The polished ball glided down the narrow lane before ultimately colliding with the ivory pins and sending them crashing behind the alley.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this." Fred sat down at the benches that lined the edges of the lanes.

"Beginner's luck..." You reeled your ball backwards, lined up the shot and threw the ball forwards. It headed straight for the central pin, but just before connecting with them, it veered to the left, avoiding every single pin and landing in the gutter with an unsatisfying 'clunk'.

"A bit too much spin I guess?" Fred now had his feet up on the bench and a free hand was throwing chips into his mouth.

"You've nailed every single shot! How do you do it? Are you sure that you've never bowled before?" You tried again, this time with a different ball and a different stance, but the same thing happened.

"Bowling isn't really something we do in the wizarding world, were more into... quidditch and you know, magical things. Of course, my dad studied it for a while before concluding that there was no possible way to figure out why muggles found it fun to throw a ball at some sticks." With what could possibly be the least unenthusiastic bowl in the history of the sport, he once again caused an eruption of pins, the splintered wood clashing against each other until nothing stood.

"How are you doing that every time?" He just shrugged and went back to his seat. "Tell me Fred... tell me your secrets."

"It's really easy." He stood up and you handed him the ball, gesturing for him to use your turn to teach you his method.

"Okay, put your fingers into the ball, line up your body, pull your arm back, swing and release, follow through with your arm, then use a simple spell to nudge the ball in the direction you want it to go."

"Okay, fingers, line up... wait... use a simple spell?"

"Well yeah, just a little boop into the middle of the lane."

"You do realise this is a muggle sport, right? Magic tends to take a bit more of a background position with muggle sports."

"Oh... So, I probably shouldn't have been using it to push your ball into the gutter? I was wondering how you were meant to be countering that... it did seem a tad unfair."

"You're paying for another game Fred."

"I can not promise that I wont use magic."

~*~

Written by Aaron.