Extended Family

Chapter 69: Victory Road

Takes place directly after the last chapter

"Go Shelia!" Harry shouted from the sidelines.  "You got it!"

Shelia dove, turning in midair and diving down at a sharp angle.  The Bludger that was aimed at her missed and flew through the space she just left.  The woman twisted and flew down and to the left, cutting the distance between her and the Snitch.  The Brazilian Seeker tried to follow but he was obviously fatigued and his reflexes slower.  Shelia looped and flew up, hand clenched around the Snitch.

"Innis has the Snitch!" Kenneth shouted gleefully and the stadium roared.  "England ends the game and comes out at 200 to 120 against Brazil!  What a game!"

Harry punched the air, cheering with the rest of the waiting team and staff.  He applauded proudly with the England fans in the stands as the team took a victory lap around the Brazilian stadium.  The Brazilian fans clapped too, showing good manners and appreciation for the visiting Team England.

"Good call Harry," Cailey from Caerphilly said as she clapped alongside.  "Their Seeker was really out of it by now."

"From game start he was harassing me," Harry said.  "And when he subbed out pretty early for one of their reserves, and when they started sticking with me, I figured that was their tactic.  I guess they banked on the fact that I was the best Seeker on the team and thought I wouldn't swap out.  Not to mention Shelia's just as good if not better than me."

"I'm still surprised you had the stamina to outlast their tactics twice over," Miles from Falmouth said.

"Me too," Harry laughed.  "But I stuck it out as long as I could and let Shelia in to take advantage of them tiring themselves out."  He and the others happily high-fived and hugged the team when they ran over, celebrating together.  "Great catch!"

"Thanks!"  Shelia hugged him.  "He was flying like a slug.  You really wore him out.  You probably still could've got the Snitch before him though."

"Maybe," Harry said plainly, "but I didn't want to chance it.  You were fresher and it was more of a certainty with you seeking."

"They clearly didn't think you had your ego under control," Shelia laughed.

"Me?  Ego?" Harry asked, eyes wide and a hand to his heart.

"You're so egotistical, you don't think you have one," Katie smiled and kissed him sweetly.

"Well with you around, I don't need one," he said, kissing her back.

"Don't do that around me," Ginny said, making a face with faux disgust.  "I have to see George and Ron kiss their wives all the time.  Why am I surrounded by gross brothers?!"

"Not our fault you have so many," Angelina laughed.  "But I'll stop kissing George and you get to tell him why."

They assembled in the locker room and Oliver and the coaches did a quick rundown and overview as they waited for the stadium to empty before they would take their leave.  "Great job everyone," Oliver praised at the end.  "That's the last of the bracket games and we won all three.  We're going to be in really good placement now besides qualifying."

He stretched his arm as he spoke.  "We won't know the state of things for another week while the rest of the brackets finish but by the end of next week, we will see the quadrants and have an idea of who we're playing in the final run."