August, 1999

Rolando added Phoebe Carter to the chat!

"THE GALLOWFLY STINKERS 🥱👎🏻"

ROLANDO:
Everyone welcome Phoebe Carter, our new Chaser!

XANDER:
Ooooooh hi!!

CAMILLA:
what's good mama

CALEB:
alright we now have a chaser, what about a seeker?
CALEB:
first match is in three months, you know

JOSLYN:
Caleb can you just welcome Phoebe first

ROLANDO:
Yes, thank you, Jos

PHOEBE:
Hi everyone! I'm super excited to be flying with you all :)

JOSLYN:
Oh bless her
JOSLYN:
Zach's conditioning will take this sweetness right out of her

PHOEBE:
Oh, I did some private training with him over the summer!!
PHOEBE:
I wanted to make sure I was able to keep up physically in a professional Quidditch setting

XANDER:

CAMILLA:

CALEB:
oh no we have a tryhard

JOSLYN:
You misspelled committed teammate

ROLANDO:
Anyways, Phoebe, I'll also add you to the official groupchat with Zach.
ROLANDO:
You can say anything here, but keep it more professional and PG in that one.

PHOEBE:
Sounds good, thank you!!

CAMILLA:
can we change the nicknames back now

CALEB:
again I ask, when new seeker?

"THE 1999 GALLOWFLY ALLIES 🧹 ✨"

Rolando added Phoebe Carter to the chat!

ZACH:
Ah yes thank you Captain
ZACH:
This reminds me, let's add our Seeker as well

CALEB:
oh thank goodness

Zach added Harry Potter to the chat!

CAMILLA:
i thought he died

XANDER:
holy

JOSLYN:
OH SHIT

CALEB:
aw yeah our ratings gonna skyrocket

ROLANDO:
Oh! We actually got him!

PHOEBE:
HARRY?

HARRY:
Hi everyone

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Phoebe stared at her phone in disbelief, reading Harry's "Hi everyone" over and over again. He had sent that and immediately disappeared, not coming back online despite everyone's many responses.

She had honestly thought she would never hear from him again. Even though they were only pen pals and never saw each other in person, they had a strong connection. In the past, he had told her about his struggles with Voldemort and how he was worried he was growing stronger and stronger over the years, which is why she was worried when he went MIA for the last year. But finally, over the summer, he sent her a single letter explaining where he had been the past year and what he had gone through, so he couldn't answer her letters.

But he conveniently left out the fact that he had joined a Quidditch team.

She typed a private message to him but deleted it, shoving her phone in her back pocket. Phoebe had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

Like figuring out where these directions Joslyn had given her lead to.

Phoebe reread the text, trying again to find the "Big-ass tree on the corner of Cardinal and Buck." Phoebe didn't know why Joslyn wanted to meet her there; it was just a big vacant lot in the middle of a bustling town. She took a flight and got a cab since she couldn't Apparate there. Joplin, Missouri, was a far cry from Ilvermorny in Massachusetts or her home state of Texas.

Phoebe stood in front of the fated "Big-ass tree," staring at it for a little while, wondering what made it so unique that Joslyn wanted to meet her there. And also how she was supposed to know what Joslyn looked like.

Finally, she heard footsteps behind her and a beautiful woman who didn't look much older than her smiled as she approached.

She had warm olive skin and an inviting smile that had won her many fans and brand opportunities outside of her Quidditch team. If Phoebe was correct, this had to be Joslyn Bardot, Chaser for the Gallowfly Allies.

"Hey! Are you Phoebe?" She asked.

"Oh hey! Thank goodness, I was just about to start using some spells against this tree to make it reveal itself."

"Please don't hurt Paul." Joslyn laid her hand on the tree's trunk. "Our old Captain's buried underneath him."

Phoebe had no words.

"Yeah. Anyways, you ready to see the campus?" Joslyn swiftly changed the subject.

"Campus? I thought this was just where we stayed." Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, but where do you think we train?" Joslyn took out a piece of paper from her pocket.

"The location of the Gallowfly Allies team is located on the vacant lot on the corner of Cardinal Lane and Buck Drive."

"How . . ." Phoebe started.

"Shhh, just read this and give it a moment." Joslyn turned and looked expectantly at the tree.

Surely enough, the vacant lot behind it turned into a sprawling campus, revealing two houses and a relatively large auditorium, complete with a full-sized Quidditch field behind it. The campus was dotted with trees and flower bushes, creating a little oasis that Phoebe could see herself getting very comfortable with. The whole thing was surrounded by a sizable brick fence, with its gate being right next to the big-ass tree.

"Oh! It's a—" Joslyn's hand came down on Phoebe's mouth, silencing her before she could say anything else.

"Shhh, Phoebe, don't say anything until we get on campus. Let's grab your bags, did you bring a car?"

Phoebe shook her head.

"Perfect. Now, I'm going to remove my hand. Don't say anything." Joslyn removed her hand and wiped the spit on her shorts.

Between the two of them and a very quick hover charm, they moved Phoebe's bags and started walking towards the gate.

"Gallowfly Stinkers." Joslyn said, effectively befuddling Phoebe, who still said nothing. But the gate opened, making Phoebe realize it must have been the password. She filed the information away for later use.

Once they were safely on the campus, Joslyn started talking as they walked to one of the houses.

"Okay. Rolando is going to go over some other things in the new-teammate meeting later, but I'm supposed to give you some basic things. Never, ever Apparate right to Paul. We can Apparate from here, but we use the cafe bathroom right across the street to come back. The owner there is an old friend of Rolando's from school, AKA, a witch, and she keeps one of her stalls out of order at all times in exchange for free box tickets. You do have to pay for coffee and food from there, though. It sucks."

"Second, yes, this is protected by a Fidelius charm. No one is becoming a Secret-Keeper other than the members of this team, Zach, and a few others who take care of us. So absolutely bringing anyone on campus and making them a Secret-Keeper. Period. We had a rough time a few years back with some stalker fans, so we have to be fully protected now. Hence, the reason our old Captain is buried under Paul."

"C, since we're all adults here, we can go into each other's houses, but don't go into someone else's room. That's just weird. Also, since there's 3 girls and 4 boys, Zach stays with his boyfriend in an apartment off campus, our house is typically the hangout spot. It also smells a lot better. Also, no curfew, but Zach will kill you if you let that affect how you train and play. 'No curfew and mixed company in houses is a privilege, not a right, and it can and will be taken away.' He has done it before."

"And finally, point numero tres, all our food is in the auditorium; we've nicknamed it that car brand, Audi, and our meal plan is specifically tailored to our body. You'll have a consultation with Bridget later. Alright." They stopped at the front door of the first house. Joslyn dropped Phoebe's bags on the porch and opened the door for the two of them. "We're here. You can pick whichever room you want, Camilla and I already have our own rooms. We'll all be meeting at Audi at 5. Anyways I gotta go pick up Harry at the airport, so toodles!" The girl Apparated, most likely to the airport.

Phoebe took a second to process all the information just dumped on her, looked inside the house, took a deep breath, and walked inside.

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After a couple of hours of taking her stuff out of the suitcases she brought and magicking it to its designated spots, Phoebe collapsed on her bed and took a quick catnap. She had only been asleep for a few minutes but then woke up when her phone started ringing.

Her father. She couldn't let that ring out.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bee! How is everything? Have you met your coach? What are those sibling Beaters like? I heard a rumor that Harry Potter is your Seeker. Is that true? Have you—" Theo rattled off his questions rapidly, barely taking time to breathe.

"Dad, you're supposed to stop calling me that and give me a second to walk outside." She was vaguely aware of one of her housemates, Camilla, if she remembered correctly, chilling in her room near her. She didn't want to have a conversation if someone could listen in that easily.

"I see." Phoebe could swear the man started pacing.

She walked outside and sat on one of the porch swings outside the door. "Okay. I just got done moving into my room on campus. It's really pretty here. We've got houses, an auditorium with a cafeteria and training room, and a full-sized Quidditch pitch. You can't come and visit, though; the whole place is protected by a Fidelius charm."

"Oh man," his disappointment was evident in his voice. "That's alright, though. I'm glad you'll be safe."

"Yeah. I haven't met Zach or anyone else yet, but I've met Joslyn. She got me settled into my room, but then had to pick up H—our Seeker." Phoebe didn't want to reveal Harry to her dad until the public was ready to know. She loved her father, but he couldn't keep that big of a Quidditch-related secret quiet for long.

"Oh? Who's your Seeker?" Theo didn't catch her slip-up.

"You'll have to find out when the rest of the world does, Dad."

"Seriously? You can't even tell your father?"

"No Dad, Coach's orders."

"Alright. So you haven't met Camilla and Caleb yet? I've always loved the idea of sibling Beaters they work so much better together than anyone else, it's like—" Phoebe tuned her father out as he went on his theory for the 7,000th time. And besides, Harry Potter was walking across the campus with another in tow. She glanced down at her watch. 4:58.

"Listen, Dad," she interrupted him. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go. We have our first team meeting in about two minutes."

"Oh of course, don't be late to that. I'll talk to you later."

Phoebe took a breath, but he wasn't going to say it. Phoebe brought the phone away from her ear, ready to hit the end-call button.

"Oh and Bee?"

"Yeah?" She couldn't resist keeping the smile off of her face.

"Let me know when I can get those season tickets. I can't wait to see my first real Quidditch game."

Her smile was wiped clean off of her face. She sighed. "Alright Dad."

He hung up before she could say anything else.

"I love you too." She said sadly, standing up and pocketing her phone, ready to walk to Audi.

"That was some of the saddest shit I had ever seen." Someone piped up from behind her.

"It's rude to eavesdrop." Phoebe turned, looking at a stunning woman coming out of the house. With her platinum blonde hair and a face that made you stop whatever you were doing to admire it, this must be the infamous Camilla.

Camilla looked her dead in the eyes and walked closer. "Yeah, but it's also rude to use your kid for free Quidditch tickets."

Phoebe opened her mouth to say something back, but Camilla walked away before she could respond.

Camilla took her phone out and quickly texted her brother, making sure the new girl couldn't see her screen.

SPARE PARTS

AND DUMBER:
another shitty dad alert

SPARE PARTS:
i thought potter was an orphan

AND DUMBER:
i'm talking about carter dumbass

SPARE PARTS:
dammit
SPARE PARTS:
what is it this time

AND DUMBER:
using his kid to get free quidditch tickets
AND DUMBER:
could also be the whole reason she's in quidditch in the first place

SPARE PARTS:
goddammit
SPARE PARTS:
can fathers not be garbage
SPARE PARTS:
does she realize this?

AND DUMBER:
i dont think she realizes everything yet

SPARE PARTS:
shiiiiiit
SPARE PARTS:
gotta keep an eye out for when this hits the fan

AND DUMBER:
lets rock and roll

SPARE PARTS:
btw xander took your seat

AND DUMBER:
damn. he's lucky he's cute

As Phoebe and Camilla walked together to Audi, Phoebe wondered why Camilla was interested in her father. She didn't know her at all, and the brief glimpses of her she got in the groupchat made her think that the Beater didn't care for her at all. It was very puzzling.

"Hey." Camilla stopped Phoebe right before they entered the building.

"Yeah?"

"Just." The woman paused. "Just know that we're a lot more than a team of people who all play Quidditch together. Okay?"

Phoebe looked at her teammate and smiled a little. "Alright."

Camilla walked into the building without another word.

A man stood before one table that Phoebe guessed held most of the team, save for Camilla and Phoebe.

"Perfect." He clapped his hands as the two ladies took their seats.

"Now, I know everyone mostly knows each other, but for the sake of team building, let's all go around the room and introduce ourselves and our positions, along with," the man paused, thinking of what else to say. "Let's go with what we would do if we weren't playing Quidditch. I'll start.

"My name's Zach. I'm the coach and manager of this team, and if I didn't do this, I would probably be working with kids. Maybe a teacher or running a daycare." He turned to his left and clapped the dark-skinned man sitting beside him on the shoulder.

"Hey everyone, I'm Rolando, a good friend of Zach's, and I'm the Captain and Keeper. If I weren't doing this, I'd be running a bar somewhere. Probably back in Africa, near where I went to school."

"Hell yeah, serve those underage kids alcohol." The man sitting next to him raised his hand for a high-five.

Zach and Rolando shot him a glare.

"Alright then. I'm Caleb, a Beater along with my sister Camilla. If I weren't doing this, I'd probably be touring with a band, wailing on some drums back in Brighton." He turned to his sister.

"I'm Camilla, also a Beater, if I wasn't beating people up here, I'd be beating people up in a professional ring."

There was a pause as everyone digested the information.

"Okay! My turn!" Sitting next to Camilla was a young man who had to be the same age as Phoebe. He had such a friendly personality that even Camilla couldn't keep a small smile off her face as she turned to him.

"I'm Xander, I'm a Chaser, and if I weren't that, I'd be running the family farm back in Kansas." He finished with a smile, sitting back in his seat.

Joslyn was up next. "Hey everyone, I'm Joslyn, your second Chaser, and if I wasn't that, I'd be pursuing a singing/modeling career."

That didn't surprise Phoebe. She was stunning and kind, and that drew people into her circle.

Harry was next, and Phoebe turned to give him her full attention. She was very interested to hear what he would say for his other career.

"Hello. I'm Harry, and I'm the Seeker. If I wasn't that," he paused, obviously thinking. "I think I'd want to be a teacher. At Hogwarts. I had a really good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in my third year, and I'd like to continue that."

Phoebe opened her mouth before she realized what she was doing.

"You don't want to be an Auror anymore?"

Harry locked eyes with her.

"I've had enough fighting." He said quietly.

Phoebe dropped her eyes, mentally kicking herself. Of course, he'd change his mind after his final days at Hogwarts.

The other teammates looked confused, but Zach cleared his throat.

"Phoebe, I believe you're our last one."

"Right. Yes. I'm Phoebe, I'm your final Chaser, and if I wasn't that. . ." She trailed off.

What did she want to do if she didn't play Quidditch?

That's all she'd ever thought of. Even when they had Career Days at Ilvermorny, she never paid attention because she dreamed of being a professional Quidditch player. Her teachers were exasperated, practically pleading with her to pick a safer option, but only Coach Gracie pushed her to follow her dreams.

Phoebe gave a small laugh. "I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't here."

She glanced at her teammates and found Camilla and Caleb looking at her with a sad expression on their faces.

Weird.

"Alright. Thank you, everyone." Zach took back control of the conversation. Now, as Caleb has so very gently reminded us earlier, we have our first match in three months, and I have just learned it's against Puddlemere United," Zach started.

Harry cautiously raised his hand. Camilla chuckled.

"Yes Harry, you don't need to raise your hand." Zach said.

"Do we know if Oliver Wood will be playing that match? I know he was on reserve for the team for awhile." Harry asked.

"I don't have a concrete yes or no for that yet, but there are rumors he's been moved up." Zach paused. "How do you know the reserve team of Puddlemere?"

"Oliver used to be my old Quidditch Captain."

Caleb whistled. "Damn, son, you played with a great Keeper."

"How do you know him?" Harry turned.

"Camilla and I graduated from Hogwarts right before you even realized you were a wizard." Caleb answered.

"We taught those Weasley twins everything they knew before we left." Camilla chimed in.

"I wonder how they're doing now." Caleb wondered.

Harry turned away.

"Yeah, we'll have to go visit sometime." Camilla smiled.

Harry turned back to Zach, who picked up on the silent hint and cleared his throat.

Phoebe realized just then how far removed the team was from the outside world if they didn't know what had happened at Hogwarts less than three months ago. She knew they all stretched out around the world for where they went for schooling, but were they only limited to America regarding their knowledge of the outside world other than Quidditch scores and stats?

She tuned back in to realize Zach was gesturing for Harry and Phoebe to follow him to meet their resident chef and nutritionist, Bridget.

Phoebe stood up, caught Harry's eye, and smiled. He surprisingly returned it.

"I'm glad we're going to be flying together." She said as the two walked.

"Me too."

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And that's the official chapter one!

I genuinely love this entire fictional team of quidditch players, every single one of them holds such a place in my heart.

And yes, Harry should have become a DADA teacher and I will DIE on this hill.

These next couple chapters are going to be more along the lines of this, with the real plot most likely going to pick up when the quidditch season starts :)

Please hang on and keep reading, every chapter will be worth it though!!

Please comment and vote if you enjoyed and I'll see y'all soon!!