Spectating and spell casting do not mix. on Quidditch Pitch

Julian Umland

September 25, 2014 1:56 PM

Spectating and spell casting do not mix. by Julian Umland

Quidditch had never been high enough on Julian’s priority list to even warrant having a full set of clothes in her own Teppenpaw colors, but for the Aladren-Pecari game, she had found an outfit comprised of a white blouse with light blue flowers embroidered around the neck and a matching light blue skirt to wear in vague support of her brother’s House. It was nowhere near the bruise-like shade of the color Aladren actually favored (she still wondered if whoever had picked the colors had realized what black and blue together usually represented, and if so, why they had been chosen in the first place, but doubted she would ever know – the house of nerds being associated with bruise and bird-of-prey imagery certainly didn’t make that much less sense than the House of cautious, low-lying people being associated with red and a rattlesnake, both of which she thought of as more attention-getting than not, so maybe the Founders had been colorblind, or symbolism had been different in nineteenth-century magical America or something) but it was the best she had, and had the additional benefit of more or less going with one of the only two hats she had with her.

She removed it as she sat down in the stands so she could redo her ponytail to get her hair higher off her neck, then put the hat back on, making a mental note not to inwardly roll her eyes at some of her mother’s odder-seeming whims about clothes ever again. She had thought Mom was crazy when she decided Julian ought to bring her old Easter hat – a broad-brimmed but slightly floppy thing made of white fake straw which had been bought at the supermarket for two dollars on another whim a few years ago – to school to help keep the sun off her when she went outdoors, but it was coming in handy today. She thought; it was shading her face so she could kind of see, but it was also making the top of her head hotter, and pushing the tie in her hair down so her hair kept touching her, again and again….

If she had been a millimeter less convinced that she was not someone who luck favored when it came to telling lies, she might have considered going back inside, but while she couldn’t say for sure, there was the possibility that it would hurt John’s feelings if she wasn’t here. It was…unlikely (as far as she could tell, he found the matter about as interesting as – or, John being John, possibly far less interesting than – watching paint dry and was only on the team to kill some of the time Joe and Mom weren’t taking up now that he was at school), but it was possible, so here she was, committing fashion sins by wearing spring clothes in late summer and wondering if she was going to survive in this heat and why on earth humans had ever moved this far south.

She took her handkerchief out of her handbag and tried to unobtrusively run it across the back of her neck during the handshake between the distant figures of the captains. Then everyone was in the air, and she had to squint to make out where her brother was and that he hadn’t fallen off his broom or been killed by a Bludger in the first ten seconds. Once she found him, though, she didn’t think she’d have much trouble keeping up with him; even aside from height differences and probably speed differences, he could also be distinguished from the other two Aladren Chasers very easily by hair color since his was a lot darker than either of the other Chasers'. She tried to remember if he had any allergies other than dust, just in case she was, by some chance, asked about that while the medic was putting his skull back together later.

Deciding she couldn’t remember any, she turned her attention back to her handbag and came out with her wand and a tiny scrap of parchment she had used to write a note to herself about finishing her Transfiguration essay last week. The scrap was too small to fold up and use as a fan on its own, but maybe she could work on Transfiguration for a minute and get a fan out of it….

She pointed her wand at it and opened her mouth, then realized she had no idea how to produce the desired effect. She had an at least okay understanding of Transfiguration, but didn’t know the incantation. Mom just Transfigured things when she needed them at home - Mom's wand was, according to the wandmaker they had visited over the summer to match John with one, well-suited to Transfiguration and, of all the ridiculous things, duelling, something which, jokes about stealing tanks last year aside, Julian could not imagine her mild-mannered scholar of a mother ever doing – but Mom read and spoke Latin, the language which, despite the number of exceptions and partial exceptions John had decided to document in a ridiculously geeky chart, most of their magic ran on. And if she just made up a word, it might accidentally be a real spell that blew them all up. Which would not be good.

“My mom is right about everything today,” sighed Julian to no one in particular, taking the handkerchief back up to dab at her forehead, now, and trying to remember the charm she thought would just enlarge the parchment until it was large enough to fold. It occurred to her. "Engorgio," she cast, then looked back at the game and squeaked when she realized some Pecari Chasers appeared to be trying to close in on one of the Aladren ones before she then realized it was only Anthony Carey. She squeezed her eyes shut anyway, though, liking the proximity of Beaters even less than she liked the weather they were having today right now, until she felt something brush her ankle and opened her eyes to realize the parchment was still expanding, and far more than she had meant it to.

“Fininte incantatem! I'm so sorry," she apologized to her neighbor. She muttered under her breath as she gathered up the parchment, which was looking stretched thin and had a few small holes forming. The Engorgement Charm would only go so far, then it destroyed what it was cast on; that was why the book said it was inadvisable to use it on anything that was alive. It might explode, which would be...messy. "This is so going to be one of those days when I regret ever getting out of bed.”

Subthreads:

Apparently not. by Virginia Bellrose with Julian Umland, Ginny

spectating elsewhere. (Ava) by Chloe Jareau with Ava Fletcher, Chloe

Sulking by Brandon Carey

16 Julian Umland Spectating and spell casting do not mix. 254 Julian Umland 1 5

Virginia Bellrose

October 01, 2014 10:27 PM

Apparently not. by Virginia Bellrose

It was the first match of the year (although Ginny had no idea how there would be future games with only two active houses to play) and Ginny was determined to cheer on both of her friends just as she had in every game in the past. As difficult as it was to not seem biased towards one or the other, somehow Ginny always managed to stay neutral whenever they were playing against each other. For instance, today she sat in the stands away from groups of people who showed colors of a specific team and ended up next to Julian. Julian, who was dressed in Aladren colors (though Ginny was unsure as to why) but not in a crowd of them, so Ginny felt she was safe to sit here without feeling too much in Aladren space.

To remain neutral, Ginny wore a pale pink dress and large black sunglasses to shade herself from the sun. Sitting next to Julian made her wish for a hat though. She had a placed a cooling charm on herself to keep herself from overheating by sitting in the stands without any breeze and brought a canister of water too, just in case. Ginny had overworked herself enough on the dance floor to know better than to take chances. She was also carrying a large rolled up parchment. On the parchment were words of encouragement and her friends’ names flashing brightly (a charm she had learned for her Dance Club posters). This was the easiest way for her to cheer and for them to spot her if they were looking.

She started cheering the moment the players raced into the air, clapping and calling out to her friends as she did for every game. She liked it better when all houses played because then during certain games one of her friends would be sitting in the stands with her. It wasn’t as fun by herself. She was still learning all the lingo for the game and she sometimes needed commentary to keep her on track of all of it. Without her friends, she was on her own and sounded silly when she was tried to talk about the game with them because she fumbled with the terminology.

Oh well, she couldn’t worry about that now, she just needed to focus on what they were doing. Francesca and Adam would correct her or fill in the gaps when she needed them too. Her green eyes diverted from the players to the girl beside when she heard her murmur something. It didn’t seem like she was paying any attention to Ginny, but she was doing something with a piece of parchment. Ginny watched her for curiosity sake. For some reason, Julian was stretching the parchment out. Ginny smiled at her when she seemed to realize she had gone too far with it. “Are you trying to do homework during the game?” Ginny asked her over the crowd. It was a strange idea to do homework in the midst of all this chaos, but she was sure there were weirder things to do.

6 Virginia Bellrose Apparently not. 0 Virginia Bellrose 0 5

Julian Umland

October 02, 2014 5:06 PM

The game's hard to look away from. by Julian Umland

Julian considered just going with the homework theory, but realized it probably made far less sense than the truth. “No,” she said, smiling awkwardly and flushing from embarrassment as well as the heat. “I was trying to make it big enough to fold up in a fan since it’s so hot, but – “ she gestured helplessly toward the Pitch. “I got distracted. The, um, the new Aladren Chaser – the black-haired one? He’s my little brother.”

She twisted her handkerchief between her hands. “I told myself I wasn’t going to be silly over it, and I’m not,” she said. “I just – got carried away for a second. Sorry.”

Statistically, after all, it was very unlikely that there would be permanent damage. Julian had spent some of the past week educating herself about Quidditch, and she thought it would benefit a Beater more to aim for the torso. Broken limbs and bruised ribs would hurt awfully, making the affected Chaser play worse and making things easier for the Beater’s team, but could be easily fixed once the players were back on the ground. Her mom could fix those problems, and had gotten to demonstrate on John often enough; just last year, just after she left for the fall, he’d apparently had a nasty accident with a canoe at Scouts, broken his arm, and had to wear a fake cast in public for weeks so the several Muggles who’d been present at the time wouldn’t wonder how he’d healed so quickly. Here, there were no such complications to consider, and the only players who had to really worry about the Beaters really trying to hurt them were Seekers, who sometimes did successfully play with noses broken and eyes blacked by Bludgers to the face. Even getting hit in the head had to happen a very particular way to be a real problem....

She put that firmly out of her head and glanced at the flashing parchment Ginny had brought along. “That’s very nice,” she said, gesturing to it. “Oh – well done, Beater person!” she exclaimed as one of the Pecaris was driven off by a Beater person; she didn’t know or care which one, though she’d guess it was the younger one. Since the Seeker was just a second year, she thought they’d want the captain to look after him. Maybe not – she knew nothing about Aladren Quidditch other than that ‘Carey’ was an excellent surname to have if one wanted to play it – but age and experience usually did equal skill and, more importantly yet for a Beater, maybe, strength.

“Er – nothing against Adam or anyone,” she added to Ginny, feeling her exclamation might have been a strange follow-up to a compliment on Ginny's sign, which supported both teams, or at least specific individuals. "I'm really just here for my brother, but when the Bludgers are near the Pecaris, they're further away from him, so...." She shrugged, smiling apologetically.

16 Julian Umland The game's hard to look away from. 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Chloe Jareau

October 02, 2014 6:49 PM

spectating elsewhere. (Ava) by Chloe Jareau

Chloe loved to go to the Quidditch games that the school held. It was really sad last year when they hadn’t been able to play any. For some reason, it felt like the school year had been so unfulfilling and rather stuffy whenever Quidditch wasn’t around. She felt bad that two of the houses hadn’t been able to fill a full roster, but she was happy that the school was still going on with Quidditch even with only two houses. She wondered how the season would go though if it was only Aladren and Pecari, did that mean they had to play each other for three total games? That would end up being exhausting between those two houses.

Oh well! As long as Chloe was able to take a break from her studies and watch the two teams play that was all she cared about.

Chloe had her long blonde hair pulled up into a bun to keep it off her neck, she wore jean shorts and a gold top to support her Pecari housemates and walked down to the Pitch just before the game started. Usually, on game days, she met up with her brother and found a neutral spot for the two of them to sit. Emery always in blue and Chloe always in gold. They would throw taunts at each other for good fun while enjoying the game. She sometimes wondered why neither of them had ever joined the team but reality always game back to her. Neither of them were athletic. And neither of them were competitive. They just both enjoyed watching it all unfold around them. Or… more specifically, above them.

The day was hot. Much hotter than Chloe necessarily liked, but being from New Mexico, it didn’t bother her as nearly as much as she was sure it did others. She put a ball cap on her head to block the sun (she was one who easily burned instead of tanned) and had put sun screen on before heading out. Now that she was down at the pitch, the stands were more crowded than she had first thought they would be. Maybe the good weather drew people out? However, she did not initially see her brother.

Not knowing where else to sit, Chloe found an empty seat towards the bottom of the stands. She hadn’t paid much attention to who was sitting near her but discovered that one of them happened to be Ava, one of her brother’s good friends and the girl who he was hesitant to admit to looking. A coy smile crossed her lips. “Hey Ava! I didn’t know you were into Quidditch.” Chloe commented, starting a conversation with her fellow Fourth year.

6 Chloe Jareau spectating elsewhere. (Ava) 267 Chloe Jareau 0 5

Ava Fletcher

October 02, 2014 7:43 PM

Like on a completely different planet. by Ava Fletcher

When Ava had woken up that morning, the house had seemed particularly rambunctious and, given her occasionally scatter-brained nature, she hadn’t remembered what day it was. So, wanting to get away from all the noise and find a nice place to go, Ava decided to go out. At first, she tried just outside the common room in the library, but it was too cold. She considered the MARS room but also was in want for some fresh air. It was still early in the morning and the day’s sun had not fully reached its full potential and so Ava chose to head to the Quidditch Pitch since she figured the Labyrinth Gardens would be very dewy and get her books wet.

However, as she began the hike up there, the sun rose higher and the heat soon got to her. Ava frowned a little but was unwilling to turn around as she was already more than half way there and had skipped breakfast to find the perfect place to finish her collection of essays by Malvac Theobrum which she had finally happened upon yesterday in the Aladren common room after a month long search in the library. Ava found a little niche in the bottom of the stands, deciding that if she was going to be out in the sun she might as well fully appreciate it. Being from the Nothwest, Ava was used to grey days and clouds and, despite having gone to school in Arizona for the past three and a half years, she still wasn’t used to the idea that sunlight could appear in late fall.

It was only as the first spectators of the Quidditch match began to trickle in, carrying the excitement and noise of the morning with them that Ava had come here to get away from that she looked up from her book and remembered what day it was. The first Quidditch match of the year, between Aladren and Pecari. Ava blushed to herself, feeling rather stupid that she had forgotten such an important event for her own house and tried to bury her nose back in her book. However, now that she had looked up, going back to her book was too difficult as she realized how bright the sun made the white pages appear and she blinked several times, trying to get the sun spots to stop dancing across her page.

“This is ridiculous!” She said to herself and began to push the different books she had set up around her with the intention of reading after her darling Malvac, back into her bookbag. Now that she had left her trance, she realized it was too bright, hot and would soon also be too noisy to fully be able to concentrate and enjoy Malvac as he ought to be appreciated. Just when Ava was about to get up to go to the Labyrinth Gardens that she had earlier dismissed for it’s possible dew, deciding all dew had most likely evaporated now, a familiar voice spoke to her.

“Hey Ava!” said Chloe Jareau. “I didn’t know you were into Quidditch.”

Ava blinked a few times as little green and purple dots were passing in dizzying circles across Chloe’s face. “I’m not, really,” she replied, realizing that she probably looked like she had brought the books initially to wait for the game to start and now that it was starting was putting them away in order to pay better attention. She was even kind of dressed in house colors-- a light blue tank top and black shorts. Most of her clothes were in black, white, and blue shades, them being her favorite colors, but she didn’t that was something Chloe would know. “I mean, I’m here, obviously, but not here for the game.” Ava nodded, hoping that cleared things up.

Ava turned her attention to the field and then looked back at Chloe. “I don’t know,” she continued. “I never really got into the whole sports thing-- my…family friend, was always into sports but I think he kind of turned me off them by forcing me to be goal keep and then kicking soccer balls at the books I was reading.” The rivalry between her and Demetre had gone on for as long as she could remember and after she’d left for Sonora it had some really interesting ups and downs. One summer he was exceedingly kind to her, the two had even formed somewhat of an alliance dare she say a friendship, before it had gone back to normal fighting that winter followed by a year of him not coming to town. She never knew where she stood with him but was glad he hadn’t been there that summer and that the next summer she would be there.

10 Ava Fletcher Like on a completely different planet. 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Brandon Carey

October 02, 2014 9:55 PM

Sulking by Brandon Carey

When Brandon had come to Sonora, all he’d had planned for the next seven years of his life was being just like his cousin Arnold. Or close, anyway; Brandon knew he was no Seeker, but he saw no reason why Seekers should get all the glory. He had practically been able to see himself stealing the spotlight, dominating the Pitch term after term until he flew into a professional career which surpassed Arnold’s, without a wife and a stick-in-the-mud twin around to keep him from having any fun with it. Arnold Carey was still a name he thought many people at Sonora might know, but he’d had it in mind that Brandon Carey should be more remembered in the annals of school Quidditch history by far.

Things had not exactly worked out that way.

As he climbed into the stands among the Pecari supporters at the last minute before the first game of the year, he wondered where it had all gone wrong. It hadn’t started out all wrong. He had joined the team in his first year, and been ready to in his second year, but then the teachers had disappeared and Thaddeus Pierce and Alicia Bauer had become cold, unfeeling tyrants who were worse than Arthur for ruining a good time, as they’d proven by cancelling Quidditch. No one, he was sure, would have done that to Arnold; if Thaddeus and Alicia had tried, Arnold would have just started a tournament in secret, and everyone would have gone because everyone liked him and, as far as he knew and his sister who’d been in their year sometimes ranted, no one had liked the Head Boy and Girl – though it did raise the question of how they had cheated on each other as much as Theresa thought they had if no one liked them. Brandon, though, had been the youngest member of the family at school, and Jay and Alex had forbidden him from doing any such thing, or anything else which might draw attention to himself, and then, over the summer, his parents had told him he needed to dedicate all his time to his studies this year and had forbidden him from joining the team.

Stupid CATS. Stupid parents. Stupid dyslexia, which was the real problem – his reading actually had improved after all the stuff Professor Skies had had him do in his first year, then done worse again after all the adults went away, and while it was still better now than it had been in his first year, that wasn’t good enough for his parents. Or, well, more likely his grandparents and their grandparents, who were the real authority figures in the family – he didn’t think Mother and Father noticed him enough when he wasn’t blowing something up right under their noses to know how he was doing in school – but his parents had delivered the news, and he had been angry with them ever since. And the world in general, though he tried not to take it out on it. It couldn’t help it.

He took a seat and stared moodily out at the Pitch as the Pecari captain shook hands with Brandon’s own older brother. He guessed he didn’t like the idea of playing against his brother when everyone else wasn’t family, too, that much – even as a first year, he remembered getting the feeling that people were a little suspicious of him just because he was a Carey, anyway, when Careys played so much for Aladren – but he wanted to be down there, not up here - which in minute would be wanting to be up there, now down here, but this was where he didn't want to be at any time, so he didn't think the specifics really mattered that much.

0 Brandon Carey Sulking 275 Brandon Carey 0 5

Chloe

October 04, 2014 8:12 PM

We are very similar sometimes. by Chloe

”I’m not, really.”

Chloe’s heart sank a bit by that answer. Chloe was not a Quidditch fanatic by any means, but she did enjoy the sport. She was hoping to sit with another fellow fan and friend, but it seemed that Ava was not one of them. This rather saddened Chloe because Ava was always so spritely that she would have made for the perfect game companion. Aladrens were, Chloe felt, quiet in nature, but they were killers out on the field. Their house just livened up whenever Quidditch was involved. It was a shame that Ava wasn’t one of them.

“I don’t understand.” Chloe stated after Ava said she wasn’t here for the game. “Why would you be at the pitch if it wasn’t for the game?” Chloe asked her. She thought it was a validated question. Why else would someone come down to the pitch? Chloe did see the books that she had put away before Chloe had sat down, but it never registered in Chloe’s mind that Ava might have come down to the pitch to study. Chloe only ever studied when her brother or Ji-Eun required her to, so anyone doing it on their own was just strange in her opinion. Most especially on a pitch… on game day.

Chloe should probably get more serious about her studies, especially since next year would be the year of the dreaded CATS, but she just didn’t care. Not now anyway. Chloe would rather be running around in the gardens or swimming in the MARS room than in the stuffy library trying to work out how a certain transfiguration spell worked and why. Why did it matter how it worked so long as it did work and that she could do it? She didn’t care about the history of it, she only cared about the use of it and if she could get it right.

“I have never played Quidditch.” Chloe told Ava. “In case you haven’t noticed, I can’t even walk in a straight line without tripping over my own feet. I’d be a catastrophe out on the field.” Chloe joked. She was clumsy. Her body moved at his own pace, always a couple steps ahead of her brain, so she tripped up often. Her mouth was similar to that were she could talk non-stop for a bit, trying to get out everything in her head as quickly as possible before finally taking a breath. She had been better about learning to take pauses, but every once in a while, she’d forget. It was no wonder she wasn’t surrounded by friends. “But I do like coming down for the games. Everyone all excited and cheering. It’s a total rush. I don’t need to be on a broom or have bludgers flying at me head.” After a moment to finish her Quidditch train of thought, Chloe looked at her friend, “What’re soccer balls?”

6 Chloe We are very similar sometimes. 0 Chloe 0 5

Ginny

October 04, 2014 9:20 PM

I close my eyes through parts of it. by Ginny

Oh, a paper fan? That wasn’t a terrible idea. Even with cooling charms, Ginny’s face was hot beneath the sun. If she wasn’t too careful, she would get more freckles on her face. Although she only had a speckling across her nose and into her cheeks, that was because her mother was a fanatic about making sure she was protected. Her mother did not like the idea of a freckle faced child. It would ruin the ‘doll’ image she had portrayed out of Ginny. Ginny wasn’t outside all that often except for an occasional walk or Quidditch so she wasn’t as much of a fret about her sunscreen as her mother, but today made her wish that she had been. Or, at least, had a hat like Julian.

“Oh, your brother is at Sonora now?” Ginny exclaimed. She thought she knew that Julian had siblings, but couldn’t really be sure, but she thought it was nice that her brother was attending Sonora instead of somewhere in Canada. Julian was the only other Canadian Ginny knew and now that Ginny was back in Canada living on the Bellrose estate, she thought it was fun to know there was someone from Sonora close by. Ginny found the boy that Julian had indicated. The only younger students Ginny was aware of were her friends’ siblings and the Crotalus students. The others all just blended into the background for her.

“No need to apologize.” Ginny said with a smile. “The first game I saw with my friends up there, I was a total wreck. I thought they were all going to die. I can’t imagine if it had been with family members.” Really, Ginny didn’t think she could watch a brother or sister play the game because it was all so very violent. She really only came out here to be included in her friends’ hobby. When she was down here without them, she typically closed her eyes during the bad parts, like a bludger heading toward one of their heads. It gave her such anxiety to watch, but she never once thought about not going to the game. She wanted to support them and also be able to be included on their discussions after the fact. Even if she got things wrong, she was at least there to experience it right along with them.

She wasn’t sure if Julian was making fun of her sign or not, but Ginny didn’t mind either way. It probably was stupid and girly to have this sort of thing with her. Still, it was her way of letting them know she was rooting for the both of them. Ginny laughed at Julian’s sudden change in topic as she took notice of the game once more. “No worries. I’m only here for my friends, who are on opposing teams, which makes it all the more difficult to decide on what should make me excited or not.” Ginny commented. “I’m sure your brother will be fine. Adam and Francesca both seem to come off the field with little injury and Francesca will likely look out for him since he’s only a first year.” At least, Ginny hoped that was true. She didn’t want to make assumptions about her friend, but she didn’t want Julian to worry too much either. If Julian’s brother had been on the Pecari team, Ginny wouldn’t think twice about it. Adam was the sort who looked out for the little guy. That was just what he did.

“But, at least with friends on both teams, I’ll always come out a winner in some way.” Ginny said with another laugh.

6 Ginny I close my eyes through parts of it. 0 Ginny 0 5

Julian

October 05, 2014 2:08 PM

I might have to before it's over. by Julian

“It’s his first year,” confirmed Julian. “Mom thought about sending both of us to school somewhere back home this year, after…last year, but…then she didn’t.” She picked at her right thumbnail with the ring finger of the same hand. “Dad convinced her that the whole student body must be extremely impressive for all of us to have survived relatively intact, so even if something else crazy did happen, we’d be better off here than somewhere we didn’t know that about.”

Julian, for her part, was just extremely glad John’s birthday had fallen just late enough in the year to keep him out of Sonora last year. She knew, as surely as she knew her own name, that he would have done something stupid: publicly questioned the Heads’ statements, started firing charms at the clouds just to see what would happen, gone completely off the rails and treated the whole thing like a fantasy he was the hero of…something, she didn’t know what, but she was sure it would have ended badly.

She still wondered, though, why exactly Mom had, as far as she knew, planned to send him where Julian went in the first place, before the Incident. Officially, it was more or less so Julian could watch out for him, as they all believed John was in need of considerable management just to function on a basic level in any surroundings other than libraries and his own head - something he was really doing much better than expected at, she was surprised and proud, but it had seemed like a valid consideration at the time. Ever since she had found out the real reason she was at school in America, though, she found it hard not to wonder if there might not be more to it than that. She didn’t think Mom had ever lied to her, but she did wonder if there was anything else Mom had omitted. She had even toyed with the idea, considering how they had almost the same coloring and how little he resembled Paul and Joe, that John might be her actual, related-by-blood, paternal half-brother somehow, but had ultimately dismissed that as ridiculous. If John had been her brother that way, she was pretty sure, given how one hand didn't seem to trust any of the others even as it was, that they would not have been allowed to grow up in the same house.

Probably. Maybe. She didn’t even know. Julian wanted nothing to do with that world both because she loved her parents and brothers, none of whom had even the extremely slim chance she did of having any place there, and because she knew she did not think the right way for it. Advantage and appearances and all that. She didn’t think she could keep up.

“I would be such a basket case if one of my other brothers was playing for Pecari now.” She shook her head. “I don’t even like it when they beat each other over the head with plastic swords at home, it would have to be worse when they were both actually trying to accomplish something and one of them had to lose….”

She smiled at the assurance that Francesca would look out for John - he had said the other Chasers were decent to him, which had, she had to admit, been a relief. She had never had any problems that way, but...she'd worried about it, a little - and laughed when Ginny said she'd win either way. "Good point," she acknowledged. "Maybe for the meantime, for now, you know, you could - switch back and forth, which team you're excited for? Split it down the middle?"

16 Julian I might have to before it's over. 254 Julian 0 5