Quidditch. It's like…like football in the Muggle world.

Rubeus Hagrid

The World Game

Sometimes, Dean Thomas wished the magical and non-magical worlds would reunite.

True, it would be difficult. True, it would require overcoming prejudices that had existed for centuries. But he supposed the advantages of living a Muggle life for eleven years before entering the wizarding world was that he could see the advantages the two halves could bring. Muggles could benefit from magic, ranging from food production to alternate sources of energy. Wizards could benefit from technology, ranging from concepts such as the Internet (no more dusty books, thank you very much) to the latest breakthroughs in laser surgery for all he knew. As in, something Harry could benefit from rather than having to wear glasses for the rest of his life.

And there was also a personal reason, he reflected. Making a transition was hard enough. But having to juggle the two sides of society as the father/husband of a nuclear family was something that made even Lord Voldemort look like a pushover. Marrying a Muggle? Fine, bar the whole "by the way, I can use magic, and I didn't tell you before we got married because I didn't want to have to reveal it to my future in-laws." Having a magical son? Fine. Having a non-magical son? Fine. Having those two sons born as twins and being as different as Gryffindor was to Slytherin? If there was some dark, twisted counterpart to felix felicis, he'd probably drunk it at some point.

"I'm telling you, I'm not attending your stupid football game!"

"Says the person who likes watching people fly on brooms!"

"At least we actually have games where we fly!"

"And at least we can design games that don't need seven-hundred fouls specified for them!"

Dean sighed, glancing at his wife as she poured through the Daily Telegraph while glancing at the gossip column of the Daily Prophet-truly the finer points of culture knew no boundaries.

"Aren't you going to say something?" he asked her.

"No."

"Aren't you going to stop them?"

"Oh no," she laughed. "I'm kind of enjoying this."

Dean rolled his eyes. It kind of reminded him of his Hogwarts days, back when he'd had this same annual debate with Ron. Amusing to everyone around no doubt, but unlike those days, he was in a position where he actually had to clear up the argument.

"Alright you two, break it up, break it-…"

"Get offa me!"

Dean flicked out his wand, sending Doug into one chair and Ross into another. Both twins, both nearing secondary education and both apparently perfectly comfortable living in their respective world. True, Ross's inherent magical abilities had made Doug green with envy at first, but…well, something had happened. Something involving the words "noob" and a whole lot of other words ending with "ology."

"So…" Dean began. "What's up?"

Both boys opened their mouth.

"Ross first."

Doug closed his mouth, even if he wasn't happy about it. Ross however, couldn't have looked happier.

"Well, ya see dad…you know the Quidditch World Cup is out this year, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Well, we can go to it right? At least, that's what mum said."

"Pretty much."

It was a bit of a technicality. Lindsey had to give permission, but Dean knew that he'd be the one making all the arrangements and whatnot. 2014 cup, held in Germany…couldn't see all the matches of course, but the grand final was something always worth watching. And with Harry rising fast in the ministry, he could probably wrangle some tickets somehow.

"Well…Doug wants to stop me."

"I don't want to stop you, I just-…"

Dean held up his hand. It silenced his sons, having learnt long ago that it was better to be quiet on their own accord rather than suffering a silence spell.

"Alright…" Dean said eventually. "Doug, why do you want to stop your brother?"

"I don't want to stop him, it's just that his stupid-…"

"It's not stupid!"

"Quidditch game takes place during the FIFA World Cup," he continued, ignoring his brother's outburst. "And mum said we could go to that as well."

"Yeah, like I want to go."

Dean pulled out the smile that said "you're entitled to your opinion, but I'm older, so my opinion is worth more." "Well, Doug, that's fine. I don't see why we can't attend both."

"But we can't," Doug said. "They're both in the June-July period. Not to mention on other continents."

"Oh…right…"

Football and quidditch…the world games of their respective worlds…both held every four years…and by some twist of fate, both had their events in the same multiple of four. Ever since the one he'd seen with Seamus back in '94, Dean had always managed to see some of the each subsequent event bar the cancelled '98 one. Had enjoyed each and every one of them, not to mention the thankful lack of Death Eaters. Yet he'd never stopped following West Ham either, and certainly enjoyed following the FIFA developments. But until now, having just turned ten years old each and enjoying their summer holidays, there'd never been any talk of taking Doug or Ross.

So what do I do then? The wizard wondered as Ross pushed his point that quidditch was a faster game, while Doug maintained that was a stupid point considering that the games could go on indefinitely. I've got to make a compromise somewhere, but…

Well, there was always Muggle technology for FIFA or its magical equivalent for the QWC. But if they were going to one match…

Or Lindsey could take Doug while I take Ross…

Some famous Muggle from across the Atlantic had once said that a house divided couldn't stand. Now Dean knew how he felt. Still, there was at least an alternative to letting the war of the living room carpet continue, and while Dean would have preferred getting the best of both worlds, he knew that sometimes, compromise was really the only option.

"Look…" the wizard said eventually. "I can take Ross to the QWC, while mum takes Doug to Brazil. How about that?"

"But…I want mum too!"

"But…can't you be with us?"

Dean sighed. "Boys, I know you're different people, and for all I know, your differences may outweigh your similarities. But compromise is really the only option. And while I hate to admit it…well, I'm not sure whether they'd let Muggles into the quidditch cup anyway."

Ross smirked. Doug looked aggravated, but then mentioned something about an iPhone and sneaking it into the QWC…whatever an iPhone was. And why Ross would have to use it, Dean didn't know. He'd entered the wizarding world in the 1990s, and apparently a lot had happened in the 2000s that he'd missed.

"So…is that alright then?" Dean asked. "Best of both worlds…right?"

"Sure," Ross said. "That's fine…I'd like mum there too, but…never mind."

"Yeah…" Doug murmured. "I can live with that."

Smiling with relief, Dean took a seat and summoned the remote. Perhaps he could travel both worlds. Perhaps he could achieve compromise. Perhaps Doug and Ross could be quiet for the rest of the evening and-…

"Besides, we all know quadpot's better than quidditch anyway."

"Take that back!"

Or not.

A/N

Bar the obvious source material, I'll mention that the idea for this came from a sattirical article I read titled Football as Religion. Witty, representative of how seriously people take it...got me wondering how devotion to the sport would work in a HP context where it was mutually exclusive with another sport we're all familiar with...