Will clapped him on the back roughly, "C'mon, Jakey, it'll be fun! Bexley brother bonding, remember?"

Jake scowled and pushed his brother away, only to have William sling his arm over his shoulders. It would have been seen as an affectionate gesture, but in reality it was the only way the older brother would be able to maneuver Jake onto the pitch.

"There's food, cake, and pretty girls," Will said, waving with his free hand toward a small flock of girls. They giggled and hid behind their hands, and Jake could already sense his brother's attention slipping away from him. "And…there'll be fireworks in a bit, so there's no reason to not want to be here."

"There are more than ten reasons for me to not be here," Jake said, eyes rolling up to the sky, "I'm tired, I don't drink, I'm on a strict diet so I don't eat cake—"

"Shut it," Will hissed, his arm around Jake's shoulders tugging a bit too hard around Jake's neck. Struggling against his brother's unintentional (or intentional?) chokehold, Jake managed to grab hold of William's wrist and with a quick motion, freed himself and twisted Will's arm around and held it hard against his back.

"Feckin'---Jake! Relax!" Will said, pulling against his brother's hold. "People are going to stare!"

Jake blinked, feeling as if he'd skipped in time from being in the chokehold to this defensive maneuver. He released Will, taking a few steps back. The older brother whirled around and scowled, rubbing his shoulder.

"If you weren't such a nutter I'd show you off to Catriona," he said, hand going through his hair at the thought of the talent scout for the Pride. Jake had reason enough to believe that Will fancied Catriona McCormack, but he'd learned to keep his observations about his brother's life to himself because he usually ended up getting hit for voicing them.

Will sent his brother a look of disdain and led him to an empty patch of pitch. The friends and family of the Pride players, management, stadium workers, and other quidditch people were being treated to a nighttime Pre-Season Pride Picnic. To Jake, it seemed out of character for the team, but perhaps they were trying to soften their image. He allowed Will to push him down to a blanket that was set up, and Jake crossed his legs underneath him. Will came around to face him and pointed his finger stiffly into Jake's face.

"Stay here if you're going to be a nut, okay? Just sit and I'll get you food or whatever."

"I said I wasn't hungry, I don't want cake or—"

"Right---whatever, okay, I'll be back in five with drinks. Water! Water's healthy enough for you, yeah?" Will stood straight and clapped his hands together, looking honestly proud of his idea. Jake made himself smile up at him and nodded, because Will needed to think that he was doing something that didn't bother him. "Bexley brotherly bonding."

"Bexley brotherly bonding," Jake repeated, the mantra having been drilled into his head for the past three days. He watched Will leave, knowing that his brother was going to be gone for more than five minutes because there were people to talk to, girls to flirt with, and sponsors to woo. Jake would be impressed if his brother returned in under half an hour, so he stretched his legs and laid back on the blanket, using his arms as a pillow. The lights of the stadium made it impossible to see any of the night sky, and Jake let out a breath.

No one approached him. He wondered if somehow they could sense that he was off, different…a nutter, like Will said. He wasn't sure if it bothered him, as he struggled with having a decent conversation with anyone besides his brother, and even then that was difficult. Jake talked to Will, but if things went a way that started to make him feel off, or feel too much or too little, he had the ability to shut down his mind. A disability. It was easier to avoid talking to anyone than to let himself get to that point.

The crowd began to quiet as the lights slowly went out in the stadium. Jake remained on his back as they prepared to start the firework show and smiled up at the sky as the stars became visible. He started to name a few of the constellations, enjoying the quiet and darkness that had fallen around him. He searched for quiet, he reveled in it.

A golden streak of light shot off from the other end of the pitch, the first of the fireworks. Jake watched it zoom high into the sky and when it reached its apex, it burst into a bright and loud display of light.

Suddenly---he wasn't on the pitch. He was in the middle of a battlefield, lying on his back in the high grass as the shouts and screams of his fellow aurors coursed through the air. The staggering streams of hexes and jinxes created a rainbow colored web that looked ready to fall on top of him, to hurt him even more. The voices grew louder! He had to get away or they were going to keep torturing him, they were going to use that spell, the one that he'd refused to learn---

He was sprinting now, stepping over bodies and knocking into shadows in the dark. The explosions continued to go off over his head and he covered his ears to try and block out the sound. He couldn't, he couldn't do it they were too loud! Jake stumbled, shutting his eyes and letting out a scream that shook every bone in his body. He couldn't run for much longer, his stature hunched with each step like he'd soon have to crawl away to escape. He was about to collapse when a set of arms wrapped themselves around his torso, hefting him up.

"Jake! JAKE! They're just fireworks! It's fireworks!"

Jake's eyes shot open and saw that it wasn't aurors and death eaters spread out across the field, but a gathering of people, innocent bystanders, a---he gasped for air as another explosion went off, and all he could see once again were the death eaters fast approaching.

"I don't have my wand!" he screamed, struggling against the hold. He got lifted off his feet, pulled back into what appeared to be a tunnel, a tunnel? A cave, where was he? Jake was shoved against the wall and in seconds it was his brother standing in front of him, hands planted on his shoulders to keep him pinned to the wall. Jake struggled, howling to be let go. "My wand, my wand, I don't---"

"Jake, Jake!" William said loudly, his hand clapping onto the side of his brother's face. He gripped onto the straggly hair and forced Jake to look at him, "We're at the stadium, you were on the pitch!"

"The death eaters! They're coming!"

"They're not! It's just my team and their friends! There aren't any more death eaters!"

His words startled Jake and he stopped struggling against his brother's hold. No more death eaters? That couldn't be right. They were---they'd always---He looked to where Will was pointing and saw the groups of families nestled on their blankets, their faces illuminated by the fireworks going off above them. There were no hexes being thrown, no field where the bodies of his fellow aurors were strewn. Jake attempted to keep his chin up and accept that he'd had a hallucination, but the pain the images brought was too fresh and his face screwed up as he attempted to hold back his tears.

"It felt so real," he cried out, shaking his head in misery. He was never going to escape those demons.

William's arms were around him immediately, holding him tightly. Jake's legs buckled, but his brother's hold on him was strong enough to keep him upright. "I know, I know it did. It's okay, you're okay, we're gonna go. It's okay, everything's going to be fine, I'm here..."

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