I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 159 – Scrap Mechanics
Takes place a very specific set of months after chapter 65.
The door to the locker room flew in, hitting the wall with a very loud crash. Harry jumped at the sound and looked over, hand already going for his wand.
"You won't need that," Nathan smiled.
"I won't?" Harry asked, hand slowly moving away.
"Not right now anyways," Nathan said mysteriously.
"That doesn't really reassure me," Harry said with a weak smile. Nathan's reply made the smile fade away.
"Wasn't supposed to," Nathan said honestly.
"Guess what?!" Shelia came walking over, practically bouncing on her feet.
"Lenfield's on the corner ran out of pork pies?" Tanya asked mildly.
"No," Shelia said.
"Spice Dungeon at the market got their new monthly shipment?" Sam asked as he walked past.
"Also no," Shelia said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Meggy already said her first words?" Benny asked.
"What? No, she was literally just born!" Shelia said, actively glaring at him.
"What makes you think I know anything about babies?" Benny replied.
"That's fair," Flora said, smiling at his look.
"Fine, since none of you are going to guess right, I'll just tell you." Shelia put her hands on her hips. "I got cleared by the healer."
"Was something wrong?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Bless you, no, I mean, health wise no," Shelia said, smiling at him. "I was cleared for full-time active play." She preened as they applauded. "And, just as importantly, I was cleared to engage in post-game recreational activities."
"Fuck me," Tanya sighed.
"Yes!" Flora shouted and enthusiastically high-fived Shelia. "We're going out after the game?"
"Oh you bet your arse we are," Shelia whooped. She threw an arm around Harry. "I'm starting today by the way and you're joining us after the game."
"Sounds good," Harry smiled. "And the team already taught me some things for going out with you."
"Like how to dodge a punch," Tanya said.
"How to drag you out of a scrap," Nathan said.
"How to duck thrown things," Sam said.
"All valuable information," Shelia nodded, wholly serious. She bounced away, a literal spring to her step, and was whistling jauntily.
"I meant to ask this before," Harry said, "but how serious was all that training?"
"Very," Tanya said flatly.
"Oh." Harry blinked a few times. "So all the stories you lot have told me, including the ones she's told, weren't inflated?"
"If anything, they were downplayed a bit," Nathan said.
"Huh," Harry said.
-0-
"And here we go!" Zenny Zanes shouted happily and the crowd at the Port cheered loudly and wildly. "Everyone, let's welcome back our Seeker, Shelia Innis!" She whistled and the crowd did just that, shouting and chanting her name and Shelia waved her arms energetically, her smile large enough to see from anywhere on the pitch. "She's back after giving birth to the cutest little girl and looks like she's ready to play again!"
"And I thought she was aggressive when she was pregnant," Harry gasped as Shelia immediately charged the Caerphilly Catapult Seeker. The two zoomed around each other and Shelia stayed on him, riding him around before nearly slamming him into the wall, flying off at an angle and laughing wildly.
"No, she was definitely not," Miranda said, shaking her head. "Meggy had a calming influence on her. Or maybe a subduing influence that Shelia kept bottled up until now."
"Yup, that looks like about six months of not playing being released all at once," Finn sighed.
"She's doing stuff she's told me not to do," Harry observed, watching Shelia continuing to harass the opposing Seeker.
"Yep," Miranda said flatly. "She's definitely a 'do as I say and not as I do' type of coach."
"I probably won't be needed for today's game," Harry joked. Shelia zoomed around the pitch at more than skirmish speed, bent low over the broom.
"Might not," Miranda nodded. "You might hope you might not be subbed in at all. Better chance of her getting tired out before tonight."
"I don't think there's any hope of that," Finn said. "She has a separate energy reserve for carousing."
"She's not really that bad, is she?" Harry asked. "You guys are doing the whole 'mess with the new guy' bit, right?"
Miranda patted him on the shoulder. "I wish we were."
"I'm glad you're a licensed medic," Finn said honestly. "Still try to find me if you need me later, but I'll feel better with you with them."
Harry looked at them before his attention went back to the game, feeling more than a little concerned.
-0-
"Hurry up you sluggabutts!" Shelia chided, pushing them out of the locker room. "We gotta go! We gotta celebrate!"
Portree had won the game, 250 to 80, and Shelia had caught the Snitch in the end. She had subbed in Harry for a little bit to catch her breath, feeling a little winded due to it being her first game in months, but had come back in readily and ended the game with a solid catch. She had showered and got ready very swiftly and had made sure the others were not taking their time.
She kicked the door open to Willy's Wet Whistle Pub and the crowd within cheered when they saw her. "Your Queen has returned!" she shouted and laughed when fans hefted her up on their shoulders and carried her into the pub.
"They really do love her," Harry said admiringly as he followed after them.
"Shelia's probably one of the most popular players on the team," Tanya confirmed. She and the others who had come smiled and waved at fans too. "She deserves it. She spends time with them, talks to them, doesn't take their affection and time for granted."
"It's a lot more crowded tonight," Harry observed, looking around the packed pub.
"Well, it's also for the other reason they love Shelia," Benny said. "She knows how to party and you can almost always count on something happening whenever she's out after a game."
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"It's related to your training," Nathan said wearily.
"I still think you lot are having a laugh," Harry said. "You all are being serious?"
"I've known Shelia since we were firsties at Hogwarts," Tanya said. "I love her like a sister and we've been best friends since we met. So trust me when I say this. Shelia is one of the most belligerent people I know and will never ever back down from a fight and at least fifty percent of the time, is the one that starts it."
"No way," Harry said with evident disbelief.
"Don't let her size fool you," Tina snorted. "She's the shortest and the lightest on the team and also the meanest."
"She likes to duel?" Harry asked.
"Not duel, fight and scrap," Nathan said. "Without magic."
"You lot are seriously not messing with me," Harry said. "Like fist fighting. Shelia?"
"Trust me," Tanya said knowingly. "She loves it and she's good at it. And she attracts trouble like no one else. Lots of idiots like to pick on her because she's so small and they always regret it when she's punching them in the face or throwing them around like a sack of sand."
"Okay," Harry said slowly.
The night continued seemingly peaceful at first. The crowd were enthusiastic and mostly respectful of the team, happy to celebrate with them and chat and drink. No one was too pushy or out of control and Shelia was in fine form, leading songs and engaging in drinking contests with the others.
Then the door opened and a crowd came in wearing Caerphilly colors. The air inside the pub changed ever so slightly. Harry noticed some fans bristling and others leaving, with the ones remaining having an air of expectation of a sort. He then noticed a few of the ones coming in were in fact players of the Catapults and he put his mug down, not liking how they looked.
"Here we go," Nathan sighed. He looked at his watch. "They couldn't have waited for another hour or so."
"You're such an old man," Tina said.
"I didn't know they let children drink in here," a large burly man grunted sourly, looking down at Shelia.
"Funny, I thought the same thing seeing you walk in," Shelia said, swaying slightly but speaking with remarkable clarity. "Then again, you haven't started drinking yet so guess I'm wrong."
"You're even shorter in person," the man sneered, looming over her.
"And you're fatter and uglier close up, but I've never seen you before so that's a bit unfair," Shelia said, joining the others in laughing. "You want to call it quits and share a drink? Or are you going to start something you can't finish?"
The big man took the bottle from her hands and drained it in front of her, gulping loudly before belching and leering at her nastily. "Finished it. How about you get me another?"
"Sure!" Shelia climbed onto a stool at the bar, turned, and headbutted him directly. The crunch of his breaking nose filled the air, drowned out by his shriek of pain, and he fell backwards with Shelia launching herself off the stool, tackling him to the ground.
"Did she just do that?!" Harry gasped, jumping to his feet.
"He started it!" Flora said brightly as a brawl started all around the initial fighting pair.
"No wands!" Sam said, grabbing Harry's hand. "It's an unwritten rule! Whoever uses magic first gets punished worse and the Aurors get involved!"
"But bats are okay?!" Harry gasped seeing Tanya walk in with hers, jabbing a Caerphilly player in the ribs with it.
"Yeah, usual bar-room brawl rules with no overt weapons," Sam nodded.
Harry gaped at the seemingly blasé nature from the other team members, and the people in the bar at large, and at the ensuing fight. Even the people who worked and owned Willy's didn't seem unduly bothered, with Willy starting what looked like a betting pool. He shook his head and pushed his way through the edges of the fight, nimbly dodging hastily thrown punches and blows. After what seemed like an age, he made it through the outside part of the fight, getting to the center.
The big man's face was a ruin, after getting his nose broken and face punched several times by Shelia. Another person had grabbed her shoulders and hauled her off his friend with another aiming a punch. His punch went wild when Shelia kicked him in the gut, folding him over. Harry grabbed the man pulling her and pulled him off of her, throwing him aside.
"Hi!" Shelia said, eyes bright and merry. "Duck!" She pulled Harry down, avoiding a thrown bottle. "No touching my Seeker!" she shouted and threw the bottle back, hitting the thrower in the face. She pushed Harry to the side when someone leapt at him and counter-tackled them in mid-air, sending them both to the ground.
Harry shook his head. What am I doing here?! he thought/shouted and rolled away from two opposing fans beating on each other. He climbed to his feet, trying to regain his bearings. As he did, he saw Shelia be hauled back by someone and another person punching her in the stomach, making her yell. His sight went red and the next thing he knew, he was standing over Shelia with his hand aching and the whole pub quiet.
He knelt down beside her and took his wand out, hurriedly casting a diagnostic charm on her. He looked up when he felt someone standing over them and relaxed once he realized who it was.
"Easy there," Tanya said with a big smile. "Just your Captain." She knelt down too. "She alright?"
"Thankfully, yes," Harry said, fretting slightly. "I was worried because she got hit in the abdomen. Everything looks okay though, thank goodness."
"Never knew you had it in you!" Benny joined them, grinning at Harry. "What a punch!"
"What punch?" Harry asked nonplussed.
"The punch you threw," Flora said, smiling too. "You don't remember? You did it a few seconds ago. Laid that fat fuck out." She pointed at the man that was holding Shelia from behind and he was laid out on the ground, senseless.
"After throwing the other bloke across the pub." Nathan pointed at the man who had punched Shelia. He was in fact on the other side of the pub, the wall cracked around the point of impact and the man hanging off the wall, legs and arms dangling, also unconscious.
"I did that?" Harry gaped.
"Sure did," Tina said, patting him on the shoulder. "You're one of us alright!"
"All right, let's not make it more than it is," Tanya said, her authoritative tone coming through. "And let's call it a night. It's late enough and this scrap was pretty good."
Harry stood up and he and Tanya had Shelia between them who was a little out of it. He looked around, slightly bemused at the sight of the patrons of the pub righting furniture and repairing things with their magic, while others were dragging out the Caerphilly supporters. "Is…what do we do?"
"Willy will give us a bill of what needs to be replaced and we pay for it later, part of the deal with the team," Tanya said. "People from Caerphilly will drag their idiots back home later. It's all done locally between us. Aurors and official healers only get involved if things go really bad and we try to make sure it never gets to that point."
"Just part of the Pro Quidditch culture," Nathan nodded.
"We try not to let it get too personal," Flora said.
Harry blinked at that. "Okay," he said at last.
"Come one, help me get this one home," Tanya said.
Harry looked at the pile of insensible others for a moment. "One sec." He let Nathan take Shelia's arm and side and walked over to the pile. He took out his wand and murmured swiftly. The team, the fans and patrons of the pub, and the owners and workers of the pub watched in mute wonder as Harry healed them of their injuries.
He walked back to his team and resumed his position supporting Shelia. "It's nothing too personal, right?" he said, face flushed.
"Right," Tanya said with a warm smile. "You're a great guy and teammate Harry." As they left the pub, the fans cheered for them loudly and happily with many cheering for Harry all the louder.
-0-
"Oh dear," Sean Innis said, opening the door and seeing Harry and Tanya standing there, still supporting a slightly snoring Shelia. He smiled. "She had a night?"
"And then some," Tanya said as they walked into the Innis home. "Made up for lost time it seemed."
"Of course she did," Sean said, smiling fondly. "Thanks for bringing her home."
"She might be sore in the morning," Harry said. "She got punched in the abdomen. I checked her and did some healing charms there, but here are some potions in case."
"Bless you," Sean said gratefully. "You have healer training?"
"He's a certified medic," Tanya said proudly.
"That makes me feel so much better," Sean smiled. "I know Shelly's tough, but it's always nice to know help is nearby."
"Shelly?" Harry smiled.
"Only Sean calls me Shelly," Shelia mumbled, still sleeping.
"It's true, she bit me when I called her that," Tanya said. "Speaking of biters, how's Meggy?"
"Doing wonderful," Sean said, smiling from ear to ear. "Sleeping now of course, thank goodness." He took them to their bedroom and helped put Shelia to bed, thanking them profusely.
"You can get home okay?" Tanya asked as they left the Innis home.
"I'm not even drunk," Harry smiled. He yawned. "Knackered though."
"You had a wild night," Tanya said. "Good job, both in game and after."
"Thanks Captain, I'll probably kip at my flat. See you Monday."
-0-
Harry groaned, waking up slowly and reluctantly. He squinted at the clock. "Why am I awake so early on Saturday?" he mumbled to no one in particular. The source of his awakening was heard again, a heavy knocking on his door.
"Coming!" he said, climbing out of bed, settling his glasses on. He peered blearily through the peephole and looked surprised before opening the front door. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," Shelia said and looking as fine as she sounded. "Woke up without a hangover even. I bothered Tanya first and she told me what happened and I wanted to come thank you by taking you out to breakfast. The local market has a nice outside eatery that does amazing full breakfast with fresh fish and smoked fish."
She smiled down at the babbling little bundle in her arms. "Meggy wanted to thank you for helping her mum not be a complete idiot, isn't that right baby?"
Harry grinned and took Meggy when the baby held her arms out to him. "Well if Meggy insists, I guess we can go." He looked down at himself, having fallen asleep still wearing last night's casual wear. "I should change."
"Nothing a charm won't fix," Shelia said, casting a cleansing charm on him. "Thanks for having my back. Heard you punched one guy out and threw another across Willy's. Sorry I kinda let things get to my head."
"Just give me a heads-up next time if you're really going all out," Harry said, stepping into the hall and closing the door behind him.
"You got it," Shelia smiled.
"Besides, you helped me when the fight first started," Harry grinned.
"Hey, you're my Seeker and no one is messing with you," Shelia said. "Especially since you're watching my arse." She laughed at Harry's look. "What? She's a baby! Plus she's going to get used to colorful language. Her father has the mouth of a sailor he does."
"Really," Harry smiled.
"He does! He's getting us a seat at the eatery and he'll tell you himself!"
"Is that true?" Harry asked, smiling when Meggy gurgled and smiled back.
"See, she agrees with me," Shelia smiled.
-0-0-0-
odonnellzoo99 - I bet I'll get a lot of mileage out of Ron being pregnant. And he'll love hating every minute of it. Yup, Peter Pan. I was thinking of names and Wendy came to me and Wendy Weasley is just such a cute name.
Ghostwriter - I like to think he'd be so genuinely happy about it and it felt good to write it that way.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Yup, they get to join the rest at the village now.
poka - Right? They are adorable. I was happy to bring back the drum and gong too.
alix33 - At least Iris can be forgiven for thinking that, not Charlie though.
dude3566 - I had a lot of fun running with that joke.
TheSphynx - It will be ever growing.
Guest - I don't have an exact age written out, but in my head I have the bunnies (Dahlia, Hailey, and Hadley) at around 7 or so. Melanie is about a year or so older than the next group of Iris, Heather, Alex, Abby putting them at around 4 or 5 with Lucas and Kayden being the babies.