Practice had been brutal. It was always punishing—they were Falcons, and they were the most vicious team in the league—but today they had dialed it up to eleven. Katie hadn’t felt so alive in years. Adrenaline had blocked any pain out from her mind and _Merlin_ she had played the best she had since before the war. It had started grim, but Falcon’s were happiest when they were beating the shit out of each other and the practice had ended in laughter.

As they left the locker room, they managed to avoid the few remaining reporters. They apparated in a series of _pops!_, appearing outside the Leaky Cauldron. Muggles sidestepped them, not even batting an eyelash at their Quidditch gear. _Most_ of them had showered, but Katie was convinced their beaters were actually trolls. No amount of hygiene would ever fix their stench. Maybe they were related to the Auror investigating the team?

Releasing a whoop of exhilaration, Katie leapt on Kamala’s back. The dark haired witch staggered for a moment beneath her, before caving into her mad impulses and hitching her up with barely a wince. Katie had broken four of Kamala’s ribs rushing her for the quaffle and knocking her off her broom only an hour earlier. She was a good sport, really.

“I’m not a broom, Bell,” Kamala was laughing as they entered the Cauldron. It was packed for lunch, and the Falcons were quick to start dragging tables together. Fuck anyone who said they were blood elitists—they were going to fucking show the world that they were better than that. 

“Damn right you’re not, my broom knows how to fuckin’ maneuver, you’re like a goddamn bus.”

“That’s because of your fat ass,” Kamala snarked, but Katie was simply snickering and dropping off her back. Kamala ran her knuckles through Katie’s blonde hair, mussing it properly. Just like Angie and Licia always did, she realized with a laugh as she landed a punch on Kamala’s ribs. She did wince then, and land a blow on Katie’s arm that nearly numbed it.

“We can’t take you two anywhere,” Fenrir drawled, but there was a twitch of a grin on his otherwise impassive face. Katie batted her eyelashes obnoxiously at him, prompting an eyeroll.

“Don’t lie! You adore us, oh Captain my Captain!” She dodged the spoon Haggerty threw at her, which bounced off the back of some poor bastard’s head, dropping into the last empty seat. “Haggerty, do you even know how to _aim_?”

“Fuck you, Bell!” He snarled, but she was all fiendish glee. Poor Hannah Abbott looked so displeased by their obnoxious group, but she was sweet as ever as she took orders. It was almost like Hogwarts again, and Katie clung to the warmth in her chest, the first bit of sunlight she'd truly felt in months.