Tanya's First Game
16th of March, 1996.
Tanya was flying through the air slowly. Gryffindor's first match for the season was in just a few weeks. They had been training hard. She dived down and followed Harry around the pitch. He was a really good flyer, but she was nimbler than him. She flew over to him and tapped him on the head. Then she flew away. She could tell that he was following her and she led Harry on a merry chase. His broom was faster, but she could take sharper turns. It took Harry a good while to catch her.
Tanya laughed as he grabbed her and pulled her over onto his own broom before tickling her mercilessly. He grabbed her brown and steered them down to the ground. "Looks good, team," he said. "I think that with a few more rounds of practice like this, we'll cream Hufflepuff in the upcoming match. Passes are smoother. I like seeing that. Next time I think we'll focus on keeper and beaters. I want to put you through the wringer."
"Sure Captain," Chace said.
"Go get cleaned up and get something in you now," Harry said.
"Won't you come with us Cap?" Jimmy asked.
"You want to keep to the team for the rest of the evening?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, sounds nice," Angeline said. "We're out soon. I'd like to spend some time together that isn't training or game day."
Harry chuckled. "Then I guess I will join you," he said.
They headed through the showers quickly before meeting back up. Tanya took Harry's hand and Angelina slung her arm over his shoulders. They walked in a tight group into the castle talking about places they would like to see. Angelina and Alicia planned on heading to New Zealand that summer just to walk the fantastic landscape.
"I'll have to do that sometime," Harry said. "I've heard that it is beautiful there."
"My cousin lives there," Alicia said. "I've been before but that was a long time ago. Mom doesn't get along with her brother that well anymore and I don't know why, but my cousin and I have kept in touch."
Harry smiled. "Sounds nice," he said.
They entered the great hall and settled down by the table together.
"I'd like to go to Brazil," Tanya said. "I want to see the Amazon forest."
"Also doesn't sound bad," Harry said.
"Could we go together?" Tanya asked.
"Maybe, how about you finish school first and then we'll talk about it," Harry said.
Tanya smiled. She wasn't entirely sure why she wanted to go to South America. She had this feeling that she needed to go there and she couldn't shake it.
The quidditch team settled down in a pile in the common room after dinner. Candy showed up from somewhere and Butterbeer showed up from a hidden stash. Some of the older students even had some Fireball.
Harry could see how Ron chose not to take part in the stronger liquor. His first experience had not been a good one. That was exactly what Harry had hoped for when he had gotten him and his friends alcohol a few months ago.
Tanya curled up next to Harry. She listened to him telling a story about a fantastical adventure. The heroes were a brave woman and her feline-like friend. Tanya liked them. They seemed so nice without being perfect. She was so tired of perfect heroes. As she listened to Harry, she slowly drifted off.
"… so the three ventured on. Alduin's lair was located just beyond the mountains and there was a long way left for them to travel. In the dead of night as they slept, in the darkness by their camp snuck a dark shape. Raya woke their companions and they readied themselves for an attack, but loe it was Volodal, Ronja's steady companion and friend. A great dragon though much weaker than Alduin the World-Eater. He had come to aid them in reaching the prince of destruction…"
Harry fell silent as he looked down at a sleeping Tanya and smiled. "I guess we're ending this story here," he said softly.
Angelina smiled. "I'll take her up to her dorm," she said. She lifted Tanya up as Harry cast a feather-light charm on her. Slowly the team headed off until only Harry remained.
"You're a good storyteller," Dean said. "Those fights make for some pretty awesome pictures."
Harry stood up and he could see that Dean had been drawing. "Is that supposed to be Ronja?" he asked as he pointed to one of the pictures.
Dean nodded. "Did I manage?" he asked.
Harry chuckled. The woman in the picture looked like she could have been Katla and Balgruuf's child. "Looks good," he said. That was kind of what he had been going for. Raya looked a lot like Rashall, but you certainly couldn't tell the Khajiit's gender which Harry had kind of wanted mostly because it would have been such a Rashall thing to do. Dean's depiction was sort of right and Harry wasn't about to correct him. The last of the three heroes was Eothar a half-elf mage who looked to Harry from Dean's drawings like a mix between Vivianna and Rhavaniel which was actually kind of comical to him. "I like these," he said.
"You should write a story down," Dean said. "I would love to illustrate something for it."
"I'll certainly think about it," Harry said. "Should we head up?"
Dean nodded and yawned. "Let's go to bed," he said.
30th of March, 1996.
Harry was out running when Winky suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Master Moony need help with little Master Leoline," Winky said. "Master Moony need to go speak to important man and cannot leave little Master with Winky for so long."
"I'll come to pick Leoline up as soon as I have showered," Harry said. He knew that asking Winky who the important man was wouldn't help. She probably didn't know.
Harry ran a hand through his hair and sighed. That pulled him off the team for today. Sure he could leave Leoline with Hermione but it didn't feel right and Tanya was a good player. They would do fine with her going for the snitch instead of him.
"Good morning Angie," Harry said as he entered the common room. "If you see Tanya before I do, will you let her know that she is on for today? Something came up and I can't play."
Angelina looked surprised at first but then she just smiled. "As long as you'll still be there rooting for us, Cap," she said.
"Oh, I will be," Harry said. "Don't you worry." He headed up the stairs to his dorm and headed into the shower. Only minutes later he was heading back down the stairs of Hogwarts castle so he could get out past the wards and disapparate. He walked into Ennerdale Estate and looked around for Remus. "Hey why do you look like your world is about to end," he said calmly as he found a very frizzled-looking Remus Lupin holding a struggling baby.
"Harry! How! Why!" Remus said.
"Winky came. She told me you have an important meeting and that Leoline needs a babysitter," Harry said.
Remus blinked surprised. "Oh, I… That was very nice of her, but you don't have to, I'll just…" he rambled.
"You go clean up and get dressed and ready for your meeting, and I will take care of Leoline," Harry said. "I don't want to hear any excuses. This is what a guideparent is for. I'll take him with me to Hogwarts since it is game day."
"You have a quidditch game? But you are the seeker, Harry," Remus said.
"Tanya can fly in my stead. That is what we have trained her for," Harry said. He took Leoline from Remus. "Can you get me Leoline's bag and carrier Winky?" he called. He smiled as she appeared almost immediately with the things he had asked for. He put Leoline in the carrier and strapped it on before he pulled the bag over his shoulder. "I hope your meeting goes well and you can tell me what this was about later," he told Remus before leaving.
"Will do and thank you, Harry," Remus called after him.
Harry smiled down at Leoline. "It is a little early for you yet Leo but here is Hogwarts," he said. He tapped the carrier and activated the noise reduction spell around Leoline so he wouldn't get overwhelmed by all the sounds around him. Then he entered the school and walked into the Great Hall. The team was sitting together at the Gryffindor table. They looked up as Harry sat down next to Katie.
"I guess that explains why you aren't playing," Angelina said as she looked at the baby he was carrying. "Who is this little guy then?
"Leoline Lupin," Harry said.
"Professor Lupins' son?" Katie asked.
Harry nodded. "He's my guideson and Remus needed to go to an important meeting so he asked me to look after Leo," he said.
"I take it his mother isn't around then," Jimmy said. He had lost his mother a few years ago and didn't wish that on anyone.
"She died in childbirth," Harry said softly.
"How come Professor Lupin would name you his son's guideparent though?" Alicia said.
"He was best friends with my father when they went to school," Harry said.
"What even is a guideparent?" Tanya asked.
"Godparent but for people who don't believe in a god," Harry said. "And you can name way more of them if you want to. There is some legal mumbo jumbo that means that I'm his legal guide parent which means that in case something happens to Remus I automatically become Leoline's guardian either temporarily or permanently depending on what happens. It was a mess of paperwork."
Tanya picked at her food nervously as the others talked. She knew she should eat something, but it was only a little while before her very first game. She didn't have any appetite.
Harry smiled at her. He knew that nothing he could say would help her. All he could do was make sure that there was something for her to eat as soon as the game ended. Once the nerves had settled she would be famished; he knew that from experience. He wrapped an arm around Tanya's shoulders as they headed down to the pitch. He went with the playing team into the changing rooms and waited for them. The rest of the team would save a seat for him up in the stands.
"Okay," Harry said once the team had changed and everyone was ready to head out. "We can win this. Hufflepuff is a good fair-playing team. I want all of you to have fun and do your best. The chasers are good, but they don't know each other the way you do. Just fly around them. Their beaters are decent I guess, but Fred and George if you don't do better than them I'll wonder what is wrong. Tanya. Cedric is a good seeker, but if you think I'm clumsy then you will be able to fly circles around him. Just keep your focus on the game. If you can, let the chasers score for a bit, but don't give the snitch to Cedric. Show them why you are our next seeker." Harry looked at his players. "Get out there; have fun and kick ass," he said.
"Will do Cap," Angelina answered. She was the one who walked out in front of the rest of the team instead of Harry. She held her hand out for Cedric to shake.
"Has something happened to Harry?" Cedric asked worriedly. He had hoped that his last game against Gryffindor would be against Harry.
"Nope, he is just babysitting," Angelina said. She looked up to the stands where Harry sat down with the second team.
Cedric followed her gaze until he saw Harry. His eyes widened slightly. "Who's kid is it?" he asked.
"Professor Lupin's," Angelina said. "Harry is his guidefather."
Cedric chuckled. He looked down at the little girl he was flying against. "I guess you are the seeker then," he said. "Good luck out there, squirt."
Tanay didn't say anything, she was already focusing more on what was about to happen than on this unnecessary drivel going on now. She mounted her broom as Professor Hooch told them to. Then she kicked off and she was in the air. She knew how to do this. It was just another practice and Cedric was just another seeker. She tailed him for a bit and tested him out with a few dives. Harry was right, Cedric was slow in comparison to her. She couldn't get overconfident though. Harry always told her that it was a bad idea to have too much confidence in her abilities. She watched Angelina play for a bit. She liked Angelina. Angelina was a lot like her older cousins. She was tough and caring and she wouldn't back down from what was right and Tanya admired that. She wanted to be like Angelina and Harry when she grew up. Harry because he was cool and did loads of awesome stuff.
Something golden caught her attention and Tanya was off. Cedric was closer to the snitch but Tanya was nimbler. She spun her broom around, passed under Cedric and grabbed the snitch right from his fingertips.
"And Hope has caught the snitch!" Lee shouted. "She dived in under Diggory and stole the snitch right out of his grasp. Amazing flying by the Gryffindor seeker. I wonder if Potter can make a comeback after this."
"Gryffindor wins two-hundred and eighty to a hundred," Lee called out
Tanya landed on the ground and looked down at the snitch she was clutching in her hand. Then she was surrounded by her team. Fred and George lifted her up and everyone was chanting and shouting. She was smiling as she let the hot water cascade down on her in the shower.
"You did great Tanya," Angelina said.
"Yeah, that felt a lot like playing with Harry for the first time," Katie said.
Tanya's stomach rumbled and the blush that had already been burning on her cheeks deepened. She was glad that no one could see it because of her dark skin.
"Harry said he had a picnic planned for after the game," Alicia said. "We should head out there so we can eat."
Tanya smiled. "Awesome," she said.
"Our Captain is pretty darn good," Angelina said.
"I have to admit that he is better at creating a team feel than Oliver was. Oliver wanted to win so badly he kind of lost track of the other fun things you can do together," Alicia said.
"We should invite him for the last game," Angelina said. "We're playing Ravenclaw. It will be a fair enough game and it will settle the victory."
"He would love that if he has the time," Alicia said.
They had gotten dressed as they spoke and were heading outside. They walked past Cedric and his father.
"Hey, Hope good game," Cedric called.
"A shame Potter is too scared to face you, son," Mr Diggory said. "Too scared to face the only one who has ever beaten him."
Cedric looked like he was in pain and Tanya's temper rose at the smug look on his father's face. "You know what, mister," she said. "Harry is taking care of his guideson right now. That is why he isn't playing. He isn't the least bit scared of Cedric. If Harry wanted to, he could probably fly circles around Cedric so how about you stop building your own inflated ego on your son's accomplishment; especially when your son doesn't even like it when you do it? Cedric and Harry are friends and you are doing everything you can to ruin that friendship. Is that really what you want? Isn't it better for Cedric to count Harry among his friends? Besides, the only time Cedric won was because of dementors flooding the field and one would think you would focus more on the fact that both Harry and Cedric could have died that day than the fact that Cedric just happened to win." She was breathing heavily as her rant ended.
Cedric was smiling softly and Mr Diggory looked shocked. "Now see here girl," he said.
"You say anything more and I might just sue you for slander Mr Diggory," Harry said calmly as he walked up to them. "I don't care what you say about me. "If you harm Tanya in any way you will regret it." He turned to Cedric. "Would you like to join us? We have a picnic set up?" he asked.
"Sure sounds good," Cedric said. "I could use some time before people feel like they need to tell me that they are sorry for me and that I shouldn't take the loss too hard." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a kid. Losing in a school tournament isn't that bad." He turned to his father. "I will see you later, father. Please say hello to mom for me," he said. Then he joined Harry and the rest as they walked their way over to the lake where a big blanket lay spread out on the ground. Food floated serenely a few feet off the ground so no one would sit in it.
Just like the few other times, Cedric had joined Harry and his friends no one disturbed them. They could just as well not have been there because no one seemed to pay attention to them at all apart from the fact that they walked around their blanket rather than on it. It always amazed him what Harry was capable of. Because he was sure it was Harry. He didn't bring it up though since no one else seemed to care. He just enjoyed the moment.
Tanya was happy but no one was gloating about their victory so Cedric felt right at home. He figured that maybe the teams could do with some more intermingling. Someone else would have to fix that. He didn't feel like he had the time.
Harry smiled as his team talked and Katie and Alicia roped Cedric into a conversation. He liked this. Everyone was having fun. He looked down at little Leoline as he lay sleeping in his carrier.
"He is cute," Angelina said. She leaned back.
"Want one of your own?" Harry asked.
Angeline rolled her eyes. "Someday maybe," she said. She looked over at Fred.
Harry chuckled. He could understand her. It was a little early to think about children for all of them.
They cleaned the picnic up and said farewell to Cedric before heading up to the Gryffindor common room. Leoline woke up as they entered, but Harry was ready for him with a bottle so no one had to listen to him scream.
Hermione sat down next to Harry. Since she had spent the holidays with him she was another familiar face to Leo. They figured that was good for him.
…
Harry and Hermione walked out together so Harry could give Leoline back to Remus that evening.
"I wish Professor Douglas could get a little bit more serious so we wouldn't need to work so hard to make sure that we know what we need for the OWLs," Hermione said.
"I'll see what I can do," Harry said. "I get your frustration."
"You have such an easy time with defence. It's disgusting," Hermione said. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
"Could be because I did so much extra work last year," Harry said.
"I know," Hermione said. She smiled at Remus as they reached the gate. "Hello Mr Lupin," she said.
"It's Remus dear," Remus said. "How has he been?" he asked. Harry as he was handed his sleeping son.
"He's wrapped all of Gryffindor house around his finger," Hermione said.
"He's been alright. He's eaten well and slept when he should," Harry said.
Remus nodded. "That is good," he said. "How did the game go?" he asked.
"Tanya caught the snitch and we trounced Hufflepuff," Harry said. "I knew it would go well. Our team is good no matter who plays." He shrugged. "Now why did Winky have to come get me?" he asked.
Remus sighed. "I keep forgetting to ask for help when I should. I had a meeting with a publisher today. I've been writing up beginner guides for Defence and History of Magic. We're publishing them. I hope it will go well. The publisher seemed hopeful."
"That is great," Hermione said.
Remus smiled. "I just hope they sell," he said.
"Oh, I'm sure they will," Hermione said.
"Thank you, Hermione," Remus said. "And thank you for taking Leoline, Harry."
"No problem Remus. Anytime you need it," Harry said.
"I'll make sure to remember that," Remus said. "Have a continued good evening you two."
"You as well," Harry said.
"Goodbye, Remus," Hermione said. "Bye-bye little Leo," she waved to the baby even though he was sleeping soundly.
Harry and Hermione waved as Remus disapparated.
