he said nasally, wincing as he touched his nose. He pulled off his glasses and looked at them with surprise. "Hey they didn't break! That's nice."

"What?! I broke your nose!" Angelina said, shocked.

"I'm used to that," he said, waving a hand. "It's a lot more troublesome when my glasses break. Or it was, now that there's magic to fix them come to think of it."

"You are taking this far too calmly," Angelina sighed, frustrated and angry at herself yet relieved that he was not upset with her for some reason. "Come on, lets go down to earth. I can fix your nose at least. We might need to check with Madam Pomfrey later though."

She guided him down and pointed at his nose with her wand. "Episkey." She sighed with relief when the broken nose set itself and Harry touched it experimentally without wincing. "It's a charm for minor injuries. Mum taught me and my brothers after all the scraps we got into growing up."

"That's super useful," Harry said, sniffing carefully. "Good as new, thanks!"

"Not quite," Angelina sighed. Harry still had blood dripping down his mouth and chin and the beginnings of a bruise around his nose. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"It's okay, you didn't mean to," Harry said.

"Stop trying to make me feel better for hurting you," she said, half-annoyed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seeing him look at her worriedly. "I mean, I'm sorry. I'm a mess."

"Want to talk about it?" Harry asked gently. "We don't have to if you don't want to of course I'm not trying to pry or be nosy and-oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to say nosy like that since you just broke my nose but you fixed it and it was a total accident and-"

Angelina laughed for the first time in a long time, feeling the tension bleed out of her. "Okay, breathe Rabbit." She groaned and sat down heavily, covering her eyes. "You know, through the nose that I just broke."

"And you fixed." Harry sat down beside her and leaned against her. "What's going on?"

Angelina did not say anything for a while and Harry did not press her. They sat together, leaning on the other. The sun was starting to set, sending red-gold rays of light across the grounds. The wind picked up a little, bringing the promise of autumn's chill.

"I'm just…annoyed," she said at last.

"At no Quidditch? Or not being chosen as Champion?" Harry asked. "Or something else."

"Yes," she replied, smiling a little as his snort. "I mean, all of that. Everything. I don't know."

He rested his head on her shoulder, careful to keep his blood from staining her jersey.

She rested her head on his, feeling a little better. "I'm a mess," she said again, quietly.

"You've been practicing for a couple hours, right? No one is perfect after that."

She snorted and poked him. "I meant more than how I look. Also don't tell a girl that, Rabbit."

"Got it." He mimed writing it down. "I'm sorry you weren't chosen as Champion. You would've been a great one."

"It's…it's not that I really wanted to be Champion," she said softly. "I mean I did, but after seeing what Champions have to do and what they did before, I'm kinda glad I'm not one."

"Then why are you upset?"

"It's more that I wasn't chosen, if that makes sense."

Harry smiled weakly. "Not really to be honest."

She snorted. "It's dumb."

"Can't be dumb if it bothers you so much," he said quietly.

She looked down at her hands. "Has Alicia ever told you why I'm…me?"

He shook his head. "What do you mean? Like how awesome you are? You say that enough usually. She usually says the opposite actually, something about de-inflating your ego."

Angelina chuckled. "She's such a bitch sometimes."

"I'm telling her you said that!" he gasped.

"I've said it to her face plenty of times, and worse," Angelina smiled. "No, I mean, the whole super competitive thing I've got going on."

"Oh, no she didn't." He looked at her with false innocence. "Are you? I mean super competitive. I don't think I've noticed-"

He coughed when she wrapped an arm around his neck and rubbed his head hard. "You cheeky thing!" she said with a big smile, feeling him laugh. They wrestled for a moment and she pinned him beneath her, waiting for her to tap her arm before she let him go. She rolled to the side and lay on her back, staring up at the sky.

"So apparently you're super competitive," Harry said after a while.

She smiled. "Just a little." Her smile faded. "I've always been like that. Growing up with three older brothers can do that to you. They love me and I love them but we fight like cornered badgers a lot. I was so mad when I found out that they took it easy on me because I'm the baby sister."

She covered her eyes with her hands. "But it was more what Mum told me when I was little. One time, when I was playing on this little Quidditch league team thing a local group did, I was always chosen last."

"What? You?!" Harry stared at her with frank astonishment.

"This was before I got super into Quidditch and wasn't as good," Angelina said, smiling at his tone of indignation.

"I don't believe you weren't ever good," he said. "I know you earn it and practice a lot but still."

"You're sweet Rabbit," she smiled. "But believe it or not, I wasn't. One time I bawled my eyes out to Mum and she apologized to me."

"Why?"

Her smile faded. "She said it would be tougher for me. She said I'd always have to work harder. That I'm a witch and wizards would look down on me. I'm a woman so men would look down on me. I'm not one of the 'right' Purebloods so others would look down at me."

She held her hands up to the setting sun, watching the sunlight play over her skin. "I don't look like a lot of other people and for some, that'll always be a problem."

She coughed when Harry flopped over her, hugging her tightly. She smiled despite the prickling of tears in her eyes and hugged him back even tighter. "Thanks, Rabbit," she said thickly.

"I think it's stupid to judge people on things like that," he said, voice slightly muffled with him pressing his face against her. "You should judge them on how they act."

"If only everyone was like that," she sighed, ruffling his hair. "Wish more people were like you."

"No you don't, you and Katie and Alicia say that all the time," he said, his voice bright and merry.

She laughed. "Okay, yes in the sense how much trouble you find yourself in and we'd be ragged for it." She let out a breath and felt more tired yet more relieved somehow. "Sometimes I wish I was more laidback about some things."

"I think you being competitive is you being you," Harry said, sitting up. "That's how you are and I like you for it."

"Even after today?" she asked, feeling better before wincing and making a gesture at his face.

"Like I said, you didn't mean it," he shrugged.

She felt much better. "Thanks, Rabbit," she whispered. She rubbed her eyes again. "Ugh, I went and complained to you again when I'm the older sister."

"Well, it's still only two for you versus a hundred and thirty-seven for me," he said seriously.

"Where'd you get that tally?" she asked, smiling.

"Alicia of course."

"Of course." She reached a hand up but when Harry took it to pull her up, she yanked him down and they wrestled some more, laughing all the while. She pinned him again and she let him go, climbing up and pulling him with her. "Thanks Rabbit. Really. I feel a lot better."

"You're welcome," he said happily, hugging her. "I don't think I'm cut out for Keeper though."

"Nah, you weren't terrible. Just don't block with your face," she joked.

"Good to remember," he said seriously. "We have time to go back and wash-up and change before dinner."

"We're going to the Infirmary first," she said. "Need to make sure I didn't break anything permanently."

"If you insist," he sighed. "At least you're not going to haul me up there like a sack of taters again."

"I could if you want," she said seriously.

"No, it's okay," he said, speeding up slightly.

"No, really. Maybe I knocked you loopy and I have to. To be extra-hey come back here!" She chased after him, grinning from ear to ear.

-0-

"What happened to you?!" Alicia and Katie yelled when Angelina and Harry walked into the common room together.

"Madam Pomfrey is so rude sometimes," she grumbled. "Should've cleaned the blood up but nooooo, she wanted me to experience this."

Harry smiled. "I'm a bad Keeper apparently."

"Well you're not supposed to use your face, you should've learned that from Oliver at least," Katie said with narrowed eyes. "What happened?!"

"Angelina made an awesome shot and it was so awesome I forgot I was Keeping and it got me in the nose," Harry said. "She fixed it and we went to Madam Pomfrey to double-check it. Everything's fine."

Alicia glared at Angelina. "And this is how you repay people that spend time with you and help you practice? You brute!"

"It was an accident!" Angelina said loudly, throwing up her hands. "Rabbit didn't get this upset at me when it happened!"

"Maybe it was from the shock," Katie sighed. "You can be honest Harry; we'll protect you from her."

"Oh don't start," Angelina groaned.

He shook his head, still smiling. "Nah, it was an accident." He batted his eyelashes at Angelina. "That said, if you want to get me treats to smooth over things, I won't say no."

"Oh that's a Lyla trick," Katie laughed. "Classic little sibling manipulation."

Angelina laughed too. "Deal."

A few days later Alicia walked into the common room and groaned. "I thought you ate that gargantuan sugar quill the day after you got it the last time."

Harry smiled, holding the two-foot-long sugar quill while he sucked on the end of it. "I did. This is another one."

Alicia shook her head. "And you had to get one for yourself too?"

Angelina smiled as she ate hers. "Didn't want to make Harry share and wanted to try it myself. Might not finish it, want some?" She snapped off the end and handed it to Alicia.

"Sugar fiends, the both of you," Alicia snorted but started licking hers.

"Sugar friends too," Harry said and he and Angelina high-fived while Alicia groaned again. "You're the best," he whispered as he leaned against her.

"You too," Angelina said warmly, snuggling closer to him.

-0-0-0-

Ghostwriter - Yup, Sirius being proud and appalled at the same time.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - She's a really fun character to play with in the right ways. She can be that fun person everyone talks to that has seen it all.

poka - Thank you for the kind words, I'm grateful for them. I liked how this chapter turned out. It was mostly dialogue and description so it forced a bit of work but I think it turned out well.

EbonPurlight - Thank you, hope you are experiencing the same.

jahi06 - I'm not really looking for suggestions, thank you though. I'm grateful you enjoyed the chapter.

alix33 - She likes the nickname, she just won't admit it.

kaya - I'm glad, thank you.

odonnellzoo99 - Gosh, I wonder if I'll ever get that far with a chapter. Maybe I'll cheat and have them appear as children and see how Rosmerta meets them then.

iamchaos98 - I'm glad you still enjoy them after all this time. Thank you for sticking around. Always nice to see you.