I hope you liked the first chapter in this story, and here comes the second!
Disclaimer: I don't think I need to repeat that I'm not JK Rowling and I did not invent any of these characters... except Sara, Lizzy and their parents.
Chapter Two: Interesting or Life-Threatening?
"Lizzy, Sara, wake up!"
At the sound of my mother's voice, I turned over and checked my watch.
"6:00 in the morning? Are you serious?!" As soon as I swung my legs out of bed, Lizzy was already hopping on top of the sheets.
"Quidditch today! Quidditch today!" she chanted, bouncing on my bed.
"Yeah, Liz can you get out now? I have to get dressed."
"Okay, but hurry! We're going to see Quidditch today!" Lizzy took her final bounce, allowed her bottom to flop onto my bed, rolled onto the floor and ran down the stairs. I changed into a pair of fading jeans, a pale blue t-shirt and a black hoodie that read 'The Weird Sisters' in bright blue letters on the back. I also put my wristwatch on my right wrist and my brown, leather bracelet on my left. After applying a thick layer of eyeliner under my brown orbs, Mom knocked on the already open door.
"Honey, we have to get going."
"I'm ready!" I followed her down the stairs and the four of us began to walk down the street.
We had been walking for an hour when Lizzy asked, "Mommy, are we there yet?"
I chuckled and reworded her question. "We're not walking to the World Cup, are we?"
"No," Dad responded. "We're walking to the Portkey which is going to bring us to the World Cup."
"Oh thank Merlin." My legs were getting a little sore, and I wanted to be full of energy for the Quidditch game.
We'd finally reached an out of the way field when I heard Mom say, "Isn't that it there, Matthew?" She pointed a long, painted finger towards a rusty, iron rod laying casually in the middle of the field.
"That's it." he confirmed. Portkeys were designed to look like things muggles wouldn't want to touch, which usually meant it was made out of a piece of trash or something useless. Dad looked at his watch and nodded. "Okay, grab on, everybody!" The four of us reached our hand out and wrapped it around the cold, dirty piece of metal.
Suddenly I felt a strange sensation, like someone had tugged the spot behind my bellybutton. The next thing I knew, we were standing in front of an extensive bit of land that must have been holding hundreds, maybe thousands, of little tents. The space between the tents were filled with people. Loads of people. People who had come to see the game. People who organized the event. People selling fun, touristy Quidditch merchandise like hats, t-shirts and even things like enchanted action figures of each player and miniature fireworks.
As we made our way through the crowd and tried to look for our family's tent, I spotted two familiar faces. Cedric Diggory and his father. Apparently they weren't only familiar to me.
"Amos!" Dad said, catching Cedric's and his father's attention.
"Matthew!" Amos Diggory said as he and his son pushed through the crowd and came closer to talk to us. Dad and Amos began to talk, and I got the idea that it would be a very boring Ministry conversation, so I decided to talk to Cedric.
"Well, fancy seeing you here." I smiled at my new friend. Cedric smiled back, but he didn't have the time to talk, for he was interrupted by a group of witches and wizards that was coming from behind him.
"Hey Cedric, who's your girlfriend?" asked a rather tall, ginger-haired boy with bright blue eyes. A moment later, I noticed he was being followed by his twin.
Cedric chuckled. "She's not my girlfriend. Everyone, this is Sara. She moved here from Canada. Sara, this is Fred," he gestured to the boy who asked who I was; "George," Fred's twin; "Ron," a shorter, yet lankier, boy with red hair and freckles; "Ginny," a girl about Lizzy's height with long, flowing red hair; "Hermione," a girl my height with wavy brown hair and a shy smile; "and this is Harry." The last boy he gestured to had jet black, messy hair, vivid green eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses, and a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. This was Harry Potter. He was the only wizard to have ever
survived the most deadly of curses. The Dark Lord had killed his parents and when he tried to kill Harry, he was unsuccessful and had been in hiding ever since.
"Hi everyone." I said, waving at the group of them. I assumed that all of the redheads were family because they all had the same freckled faces and bright sapphire blue eyes.
That's when a wizard came up behind the group of teenagers and poked his head in. He had the same red hair as the others, only he was balding. He had a pointed hat on his head and he wore matching faded robes. "Well everyone, you can wander around a bit, but make sure you're back at the tent by 5 o'clock!" He noticed I was there, but his eyes skimmed right over me and met my father's. "Matthew Hughes!"
Dad grinned happily. "Hello, you must be..."
"Arthur Weasley." the wizard interjected. "I sent you the owl concerning your new job arrangements."
"Yes, Arthur Weasley." Dad held out a hand for him to shake. "Nice to finally meet you."
Mr. Weasley took his hand and shook with confidence. "Nice to meet you, as well."
Lizzy pulled on the side of Dad's robes, and as he looked down on her, a dawning expression revealed itself on his features. "Oh Arthur, this is my daughter Lizzy, and that's my oldest, Sara. And this is my wife, Jennifer."
I waved at him and smiled shyly. "Hello."
"Nice to meet you all." he said, shaking our hands.
Dad decided to take the time to talk to Mr. Diggory and Mr. Weasley, so all of the Hogwarts students, including Lizzy and I, talked to each other.
"Sara, so you're going to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked me, while the boys talked with Ginny about who they thought would win that days game.
"Yeah. I can't wait." I admitted. "My old school was an all-witches school, and everyone was really strict."
"Well Hogwarts is really fun. Something interesting happens every year."
"Yeah, interesting Hermione." Ron chuckled. "Interesting or life-threatening?"
Hermione chuckled. "He's over exaggerating. But yeah, it's pretty mad."
"Great, I've always wanted an adventure."
"Have you thought about houses yet?" she asked.
"A little..." I nodded my head subtly. "I still have no idea which house I'd like to be in."
"Well, the Sorting Hat chooses for you. But it always helps if you know where you'd like to be placed."
"What house are you in?"
"Harry and I are in Gryffindor, as are all of the Weasleys." She motioned to the redheaded family.
"Wow."
"I wouldn't have minded being placed in Ravenclaw either. Whatever you prefer. But if you said you like a good adventure, you'd probably do well in Gryffindor."
"Hey Sara, Lizzy," Fred said, catching our attention. I could tell it was Fred because he had slightly longer hair than George's, and there was something about his eyes as well... "Where are your seats for the game?"
"Right next to yours and the Diggorys." Dad answered for me.
"Really?" George smiled.
"In that case, do you want to stay with us today?" asked Fred.
"It'll be loads of fun." George said.
"Well, do you want to?" They said in unison.
"Please Dad?" I asked. I think it came out more as a beg. I finally made friends and they wanted me to spend the day with them.
"Yeah sure." He agreed and my stomach did a somersault. "If it's okay with your mother..." She nodded. "But I'd prefer if Lizzy stayed with us. Is that okay, Liz?"
"Fine Daddy."
"Thanks Mr. Hughes!" The twins chorused. It really freaked me out when they said things at the same time like that.
"What are we going to do, then?" Harry asked the group. I tried not to stare at him. I knew how awful that must be for him to put up with people gawking at him all the time, but I just couldn't believe a fourteen year old wizard like him survived Lord Vold... I mean You-Know-Who's curse.
"Do you want to hang out in the tent for a bit?" Ginny suggested. "I mean, our parents are probably going to be talking for a while.
"Yeah sure."
"Okay."
To the naked eye, the tents looked very miniscule and they seemed like they could only hold one person. But as we all stepped inside, it was practically as big as the ground floor of our house. It was enormous! There was a dining table, at least ten bunks, and two or three sofas scattered throughout so we could sit. I found myself sitting next to Cedric on a sofa; Fred and George pulled up the chairs from the dining table; and Ginny and Hermione took the other sofa; and Ron and Harry ended up sitting on the floor.
"So Sara, who are you rooting for to win the Quidditch Cup tonight? Ireland or Bulgaria?" Ron asked, looking up at me.
"Well, I hope the Irish are going to win..." Before I could finish, everyone else cheered. "Yeah. But Bulgaria has Viktor Krum, who's like, the best seeker in the world."
"Bloody well agree with you there, mate." George smirked. "Krum is brilliant."
"Brilliant?" Ron said, as if it wasn't the right word to use. "Krum is a God!"
"I think you're in love, Ron." Ginny smirked, making her voice very breathy. This comment made everyone in the tent start to chuckle.
"So Cedric," Fred began. Cedric turned his head to look at the one waiting for his attention. "How is it that you met Sara here, before anyone else?"
"We met in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago, actually." He said matter-of-factly. "I didn't realize our fathers worked together until we started talking. Kind of funny, isn't it?" He turned back to me and I nodded and giggled along with him.
"Cedric!" Everyone looked in the direction of the tent's opening where Mr. Diggory was poking his head in. "Come on, we have to get going." Cedric sighed and followed his father out of the tent. Before he left, he faced everyone and waved.
"Bye. See you at the game, everyone." And with that, he was gone.
After Cedric had left, everyone else seemed to filter out of the tent as well. Hermione, Ron and Harry had left soon after to wander the park and Ginny departed us to see what Lizzy was up to. This left me alone with the twins.
"Finally." I heard an exasperated sigh of relief come from George.
"I know, George, I never thought they'd leave." What were they talking about?
"Um," My curiosity tended to get the best of me. "What?"
Fred stuck his head out of the tent to make sure no one was around, and then nodded. "We've been hearing our dad talking with a bunch of people from the Ministry about something really big coming to Hogwarts this year." He took a seat on the sofa next to me, and George moved from his own chair onto my other side.
My heart jumped into my throat. "Something big? Like what?"
"Well we don't know." George sighed.
"Only Mum and Dad."
"And our older brothers, Percy, Charlie and Bill."
"What about Ron and Ginny and..." But I was cut off by Fred.
"We don't think any of them know a thing yet."
"But... I mean..." I stammered. "When you say 'big'..."
"It must be something extremely important."
"Because the last few years, some mad things have happened."
"Like the time a mountain troll broke in."
"And a professor tried stealing the Philosopher's Stone from Dumbledore."
"Or when they almost closed Hogwarts because a dirty, great Basilisk was going around the school petrifying people."
"And then mass murderer, Sirius Black, broke out of Azkaban and tried to kill Harry."
With each thing they added to the list, my heart pounded harder and faster. "So um, are there any chances that something good is going to happen?"
Fred chuckled. " We haven't really been in any direct danger before. As long as Dumbledore is in Hogwarts, we'll be safe."
"Dad always seemed happy when he mentions this thing... It's probably nothing to worry about."
"I'm not so sure I want to go to Hogwarts anymore." I joked, running my fingers through my long, dark hair. That's when something hit me. "Why are you two telling me this and not the others?"
"Because you're cool." Fred grinned.
"And you're going into sixth year as well, are you not?"
"Well yeah, but..."
"We're going to be spending quite a lot of time together, best start now."
"How do you know that, George?"
"You're going to be a Gryffindor."
"... I repeat my question. How do you know that?"
George chuckled. "It's a quality that's easily spotted."
"Alright."
"Besides," Fred spoke up, "do you not want to be our friend?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why are you complaining?" Fred smirked.
The three of us had spent the day walking around the grounds and discussing anything that came to mind. And with Fred and George with me, there were a lot of fun topics. But it was time to meet up with everyone else and go see the Quidditch game and I was absolutely ecstatic. Fred and George ran back to the Weasley tent, Fred dragging me by my hand the whole way, only to find that we were the last ones to arrive.
"Come on, you three!" Mr. Weasley said, sounding a little frustrated. We couldn't have been that late... He led all seven of us to the Quidditch stadium, and I don't think I was the only one to gasp at the sight of it. There were seats from the ground all the way up to the top of the fifty-foot golden hoops. Maybe even higher. The lights illuminating the stadium were extraordinarily bright, and I couldn't wait to see where we were sitting. Mr. Weasley led us up the stairs to where we would be seated.
"Whoa Dad," Ron gaped. "How far up are we going?"
"Well, let's just say that if it rains, you'll be the first ones to know." We all surveyed the floor below us to find that the person who spoke was none other than Malfoy's father. I recognized him immediately from his long, white-blonde hair and sleek black cane in one hand. As we all caught a glimpse of the man, he sneered. "Hello Weasleys."
"Malfoy." Mr. Weasley nodded, obviously only to be polite. His politeness was lost in his gritted teeth and squinted eyes.
"Hughes." The Malfoy son acknowledged me with a nod. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"I rather hoped I wouldn't be seeing you anywhere." I said moodily.
"I especially didn't expect to see you strutting around with Saint Potter, Mudblood Granger, and the most disgraceful family to wizards everywhere, the Weasleys."
I assumed the Mudblood comment was directed at Hermione, because when he said that, she glared daggers at him. "Well they're much better company than you are." Malfoy just stared at me and then left along with his father to find their seats. I rolled my eyes and continued walking up the staircases ahead of us.
"How does Draco Malfoy know you?" Ron asked me, his anger escaping every feature in his face.
"He was at Diagon Alley that day."
"Forget about him," Hermione said. "He just wants to get a rise out of everyone. Just forget him."
I did forget about him. Quite easily, as a matter of fact. It didn't take too long for the game to begin and everyone's insane cheering to fill the stadium. The game was well underway and Fred, George and I were on the edge of our seats, yelling things at the players. It couldn't have been more than a hour in when Krum noticed a flicker of gold and dived down towards the bottom of the arena. The Irish seeker was right on his tail. Just before he crashed, Krum pulled up and flew back into the air again, but this didn't give much time for the other seeker to follow. The Irish seeker flew straight into the ground.
"Bloody brilliant!" George called out. He turned to me and shouted, "Krum is the master of the Wronski Feint!" I figured that was the name of the move he just pulled.
Not soon after, Krum went into a dive again. He sped down towards the ground, stretched out his arm and held it up in the air. He punched his newly formed fist in the wind as he showed that he had caught the snitch. Krum had caught the snitch alright, but even with Bulgaria's recently earned one hundred and fifty points, Ireland was still in the lead. The Irish had won the Quidditch World Cup!
"That was amazing!" Harry laughed as we all sat in the Weasley tent, once more.
"Damn straight it was!" I grinned just thinking about it, then pretended to be flying around the tent on a broomstick. Of course, it only looked like I was running around with my arms out in front of me, but I was too excited to care how stupid I looked.
There were loud noises coming from outside, but no one was surprised. It was probably just the Irish supporters celebrating. That's what everyone else thought too, until Mr. Weasley came running frantically into the tent. His hat was askew and he was panting like mad.
"Everyone, we have to get out of here. Now." He managed to get out.
"But why..."
"There's no time for questions. Harry, Ron, Hermione, get back to the Portkey; Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility. Sara, go with Fred and George. Everyone stick together!" No one took the time to ask any more questions. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran out of the tent together and made a hard left. George grabbed Ginny by the hand, as Fred intertwined our fingers and they pulled us out of the tent as well. As we exited the sanctuary of the tent, I noticed lots of people in black cloaks with pointed hoods and masks on that covered their faces. There was fire everywhere and not one person in sight was calm.
The four of us ran as fast as we could towards the clearing where everyone had left their Portkeys. A few times, I'd almost got knocked off my feet from someone running straight into me, but luckily I didn't slow down the group. My heart was pounding ferociously, I could feel my chest thumping as we ran. I was getting exhausted, but I knew we couldn't stop. We had to get back to the Weasleys. Fred, George, Ginny and I had finally reached their Portkey, which seemed to be a dirty old boot, but as soon as I saw it, I could only think of one thing. Where were my parents, Lizzy and Cedric? Were they okay? One of my questions were answered when I saw Cedric and his father running towards us.
"The Portkey, kids! The Portkey!" Mr. Diggory screamed. All of us grabbed onto the boot and I felt that bellybutton sensation again as I lurched forward and fell onto a patch of grass. The wet dew was cold on my face, but I tried not to think about it.
"Is everyone alright?" Mr. Diggory asked. He didn't get one verbal response, but we all nodded our heads in shock.
The night was dark, but we all stuck together. Fred never let go of my hand the entire time as Mr. Diggory led Cedric, Ginny, Fred, George and I to safety. That's when I noticed that Harry, Hermione, Ron and Mr. Weasley were not with us. Where could they have gone to?
"Lumos!" A light appeared at the end of Mr. Diggory's wand, making it easier for us all to see. What seemed like an extremely long walk later, I noticed a very tall house just in front of us. The windows were all lit, and I noticed a door being opened. A plump, red-haired woman came out and began running as fast as she could towards the group. She spotted Ginny and gave her a tight and protective hug.
"Ginny, dear. Thank Merlin you're okay!" Then she moved over to Fred and George and wrapped them tightly in her arms. "I was so worried!"
"We're okay, Mum."
"Thank you so much, Amos, for bringing them home." Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly. She paused when she noticed that someone was with her family and the Diggorys that she didn't recognize. "Hello dear, who might you be?"
"I'm Sara Hughes."
"Oh, you're Matthew's daughter. Yes, I remember. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Good, good." Mrs. Weasley examined the group and furrowed her brow. "Where are Ron, Harry and Hermione? And Arthur?"
There was an uncomfortable silence before Mr. Diggory cleared his throat and said, "Er, Molly... I don't know."
Before Mrs. Weasley began to panic, Fred spoke up. "He came and told everyone to get to the Portkey. So we all left the tent... But the three of them didn't show up. Dad probably had to help stop the riots."
"I don't know where..." As I was about to tell Mrs. Weasley that I had no idea where they could have gone, we saw a bunch of four wizards coming towards us. Sure enough, it was Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mr. Weasley.
"Sorry about that, dear." Mr. Weasley said, hugging his wife and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Just a bit of troubles with the Death Eaters." I easily remembered the words he spoke. Death Eaters were followers of You-Know-Who. They were the ones at the Quidditch Cup? Why were they there?
Mrs. Weasley barely paid any attention to her husband. She immediately ran over to her son and his best friends and captured them in her warm embrace. "Are you three alright?"
"Yes Mum," Ron choked. "We're okay."
"Well, now that we know everyone's alright, Cedric and I should get going."
"Alright, Amos. See you."
"Bye Arthur." With a loud snap, Mr. Diggory had disapparated out of sight.
Previous to disapparating along with his father, Cedric reached over and wrapped his arms around me. "See you at school, Sara."
"See you, Cedric." I said, hugging him tightly back. He took a step back and with another snap, he was gone.
"Now that we're all safe, why don't we go inside?" Mrs. Weasley smiled and issued to the front door that she had carelessly left open in her state of relief.
Although I was happy to be with friends, I was still feeling nothing but numbness. "Um, are we sure everyone is safe?" I asked no one in particular. I felt every single eye on me as I continued. "It's just... I don't know what happened to my family."
