Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 4: Quirks and Quidditch
Aria had loved the wondrous game of Quidditch for as long as she could remember. Kingsley never discouraged her interest, even when it interfered with her studies in her second year. She screamed at the top of her lungs (much to Professor Flickwicks despair) at every single match at Hogwarts, no matter who was playing. As Aria climbed up the hundreds of stairs that led to the Weasleys literally sky high seats, every emotion for her beloved game came into focus. But it wasn't until they reached the very top that she started yelling.
"WOO!" Aria screamed when she and the twins took their places. Her pulse was racing and she felt the rush of testosterone from either side of her.
"COME ON IRELAND!" The twin to her right, Fred, had painted his face white and green while she was visiting the McDuffs. George, who stood on her left as usual, was decked out similarly. The three leaned over on the pole in front of them wide eyed. Thousands of people, stood on their feet and cheered like nobodies business. It would give anyone vertigo, and Aria felt those effects much more than her 6'3 friends.
"AYE!" George screamed throwing his fists in the air. The little crowd of witches in front of the obnoxious trio turned annoyed, their pointy hats bobbing into one another. Aria put her hands on the twins shoulders.
"How much did you bet on the Irish?!" Aria screamed over the noise. The twins both shook their heads and lifted her hands, entwined with their own, into the air.
"WOOOO! GO IRELAND!" Fred continued to scream. But George leaned down with his brows raised.
"Does it matter how much?! We're going to win no matter what!"
"Your confidence scares me George!" The twins best friend let out a yell making him grin widely.
"That's why you love me!"
"Indeed!" Aria replied out of habit.
"Go Ireland!" Charlie, who had opted to pull his hair down out of his pony tail and let it go wild, stood beside George flailing his arms in the air. Suddenly all the men stopped screaming. With the exception of Charlie of course who was clueless as ever. "WOO-ow! George?!"
"Shut up dragon boy," snapped George. The excitement that had swallowed Aria just moments ago was suddenly stunted by the hush all around her. She turned her gaze to the ground, where white shapes twirled and spun around the field.
"What are they?" Aria heard a timid sounding Harry ask. But no one answered him.
"Bloody 'ell" The twins said in unison. Their thoroughly confused friend looked over them curiously. Fred's mouth was slightly agape and Aria thought she saw, to her disgust, a bit of drool. George was just as dazed as his brother. Like Fred his brown eyes were transfixed on the field below, the reflection of the angelic figures danced in his eyes.
Rolling her eyes, Aria crossed her arms and waited patiently for the nonsense to end. "Damn veela's." just about the time she said that the dancing stopped and the figures exited, sending the men in the stadium back to reality.
"A spectacle if I've ever seen one," said Fred still in a trans. Aria pointed to his face without looking away from the field.
"You've got drool." Fred wiped his mouth nonchalantly.
"GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Ludo Bagman's irritating voice boomed through the stadium.
"You bet with the damn commentator?!" Aria rocked back on a heel.
"And?" They asked. She let out a sigh, completely uninterested in Bagmans speech.
"Rule number thirteen," she put a finger in the air seriously. "Never gambol with someone who can publicly humiliate you. In front of 100,000 people!"
"We don't have rules," George said snarkily.
"Thats what makes us so wicked," said Fred in the same tone.
"Identical idiots." Aria murmured.
"Incredible identical idiots."
"Or impeccable incredible identical idiots."
"Or-"
"Okay!" The young witch covered her friends mouths. "Matchs starting idiots!"
~*~*~*~*I really don't want to write about this match so just pretend~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"...and when Quigley swung his bat and that lovely little bludger conked Krum in the nose! Priceless!" Fred had been retelling the game for about an hour at that point. His face paint was smudged from sweat and excitement. He and George jumped from chair to chair for effect, leaving a couch lounging Aria in a fit of giggles.
"He's one damn good beater!" George shouted as he threw his Ireland hat at Bill, who was leaning against the tent wall in amusement.
"Yeah? Well who cares about ole Quigley when theres Krum?!" Ron climbed to stand on the table. His eyes sparkled with a sort of admiration.
"BAH Krum!" The twins skipped to Aria and twisted her in their green and white cloak, forcing her to join them.
"Theres no one like Krum!" Ron said intensely.
"Krum?"
"Dumb Krum!" The identical idiots belted like Neanderthals as they skipped around Ron. Aria heaved forward in laughter, unable to control herself.
"I think you're in love Ron," Ginny joked patting Ron in the arm.
"Shut up!"
"Victor I love you!" George started to sing.
"Victor I do!" Fred sang throwing an arm around a giggly Aria.
"When we're apart me heart beats only for you!" Everyone sang in unison before bursting into fits of laughter. Harry and George grabbed pillows and hit a still serious Ron across the head.
BANG! SCREAM!
Aria twisted her head at the sound. Mr. Weasley and Bill exchanged looks before rushing outside. Her heart fell and her lips twisted into a frown. Fred and George danced around her gleefully, still excited about their winnings of course. But something wasn't right.
BANG!
This time Fred turned around as well.
"Sounds like the Irish've got their pride on!" But before anyone could say more Mr. Weasley and Bill came running back into the tent frantically.
"Stop it!" Mr. Weasley said seriously as he knocked the pillows out of Georges hands. "Stop it all of you!" His eyes were urgent, a raw look for the easy going father of six. "We've got to get out of here. Now!"
Bill and Charlie pushed everyone out of the tent as quickly as possible. Aria's ears were pounding when she emerged into the open. Fire and panic. Those were the only words that came to mind. She froze the moment she took in her surroundings. People shoved past her in a blur screaming and horrified. And she was horrified. There was no getting around that.
She didn't know who took her by the forearm and forced her legs to run. Perhaps it was one of the twins. That would have been likely. But honestly she was just too shocked to notice. Someones scream rang through her head. The sights of terror and confusion seemed to melt the ground beneath her feet.
"Come on Aria!" She knew that voice. She knew he had red hair. But that didn't help much. Everything was going so fast. Her brain didn't work that way. "Grab on!" That same person took her hand in his and grabbed some sort of leather. She closed her eyes. She wasnt running anymore. She was spinning. She was disoriented.
Grass. There was grass. And it was silent. The chaos was gone.
"You okay?" That same person asked. She knew his voice now.
"George," Aria gasped slightly. Her eyes fluttered open again. Tree leaves rustled in the steady wind and Aria rolled onto her side with a growl. What the hell was wrong with her? She froze? Ariadne Lennox, daughter of an auror was faced with her first real crisis and she froze?! It was beyond embarrassing. She tucked her feet under herself and stood up in frustration. A sharp pain shot through her arm.
"Sorry," George said softly beside her as she examined her arm. "Didn't mean to bruise you."
"Everyone alright?" Mr. Weasley called calmly. Ginny, who looked just as frustrated as Aria, rubbed the dirt off her trousers forcefully and gave her eldest brother a thumbs up.
"Where's Harry?" A suddenly shaky Ron asked. Ron looked down at the boat and grabbed it.
"Ron?!" Hermione grabbed onto Ron before he disappeared again, taking the port key with him.
"No!" Arthur Weasley twisted to his feet and took out his wand. He spun around and pointed his wand in the direction of the Burrow. "Get back to the Burrow now! Bill you're in charge." Without another word Mr. Weasley was gone in a mere pop. Everyone stood silently still completely overwhelmed with their current situation.
"Well," started Bill. "You heard Dad."
"We're just gonna leave?" Fred asked almost threateningly.
"Like Dad told us to."
"But-"
"I'm not going to listen to it you two." Bill retained his calmness and started towards the Burrow. "Now come on before I have to do something assertive."
Aria was one of the first to follow Bill. But how could she not? He was practically oozing sexiness with that attitude. Staring at Bill's ass wasn't really what she intended on doing to take her mind off of things. But as the Weasley troupe made their way silently back to their home in the dead of night, she just couldn't find a better alternative.
"Are you...?" Fred's amused voice was hushed. Aria hadn't noticed the twin follow her gaze.
"Nope." Throwing her face in the opposite direction she thanked Merlin it was too dark to see her blush. But not dark enough to miss Georges body tense slightly beside her as Fred chuckled to himself.
"Finally," said Ginny with relief as the Burrow came into view. The pace quickened immediately.
"Anyone dead?!" A highly panicked Molly Weasley came running out of the house still wearing her night clothes.
"We're fine mum," said Charlie, who's hair was even more wild than before. Molly approached each of her children and embraced them.
"Oh I never should have let you go!" She finished her hug with Fred and engulfed Aria tightly, swinging her about like a rag doll. "This is just horrible! Dreadful I tell y-" she stopped suddenly. "Six," she whispered. "Why did I just hug six?! Where are the others? Arthur? Oh Merlin no!"
"It's alright mum," Bill said putting a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.
"Where are they Bill?!" Her eyes were a mixture of terror and fury. Aria may have been bad at potions but she was sure those were a toxic mix. Charlie stretched out his arms to separate Bill and Molly from the rest of them.
"Come on." They followed Charlie into the house while Bill tried to calm Mrs. Weasley in vein. The house was so calm and warm. The Weasleys and Aria staid in the living room for a bit to see if Arthur and the others returned. With another 20 minutes of nothing, they retired to their separate rooms.
Aria lay on her tiny cot completely awake. She had gotten less than five hours of sleep in the past two days but she had never felt so inclined to stay awake. At the first sign of Ginny's snore, Aria slipped out of bed and creeped down the hall and up the creaky stairs. Bill's, Charlie's, and Mollys voices were more hushed but sniffles could be heard clearly every few seconds. Aria flinched with each creak she created but she eventually reached Ron's attic room and slithered in. The room was pitch back aside from the tiny window that looked out onto the Weasleys garden. Clouds covered the sky too much on that night to have moonlight.
"You two asleep?" Aria asked in a hush to the darkness. There was a rustle of sheets before someone spoke.
"You joking?" George whispered as he patted the pile of sheets he was apparently sleeping on. Aria crept to the pile as her eyes continued to focus. She plopped down and wrapped one of his blankets around herself.
"They still not back?" Fred asked shuffling his sheets as well.
"No," said Aria worriedly. They were silent. Aria swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I froze back there."
"what?" Both asked. She swallowed again.
"It's embarrassing."
"What is?" Fred asked hoarsely
"That I couldn't just jump into action like you guys. I feel like some stupid damsel in distress or something."
"Oh stop getting onto yourself." Fred said exasperated.
"Yeah, it's not befitting."
"I just wanted to-"
"No more of this feeling sorry!" Fred said a bit too loudly. After a few seconds he let out a light chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Aria asked before George could.
"We so showed that prick Bagman eh?"
"Yeah we did!" the two high fived one another loudly.
"Oh my identical idiots. Whatever shall I do with you?"
"I guess you'll just have," Fred started.
"To keep us."
Reviews would be lovely :)
Thank you for reading!