In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 237: A Man After Midnight

GEORGE:

"It sure was nice of the Magpies to finally have a match on a Saturday night so we could attend," Fred commented as we slid into our seats just in front of the commentary booth. We had a great view of the players warming up on the field, and I spotted Henry easily. He didn't realize we were there yet, and he didn't know that we weren't the only ones. Nearly the whole Order had shown up to support him, spread throughout the stadium so we didn't draw too much attention to ourselves.

Archie nodded as he sat down on my other side and cast a silencing spell so we could speak freely, not that there were too many people around anyway. "You two have been missing out. Their Chasers are particularly fun to watch." He elbowed me in the ribs. "You're not going to be watching the Chasers though, are you, George?"

"Oh, there are other people playing in this match?" I asked, making my eyes as wide and innocent as possible. "I didn't even realize."

Fred clapped me on the shoulder. "That's my boy."

"Let's get his attention," Archie said. He got to his feet and placed his thumb and forefinger in his mouth before releasing an ear-splitting whistle. "Oi!"

The sound successfully attracted Henry's attention, and he offered us a brief beaming smile before returning his attention to the drills the Magpies were running in preparation for the match. Alasdair Maddock followed Henry's gaze, and he smiled and nodded at us too.

"Such a shame the Quidditch Cup match was today so we couldn't try to bring any of our school-bound friends along," I commented. "I reckon Lucy would have swooned if Alasdair Maddock had smiled and nodded at her just now."

"We should look ahead at the schedule and see when the Magpies play the Harpies next, we could bring Ginny and Lucy along," Fred suggested. "I'm sure Ron would enjoy seeing the Magpies play the Cannons. Any idea what Harry's favorite team is?"

"Whatever Lucy's is, most likely," I replied.

Archie snorted. "That's a fair guess. In all fairness, though, I'm sure the Gryffindor Quidditch co-captains would just be happy to see any professional match."

"Right you are, Graye, right you are. Have you heard anything back from Cam yet, by the way? You wrote her earlier this week, didn't you?"

"Yeah. She told me that our Potions buddies miss my, and I quote, 'cheerful masochism,' whatever that means."

Fred laughed. "That's a fair assessment. I'm glad you were able to send letters back and forth without any issues this time. I know the other Slytherins tend to get to her mail first and destroy it."

"It happened to both of us when we were both still there, but..." Archie sighed. "Summer will be here soon enough. Sending mail back and forth will be easier then."

"You could visit her more easily, too, I reckon," I said. "Her parents should be joining the Order soon enough, according to Tonks. She's been talking to them quite a bit and they seem like they wouldn't say no if we asked at the right time,"

"I just hope she doesn't get any ideas about joining too," Archie muttered. "I worry enough about her knowing she's as safe as possible at school. If she was working with us, Merlin, I'd never sleep again. She's capable, of course, but I'd still feel better knowing she was as far removed from danger as possible."

"Honestly, mate, I doubt anyone would recruit her before Lucy and Harry join up officially, if that makes you feel any better," I said with a shrug. "She's brilliant, but she's not you, and she's not them. And Lucy and Harry aren't allowed to join yet, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Besides, I doubt her parents would let her either. They've already lost one child, before the war started back up again. I don't think they'd be in any hurry to risk losing another."