With thanks to Jordi, Aeoros, Rune and Mikey for being the coolest friends on the net! Thanks for being there guys!
Especially dedicated to Justin, Jeremy and Louis. The three of you have inspired more new parts of this story. Quidditch and lightsabers forever, brothers! :D
Especially for Justin: I never expected when I first met you that we'd be together. How did I ever end up with someone like you, so loving, caring and thoughtful? What did you see in me that made you smile that extra sweetly for me? How did I get a boyfriend that has the same name as Mr. Timberlake, the star I've admired for so long? You may not be an angel, but you sure are my heaven. Love you! :)
Disclaimer: This story is fictional, and says nothing about the orientations of any member of the boyband N Sync, or any other character, celebrity or otherwise. If you are under 18 or 21, or live in a country where it's illegal to read something like this, leave, though I seriously doubt you will. If you don't like the idea of two guys in a relationship with each other, or having sex with each other, what are you doing here in the first place?
Though maybe none of the characters will be appearing, ideas taken from these places will show up:
Star Wars, Copyright LucasFilms, Created by George Lucas Buffy, Copyright 20th Century Fox, Created by Joss Whedon X-Men, Copyright Marvel Comics, Created by Stan Lee Charmed, Copyright WB, Created by Aaron Spelling
Harry Potter, Copyright JK Rowling (due to James' addition of Harry Potter to his Dark Knight series, I find myself adding it in too, but the character may never appear in the story. However, loving Quidditch as much as I do... :D )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Irish Translator speech courtesy of http://www.whoohoo.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 15 - Quizzes and Quidditch
I could feel the hands pressing around my neck, and I struggled to breathe. I choked and struggled, and finally the hands seemed to relax for a moment. I shot up out of bed, then glanced at Casey. He rubbed his neck and coughed, taking in deep breaths.
"Waat de 'ell wus dat?" he asked. I could make a faint hint of a black glow around his neck, then it slowly became darker. I could feel the power pressing around my neck as well, beginning to tighten once again. Casey and I both began to hum together. Music magic was our family's strong point, and humming in harmony together, we were able to easily overpower the strange force. Slowly, the black light faded away, but we hummed for another minute, just to be sure. Casey got out of bed and looked out the window.
"All de geraniums are dead," he said, pointing to the front yard. Where yesterday had been a lovely garden of red geraniums, there was now a dark patch of dead and wilted flowers. "Whoever yer man is, 'e must be powerful ter be able ter git through our wards."
"Casey! Dylan! Git yer lazy arses down 'ere! Now!"
"Comin' Ma," Casey yelled back. "We'd better 'urry before she gits mad."
We quickly changed and rushed downstairs as quickly as we could to eat. Aunt Sharon was already downstairs waiting for us, her blonde hair messy, and her apron with wet marks. She wasn't very slim, but I liked that because it made her more homely, like a mother should be.
"'Onestly, ye two lookin' ter make breakfast into lunch?" she said sternly, but her eyes twinkled kindly in amusement.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked as I sat down at the table. "Whar's everyone else?"
"Done eatin' an' oyt practicin', which is wha yer two shud be," Aunt Sharon replied. "'Ere, we've got boxty on de griddle, an' beestings pancakes. 'An if ye are anythin' loike Malcolm, ye'll be wantin' de soda bread over dere wi' plenty av butter."
Casey and I wolfed down our breakfast as quickly as we could (or rather, I did, since I finished my third round before Casey was done with his first), helped his mom to wash up the remaining dishes, then headed out to the backyard. Though neighbours could see into the backyard, all they would see was a large expanse of grass as the yard. The actual Quidditch pitch was hidden with spells, and it was the ideal place to practice.
"So 'ow do we practice Quidditch amongst ourselves?" I asked Casey as the two of us made our way to the pitch, Nimbus Two Thousand's in hand. The Nimbus Two Thousand and One was out, but faster speed didn't necessarily mean better playing, and the Nimbus Two Thousand was a pretty good broom, though relatively obsolete. I was waiting for the Firebolt Three to come out, however, as I much preferred the design. Too bad it wouldn't be out for at least another year, but I didn't worry much about it. Competition was fierce among Quidditch broom makers and there was a great chance that the Firebolt Three would be out in a month if things went well.
"Ah, we 'av ter play against us," Casey replied. "It's great practice for both teams, but they didn't make de new league. They started their team a wee bit too late ter qualify."
We stepped through the magical partition onto the Quidditch pitch. It was the proper size for a pitch, and the three hoops at either end were standard League size. There were already thirteen brooms up in the air, but they looked to mostly be flying around than playing. I spotted Aithne, the eldest child of Casey's family. She was taking this as an opportunity to practice her refereeing skills, and she must have been fair, or the other team would surely have protested by now.
"Cum on up, guys, an' we'll start de game," she called as Casey and I mounted our brooms and lifted off the ground. I waved at the players on the other team and they grinned back. I introduced myself to them, since I was newer than any of my family. The team captain, the Keeper Laird, introduced his teammates. "Monique, Fabian an' Malita, they're our Chasers. Duke an' Scott are de Beaters, an' Farah dere is Seeker."
Aithne nodded at the introductions. "Team captains cum forward."
Seamus and Laird drifted to each other and shook each others hand, then floated backwards three broom spaces. Aithne flew down to the ground and opened the chest containing the quaffle, bludgers and snitch. The bludgers shot into the air, and the snitch followed suit. It hovered around Casey and Farah, before zipping off around the pitch. Aithne tossed the quaffle as high as she could. It reached its zenith, and immediately we began to play. I zipped over and grabbed the quaffle at its highest point and threw it to Rachel. She caught it and began flying towards the Riverstown Ragers' goal, but Fabian snatched it out of her grip and sped towards our goal. Rachel and I flew on either side of him, gradually moving closer to him to box him in. Shane, sensing our move, zoomed intimidatingly towards Fabian from the front. As we planned, Fabian panicked and tried to dive, but I managed to wrest the quaffle from his grip. Turning as quickly as I could, I zoomed towards their goal once again. A bludger zoomed near my head, but didn't hit me, but the second one struck my leg. I spun and threw the quaffle to Shane, who was flying alongside me. He grabbed it and sped off towards the hoops, Rachel and I beside and below him. He tossed the quaffle down to Rachel as Malita tried unsuccessfullly to grab it from him. The three of us sped towards the goal posts. A bludger zoomed past Racel, but it was aimed for Monique by Seamus, and she dodged it easily, spoiling her chance to snatch the quaffle from Rachel's grasp. Rachel signalled for a Hawkshead Attacking Formation, and zoomed in between Shane and myself, and we closed in on either side of her, slightly behind in an arrowhead formation. Seamus and Ryan were doing a good job of keeping the bludgers away from us, and we made it close enough to the goal. Shane and I stopped in mid-air, since only one Chaser was allowed to enter the scoring area at a time. Making the most of this chance, Fabian zoomed up from below Rachel, attempting to snatch the quaffle from her. Rachel pulled on her broom and shot straight up. She tossed the quaffle down towards me and flew upside-down out of the scoring area. Malita tried to intercept the quaffle, but she was just an inch too far, and I caught the quaffle easily. I slapped it towards Shane immediately just a split second before a bludger smashed into my shoulder. Shane flew forwards and caught the quaffle, and shot it towards the left hoop. Laird zoomed towards the quaffle, dodging the first bludger to come his way. The second was deflected away by Duke. Time seemed to go in slow motion as Laird sped to grab the quaffle. He missed it by inches, and it flew through the hoop. A magical bell clanged, signalling our ten point score. I was about to cheer, but it died in my mouth instantly as Farah dived down beside me. Casey was speeding in as fast as he could from the centre of the pitch, but Farah was closer to the snitch than he was. She turned left as the snitch changed direction suddenly, then reached out and grabbed it.
"NO!" I yelled, my mouth open in shock. Casey screamed from where he was, clutching his brown hair in frustration. It took a moment for the Riverstown Ragers to realise what had happened. Then they began to whoop and shout and hug each other in celebration. Aithne blew her whistle to signal the game's end.
"Flaming Filans, ten," she announced. "Riverstown Ragers, one hundred and fifty points!"
"Again," Seamus said. "We play again. We need the practice, and this game was too short."
We played until Aunt Sharon stepped onto the pitch and shouted for lunch, levitating several extremely large plates and cutlery for all of us. The plates were filled with generous portions of beef, and copious amounts of black pepper sauce. The aroma wafted up through the air, and my growling stomach leaped with pleasure at Aithne's whistle blowing. We spent a couple of minutes searching the skies for the snitch before Casey spotted it and snatched it. The four Beaters managed to subdue the struggling bludgers and place them safely back into the chest with the quaffle. Aunt Sharon sat down next to us as we began to gobble her tasty meal down. We mostly discussed strategies, strengths and weaknesses of our teams as we ate.
"Your coordination is great," Malita said as she bit a large chunk of beef off her fork. The sauce dribbled down her chin, and she wiped it up immediately. "Those Wizards and Witches are going to be really surprised. I don't think they're going to expect Hedges to play so well. Wizards don't play as well as they think."
"Those were American teams, Malita," Laird laughed. "'Ow often do Americans play Quidditch?"
Malita nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. They always played Quodpot back home."
"I've watched Quodpot before," I said, rolling my eyes as I dropped my Irish accent. "Most boring game I've ever seen in my entire life!"
"I agree," Rachel said, trying to imitate a bimbotic voice. "It's, like, totally boring, y'know?"
Seamus growled laughingly. "Now why'd yer 'av ter go an' learn dat blurdy American accent? Waat else did ye pick up from dere?"
Aunt Sharon looked me straight in the eye, her face stern but kind. "Loads av trouble, Oi expect, dat yer 'av yet ter tell us."
It had completely slipped my mind. "De dead flowers gave it away, 'uh?" The others sat and listened as I related the incident on the plane, and later about Casey's and my being strangled magically, and how we fought back. There wasn't much to tell, I was done very quickly. Before it could sink in that I had somehow crossed someone powerful, the sky began to turn dark. There were no clouds in sight, and the sun was still shining, but it felt like an unnatural shroud of darkness was blocking the sky from us.. I immediately put up a mental barrier, and felt my other family members doing the same. Other than Laird and Duke, the rest of the Riverstown Ragers were Wizards and Witches, and they whipped out their wands and summoned Patronus charms, silvery guardian lights that took the form of animals to protect them.
<I sense you here, little fly,> the hated voice boomed out from the darkness. <You have hidden yourself, but I know you are here. Show yourself and let me kill you.>
I rolled my eyes at Casey and he nodded in agreement. Whoever was doing this obviously need some fresher evil lines to say.
<I know you are here,> the voice thundered. <I can sense you and the other who was next to you. Who is he, then, for you to share a bed? A lover?>
"Hey!" Casey blushed as Seamus poked him with a grin. He wriggled away, but the poke must have disturbed his concentration because the darkness began to reach down for him. It wrapped itself around his neck and picked him a few feet off the floor, then began to constrict.
<I have him, little fly,> he laughed as he shook Casey around a little. <How precious is he to you?>
I got to my feet and let the mental shield drop. "Let him go!"
Dark laughter filled the sky. <Ahh, there you are, little fly. Now I can kill you both together.>
It was too predictable. A dark tendril slithered towards me, grabbing my neck and lifting me off the ground. Seamus suddenly stood and began to sing an "ahh" sound in a deep bass. Shane took the cue and began to join in with his chart-topping voice harmonising with Seamus' tone. Rachel was next with her sweet alto voice, followed by Aithne's lilting soprano. Aunt Sharon joined in, followed by Ryan and Malcolm. I could feel the energy building up, and the tentacle around my neck loosened its grip. I dropped a foot to the gound, landing on my feet, and added my voice and power to the mix. Casey was released soon after, and the sky seemed to become brighter. He joined his voice with the rest of ours as the power began to build. I liked the mathematics behind power in magic. One person had the power of one individual, two people combined had the power of four individuals, and three people had the power of eight individuals and so on. We had nine people adding their power, and we easily overpowered and overcame our nemesis.
<So you have allies,> my mysterious enemy said, his voice fainter like his darkness. <Mark my words, Filan, you will not live through this night. I know where to find you, and you will not survive another encounter.>
The darkness faded altogether, leaving us staring at the sky, shining brightly as normal. But the bright sun barely warmed the chill I felt in my bones. Aunt Sharon immediately took charge of the situation. "Seamus, Oi need yer ter go an' buy as amethysts as yer can. Malcolm, go ter the florist an' git as many protective flowers as yer can. Aithne, Oi need yer ter start chargin' de bottles an' 'herbs. Casey, take Dylan, Rachel an' Ryan with you ter set a draiocht ward aroun' de house. Shane, yer carvin's good. Cum wi' me an' 'elp me carve oyt sum Luis an' Fearn Oghams ter set in de house. De rest av yer, go 'ome, 'e's not after yer, whoever 'e is. Best ter keep it dat way."
We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing the house with wards, protective charms, and spells. We set up witch bottles, replanted the geraniums, scattered and charged the dried herbs all over the floors like a carpet, set up a ward around the house, carved runes and oghams onto sticks or rocks and placed them around the house, and laid amethysts around every corner of the house. Aunt Sharon cooked dinner with specifically charged with kitchen witchery magic for protection, and we burned red and green candles to evoke protection. Any means of protection we could think of, we used. I left a dish of our best milk outside the back door and invited our faerie allies to help us. Seamus called out the slumbering gargoyle spirit to protect the house again, and Aithne's dragon set up his own shield around the home. Rachel set up great flaming blue pentagrams on every door and window, and Malcolm put out a request for angels to protect the house. By the end of it all, the house felt thick with magic. Then Ryan pointed out that with all the magical protection around the house, anyone trained to see magic would see it glowing a mile off. Being great at invisibility, Ryan cast another ward to hide all the enchantments around the house from magical view. With all that set, we ate dinner in relative silence and went to sleep, feeling secure with all our protection. I smiled smugly as Casey snuggled next to me, fast asleep. Just let the bastard touch us now, I thought. Finally, I feel into a deep sleep as the exertion from the afternoon finally overcame me.
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