9:30am

Nestled in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire was the small village of Tutshill in the parish of Tidenham. It sat upon the eastern bank of the River Wye, separating the village from the town of Chepstow. In 1520, when as far as Muggles were concerned, Tutshill was just an Anglo-Norman watchtower or maybe a windmill linked to Chepstow Castle with a farm, the Tutshill Tornados were born. Their name was remarkably forward-thinking and from a new Spanish word, tronar, to thunder and tornar, to turn.

This was all scribbled in the margins of Ariadne Gamp’s newest notebook, and undoubtedly would not come in handy at all, but had stilled her awful nerves about making a good impression in this new job, or rather… opportunity… at the Prophet, since she was still rather proving her worth.

What she knew for sure though, was the Tornados had closed the season in April as champions over the Montrose Magpies by a three point lead. It had not been without its upsets though. An early match back in October had seen the Tornados thrashed by the Falmouth Falcons in just 21 minutes and 37 seconds. Only two months later, they’d suffered a similar defeat at the hands of Ginny Weasley-Potter’s old team, the Holyhead Harpies, losing in just 18 minutes and 7 seconds. However, despite these defeats, the Tornados had proved they could last the hours when necessary to make those necessary points.

But the most sure thing in the whole room right now was Peyton Wentworth. He was no longer just an old classmate to Ariadne and someone who visited Nick to sprawl on the flat’s beanbags. Peyton was the new signing for the Tutshill Tornados ready for the new season. Fresh out of Hogwarts.

Here they were, in a comfy sort of interview room at the Tornados’ home ground, surrounded by the team’s brand. She hoped to Merlin this did not backfire for any of them.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet,” Ariadne spoke animatedly, the quick notes quill dancing on the page between them all. “I am sure your training schedule is mighty busy, so we won’t take  much of your time.” She glanced back to Ginny, hoping this was alright and polite enough.

“So, tell us, from Hogwarts Quidditch pitch to the British League, has this been a dream come true?”

Ginny sat with Ariadne in the Tornado's territory, her own pen and pad out on her lap, but more for notes on how Ariadne did with the interview. She had no question that she would do a fabulous job, but she had to have 'notes' on anything she needed to improve on and such. She gave her new assistant a smile, nodding to indicate she was doing just fine. She was enthusiastic yet considerate of the players time, and that was a plus. Sometimes the players, despite knowing they would be interviewed, got huffy because they claimed they were too busy to spend their time talking. They would see if this player was one of them..

Peyton was thankful that he was already sweaty from training. His nerves were settling in as he sat in some light training gear in front of the two reporters. He was thankful to be finally giving an interview about his Quidditch career and not about his family's dark secrets. Since the story broke last May that his father was not only still alive but had fathered two illegitimate children the papers had been all over him and his sister. It had been a nightmare for nearly a month and left him nearly permanently weary of reporters.

These two however were a different story. It helped that Ari was a former class mate not to mention his boyfriend's room mate. Then there was Ginny, a Quidditch hero turned sports reporter. She was certainly the cause for his nerves at the moment.

He wiped his brow and smiled, trying not to chuckle at how professional Ari was being, "I would definitely say this is a dream come true but I also worked really hard to be here. Quidditch has been my life since I was big enough to ride a broom. I was on my house team since my second year and by sixth year had become Captain. I got a lucky break, sure, being signed on so soon after school but I like to think I earned it too."

“… I like to think I earned it too.” Ariadne grinned and nodded. It was super that Peyton had landed his place on the team. It was every quidditch player’s dream if they got into the sport properly. Ariadne had dreamed of it once in the past but she wasn’t as special as Wentworth.

“How did that lucky break come about - being signed so soon after school? Was it right place, right time, or did someone put a good word out for you, do you think?” Ariadne asked, glancing to Ginny for a second just to be sure she was asking a decent question. “How did you get to hear?”

Ginny gave Ariadne a little thumbs up when she looked over, she already doing an excellent job. She was upbeat but not too pushy, and she had this way about her that made, at least in Ginny's opinion, people want to talk. The question was on point and Ginny was curious to the answer.

Peyton swallowed nervously and looked between the two reporters, "I um . . . My brother set me up with a training camp some of the Teams were sponsoring." He looked a little nervous, uncomfortable mentioning anything about Xavier but preferring to cut the discussion off at the head. Afterall these training camps weren't cheap and certainly not something he could have afforded on his mother's muggle income. Besides he was going to be in the spotlight now, his father's transgressions were going to haunt him for life. All he needed to do was make a name for himself that was more appealing than being the illegitimate child of a pureblood scandal.

"It was a gruelling week but Coach was there working it. He had seen me play at Hogwarts." He motioned to Ari, "His kids go there and he came out to some of the games." He turned back to Ginny, "I guess I continued to impress him and by the end of the camp he took me aside and offered me the position. Contracts were already drawn up and everything."

Before he thought too much on it he added with a smile, "First thing I did was run by my boyfriend's flat to tell him and celebrate." His bright ice blue eyes widened for a moment at Ginny realizing what he had said before looking back to Ari a little pleadingly. He had never been living in the closet so to speak but he wasn't sure if he should have said he was gay in his very first professional interview.

Ariadne made sure to take notes as Peyton described. She remembered the games and the rumour and mutterings about who had come to the quidditch match at school, and who’d been watching who play.

“First thing I did was run by my boyfriend’s flat to tell him and celebrate.”
“Ri-,” Ariadne caught sight of Xav’s expression and realised what he’d just said. “Right, I mean, an offer straight after a training camp. That’s stuff Hogwarts students can only dream of.” She shuffled slightly, keen to move on in case Xavier hadn’t meant to mention that. She was supremely happy for Peyton and Nick but she didn’t want to be responsible for making their relationship the headline instead of Peyton’s epic Quidditch news.

“So you’ve just stepped out of training camp,” Ariadne continued brightly, “got a contract, and you join team training. How was the welcome? I mean, you’ve got some really experienced players on the team, and two months ago you… we…  were writing essays.”

Merlin Bless Ariadne.

He was eternally grateful that she had continued on with her questioning despite his own slip up. Again he never tried to hide himself but if the last few months had taught him anything, juicy gossip made for better headlines. He could just imagine what kind of vitriol would make it into the papers if it was widely known that the illegitimate son of Henry Wentworth was also gay.

"To be honest the other blokes have been fantastic. It's intimidating sure, they're all such fantastic players but your team is like your family and they've treated me just like family." He couldn't imagine what it would have been like if his team had rejected him or decided to do something stupid like haze the new guy.

"I think the training hours have been the hardest to get used to. I mean I pushed myself to the brink the last few years at Hogwarts but It's different when It's 24/7. I feel like I'm rarely home." Which in the end Wasn't such a bad thing. He was living in Diagon with his cousins Berkeley and Briar. Berk was a workaholic and rarely home, Briar was a trainee and almost as absent as her Auror big sister, though Peyton suspected she may be dating someone with how little she was around the apartment.

"But I wouldn't trade it for anything. This has been my dream for as long as I can remember."