"The Mudblood" One-Shots

Caerphilly Catapults

Year: November 26th, 2005

Canonicity: Canon to "The Mudblood"

Point of View: first person, Lainey Fitzroy

Notes: Lainey and her friends go to see Brian play Quidditch

"Lainey, can you help me climb onto Ferret King's shoulders?"

I whipped around to find that my son was dangling from Vince Anderson's back, attempting to hoist himself upward. With the clamor of the Quidditch match, I nearly hadn't heard him, but now my full attention was on Teddy as I scurried over to lift him.

"I think this is a poor idea, for the record," I grunted as I pushed him up onto Vince's shoulders. Vince nearly spilled his drink and toppled over the railing as I did.

"And yet you're still helping him," Ryan Harper mused from where he was lounging in one of the stadium's chairs. His legs were draped over his wife's lap, but she'd ceased attempting to push him off an hour ago. "Pucey, are you taking parenting notes from Lay? She's quite the pro."

"YES!" Ashley shrieked, but her response was hardly aimed at Ryan: all of her focus was trained on the Quidditch match unfolding in the stadium before her, where a member of the Caerphilly Catapults had just scored. I felt a little guilty for not even knowing if it had been Brian, but this section of the stands was far too distracting for me to watch the game for more than a minute at a time. Ashley had even managed to get us our own private platform near the center, a prime spot for viewing the match, but I'd still yet to witness one of the ten goals Brian had scored.

"CATCH THE BLOODY SNITCH ALREADY!" Ashley continued to shout, nearly jumping over the railing to ensure her voice was heard. Of course, her demands were inaudible to the players. This stadium wasn't as large as some of the others, but there were still thousands of people here, all yelling their own opinions into the open air.

I did have to agree with her, though; this match had been going on for almost two hours now, and I was getting restless. I'd purposely neglected to inform Brian that we'd be attending this particular match, and I was itching to surprise him with my presence at its conclusion. His first three months of tour had passed, and this was his first game in Britain, where the team would remain for a month before traveling to Norway.

I'd been sneaking around the Department of Magical Games and Sports almost every day in order to determine whether Brian had signed on for the Norway tour or not, but had been unsuccessful in my search. It was none of my business, of course. We'd exchanged a few brief letters over the past three months, but we weren't formally dating. He was allowed to go wherever he wanted—he could have disappeared forever and I would have no say in the matter. Still...I missed him, and I hoped he missed me enough that he would at least smile when he saw me again. If he didn't...if he'd found some other girl on tour...

Shaking my head, I resumed my spot at the rail beside Ashley. It was foolish to dwell on outcomes I couldn't control. Instead, I fixated my eyes on the match unfolding at the center of the stadium. They were resetting after the last goal, and Brian was on the right wing, only a few meters below where we were perched.

"Can I drop your drink on Brian, Ferret King?" Teddy asked, peering down to look at Vince's face.

"Teddy," I chided, my jaw dropped in outrage. "Why would you ever want to do that?"

"I just want him to notice us," Teddy replied with a shrug. "Maybe he'll feel inspired by my hair."

I smirked crookedly as I eyed his red and green streaked locks, the colors of the Caerphilly Catapults. Clearly, my son had learned some of my mischievous ways. I almost would have let him do it if I knew what kind of terms Brian and I were on.