Somewhere Safe - Chapter 25

Harry sat beside his parents with Rose on the other side. Hermione was next to Lily. His friend had latched onto the woman and had begun a stream of questions. James looked amused. Thankfully, Lily appeared to be more than happy to discuss charms, theory, and enchanting.

All around him were the members of his unofficial coven. This Hermione had taken up a spot behind the other. She watched her double with open curiosity mingled with a hint of jealousy. Next to her sat Lavender who observed the interplay between the twins with open interest. Parvati and Padma, the actual twins, had joined them as well. Katie sat directly behind him. She would idly twirl his hair as she spoke with Angelina and Alicia. He hadn't know what she was doing at first. It felt wonderful though.

Luna was at her now usual place with Delphi. The duo sat in front of Harry. Luna had the girl thoroughly distracted so much so that Delphi hadn't managed more than a couple quick glares at Padma and Hermione. She had seemed onboard with the idea of a coven, but now her jealousy had started to grow. If he had to guess, she was still worried that Hermione would try to take him away. Her ire toward Padma had to do with the duel.

The conversation stopped once Iris took the field. She was dressed in her Hufflepuff team gear, complete with bracers, gloves, and googles. A growing curiosity about the differences in Quidditch supplies began to blossom in his mind. The assembled players wore uniforms that looked like the kind he'd seen used for Motocross rather than robes. Excluding the helmets, though that probably wouldn't have been a bad addition. Concussions were no fun even in the magical world. He was sure that someone would be able to construct a helmet that protected the head and didn't obscure vision.

Harry had never seen tryouts for Quidditch before. He didn't think they would scrimmage. When the hopeful Seekers kicked off, he watched with focused interest. Madam Hooch strolled to the center of the pitch holding a trunk not unlike the ones students used. She set it down, undid the latch, and kicked open the lid. At least two dozen snitches erupted from the trunk.

"Catch as many as you can!" She yelled. "You have five minutes."

A scoreboard appeared with a list of the names. There was a total count of snitches in the field, thirty-five, and a spot next to each student to show how many they had caught. The crowd began to cheer as the Seekers zipped through the air.

Harry fought the urge to hunt them and instead focused on Iris. She was a dream on a broom. Her slight build pressed practically flat as she sliced through the sky. It didn't take her long to catch her first one. While it was clear that her broom was amazing, it also showed how skilled she was at flying.

Iris rolled, twirled, spiraled, and dove with ease. There were a few times Harry felt his stomach jump to his throat as he watched her. Hermione heard the muffled yell of shock and gave him a pleased look.

"Oh, Harry, you're just overreacting." Hermione said with a practiced ease. "She is in total control."

"Fine." Harry sighed. "You were right. It is stressful to watch."

"I was never prouder, and terrified, when she got her first real broom." James bumped Harry's shoulder with his own.

"She was eight and you caved." Lily chuckled.

"She gave me the eyes." James muttered.

"We're ten!" The twins yelled at the same time.

"Why don't we have real brooms?" Charles pouted.
"We aren't going to do anything dangerous." Gerry added his pout to the mix as well.
"Iris can be the Seeker." Charles continued. "We want to be Chasers."
"That's much safer." Gerry finished.

"Right." James deadpanned. "Safer."

Harry chuckled. He caught a quick expression that played on Hermione's face. Their time together had given him ample experience in reading her silent cues. The expression had started out lighthearted, then morphed into despair which was quickly schooled to neutral. She knew he wasn't going back, and it was breaking her heart.

It was hard to let it happen. As much as he cared about her, he couldn't sacrifice this chance. She was his best friend, possibly more after that kiss, but that world had few bright spots in a sea of darkness.

"She's in the top three!" Rose cheered.

Harry turned his attention back to the scoreboard. First, second, and third place were each separated by one snitch. Iris would need to catch three to win. There were two minutes left on the clock. The flock of snitches had thinned out as they were enchanted to vanish once they were caught.

"She's doing awesome." Harry smiled as he watched.

Time was counting down. It quickly came down to Iris and another student. The one that had previously been in second had been left in the dust. Most people didn't realize there was a lot of work to ride a broom, especially at how fast they were going. There were more than a few times where Harry felt like his body was made of goo once the adrenaline wore off. Only Iris and the other player appeared to have the stamina to hold on.

In the end, iris came in second. There was a fierce scowl on her face as she landed. She didn't speak with anyone. Instead, she stormed into the locker room. Of all of them, it was Delphi who was on her feet first. The crowd of students parted for her on instinct as she made her way to the locker room.

"Your girlfriend is scary." Charles whispered.
"She's wicked." Gerry said with a wistful sigh.

The assembled group stared at the young Potter boy. Even Charles was confused. Gerry didn't seem to notice.

"Chasers, to the pitch!" Madam Hooch called.

"Did you want to watch?" James asked the group.

Harry didn't answer. He didn't know any of the students that were on the pitch. There were a couple that he kind of recognized in passing, though he didn't know their names.

"Not really." Katie spoke up. "I'll watch the games, but the tryouts aren't as fun."

"I'd thought you'd want to stay all day." Harry leaned back to speak with her.

"Let's go get Iris then." James stood as he spoke.

The group filed out of the stands. They made their way down to the locker room. Luna decided to head right in while everyone else waited outside. She returned a moment later with the other two. Delphi had her arm around Iris' shoulders.

"You did great." Harry said proudly.

Iris snorted.

"You did!" Rose nodded.

"I got second." Iris muttered.

"That should put you on the team." Hermione added. "You looked amazing out there."

"I'm an alternate." Iris sighed heavily.

"Sweet." Katie spoke up.

"How could you say that?" Iris stared at her with a wide-eyed expression. "You know what that means!"

"That you're awesome and they want you on the team." Katie said with a nod.

"That I wasn't good enough to start!" Iris got louder as she spoke.

"Oh, my sweet summer child." Katie shook her head. "Every team has at least one alternate per position. It doesn't mean you're not good enough to start. The coaches will scout the other team to decide which Seeker plays that game. They adjust the lineup depending on a bunch of factors. The weather, style of the other team, and what kind of Seeker they have."

Iris studied Katie for a long moment. She let out a breath and nodded.

"Fine." Iris mumbled.

"You were so awesome." Gerry pushed his way through the group.
"You were like WHOOSH." Charles popped up beside his twin.
"Then like 'nu-uh, that's mine'." Gerry pretended to grab a snitch out of the air.
"Then, ZIP ZOOM WA-OOOM." Charles wiggled like he was on a broom.
"So awesome." The twins said as one.

Iris rolled her eyes. Her façade shattered when she pulled the two into a big hug. She decided to embarrass them by planting loud smooches on their cheeks.

"Did you want to watch the rest of the tryouts?" James asked. "Any friends you want to cheer on?"

"I'd rather spend time with everyone." Iris already sounded more like herself.

"There is still some time before dinner." Lily said. "Could you ladies show Charles and Gerry around the castle? Harry, your father and I need to speak with you."

A strong burst of unrivaled joy was tainted by an undercurrent of dread rushed through him. Hermione looked from his parents then at him, and finally at the other girls. She had enough experience with parents to know that tone of voice.

"I'll be back later." Hermione squeezed his hand.

Harry gave her a nervous chuckle.

The rest of the group peeled off to leave Lily, James, and Harry with their privacy. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the two Hermione walk in the same stride. They fell beside each other and began to talk in a low whisper.

"This way." Lily motioned him towards the lake rather than the castle.

Harry stumbled a step as they arrived at the lake. A string of five gazebos were spaced evenly along the shore. He hadn't had much time outside of the castle yet.

"They didn't have these back there?" James asked with a chuckle.

Harry shook his head.

"These were out Seventh Year project." Lil said with a happy little sigh. "The first real public piece the Marauders showcased. They are temperature controlled, silent, and can switch between two different sets of furniture."

"That's amazing." Harry nodded appreciatively.

"Don't try to distract your mother." James chided with a chuckle.

"Yes, dad." Harry said happily.

He liked the sound of that. James and Lily did too. The gazebo was set to have a collection of seating that faced out toward the lake. Lily motioned for Harry to sit before she took a seat of her own. They didn't look like much, but they were actually rather comfortable. He could see that Lily had to fight the urge to explain how they managed that.

"What do you know about Covens?" James asked before she could get distracted.

Harry blushed. He couldn't make words come out, so he just shook his head.

"A coven is a collection of witches that join together with one wizard." Lily explained. "In the past, this was to provide protection as it harmonized the magic between the group."

"It also helped keep a wizard handy when they wanted to get busy." James wiggled his eyebrows.

Lily sighed. Harry felt the blush that had been receding come back with force.

"What?" James laughed. "Here, in this world, witches outnumber wizards roughly three to one. Muggles are an option, obviously, but wizards from an established line are in higher demand."

"Established line?" Harry asked carefully.

"Second generation wizards." Lily provided. "If you were a muggle-born, any children of yours would be Established. The population is skewed even with relaxed view of mingling with muggles. These days, they have become more like business contracts than emotional connections. Line continuation, alliances, and all that Pureblood nonsense."

"Most include a clause for at least one child. You would not believe how popular we were when twins were born." James shook his head. "Pureblood families were tripping over themselves."

A thought struck him.

"The Weasleys must be very well connected." Harry muttered.

Lily and James winced.

"What?" Harry asked.

"That is a long story that we don't have time to explain." Lily shook her head. "Ask your sisters."

Harry smiled at that.

"Wait." His smile fell. "Rose is in the coven. Iris wants to be too. Is that… acceptable?"

"It's not so common anymore." James bobbed his head from side to side. "I'd say you're a special case though. It's not every day a dimension brother moves in."

"We will need to discuss boundaries over the holidays." Lily added with a firm tone.

"Because of the dimensional travel thing." James directed the conversation back to the topic at hand. "We didn't have any contracts arranged for you. You're free to form a coven as you wish."

"Huh." Harry let the thought settle in.

"There are some friendly families that have asked about you." James added.

"James." Lily elbowed him in the ribs.

"What?" James gave her a hurt look. "He deserves to know."

"More witches?" Harry spoke carefully.

"Potentially." Lily soothed. "You don't have to agree to anything."

"There were some matches that didn't work out with the twins being so young." James continued. "Now that you're here, it opens the negotiations."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. He had come into this conversation with a lingering sense of dread. Now they were discussing possibly introducing more witches to his newly formed coven.

"Later." Harry shook his head. "Is there anything else I need to know about this?"

"A Naturally Formed Coven, like this one." Lily said. "Can be a bit hard to manage with all the contracts that have been formed. You're going to be popular, but there are going to be people out there who would rather you not be around."

"I'm used to people trying to kill me." Harry sighed.

James and Lily stared at him for a moment with a look of abject horror on their faces.

"That's not what I meant at all." Lily had to take a moment to pull herself together. "Killing a wizard is one of the worst crimes there is."

"But you said people wouldn't want me here." Harry arced an eyebrow.

"They won't invite you to holiday gatherings and give you the cold shoulder in public." James sounded like he was close to panic.

"Oh." Harry shrugged. "That's good to hear."

"We have got to sit down and talk about your life in detail." Lily shook her head.

"Any questions?" James sounded strained.

"Is there a size limit?" Harry asked. "No more than seven, groups of three, that sort of thing."

"Magic decides." Lily stated. "Most of the time, there is only one wizard in a coven. Not all of the members have to be physically intimate. An emotional connection is just as strong."

"Well." James let out a deep breath. "That was easier than expected."