anson wood

“God, she’s spoiled.” Despite his words, Zephyr loved that so many of Remus’ friends seemed to have taken to Katie and accepted her with open arms, giving her gifts and watching her so that he and Remus could have date nights. It was sweet and while Zephyr wasn’t sure if he’d trust Anson at getting gifts, he knew that Kingsley had experience with small kids and hopefully wouldn’t let his boyfriend get anything too bad.

By Remus’ request, Zephyr had stopped intentionally trying to provoke fights during his show, but he still got heated about certain subjects and maybe they thought he would take the quidditch assignment as a punishment, or maybe they just didn’t want people to start sending things to the station again, but he was there regardless. “My life is a series of fortuitous accidents.” Zephyr declared, giving a crooked smile. “Probably. Guess it depends on when the game ends and what Remus is up to. I’m hoping we get some time to sightsee while we’re here, I want to look at something besides a quidditch pitch.”

“Children should be spoiled.” Anson certainly had been and he thought he turned out alright. “I got my first broom around her age. My parents were thrilled to give it to me, they thought it would bring me and Blair closer. It did for a time.” He shrugged. It was easier now to talk about his sibling. Blair had made choices and had suffered the consequences. Anson would always miss them but he could do nothing about it. 

He looked so shy.

It was sweet in an I want to embarrass the hell out of this child sort of way.  To be fair, she was sure he had seen his share of some crazy shit.  He was fantastic, and fantastic people who lived out their fantastic-ness in the public eye often attracted those of the bat shit insane persuasion.  Maybe someone had thrown their panties at him or something, and that’s why he was hiding his face… he was hiding his face rather poorly, anyway.

She laughed, giving him a quick hug before sitting back down.  “They absolutely are, don’t be modest.  And you deserve it, honestly.  You practically won your last match on your own – no offence, I’m sure your teammates are lovely, talented people.  But they were a mess when you beat that last team.”

“Oh my god, no you didn’t,” she was laughing for real now.  She could only imagine how the press would spin that, and everyone one of the stories would be hysterical.  “Save it for a special occasion.  I should go pick up one of yours, really confuse everyone.”

He sniffed in an imitation of pompousness. “Well if they are, I can’t help it. I told a creepy reporter last week to get fucked and the next day there was an article talking about how I propositioned her. I didn’t mean by me.” For all that he loved the game he could do without the press. He was sure she felt the same at this point.

Anson’s smile was strained. She was right of course. “You’re telling me, Hes. I was taking a beating out there. But I couldn’t have done it without Hedge and Belinsky. You know it’s Hedge’s first year but I think they’re doing fantastic.” He resisted the urge to talk expert-to-expert about how if their seeker had just done the double loop instead of trying to be a hero the game would have been a little more respectable. “I’m glad that we’re going up against your bunch tomorrow. Can’t think of a better opponent.”  

At some point, Zephyr had turned into the kid of guy that carried family pictures in his wallet and would show off images of his baby, his boyfriend, and his cat. Pictures of playtime on the floor, pictures of the chocolate fiends at work, pictures of all of them napping, they all made Zephyr feel fond and he’d present each picture with a note of pride in his voice, forgetting about any other topic that wasn’t his family. “She won’t, no.” Zephyr answered as he put the pictures up. “Remus and I talked about it and decided it would be best if she stayed home with a sitter. I mean, it would have been nice to bring her with us and I want a proper family vacation one day, but we didn’t know how long the match would keep us here and how much time I’d be in the stands, plus Remus is working with some translator stuff, so we didn’t think we’d have time.”

Maybe if only one of them was working, it would have been different, or if they had a friend in the country that could have watched Katie, but Zephyr had hopes there would be a chance to bring her in the future. “I wasn’t, actually. Quidditch really isn’t my thing and it pissed the sportscasters off that I ended up with it. There’s more than just me here in case the match goes long, but I think they wanted me out of the country for a bit because I was yelling about politics again.”

“Too bad, although that reminds me! I have a little present for her. Nothing big.” It wasn’t just small broom. It was an adorably, tiny one. Crazy quidditch uncle had a nice ring to it and Anson was ready to live up to the moniker. He hoped Zephyr would approve of the little broom. Anson couldn’t remember though if Kingsley had wrapped it. Either way Zephyr would have to get it after the game. Inbetween the winning celebrations though. 

“It is.” She still couldn’t believe it. If someone would’ve told her one year ago today that this is where she would be, eight months pregnant and married to Malcolm she would’ve told them that they were crazy, that there was no way she’d forgive Malcolm. But she had and that had been the best decision she had ever made. Diana never stopped loving him, even though she had tried her hardest over the years. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. “We were thinking about doing both. We will put an announcement in the papers when she is born, but we will have the party a bit later as to not overwhelm her.”

“Well let me know if you want me to bring you,” Anson paused and tried to think of something they didn’t have. “Uh, like a rattle or something?” Did they already have those? He wasn’t sure if those were something you stocked up on pre or post baby. “Maybe a stiff drink once this is all,” he waved toward Diana.  “Sorted? Per say?” 

“You know you’re so calm about this. I’m surprised you’re not nervous at all. I’d be a wreck.” On the surface Diana seemed so calm and collected. On anyone else Anson would think it was a front. But this was Diana Greengrass. 

“Right.” Raising his eyebrows at Anson, Zephyr had a moment where he could only wonder if Anson was so used to receiving praise from adoring fans that he just assumed Zephyr would be biased in his favor. Hadn’t he told Anson before that he didn’t care who he was. “Well, if you insist, then I’ll make sure to insult you and wish you bodily harm so no one catches onto the fact we’re such inseparable friends.” Zephyr drawled, assuming the sarcasm would go right over Anson’s head.

Not that he disliked Anson, he actually did find him entertaining to be around, but there were very few people that Zephyr was actually biased towards and Anson wasn’t on that list. Despite that, Zephyr was eager to show off pictures of his family to anyone willing to stand still long enough to look and he grinned immediately at Anson’s question, reaching for his wallet. “Firebolt is losing some of his chub from Katie chasing him all around the house. I don’t know why she chases him because as soon as she starts settling down, he wants to sit with her.” Shaking his head and smiling fondly, Zephyr pulled out a picture of Firebolt and Katie sitting on a blanket, Firebolt having just swatted at her block tower. “Aren’t they cute?”

Anson’s smile twitched and threatened to break. “That’d be lovely, Zephyr. Throw them off the trail.” His smile finally did bloom when the cat and baby pictures were unleashed. He cooed at the appropriate times and nodded in agreement. “That’s a right proper baby. Positively adorable.” Firebolt had at least doubled in size and looked very pleased in every picture. It was the perfect home for the cat. They baby too he supposed. 

“I’ve always been more of a tequila kind of guy.” Jasper admitted, rubbing his neck. He didn’t really know if it had really helped with forgetting Jamie, but Jasper had enjoyed himself. That much he couldn’t really deny. 

Blinking, Jasper took a minute. Neither of them had mentioned anything staying a secret so if Henry had wanted that, it was a bit too late at this point. Jas may told other people as well. “Oh. No, it wasn’t– His name’s Henry. He’s got like, the world’s prettiest cheekbones and blonde hair?”

He shrugged. “I’ve honestly never had it.” It was admittedly an odd little fact about him but none of the parties he had ever gone to had it and he wasn’t going to buy himself a bottle of something he might not end up enjoying. He liked firewhiskey and hadn’t had a bad, or well really bad, experience so he’d stick with it. 

Anson thought. A Henry with pretty cheekbones and blonde hair seemed liked something Anson would have remembered so he shrugged. “Doesn’t sound familiar but I wish he did. Where did you meet?” 

This was a throwback for more reason than one.

She didn’t know most of the Arrows players all that well, but Anson Wood was the exception to that.  Soon they were going to be locked in a competition she thoroughly intended to win, even if it meant knocking her little buddy clean off of his broom.  But for now they could drink and remember the good times.

She beat him there, which was a damn miracle.  She was absolutely never on time; but she took advantage of it to order entirely too much food.  Plates of nachos and buffalo wings and pretzels with cheese were being placed carefully on their table when she spied him walking inside.

“Anson Wood,” she called from her seat, much louder than she needed to be.  “The star, everybody’s quidditch idol, the Prophet’s favorite player.  I ordered us appetizers.”  It was far too much fun to give him shit.

@ansonwood​

Anson had taken special care to keep his head down and his hood up as he had made his way to the pub where he and Hestia were to meet. Ever since that article had come out things had gotten, well, a little more intense. Maybe it was a ‘loss makes the heart grow fonder’ situation but anyone could see that this year had brought out some more passion in the fans. That wasn’t to say the fans weren’t lovely, but Anson was first and foremost a quidditch player. Articles and congratulations in the paper were nice and appreciated but at the end of the day he could probably do without the celebrity. 

He winced at her tone and glanced around to make sure nobody heard in his name in the pub. A picture of the two of them would spark a thousand stories he could do without. He adored Hestia and personally thought she was one of the finest players in the league (if not the absolute best) but for some reason those quotes he put out were never picked up. 

Considering how little he cared about quidditch, the fact he was on first name basis with one of the players was a little weird. Of course, to be fair, it wasn’t like Zephyr knew Anson because of his quidditch skills or even talked to him for them, he wasn’t a groupie. He didn’t think of Anson as a quidditch player, he thought of him as the guy that went to school with Remus, the one that gave Zephyr his spoiled orange cat that Katie was always chasing after, and he was the guy that was there the first time Zephyr tried blood pudding. The fact he liked riding brooms was inconsequential.

“So am I supposed to tell you to break a broom or some shit like that?” Zephyr asked as he looked around the quidditch pitch with his hands on his hips. While he’d never bothered to tell Anson this, quidditch wasn’t the most popular sport in America and Zephyr wasn’t sure what the proper terminology happened to be. “Or am I supposed to wish the other team breaks their brooms? Then again, it sounds like there were enough people having  trouble getting here.” @ansonwood​

“What? No! These things are expensive.” Anson looked up from shining his broom and frowned at Zephyr. What an American thing to say. “Unless you are trying to threaten them. Which considering your position, is a bit awkward.” He put the finishing touches on his broom and threw the rag behind him. His broom now glowed (literally) and he smiled in satisfaction before turning his entire attention to Zephyr. “Which speaking of I guess, I know we are mates and stuff but I want to make sure you treat me as any other player. No special treatment.” He stretched and started putting away his cleaning supplies. “I insist.” 

“Well even if you would know all the pregnant women, I’d still be the best at it. I’m sure.” Diana replied with full conviction, complimenting herself once more. Even if he didn’t know other pregnant women she still considered being first place a win in her book. There was nothing that hse couldn’t do if she set her mind to it, at least if you asked her. “We have actually, but we’ll keep it to ourselves until she’s born.” It felt more personal, more special, that way. Her daughter needed to make a grand entrance with the name reveal after she was born. She already had the party planned. They’d need to wait a couple of weeks after shes born, to make people think she was just born early and that Diana didn’t get pregnant before she had the ring on her finger. Plus, she didn’t want anyone to hear the name and steal it. “That is not going to happen, I’m afraid. You can name your own child after yourself.” Was the name Daphne close to her own and had a similar origin? Perhaps. But she considered herself a great role model for her daughter to look up to.

“Obviously.” For many reasons Anson didn’t see a baby in his near future. Or even the far future, really. He adored children but having one of his own required a dedication that he wasn’t ready to commit to. He wanted to wait until retirement to even seriously begin discussing one. Besides he would have to brave his way through a proposal and wedding first. 

A smile flickered as he tried to school his face into something serious. “It’s your kid,” he said with a barely covered laugh. He was a little disappointed but he’d recover. Diana and Malcolm were a little out there sometimes so maybe it was for the best. “Are you going to have some grand party or just take out a front page in the paper?” Anson was only half-joking, he could see his friends doing either. 

Lucian nodded. 

        “Quiet would have been ideal.” He said, shifting in his seat. Something about a large volume of people around him put him on edge. Lucian looked up to the person across from him. It was true that a familiar stranger was better than a complete one, but Lucian could not place him. It was like it was on the edge of his memory but wouldn’t come forth into the light. Perhaps they had a mutual friend or had crossed paths in a particular class. 

        Lucian nodded along with the new information, thinking about the possible situations that could have happened. “I was in Hufflepuff.” He offered, hoping that it could clear up the situation on the stranger’s end. “Greengrass? I know of him, but wouldn’t go so far to say I know him personally.” Lucian paused to take a sip of his coffee once more. “Quidditch wasn’t my sport, but I did partake in dueling club.” 

“I’ve yet to meet a Hufflepuff I didn’t like.” It was a possibility though. Anson wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a dig or not. This was driving him insane. He knew he had seen this face before. But when? Or where even would they have crossed paths?

Anson was almost sure now that this bloke had to be some kind of nut. Quidditch was everyones sport. Hell, it was one of the only wizarding sports. “I tried dueling club but admittedly, I’m awful at it. It’s a good thing I have the boyfriend I do. “ Anson’s one experience with the club had ended in complete failure and a trip to the hospital wing. There was still a scar on his elbow as proof. “Are you absolutely sure we’ve never met?” 

“They weren’t always so bad.” He said, though he wasn’t sure why he’d jump to Jamie’s defense when Jamie had rather thoroughly broken his heart. Still it didn’t seem right to just let Anson think the worst of someone who had been so lovely for so long.

At the mention of a rebound Jasper went distinctly pink. “I mean, I think so?” He thought back to Henry Fawley sprawled on the couch of his living room, half-naked. “Pretty sure. Yes. Definitely, have umm, have done that.”

“Good on you mate.” Anson clapped him on the back. “Sometimes that’s just step one in getting over whoever you need getting over. That and a decent bottle of firewhiskey can solve more problems than people give them credit for.” Not all, just most.

He laughed at the blush and eyed Jasper conspiratorially. “Is it anyone I know? Or a big secret?” It seemed so long ago that Kingsley was Anson’s big secret. It was almost embarrassing to think about how he had angst over it. All for his mother to shrug and offer him a biscuit. 

“Well I think it is. There are other issues of course, but this is the most pressing one you need to solve at the moment.” And she was notoriously right. There weren’t many things she had been wrong in, ever. In her entire life. It just didn’t tend to happen. 

Diana didn’t mind moving away from the topic of his cats, much preferring to talk about herself and her baby. “It’s going really well. I am really good at being pregnant, don’t you think? I look great with a bump, not many people can look this great in the third trimester.”

Diana was almost annoyingly single-minded. Once she sets her sights on something she wasn’t going to falter or stumble. Whether it was putting him in his place or marrying Malcolm, she was going to get it done and get it done efficiently. Anson only nodded, begrudgingly assenting that she was right. 

“I don’t know any other pregnant women so as far as I’m concerned you’re in first place. Have you picked any names yet? I’m pretty sure Malcolm is considering Anson as a middle name.” He winked cheekily. 

“That’s unfortunate.”

        Lucian remarked. He couldn’t imagine willingly walking into this establishment if he had known how many people were going to be milling about. “Not the flat – just the volume of people that are here I mean.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lucian gave a chuckle. “I can say that you’re particularly non-threatening if that makes you feel better, but it was more so that I didn’t expect this many people to be here. The last time I was here it was dead, but it wasn’t at this same time.”

       He nodded a little. “You look familiar too. Go to Hogwarts ? ” Lucian asked. That was the last big meeting place he had been apart of. Unless you counted the Death Eaters, but they were less a social organization than most. He shrugged a little, like it could be something else but nothing was directly coming to mind.

“If this many people are going to be here, better a familiar stranger than a complete one I guess,” he answered.  “Worse things to be than nonthreatening though. Were you here looking for quiet then?”

He thought then nodded. “That I did. Gryffindor actually. I was on the quidditch team and that kept me pretty busy.” His eyes skimmed over the other man again. It was driving him nuts, that vague recognition. His glance didn’t tell him much and he frowned deeper. “Do you know Malcolm maybe?”