Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All rights go to respective owners.

Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition / Season Six, Round Five

Team: Puddlemere United

Position: Captain

Prompt: Use the title of a story written by your Keeper (JBrocks917) for inspiration.

Chosen title: A Trip to the Beach

Word Count (not including title and author's notes): 2260 (Google Docs)

Betaed by: roseusvortex. Thank you!

Now You See It (Now You Don't)

Daphne stood beneath the summer sun, enjoying an iced dirty chai and the feeling of sand between her toes. Hawaii was more beautiful than she imagined, even with Muggle families and tourists crowding the beach. Every day, she felt the stress and fears wash off her shoulders. The war was over and done—and in her past. She had her future and the whole world to explore.

And maybe someday, the pain of loss would hurt less.

The beaches and islands of Hawaii were the perfect place to get away. So it was only a mild shock to see an old schoolmate on the oceanside boardwalk one day.

"Gather around to see why you should never bet against a magician!"

A crowd—mostly children and teens—clustered around a lanky young man, whose vibrant red hair and loud personality Daphne would recognize anywhere. George Weasley, wearing the most touristy Hawaiian shirt and board shorts, grinned and pulled out a deck of cards. She noted that his long hair, which fit perfectly with the laid-back atmosphere of Hawaii, covered his missing ear.

"Now, all you kids might not know this game, but I'm sure your parents do," he said, nodding to the adults on the fringes of growing circle. "It's called Three Card Monte, or Find the Lady."

One father scowled and moved to leave with his young son before they could potentially get scammed. George riffled through the cards without looking, allowing them to fall like a waterfall from one hand to the other. An easy grin stretched across his face.

"Don't worry, sir! I'm not here to take anyone's lunch money," he said.

The children giggled, and even a few of the adults grinned. It was hard to not be at ease around him. Against her better judgment, Daphne felt herself walk closer, excited to see what he was going to do next. The boy looked at his father with pleading eyes. The man let go of his hand, although his shoulders didn't relax.

"The reason why most adults are not so keen on this game," George explained, "is that bad people use it to con others out of money. Which means as soon as you agree to play—you always lose."

The kids looked at each other with a mixture of awe and concern.

"So I'm going to need a volunteer," he continued, fanning the cards in one hand. "We won't be playing for cash or anything else. It's just for fun."

He was suddenly surrounded by eager, raised hands. Even some of the adults had theirs up in the air, too. George looked out across the sea of excited potential volunteers when he locked eyes with Daphne. She felt butterflies erupt in her stomach as she anxiously wondered how good his wandless magic was.

"I think we found our Lady," George announced a roguish grin on his face. Everyone turned to look at her, and she straightened her spine. "Give her a big round of applause!"

People clapped, and some of the younger men whistled. She moved to the front of the crowd and saw a small foldable table and two chairs. George took her hand and bowed to her. Daphne grinned at his antics; she couldn't help it. She took a seat on one side of the table, and George took the other.

He held the deck of cards in one hand, faced down. Flipping over the top card, he revealed it to be the Three of Clubs. George showed it to the silent crowd and turned it back over; he snapped his fingers. Flipping the top card once more, he presented it to the audience.

It was the Queen of Hearts.

The kids shouted in amazement and clapped. George winked at her and pulled out two Jacks—Spades and Clubs—from the deck. He put those three face up on the table and fanned the remaining cards out to Daphne.

"Pick a card, any card," he said. "And sign it with this pen." A snap of his fingers and a black marker seemed to appear in his hand.

"You're very good," Daphne said honestly. Even with her keen sense of observation, she couldn't tell where the trick ended, and the magic began. It must look like a miracle to the Muggles.

"Thank you," George replied. "Although, I should tell you all"—he turned to the crowd at this point—"that everything you see here is just an illusion. It's not real magic. For that, I would need a magic wand."

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Is he trying to tell me that he isn't doing wandless magic? Or is it just another layer of the trick?

George held his hands up and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He shrugged in defeat to the kids.

"Guess you can't have everything," he said with a pout. The kids and adults chuckled appreciatively, and George turned his attention back to Daphne.

"What card did you pick? It's okay if I see it."

Daphne selected a card and turned it so everyone could see.

"The Ace of Diamonds," she said. She took the pen and wrote her name across the front. Capping the marker, she handed the card back to George who waved it away.

"No," he said. "That card needs to go somewhere where I can't easily get to it."

Oh, really. Daphne smirked and moved aside her cover-up, and put the card underneath the string of her bikini top. George blushed, and the same guys who whistled before laughed.

"Alright, are you ready to lose at Three Card Monte?" George asked as the blush faded from his cheeks.

"I think I can win," she replied earnestly.

He tutted and turned sadly to the crowd.

"That's what they all say."

Once more, they laughed. George had them eating right out of his hand. He showed her the cards—Jack of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, and Jack of Spades—and carefully flipped them. He started shuffling them—one at a time, back and forth. After a moment, he stopped.

"Where's the Queen?"

She smirked. Wandless magic or not—and she was thinking 'not' the longer she sat there—she had followed the card easily.

Daphne pointed to the one on the right.

"This one?" George asked. "Are you positive? It's not too late to change your mind."

"No, I'm sure it's that one."

He turned it over and revealed the Queen of Hearts. People clapped, and George flipped the card face down on the table.

"Ready for round two?"

They played three more times, and each time Daphne won. Some of the kids started to lose interest. She knew that they wanted to see her fail, but she wasn't going to give them that satisfaction.

But George had other plans.

"I think that this," he said, once more returning the three cards to their starting positions, "has been too easy for her. What do you all think?"

The children shouted, encouraging him to make it more difficult. One guy from the back of the crowd shouted.

"Stop going easy on her because she's pretty!"

The adults chuckled at this, and George reddened. Daphne felt a little bad for him—but that reaction soon disappeared as he shuffled the cards again. This time, his hands moved like lightning.

Back and forth the cards traveled, and she tracked the Queen of Hearts. Then George twitched his hands, and something happened.

She lost the Queen.

When he stopped, George looked up at her with a smirk.

"Where's the Lady?" he asked.

Daphne stared helplessly down at the three cards. She hated doing it, but she guessed.

"That one," she said, pointing to the card in the middle.

Dramatically, George turned the card over to reveal the Jack of Spades. Murmurs and some applause—this time for George—erupted throughout the crowd.

"You win some, and you lose some," he said. It wasn't very comforting. "Would you like to try again?"

She tried again and again but thoroughly lost each time. It wasn't fair. No one—at least, no Gryffindor—should be this good at sleight of hand.

"I feel so bad," George said, and he flipped the card over to show the Jack of Clubs. "I can tell you're trying so hard. How about this? I'll go easy on you for the last round."

Daphne scowled but nodded anyway. He showed her the cards, turned them face down, and began shuffling. The pace was slow and deliberate, and she didn't see anything suspicious. Finally, George stopped and looked up at her.

"Where's the Queen?"

This time it was obvious—so much so, that a little kid to her left was pointing to the card on the far right. She rolled her eyes.

"I know," she told the young boy. George laughed at her helpless tone.

"Do you want to go with that one?" he asked.

Daphne nodded. "I know it's that one," she said.

George turned to the crowd and tutted sadly.

"That's what they all say."

They laughed, and Daphne felt herself move to the edge of her seat. George smirked and flipped her selected card over. The crowd gasped loudly.

It was blank. Her jaw dropped.

How had he—? Had he actually pulled off wandless magic?

What was going on?

George flipped the card on the far left over, and it was also blank, too. Everyone, including Daphne, was stunned. He smirked. Slowly, he picked up the last card, so that only he could see it.

"Daphne," he said, turning the card around so everyone could see, "I thought I told you to put this in a place where I couldn't get it."

It was the Ace of Diamonds with her name across the front, in her handwriting. Everyone was shouting and clapping, and she reached up and pulled the card from her bikini top. It had been there since the start.

She turned it over in her hand and felt her heart stop.

It was the Queen of Hearts.

Daphne stood up and gave him a standing ovation. It didn't matter whether or not this was a trick or magic, or if they used to be in rival Houses. In her mind, it was an outstanding performance.

George got up and bowed to her. He reached out and took her hand, gently kissing it. Next he turned to the crowd and fanned the remaining cards from the deck on the table, and did a ribbon spread. The cards flipped over like dominoes to reveal that they were all blank.

"And that is why you never bet against a magician! Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day!"

The crowd cheered. The children swarmed around him, begging him to teach them or do another card trick. It seemed like he was going to be there for a while, so Daphne left, taking the Queen of Hearts with her as a memento.

She barely made it thirty meters down the boardwalk, when Daphne heard shouting behind her.

"Daphne! Daphne, wait!"

Laughing slightly to herself, she turned to find George running after her. When he finally caught up, he was panting.

"Thank you for helping me back there," he wheezed. "Merlin, it's hot out here. Would you like to get a drink with me?"

She raised an eyebrow. Well, that had been abrupt.

"George Weasley, are you asking me out?" Daphne asked. She found that she was pleasantly surprised, although a little confused. "I thought you were dating Angelina…" Her voice faded as he flinched slightly.

"You're information is out of date, it would seem," he replied stiffly. "She left me. It was getting too hard for her—my depression and stuff. So she left, and Hermione suggested I leave, too. Not rudely, but she thought sunshine would do me some good. So I came here. That was a month ago."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, while Daphne searched for something to say. She wasn't really good at this sort of thing—talking about feelings and such. It was something her sister was far better at doing.

"I'm sorry to bother you," George finally said. "Thank you again for your help—"

"Well, I left, too," she blurted out before he could leave. "I needed a place to heal after...everything. I know you lost your brother, and I lost...someone close to me, too. So I get it. And I would love to get a drink with you—if you tell me one thing."

George slowly grinned.

"Name your price," he said confidently.

"How did you switch my card with the Queen of Hearts?" she asked.

"Well..." George replied awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "That wasn't originally part of the act. Everything up until then was just Muggle card tricks and sleight of hand. I had never tried adding wandless magic. You know how that can go. It's less focused, so anything can happen."

"So why did you try it?" she asked curiously. He smiled.

"I had a very pretty girl to impress," he said honestly. "And Fr-Fred would have killed me, if I hadn't at least tried."

Daphne smiled and took his hand.

"There's a coffee shop down the street. I would like another iced dirty chai, please," she said. "And if you're interested, a walk on the beach afterwards?"

He laced her fingers through hers. Normally, Daphne followed a structured path through life, and this wasn't something she had planned. But today, she didn't mind a little spontaneity. And she was learning life could still be magical even if it was also imperfect.

Who knew where it would go.