A Game of Football [Jack]

The last couple of weeks had been pretty hard for Darcy. Wrapping her head around the fact that her father was gone had been surreal and she'd locked herself in the house, not leaving it for anything else but going to the store to buy some food when Mary was working late. And lately, she had been working late a lot… Seemed like she wanted to keep herself busy so she wouldn't have to think about it.

Ariel had been pranking people more than usual, even unknown strangers on the street. Darcy didn't have the heart or energy to stop her, but Ariel wasn't stupid enough to do something hurtful. So Darcy just let her be. Ariel was also hanging a lot with her muggle friends, which was a pretty good thing. They seemed to keep her laughing.

That morning, the sun was shining strongly and though Darcy woke up with the same empty yet painful feeling, she also had this weird, numbing sensation that today was going to be different. She got out of her bed and looked outside. A ball zooming through the air caught her attention. Her first thought was quidditch. She loved watching quidditch, but her mind instantly connected the fact that she was in muggle London to the ball, landing on football.

A small smile spread on her lips. She loved playing football. And the sun was shining. She quickly got into a pair of shorts and pulled on a white top. She walked downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal before writing a note, saying she was in the park. Then she left the house and walked the short distance to the park. It felt nice to get to the park. And it was even better when she saw that a few of the people playing, were actually friends.

They instantly spotted her and called her over. And soon, she was in the middle of a heated game. She noticed that she got some looks from her friends, but she ignored them. She was not going to talk about her father now. Not when she, for the first time in fourteen days, actually felt somewhat happy. She was standing in defense when the football flew straight at her, hitting her square in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of her, and she fell to her knees. Her friends were around her instantly, asking if she was fine.

Darcy nodded again and again when they continued to ask. "I'm all right," she said softly at first, but when they just continued asking, Darcy felt as if they thought she was a piece of glass that had just fell to the floor, and the chances of it only being chipped were low. Darcy closed her eyes for a moment. "Guys," she said, much harsher now, "I'm fine, I just need to take a break. Now go and win that bloody game." They stopped pampering her and then nodded, grinning at her. She smiled half-heartedly back and looked on as they continued the game, catching her breath.

Sure, the first few times, Jack could admit that Diagon Alley was pretty cool. After all, how often did he get to catch a glimpse into his siblings' magical world of magic wands and weird clothing and strange people? Not that often. So at first, yes, he'd been secretly eager to return to the place with Hunter and the twins. The first time was shockingly awesome, the second time was less-shockingly awesome, the third time involved a little excitement - and now, this time, Jack felt more as though he was being dragged along on a shopping trip with his mum that he didn't want to go on. He'd seen everything that there was to see, and would've been much happier staying home and playing FIFA.

But no, his family insisted that Jack go. For what reason, he wasn't sure - but it didn't matter, because it had ended in him begrudgingly joining the rest of the family for the trip. On the bright side, his brother seemed pretty much cured of his depressing tendencies and was much more pleasant company than he was before. Jack had told him that time away from the castle would help, and of course he had been right. Hunter had been acting like himself lately, and he and Jack had a good time together like usual.

But that didn't mean that Jack wanted to follow Hunter around while he shopped for school supplies. Luckily, Jack was able to slip away without much notice from his family once they were busy shopping. He escaped the row of shops the same way he'd entered - through that shady looking pub - and eventually found himself on the large grass area that was the park. Jack's eyes glanced across the space, and landed on a crowd of people toward the other end - oh, they were playing football! A grin spread across his face and he started toward them. Jack loved football, and it was definitely better than shopping. Maybe they'd let him join!

Just as he got close enough to call out to them, a blonde girl playing defense took a ball to the ribs. Jack winced a little at how hard it hit her, and watched her friends rush over to her aid. Maybe it was better to wait a minute then. It didn't take long for the game to commence again - though the girl turned and headed for the sidelines. And as she did so, Jack caught sight of her face - Wow! Since when was anybody that pretty? Jack knew a lot of girls, but even from a distance he was sure that this one was the most beautiful one he'd ever seen.

So now he had two reasons to approach the group. To join in a friendly game of football, and to show off a bit in front of the pretty blonde. Rather than interrupt their game, Jack made his way over to the girl. "All right there?" he called as he neared her. "That looked like it hurt - nice block though!" he commented, a lopsided grin forming on his face. "Hey, you guys couldn't use another player, could you? I've got a few hours to kill. And I'd rather not spend them following my little sisters around while they shop." Of course, Jack didn't mention where his family was shopping, because he wasn't allowed to tell anyone about his weird magic siblings. "At least not if I can help it," he added good naturedly.

Jack found that his eyes kept wanting to wander back to the girl's face - that was a little strange. Jack didn't usually have trouble being around pretty girls. Although, he'd also never met a girl who was this pretty before. But he knew that staring was probably not the best idea, so he casually slid his gaze over so that he could watch the play a bit while he waited for her to answer.

Typical... Being crushed by a ball had not been her idea of fun. Thing was, though, the pain wasn't the problem. The people were. She loved her friends, of course, but they didn't seem to understand that she hadn't changed just because her father was gone. And being hit this badly by a ball, so much so that it brought her to her knees, was like nature telling her she'd never get back up again. And it vexed her. Nature would never tell her what to do.

And then someone was calling out to her. She turned around and her eyes landed on a rather good-looking guy. Darcy blinked. Did she know him? A few of her friends had actually changed so much over the year that she had barely recognized them. And this guy could, under serious doubts, maybe be Frederick. But she quickly came to realize that he didn't know who she was, just as much as she didn't know him.

Darcy gave a shrug. "Defense never was my favorite spot," she said with her own smile, "And I'm fine, thanks, just knocked the wind out of me." She didn't mind him asking, because he didn't know the stuff her friends knew, and therefore he was asking if she was all right, just because of the hit she took. So that was nice.

She grinned. "I know that feeling. I have a little sister myself who loves to buy stuff from Z- ehm. Sorry, joke shops," she said, almost punching herself. Zonko's? Really? Not a good idea to reveal yourself as a witch, was it? Even though he'd probably just think it was some random shop. "And we're always in need of more players," she said kindly. "We're actually down a player, so you could join our team."

Feeling as if the stinging in her stomach had vanished she rose and looked at him. "I'll join back in as well," she said. "Oh, and I'm Darcy. Darcy Wilde," she introduced, giving him a hand.

The girl looked a little confused by Jack approaching he, but he didn't let it deter him. Most people were nice enough, if given the chance. Then again, most people were also annoying if given the chance, but Jack didn't feel as though that would be the case here. After a moment, the girl smiled and said that defense wasn't her favorite. "Yeah, I can see why," Jack joked. "You took it like a champ, though," he added with a shrug. "I mean, most girls would probably cry if I kicked a ball at them that hard." Most girls were wimps who thought the smallest things were the end of the world.

"Sounds like she's got her priorities right, at least," Jack said in amusement upon hearing that the girl's sister liked joke shops. "Is it just you two, then? I've got three siblings. Two sisters - who spend far too long in just about every store - and a brother who has turned into the angsty, hormonal teenager from hell. So needless to say, I had to escape for a little while at least," he finished with a grin.

Jack wasn't usually much for small talk, but he didn't want the girl to think she had to join back into the game right away just because he'd asked her to play. And anything was better than shopping - especially talking to some random attractive girl that Jack had somehow had the good fortune to stumble across. Really though, this girl was too pretty. As in, it was unfair to all of the other girls in the world. Weird.

"Great!" Jack exclaimed enthusiastically when the girl said he could play. "Or, I mean, I guess I could help you guys out by contributing my amazing athletic ability," he added with a grin, clearly joking. "That's the spirit!" he said when she decided to rejoin as well. Oh yeah, Jack hadn't introduced himself! "It's nice to meet you Darcy," he said with a grin, taking her offered hand and shaking it. "I'm Jack!"

Darcy gave a chuckle and shrugged. "You haven't met my friends then," she added lightly. Particularly Maya. If that girl was hit by a football, she'd only hex them to hell. Of course, this was probably not the best thing to say to a stranger. She had often thought that what if the person she was talking to actually was a wizard or witch, but this guy was her own age, and she'd never seen him around Hogwarts, and since he was here, in England, he was most likely not attending any other magic schools.

Darcy beamed at him. "People tend to say that," she said softly. Ariel wasn't like every other girl in the world, really, she was more a tomboy with the veela appearance, which made her girly enough to be taken as a teenager-ly teen. Or maybe she wasn't even that: Ariel did her own thing, always. Darcy was worried about her, though. Pranks had gone out of hand this summer.

Laughing a bit at his hormonal brother, Darcy nodded. "Yes, it's just the two of us," she said softly. "Sounds like they're quite the handful. I think you deserve a time out," she said kindly. Stretching her legs a bit as she stood up, she also pressed a bit against her stomach, but nothing hurt, thankfully. "Hormonal teenagers are the worst," she added jokingly and sighed.

Jack. Darcy almost screamed out in frustration and laughed at the same time. What? Was this the universe's way of saying STAY DOWN? Did it really hate her so much? Meeting a complete stranger who just so happened to have the same name as her father... It was all so confusing and frustrating. The universe just wasn't on her side. "Nice to meet you too," she said, managing a smile and then turning to the crowd playing football.

"Hey guys! We've got a new player," she shouted and they all grinned and 'hi'ed at Jack, showing him which team were which. He was put in Darcy's team, which she was rather pleased with. Name or not, the guy seemed decent, and she figured he'd be good as well. Not many people had the courage to join a random group of people for a game of football unless they were decent players.

She grinned at Jack and then the game started.