Fun and Games

Chapter Two: Trouble Squared

The locker room became relatively quiet, with the occasional hushed comment, as the wizards concentrated on their new equipment. Many of them tried to involve themselves with checking out their new equipment, after the first few seconds it was found that the equipment was much more interesting than they had first assumed. Most of the players had been around in the world of Quidditch long enough to realize that where the equipment was concerned, there was only so much that one could change, innovate on, or improve. Curiosity soon overtook them as they began to examine their new safety equipment, they wanted to see just what it was that Thunder & Lightning Enterprises had changed or improved. While they were busily occupying themselves with their equipment, Liam’s strange behavior was soon forgotten. Leaving only Oliver to wonder just what Liam could be up to with his strange and very out of character behavior. He found it odd that, the guys had been joking, but apparently Liam was not.

Oliver sat next to Sean in somewhat of a daze as he mechanically strapped on his protective equipment, absently noting as he did so, the fine quality. Even though it was new, it wasn’t stiff and uncomfortable. Instead he found it surprisingly soft and supple, and as he donned the forearm pads they seemingly molded to his arms as to better fit him. Curious, he gave in to his inquisitive nature and stopped wondering about Liam for the moment to poke experimentally at a shinpad. It was soft, seemingly made of very supple leather. It seemed like what one would find on a very new and very expensive leather jacket, not at all like the tough weathered stuff that was more like old saddle leather he was used to wearing. Slightly puzzled he wondered about the marvelously soft leather, knew that couldn’t be right as it would offer very little in the way of protection.

After a few more experimental pokes and prods he gave up trying to figure it out, he was sure that it was some sort of new spell. Since he was never very good at conditional transfiguration spells in school, he figured it was just something more advanced than what they were taught in school. If it had been just about any other type of spell he would probably have understood it better. Oliver shrugged and strapped it on his shin. As soon as the buckles were fastened it hardened immediately, and just like the arm pads it fitted itself to his shin as if it were a second skin. Intrigued he tapped it, it was hard as a rock, but it still felt soft and comfortable to him and he was easily able to move his leg muscles. Experimentally he rapped his knuckle, then his fist, and then gaining more confidence, he borrowed an extra bat from Sean and took a wack at the new shin pad. He didn’t feel a thing, slightly surprised he took it off and it instantly became soft once again. Oliver grinned, he was going to like working for Thunder and Lightning Enterprises, especially if these were the types of equipment they would be using. Of course that was a big if his team got the sponsorship. He examined the shinpad again and then shook it curiously, it just flapped as any piece of well broken in leather would. Oliver just grinned, he wouldn’t have nearly as many bruises after practice using these new pads, which was a big plus in his book.

"C’mon Wood!" Sean called, as he took his extra bat back from Oliver on his way past and out of the locker room. Oliver, startled out of his experimentation with the new shinpad, looked around to see that the rest of the team was ready and beginning to file out of the locker room and to the pitch.

Quickly Oliver strapped both of the new shinpads onto his shins, smiled as they hardened and formed themselves to him, then grabbed his broom. Hurriedly, he headed out to the pitch. Noting the shiny newness of the entire facility, as he did so. The walls and floors in the halls sparkled, and he almost skidded into the wall when he rounded a corner too quickly. As he rushed out onto the pitch, he bumped into the other guys who were all just standing around staring at something. Briefly Oliver thought that perhaps Liam wanted them to enter in some sort of order or something, but no one seemed inclined to comment on whatever it was that had made them stop or what they were finding so interesting. Curious, he made his way closer to see what it was that had stopped his teammates in their tracks. There at the sideline of the pitch was Lili, her hair was let down into one long plait that reached just past her waist, she was wearing white research robes, which were really quite flattering to her petite frame. There were also two open Quidditch ball boxes at her feet.

However, Lili herself was not what had caught the majority of the team’s attention. What had caught their attention were the two sets of Bludgers and the two Golden Snitches that were acting very strangely. For reasons unknown they appeared to be buzzing around her head like six annoyingly oversized gnats. Exasperated, Lili was gesturing at the balls, trying to get them away from her, without hurting herself. Fear faintly rimmed her eyes, as she kept her head very still and continued to gesture at the balls with her hands. A bludger could do a lot of damage in close quarters even if it isn’t moving too fast. Unfortunately for her, the balls didn’t seem to be particularly inclined to leave her alone. They weren’t really trying to hurt her. It was more like they were just trying to get as close to her as they could without actually touching her. Kind of like the childish game of ‘I’m not touching you,’ where one puts one’s hands as close to a person as possible without touching them and repeats the phrase, ‘I’m not touching you,’ until the person is finally beyond annoyed.

"Damn those dratted Weasleys!!! That is the last time I let them anywhere near any of the equipment! I swear the next time I see them I’m going to curse their teeth so that they can only eat spinach for a month!!!" Lili kept on cursing, mildly, as the balls kept on flying around her head, buzzing annoyingly.

After a few minutes of this the four Beaters finally realized that they could help, they went forward with their bats ready to knock the balls out of the air to the chasers who were ready with the boxes. Unfortunately this only seemed to make the balls angry, they started attacking the Beaters. Liam started barking orders, trying to better coordinate the Chasers and his fellow Beaters. The two Seekers were darting in and about the other players trying to capture the two Snitches, which were currently orbiting Lili’s head like a pair of twin moons. Soon the entire team, except Oliver, was trying to get balls under control. It would have been quite a comical sight, if the Bludgers weren’t being quite so violent. Oliver just stared, he couldn’t believe his eyes, or what Lili had said about the Weasleys. Both the prank and the perpetrators were quite unexpected, Ireland was the last place he figured to find the Weasley’s handiwork. As he was lost in temporary haze of contemplation, Liam caught sight of him standing there on the sideline, doing nothing. Liam’s eyes bulged, and that pesky vein in his forehead started twitching, sure signs of him passing the mark of being merely annoyed and moving into the territory of being truly angry.

"Don’t just stand there like a feckin’ moron Wood! Give us a hand!" Liam roared, as a Bludger whizzed by his ear narrowly missing his head, enraging him even further. Most of the team had formed a ring around Lili and were desperately trying to get the Bludgers under control, the chasers had abandoned their boxes and had borrowed the beater’s spare bats. While the two Seekers were still trying to get the two Snitches which were now buzzing around Lili’s head like a pair of angry hornets. All the while poor Lili was just trying to get both the Snitches and the Bludgers away from her head, fear still playing faintly around the edges of her eyes.

Oliver was sufficiently startled out of his reverie at the sound of Liam’s voice. Quickly he realized that if the Weasley’s she was referring to were Fred and George, he could do something to remedy the situation almost immediately. At lest he could, unless of course they had changed the spell since he had last encountered it, but that was fairly doubtful as they tended to stick with what worked and this particular spell had been a smashing success on their first trial run. Of this Oliver had first hand experience.

"Game off!" Oliver yelled, hoping that it would work, because if it didn’t he would sound right bloody stupid. He was in luck as at the sound of his voice all six balls dropped lifelessly to the ground and lay there motionless. One of the Bludgers, on it’s way to the ground, made one last effort to do the team violence. As it fell, it grazed Matt’s head, and almost knocked him unconscious. As Matt sat somewhat dazed on the pitch, Lili and several of his teammates rushed over to him, very worried.

"Oh! Are you alright?" Lili asked him with genuine concern in her voice and worry written all over her face. Carefully she reached out to his head, noting how he winced when she touched him. Taking her wand from seemingly nowhere, she gestured and signaled for a Medi-Witch or Wizard to come down to the pitch and attend to Matt.

"Mmm, I’m fine," Matt rumbled as he pushed himself up from the ground. He rubbed his head and smiled at Lili. He didn’t like the expression of concern on her face, and wanted to make it go away with as little fuss as possible. Liam would be sure to comment on it later in private he was sure, and he didn’t want to be the one to lose the sponsorship. Liam had made it abundantly clear that he wanted the sponsorship and if anyone should do something stupid enough to lose it for him, he would be somewhat less than understanding. Most of the team took that as a threat that they would be removed from the team, and as a consequence they were all on their very best behavior.

A plumb young Medi-Witch with short blond hair and brown eyes Apparated at Matt’s side and quickly began a preliminary check. A few seconds later she smiled and gave Lili a thumbs up before turning back to Matt and uttering a brief spell. "He’s just fine Lili dear, don’t worry about it at all, at all . . . and done!" she chirped, hoping that Lili wouldn’t be angry with her later for not being there in the first place. Once she was completely finished with Matt she made her way to the bleachers on the sidelines, where she was supposed to be in the first place, just in case she was needed again. Several other of the Medi-Staff made their way cautiously onto the pitch, and made themselves scarce on the bleachers. They knew they weren’t late, Lili had started early, but they were still not going to risk getting reamed out by someone later on for not being there.

Lili nodded absently, seemingly unconvinced, and watched as a few of the players gently prodded at the balls with their bats, clearly not trusting their sudden cessation of movement. She felt terrible for the mischief the twins seemed to have caused, and had several well thought out plans for revenge ready for the next time she should see the twins. Slowly, as everyone decided it was safe and the balls were not going to suddenly spring back to life, they turned to face Oliver in utter disbelief.

Oliver flushed slightly once he realized that everyone was looking at him questioningly, and felt he ought to say something. "Um . . . Yeah . . . " he tried sheepishly, "Why don’t we get started then?" he asked hopefully, mounting his broom, and readying himself for kickoff. He hoped no one would ask him any more questions, but knew that they probably would. He was already embarrassed enough as it was, and he really didn’t need to tell them that particular story!

"What in the bloody Hell was that all about?" Liam asked angrily, the little vein in his forehead started twitching again. "What do you think you were doing Wood?! If you knew how to call them off you shouldn’t have let us flail about like fools trying to get them under control like that! And if that wasn’t bad enough, you had to go about doing it when Downing was under a bludger! Ruddy irresponsible that was!!" Liam was annoyed that he hadn’t been able to stop those balls by himself, but it was only apparent to those who knew him well. To all others he appeared to be genuinely concerned for the welfare of his team.

"Well . . . I . . . Uh . . . " Oliver stammered looking rather shocked that Liam should react as he had, these sudden mood swings were a new occurrence, and definitely unlike Liam’s usual behavior. Luckily for Oliver, Lili came to his rescue. After double checking on Matt, and making sure he wasn’t blaming her or her company, she started laughing.

"I should have guessed it would have been that simple, when the Weasley’s are involved it usually is. I’m so sorry about that guys," she said looking at the slightly battered team. Her eyes lingered on Matt, still unsure of his status. "Is everyone all right?" Matt nodded empathetically, along with the rest of the team, and she sighed feeling relieved, "I really am very sorry about that, I had some friends unexpectedly stop by briefly to visit me last week. I guess I should have kept a better eye on them while they were in my office. These two sets of balls haven’t been used since then . . . My Bad?" She flushed a little and looked down, but looked up and around almost immediately as something occurred. When her eyes found Oliver’s she asked, "How did you know how to stop those balls?" Her eyes seemed to be searching his for the answer. Oliver was mute for a moment lost at sea. He visibly shook himself out of his daze.

"Well, I uh . . . You see um . . . I went to school with the Weasleys. We were in the same house and they were on my Quidditch team. They pulled this trick on me on my first day as captain," he scratched his head and looked down sheepishly, his face was flushed. "So when I heard you cursing out the Weasleys . . . I just kinda figured that they must have been up to the same old tricks," he grinned and looked up to catch Lili’s eyes suddenly, "It’s a lot funnier when it’s not happening to you," he said with his eyes sparkling and a barely suppressed chuckle. Most of the team laughed at this, Liam being a notable exception.

Lili gasped and made a playful mock attempt to slap him. Still grinning, he easily grabbed her wrist, careful not to crush it. They froze for what seemed like hours, but really was only a few seconds. Both were startled when Liam cleared his throat. Flushing slightly, Oliver quickly let go and busied himself with putting the rogue balls back into the boxes. Lili looked faintly surprised but was quickly able to compose herself.

"Right then, I’ll just nip out for a moment to get two new sets of Quidditch balls," Lili murmured as she turned and hurried back into the locker rooms with the pair of defective ball sets. As soon as she was out of ear shoot, Liam rounded on Oliver angrily.

"Wood, we need to have a little discussion. Later, after the practice, you and me, in the locker room," he growled, but before he could elaborate Lili came bustling back with the two new sets of factory sealed Quidditch balls.

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