A/N: Alrighty guys! This is the second chapter of Chocolate Frog Days and Quidditch Cup nights. The first chapter seemed to confuse some of you so let me clarify-it was Harry's thoughts `narrating' I guess you could say. I had that chapter as the introduction because I wanted to try something a bit different. This chapter is in normal point-of-view. This is going to be a chapter to get you guys more familiar with some of the characters, especially the ones I have yet to introduce-there are a few. You'll get to know them and our old friends (my way) in this chapter…just laying down the foundation. Please R/R!
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your innovations
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
-Natasha Bedingfeild
Hermoine waited outside the team locker room on a hot sunny day in mid-June. The Harpies had just finished their practice. She was filling in as a manager until they found a replacement. Harry was drawing something on a whiteboard and gesturing widely with his free hand. Hermoine could tell he was excited about something. He had this devilish look in his eye-she couldn't wait for the next match against Puddlemore. It was bound to be a good match.
It seemed Harry had finished his tirade and let the team change back into their clothes. Hermoine was going to the pool with some of the girls on the team…Brie, Danielle and Lauren were all going to a nearby neighborhood pool to work on their tans on their afternoon off before the big game. Some of the guys (the rest of the team) were going to do `manly' things and then meet them at the house later. The team was big- it had seven players and a full line of reserve players. The first line consisted of Brie, Danielle and Lauren as the Chasers, Ron as the Keeper, Harry as the Seeker, Evan and Casey as the beaters. The reserve line hung out with them once and a while, trained and practiced with the first string, but didn't have the luxury of living in a team house.
There was a scurry from Hermoine's right. The team began filing out of the room all greeting Hermoine heartily. Brie and Lauren hung back, waiting for Danielle to finish talking to Harry about something or other.
"So how did it go today? " Hermoine asked as they waited.
"Awesome. Ron didn't miss one of Laurens shots and only missed two of mine. Harry came up with this amazing new play were going to work on for our game against the Cannons. Its insane…I can't wait!" Brie said enthusiastically. Her skills as a Chaser were infamous-she had been offered much higher salaries to play for larger teams but she refused every time, saying that she loved it right where she was and she knew the Harpies were going some where. She was American born and breed- moving to the island Harry visited when she was 18 then shifting gears to England to play for the Harpies. She was a natural athlete-she swam for several teams, ran daily, and she could often be found playing a game of football or hockey with the guys. Brie was extremely tall, 5'9'', with long brown, thick, wavy hair and ocean blue eyes. It was the eyes that left the biggest impression-not just the body (Brie was extremely toned and very well endowed). Brie was the one to break the ice often, her spunk caught many males attention, and Hermoine constantly teased her about her outgoing nature. Don't be fooled though, Brie was no where near perfect. She was single-minded to a fault, tended to hide her emotions, and be constantly doing something until she crashed. She also had a fiery temper courtesy of her Italian roots. Brie was easy to befriend, she had many friends, but her enemies feared her. She was not one to be forgotten.
"Everyone knows when you do your funky throwing thing that nobody can stop it. Weasly is getting a lot better-Jacob is a great coach and Harry's a great captain." Lauren said.
"Yeah, it's hilarious when they start arguing in the air though. Remember that one time they knocked each other off their brooms? I laughed for hours."
"They could have been seriously hurt Brie!" Hermoine said, aghast.
"They were five feet from the ground Herm. Don't worry, boys will be boys and they were fine."
"Where's Dan? She's taking forever." Lauren protested loudly. They heard Harry and Danielle's voices stop and soon the two came into view of the door.
`Sorry, I had to ask Harry his opinion about some of my passing moves. He gave me some advice I'm itching to try out at practice tomorrow." Danielle said, shifting her blonde hair from her face. Danielle was of average height, thin and lean like Brie and Lauren. She had fair skin and bright green eyes. She was much shier than her friends, tending to be the sweet girl who sat in the corner and read while the others went out and partied. She didn't mind though, she enjoyed her quiet time. She took much longer to get fired up about something, but she didn't forget grudges easily and could be even more stubborn than Brie (if it was possible). She also tended to be the voice of reason-she stopped many of her friends' stupid missions they wanted to dive recklessly into. Her quiet personality made her uncomfortable in big crowds, so she avoided them as much as possible. She was more uptight about silly things than the other team members but without her half of them wouldn't be able to play. She worked seamlessly with Brie and Lauren in Chaser. The trios' skills were amazing individually but when put together they were unstoppable.
"It's alright." Lauren said giving her a big hug. Lauren had a big heart. She looked completely different from the other two girls though. She was much shorter than them, only 5'6'', with dark brown hair and honey colored eyes. She was always tan and always on the go. She had a lot of energy and was the biggest sweet-heart ever. Everyone loved Lauren because of her innocent disposition on life and optimistic view. Laur was the one you would go to for a cheering up or a shoulder to cry on. She had known Brieana and Danielle since the three girls were 1 year old-inseparable ever since. Their bond was so strong that it could never be broken.
"You girls ready to go get some lunch? I wanted to look for a new bikini, mines kind of old." Brie said shouldering her duffel bag she seemed she always had with her.
"Yes, I'm starving. I haven't eaten since breakfast." Danielle agreed, leading the way out of the tunnel that led to the locker rooms.
"What sounds good to you guys?" Hermoine asked when they reached the car. She drove a Jeep, magically fixed to allow 20 people fit into it if need be. They all sat comfortably as she pulled out of the stadium and onto a dirt road heading into the Muggle village nearby.
"Let's go to that little café. There's a surf shop nearby that we can walk to. I need something cute. Evan promised to stop by with some of the guys later." She said, pulling her long hair up into a ponytail.
"Brie, all you think about is sports, boys, sleeping and back to sports."
"No its not! I think about food sometimes too!" she retorted, smiling. The girls laughed and shook their heads at their friends track mind.
" While were out I have to puck up some stuff for the dogs-Rufus keeps eating Reese's food and then Reese's eats Benjii's food…" Lauren said, ever the animal lover.
"Alright, you can run to the pet store and meet us at the surf shop. I'm going to look for a bathing suit too. I need a new one." Danielle agreed.
"Danielle, you have like…fifty!" Hermoine laughed, poking her shoulder.
"So?" she said, "You can NEVER have too many bathing suits. It's always so hot here, besides I lived in the Caribbean for a long time. You live in bathing suits. There are no such things as jackets or sweaters there."
"Fine…I also wanted to pick up a few more books. I was looking at this one about dragons-"Hermoine started. The girls groaned. They hated being dragged through a musty old bookstore on a beautiful day like it was. Danielle seemed to be the only one willing to go.
"Alright, first we'll go to the surf shop so Brie wont whine the whole time, then we'll hit the pet shop quickly-and no more pets Laur! We're not visiting the adoption section again, we go every time. After that we'll run through the bookstore quickly and head home. I want to be at the pool by one thirty-that's when the best sun is out." Danielle said officially, nodding as if it was the last thing they were going to say about the subject.
"Cant we just take a peak at the dogs? " Lauren begged.
`No!" the other three said in unison. They laughed at the crestfallen look on her face. She had already adopted 5 dogs, three of which they still have (the other two ran away or was adopted), 2 cats, 3 birds and 1 snake (which Ron and Harry kept in the training room). The house was already full enough with a full Quidditch team; they didn't need any more pets.
The café sat snugly in a little nook on the corner of the village. It had the best home-made sandwiches around, perfect for a hot summer day. The girls ate their food leisurely, discussing the events of their lives and watched the passersby.
"Brie, what is going on with you and Evan? You guys are always all over each other yet you guys dance around each other whenever the topic of a relationship is brought up. I mean, come on. Its completely obvious you two are into each other."
"I-"Brie began but was cut short by Hermoine.
"Brie," she said, swallowing her food, "before you say anything, don't even try to deny it. You like him. Its so obvious, alright? I mean, us girls can read these things…don't worry though, I'm sure none of the guys have realized it though. They aren't to quick on the uptake you know."
"I wasn't going to deny it." Brie blushed, even though she was going to.
"Well?" Lauren pushed.
"Well what?" Brie asked stupidly. Lauren sighed impatiently.
"What's going on with you two?"
"I don't know…I mean yeah, I think I like him but were friends and team mates. I don't want a relationship which could mess that up. Our team is way to close and I don't want anything to hurt that. I'd rather stay friends than get into a relationship that fails and end up hating each other."
"You know well that that would never happen. Brie, you cant say you just want to be friends when you have feelings for a guy! I think he likes you back-don't be so childish about it. Talk to him, tell him. You'll feel better about it, believe me."
"I know, I know. I'm just not an extremely upfront sort of person. I kind of like to be subtle until all else fails then go in for the boldness and such." She said, sipping her lemonade.
"Brie, guys are stupid. They don't get subtle." Hermoine pointed out. Brie sighed and nodded knowingly. For a beautiful girl such as herself, she had had very few boyfriends. She tended trust to easily and got hurt before anything ever happened.
"I know its just…"
"Your afraid, aren't you?" Danielle asked. Brie looked bewildered at such a though.
"Me? Afraid of a boy? Never." She dismissed.
"You are aren't you? Brie, its okay to be nervous about it."
"'Bout what? What is `it'? If you guys know so much tell me what's going to happen then?" she demanded, folding her arms stubbornly. The other girls shared a look that she caught. "And don't look at each other like that. I am not being stubborn!"
"Yes you are. Listen. You and Evan are going to talk-soon, and if you don't do it on your own accord we will be happy to help move things along. After that you guys are going to go out and fall madly in love, get married, have kids and name the first one after me." Lauren said matter-of-fact. Brie's eyebrows were raised disbelievingly.
"Whatever." She said. The other girls shared a triumphant smile when she wasn't looking. They knew they had won the argument but they didn't know if Brie was going to sit down and talk to the man. They weren't worried, oh no they weren't. They had several tricky ideas up their sleeves that could get Evan and Brie face-to-face.
The surf shop was close to the café. Brie tore through the racks of two-pieces with a vengeance.
"Jeeze, Brie what have these poor bikinis ever done to you?" Lauren asked, picking one up off the floor after her friend and hanging it on the rack.
"I need the perfect one." She said, coming to a halt at a display nearby. She yelled, pulling a black bikini from the rack.
"I found it!" she yelled, running into the dressing room. If there was one thing to be said about shopping with Brie…it was fast. She was in, out, and had much lighter pockets.
"How does it look?" Hermoine yelled into the changing stall.
"I love it." She said, opening the door and twirling around. It looked great on her.
"I think Evan will to." Danielle said softly, winking at her friend who turned a delicate shade of pink.
"Shut up, Dan." Brie said, going back into the stall to change, declaring that it was the one she was getting. Danielle browsed through some racks, nothing catching her eye until she found a navy blue string bikini. Trying it on she found that it looked amazing on her and flattered her body beautifully. She joined Brie in paying for their suits. The four girls were off to the pet store, humming happily and chattering away.
By one o'clock the girls were back on the road, sitting happily in their seats. Brie was admiring her new bathing suit, Danielle was already immersed in her new book, and Lauren was petting her new puppy excitedly while it licked her face. They got back to the house and changed quickly before heading to the large community water park. Upon arriving they hurried to get the seats where the most sun hit, putting their towels and bags with sunscreen down. After applying a quick layer of lotion they hurried to the water, the hot cement burning the pads of their feet. They laughed as they floated in the cool water, avoiding children's toys and their owners.
"I'm going to go work on my tan." Brie announced after a little while of playing in the water and going down the water slide. She slipped smoothly from the water, pulled her hair swiftly into a sloppy bun and lay on the lounge chairs, the water on her skin glistening in the sun. Soon after the other girls joined her. By 2, all four had fallen into a doze on the pool, the sun baking their skin.
Four boys snuck up on the dozing girls, careful to make as little noise as possible. They all looked at each other and raised the buckets of water above their heads as they dumped it on the unsuspecting women. Laughing uproariously the boys took off as the girls took after them, Brie laughing madly at their prank and the others shrieking at the sudden drenching of cold water. The boys didn't give the girls much of a run for their money, they were laughing to hard and stumbling over various peoples possessions left on the ground. Brie jumped on Evan's back, pulling him into the water. Hermoine slapped Harry's arm soundly when she caught up to him laughing under a tree. He just laughed harder and pulled her into a hug. Danielle and Lauren hurriedly pushed Ron and Casey into the pool, fully clothed. It was their turn to sit on the edge of the pool and laugh at the boys spluttering and shaking the water from their eyes.
After the guys had peeled off their wet clothes (they had worn their bathing suits underneath), they took the lounge chairs next to the girls. Evan lay next to Brie as they talked quietly next to Harry and Hermoine who decided it was easier to share a chair. Danielle and Lauren decided to start a game of water-volley ball. Brie was currently trying to convince Evan to go and join them. He refused so Hermoine decided that she would give it a shot. The four boys were left to watch their teammates (and Hermoine) attempting a game of volleyball with some other guys about their age.
"Evan, whats going on with you and Brie?" Harry asked casually as he watched Hermoine set the ball up for Brie (who had played volleyball for 4 years) to spike.
"I…honestly don't know. I like her a lot but I don't know what she thinks. I mean, I've heard she's interested and all but…I'm not sure. There's a lot to think about." He answered carefully, watching Brie fall back into the water with a splash, laughing after the ball nearly took off one of the guy's heads.
"Like…" Ron asked him, munching on some chips he had gotten from the drink bar.
"Well, for one we are friends, really good friends. Then there's the fact that were team mates. I don't want to disrupt the little…'family' our team is by having a relationship with this girl and ending it on bad terms."
"Yeah, but you guys would work things out. I know both of you wouldn't let things just hang on a bad note." Casey suggested. Evan just shrugged.
"We can say that now but feelings could get in the way."
"I know but take a chance. Talk to her."
"Ill try." Evan replied after a moments of hesitation. The other men sensed the conversation was over and left it at that. It was the best response they were going to get out of him all day.
A/N: Alright guys, there it is. The second chapter. Please R7R. Its sort of introducing Brie, Danielle, Lauren, Casey and Evan. I know I focused more on Brie and Evan, and less on H/H but I have a method to my madness so bear with me. The next chapter will be more exciting, I promise.
<33 He Ate My Chinese!
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