Right after a filling breakfast of pancakes, Holly ran upstairs to take a shower in the guest bathroom. With Holly gone, Zack figured it was the perfect time to establish their plans for the day; that way, the disagreeable girl wouldn’t be able to rain on his parade.
“So, Mr. Day-Planner-Person,” Alex began, “what are we doing today, on this most joyous of days?”
“Well,” Zack said, “I don’t have any plans for the day. However, tonight, we’re in luck.”
“Ooh, do tell!” Maria said, leaning in.
“I have in my possession six tickets to tonight’s Puddlemere United vs. Chudley Cannons Quidditch game,” Zack said with a broad grin.
Jack whooped appreciatively. “Yes! I’ve been dying to see the Cannons!”
“Uh oh,” Norah muttered. She almost wasn’t heard over Jack, Alex, and Maria’s celebratory cheering, but luckily Zack had chosen that moment to sit down.
“What?” he asked.
“The Keeper for Puddlemere United is a bit of a problem,” Norah said softly. “Go get the paper.”
Zack walked from the kitchen to the living room in search of the Daily Prophet. After a good three minutes of searching, he found it lying on the coffee table. He walked back to the kitchen and handed it to Norah. She flipped through the paper until she found the roster for Puddlemere that night.
“Read it,” she said.
Zack looked down the list: Captain and Chaser Evan Norris, Chaser Persephone Vail, Chaser John Fiore, Beater Ebony Adymy, Beater Jordan Phillips, Seeker Felicia Cooper, and Keeper Oliver Wood. “Oh, no,” he whispered.
~*~
Holly tilted her head as she looked in the bathroom mirror. She was debating what to do with her hair, since she wore it to reflect her mood. Today, she was feeling somewhat tired but happy. Loose waves should do. With a wave of her wand (it sure felt good to use magic over the summer holidays!), her hair transformed from the corkscrew curls it was drying into,and cascaded down her back in waves.
Smiling slightly at the outcome, she changed into the first clothes she found in her trunk: a red shirt and black skirt. She knew that Maria would describe the skirt as a ‘ballerina tutu’, even though it didn’t necessarily look like one: it was just black with a few tulle ruffles on it.
She walked down the staircase, through the front hallway, and into the kitchen where she was slightly (but not incredibly) surprised by the sight she saw. Jack, Norah and Maria were dancing happily around the kitchen, Alex was (as usual) leaning against the wall with his arms folded (although his face betrayed the slightest hint of a smile), and Zack was sitting at the kitchen table, his expression one of mixed confusion and excitement.
“Hey,” Holly said, walking up to Zack and giving him a light kiss on his cheek. “What’s going on with them?” She gestured to Jack and the Macmillan twins.
“Oh, they’re just excited for tonight,” Zack said, trying to remain as mysterious as possible.
“Oh. Okay!” Holly said cheerfully. “Wait, what’s tonight?”
Zack mumbled something incoherent that sounded a bit like ‘Kibbutz maim’. But that made absolutely no sense, and so Holly inquired further. “What is it?”
“Quidditch game,” Zack said louder. Norah paused dancing and looked at him with a pained expression, anticipating the worst. Holly smirked and gestured for her to continue dancing happily, which she did.
“Who’s playing?” Holly asked.
“Cannons versus Puddlemere,” Zack said quietly without looking up at Holly.
“Oh, cool!” Holly exclaimed. “I’ve been dying to see the Cannons play!”
“Do you know who the Keeper for Puddlemere is?” Zack asked.
“Yeah, Oliver.” Holly’s cheerful voice faltered only a little. “But that’s fine. Maybe the Cannons’ll actually kick his sorry a--”
Jack cut her off. “Wait! You have absolutely no problem with going to a game where your father, who walked out on your family eleven years ago, is playing and will have millions of adoring fans watching his every move?”
“Well when you put it that way,” Holly said with a laugh. “Hey, it’s Quidditch! I was on the house team back at school; I’m not missing a game just because Oliver’s playing in it.”
“That’s my girl!” Zack said happily. “Alright, so we’ll all go tonight?”
“Yeah, sounds fun,” Holly agreed.
“YES!” Jack yelled.
~*~
“Maria,” Holly insisted, “I do not need help finding an outfit to wear. I like the one I have on right now perfectly fine, thank you very much!”
“Yes, but Holly,” Maria whined. “It’s a Quidditch stadium. That means we’ll be outside! And we’ll be there forever because they take forever to catch the Snitch. Sometimes, I think the Seekers take a long time just to get a rise out of me. And because we’ll be there until it gets dark out, that means it’ll be cold. So are you ready to agree that I win in this argument?”
“Never,” was Holly’s simple reply.
Maria sighed heavily and turned back to her closet. The three girls were in Maria’s and Norah’s room, getting ready for the Quidditch game. Since the girls spent so much time at their uncle’s house, he had just decided to turn one of the guest bedrooms into their own room just so that they didn’t have to leave at night.
“So she lets you off after only a few minutes, but I’ve been shoved into how many dresses over the course of the years?” Norah, the epitome of tomboyish behavior, said with disgust. “Really, I’m shocked!”
“Pack it in, Norah,” Maria grumbled from the closet. “How about this, Holly?” She held out a cream coloured sleeveless dress. “You can wear a nice sweater with it! Fashionable and sensible!”
“That dress is not sensible for anywhere other than a wedding,” Holly said. “Just let me wear what I have on, damn it!”
“Fine, fine,” Maria muttered. “Norah, it’s your turn.”
Norah winked at Holly, stood up, and began to slowly walk towards the door. Just as she was about to free herself from her sister’s dress -up efforts, Maria called, “Not so fast! Get in here and sit down!”
“How does she do that?” Norah asked to anyone in general as she sat down on her bed next to Holly. “It’s astounding!”
Holly rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Maria said absolutely nothing. Norah’s cries about injustice rang through the house.
~*~
Around seven thirty that evening, Alex sat half asleep at the kitchen table. Despite the early hour, he was still tired from his lack of sleep the night before. He had been awake, tossing and turning, recalling memories from his childhood that he would rather have stayed locked in the trunk in the back of his mind.
A small boy sat in the corner of a house, tears streaming down his face. He watched as his father slapped his sister across the face once before tearing out of the room.
“Michaela?” the boy asked.
Tears threatened to spring from the girl’s eyes as she replied, “It’s okay, Alex. Everything’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
--
And that was only one of them. There were more, but Alex preferred not to give them much thought. He hated them and the fact that they plagued his memory like moths did a streetlight. It was so strange, the fact that he had kept all of this a secret ever since he had met his friends. No one knew. No one except Michaela, and there was no way that she would tell anyone; she loved her parents too much.
“Al? Al? ALEX!” a voice jerked him out of his reverie.
“Huh? What?” Alex asked, his head snapping up. “Did I miss something? Is the house on fire? Did Jack get hurt?”
“Er, no,” Zack said with a smile. “But we were about to leave. Figured you might want to, I dunno, come with us?”
“Thanks, man,” Alex said gratefully. He stood up and looked Zack up and down. He was dressed in Muggle attire (most likely on Maria and Norah’s insistence) that consisted of faded denim jeans, a plain white shirt, and a dark blue sweatshirt.
“Your cousins put you up to this?” Alex asked.
“No, actually, it’s actually quite comfortable.,” Zack said cheerfully. “So, you can’t go in that. Maria’ll have an coronary.”
Alex chuckled. Instead of provoking heart problems for Maria, he ran upstairs in order to change out of his trackies and T-shirt that he had been wearing since the night before. Moments later, he was back down the stairs wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt and tie. The top two buttons on the shirt were undone, and his tie was loose. His hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed. It took a lot of work to look like that, apparently.
“What?” Alex asked. “Muggle clothing. That was the only rule for tonight’s attire.”
Just then, Maria walked into the kitchen looking rather grouchy. “What are you wearing?” she asked, directing the question towards Alex.
“Muggle clothing,” Alex replied. “Those were the only regulations for tonight.”
“And you couldn’t dress nicely?” Maria groaned.
“This is nicely!” Alex gasped, aghast. “Nice for me, at least.”
“Die,” Maria said simply.
Jack came running into the kitchen, a panicked look on his face as he looked like a frightened little puppy dog.
“Jack, what happened?” Zack asked.
“Your dad!” Jack wailed. “He yelled at me and threatened to kick me out!”
“Did you call him ‘Ernie’ again?” Zack inquired.
“Maybe?” Jack supplied.
Alex roared with laughter. Maria fixed him with an intense scowl. “What?” he asked.
“Die twice,” Maria snapped.
~*~
“Ooh, this is awesome!” Holly exclaimed as the gang entered the Quidditch stadium. “Look at all the people! And the food! And--ooh--shiny lights!”
Zack rolled his eyes. Leave it to Holly to distract herself with the florescent lights shining from the field. Jack seemed utterly fascinated by the glimmering lights as well, and Alex looked as though he was fighting to not say something degrading to the boy. Norah and Maria were chatting animatedly about which team they wanted to win (Norah was a life-long Cannons fan, whereas Maria was a strong believer that Puddlemere would be victorious).
“Zackary!” someone shouted from behind them.
Holly was the first to turn around at the heavily accented feminine voice. She didn’t like what she saw. The woman had long black hair, clear blue eyes, and flawless skin. She had a broad smile that exposed her perfect white teeth and wore a short blue skirt, a short-sleeves white blouse, and black suede boots.
“Hi!” Zack exclaimed, walking up to the girl and hugging her.
Holly’s eyes widened and her mouth set into a frown. Jack’s jaw dropped at the sight of the girl, and even Alex had a bit of trouble keeping himself looking unimpressed. Maria stifled a giggle at the two boys, and Norah looked back and forth from Holly to Zack to the other girl and back.
Zack turned to the group. “Everyone, this is my dad’s friend’s daughter Veronique de Laurent. Veronique, these are my friends Alex Williams, Jack Dawson, Holly Wood, and my cousins Maria and Norah.”
Holly had trouble keeping her mouth shut at this blatant display of ignorance from her boyfriend., Alex snickered. Maria elbowed him in the ribs, and he quickly shut up.
“Bonjour,” Veronique said happily. “I am most pleased to ‘ave met you all; Zackary ‘as told me much about you.”
“Has he really?” Holly asked, smiling dryly.
“But of course!” Veronique exclaimed. “’e says zat Jack ees very funny, Maria and Norah are ze strongest believers in their causes, Alex ees ze one who causes trouble, and Holly ees sarcastic and sweet.”
“Huh,” Holly said slowly. “Is that all he said about me?”
“Hmm.” Veronique thought for a moment. “Zat ees all I can remember.”
Holly shot a glare Zack’s way before turning to Jack. “Hey, man, you might want to shut your mouth. Flies and all.”
Jack snapped his mouth shut. “Ha ha,” he said dryly.
“Well, Veronique, we should be finding our seats,” Zack said. “I’ll make sure we talk before we leave!”
“Zat would be wonderful,” the French girl said with a smile. “Au revoir.” With that, she walked away.
“Your friend, huh?” Holly questioned Zack.
“What did I do?” Zack asked, looking from Holly to Alex and back to Holly.
Alex looked as though Christmas had come early, which was surprising considering that he rarely looked as gleeful as he did now. “Zack, man, this is shocking. You really don’t know what you did wrong!”
“This is my friend, Holly Wood,” Jack said mockingly.
“Oh.” Zack looked rather sheepish, now that his error was brought to his attention. “That was, erm, a, uh, mistake. Sorry.”
“Uh huh,” Holly said with a scowl. Maria looked very disappointed in Zack, so Holly turned to her and said, “Maria, do you and Norah want to come with me? I think I know a faster way to our seats.”
“Okay,” Maria agreed. She shot Zack a venomous glare before turning to Norah and asking, “Norah, are you going with us or them?”
“You,” Norah replied, turning her back on the boys.
“Oh, come on!” Zack yelled at the girls as they walked away. “I say one thing and it all blows up!”
Alex smirked. “Zack, you said the one thing that could make everything blow up. Trust me, I loved watching you go up in nuclear flames, but man, that was bad.”
Jack nodded his agreement. “Really, that was not good, Zack. OOH, chocolate!” Jack ran off to where a wizard was standing, wearing a stadium worker uniform and holding a box full of Honeyduke’s finest. Jack bought four bars and walked back over to his friends. “One for you--” he handed a bar to Zack-- “one for you--” he gave Alex another-- “and one for me.” He held two bars.
“Maybe you should go back to school, Dawson,” Alex suggested. “Because that is most certainly not one, no matter how much you believe it is.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at Alex as Zack gasped. “Hey, look over there.” He pointed to a door that had a sign on it. The sign read PLAYERS ONLY and had a Puddlemere United logo underneath.
“I think it’s the Puddlemere United changing room,” Jack said in awe.
“Are you going to come with us or just say something that’s obvious?” Alex asked. He and Zack were already walking slowly towards the door. Jack scurried over, and the three boys stood in front of the door, staring at it.
“We’ll look suspicious if we just stand here,” Alex pointed out.
“But we’ll get caught if we go in,” Zack said.
“So it’s a lose-lose situation,” Jack groaned.
“Not on my watch,” Alex said slowly. He looked to his left, then to his right, then pushed open the door and walked inside. It closed quickly, leaving Zack and Jack in the corridor.
“Hey!” Jack whined. “No fair.”
“Oh, for the love of God,” Zack muttered,pushing the door open again. He stepped inside. When he didn’t hear footsteps behind him, he reached back, grabbed Jack’s arm, and pulled him in the door.
The three boys were now standing in a long corridor carpeted with a grey rug. The walls were painted a painfully bright white, and moving pictures from previous games were hung on the walls. Chasers sped up and down in the pictures, scoring goals. Seekers sped after the Snitch while Beaters whacked bludgers across the frame. In every picture, though, the same Keeper floated in front of the goal hoops, bobbing around to block the opposition from scoring. Oliver Wood.
Every few metres, there was a door leading to some office or another. Alex suspected that they were for team managers.
“Why are we in here?” Jack asked worriedly. He seemed the least excited about the entire situation, as though getting in trouble was inevitable in his mind. Of course, they were of age, therefore meaning they were eligible for adult punishment now.
“Because it’s interesting,” Alex supplied as he studied a portrait of Ebony Adymy, one of Puddlemere’s Beaters. She had long black hair, pale white skin, and deep blue eyes. Her expression was one of joy and happiness as she looked at the camera, wearing her Quidditch robes and holding a Nimbus Three Thousand. In the background, Seeker Felicia Cooper sped by on her own broom. A small bronze plaque under the picture read Ebony Adymy, Beater. Youngest Puddlemere player ever, joining the team at age 18.
“Whoa,” Zack whispered. “She joined right after she graduated Hogwarts! That’s, like, one of us doing whatever we want right now!”
“Actually,” Alex said, “she didn’t join right after. It was a year or so.”
“Huh?” Zack asked.
“She graduated at seventeen, her birthday’s in the summer,” Alex explained.
“Oh.” Zack nodded.
“Think that’s pretty cool?” asked a voice from behind the boys.
Alex whipped around to see the woman from the picture standing behind them. “Well, yeah,” he said, not seeming nervous at all. In fact, he was a little too calm about meeting an international Quidditch star. “I mean, it’s insane that you were able to make it on a team that quickly. Oliver Wood didn’t even get to be an alternate until three years after he graduated!”
Ebony Adymy chuckled. She was wearing her Quidditch robes already and was holding the same broom she was seen clutching in her picture.“You really like Quidditch, don’t you?”
“A lot,” Alex replied. In truth, it was the only thing he had ever felt he could count on in his life, aside from his friends. His parents couldn’t take it away from him like they had everything else.
Ebony smiled. “It’s nice to meet a fan. I don’t really get to do that much.”
“How come?” Zack asked.
“Because, when you have someone who played alongside Harry Potter on your team like we have Oliver, they’re in the spotlight.” Ebony sighed. “Even if you are the youngest Puddlemere player in the team’s history.”
Zack thought he sensed some resentment in her tone. “You don’t particularly like Oliver?”
“Oh, no,” Ebony replied, looking aghast. “I just sort of wish sometimes that the rest of the team would get some recognition once in a while.
Zack nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Hey, Miss Adymy?” Jack asked, speaking for the first time since Ebony had shown up. “Do you think the Aurors will be here? Because, we’re kinda of age now, and I don’t want to be tried as an adult!”
Ebony laughed, and not the soft, delicate laugh that most girls laugh, but a loud, head-thrown-back, eyes closed laugh. “Oh, you won’t have a problem with them. I’ll cover for you.”
“We have an international Quidditch star covering for us,” Alex said softly. “Today could not get better.”
Ebony snickered. “Well, I should be going. I was just on my way to do a lap around the pitch. Oh, wait, what are your names?”
“Alex Williams.”
“Zack Macmillan.”
“Er… Um… Uh…”
“That’s Jack Dawson.” Alex sighed.
Ebony grinned. “Okay, Alex Williams, Zack Macmillan, and Jack Dawson. Tell you what. Since you’re the first fans brave enough to sneak through the door despite the Players Only sign, I’ll tell Nate to give you three free tickets to any Puddlemere match you want. I reward bravery… and stupidity, and this appears to be a case of both.”
Zack laughed. “Thanks, Miss Adymy.”
“Please, call me Ebony,” she replied with a smile.
Zack appeared at a loss for words. “Er… Um… Okay!” he stuttered.
“Thank you,” Alex said happily.
Jack was at a loss for words. He just smiled like a five-year-old in Honeyduke’s and nodded happily.
~*~
“Okay, where are they?” Norah snapped. She, Maria, and Holly had been sitting in their seats for a grand total of fifteen minutes, and they couldn’t see why the boys were so far behind. “There are three seats here that some person with a… a… a not-very-nice agenda could take!”
“Not-very-nice agenda?” Maria asked. “After all of that deliberation, you come up with not-very-nice?”
“I’m too mad to think clearly, okay?” Norah said, pouting.
“Okay then,” Holly said slowly. “Well, I think I’m just going to go try and find them.”
“Not-very-nice agenda!” Norah warned over Maria’s laughter. “Be careful!”
Holly tried to ignore this entirely plausible idea and brushed it off with a laugh. She stood up and walked out of the aisle of seats. Retracing her steps, Holly walked down a staircase, down a corridor, and through a door. Uh oh, she thought. Apparently, even though it was such a short path, she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and was now in a corridor she had never seen before.
She stood on a grey carpet, surrounded by agonizingly white walls. Moving pictures covered them, and where there weren’t pictures, there were large wooden doors. Holly looked around at the pictures. They all depicted people flying on broomsticks wearing gaudy orange robes. Holly smiled; she must be by the Chudley Cannons’ side of the arena. That was good, it was where she had left Zack a quarter of an hour ago.
But that didn’t explain the corridor. She was sure she hadn’t passed it on the way to the seats, but then again, Maria was complaining about Norah’s refusal to wear something other than Muggle denim jeans and a purple and black checkered shirt- Maria had worn the cream-coloured dress that she had originally tried to pawn off on Holly- and it had been very interesting; Holly probably hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. She turned and looked at the door she had come through. There was nothing significant about this side of it, so she didn’t think there was anything noteworthy about
the side shown to the crowd.
Walking down the corridor, she noticed several portraits of people: Derik Hayes, Zachery Ackles, Calvin Donahue, Kayla Colley, Jensen Forrester, Colin Longbine, and Alexei Nikolov. These were the starters on the Chudley Cannons. Realisation struck Holly like lightning: she was in the corridor leading to their changing room! This wouldn’t get her to where she wanted to be.
She turned around, ready to leave, when she saw someone who looked vaguely familiar at the other end of the hall, looking right at her with a confused expression on his face. Oh! She matched his face to the portrait of Alexei Nikolov on the wall. He had the same long brown hair, blue eyes, and short beard.
Alexei tilted his head and pursed his lips. “Do I know you?” he asked, his voice heavily accented.
Holly replied, “Er, no.”
Alexei pondered this idea for a moment and then said, “Could I?”
“Holly Wood.” She laughed.
“Are you any relation to Oliver Vood?”
“Yeah,” Holly said shortly. “I am.”
“That is interesting,” Alexei said slowly. “Vell, I suppose I must be getting to the pitch. It vas nice to meet you, Holly Vood.”
“You too, Alexei Nikolov. Good luck today,” Holly said. Alexei nodded and turned around. He walked out the door that was behind him, and Holly assumed that this must be where the players went onto the pitch. That definitely wasn’t the door she was looking for!
Holly went back the way she came, utterly confused at what had just transpired. She was in a clearly players only area, had ran into a player, and he hadn’t even done anything about it except ask to know her name. Weird.
~*~
“So we just met an internationally famous Quidditch player, got three free tickets to a game, and practically broke into a changing room to get them?” Alex asked. “And you think I’ve failed you!”
“Yes, Alex, we now grovel at your feet,” Zack muttered. “What do we do now, go back to our seats? Norah, Maria, and Holly must be worried sick.”
“Oh, they’ll get over it.” Alex dismissed this comment. “We should see if we can meet any Cannons players!”
“Right, that’s so what we came here to do,” Zack said. “The game starts in half an hour, I hope you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Alex said nonchalantly. He looked up at a clock on the wall; eight forty-two. The game began at nine fifteen. “We got here at seven forty-five. What was the point of coming early if we weren’t gonna do anything fun?”
“That’s them,” a shrill voice rang out from behind Alex, Jack, and Zack. “They’re the spies for Chudley!”
“Who wants to look and confirm my belief that they’re pointing at us?” Jack asked under his breath.
“I will if Alex does with me,” Zack offered.
“Deal,” Alex said. As they both turned to look over their shoulders, Alex quickly snapped his gaze to Jack again, leaving Zack as the only one looking behind them.
Zack seemed to notice this as soon as he saw a tall, statuesque blonde woman pointing at him. He turned back to his friends. “Why?”
“Because the opportunity was given.” Alex shrugged. “Now, let’s see what she wants. She sounds like she’s a bitch; does she look like it?”
Jack hazarded a look behind him. “Yeah. Oh, yeah.”
Zack nodded his confirmation. Alex turned around. “Yep. You win.”
The woman walked over to them, two large men in tow. They both wore dark purple robes, signifying that they were Aurors, and one of them wore a pin with the Cannons logo on it, while the other wore the same pin, but advertising Puddlemere. The woman between them wore dark red Quidditch robes, obviously a Puddlemere player.
“Oh, damn," Alex said under his breath. “Did we get lucky here or what?”
“I hope you’re being sarcastic,” Zack snapped, “because there is no way I would describe this situation as ‘lucky’.”
“I share those sentiments, thank you very much,” Jack said.
The blonde woman reached them, flanked by the two Aurors, who were much scarier up close. “What do you have to say for yourselves?” she snapped. “Breaking into a changing room! It’s a federal offense, is it not?” She turned her gaze to the Puddlemere-supporting Auror, who looked rather bored with his job.
“According to the rules, that is breaking the rules of the arena, and that is punishable by a fine,” one of the Aurors said. “Miss Vail saw you three in the Puddlemere changing room talking to Miss Adymy. Were you?”
“You don’t trust me?” Persephone Vail, one of Puddlemere United’s Chasers, shrieked. “I saw them with my own eyes!”
“Oh, God,” Alex muttered. “How were we supposed to know what that corridor was? Really? We were on our way to our seats and decided to take a shortcut and--”
"And you ignored the palpable sign on the door that says Players Only?” Persephone asked dryly. “I buy that.”
“Okay, you three have to come with us,” the Cannons Auror said. “We need to take you to our office here, make sure your story is the truth.”
Zack was about to protest, but Alex said, “That’s fine with us. Jack, Zack, come on.”
The Aurors dismissed Persephone, who shot a venomous glare at the three teenagers before departing. The Puddlemere Auror gestured for the boys to follow him, which they did. “Leave the talking to me,” Alex said so quietly that Jack and Zack had to strain to hear him. “I have a story already, and we have to be on the same page. Agree with what I say, and we might avoid the fine.”
After only a few minutes, the five reached their destination. Alex was a bit disappointed; the only thing that acknowledged the Auror office as anything different from the other doors in the stadium was a sign that read JB Allendale and Dennis Creevey, Aurors. Alex expected something more like a dark curtain blocking off the office, or at least a special enchantment surrounding it that prevented you from getting in unless you were with an Auror. But it was just a normal door, not unlike the one they used to get into the locker room hallway.
“So, which of you is JB and which is Dennis?” Alex questioned.
“We’ll do the questioning here,” the Cannons Auror said coldly.
“He means to say that I’m Mr. Creevey, and he’s Mr. Allendale,” said the Puddlemere Auror. “We just need to ask you a few questions about what you were doing in the Puddlemere hallway.”
“We were framed!” Jack exclaimed from out of the blue.
Zack’s gaze snapped to Jack. Alex put his head in his hands and sighed.
“What JB means to say is--” Dennis began, but was cut off by JB.
“What I mean to say is what the hell were you doing in the Puddlemere hallway?” JB snapped.
Alex looked at Jack pointedly before replying, “We were looking for a shortcut to our seats. We weren’t paying attention to where we were walking, so we just pushed open a random door. We were talking and stuff, so of course we weren’t looking where we were going. So we just went in.
“We had no idea it was where Puddlemere’s changing rooms were. The pictures should have tipped us off, but we were curious, you know? Then we met Ebony and talked to her for a bit. She said we should probably get going, since we could get in trouble. But I guess before we got out, Persephone saw us and assumed we had snuck in.”
Zack’s eyes were wide. If Alex managed to sell this story, they would be free. Jack was looking pitifully at the Aurors as if to say he was sorry for the misunderstanding.
“See, JB?” Dennis said. “It’s perfectly plausible that this happened. Maybe we just took it out of context…”
“Maybe,” JB said. “Or maybe some Veritaserum would convince me.” He smiled evilly. “After all, they could be lying.”
“JB, they’re just kids!” Dennis exclaimed wearily. “Really, I think they’re telling the truth.”
“You were a Gryffindor though; you’re too trusting.” JB smirked. “Slytherins could always find a rat easier.”
Zack chanced a glance at Alex. He still looked calm, leading Zack to believe that it was a façade. There would be no way to fight the Veritaserum if Dennis caved to JB’s wishes, and then they would be stuck.
“No,” Dennis said firmly. “I trust them. Miss Adymy will have the same story, I’m sure."
JB scowled. “Go.,” he said to Jack, Zack, and Alex.
The three boys sprinted out of the office without another glance. Meanwhile, Holly was on her way back to the seats, grumbling about their absence. When she saw three suspicious people running by, the first thought that crossed her mind was, found them!
“Zack!” she yelled.
Zack grabbed Alex and Jack’s shoulders so that they stopped running. He turned around and saw Holly, standing with her hands on her hips and a very annoyed expression on her face.
“There you are!” she said, running over. “Where have you been?”
Zack grinned sheepishly. “Well, you see…”
“Alex got us in trouble with stadium security,” Jack said.
“Thanks for that,” Alex muttered.
“Alex, you what?” Holly shrieked. “No, I changed my mind; I don’t want to know. But anyway, the game’s starting in a little bit. We should go to the seats.”
~*~
“That was wicked!” Maria exclaimed. It was three hours later, and the Cannon s had suffered a crushing loss, 220 to 90. Maria had supported Puddlemere in the game. Holly was none too pleased that her father had played one of his best games of the season.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Holly said. “Anyway, we should probably be heading home. Mrs. Macmillan said to Apparate as soon as the game was over.”
“Holly,” Zack said pleadingly, “we have to get our tickets from Ebony Adymy!”
Zack had told his cousins and girlfriend the story of how he, Alex, and Jack had met Puddlemere’s Chaser, and how she’s promised them three free tickets for being brave enough to go through the door to the locker rooms. Maria and Norah had been so proud of their cousin, but Holly had been rather disapproving of the entire thing.
“Please, Holly?” Jack asked.
“Oh, fine,” Holly said with a sigh. “It’s impossible for me to win here. So you three go, and Norah and Maria and I will meet you back at home.”
“What? No!” Maria and Norah yelled at the same time. “We want to see if we can meet someone!,” Maria said.
Norah looked at Holly with her lower lip stuck out. “Please, Holly?” she asked, a dead-ringer for Jack.
“Oh, fine!” Holly exclaimed. “Fine, fine! We’ll all go!”
“Yay!” Jack cheered.
~*~
Taking the same route the boys had followed before, the six friends made their way to Puddlemere’s locker room. Maria and Norah were buzzing with excitement. Alex was walking carelessly ahead of everyone else. Zack and Jack were looking every which way to make sure that no one was following them.
When they reached their destination, Alex pushed open the door and walked in without pausing. Zack and Jack quickly followed, and the girls hastily joined them.
Holly, having seen the Cannons’ locker room hallway, wasn’t too surprised by the décor in this hall.
The twins were alight with excitement. “Hey, Holly, look at this!” Norah exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the wall.
Holly walked over and looked. It was a picture of a big, brawny man with short brown hair, dark eyes, and a carefree, excited expression on his face. He was smiling at the camera, and it was clear that he was very good-looking. Holly sighed. Under the picture, a plaque read Oliver Wood, Puddlemere Keeper.
“Why are you showing me this?” Holly asked.
“Thought you’d like to see it,” Norah said quietly.
At that moment, Ebony Adymy walked into the hall. “Hi, Zack, Jack, Alex. How did you like the game?”
“You were great,” Alex said, sounding impressed. “That was an awesome goal at the end of the game.”
Ebony smiled. “Thank you! Here are your tickets, by the way.” She handed each of the boys one. Just then, she noticed the girls at the other end of the hall. “Hello!” she said brightly. “Who are you?”
“Norah Macmillan.”
“Maria Macmillan.”
“Holly.”
Ebony tilted her head. “Holly…”
“Wood.”
Ebony’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. “Are you related to Oliver?”
“Erm, yeah,” Holly said, uncertain of where this was going. “Why?”
“Oh, I can go get him!” Ebony said cheerfully. “One minute!” She disappeared through a door.
Zack walked over to where Holly stood, shell-shocked. Maria and Norah looked very surprised. Jack’s jaw had dropped, and even Alex had the courtesy to not laugh at the situation.
Moments later, Ebony returned with Oliver. Holly stared at him; he looked just like how she had remembered. His hair was a bit longer, though. And he was thinner. Oliver looked surprised to see her. “Holly?”
“Yeah.” Holly’s voice was cold. “How are you, Oliver? Quidditch treating you well?”
“Holly, let me explain--” Oliver began.
“No, no I don’t think you need to,” Holly said. “You walked out on Mum and me and never looked back. Did we hear from you at all? No!”
“How is Rory?” Oliver asked. Rory Richards had been his girlfriend at Hogwarts. They married six years later, when they were twenty-three years of age. Holly had been born later that year. Six years later, he had left.
“Dead,” Holly said shortly. “She died of cancer a few months ago. Maybe you’d have heard something if you’d stayed.”
“Holly,” Oliver said, “my career made it too hard to have a family! I realised that too late, I know, but at least I did at all!”
“No,” Holly said. “Your family made it too hard to have your career. It’s always meant more to you, Oliver. You know that!”
Ebony’s gaze had been traveling between the father and daughter, flickering to each one as they spoke. “Er, Oliver, maybe it’s better if you…” Her voice trailed off.
“Holly, please. I wasn’t able to be there all the time,” Oliver said.
“So you decided not to be there at all?” Holly asked. “You selfish bastard.”
Oliver’s jaw dropped. “Holly, even if I haven’t acted like one, I am still your father, and I will not be spoken to like that.”
“Whatever,” Holly said. “Look, I’m leaving. So, I guess I’ll see you later. Or never. The latter sounds more like you, though.” She turned on her heel and walked back through the door to the stadium.
Maria and Norah quickly ran after her to make sure their friend was okay.
Zack said a quick thank you to Ebony for the tickets and smiled at Oliver. “She didn’t mean half of that; she’s just upset with me for dragging her back here.”
Oliver nodded. “Okay. Thank you. You look familiar. Do I know you from anywhere?"
“Oh, well, I’m Ernie Macmillan’s son. I know you went to school with him. People say I look somewhat like him,” Zack offered.
“That must be it.” Oliver nodded. “I may have to stop by, say hi to him one day. Would that be a problem?”
“Oh, I’m sure not,” Zack said. “He loves talking to people who survived the final battle against Voldemort, even if he never really knew them.”
Oliver chuckled. “Well, you should go see if she’s okay.”
“Right, right,” Zack muttered. “Bye!” He ran out the door, Alex trailing after him.
“Um, Mr. Wood?” Jack asked. “Can I have your autograph?”
Stay Awake by ringobeatlesfan4
Chapter Endnotes: I'd like to thank my beta, the fantabulous Russia Snow for her incredibly awesome work. Chapter four is coming soon-ish! But this is long, so you should probably enjoy it.{BeccA}