Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.
Chapter 1: The not-so-ideal Birthday parties
It was a horrid summer day outside! The hot, suffocating air of late July accompanied by the dry climate and killer-bright sun were making Number Four Privet Drive one of the worse places to be at the time.
Dudley and Neville were doing their best to ignore the unbearable heat as they patiently waited for Diana to finish packing her bags while playing a game of exploding snap in the kitchen. Vernon Dursley sat quietly at the table, intently studying the small multicolored plates as they would miraculously turn, on their own for a split second, to reveal a monstrous creature that by all means, should exist only in fairytale, then flip back over and start shaking madly up until either Neville or Dudley would tap them with a spoon and pair them up with a card which had the same design on top. The card would then start flying towards a pack on Dudley or Neville's side and lay still.
Try as he might, Vernon could not begin to explain what exactly was it that he found so interesting in regards to the dull game, because the two boys were looking rather bored as they lazily taped the shaking plates. Granted, this stuff was old news for the both of them, after all, Dudley and the twins had spent the most of June at Neville's place, researching and apparently preparing for the kids third year at Hogwarts, meaning that Dudley, who was absolutely fascinated by anything that had the slightest connection to magic, must have already played the "exploding snap" game quite a number of times over the weeks, but Vernon was another matter entirely!
It had been hard sometimes for him and Petunia to get used to the idea that their twins were magical. But, being the loving and understanding father that he swore he'd be, he'd done his best to try and be supportive of it. Granted, the way those plates just sort of moved on their own and the concept that there was a whole society of people out there (to which his girls belonged to) that he did not understand, scared him more then he'd ever let out to believe.
So, he'd decided to do the only thing humanly possible and buy books about the Wizarding culture, in hope that he'd somehow managed to understand it better (though the books he'd bought had left him more confused then anything). He'd also gone as far as to write to that old Headmaster at that Hogwarts school behind everybody's back, expressing his concerns, and Professor Dumbledore (what a barmy name!) had helpingly sent him a number of books with references to the magical world, which proved to be of a lot more use than anything he had bought.
He still didn't like it! No, that Dumbledore fellow had been rather helpful with those books, but he had accidentally stumbled across The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, one of the girl's old school books which were lying around, and what he had found there scared him. These wizards could do some nasty stuff, especially that Grindelwald person seemed like a complete wanker to him!
"Linsy!" Petunia called from the foot of the steps interrupting Vernon's thoughts. "Are you done yet?"
"Almost!" was the vague reply.
Petunia shock her head disappointed and said: "I'm going up there to get them," then marched up the stairs.
"Hey, dad," Dudley said, drawing his attention towards the two boys, who had apparently finished their game while he wasn't looking. "Let's take the stuff up to the car; Diana'll take hours till she's ready!"
Vernon nodded mutely then he, Dudley and Neville proceeded to lift the large blue plastic box filled with lam-meat (which Vernon had specifically purchased a few days ago for this special occasion) and headed for the front door.
The Dursley family, accompanied by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger, had decided on going camping for Dudley's birthday.
It had been Dudley's idea, because while the Dursleys and Hermione had been camping before, Neville had never once in his life experienced the wonders of the wilderness and all its magnificent green glory. So, naturally, Dudley had phoned a few days ago, to inform their parents that they were coming home and that they should be packed and ready for a few days in the wild life.
Vernon wasn't all to excited about it, after all, it was hot as hell outside, and he hated mosquitoes (and there was bound to be an abundance of them in the forest), while Petunia had always hated camping, but nevertheless chose to tag along in hopes of spending some extra time with her kids.
Vernon opened the front door and squeezed the crate of meat out, managing to get to the car and heave it into the trunk when a voice all too familiar called out to him.
"Mister Dursley!"
"Missis Longbottom, good day," Vernon greeted. "Decided to come with us after all?" he asked.
"No, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to cancel your plans," the strict woman said. She held out a hand to prevent Vernon from speaking and continued. "Believe me, when you hear what I have to say, you shan't be wishing to go anywhere anytime soon!"
By noon, the kids were sulking. Petunia had turned on the cooler and left the five to work on some summer assignments in the living room, while Augusta and the two elder Dursleys had retreated in the kitchen to have an adult talk.
"Sirius Black?" shrieked Petunia startled.
"Please keep it down!" snapped Augusta.
"And he's coming for my girls?" Vernon asked flabbergasted. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Augusta sighed. "Unfortunately, it is the truth, and yes, I'm sure about it. The Minister of Magic himself heard Black murmuring 'he's at Hogwarts', so, he naturally assumed that he was talking about the girls."
"He?" Petunia asked perplexed. "Don't you mean they or she? My girls are, well, girls!"
"Yes," Augusta nodded. "I had my suspicions with regards to the meaning of Black's words. But that doesn't put the girls out of harm's way! After all, Black was the one who sold Lily and James Potter to You-Know-Who; it wouldn't hurt to be precautious."
"Black was the one-" Petunia asked shocked, "- who sold my sister to that psychotic murderer?"
"Yes," Augusta nodded gravely. "It was the reason why he was put into Azkaban." Augusta then proceeded to explain to the two Dursleys how Black had killed thirty people with a single curse while trying to get rid of one of his other friends and how said unfortunate friend had been blasted to smithereens, only a finger remained behind of the valiant wizard.
The Dursleys had taken the news rather badly, going as far as to threaten to removed the girls from school, but Augusta had smacked some sense into them when she'd proceeded to explain the gravity of the situation and that the girls would be much safer at Hogwarts under the watchful eye of the greatest wizard of the century, rather then stuck in a house with defenseless Muggles.
Augusta had then proposed that the Dursleys alongside the Grangers move to her house for the rest of the summer.
"The more we are, the better the chances to defend ourselves against Black! Algie said he and his wife will be there by tomorrow, and besides, my house is hidden under a Fidelius charm, unlike yours."
"Fidelius charm?" asked a confused looking Petunia.
"It means, no one can find it unless the secret keeper, that would be me, tells them exactly where the house is."
The two Dursleys nodded in understanding and agreed to the plan.
The rest of Dudley's birthday was spent packing up stuff and moving them from number four to the Longbottom estate; then they had to repeat the procedure with Hermione's parents.
The evening wasn't that bad. Dudley got tons of presents, both magical and Muggle alike, and a huge cake which Dobby personally made (the elf was rather good at cooking), which ended up splattered across the Longbottom living room, because Uncle Algie popped up around eight uninvited and the first thing he did when he saw the cake was grab a chunk and throw it straight at the birthday-boy's face.
Throughout the course of the following days, the kids began familiarizing themselves with the Grangers (which they had never met before), and with Neville's uncle and aunt.
Algie Longbottom was rather tall and skinny with yellowish teeth, beetle-black eyes and curly gray hair (though it was currently cut short, you could still see the tentative twirl at the end of the straw). He was a rather cheery fellow who liked recounting stories from his days as a war veteran and stuff them up with all kinds of bizarre and amusing events, that you couldn't make heads or tails of it in the end even if you would have tried.
Neville's aunt was a fine example of a nice-loving mother, so, naturally, the kids were disappointed when they found out she had no children. She was rather tall, but not overly so, and slender, with a nice curved body, long black hair, and vivid gray eyes. She loved anything to do with plants and spent most of her time helping Neville in the greenhouse, and she was a master potionere (unlike Snape).
The Grangers were polite and intelligent people; the kids could definitely see where Hermione had gotten her brain and looks. She had Mr. Granger's hair and cheek bones, Miss. Ganger's eyes and nose, and if you looked hard enough, you could see that both father and daughter displayed a nervous tick every time when they where put on the spot (mostly by Miss. Granger) in the form of a repeated tapping of their left leg.
All in all, it looked like it would be a wonderful summer vacation...although not for the girls.
Hermione was stressed out of her mind because Heidi had been hooked on the Draught of Living Death and Wiggenweld Potion for nearly four months, and while everything was going nice and peachy for the first few months, the effects of the two combined potions were starting to take their tool on the girl. Ever so often, she'd change moods for no apparent reason, she spaced out more often then not, she'd run a fever at least once a week (which the adults had thankfully associated with a slight summer fluke) and lets not forget the most recent development. After dinner, Heidi had rushed upstairs to the bathroom to throw-up. Hermione wasn't far behind.
"We need to get you off the potion!" Hermione had desperately yelled.
"You think I don't know that!" Heidi had snapped once she'd managed to compose herself. "But we can't do it now," she'd said and then proceeded to throw up some more.
"Why?" Hermione asked desperately. "You're getting worse by the day! If you go on like this the adults will get suspicious, or worried, and if they send you off to Saint Mungos, we're screwed!"
"I know!" Heidi snapped and leaned back over the can. After dumping the last remains of dinner, she turned back to Hermione, looking positively sick and said: "If I stop taking the potion now, then I'll have to go through four weeks' worth of withdrawal in which I'll be running a skyscraper high fever, lacks of appetite, potions will be rather useless, if not dangerous for my week system, I'd have to suffer through it the old fashion way and frankly, four bloody weeks, someone's gonna notice you know."
"We can pretend you have a summer fever, you know, a really bad case of one," Hermione suggested.
"Then they'll insist on taking me to Saint Mungos, and we'll be screwed, as you so eloquently put it," said Heidi drily. "Sorry, Herms, but I'd rather wait till we're back at Hogwarts to drop the potion."
"Hogwarts?" Hermione asked disbelieved. "Are you insane? If you stop taking the potion at Hogwarts, someone's bound to notice you're going through the withdrawal, especially if it does take four weeks for the bloody thing to go away!"
"No, they won't," Heidi assured. "I'll go to the hospital wing, and convince Madam Pomfrey to tell the teachers I've come up with something and can't go to school-"
"But-" Hermione started to protest, but Heidi cut her off by saying:
"She did take the oath of secrecy with regards to her clients' condition, and, unlike Saint Mungos, her clients are the students! It's our best shot!"
"I don't know," Hermione said as she began chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "I think you should start as soon as possible, to prevent it from getting worse!"
"Well, unless you come up with a plan to make this stupid thing go away, without alerting the adults to our precarious use of potions, I suggest you keep quiet till we're at Hogwarts!" snapped Heidi. "I don't think I'm speaking only for myself when I say, my parents are gonna kill me if they find out about this!"
Hermione bowed her head in resignation.
"I guess, there really isn't one," she admitted defeated. "But what if Madam Pomfrey tells someone?"
"She won't," Heidi assured. "I'll make sure she doesn't before telling her."
"If you're sure," Hermione said uncertain.
"Positive," Heidi nodded.
While Hermione and Heidi were debating how best to handle Heidi's addiction problem, Diana was perched up in her room, with Tom Riddle's diary.
You see my dilemma here? She wrote feeling uncertain.
Yes, I see what you mean, Tom replied. But not to worry! There are a few efficient charms which can help us get out of this mess!
Really? Like what? Diana asked eagerly.
Like concealment charms, Tom said simply. They can disguise the diary into anything you see fit, like, a text book, a notebook, or a box for the matter. I can teach you some of them.
Tom that would be wonderful!said Diana delighted. But, how are you gonna teach me the charms if you're well, pardon my saying, a book. I mean, I'll have to learn the wand-movement from somewhere...
Well, there is something I've been meaning to show you, for quite some time now, but I wanted to keep it as a surprise for your birthday...But I guess this is as good a time as any to show you.
What? Diana asked curiously.
Are you alone?
Yes. I'm alone in my room at the Longbottom estate, the door is locked and everyone else's probably in bed if not sleeping right about now.
Excellent! Then it's safe to how you!
Show me what? Diana asked curiously.
This, was the simple reply.
The pages of the diary suddenly began glowing pure white and Diana felt and invisible force pull her in the pages of the inanimate object, and suddenly the world was nothing but blurs and shadows passing by too fast for the eyes to register.
Diana felt her feet reach solid ground, and stammered slightly as she tried to regain her balance. The world around was still a blur of shadowy figures, which were slowly beginning to assemble themselves into concrete shaped.
Walls as ancient looking as time itself delimitated the space, with high gothic ceilings and a superb stoned floor; two gigantic wooden doors appeared on her left, and on the right there lay a beautiful marble stairway which led to the floor above.
"Hogwarts," Diana whispered mystified.
"Magnificent isn't it?" a soft masculine voice resounded from somewhere behind here.
Diana turned with a start, to come face-to-face with the alluring dark orbs of a handsome sixteen year old boy with aristocratic features and jet black hair.
"Tom," she said in a breathless whisper as she took in every single aspect of the boy's features.
Tom gave a crooked smile and took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. "It's a pleasure to finally meant you in person, milady," he said as he planted a soft kiss on the tips of her finger.
Diana turned bright red in a matter of seconds and felt her throat go dry, as her heart started hammering wildly in her chest.
"L-l-likewise," she managed to stutter in a silent voice and ducked her head.
Tom's smirk passed unnoticed by Diana as a million questions and thoughts assaulted her brain. For one, she could not believe her luck (and stupidity)! She was standing in the middle on the Great Hall, with the hottest guy she had ever seen and she was stuttering madly and shaking like a little kid! (Damned nerves) Two, how come she ended up here anyway? What was this a parallel world?
"So," Riddle's soft voice broke here trail of thoughts. "Do you like your birthday present?"
"Mm hmm," Diana nodded, as she flushed harder and glued her eyes to a point somewhere above her shoe.
A delicate finger found its way beneath her chin and her head was slowly lifted up until her eyes came to rest on the teen's captivating jet-black orbs.
"While I'm sure the floor is graced by your uncanny infatuation with it, it is rather unladylike to ignore your host," Riddle said as he flashed a dazzling smile.
"Sorry," Diana managed to say weekly.
"Not at all, milady! Now," Tom held up a hand to her and gave her a mischievous smile. "Shall we proceed to the Great Hall? I fear that I unfortunately will not be able to hold you here for long and I hope to teach you at least one of those concealment charms before the time is up."
Diana placed her hand in Tom's and the two of them began walking into the Great Hall.
"Why can't you hold me here for long?" asked Diana.
"It drains me terribly," Tom explained, "to manifest myself or to bring someone else in here."
"Why?"
"I am a magical artifact. I exist because of the magic which my creator, the actual Tom Riddle had bestowed upon me. Had it not been for that, and the memories which he has left within theses pages, I would be a mere lifeless diary today."
"Then, how is it possible that you summoned me here?" asked a confused looking Diana.
"That's rather simple," Riddle stated. "I'm using up my own magic supply."
"The one that' keeping you alive?" Diana asked shocked.
"Technically speaking, yes."
Diana suddenly let go of Tom's hand, looking horrified. "Take me back, NOW!" she ordered.
Tom turned a hurt expressing her way. "I thought you wanted to meat me in person," he said sulkily.
"I did!" Diana assured. "But not at the cost of your life!"
Riddle snorted. "You call this a life," he said morosely and twirled his finger around the place. "You're the only person I have had the pleasure of sharing this place for over 50 years. It does get rather boring living in here all by yourself, you know. So, forgive me if I'm not too eager to see you leave."
Diana bowed her head in understanding as she imagined what it must have felt like to be stuck in the same place all alone for such a long time.
"Can't you get out of here?" Diana asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure," Riddle said and smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."
"No problem!" Diana hasted in assuring.
"Well then, shall we begin our training?" Tom asked.
"Of course," Diana nodded eagerly.
-OOOOOOOO-
The days at the Longbottom estate seemed to pass by in a blur as Augusta and the other adults helped the children prepare for their third year at Hogwarts. Thankfully, Heidi's little food problem seemed to have been just an unfortunate coincidence of food poisoning, since, apparently, Swoopy (the chef house-elf of the estate), and Dobby, had argued while making dinner, and so, had neglected to watch the soup, so, Rolla (a rather ancient house-elf left to them by their great-grandmother) who'd decided to give them a helping hand, had accidentally used a few eggs, which after some close inspection looked to be more old then she was. ("That is some complicated stuff," Heidi had muttered.) Of course, no one had been as sick as Heidi, but thankfully, the next day, the girl was fine, (if you didn't count the occasional mood swings and depressions which seemed to come and go).
So, without further ado, the thirty first of July found the inhabitants of the Longbottom estate up and ready to travel at seven a.m. sharp.
A few days ago, Algie Longbottom had swooped in the dining room, grinning like a child on Christmas eve, and had proceeded to bombard them with the news that the Falmouth Falcons where playing the Wimbourne Wasps (two British Quidditch teams the kids had never heard of) on the thirty first of the month.
"Right on time for the twins' birthday!" Algie said excited. "What better birthday present can you ask for?"
The concept of finally being able to see a Quidditch match played by professionals, excited the kids, though Missis Longbottom was quick to disagree.
"Are you barking mad!" she'd shrieked at Algie. "A murdering psychopath is after the girls and all you can think about is Quidditch?"
"What's so wrong with some fun and relaxation in between a load of stress and nerves and non-stop work, once in a while? Merlin, Augusta, I know you mean well, but there isn't a day that goes by in which you don't remind us that Sirius Black might be lurking around the corner waiting with a butcher knife and a nasty curse! It's time you started lightening up! The kids aren't gonna die if they go see a match of Quidditch! That stadium will have more Aurors guarding it then Azkaban will ever have!"
Augusta hadn't looked convinced in the least and the argument had carried on for quite a few more hours since the kids had joined Algie's protest as well. The elder witch had ended up relenting, seeing as the kids had threatened to run away and go see the match on their own if they were forbidden from going.
"So, you might as well let us go then have us sneaking around and left to our own devices," Heidi had threatened. "Heaven knows we're not too familiar with the London streets."
The elder woman had bowed her head in resignation and agreed to let them go, however, there were rules.
"You will be accompanied at all times by an adult! There will be no running around, no talking to strangers, no arguing amongst yourself, you will not leave the group unless accompanied by one of the adults..." and the list went on and on up until 120 something things they weren't allowed to do, but the kids didn't care! They were going to finally see a Quidditch match! Black be screwed, they were not passing this one out.
So, seven p.m., sharp, the kids were all dressed up and ready, their backpacks packed with food and junk food, in case the match went on for days, like some apparently did. Only the three wizarding adults were coming along, since they didn't want to risk having to look after so many people. Augusta had taken the liberty of owling Dumbledore the previous day, and requested that he send some escorts for the twins, which the occupants of the manor where anxiously waiting for.
Finally, after what felt like ages, the flames of the fire-place burned bright emerald, and out into the hallway of the Longbottom estate, stepped non other then Albus Dumbledore himself, followed shortly by Minerva McGonagall.
Dumbledore smiled merrily at the shocked faces of the assembled crowd and greeted them jovially.
"I am terribly sorry for the delay, however I was finding it rather difficult to locate the other half of my favorite socks, which I have worn to every Quidditch match I have ever been to, and I found it rather thorny to part with the tradition."
The occupants of the house shared a look and grinned broadly. Dudley could relate perfectly with the man's pain, he himself would never go to a football match without his lucky aquamarine-blue hat.
"Professor McGonagall, you're coming with us to a Quidditch match?" Diana asked surprised.
"One of my former students is a Chaser for the Falmouth Falcons and he has extended and invitation to go see the match, and since it was such a convenient timing, I decided to accept," McGonagall said in her defense.
"The Falmouth Falcons also happen to be Minerva's favorite Quidditch team," Dumbledore added merrily. Minerva shot him a fowl look which the ancient wizard completely ignored.
Heidi smiled at hearing the news, it seemed like she'd just found a team worth playing for.
"Can we go now," Dudley asked getting bored of the tedious small talk.
"Certainly," Dumbledore said. "We ca floo directly to the stadium, since the ministry has opened up a floo network for discretion's sakes. After all, it would look suspicious to the non-magical inhabitants of London city, if an absurdly large number of people went to the Wembley football stadium for no apparent reason."
"Alright, Algie, Enid, you two take care of Neville and Dudley," Augusta said, taking charge of the operation. "I'll take Hermione, and the girls go with the two professors. Remember the rules!" the elder woman warned.
"Yes man," the kids chorused and went to sit besides their respective escort.
Diana hurried off towards professor McGonagall, and hugged the elder woman, who indulged her for a few seconds then warned her to behave properly and responsibly. Heidi sighed in defeat and made her way towards the smiling headmaster.
Algie and Enid were the first to leave, accompanied by Neville and Dudley, then Hermione and Augusta, and lastly, the twins and the two professors.
The kids stepped out of the floo network to be greeted by the sight of one of the most packed places they had ever seen. The stadium was gigantic, and had about a hundred thousand seats, and of course, about a few hundred Aurors were swooping around the place and inspecting the people which were pouring out of the fire-places. One of them came to inspect their group and let them through after sharing a quick greeting with the adults and a respectful nod to Dumbledore.
The group of people then slowly began making their way towards the stands, and the girls were delighted to hear that Algie had booked them all tickets for the top row, although Dudley and Diana looked a little nervous, the concept of finally seeing their first professional Quidditch match blew their worries right out of their minds as they eagerly followed Algie up the stairs.
At long last, the group emerged out onto the stands and the kids were struck silent as they saw the stadium almost packed with wizards. The first few stands might have been empty, since you probably couldn't even see anything from down below, but the top three stands were crammed.
The kids slowly made their way towards their seats and sat down, anxiously awaiting the start of the game.
It took them about an 'hour and twenty-five minutes of tedious waiting and small talk (which consisted mostly of McGonagall grilling the kids on their summer assignments and one of Uncle Algie's barmy war adventures) for the game to start. The stadium was suddenly engulfed in darkness and the crowd was struck silent for one blissful second, before the commentator of the match boomed in a magically enhanced voice:
"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TO THE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIRST EDITION OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as the commentator proceeded to announce the teams.
"TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE PLAYED BETWEEN TWO OF OUR MOST PROMISING QUIDDITCH TEAMS! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GIVE IT UP FOR THE WIMBPURNE WASPS AND FALMOUTH FALCONS!"
As the commentator stopped talking, two sets of Quidditch teams made their way on the fields, one entering from the left wearing horizontal yellow and black stripes with a wasp on the chest, and one from the right, dressed in dark gray and white attire with a falcon emblem. The players parted and started flying haphazardly around as the crowd erupted in uncontrollable cheers and howls, some people even raising flags with their supported team's emblem. Professor McGonagall managed to surprise them all by giving a loud cheer when the Falcons made their entrance; she managed to compose herself quickly and tried as best she could to look completely uninterested for the rest of the game, but that didn't stop the kids from gaping bewildered at her for a few seconds.
The players did a few more spectacular dives, then proceeded to arrange themselves in the standard Quidditch-start-formation and patiently waited for the match's referee to make his way towards them.
While on stand-by, McGonagall said:
"See, the one on the right with the long blond hair wrapped in a pony-tail," she pointed at a tall, bulky blond guy with caramel-colored skin. "That is Erik Skids, my former student," she announced smugly.
"He's not a natural blond," Diana commented.
"No, he's a brunet," McGonagall confirmed.
"AND THEY'RE OFF!" The commentator boomed, and the crowd erupted in cheers as the Wasps chaser grabbed the Quaffle and bolted for the hoops of the opposite team.
They were so fast, amazingly so, that you could barely distinguish a few blurry figures zigzagging the field, like little flies circling a gleaming lamp.
Dudley and Neville were on the edge of their seats desperately trying to get a glimpse of what was going on, while cheering for the Falcons while Algie had chosen to side with the Wasps and was quite proud when the first goal of the match went to them.
"WHAT A GOAL LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the commentator cheered, and Algie joined in by adding an:
"I told you they were the best team!"
Minerva shot him a fowl look.
"Oh, stuff it! I know perfectly well that you'd be cheering for the Ballycastle Bats if they were playing the Wasps!" Neville accuse, and Algie nodded eagerly.
"Well, the Bats are the best Quidditch team in all of England!" he enthused.
"Are not!" Neville countered.
Algie was about to contradict his nephew by pointing out that the Bats had managed to make it in the British finals and actually won the Championship last year, when Heidi yelled:
"There's the Snitch!"
The Longbottom males stopped arguing at once and McGonagall squinted her eyes while looking wildly around and asked: "Where?"
"There!" Heidi rose to her feet and pointed at the far left hoop on the Falcon's side. "That idiotic Keeper is standing right beside it!"
"GOAL FOR THE FALCONS!" the commentator announced drawing the crowd's attention towards the Wasps' hoops. Minerva and the kids cheered enthusiastically while Algie cursed colorfully.
"Algie!" Enid warned.
"Sorry dear," the man apologized looking sheepish.
"AD THE WASPS HAVE REGAINED POSSESSION OF THE QUAFFLE AND ARE HEADING TOWARDS THE HOOPS LIKE MAD MEN! OH, AND COULD THIS BE? YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FALCON SEEKER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"
"Finally!" Heidi huffed while throwing a disappointed look the seeker's way. "Malfoy could spot the snitch faster then these guys!"
"Hey, don't even go there," Neville pleaded.
"Whose Malfoy?" asked Dudley.
"Diana's ex," answered Heidi.
"Oh," the boy nodded, then after a few seconds proceeded to bellow: "How DARE you be more pathetic then that prat!"
The Wasps seeker suddenly took a spectacular turn and dove right in front of the Falcons' seeker, momentarily distracting him as the Wasp proceeded to dive and stretch up his hand to catch the tiny ball. The Falcon seeker didn't remain out of ply for long, as he recovered and plummeted after the other seeker and reached him in no time.
"LOOK AT THOSE SEEKERS GO!" the commentator cheered, but, despite his enhanced voice, the sound only registered as something within the background as the stadium erupted into uncontrollable roars and howls as the fans started singing and screaming the teams' name and egging them on, while both seeker circled each other and dropped to the ground at an unbelievable speed. They both reached out a hand and...
A red light suddenly resounded in the stadium and a panicked voice managed to effectively distract everyone's attention from the game as it shouted:
"STOP THE GAME! SIRIUS BLACK IS IN THE BUILDING! EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
It only took about half a second for the people to react. One minute they were all cheering happily for their favorite team then the other, they were screaming their throats out and scrambling around the stadium bumping into people and trying to get to the exits as fast as possible.
Algie, Enid and Augusta grabbed a hold of the boys and Hermione and rushed them towards the exit disappearing amongst the crowd, while Dumbledore placed a firm grip on Minerva and Heidi's shoulder holding them in place.
"Augusta!" he cried, but the elder Longbottom woman and her escort had vanished from sight.
"Albus, shouldn't we follow?" Minerva asked confused.
"My dear professor, it would be foolish to try and fight your way out of this crowd," Dumbledore said. "I believe that the safest way to go is to wait for the masses to pass, and calmly proceed to the exit afterwards."
"Professor, we're with Dumbledore," Heidi reminded a fee which Minerva seemed to have just realized herself, as she visibly relaxed.
"I believe the road has cleared enough," Dumbledore said as he began rising from his seat. Minerva and the twins were soon to follow.
The group quickly made their way towards the stairs and descended to the semi-last floor where they came face to face with the two Quidditch teams which were advancing towards the exit, brooms still in hand.
"Professor," Erik Skids, the blond Falcon chaser called.
"Erik, why on earth have you not left?" asked Minerva.
"We weren't allowed to leave on brooms of fear that we'd be spotted by Muggles," Erik said. "I'm glad you decided to come professor."
"Skids!" the Falcon captain snapped.
"Just a minute sir," Erik shouted and pulled Minerva aside. "Actually professor, the falcon team sponsors have been wondering if-"
"HEIDI! DIANA!" a loud and familiar voice coming from the other side of the stadium drew the kids attention, and the group turned to notice that, one row below, where all the crowd was still pushing madly towards the exit, standing on top of the bard and waving at them madly, was non other than Hermione Granger.
"Hermione!" The twins chorused and rushed towards the side bar.
"We'll meat you downstairs!" Heidi screamed, motioning for Hermione to go.
"Are you Ok?" Hermione screamed not understanding a word.
"BLACK IS DOWNSTAIRS!" Shouted someone from amidst the crowd, and suddenly, the mob of people which were pushing to get on the stairs, retreated back, with a panicked scream, and the ones at the very end, knocked straight into Hermione, sending her toppling over the bar, face first.
Hermione gave a piercing scream and Diana was soon to join in, while Heidi began wildly searching the place for anything helpful. She spotted the broom in Erik's hand, and not giving it a second thought, she hurtled the broom out of his hand and jumped over the edge.
She mounted the broom mid-fall, and zoomed towards Hermione with an unbelievable speed.
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and was ready to cast a spell, but soon found out that he needn't have bothered, since Heidi managed to grab a hold of Hermione's hand, and lung her up onto the broom. Heidi heaved in a sigh of relief as she took a firm grip on her friend which had enveloped her in a choking embrace and was shivering madly.
"You ok?" Heidi asked, as she absentmindedly noticed the word Firebolt written on top of the broom handle. Hermione merely managed to nod her head, as Heidi proceeded to lower them to the ground.
Diana nearly fainted with relief, while Minerva let out a loud and sufferable breath.
"Does that girl play Quidditch?" asked the Falcon captain whose attention had been drawn by Diana's earlier cry of distress.
"Yes," Minerva answered weekly. "Unfortunately," she added as she heaved in another sigh.
A black dirty dog toddled its way along the still gawking crowd and came to a halt at Diana's feet, brushing its wet nose against her palm.
Diana jumped slightly surprised and spun around to look at the dirty thing. "Ah, you scared me." She gave the dog a slight scowl, then swung her arms around it and hugged the filthy creature. "Oh, my god that was scary," she gushed and sniffed slightly, and then suddenly pulled back startling the dog. "Come one, let's got to Hermione," she said and hoisted the dog up in her arms.
"MOVE!" she screamed at the assembled crowd and ran straight through the line which gave way upon her command.
Dumbledore and Minerva were soon to follow, and it wasn't long before they got to the stadium where Heidi and Hermione had landed.
Augusta and Enid were fussing over the poor girl who looked as white as a ghost.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Diana let the dog go and ran up to her friend.
"I'll live," Hermione said weekly. Diana looked slightly relieved, but still chose to swing her arms around the girl and choke her, up until the former said:
"What's that smell?" she asked sniffing at her blouse.
Diana pulled back and sniffed her blouse as well. "Oh, it's Fluffy's fault," she said and trusted her head in the filthy dog's direction.
Hermione shot the dog an appalled look.
"Is it yours?" she asked.
"Of course not," Heidi said.
"I suppose it is," Diana said.
"Diana!" Heidi warned.
"What?" the red-head asked peeved.
"Mom is not going take that thing in!"
"Actually, I kind of like him," Dudley said as he came to stand besides the dog. "Could do with a bath though."
"Not you too," Heidi wined.
The dog barked happily and wagged its tail as Dudley proceeded to pet him on the head.
Heidi threw the dog one last appalled look and said: "I better not catch you chewing on my shoes!"
-OOOOOOOO-
AN: Well, that's the first chapter. As I imagined you've realized, the pool result was to post the chapters as I write them. I know it is kind of cheep what I did there with Heidi, but the concept of a career in professional Quidditch excites me (though I don't know if I'll do it yet, just keeping the door open). I don't know when the next chapter will be up, since I'll have exams for the following three weeks, but, that doesn't mean that inspiration won't strike me and I won't drop everything in favor of writing, so, yeah, depends on my mood. Tell me what you think of the story so far. Cheers!
PS: Rating might change as the story progresses, I'm not sure yet what's it gonna be.