WHAT DOES MILLIE DO? SPIT ON PUPPIES FOR MONEY?

ILONA WAS NERVOUS AND SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHY — okay, scratch that, she did know why.

It was because she was standing outside James Potter's door with a pie dish in hand, feeling out of place and uninvited.

The night before, after unpacking the majority of Ilona's things, she and Millie ended up baking a blueberry pie to give to James to thank him for his help. She just hoped that Remus and Sirius would get word and come by the house to get some as well — Millie assumed that James would horde it for himself because that's what she'd do.

It was well past dinner time. Ilona had been at Quidditch training all day, getting to know her teammates and learning how she fit on the team. She was in a baggy, green training jersey and black shorts, her hair in a messy ponytail — she hardly looked presentable, but she wanted to make sure to get it to James before he went to bed on the off chance he went to bed early.

After all, he was an auror and worked all day — though he did tell her he took off a lot in the summers to spend time with Harry.

But maybe she should've run back to her house and fixed up a bit before knocking. Because James was so impossibly handsome, and even though Ilona didn't know him that well or anything, she was still an eighteen-year-old girl that wanted to look cute for impossibly handsome men.

However, she quickly reminded herself that was a silly thought. He was in his early thirties, for Merlin's sake. Not only that, but he was a father and had been married to one of the most gorgeous and kindest women Ilona had ever met.

Yeah, he'd called her 'love' as well as Sirius, but they were British for Merlin's sake. They probably called everyone that when being kind.

So, after another moment of stalling with her overreacting mind, Ilona sucked in a deep breath and knocked on James' door, plastering a perfect smile on her face.

A few seconds passed before she heard a muffled 'Coming!' through the door. Then James opened the door, not even looking at her as he spoke to someone over his shoulder. "Harry, don't let Sirius touch my crisps!"

But then he turned around properly and looked at Ilona with wide, blue eyes. He hurriedly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stood a little straighter. "Ilona?"

"Hi, James," she greeted softly, clueless to how he adored the way his name sounded leaving her lips. "Um, I know it's late but I wanted to give you this as a thanks for helping me with my unpacking. Do you like blueberry pie?"

"I like - I like all pie," he said, blinking a bit rapidly. Then he smiled and ran a hand through his unruly curls, collecting himself. "That's so sweet of you, love. And it's perfect timing, too. We're eating dinner kind of late. Now we've got dessert."

"Perfect," she beamed, glad to know her baking would be appreciated. "And please, pass my thanks on to Remus and Sirius."

"Oh, do it yourself. They're all over," he said, nodding over his shoulder and into the house. "Come on. They'd love to see you. Harry, too. You can join us."

"Are you sure? I don't want to crowd you," she said timidly.

He grinned and shook his head. "No such thing as too crowded in this house," he assured her while opening up the door wider to let her in.

With a smile, Ilona glided inside, her shoulder brushing the top of his chest as she passed. For a moment, James shut his eyes, focusing on the scent of apples wafting from her before he led her to the kitchen, hand hovering over her lower back but not touching her.

"Lads, I've got a surprise," he called out as they rounded the corner, walking into a rather large and formal dining room.

It was a bit comical given that despite the fancy room, they were just eating burgers and crisps — Remus didn't feel like cooking anything tedious. Harry, Remus, and Sirius were all crowded on one end of the long table, the seat at the head of the table empty, presumably where James had been sitting.

"Ilona!" Harry exclaimed, perking up.

"What's brought you back over here?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow with a charming smirk. "Certainly not James. He's abysmal."

Ilona giggled as James glared at him. "Oh, don't be mean, Sirius. I think James is just wonderful."

"See. I'm wonderful," James boasted, the tips of his ears a little red. "And Ilona has brought us a thank you gift for all that hard work yesterday. I know Harry, in particular, will enjoy it."

"What do we have here?" Remus asked curiously, leaning a bit closer to eye the dish in her hand.

"Blueberry pie."

"That's my favorite!" Harry said, beaming. "Dad, can I have a slice now?"

"'Course," he nodded. "I'll get some plates. Ilona, have a seat."

"I'll take you up on that," she said, setting the pie on the table and sitting next to Harry, across from Sirius and Remus. "I'm dead tired."

"You were at training, weren't you?" Harry asked excitedly, his eyes on her training kit that all the team members wore. "What was it like?"

"Wait!" James called from the kitchen where he was getting plates and a knife. "Don't start without me — I want to hear all about it."

Ilona laughed at that and remained quiet. She'd figured out well enough that James was mad about Quidditch based on all the questions he'd rattled off with Sirius the day before once finding out what she did for a living.

Soon though, James was back at his seat, and Remus was cutting up the pie, handing out slices.

Then, Ilona went into detail about her day — about waking up before the sun and Apparating to the training facility in Ireland, meeting all the others players as well as the coach, and working through the first of many plays that she'd have to familiarize herself with. It was much more difficult and rigorous compared to Hogwarts, and they'd have games much more frequently too. She'd have to get used to that seeing as in the Inter-House League, there were only four teams. But every nation in the world had a Quidditch team that she'd be playing against.

Given that she'd been recruited halfway through the four-year season, she had a lot to catch up on, meaning that their coach wanted her there two hours earlier than everyone else was just so he and the captain could work with her.

Despite how much work it would be, all the men at the table could tell Ilona loved every moment of her first day. It didn't matter how tired she was — her love for Quidditch was so evident with every word as she talked about the sport.

"My first match is next week. I'm quite nervous," she admitted in a small voice.

"Don't be," Remus said softly. "I'm sure you'll be brilliant."

"And we'll be there cheering you on," Sirius added. "We're gonna buy tickets once they go on sale on Monday. Be there to support you and see what all the fuss is about."

Her expression softened as she studied Sirus. "You... you'd really want to watch my match?" she asked, feeling a bit emotional. She couldn't help it — her family had never given a damn about her career in Quidditch.

James scrunched his eyebrows up, not understanding why she seemed so touched by something do impossibly simple. "Of course, love. We're gonna bring Harry and Ron and Hermione as well. We've made the plans and everything."

"Well, in that case, don't buy the tickets. I get free ones to give out for every game — top box seats. You'll love the view," she said, beaming at them.

"Oh, no, that's too much," Remus denied. "Besides, I'm sure your parents and other friends will want to watch your very first game."

Ilona's smile visibly dimmed, and Sirius kicked Remus under the table for so clearly putting his foot in his mouth. Clearly, he hadn't gotten the hint the day before when she mentioned her parents not caring that she was petrified. Or maybe he was just giving Ilona's parents the benefit of the doubt, assuming they didn't know what a Basilisk was and therefore weren't concerned enough.

"Oh, no, my parents won't be attending any of my games," Ilona told him, a tight smile on her face. "But you might have to share ownership of the tickets with Millie. She's already claimed that she's going to come to every game if her work schedule allows it."

"And what does Millie do?" Harry asked innocently. "Spit on puppies for money?"

Though he was amused, James nudged Harry and shook his head. "Be nice, Harry."

"No, not that," Ilona said, giggling. "She's applied to be an Auror. She should know in a few days whether or not she's been accepted into the program. Then she'll be assigned a mentor to train her. I've no doubt she'll get a position — she had the best grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not me though, I'm afraid. I was wretched at it."

"Well, it is really hard, especially when we have teachers like Lockhart," Harry scoffed. "You're good at Herbology and Potions, right?"

"I am."

Harry looked at her hopefully. "Would you perhaps want to help me with summer revisions for Potions?"

"I don't mind at all," she said, nodding to him. "I know Professor Snape is much harder on you Gryffindors."

"And just me in general," Harry grumbled. "I look like dad, and he hates dad. Not to mention he has a crush on Mum. She hates him and his stupid face though."

In sync, all the men reacted. Remus tried to hide his snicker, but Sirius outwardly laughed while James just gagged at the thought of Snape's obvious crush on Lily Evans. Sure, they weren't married any longer, but James would never let someone as foul and cruel-hearted as him go near Lily, who deserved the world.

"Yeah," Ilona grinned, "can't say he's my favorite either. Despite my grades, he didn't like me. Said I was distracting Millie in class all the time, but she's the one that would talk to me. Lost so many points for Hufflepuff in that class."

"I can't imagine you getting into trouble and losing points," Sirius admitted, raising an eyebrow. "You seem like such a good girl."

Ilona glanced at him, an embarrassed dusting of pink on her cheeks. "Well, I am," she admitted. "Just happened to have a rather mischevious best friend that dragged me into things."

"I know all about that," Remus said, trying his best to not blatantly stare at her pink cheeks. "The lads got me into so much trouble growing up — the pranks and such tarnished my reputation as a Prefect."

James scoffed loudly. "We did not tarnish you!" he claimed. "If I recall correctly, it was you that had the idea to put out Frog Spawn Soap on the Quidditch pitch and in the stands the night before the big Ravenclaw and Slytherin game knowing it was going to rain."

Remus flushed a bright red as Sirius and Harry laughed.

"You did not!" Ilona exclaimed, her mouth gaping open. Remus just didn't seem the type to participate in pranks. But he nodded sadly, looking away in shame. "Oh, that's brilliant."

He raised a surprised eyebrow as she laughed giddily. "You think that's brilliant?"

"Of course," she beamed. "You know, Ron's brothers pulled all kinds of tricks in school. I so loved every one of them. Once, they enchanted snowballs to hit the back of Professor Quirrell's head over and over again."

All of them snickered, but mostly because they knew what — or rather who — had been on the back of Professor Quirrell's head. But Harry's involvement with that and the Philosipher's Stone wasn't common knowledge, so Ilona had no idea how truly funny that stunt was in the long run.

"Well, if that impressed you, love, have we got loads of stories to tell you," Sirius said, crossing his arms as he leaned back, getting a bit more comfortable. "Can you stay a while?"

"I've got all night."