Oliver Wood and the Heritage Curse

"Professor Lupin! It's Emma Baxter, can I come in?" Emma knocked roughly at the professor's door and called for him for the fifth consecutive time. "Where is he?" she muttered, pushing on the door. "He's always here at this time."

"Profesor Lupin is ill, Emma. Can I help you?"

Emma glanced up at Dumbledore's friendly eyes and shrugged. "No, it's okay. I'll just talk to him later." She started to walk away but Dumbeldore asked, "Are you doing alright, Emma?"

Emma again shrugged casually, imitating Davies and Oliver. "I'm fine. The new potions are finally working, people have started to ignore me instead of telling rumors about me and no one has run away screaming since a first year yesterday at lunch. I think she'd been hit with an itching spell, though."

Dumbledore smiled mildly. "Roger isn't killing you with his quidditch practice schedule?"

"Well he's probably killing the whole team but that seems to be the way of quidditch captatins."

"Yes, your father was the same. Roger's father as well." Dumbledore paused and appeared to be thinking about the young Neil Davies and Naim Baxter.

What is he remembering? Emma wondered. Maybe I should ask him about the Heritage Curse . . . but Dumbledore smiled at her, said "I'm starting to feel old," and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

"They are all hiding the same thing and whatever it is it's what I need to know!" Emma grumbled, storming down the hall. It was just after Roger's unexpected early dismissal of the Ravenclaw quidditch team from practice. Emma was determined to use her precious free time to uncover the Heritage Curse. However, her first and biggest lead - Professor Lupin - had slammed into a dead end. "Back to the books." Emma sighed, running up the stairs to her dormitory. She grabbed three enormous books about curses and thundered back down the stairs.

Although the common room was full of students no one spoke to Emma as she dragged a dark blue arm chair into a corner and sank down with the three books in her lap. Several students peered at her warily and Jaeson Riley smiled, but even he turned back to his game of wizard chess. Emma ignored them in response and opened the first book, several crumpled pages falling to the floor. Emma picked them up, smoothed them, and tucked them in the back of the book. The next time that she looked up from the book was two hours later when Davies suddenly appeared.

"I thought you'd be sleeping after practice," he greeted her, sitting on the arm of her chair.

Emma jolted, startled, and the three books tumbled to the floor. "You didn't have to scare me like that!" she exclaimed, picking up the books and the loose pages that had fallen out again.

Davies smiled calmly and said in an uncharacteristically lazy voice, "Sorry. I didn't know you were so enraptured with your reading." He drew out the word "enraptured" and Emma narrowed her eyebrows at him, irritated.

"What is with you? You are acting very flaky. And your hair is a mess. What have you been doing?"

"Oh, nothing," Davies said with a sigh, touching his rumpled hair. 'I hadn't even noticed my hair," he added with a short laugh.

Emma shook her head. "You are ill, boy. Go to sleep."

"I'm not ill, I'm just happy." Davies laughed again, and Emma looked at him, startled. She dropped one of the books in his lap, saying, "I think it's best that you help me look for the Heritage Curse. You're sounding more like me every day."

"Maybe we're twins!" Davies exclaimed, flipping the cover of the book open and closed.

Emma shook her head emphatically. "No, I am sure that we are not twins. Look at yourself and then look at me."

Davies, putting his face very close to her's, said, "Well, our eyes are the same, except for the color. But the hair is a bit of a problem."

Emma pushed him back and said sternly, "Just read the book."

Davies opened his book, humming to himself as he flipped through the pages. "I think it's great how everyone is staring at us. I wonder what the rumors are now."

"The rumors are going to be that I strangled you in the Ravenclaw common room if you do not shut up!" Emma angrily shuffled through the loose pages from the first book while Davies watched her curiously.

"I'm going to look for the Heritage Curse so that you will stop having temper tantrums. It makes me nervous and it's just not very attractive."

Emma clenched her fists but didn't respond. She opened the cover of the book to tuck the loose papers inside but stopped abruptly. "Roger . . ." she whispered, hitting his arm. "Roger, Roger, Roger!" Her voice grew steadily until she was almost yelling. The few students still left in the common room stared at her.

Davies leaned over her shoulder as she shook a paper in his face. "This is it!" she whispered harshly.

Roger grabbed the paper with one hand and touched her arm with the other saying, "Calm down." But only a second later he exclaimed, "Bloody hell! You're right!" The other startled students in the common room made a quick exit, unsure if they wanted to see where the strange scene was leading.

"I can't believe this! It explains everything!" Emma squealed. "Or at least almost everything."

Davies jumped to his feet, pulling Emma up after him. "Let's go! We need to find Katie and Oliver."

"I haven't snuck into Gryffindor in years, but I think I can still do it," Davies whispered as he and Emma stopped abruptly around the corner from Gryffindor tower. "You wait here."

"Be careful," Emma called hoarsely after him, panting slightly after their hard run from the Ravenclaw common room.

"Trust me," Davies shot back and disappeared around the corner. Emma jumped impatiently from foot to foot while she waited for him to return, her frantic excitement bubbling to the surface in short squeals. She only had to wait two minutes but was still ready to explode when Davies practically tumbled around the corner with a frazzled Katie and irritated Oliver.

"What took you so long?" she demanded. Oliver took her arm as Davies rolled his eyes.

"That was amazing timing," Davies protested. "And what's more, no one saw me except for these two."

"But how did you do that?"

Davies started to answer her but Oliver broke in. "What is going on? You made it sound like there was something seriously wrong and I do not appreciate you breaking in and . . ."

"Calm down, Oliver." Emma squeezed his hand and he relaxed, although his gaze still rested warily on Davies who glared back with equal menace.

"Why don't we get out of this hallway," Katie interjected, steering Davies away from Oliver. She and Davies had agreed not to say anything about their relationship to Oliver and Emma for fear of their reaction. Davies led them quickly to an unused classroom and after they were all inside cast a spell on the door.

"That should keep anyone out, but we only have half an hour," he explained.

"You seem to know some shady magic," Oliver commented as they sat on the floor.

Davies conjured a floating ball of fire as he replied, "Everyone knows some shady magic."

"Will the both of you shut up!" Emma exclaimed. She was still clutching the piece of loose parchment from the book about curses and dropped it in Oliver's lap. "Look at this."

Katie leaned over, trying to see the parchment as Oliver read it carefully. "But . . . bloody hell," Oliver muttered.

Katie grabbed the parchment from him and started to read out loud. "The Heritage Curse, although inconsistent, destroys families across several generations. It is triggered by a grudge in one generation that produces a variety of effects in the following generations until the grudge is resolved. The most common effects are heightened and violent emotional responses and a deep desire for revenge. Often the victims are mistaken for werewolves, but are easily identifiable by their dark, almost pupil-less eyes." Katie stopped reading and stared, dumbstruck, at Emma, Oliver, and Davies. Side by side, Emma and Davies stared back, drilling into Katie with their dark eyes. "Why does Roger have one green eye?" she asked.

"It says the curse is 'inconsistent,'" Davies replied, shrugging. "I don't know what that means, but I think it may be an explanation. Everything else matches too perfectly for that to be a serious problem."

Katie nodded. "You're right. This is it. It explains everything, even Roger's strange behavior."

"And we know that there is a serious argument between the two fathers," Oliver added. For the first time that year he spoke to Davies docilely. "You said that your father has had this grudge against Mr. Baxter as long as you can remember but you don't know why. You just know that it caused him to want Emma off the Ravenclaw team."

Davies nodded and sighed. "My guess is that it's related to quidditch. My father was Ravenclaw captain for three years but he never won the Quidditch Cup."

Emma looked at him thoughtfully. "Exactly 20 years ago my father won the Quidditch Cup as captain of Hufflepuff. It's possible . . . but no one holds a grudge that big over just a quidditch match."

"Well, I don't know." Oliver looked at Davies. "I think that most quidditch captains would hold a grudge if they really cared about the match."

Davies nodded his agreement. "My father was captain exactly 20 years ago as well. I'd say it's very possible that the grudge is about that match."

Emma shook her head slowly. "It still doesn't seem like enough. People hold little grudges every day -- this had to be a serious grudge."

"So where do we go from here?" Oliver asked.

Emma pulled her hair back forcefully. "I don't know." She sighed, letting her hair fall back into her face. "I think we prepare for the quidditch match on Saturday."

"Do you believe that the weather is foreboding of bad events?" Katie shouted to Angelina as they climbed the bleachers that Saturday for the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff quidditch match. The ravaging wind whipped their cloaks and whined in their ears while angrily spiraling tiny snowflakes around them.

"The only thing this weather is foreboding of is a bad quidditch match - at least for us," Angelina replied as she brushed off the snow on a bleacher and sank down beside Katie.

Katie pulled her cloak tightly around herself and stamped her feet, trying to warm them. "My feet feel like, well actually they don't feel like anything. I'm not sure that's a good sign."

Angelina smirked. "Weather like this is murder for the spectators but good for a well-prepared quidditch team. You know that. Davies has had Ravenclaw out every day practicing in weather much worse than this. And I'm sure Cedric has done the same with Huffelpuff."

"She's right," Oliver confirmed as he seemed to materialize out of the blinding snow. He tossed a blanket over the two girls and settled in beside Katie. "I think these two teams are evenly matched, and they would be no matter what the weather. I don't know who's going to win."

Katie studied his face and tried to follow his gaze. He seemed to be staring at someone several feet away but she couldn't tell whom. I'm amazed he's so calm today, she thought. This has to be a tough position for him. We have a better chance at the cup if Ravenclaw loses, but I know he wants Emma to be on the winning team today.

"Do you think Emma is prepared to fly in these conditions?" Katie asked, trying to prompt Oliver to talk more about the game.

Oliver looked at her thoughtfully and Katie was startled by maturity in his dark eyes. "She's prepared," he said slowly, his eyebrows crinkling slightly. "Katie I just thought of something that we'd all forgotten about.

"What?" Katie asked, struggling to pull the blanket more tightly around her shoulders without pulling it off of Angelina.

Oliver knelt precariously in front of them on the slippery bench and adjusted the blanket around both girls as he explained, "The cursed broom that Emma used to use was in her family for a long time, right? But it's really capable of making its rider the best flier in the world. Davies cursed it so that Emma couldn't fly, but whoever used it before Emma got the full effect of being the best in the world. They would have been unbeatable. And if that broom was used in a match . . ."

"Whoever used it would have won the game unfairly!" Katie finished.

Oliver nodded as he climbed back on the bench beside her. "Exactly."

"Wow." Angelina stared at Katie and Oliver. "I had no idea all of this was going on."

"Sorry." Katie shrugged. "Things have been a little crazy. But I think that Oliver may just have given us the last clue that we need. Oliver, we need to talk to Emma . . ." Katie broke off because Oliver was staring into the distance again. "Who are you looking at?" Katie questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's Davies' mother. She's pretty easy to spot." Oliver pointed across the field to where the Ravenclaw fans were seated. "Do you see her? She's wearing that big black fuzzy coat."

"You're right!" Katie exclaimed. "That is her! And that's his father next to her."

"The woman that looks like a puffy penguin?" Angelina asked, leaning over Katie.

"She does not look like a penguin!" Oliver replied indignantly. "She is gorgeous."

Katie rolled her eyes and Angelina snorted. "I think she looks a little bit like a pirate too," Katie determined.

"A very beautiful pirate princess," Oliver said with a sigh.

"Oh brother," Angelina muttered.

"Well she is pretty," Katie agreed. "And his father is, well, not so bad himself."

"Eww!" Oliver finally looked away from Mrs. Davies to stick his tongue out at Katie.

"I can't believe we're discussing how attractive Davies' parents are." Angelina shook her head and huddled closer to Katie. Oliver and Katie laughed.

"Sorry, we'll stop now," Katie said, patting Angelina on the head with her mittened-hand. She wanted to comment about how she didn't need to look at the father when she already had the son, but Oliver still didn't know about her relationship with Davies. Angelina did, however, and was happy to for once be in on something that Emma and Oliver didn't know about.

The three Gryffindor quidditch players were silent for awhile, watching the other students struggle up the snowy stands. Katie thought it was very funny that all three of them were dating members of the Ravenclaw team. Katie of course wanted Gryffindor to win the cup, but she still had two years at Hogwarts to win, and therefore was less passionate about it than Oliver. She was excited for Davies and Emma and hoped they would win the match that day.

Just before the game started Angelina spotted Alicia sitting alone several levels down and went to join her. Oliver pulled the excess blanket over his knees and knotted his cold fingers in the soft fabric. "Little bit ridiculous, isn't it?" he commented.

"What's ridiculous?" Katie asked.

"Oh just that we're up here freezing and the two people that could keep us warm are both playing in the match."

"Yeah, it is a little bit ridiculous . . ." Katie began and then realized her mistake. "How did you know that Roger and I were together?"

Oliver smiled his charming smile, somewhat self-righteously. "Well I wasn't sure, but the way he was looking at you made me suspicious. Guys aren't totally oblivious to these things you know."

Katie laughed. "I guess not. So it doesn't bother you that we're together?"

"Well when I first started to suspect that he liked you I wanted to punch him, but then I realized that you're probably capable of taking care of yourself. The guy may be a jerk but he was under the influence of a curse and . . ."

"That's enough," Katie broke in, pulling the blanket off of him and wrapping it more tightly around herself. "You can stop the tough guy act now. I know you don't really hate him."

"I do too hate him . . ." Oliver began to protest but then shrugged. He sat quietly for a moment and then said, "I'm nervous about the game today."

Katie sighed. "I know. There's a lot at stake."

Oliver nodded but didn't say any more. Instead he began to pull at the blanket as he exclaimed, "You can't hog the blanket! I'm the one who brought it out here!"

"But I'm the girl!" Katie twisted away from him, but couldn't go far because the bench was full. The two second-year girls at her side watched her jealously as Oliver tugged at the blanket again.

"Please! I am freezing!"

"Oh alright, but only because you're being such a baby." Katie threw the entire blanket over his head and Oliver yanked it off, disheveling his damp hair. The second years' mouths dropped open as Oliver smoothed one half of the blanket over his lap and adjusted the other half around Katie's shoulders. Just then, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff appeared on the field. The game was about to begin.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Oliver exclaimed for the fifth time only ten minutes into the game. He watched Emma smash a bludger into the broomstick of Hufflepuff keeper Eric Jaspers, clearing the way for Davies' fifth goal shot of the game.

"Ravenclaw scores again!" Lee Jordan shouted. "That's seventy points for Ravenclaw and still zero for Hufflepuff. Captain Roger Davies will not be stopped, and new beater Emma Baxter may win this game for him!"

"It's true," Oliver told Katie as Emma aimed another bludger at Eric. "She makes it impossible for Jaspers to do anything but dodge bludgers, and that allows Ravenclaw to make every shot. It's a fascinating strategy."

"And look at Jaeson Riley," Katie added, pointing. "He is single-handedly keeping all of the Hufflepuff chasers away from the quaffles."

"I've never seen anything like it," Oliver replied, shaking his head.

Katie watched Cedric Diggory motioning frantically at his beaters to do something about Emma. The two frustrated beaters, however, could not even intercept a bludger.

"I would hate to be Diggory right now," Oliver muttered as Ravenclaw chaser Emmet Stone scored another goal.

Over the next ten minutes Ravenclaw scored another sixty points and Hufflepuff managed twenty when beater Douglas Croft literally tore a bludger from Jaeson's hands and hurtled it at Emma. Oliver jumped to his feet as Emma fell, but sank back down when she rose into the air only a minute later.

"Amazing," Oliver said as she regained her assault on Eric Jaspers.

Just then, Cho Chang, who had been hovering in a corner of the field, suddenly shot towards the ground. Adam Finnigan, the Hufflepuff seeker, tore after her. Everyone in the stands popped to their feet, watching the chase. Cho turned abruptly back upwards, her hand outstretched, Adam only inches behind her.

She's going to catch it!" Katie exclaimed, gripping Oliver's arm. But suddenly a bludger, seemingly out of nowhere, hurtled at Cho's head. As she swerved sideways to avoid it Adam pulled ahead. In the excitement over the appearance of the snitch Emma had lost control of her bludger and Douglas had aimed it perfectly at Cho.

"No!" Katie yelled, but it was too late. Adam lunged forward and grabbed the snitch. Chaos erupted as Lee Jordan shouted, "And Hufflepuff wins the game by only thirty points! What a game!"

Students began to pour down from the stands onto the snowy field, but Katie and Oliver sat down, stunned.

"I can't believe it," Oliver whispered. "I really can't believe it. I thought I would finally see a game where the team that didn't catch the snitch won."

Katie buried her face in the blanket now balled up in her lap. "I did too," she mumbled. She raised her head up with a sigh and remarked, "Emma was fantastic. I had no idea she was that good."

Oliver shook his head and said with a short laugh, "I had no idea as well. Nor did I know that Davies was such a wicked strategist. Wow."

"Hey, are you two coming!" Angelina yelled from the bottom of the stands and Oliver and Katie were suddenly reminded of their surroundings.

"Yeah, in a minute!" Katie shouted back. Angelina waved and climbed down to the field.

"We really should go see them," Katie said, gathering the blanket in her arms and standing up. She tugged on Oliver's sleeve and once again tried to follow his distracted gaze across the field. "Are you ready?"

"I was just thinking about the things that have happened on this field this year," he explained. "A lot has changed." He smiled disarmingly and Katie's heart jolted. For a moment she saw herself as she had wanted to be just a few months before - the sole receiver of those rewarding smiles. Then she laughed and thought, 'It's just a smile.'

"What is that smirk you have on your face?" Oliver demanded as he followed Katie down to the field.

Katie did not tell him that she was smirking because she could think of him as just a smile. Instead she said, "I'm dating a guy who I've gotten to know through encounters in dark corridors, who stalked and attacked one of my best friends, and who looks disturbingly like a pirate. How did this happen to me?"

"The same way I ended up dating a girl who plays beater for a rival team, has weird emotional outbursts, and put a guy in hospital wing," Oliver replied.

"What way is that?" Katie asked.

"I think it has to do with the eyes," Oliver determined.

"Hm. You could be right."

A few minutes later the two stood outside the Ravenclaw locker rooms with a crowd of excited fans and friends. Katie noticed that Davies parents had disappeared. "Are you sure we saw the Davies?" she asked Oliver.

"I am positive," Oliver replied, glancing around. "It was definitely Mrs. Davies."

"I wonder where they went," she said, but just then Davies emerged from the locker room, followed by Emma and the rest of the team. The team looked tired, but Davies, much to the surprise of everyone, was smiling.

"That was the best bloody game of quidditch I have ever played!" he exclaimed, walking excitedly towards Katie and Oliver.

"Me too!" Emma shouted, throwing herself into Oliver's arms. Oliver laughed and hugged her.

"That was the only game of quidditch you have ever played in," he said, pulling back to look at her. "And you were amazing. I am proud of you." Emma grinned at him and hugged him again.

"I'm pretty proud of her too." Davies stood next to Katie, his arm resting casually around her shoulders. "Now what ever could have possessed me to try to get you off the team?"

Emma's eyebrows narrowed. "I wish we knew the full answer to that question." She sighed and then smiled. "But let's not worry about it right now. Let's go celebrate!"

The four joined the group of exuberant students moving towards Hogwarts. Unnoticed by the noisy crowd, Katie took Davies' hand and in his ear asked quietly, "You're not disappointed about losing, are you? It really was a fantastic game. You should have won."

"I am not disappointed at all," Davies confirmed with a smile. "A captain can only hope his team will do the best they can. Winning is just a fringe benefit. I could not be more pleased with what my team did today."

"I wish Oliver would say things like that," Katie replied dryly.

Davies laughed. "I'm sure he thinks those things every now and then. He just can't quite make himself say them."

"What are you two muttering about back there?" Oliver demanded as they reached Hogwarts.

"You," Katie shot back.

Before Oliver could manage a comeback Professor Lupin greeted them just inside the front entrance. "There are some people who want to see you," he explained, pulling Katie, Oliver, Emma, and Davies away from the rest of the group. "Follow me."

Emma, Oliver, Katie, and Davies hurried down the hall following Professor Lupin. As they turned abruptly around a corner and stopped in front of the trophy room Oliver glanced at Emma who shrugged.

"No idea," she mouthed. Katie and Davies were equally baffled. Professor Lupin opened the door and all four were shocked to see Emma's parents and Davies' parents sitting quietly at a table together.

"Mum? Dad? What are you doing here?" Emma exclaimed in the same moment that Davies rushed over to his mother.

"Were you here for the game?" Davies asked, hugging his mother and greeting his father with a handshake.

His father smiled and replied, "Yes, and it was a bloody good game, son. Where is that beater of your's?" To the surprise of everyone in the room, Mr. Davies extended his hand to Emma who had been talking with her parents. "That was some mighty fine quidditch playing, Emma. You should have won."

Th, thanks," Emma stuttered, taking a step back from the table and clutching her hand to her chest as if she expected Mr. Davies had cursed it. "What's going on?" she asked her parents. She glanced anxiously around the table like a frightened animal. "Why are you all here?"

"It's all right Emma, why don't you have a seat," her mother said, guiding her into a chair between Mrs. Davies and herself.

"Before we get started," Mrs. Davies said, standing up graciously, "There are a few more people who need an introduction. With a delicate hand gesture, she beckoned Oliver and Katie who were still standing uncertainly in the doorway. Professor Lupin had disappeared. Katie and Oliver walked to the table, smiling awkwardly. "Nice to see you both again," she told them, smiling. "This is Katie Bell and Oliver Wood," she said, indicating each as she spoke. "And this is Emily and Naim Baxter, and my husband Neil. There we are. Now you may have a seat." Oliver and Katie sat down tentatively across from the Davies, while Emma watched the scene with a look of confusion and discomfort and, from his place next to his father, Davies smiled mildly.

"How is it that you're all here together so calmly?" Emma demanded.

"Well it's a bit of a story," her father said, looking from his wife to Mrs. Davies to Mr. Davies. "And I think the place to start is to hear what's happened to the four of you this year."

"Is this a trick?" Emma asked, staring at her father, eyebrows narrowed.

"No, it's no trick. There are things we should have told you a long time ago. But before we can explain we need to know what you know."

"Okay," Emma conceded. "Should I explain or does one of you want to?" she asked Katie, Oliver, and Davies. Oliver and Katie still seemed unable to speak but nodded, and Davies said, "We'll let you know if you forget anything." Emma stuck her tongue out at him good-naturedly, and stood up. She paced around the room as she told the entire story, starting with her first encounter with Oliver on the quidditch field and ending with the discovery of the Heritage Curse. Occasionally Davies, Katie, or Oliver filled in a detail and Emma would stop suddenly, stare at them while they spoke, and resume exactly where she had left off. When she finished the story she stopped in front of her chair and stared at the four parents, who stared back with expressions of surprise or shock.

"There is one more thing," Katie said quietly. Emma looked at her, startled, and all four parents looked at Katie as well. "Something Oliver said today during the game." She related Oliver's comment about the Baxter family broom and the possibility that someone had used it to cheat. As she did, Mr. Baxter winced and Mr. Davies' face darkened. "Is that what happened?" she asked with surprising confidence.

Mr. Baxter sighed. "I had no idea you kids had learned so much, or that you were so worried. You should have asked one of us about it."

Davies snorted. "I tried that for years. No offense Mr. Baxter, but my dad wasn't talking and I have my doubts that you were. We did what we thought we had to do."

Mr. Davies looked sadly at his son as Mr. Baxter said, "I suppose you're right, Roger. I probably wouldn't have wanted to say anything. But if I'd known it would help Emma . . ." he trailed off, seeming to grow more tired with every word he spoke.

"This has been going on far too long," Mr. Davies said suddenly. "Elizabeth, would you please begin the explanations."

Mrs. Davies was the only adult still smiling. "Although I'm sure you are all most interested in what happened to begin the curse. . ."

"So it is The Heritage Curse!" Emma interrupted.

"Yes it is," Mrs. Davies confirmed. "Although none of us were sure until a few days ago. When Roger came home for Christmas I could see that something was seriously wrong and I began to expect that his anger was not completely natural. So I started to do some research, beginning with Emily. It was Emily that told me about The Heritage Curse, although she had almost forgotten about it." She nodded at Mrs. Baxter to continue the story.

"As you all know, I didn't go to Hogwarts. During Naim, Neil, and Elizabeth's seventh year I was studying in Europe and I came to visit Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. I met many students, among them, Remus Lupin. It was he that told me about The Heritage Curse. I didn't understand much about magic, but what he said stuck with me and became important in the events that followed."

Emma was leaning forward on the table, watching her mother intently. Davies' chin was propped on his hand, a look of intensity accenting his handsome features. Across from him, Katie unknowingly twisted her hair around her finger and Oliver toyed with the blanket from the quidditch match.

"So what happened?" Oliver asked, looking up from his lap at Mrs. Baxter.

"Neil, why don't you explain," Mr. Davies offered. Mr. Baxter smiled weakly and

Emma felt as if the emotions that had been clogging her mind for several years began to leak out. She glanced at Davies who was pressing his hand to his head. He nodded as if to say, "Yes, I felt that too."

"Neil and I were best friends since our first day at Hogwarts," Mr. Baxter was saying.

"We played quidditch from third year on, and were both captains for fifth, sixth, and seventh year - Neil for Ravenclaw and me for Hufflepuff. The competition was tough, but since neither one of us had much of a change at winning the cup, it didn't matter much. That all changed, however, our seventh year. Slytherin and Gryffindor both had injuries on their teams and that gave Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff a shot at the cup. During Christmas holidays, while Emily was visiting, there was a match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The winner of that match would play Slytherin for the cup. Neil and I agreed that we would be happy for whichever team won the game and that our friendship was more important than the game, but it was still difficult for both of us. The night before the game I received a new broom in the mail from the family broomaker. It was a fantastic broom so I used it in the game, but I didn't tell anyone."

He hesitated for a moment and his wife squeezed his hand. Emma was staring and her father, completely enraptured. "We played the match and Hufflepuff won. Neil was upset but still happy for me. We all celebrated together that night. During the party, Neil was examining the broom, practicing some spells on it, and he discovered the spell. He confronted me, obviously furious that I had won the game unfairly. I told him I hadn't known anything about it but he was too angry to listen." Mr. Baxter's voice wobbled as he looked at Mr. Davies.

Mr. Davies stared down at the table, resembling his son when he had confessed to Katie his attacks on Emma. Davies simply watched his father, his eyes glistening with barely withheld tears. "I was so angry and humiliated and overcome with guilt," Mr. Davies explained slowly. "The match had meant more to me than I let on and I was furious that Neil would cheat. Too furious to see that he really hadn't known about the broom. I felt guilty about not really being happy for his win and that only added to my anger."

There was silence for several minutes until Mrs. Baxter finally said, "I left two days later. Elizabeth and I had become good friends but I knew we would likely never talk again. I tried to work up the courage to tell Naim about the Heritage Curse, but I was ashamed to act like I knew more about magic than he did. Eventually I forgot about the curse, or maybe forced myself to forget it. Even during the time when Emma was visiting doctors I didn't think of the curse. But when Elizabeth contacted me and told me that Roger was having problems too I knew that the curse was the answer."

"But how did you all end up here?" Davies asked. "How did you get Mr. Baxter and Dad to talk?"

Mrs. Davies sighed, the only sign of frustration or sorrow she had expressed during the entire meeting. "It wasn't easy. But once we knew what we were dealing with we had somewhere to start. It was seeing how much the grudge was hurting both of you that really pulled them out of it."

Mr. Davies nodded and smiled at his son. "I've been very stupid, son, and I'm sorry. I've already apologized to Naim and now I want to apologize to you and Emma. There's still time for these two families to have the friendship they should have had all along."

"I forgive you, dad," Davies said. "If only because we don't need any more anger in our family." He smiled and Mr. Davies laughed.

Mr. Davies looked at Emma who stared back at him, her eyes narrowed slightly. There was silence and everyone around the table held their breath. Suddenly Emma laughed and shook her head. "I forgive you," she said. "And I want you to know that I did not use that broom in the game today. We lost fairly!"

Mr. Davies laughed. "I know you didn't use it. Remus has it and he's going to destroy it. And you should have won."

"What I don't understand," Katie broke in suddenly, "Is why you wanted Emma to use that broom in the first place."

Mr. and Mrs. Baxter both hesitated but Mr. Baxter finally said, "It's difficult to explain. Part of it is that no one except for the four of us new about the capabilities of the broom, but everyone knew that I had it. A family broom has to be passed down or there would be questions, not to mention curses. No one could find out about what had happened with that broom. We also didn't expect that Emma would become a quidditch player - she had never liked flying. So I dulled the effects of the broom with a spell and figured it would serve her for her classes. What I couldn't figure out was why she was such a terrible flyer - the broom should have guaranteed that at least she could fly well. But of course now we know that it was Roger's curse, on top of my spell, that was causing the strange effects."

"That's why I was so bad!" Emma exclaimed. "No wonder. I don't feel so bad about it now. But why did you let me have the new broom?"

"We talked to Archimedes about making you a new broom, although we assumed he wouldn't" Mrs. Baxter explained. "He has to make the new broom when he feels it is time. He told us that it wasn't possible yet for several years so we thought there was nothing we could do. But then a few weeks later we received the new broom, and not long after that learned of Archimedes' death."

"He's dead?" Emma asked. "That's really strange."

Mrs. Baxter shrugged. "He was almost two hundred years old. Anyway, we examined the broom, as did Remus, and determined that it was spell and curse free."

"Well I think I've had enough for today," Emma said slowly, struggling to keep her eyes open. She was feeling gradually more tired as the emotional release from the breaking of the curse continued. "I could really use some sleep . . ." Davies was almost asleep on the table as well.

"I'll take her back," Oliver offered, walking over to Emma and lifting her gently out of the chair."

"There's one more thing we'd like to do first," Mr. Baxter said. Oliver sank into Emma's chair and settled her in his lap. She slumped forward onto the table.

Mr. Davies rose and took one of the cups from the many trophy tables in the room. "This is the quidditch cup from our seventh year. Slytherin ended up winning, actually. I'm going to put a spell on this trophy so that whenever someone picks it up they will hear the story of what happened to our two families and be warned about the Heritage Curse." He set the cup on the table and smiled. Next to him, Davies snored. "With your help, Naim, I'll take my son up to his dormitory so he can get some proper rest."

"Oh it's alright," Katie told them. "Roger never gets proper rest."

Mr. Davies looked at his slumbering son. "I think he will now, Katie."

Davies slept for three days straight, and Emma for two. The evening of the third day, Emma, Katie, Oliver, and Angelina were sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"What I still can't believe is that I didn't pick up on your relationship with Roger right away. I should have guessed that night he came back with his hair all rumpled acting like he'd just been accepted on a professional quidditch team," Emma said, looking up from her Care of Magical Creatures book at Katie who was writing a composition on computer technology for Muggle Studies . On Emma's other side, Oliver attempted to replay the quidditch match from three days before using his miniature quidditch set, and from across the table Angelina watched him curiously.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Katie replied. "But we weren't sure how you would react. Roger obviously wasn't your favorite person and . . ."

"Well I don't mind him now! You should have told me right away!" Emma chided, pretending to glare at Katie.

Katie rolled her eyes. "I thought for a little while that maybe you were going to calm down some now that the curse is broken, but you are definitely still crazy."

Emma stuck her tongue out at Katie and said, "Well, it's a controlled craziness now. I feel like being crazy, so I'm crazy. If I feel like calming down, than I do. It's not like before when my emotions controlled me."

"No, I know. And I can tell the difference. I don't think you'll be attacking any more boys."

"It's really kind of sad," Emma said with a sigh. "Now if some guy corners me in a shed I'll just have to use what I've learned at Hogwarts rather than brute strength."

Katie and Angelina laughed, but Oliver, still intently prodding the figures in his miniature quidditch field, didn't respond.

"He's oblivious, just like all guys," Angelina commented.

"I am not oblivious, I am focused!" Oliver muttered, startling the three girls. "And to prove to you all that I am not just a stupid male who never notices anything, I will tell you that I noticed before any of you that Emma's eyes are starting to turn blue."

"He's right!" Katie peered into Emma's eyes, examining the faint traces of pale blue.

"Really?" Emma asked, blinking several times. "That's interesting."

"Hm." Oliver made an indignant noise and mumbled, "Just because I'm handsome and a quidditch captain doesn't mean I'm an idiot."

Angelina raised her eyes at Emma and Katie and all three had to stifle giggles. Emma ruffled Oliver's hair, smiling bemusedly.

"Katie!" Oliver suddenly exclaimed, and startled, Emma pulled her hand away from his head. "Will you please untangle yourself from Davies so that I can run this play correctly!"

"What?" Katie asked and leaned over Emma to look into the model field. "Oh my. Sorry about that, but I don't know if I can do anything."

Oliver growled. "Ridiculous behavior for a quidditch captain," he muttered. "Snogging on the job."

Emma starting laughing so hard that it took her several minutes to recover. "I guess I'm not over those laughing attacks yet," she sputtered when she finally managed to stop.

"I guess not," Katie confirmed. "But that's okay. I like you better with the laughing attacks." Emma smiled and the table was peaceful for several minutes until Katie said,

"Do you think Roger is going to sleep for the rest of term? I'd like to see him."

As an answer to her question there was a sudden uproar in the great hall as all heads turned towards the main entrance. Several Gryffindor girls down the table started giggling, and it quickly spread to the other three tables.

"What is he wearing," Emma asked, appalled.

"Well it appears to be a t-shirt and pajama pants," Katie replied, pressing a hand to her face and squinting at Davies as he passed through the crowd of stunned females.

"The part where the t-shirt doesn't have sleeves is what makes it in muggle terms a 'wife-beater,'" Emma informed her.

"That's a horrible name," Angelina commented and Emma shrugged.

"Yes, it is, but unfortunately the shirt fits him, well, brilliantly."

"Bloody hell," Katie muttered.

"Now this is not a fair way to collect fans. I could walk through here naked . . ."

"Oliver! Don't even say things like that . . ." Emma was interrupted by the arrival of Davies at the table, accompanied by Jaeson Riley.

"I tried to stop him," Jaeson said, wincing. "But he said he wanted to come down right away."

"I've been asleep for three days! I wanted to see what was going on. Besides, I don't see what the big deal is . . ." Katie pulled Davies down beside her, cutting off his explanation.

"Look at you! Your hair is a wreck, you're not dressed properly, you just slept for three days in your own bed - what is going on?" she demanded.

"The curse is broken," Davies replied quietly, pulling Katie into his arms and resting his head against her hair. "And I don't care if the whole school sees me like this. I just wanted to be with you."

"Um, I'm a little bit afraid that a riot is going to begin if we don't get him out of here," Jaeson said softly, indicating the now angry masses of bug-eyed girls.

Katie, Davies, Oliver, Emma, Jaeson, and Angelina quickly left the Great Hall, leaving the mob of girls to wistfully discuss what they had just witnessed. "It's not fair!" Katie heard one girl exclaim just as the huge doors shut behind them. No, it isn't fair, Katie thought. As Jaeson and Angelina disappeared and Oliver and Emma slipped outside, Katie pulled Davies into a corner.

"I want you to know how much you mean to me," Katie told him. She tangled her fingers in his tussled hair and tilted his head down to kiss him gently.

Davies hugged her and sighed saying, "There's nothing you could say that would make me happier."

Outside Oliver and Emma walked through the quidditch field, hand-in-hand.

"Thanks for supporting me through all of this," Emma said. "You were an incredibly loyal friend even before you were my boyfriend."

"Well you deserved the support," Oliver replied, squeezing her hand. "And if it hadn't been for you, I would have spent the whole year worrying about quidditch. I'm glad I spent my last year at Hogwarts with you and Katie and even Davies rather than in my room planning quidditch plays."

Emma laughed. "Well I doubt that any of this is going to really take you away from quidditch. You do still have the big match with Slytherin coming up and I know you're going to win the cup."

"The cup! The match!" Oliver shouted. "What am I doing? I should be planning strategy and . . ."

Emma stopped walking and stood in front of Oliver. "Before you go crazy, can you spend one evening focused on me?"

Oliver wrapped his arms around her and whispered. "I think that would be an acceptable strategy."