Chapter 50: The Water Park & The Journey to the Quidditch World Cup
AN: SereniteRose - My story is a mixture of both the books and the movies, however certain events that happened in the original plot may not happen at all or may happen differently. I am however trying to stick to the correct timeline of events. I have noticed that you have shared your opinions and reviewed on almost every chapter of my story. And I would like to thank you for your constant support. It's people like you that review, that make my writing enjoyable for me and I love reading my reviewers comments; good or bad. So for that I dedicate chapter 50 to you - SereniteRose!
Hope everyone enjoys!
The Water Park - Saturday 13th August 1994
"Okay is everyone ready? Got everything you need?" Hermione asked them and they nodded. "Okay, Charlie and some of the boys from the reserve are meeting us there. Split into two groups and the port keys will leave"
They landed behind a building out of sight from the public. They were making themselves presentable when Charlie and his friends arrived. The parents were wearing summer clothing and everyone else was wearing bathing suits. They all greeted each other before Hermione led the way to the front of a ticket booth. She paid for the tickets and they took out a map.
"Okay, everyone welcome to a muggle water park" she said as they stood in the middle of the park.
"It's amazing"
"Awesome"
"Wicked"
"You think this is good? You should see the water parks they have in places like America and Spain. It's like putting Filch up against Professor Dumbledore" she said and they chuckled. "You want to have a go on everything?" they nodded eagerly.
They made their way around the park stopping in the children's water splash zones and jumping in swimming pools and having a swim before they came to the first water slide.
"So this is the Devil's Drop, who wants to try it?"
Everyone but the parents rushed towards the stairs with Hermione and she was pushed in front of them with Charlie behind her bouncing in his spot with excitement. They waited in line until they reached the front of the queue.
"Okay, be careful because when you go down the slide you're in the air for a couple of seconds and then you will land against the slide and it may hurt, and when you reach the bottom you tend to slide everywhere. See you at the bottom" she said.
She sat down, crossed her arms and wiggled forward. She fell down the slide before landing in the water and continuing until she reached the small pool of water at the bottom. She laughed loudly throughout the entire thing. She quickly climbed out of the way and stood behind the railing where her family was waiting taking photos with their disguised magical cameras and it was a good job they decided to cast the Impervius charm on the cameras otherwise they would be ruined.
Charlie was next and they trained their cameras on the slide, they could hear him yelling and laughing loudly and when he reached the bottom he stood up and punched the air.
"That was wicked, you weren't kidding when you said that one you made back in Romania was child's play, muggles are awesome" he said as he stood next to her.
"How's your backside?" she asked amused.
"It hurt when I landed" he said rubbing it and she laughed. They turned back to the slide and watched everyone have their turn and taking plenty of photos. Bill was next followed by the twins, Oliver, Percy, Lee, Harry, Ron, Ginny and then Charlie's friends. They all exclaimed how good it was laughing before moving onto the next one.
They walked around the park stopping at the next slide; the Wild Kamikaze. They all lined up until they reached the front of the queue. "This one makes your stomach drop because it's wavy" she said as a warning before laying down crossing her arms and shuffling forward. When she reached the bottom she climbed out and watched the others laughing and cheering.
They then moved on the Sidewinder where they sat on rubber rings and went down the slide, they bounced off the side of the slide and then went backwards down the slide.
The next one they went on was the screamer. "You might want to block your ears" Hermione said to the others as they approached the ride.
"Why dear?" Mrs Weasley asked. But as soon as she said it they heard a loud piercing scream coming from the water slide in front of them.
"What was that?" Ron asked worried and Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"It's someone on the water slide Ronald, the ride is called 'Screamer', you can imagine why. You travel at high speeds" she said and they ran to the queue.
Hermione sat down in the water and grabbed the bar in front of her preparing to go down the slide.
"Don't scream Mione" Bill said teasing her.
"Wouldn't dream of it; be careful you don't hurt yourself, it's a tight space in the tunnel and the harder you propel yourself forward the faster you go" when she finished talking the green light showed.
She gave a hard lurch forward and laid flat on her back. She laughed loudly and squealed in delight as she went through the tunnel and hit the pool of water. She climbed out and stood near the others.
Charlie, Bill, Ginny and the twins had already been down the slide. They were talking when they heard someone scream loudly. They looked at each other amused before focusing on the slide and who would come out at the bottom.
They laughed hysterically when it was Harry. They burst into laughter and he flushed embarrassed. He was never going to live that down. At least that was until one of Charlie's friends came down the slide and shrieked loudly, doing a rather good impression of a seven year old girl finding out she had been given a pony for Christmas. Harry was let off the hook and Charlie's friend would be tormented for the rest of his life.
As they walked towards the next water slide Hermione whispered something in Mrs Weasley's ear. They smirked at each other. Hermione ran forward and pushed the twins backwards a little under the very large bucket of water that was about to tip. They looked at her confused as she backed away quickly and everyone burst out laughing when the ice cold water poured over them.
When they looked up they were stunned, before they could enact their revenge Mrs Weasley slyly flicked her wand from under the jacket she had draped over her arm, placing a sticking charm to the twins.
They struggled to move before they were hit again with the water. People were walking past giving strange looks to the twins who looked to be flailing around like idiots, complaining and getting soaked repeatedly. They didn't understand why they didn't just move. And that fact made them laugh louder.
"Why can't we move?" Fred said panicked.
"I don't know, move your legs, that how people tend to walk" Hermione said laughing and he mock glared at her. After the twins where hit another four times Mrs Weasley cancelled the spell. Hermione hugged her tightly laughing.
"Way to go Maji" Hermione said and Mrs Weasley smiled.
"Wait, mum?" Fred said confused.
"That was you? You did that?" George exclaimed.
"Well you didn't think you got the mischief gene from your father did you?" she said and the twins looked both horrified and dazed. Their mum who was always scolding them for pranking had just pranked them. They laughed at the twins.
"Okay, next is the Raging Rapid, you sit in a rubber ring and basically get bumped around a bit" they all sat on a rubber ring and went around the area, even the parents.
They spent the rest of the day in the pool and repeatedly going on the water slides, before they returned to the Burrow for dinner.
"So did everyone have a good day?" Hermione asked at the kitchen table.
She laughed as everyone talked over each other, she couldn't hear anything they were saying and she shook her head at them.
The Burrow - Monday 22nd August 1994
Hermione awoke with a start. She had just had that dream again. Ever since she had spoken to Harry on his birthday, the dreams had become more vivid, more real. She pealed the sweat soaked sheets off herself and practically crawled along the floor. She didn't know the time but she needed to shower.
So she entered the bathroom, locked the door behind her and got in the shower.
As the water poured over her, she tried to recall the dream. She tried her hardest but the details hadn't changed. She knew something was going to happen, she didn't know how, but she did.
Maybe it was years of protecting Harry, being in danger and having to fight for her life that made it possible. Maybe it was her instincts, she had seen things that most aurors hadn't and she was on defence mode. Or maybe it was her magic, her powers had been growing lately, it may be a side effect of that.
She shut the water off, climbed out of the shower and dried off before going back to her bed room to change. She put on a pair of black boots that went to her knees, black leggings and a white short sleeved t-shirt that said "I tried to be normal once. Worst two minutes of my life" and it hung off one of her shoulders because it was too big.
They would be leaving for the Quidditch World Cup Final that day.
It had been a surprise no one saw coming. When Mr Weasley came home from work one day with tickets for everyone; Harry and Ginny bounced around in excitement, the twins started singing and Ron burst into tears, Hermione just rolled her eyes amused at the lot of them.
She dragged herself down the stairs, it was early but she could smell food being cooked so when she entered the kitchen to see Mrs Weasley bustling about making breakfast, she smiled and she sat down.
"Morning dear"
"Morning Maji" Hermione said tired and yawning.
The truth was she hadn't gotten much sleep since she began having those dreams. She didn't know how she didn't have bags under her eyes, but it was a miracle.
"You okay dear?" she asked as she placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Hermione who thanked her and began eating.
"Yeah, just tired"
Mrs Weasley sat opposite Hermione. "You look like you haven't been sleeping lately, and you and Harry have been having a lot of hushed conversations. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Hermione froze. "No" she whispered.
"Are you sure? You can tell me anything"
"I don't want to betray Harry's trust in me" she said.
"Well then, why don't you tell me what's bothering you and not Harry?"
Hermione looked at her like a deer caught in headlights.
"I. I. I..."
"Don't bother lying to me, you're an awful liar" she said amused.
Hermione sighed. "I haven't been sleeping well"
"Why?" she asked worried.
"I don't know. You're probably going to think I'm being paranoid, but I've got this feeling that something is going to happen and I don't know what it is. I've been having these dreams for a while now. At first I used to just toss and turn and then wake up not remembering a thing"
"And now?" she said quietly.
"Now I can remember some of it. Small things"
"What can you remember?" she was anxious.
"Well I'm celebrating and laughing, I'm happy and then it goes dark. The next thing I remember is that I am being chased and I'm hit by a spell and I fall. When I turn around I see someone stood over me and then I wake up sweating and struggling to breathe"
Mrs Weasley didn't know what to say to her, it could've just been a dream or it could be a suppressed memory of some sort, or it could be something else entirely.
"Well dear, there's no point in worrying about it now, is there anything else you wish to tell me?"
"Well..."
"Yes?"
"My scar has been a little sore lately"
"Your scar?" she asked confused. Hermione didn't have any scars that she could see or think of.
"The one on my back"
Mrs Weasley frowned, she had forgotten about the scar on Hermione's back. No one but the twins, Lee and Oliver had seen it.
"Do you want me to have a look at it for you dear?"
"No, no that's alright, I don't like people seeing it, it makes me self-conscious"
"Nonsense, it can't be that bad" she said as stood and walked around the back of Hermione's chair. Hermione pushed her chair out and leaned forward slightly and Mrs Weasley lifted the shirt.
She saw nothing there; there was no scar, not even a freckle. She couldn't understand it, the boys had told everyone about the scar, not in detail but they had told them.
"Hermione dear, there's nothing here"
"That's because I'm wearing a glamour charm"
"It's illegal to use magic outside of school" she scolded and Hermione chuckled.
"Don't worry Maji, in my second year before the whole Chamber of Secrets situation, I figured out how to change the glamour charm to make it permanent"
"So you're wearing a permanent glamour charm? Is that even possible?" she asked amazed.
"Yes, I don't like or want people to see it"
"So that's why no one but Oliver, Lee and the twins have seen your scar"
"Yes, they saw it in first year"
"Well I'm going to have to remove it" she said.
"I know, just use Finite Incantatem, that should work"
Mrs Weasley lifted the top back up, pointed her wand at Hermione's back and said the incantation.
Mrs Weasley gasped loudly and stared in shock at the large scar covering Hermione's back. It still looked only a couple years old rather than almost fourteen years old. Hermione tensed.
"It's ugly! Told you it was bad" Hermione whispered sadly.
"I've seen worse dear, I have got a dragon tamer for a son. In fact I think he will be impressed. Or upset"
"Upset?"
"He no longer holds the record for coolest and biggest scar" she said and Hermione chuckled. 'Sounds like Charlie' she thought.
Mrs Weasley looked at the scar again to see that it looked red and itchy. She gently touched the middle of Hermione's back and she took an intake of breath. Mrs Weasley removed her hand and dropped the shirt walking out of the room leaving a shocked Hermione.
But Mrs Weasley walked back in minutes later carrying a tub; she walked back over to Hermione, lifted her top and scooped some of the cream out of the tub and gently placed it on and around the scar. Hermione left out the breath she had been holding.
"That should help dear"
"Thank you Maji"
"I'm your guardian; it's my job to make sure you're healthy and well cared for"
"No you're not" Mrs Weasley looked at her confused. "You're not my guardian" she said and hurt showed on Mrs Weasley's face. Hermione smiled softly at her and spoke. "You're my mum" she said confidently and with pride.
Mrs Weasley started crying, she gave a watery laugh and they hugged tightly, being careful of Hermione's back.
"I love you Maji" that was the first time Hermione had said those words to anyone but Harry and the Grangers.
"I love you my dear child"
"Will you put the glamour back in place please? I'll show you how to do it, it comes in handy"
Mrs Weasley hesitated but allowed Hermione to show her the wand movements and incantation. When she finished, she went back to making breakfast.
"You won't tell anyone about my scar will you? About what it looks like?"
"No dear, I won't not until you're ready for people to see it"
Hermione ate her breakfast and left to wake everyone up. They didn't have long before they had to leave.
She woke the twins up (Lee was with his parents) and Ginny before moving to Ron and Harry's room. She was about to knock when she heard someone grunting in pain and she flung the door open.
Her eyes landed on Harry, he was thrashing about in bed with a pained look on his face. He had never told her it was this bad. She rushed forward and sat down on the bed next to him.
"Harry" she said softly but he continued to thrash around.
"Harry" she tried again and nothing changed.
She lifted her hand and gently ran her fingers through the sweat soaked hair on his forehead, gently touching the lightning bolt shaped scar. His eyes shot open and he looked frightened and confused.
Hermione handed him his glasses and he put them on and sighed in relief as she continued to brush her hands through his hair comfortingly. He sat up and she hugged him, which he returned gratefully.
"Does it hurt?" she asked and he nodded. "I'll be right back" she whispered and ran from the room leaving a befuddled Harry staring at the door. She walked back into the room and over to Harry not long after with the tub of cream Mrs Weasley had given her in her hand.
"What's that?" he asked as she sat down on the bed beside him and removed the lid.
"Some cream Maji gave me, it'll help" she said and she scooped some out, removed his hair from his face and tenderly rubbed it into the scar and around it. She heard him sigh in relief and she smiled.
"That's the same reaction I had" she said.
"What did you need this stuff for?"
"My scar has been a little sore lately" she said shrugging her shoulders and putting the lid back on the tub.
"Scar? You have a scar?" she nodded. "I've never seen a scar on you"
"Only the twins, Oliver, Lee and now Mrs Weasley have seen it. It starts from my left shoulder, comes all the way down to my right hip and stops about here" she told him, pointing to the place that was almost her stomach.
"How did you get it?"
"Don't know, had it since I was little; and before you ask you haven't seen it because it makes me self-conscious and I wear a glamour charm. I altered it to make it permanent"
"So that's why we don't see it when you're wearing a bathing suit" he mused and she nodded.
"Can I see it? It can't be that bad"
"It is Harry and I'm not ready for people to see it. But when I am, you're the first okay?"
"Okay" he said smiling slightly.
"Come on have a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. World Cup today" she spoke tapping his leg and getting up to wake Ron. Harry smiled 'she's always mothering us' he thought fondly leaving the room.
"Wake up! Wake up Ronald" she said hitting him upside the head. He bolted up right and pulled the blanket higher to cover himself. She rolled her eyes, he was his wearing pajamas for Merlin's sake.
"Bloody hell" he exclaimed.
"Oh honestly, get up, breakfast is ready" she said and left the room.
They were all gathered in the living room. Hermione was currently amused as she was watching the twins and Mrs Weasley.
"What is that in your pocket?"
"Nothing!" they said panicked.
"Don't you lie to me! Empty your pockets"
"They are empty mum" George said.
Mrs Weasley pointed her wand at each twin and said. "Accio"
Trick candy flew out from surprising places and landed on the floor.
"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs Weasley furiously as she burned them into ash in front of them.
"It took us six months to make those" Fred said angry.
"Why can't you be more like Percy? Only three OWLS" she said disappointed.
"I think it's time to leave" Hermione said walking towards them effectively ending the argument. They picked up their bags and walked out of the door, following the others.
"Well, have a lovely time"' Mrs Weasley said. "And behave yourselves" she yelled after the twins who didn't look back but carried on walking.
Hermione was walking in the middle of the twins and was holding one of their hands each, comforting them.
"I'm proud of you" she said.
They looked at her.
"You are?" Fred said.
"We only got three OWLS" George spoke.
"Yes, the magic and theory behind those trick sweets could compare to that of a patronus. And don't tell anyone I said this, but not all qualifications get you somewhere in life. They help but the rest is on you. You boys are brilliant and you don't need an exam to tell you that. You are incredibly smart and you don't need an exam to tell you otherwise" she said seriously and they smiled, no longer annoyed but happy now.
They chased after each other playing tag as they ran around the others as they made their way to the scheduled port key.
"Where are Bill, Charlie, Percy and Sirius?" George asked noticing that they weren't with them.
"They're probably still sleeping, they're apparating Fred. Oliver, Beth and Henry are meeting us there" Mr Weasley spoke.
"That's George, Pita" she said chuckling.
"Sorry George" he apologised as they made their way through the woods.
They came to a stop with the twins and Hermione still playing tag.
"Why have we stopped?" Ron whined.
"Just got to wait for someone and they should be here any minute... Ah here he is now. Amos"
"Arthur" the two men shook hands.
Arthur introduced everyone. Hermione was running from the twins laughing at them, they dived for her and she side stepped them resulting in them completely missing her and falling to the ground face first. She burst out laughing along with Ginny who had seen what had happened.
All of a sudden Hermione heard a branch snap and something heavy made contact with the ground and landed behind her. She panicked and without thinking turned and pushed her hands out sending the person flying fifteen feet backwards until he hit the floor.
Hermione gasped and ran to the boy who lay on the floor. Everyone looked at each other and back to Hermione, not moving; they didn't know what to do. She kneeled down beside him.
"I am so sorry. Are you okay?" she asked staring into his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm good" he groaned, but them stopped when he noticed the large, sparkling, worried chocolate brown eyes staring into his hazel brown ones and he gaped.
"I really am sorry, you startled me"
"Not your fault, I shouldn't have jumped from the tree when you were standing there" he said gawking at her. She helped him sit up.
"Nice hit with that spell, what was it?" he looked at her and noticed that she didn't have her wand in her hand. "Where's your wand?"
"In my bag" she said sheepishly and he stared at her stunned before he laughed. She helped him stand up. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"
"Yeah, you pack one hell of a punch though for someone who is so little" he said chuckling and rolling his shoulders trying to rid himself of the ache.
"Hey, I am not little, I am five and a half feet tall, that's average height for a girl" she said.
He laughed at her and shook his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes.
"Cedric" he said holding his hand out for her to shake.
"Hermione" she said shaking his hand.
The others made their way over to them. Hermione didn't notice but Cedric held her hand longer than what was considered appropriate.
Mr Diggory came over laughing and clapping his son on the back. "She sure put you on your backside" he said laughing at his son. Hermione flushed.
"I'm really sorry Mr Diggory, I didn't mean to. My magic has been getting a little out of hand lately" she said flushing and he looked at her thoughtfully.
"Don't worry about it Miss Granger, It was rather amusing. I can't wait to tell his mother about this" he said chuckling and Cedric groaned.
"That was AWESOME"
"George!" Mr Weasley scolded.
"That's Fred, Pita" Hermione said and they both smiled at her in thanks.
"You can tell them apart?" Cedric said shocked, he didn't know why, but he felt jealous.
"She's the only one that can mate" Ron said.
"Yeah and she can do it with her eyes closed" Ginny said proudly.
"Seriously?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yep, we made her do it at least five times, fair to say Bill's pockets had a lot less galleons than Charlie's did. He's still bragging that he get one over on him" Ginny said and Hermione laughed.
Cedric was introduced to the others and they made their way towards the port key. The twins were openly glaring at him; he hadn't taken his eyes of Hermione since he had met her. It was Dudley and the auror all over again. They decided they didn't like that Hermione was coming into her Siren heritage.
They almost broke Cedric's nose when they caught him staring at her backside and shoulder where the top was too big. Mr Weasley found their reactions amusing.
But they drew the line at him touching Hermione. When they had to walk up a steep hill and Hermione struggled, Cedric placed his hands on her hips to help push her up. So the boys came up with a plan that would include not hurting Cedric, because Hermione would likely scold them.
The faked falling over and rolled down the hill. When Hermione turned to see the twins rolling down the hill, she burst out laughing, fell backwards onto her bum and slid down the hill. When she came to a stop in front of the twins they laughed until their eyes watered. The others had turned around to see what had happened and laughed at the three teenagers that were sprawled on the ground, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
They finally stopped laughing and made their way up the hill. Fred and George helped Hermione up the hill and Cedric scowled at them which they of course smirked at.
Fred was behind Hermione as they were walking towards the old boot port key and he couldn't help but stare at her bum.
'Muggles are geniuses' he thought looking at her clothing.
"Stop staring at our mate's lovely backside. At least until she knows" George said to him amused. Fred smirked.
"How would you know that her backside's lovely?" he asked and George smirked right back at him. They both turned back to Hermione and were openly staring at her backside once more.
Fred groaned. "It's not fair" George looked at him amused. "It's not fair, that we have to wait"
"We won't have to wait much longer" George said.
Fred nodded. "Soon, she'll be ours"
"She already is" George pointed out.
"Yeah I know, but it's just… soon she'll be ours"
George nodded. "And Oliver's"
"And Oliver's" Fred agreed.
They all gathered around the old boot and when the time came, they touched the boot and the port key left.
