16 Years Later

After long years of waiting, England was once again hosting the final match of the Quidditch World Cup, therefore many of the Hogwarts students whose families had managed to get them tickets were overly happy near the end of their school year. The fact that the game was between England itself and Brazil only added to their excitement.

Leo and Teddy walked out of the classroom after their last exam of the year, their backpacks hung loosely over their shoulders. As much as they loved being at Hogwarts, they were glad that their sixth year was finally coming to an end so they could go back home to their families. This time, for a special reason.

"I've been practicing all month. It will definitely work," said Leo, but Teddy wasn't too assured.

      "Maybe if you had used your powers more often in the past it would've been easier now," Teddy reasoned as the two of them walked down the corridor.

     "It's not like you use your powers that much either. You only change your hair color," said Leo as he pointed at Teddy's turquoise blue hair.

     "You're right. This is going to be harder than either of us had expected." Teddy sighed, shaking his head. "Are you sure we should go through with this? They'll figure it out in a second."

"What makes you think that?"

"Both my parents and yours were troublemakers, remember? Haven't you listened to the stories they always tell us about their school days? They were all a bunch of pranksters. There's no way they'll buy it."

"They won't suspect a thing! Just trust me on this, okay?"

"I'm telling you, I don't have a good feeling about this whole thing. They're gonna see right through us."

     "You don't have a good feeling about what?" a voice said behind them, causing the two boys to whirl around briskly.

      As soon as they turned around and looked behind them, they saw Leda and Victoire walking toward them with a curious expression upon their complexion.

     "Nothing," the two boys quickly said in sync, looking extremely suspicious.

     "Aha..." Leda folded her arms and looked between them with her bluish grey eyes. "Very convincing."

     "It's none of your business," Leo retorted back, glaring at his younger sister.

      "Anyway," Victoire broke through, "Leda got a letter from your parents today."

     "Right." Leda cleared her throat, remembering why she had come here in the first place. "Mum managed to get everyone seats at the Ministry box."

     "That's great!" Teddy clapped his hands together in excitement, his grin returning to his face.

     He and Leo were sorted into the same house and both were big Quidditch fans, but only Teddy had tried out for the Hufflepuff team, landing the Chaser spot at last. So, he was understandably the most excited among all of them to go and see the Quidditch World Cup game in three week.

     "Hold on, hold on," Leo raised his hand to stop his sister, looking worried, "when you say everyone... you don't mean it literally, do you?"

     "I do, actually," said Leda. "Literally everyone. All the Weasleys. All the Blacks. All the Potters. The Lupins. Everyone."

     "Even the kids?" Teddy raised his brows in surprise.

     Leda nodded. "Yup."

     "But there's a billion of us!" said Leo.

     "Well, let's see..." Victoire started, using her fingers to count, "there is you two and your dad, Teddy and his parents, Grandpa and Grandma Weasley, my parents, Dominique, Louis, me, Uncle Percy and his wife, Molly, Lucy, Uncle Ron, Auntie Hermione, Rose, Hugo, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily. Then there's Uncle Fred, Aunt Lexi, Alex, Scarlett, Regulus and his wife, Uncle George, Auntie Angelina, Fabian, and Rebecca. And thank Merlin that Uncle Charlie is still single, because I think thirty-eight people is already enough."

     "Blimey!" Leo let out a breath. "The Ministry Box would explode."

     "It won't even have a place for the Minister himself," said Teddy.

      "It's a good thing everyone's going to be there this year, though. I don't mind," said Leda, shrugging. "I was getting tired of having to go to all the games with just Leo and dad. It's a good change to have our entire family there with us."

      "How can you get tired of watching Quidditch?" said Teddy in disbelief. "You get to go to all of England's games!"

     "Exactly. Every single one of them," said Leo. "Don't get me wrong, I love going to the matches. But you get used to it after the hundredth game."

      "Anyway, we should better get going and pack," said Leda, flipping back her dark brown hair. "See you later."

      "Bye," said Victoire shyly, looking over at Teddy as she batted her long eyeslashes and placed a strand of her silky blonde hair behind her ear before walking away with Leda.

     Despite the fact that Leda had been sorted into Gryffindor and Victoire in Ravenclaw, they still remained best friends ever since they were kids. They were inseparable, just like Teddy and Leo.

      Leda and Victoire were both two years younger than Leo and Teddy, now finishing their fourth year at Hogwarts. Even though Leda had taken after her parents and had gotten into the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the Keeper, she hadn't inherited her mother's Metamorphic abilities, unlike Leo.

"Yeah... she definitely likes you." Leo sniggered once the two girls had turned to the next corridor and disappeared out of sight.

Teddy pursed his lips together. "I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"W-well, it's just that she's two years younger than me, and not to mention I've known her ever since we were kids. It's weird."

"What's weird is that you don't like her back. She's basically part-Veela. All the guys at school have a crush on her, but she likes you."

"It's not that I don't like her. It's just that — I don't know — how am I even going to ask her out? How can I even find the right time?"

"Oh, geez, I don't know. It's not like you go to the same school together or see each other every week over the summer at family dinners," said Leo sassily.

"I know, I know." Teddy rolled his eyes. "You don't have to be sarcastic about everything."

"Of course I do." Leo grinned. "It's in my blood."

"I thought being dramatic was in your blood."

"Yeah, that too." He smirked. "I'm half Potter, half Black. We don't get to choose if we want to be sarcastic, stubborn, or dramatic. It's kind of a package deal. You get it all."

***

As the last day of their sixth year arrived, Teddy and Leo boarded the Hogwarts Express along with the other students, and so they took a whole compartment to themselves until the train finally stopped at Platform nine and three-quarters by the time nightfall had come.

     The two boys had gone through their plan a dozen times and practiced what they had to do. They only had to keep it up for two weeks.

     "I'm still convinced that it's not going to work," Teddy whispered worriedly to Leo as they reached for their trunks and made their way out of the train, walking through the sea of students who were leaving their compartments.

     "I told you already! It will work!" Leo said with the same determination as always. "Trust me."

     "We've never done a single prank in our life. This is a really extreme one for our first time."

     "Look, I'm tired of how our dads go on and on about how awesome they were in their Hogwarts years! If we manage to keep this up prank for two weeks without them noticing, we'll show them that we can be just as cool."

     "Cool people don't call themselves cool."

     "Shh. It's time to go. Don't forget to act natural," said Leo with a mischievous grin as the two of them walked into the platform, which was obscured by a thick white steam that was still pouring from the train behind them.

Although there was something different about them. Or rather, literally everything was different about them.

As a prank, the two boys had decided to use their Metamorphic abilities to fool their families by transforming into each other for two weeks and switching places, until the end of the Quidditch World Cup game.

Teddy had bet Leo that there was no way their parents wouldn't notice, but Leo kept reassuring him that if they did everything as planned, they would be successful at the prank. And after that, their parents could never brag about the troubles they caused or the legendary pranks they used to pull.

"Anyway, why am I seeing good with your glasses?" Teddy asked, pushing up the black glasses up his nose which Leo always wore.

"Er... well... I don't really need them," said Leo sheepishly, running a hand through his now turquoise blue which was Teddy's favorite color. "The glasses are decorative."

"Of course they are." Teddy sighed mockingly, rolling his eyes.

"Oi! Don't give me that judgy look. They look good on me, okay?"

"If you say so." Teddy grinned, causing Leo to glare at him.

Pushing their trolleys onward, Teddy and Leo took turns to run toward the brick wall, gathering speed until they passed through the barrier and reached the Muggle side of King's Cross Station.

     "There they are," said Leo quietly, who had turned his voice to sound like Teddy's, gesturing his head over at the distant, where they finally sighted their parents. "Okay, how's my voice?"

     "Good. How's mine?" Teddy questioned.

     "It should be a little deeper."

     "You wish." Teddy scoffed, both of them laughing as they pushed their trolleys onward.

     "Ah, there they are!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed with a big smile once he spotted his son, walking toward them along with Teddy.

     "Oh, hi!" Tonks rushed forward, pulling 'Teddy' into a tight embrace, and Sirius gave 'Leo' a hug and patted him on the back.

     "He's my son too, you know," said Remus, smiling warily with his hands in his oversized coat's pockets.

     "Oh, hush. You get to see him all year long," Tonks argued, finally pulling back from Teddy. "I only get to see him over the Christmas break and summer holidays."

     "Not all year." Remus shrugged with a playful smile. "Only twice a week during lessons — which reminds me — both of you did great in your Defense Against the Dark Arts exam."

     "Thanks, Da —" Teddy was saying, but he quickly stopped himself once he caught Leo's glare. "Er — thanks, Uncle Remus."

     "We should better get going soon," said Tonks. "We didn't manage to get a good parking spot. I had to use a Spacious Charm to park it between to other cars."

"You go on. We still have to wait for Leda," said Sirius. "See you at the World Cup."

"See ya," said Tonks, and so they all waved at Sirius and 'Leo'. Although before walking off, the two boys grinned at each other. It was going to be a legendary prank.

"Sorry your mum couldn't make it, by the way," said Sirius, his eyes on the brick-made barrier between platform nine and ten as they waited for Leda to appear. "You know how busy she is these days."

"It's okay. I understand," said Teddy, who was imitating Leo's voice to the best of his abilities. Although it was proving to be harder than he had expected, because his powers were taking too much of his energy.

"Really?" Sirius raised a surprised brow at him before grinning. "You always complain when your mum isn't around, being the big mama's boy that you are."

"No, I'm not!" Teddy retorted in the same nagging tone that Leo usually spoke in. But he secretly agreed with Sirius. Leo really was a mama's boy, and Teddy always used to tease him about this as well.

"There's Leda," said Teddy, pointing at the barrier where she appeared through, pushing her trolley.

Victoire came right after her, and then she waved Leda goodbye, going to search for her own parents through the crowd.

"Leda! Over here!" Sirius shouted over the loud chatter of the crowd around them and stretched out his arm to wave a hand in order to catch her attention.

The moment Leda caught sight of her father, she broke into a big smile, her face brightening up.

"Dad!" Leda squealed happily, leaving her trunks behind and running toward Sirius, jumping to hug him.

"Hello, my little princess." Sirius laughed, picking her up for a moment before putting her back down. "Merlin's Beard, you've grown up so much since Christmas!"

Leda giggled, going to take her trolley so they could leave.

"Here, let me carry that for you," said Sirius, taking the trolley's handle from Leda.

"Thanks, Dad," said Leda, although she frowned the next moment when she caught her brother looking over at Victoire's direction, who was greeting her parents on the other side of the station.

"Leo? Oi!" Leda smacked her brother on his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Teddy blinked a few times, bringing his attention back to Leda.

"You were staring at Victoire," Leda said in a hushed voice as they crossed through the station.

"No I wasn't," Teddy said briskly, looking away awkwardly.

"Well, don't get your hopes up, because she's in love with Teddy."

At those words, he suddenly came to a halt, his body freezing. "Wh-what?"

"I thought you knew." Leda shrugged casually. "It was pretty obvious."

"I — I just thought it was a little crush," Teddy said in a hollow tone, pushing his trolley onward again. "Are you sure, though? Did she — did she actually tell you that — that —"

"That she's in love with Teddy? Yeah, she did. A million times." Leda rolled her eyes.

And so, right at that moment, Teddy came to believe that nothing in the world was more impossible than trying to hide away his smile.

***

Teddy had been at the Potter manor many times before, sometimes even staying there for a whole month during the summer vacation when they were younger. But it certainly felt weird without Leo actually there, and even weirder that he was pretending to be Leo.

"Dinner's ready!" Sirius called the kids into the kitchen.

"Dad, I thought we had a deal," Leda groaned as she and Teddy walked into the kitchen. "No cooking when Mum's not home. We order takeout."

"But can this takeout make pancakes as good as your dad can?" Sirius grinned, waving his wand and causing the pancakes to float on three plates, and then making the plates fly toward the kitchen table, settling down in front of their seats.

"Pancakes for dinner again?" Leda sighed, moodily picking up her fork as she mumbled under her breath, "I miss Mum."

"Honestly, I miss her too," said Sirius, passing the melted chocolate to his son. "Do you have any idea how long its been since we've —"

"NO, EW!" Leda quickly dropped her fork to hold her ears, afraid of what she was going to hear next.

"Oh, relax. I was going to say it's been long since we've seen each other." Sirius rolled his eyes, before adding in a low whisper, "And other stuff..."

"Ugh." Leda face-palmed, although Teddy snorted in laughter. Leda gave him a look. "Okay, what's up with you today?"

"What do you mean?" said Teddy, cutting a piece of the pancake and eating it, trying to act as oblivious as possible.

"You haven't complained about how Mum's not here. You haven't complained about Dad cooking, or having pancakes for dinner. Not even when he started talking about the unspeakable stuff that he and Mum think is okay to talk about around us."

"I'm just tired, that's all," he said, and he truly meant it. Teddy had never felt more worn out in his entire life, feeling that using this much of his Metamorphic powers was draining every last bit of his energy.

     He didn't know how Leo's mother had lived undercover with Death Eaters for several months. She was truly one of the toughest women he knew.

Teddy was just hoping that Leo was having an easier time trying to convince Tonks and Remus that he was their son.

***

As soon as Teddy's supposedly father and sister said their goodnight, he went up to Leo bedroom, quickly closed its door behind him and locked it up, immediately transforming back to his own form.

Leaning against the door, Teddy took in a deep breath, feeling his whole body aching. Without changing his clothes, he dropped himself down on the bed, immediately falling asleep.

      He didn't know how long had passed. Maybe an hour. Maybe two. It was now way past midnight and the whole house was drowned in silence that suddenly the door to his bedroom opened after being unlocked and someone tiptoed their way inside.

     Teddy blinked a few times, too sleepy that his brain couldn't function what was going on. Rubbing his eyes, he raised into a sitting position.

"Who's there?" Teddy mumbled sleepily.

"Shh. You're dreaming. Go back to sleep." It was a girl's voice.

Without realizing what was going on around him, Teddy reached his hand toward the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on.

He took aback when he saw that Leda was walking across the room toward the sock drawers. The moment the lights were turned on and she turned her head toward the bed, Leda let out a loud scream when she saw that instead of her brother, it was Teddy who was there.

Shock taking him over and his sleepiness quickly vanishing, Teddy shouted and jumped out of bed, panicking that she had seen him in his true form and everything was now ruined.

"What are you doing here?" Teddy hissed at her, his heart beating rapidly.

"Me?" Leda scoffed angrily. "What are you doing here? And where the hell is Leo?"

Before Teddy could even get the chance to open his mouth and reply, they heard the door at the end of the second floor open and then heard rushed footsteps running toward Leo's bedroom.

"No time to explain. Please just act along," Teddy said desperately before quickly transforming back into Leo.

The next moment the door to the bedroom they were in fully opened and they saw a pale Sirius at the doorway, breathing rapidly with his wand in hand, looking around the room in horror.

"What happened!? I heard screaming!" he asked in a state of panic, all color drained from his face.

"Nothing," Teddy and Leda said together. Leda then added, "I was sleep walking."

"Sleep walking?" Sirius repeated, still looking terrorized.

It was as though the war had left scars in his heart and soul that not even time could heal.

"Yeah, Dad. It's fine. Go back to bed," Leda tried to say soothingly.

"Right. Right." Sirius exhaled his breath. "When your mum returns we'll look more into this sleep walking thing. It can't be healthy. You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, of course. Thanks." Leda gave him a reassuring smile.

Looking around the room one last time just to make sure everything was safe, Sirius left Leo's bedroom again, walking down the hall and toward his own room. It seemed like whenever his wife wasn't home by his side, it was harder for him to forget his past.

The moment they heard the door to Sirius's room close shut at the end of the hall, Leda walked toward Leo's bedroom door and closed it as well, before turning to glare at Teddy with folded arms.

     "How did you unlock the door in the first place, anyway? We're not allowed to use magic outside of school." Teddy asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

     "Pins. It's a Muggle trick. Well?" Leda raised a brow at him demandingly, wanting answers.

Sighing, Teddy transformed back to himself again. "Leo and I thought that as a prank we could switch places for two weeks, and see how long it would take everyone to notice."

"So far not so good then, huh?" Leda grinned.

"No. And I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone either."

"And what would you give me in return?"

"What?"

"It's called negotiation, little puff." Leda grinned teasingly.

"Little puff?" Teddy repeated, chuckling. "Hufflepuffs can be tough too, you know."

"They can be tough, no doubt. But you're all innocent little angels." She pouted.

"No, we're not!"

"Oh, yeah?" Leda smirked. "Then let's negotiate, tough guy. I won't tell anyone about your little prank, as long as you keep it quiet around Leo about what I'm going to do now."

Teddy was about to ask what she was talking about, but he became even more confused when Leda started opening Leo's drawers, searching underneath his shirts and socks, before finally taking out a little box.

"Aha! Found it!" she said in triumph, looking at the box as though it was her biggest treasure.

"Um... what is that, exactly?" Teddy mused.

"This, my friend, is going to be my leverage and black-mail material for the next few years; a.k.a, it's all of Leo's embarrassing photos from when he was a kid," said Leda, her smirk growing in satisfaction. "He stole all his embarrassing pictures from our family album a few years ago and hid them. Guess Hufflepuffs aren't that good at hiding stuff than they are at finding."

"Then why don't you want to tell him that you have the photos?"

"Because I'm going to pick my moment and choose the right time to use this blackmail. I need him to be shocked. People are more vulnerable when they don't expect something coming."

Teddy gave her a look. "You scare me sometimes."

"Aww, thanks." Leda winked at him before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her again and leaving him all on his own.

***

The next two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Only a few hours before the start of the Quidditch World Cup game, the Blacks arrived at the campsite with their own personal Portkey which they had taken right outside the Potter Manor.

      Teddy had managed to keep his identity a secret from Sirius for the past two weeks, being more careful not to make small mistakes to give himself away.

      As soon as they arrived with the Portkey on top of the hill and their feet hit the ground, a tall wizard in weird Muggle clothes walked toward them with a list in his hands.

     "Name?" The man demanded in a cold tone, not even bothering to look up.

     "Sirius Black," Sirius answered.

     At the mention of that name, the man's head shot up with interest. "Sirius Black, did you say?"

     "Yes, yes." Sirius shook a hand at him in a humbled manner as he grinned. "You know me, I assume?"

     "Of course, sir!" The man said with a huge smile. "You're Mrs. Potter's husband."

Sirius's face fell. He sighed in disappointment while the kids sniggered behind him. "Yes, that's what I'm mostly known as these days. Apparently being an Auror like me isn't impressive enough these days."

The wizard then called for another man who politely showed the Blacks to their V.I.P tent. It didn't take long for them to leave for the stadium, where the game was taking place. Teddy couldn't wait to see Leo and find out how his two weeks had been.

     The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple and it took them long minutes to walk through. At last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. There were around fifty purple chairs set in three rows, half of which were filled with their own family.

     A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the other seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself.

      "Hey," Teddy greeted Leo quietly as he took the empty seat beside him.

      "Hey." Leo grinned, who was still in Teddy's form. "Well? How was it? Did anyone suspect anything?"

     "No — well, except for your sister — she walked in on me while I was in my own form. But she promised she wouldn't tell anyone."

      "That doesn't sound like her," Leo said thoughtfully, but he then looked back again at his friend and frowned. "What's wrong with your nose?"

     "What do you mean?"

      "You've got my nose wrong, you idiot!" Leo hissed at him quietly. "My nose isn't that big!"

     "This is exactly what it looks like."

      "I take pride on how perfect my nose is, okay? And that is not what it looks like."

       "Well, if anything, you've got my eye color all wrong!" Teddy retorted. "My eyes aren't brown! They're green!"

     "Wait, really?"

     "Yeah! How can you not know this!? You've known me for more than sixteen years!"

     "Damn it. You don't think our parents actually realized the difference, do you?" Leo asked worriedly.

     "Don't think so. Did my parents act odd while you were there?"

      "Not really... except for the time when they kept feeding me pumpkin sandwiches, saying that it was my favorite food. So I had to eat them all without complaining so they wouldn't suspect anything."

     "Pumpkin sandwich?" Teddy repeated in confusion. "What the hell is a pumpkin sandwich?"

     "You know, pumpkin on bread. It was disgusting, I even threw up once." Leo shuddered at the thought. "How do you even eat such thing?"

     "I don't! I never have in my life!"

     "Hang on..." Leo's eyes widened and his face fell fearfully. "You don't think that your parents were doing that on purpose, do you?"

     "Finally caught up, have you?" A woman's voice said behind them, making them jump.

     Turning their heads around briskly, Leo and Teddy flinched when they saw Tonks, Remus, and Sirius standing there behind them, grinning down at them.

     "Nice game you've been putting up for two weeks, boys," said Sirius, smirking. "But did you really think you could fool us?"

     "We have already done every single prank you can think of. But I think it's sweet of you guys to try," said Remus, smiling down at them wistfully.

"Yeah, we've pulled that same prank years ago in our fourth year," said Sirius arrogantly, scoffing as though it was a piece of cake.

"How?" Leo mused. "You're not Metamorphmagi."

At that, Sirius and Remus glanced at each other before looking away abruptly, clearing their throats.

"Some stories are better left unsaid," said Sirius, avoiding their eyes.

     Sighing, Teddy and Leo transformed back to their own forms. "How long have you known?" Leo asked grumpily, disappointed that their plan had failed.

     "About three minutes after arriving home," Tonks told Leo. "Right after you screamed when one of our garden gnomes jumped at you."

     Teddy snorted with laughter at that. "You screamed?"

      "No, I didn't! Shut up!" Leo punched him on the arm. "In my defense, it was dark, and I'm not used to having gnomes in our garden."

     "Everyone, take your seats. The game's about to start," Mr. Weasley called from the row behind them.

     "Ladies and gentlemen," the commentator's voice boomed through the whole stadium, speaking in an American accent. "Welcome to the final of the 427th Quidditch World Cup!"

Loud cheers erupted from the stadium as everyone clapped and shouted their support. A Brazilian music suddenly started playing and on cue, a hundred men and women in elaborate costumes made of elegant and colorful feather-made customs walked onto the field, dancing through the parade.

Everyone cheered and clapped. As soon as they had left, a loud boom erupted through the sky.

"Look!" Albus Potter gasped, pointing upward.

There, in the sky, the most magnificent fireworks that anyone had ever seen was taking place. The crowd gasped in awe. The fireworks took different shapes, such as dragons or the shape of the Quidditch Cup, and at last England's flag.

"What's that smell?" Tonks asked. She wasn't the only one who had noticed it. Every single person in the crowd had realized an amazing scent as well.

"It smells like treacle tart and flowers," said Harry in the row behind them.

"No, I definitely smell the woody scent of broomsticks," said Ginny.

"That's not what I smell at all," said Mrs. Weasley. "Homemade cookies and knitted sweaters, for sure."

"There is Amortenia used in the powder of the fireworks," Fred explained, smiling proudly.

"It's our work, of course," George said smugly. "We made thousands of Galleons creating these fireworks for the England National team."

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," the commentator went on after the fireworks had vanished, "Allow me to introduce — the Brazilian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Fernando Dias! Alexandra Martins! Gonçalo Flores! Rafael Santos! Carlos Clodoaldo! Raul Almeida! Aaaaaaand — Paulo Silva!"

     Seven figures in yellow Quidditch robes shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Brazilian supporters.

     "And now, please welcome — the England National Quidditch Team!" The commenator's voice boomed through the magical microphone. "I give you — Edric Vosper! Avery Hawksworth! Keaton Flitney! Dawn Withey! Indira Choudry!
Denison Frisby! Aaaaaand Jenna Potter!"

      The sound of the cheers became even louder as seven red blurs swept onto the field on their brooms, so fast that they were barely recognizable at first. But no one could miss the woman with long blue hair which was tight in a high ponytail.

Even though she was a few years older than the rest of the players, she looked younger than any one of them, and certainly the most skilled one.

"Look! It's Mum!" Leda shouted, clapping. "WHOO! GO, MUM!"

"KICK THEIR ARSES, JENNY!" Sirius yelled at the top of his lungs.

     "Now, without further ado, let the match begin!" The commentator yelled, and the balls were released, the game starting. "Flitney catches the Quaffle right away! Blocked by Dias! Passed to Flores! England better up their game, the last Quidditch World Cup wasn't their year. But with Potter as their new Captain, things have certainly changed in their favor!"

     The game went on. Fouls. Blocks. Penalties. Brilliant goals. Shocking catches. One Brazilian Chaser was knocked off his broom, and the English Beater's arm was injured by the opponent's Bludger. The game was on fire, and the level of the crowd's excitement was through the sky.

     "She's seen the Snitch!" Leo suddenly shouted after almost an hour, pointing onto the field. "Mum's seen it!"

      Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening as well. Everyone was on their feet, screaming their Seekers on. The Brazilian Seeker flew after Jenna with full speed. He was too far behind. There was no way he could catch up with her. But then, it happened —

     "NO!" Everyone yelled as a Bludger hit Jenna Potter, throwing her off her broom and to the ground.

     "FOUL!" The crowd was screaming, but Sirius had gone silent, his eyes wide as he watched his wife worriedly, as though he had gone petrified in fear.

      "Good gracious! Unbelievable! Potter is reaching  for her broom again!" The commentator yelled. Even the other players had stopped the game to watch. "She flies again! Look at her go! She's getting closer — her speed is unbelievable! The Seekers are flying side-by-side! Potter takes advance! She goes and — GOOD GOD! POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! ENGLAND WINS!"

     The stadium erupted with loud cheers of the England supporters and the angry shouts of the Brazilians.

     "WE WON! SHE DID IT!" Sirius was yelling the loudest, jumping up and down like everybody else and clapping. "YEAH! THAT'S MY WIFE!"

***

"England! England! England!" Leo, Leda, and Sirius kept chanting as they arrived at the Potter Manor's yard with a private Portkey late that night after the celebration party.

Jenna laughed, carrying the Quidditch Cup as they walked through the yard and toward the entrance of their house. All the players got trophies, but it was always the captain who took the Cup home.

"Leo, could you please take the trophy from your mum?" said Sirius as they neared the entrance door.

"Yeah, sure." Leo smiled, taking the Cup from Jenna as Sirius opened the front door to their house.

"Why?" Jenna asked, but her question was answered when Sirius suddenly swept her off her feet, carrying her inside bridal-style, making her laugh again.

"Here we go again," said Leda, rolling her eyes playfully. "You two don't have to be so cheesy all the time."

"Excuse you, but we were the hottest couple in the whole school, back in our day," said Sirius, finally putting Jenna down.

"And when was that? A million years ago?" Leo joked and Leda snorted with laughter at that.

"Laugh all you want. But there is no way you two can ever be as cool as me and your dad, when we were your age," said Jenna with a teasing grin.

"Yeah." Sirius nodded smugly. "I even had a badass motorbike."

"We know." Leo and Leda said together with a sigh.

Jenna giggled. "Now, why don't you two kids go to sleep. It's really late."

"No way! It's only two o'clock!" Leda reasoned, looking at the clock in their living room.

"Yeah, we want to stay awake and celebrate." Leo nodded eagerly, setting the Cup down on the table.

"As you wish." Sirius shrugged carelessly, although then he threw an arm around Jenna's waist, bringing her closer to him. "But I hope you don't mind me and your mother getting a bit cosy. You know how long it's been since we've seen each other."

"Ooh, yeah," Jenna grinned, turning to face Sirius and taking a hold of his shirt's collar, bringing his face closer to hers, "I've missed him so much."

"Okay!"

"Goodnight!"

The kids said at the same time in panic before running up the stairs as fast as they could. Jenna and Sirius chuckled, pulling apart.

     "Works every single time," said Sirius, grinning.

      "Never gets old." Jenna smirked, high-fiving him.

"Okay, what do you say to some wine?" Sirius suggested, rubbing his hands together.

"Ooh, definitely!" Jenna nodded, placing a sweet kiss on his lips.

"All right. Coming right up, my lady." Sirius winked at her before walking into the kitchen.

With a little happy sigh, Jenna picked up the Cup, carrying it toward the shelf above the living room's fireplace where she kept all her Quidditch trophies. Smiling, she placed the Cup right in the middle after making some room for it.

Although her favorite items on that shelf were her magical snow globe which Sirius had given her as a Christmas present back in their fifth year, and the Golden Snitch which Sirius had proposed to her with.

     "You were amazing today," said Sirius when he walked back into the living room with two glasses of wine in hand.

     "Thank you." Jenna smiled, taking the glass from him to take a sip from the red wine. Jenna then ran her fingers through his black hair with her free hand. "You look so sexy with your hair short this way, Mr. Black."

     "Oh, yeah? I'm glad you like it, Kitten." Sirius grinned, placing a hand around her waist to bring her closer to him again. "You looked great today, too."

     "Yeah, right." Jenna scoffed, taking another sip of the wine. "Specially when the Bludger hit me and my nose started bleeding at the end of the game."

     Sirius chuckled. "I meant how you had turned your hair blue. I love it when you turn your hair different colors."

      "I know." Jenna smiled. "That's what you told me when we were fifteen."

Sirius raised his brows at that. "Did I?"

"Yeah. Don't you remember? It was during our Astronomy class, back in fifth year. We were still sort of enemies back then, but then you said the sweetest thing that night... you told me how much you loved it whenever I turned my hair into crazy colors."

"You really found that sweet? I thought I was weirding you out."

"Of course it was sweet. It reminded me of something my mother had told me, years ago," she said, turning back to face the shelf above the fireplace. On the wall behind it, many old photographers were hung in frames, the happy people in them waving at the camera and laughing. "She had told me 'Don't be with someone who wants your normal side. Fall for the idiot who enjoys your craziness'."

      Jenna smiled to herself, looking at the picture of her young self, surrounded by Euphemia, Fleamont, and James. It had been James and Jenna's eleventh birthday, a cake with candles in front of the kids and their parents on either side of them, all of them smiling.

     There was also another photo there, of Sirius, James, and Remus in their school uniforms, their arms around each other's shoulders; Sirius had cut out Peter from the picture.

     In another photograph, Lily and James were holding baby Harry, waving at the camera. There was also one with all the Weasleys, Blacks, Potters, and the Lupin in one picture; it was four years ago at Christmas, and they were all gathered at the Burrow. But Jenna's personal favorite photo was the one they had gotten last year, with her, Sirius, Leo, and Leda.

     "Where did the time go..." Jenna whispered, placing her wine glass down on the shelf as she looked around at the pictures more closely, an ache growing in her heart.

     Seeing the look of despair in her eyes, Sirius put down his glass as well and wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his chin down upon her shoulder.

     "You know what I remember from that night at the Astronomy Tower?" said Sirius while Jenna's eyes remained fixed on the pictures on the wall. "I remember that you accused me of stealing your first kiss."

Jenna laughed. "I was around thirteen when you first kissed. And as much as I never would've admitted it, I really liked you. You broke my heart."

"In my defense, you broke my heart first."

Jenna frowned in confusion, turning around to face him with his arms still wrapped around her. "What are you talking about?"

"There was this jerk — I don't even remember his stupid name — but he was a year older than us back then — he said that you had kissed him."

"What?" Jenna exclaimed in surprise. "What are you talking about? When did this happen?"

"After the Christmas Ball at your house in second year," Sirius explained. "We had just returned to Hogwarts after Christmas break. He told me that you and him had snogged on the train."

Jenna's eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure I would remember if I had kissed another guy in second year. I'm telling you, this never happened."

"Never!? So you're telling me I got jealous for no reason at all?"

"And you're telling me that you kissed Angelica Bennet in second year because you had become jealous of a lie that a random boy had told you?"

They stared at each other for a moment in silence before bursting into laughter.

"I can't believe it took us nearly forty years to realize this." Jenna giggled. "We were so young and stupid back then."

Sirius shrugged, grinning. "So what if we were a bunch of teenagers with a new drama everyday? I mean, look at us now. I could've never asked for a better life than the one I have with you and our two kids now."

Jenna smiled, hugging him back as she rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes and whispering, "Me too."

Then, she felt Sirius pull back from her. Jenna watched him with curiosity as he took out his wand from his pocket and pointed it up at the ceiling above them.

Jenna then smiled once she realized that he had conjured a mistletoe right above them.

"I know it's not Christmas, and we're not sixteen anymore, but..." Sirius started, his grey eyes gazing deep into hers, "I love you with all my heart. And no matter how crazy our journey has been until now, or how much crazier it's going to get, I'll always love you, no matter what."

Jenna didn't know why, but she suddenly felt the tears resurface in her eyes, blurring her vision. Maybe it was the sudden realization that time had flew by so fast, bringing another era of her life to an end without her even realizing.

Sirius reached out his hand, softly placing a strand of her blue hair behind her ear, just like he always used to. He then leaned down closer to her, their lips only inches apart.

"Just say the word, Jenny," he whispered as he rested his hand over her rosy cheek, his lips brushing against hers.

Jenna felt her smile widening as a teardrop streamed down her cheek. "I love you, too."

That was all Sirius needed before closing the space between them by bringing his lips down upon hers, kissing her passionately right underneath the mistletoe.

Jenna went on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his body closer to her even though no space was left amid, as the clocks chimed on, melting down the thick walls of time.

***

The man stood outside the Potter Manor, standing before the tall willow tree in the yard, planted there before he was even born.

     If the family inside the house looked through their window, they wouldn't see him. He wished he could be there tonight to celebrate the great victory with his family, but nevertheless, he still felt proud to have seen it.

     The weather wasn't positively cold, but it was dazzled by the light summer rain that fell from above, passing right through him, as though he was even invisible to the raindrops. The past seemed floated away to an immeasurable distance, faded into a mere memory that was still alive in his heart.

     With his lopsided glasses over his hazel eyes, the man ran a hand through his jet-black hair and messed it up even more, before kneeling on one knee in front the tree's trunk, where his initials had been carved years and years ago.

     And so, with a happy smile tucked at the edge of his lips, he ran his hand over the old carvings upon the willow tree, as he whispered under his breath,

      "Nice one, J.P."

~ The End ~

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Started: September 28, 2020
Finished: October 22, 2021

Current reads: 6 million

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I can't believe that Crookshanks has come to an end...

Thank you guys so much for reading the book and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I'm sad to announce that Mischief Managed will most likely be the last book in the Muggle Series, and I'll miss writing about all these characters whom I've grown so attached to.

Although I'm happy that this is not really a goodbye, and that I still have writing Jenna Potter's first four years at Hogwarts to look forward to in Mischief Managed!

Thank you guys a million times for being with me through this amazing journey up until now! I had an incredible time writing this book, and I hope you've liked it as well!

Love,
Tina ❤︎