Chapter 10

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and co. I created Melissa.

"Alright, there's some food in the kitchen. So, help yourselves if you're hungry. Cedric, step outside with me for a minute," Mr. Diggory instructed his son.

They left Mel curled up in an armchair. They had just finished putting up the tent, but Mr. Diggory was in a hurry to meet up with his colleagues from work.

"What is it, Dad?"

"Well, er, I," Mr. Diggory stuttered. Apparently, whatever he had to say was making him nervous. "Just…while I'm gone, pretend I'm here with you."

"Ok," Cedric said, unsure of what his father was getting at.

"Just don't do anything you wouldn't do if your mother and I were in the room with you, alright?" he said. His was tone more stern than before, but his face was red.

"Oh, er, right," Cedric said, looking anywhere, but at his father.

"All right, good," Mr. Diggory said, relaxing a little. "I'll see you at the game then."

Cedric ducked back in the tent, hoping he never had a conversation like that with his father again.

"What's wrong?" Mel asked, noticing his agitation.

"Er, nothing," he mumbled. "So how's your summer been so far?"

"Well, if I ignore all the fighting Lindsey and Susan did, then I'd have to say it rather calm and boring," she said.

"No visions?" he asked, sitting next to her. He knew she would not bring them up unless he asked. He knew it was his own fault, but they did worry him. He was secretly thankful she did not have a good hold on her abilities. Who knew what she would do if she did?

She frowned. "No visions…" she said hesitantly.

"Then what?" Cedric asked, sensing the unspoken "but."

"Well, mainly its just been this feeling, like something big is about to happen, but what exactly what that is hasn't been decided yet," she explained, her frustration on the matter becoming evident in her tone. "I haven't been able to practice much or even attempt to figure it out because I haven't had a lot of alone time this summer. But I need to, and I need to do it soon. Maybe this time I can stop whatever horrible thing is before it happens."

"Yeah, maybe," Cedric said, working to keep his face unreadable. He did not want her to know that her figure something out before it happened was the last thing he wanted. He must not have done a good job at it because her light green eyes were staring inquisitively at him.

"You sure everything's fine?" she asked.

"Yeah. I was just trying to figure out was different about you. I think there's more freckles," he teased. She rolled her eyes at him.

"You're so weird," she said, playfully pushing his leg with her foot. He nodded in the affirmative, happy to have distracted her. He moved so that he was hovering over her and said, "It's part of my charm."

"Really?" she asked in mock disbelief as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. He was more intense than he had intended to be, but she did not seem to mind. She shivered and her hand knotted in his hair when his hand slipped under her shirt. He felt himself harden as she kissed and nibbled his neck.

"Oi! Cedric! Hope you're decent because we're coming in!" Ryan shouted from outside the tent. Cedric groaned into Mel's neck: his friends really did have the worst timing.

"Shit!" Mel gasped, her facing reddening. "Just think about the conversation you had with your dad earlier," she suggested.

"I'll kill them," he grunted, pushing himself off her. In undertone he added, "That would have been a good instance for knowing the future."

She ignored him as she tried to fix her hair and clothes as Ryan and Drew bounded into the tent. Drew was blushing with embarrassment, but Ryan looked as though Christmas had come early.

"Hope we didn't interrupted anything," Ryan smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Cedric glared daggers at him and Mel blushed and muttered something about finding Angela before she half-ran out of the tent.

"Guess we did," Ryan said. "Twice in one day. I'm on a roll today, eh Drew?"

"What are you talking about?" Cedric asked, noticing Drew's blush deepen.

"Oh, nothing really. Our quiet, sweet Drew hooked up with Angela this summer and I may or may not have caught them in a compromising position."

"First, you're far too happy about cock-blocking both your best friends in one day," Cedric said, still glaring. "Second, Angela?"

"It's a long story. I'm not getting into it. She didn't want to say anything until she told Mel and Lindsey," Drew said between gritted teeth and looking anywhere but his friends.

"Fascinating," Ryan said sarcastically. "Now, come on. We have other people to bother."

XXX

"Drew?" Mel said slowly. "Nice, quiet, good boy Drew?"

"Yes," Angela said, a hard edge in her voice.

"I mean, it's a good choice," Mel backtracked, "but—"

"He's not your typical choice," Lindsey interjected. Mel nodded her head in agreement as Angela glared at them.

"I like him," she said defensively.

"And that's good, but," Mel hesitated, thinking about how to phrase what she was about to say.

"But?" Angela prompted.

"You can't treat him like the others," Mel said gently. "He doesn't deserve that."

"I know that, I promise," she said, a hint of pleading in her voice. "I like him… He's nice to me… doesn't have any expectations, you know?"

"Oh, Angela," Lindsey sighed, getting up and giving her a hug.

"I'm fine," she said, gently pushing her away, though smiling gratefully as she did. "We need to go to the stadium," she said, changing the subject. "It's a bit of a walk."

"Well, let's go then," Mel said, taking her friend's hint and jumping up with mock enthusiasm. The other laughed and followed her out of the tent.

"Lindsey, do me a favor," Mel said playfully.

"What's that?"

"Don't get with Ryan, no one deserves that much annoyance in their life," she said, recalling what he done earlier that day as she spoke. They other two laughed in agreement.

"You have my permission to lock me away if I ever do anything that crazy," Lindsey laughed.

XXX

"There you are," Cedric said, pushing his way through the crowd to her. His father was struggling to keep up with him. "We've been looking for your everywhere."

"Sorry," she said as he linked hands with her. "I guess we forgot to set a meeting place earlier."

"Oh good, we have everyone now," Mr. Diggory said, panting slightly. "Right this way, then."

Cedric and Mel bid good-bye to their friends and followed him through the stadium's entrance and up several flights of stairs. They finally reached their box, which was about halfway up and closest to Ireland's side of the stadium.

"So, tell me, did you kill Ryan?" she asked as they sat down.

"No," Cedric said regretfully. "I thought being arrested for murder would put a damper on today's events."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed.

"How's this: we'll enjoy the game and plot against him later?" Cedric suggested as Ludo Bagman started talking above the roar.

"Deal," she smiled.

They turned to the field and watched as the team mascots lined the edges. The Bulgarian mascots were set to perform first. Mel watched as a dozen beautiful women with pale skin that glowed in the moonlight walked onto the field. She was confused: the mascots were supposed to be magical creatures. It dawned on her that many magical beings could take human form. These must part of that group. She turned to ask Cedric and was surprised to see him and Mr. Diggory with their fingers in their ears. She stared at them curiously for a minute before she noticed all the men, and some of the women, around start acting funny. They all looked hypnotized. She turned her gaze back to the field and saw the creature-women were dancing, and most of the stadium was going crazy. There was only one word for what the people were doing: they were preening. They were trying to impress the "women." Mel covered her mouth with her hand, as she was unable to contain her laughter. She laughed even harder when the women stopped dancing and everyone booed their departure from the field. Cedric and Mr. Diggory took their fingers out of their ears looking relieved.

"What were they?" Mel asked, the traces of laughter evident in her eyes and on her face.

"Veela," Mr. Diggory said. "When your mother asks, you'd better vouch for me, boy."

"Yes, sir," Cedric said, smiling as he watched the leprechauns fly around the stadium.

"How did you know to plug your ears?" Mel asked, raising her voice over the din.

"Dad warned me," he said. He leaned over so that he was talking in her ear before continuing. "He thought I'd like to not embarrass myself in front of you."

"How kind of him," she teased.

"Just watch the game," he said, rolling his eyes.

XXX

"Stop pouting, Ryan," Cedric said as he took another drink of butter beer. "You're ruining it for everyone else."

"I just don't understand," he said, staring blankly into the fire. "How could Ireland have beat Krum?"

Cedric, Mel, and Drew laughed at him. They were sitting around the fire outside Drew's tent, celebrating Ireland's victory and watching others do the same.

"Well, Ireland has seven good players and Bulgaria only has one, so the odds were never in their favor," Drew said, a little too happy at his friend's disappointment.

"Maybe Bulgaria's loss is Ryan's fault," Cedric suggested, smirking.

"How's that?" Ryan asked incuriously.

"It's karma for cock-blocking both your best friends in one day," Cedric smirked. Mel rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder.

"I'm going back to the tent," she said, getting up.

"Oh come on, Mel," Cedric teased.

"Night," she said, walking away.

"Night, Mel," the other two called after her. She was halfway back to the tent when the screaming began.

At first she thought it was just people celebrating, but then she saw tents being blasted out of the way or being set fire to, and then the crowd of people running right at her. Instinct taking over, she turned and ran toward the woods like everyone else. As she ran, she tried to look for familiar faces; but there were so many people she soon gave up and ran faster. When she reached the edge of the forest, she decided it was safe enough and paused to catch her breath. The campsite looked like a giant fire. Who would do this? It could not have had anything to do with Harry, could it? Surely, she would have seen something? As panic gripped her, she decided she had to find Harry and Cedric and make sure they were all right. She began following the others done the path to the stadium, searching as she walked. Her panic lessened when she saw Harry with his friends a few feet in front of her. Seeing that he was ok, she quickened her pace and continued looking for her own friends.

The crowd thinned as she walked toward the stadium. The calm provided by the quietness of her surroundings was overpowered by the darkness of them. The light provided by her wand was just enough to help her not trip over any tree roots or stones. However, looking at the ground while she walked made it difficult for her to search for her friends. She sighed, deciding to head back and see what was going on. If the Ministry had gained control of the situation, she could just go back to the Diggorys' tent.

Suddenly, a bright green light illuminated the sky and forest. Mel froze and stared up at the source. Through the trees she could see a bright green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. The site of it caused the hair to rise on her arms and neck. What was it? It looked familiar. She was sure she had seen it somewhere before. A book perhaps? Whatever it was, she pretty sure it meant something bad had happened.

"Mel!"

She tore her eyes from the symbol at the sound of her name. She saw Ryan running toward her, a look of terror on his face. He stopped in front her, gasping for breath.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We got separated. I thought they might have come this way."

"I haven't seen anyone. I was just heading back when that," she pointed up to the sky, "appeared. Do you know what it is?"

"It's the Dark Mark, You-Know-Who's sign. He and his Death Eaters used to place it above any place they had killed or tortured people."

"We have to go," Mel said, grabbing Ryan's upper arm and pulling him with her.

"What? Why?" Ryan asked, still panting slightly. She did not answer. She had to make sure everyone was all right. The way back was difficult; she was not as careful with her footing and tripped several times. Slowly, the woods become more crowded and lit as they neared the edge. Finally, they found their friends huddled together next to a big oak tree. As Mel hurried toward them, she noticed their faces were pale and full of fear.

"Mel!" Angela called noticing her. She ran forward and engulfed Mel in a tight hug. "We were so worried. First, we couldn't find you. Then that thing appeared…."

Mel glanced back up at the sky to see the green sparkly Dark Mark. Again, she felt shivers run down her spine, though she could not explain why. "I'm fine," she said as Angela moved and Cedric took her place. He did not say anything, just hugged her tightly and kept an arm around her waist when they pulled apart. Ryan was hunched over and catching his breath. For being on the quidditch team at school, he was extremely out of shape.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We don't know for sure," Cedric said. "But it looked like some drunk Death Eaters up to their old tricks. While blowing up the campsite, they were levitating and torturing the muggle family that runs this place. We saw them," he explained, indicating Drew and Lindsey.

"It was horrible," Lindsey said, shuddering.

"I just wish someone would come and let us know if it's safe to go back," Angela said. "We lost track of Susan and Hannah in the chaos."

If possible, Lindsey paled even more at this realization.

"I'm sure they're fine," Mel reassured hurriedly. "They probably met up with a group of their friends like you did."

Both nodded, though neither relaxed. They stood there in relative silence, scanning the crowd for familiar faces—mainly Susan's and Hannah's. Eventually, they saw them walk by. Lindsey called them over and, in a very uncharacteristically stern manner, told them to stay put. They obliged, though neither looked happy about it. A few minutes later, Mr. Weasley emerged from the woods with his son, Harry, and a girl. He did not answer any questions, just said no one had been killed and they should all go back to their tents. Mel's group made their way back quickly, breaking apart at the edge of the tents to go their separate ways.

"So that bad feeling you had earlier and wouldn't tell me about, is it gone?" Cedric asked, linking hands with her.

"No," she said grimly. "It's worse."