World Cup Tournament

Their first game in who knows where wasn't until 2:00 in the afternoon so he got to sleep in until 8: 30 and go to his morning classes. The team was to meet at the usual practice place and from there they'd use the floo network to get wherever they had to go. Everywhere they played the Stadium was expected to be packed, so ya, he was a bit nervous.

Somehow throughout the three weeks the whole school had found out that he was Seeker for the Tornados but we won't say any names, cough, Lavender, cough, cough. Now he had a good amount of girls trying to take Lavender's place which he didn't really mind. He packed things for over-nighting 2 weeks in strange place. He brought his dirks and wands mirror and lots of clothes, tooth brush but still packed as light as he could. He stuffed it all in Sirius's bag and noted that it did get a bit heavier. He ate lunch with Neville, Dean and Seamus and at 12:00 he said good bye to Remus and port keyed to the pitch. Merlin he'd never get used to those things.

He got there and went to the change rooms. They were to get in uniform before they went so they'd be ready for pictures and look impressive and stuff. He decided it would not be wise to wear the dirks as he might get in trouble if caught with a knife so he left those and his newer wand in his bag and strapped the old on in its holster. Having got changed he waited by the fireplace with the others.

Duo had just enough time to tell him about his first tournament, the last one, and how the seeker had to be carried off the pitch twenty minutes in. Duo was too much like Wood when it came to pep talks. Finally the Coach arrived and gave them all a proper pep talk, and as considerate as she was, asked if he had his homework done. This raised a good laugh from everyone; he was often the subject of a joke. He chose not to answer and considering his last experience he went through with Duo instead of alone. Knowing him he'd probably end up in Alaska.

He and Duo came through after the Coach and immediately faced a huge crowd waiting to see the arriving players. He was overwhelmed as wizarding cameras flashed and people were stretching their hands out to touch them. Soon the whole team was present and they made their way past the crowd to heir designated tent. They went over tactics for an hour then were on the pitch practicing. Because it was November (albeit warmer than in Britain) the stadium had a warming spell of some sort on it and nobody was freezing. They tossed the Quaffle around and did simple drills to warm up. By then he was a nervous wreck and was just glad he wasn't a chaser or they'd be screwed. His hands were shaking and he kept fumbling the ball. All too soon the whistle blew signaling the end of warm up and one at a time they circled the pitch. The commentator had to introduce everyone after all.

Unfortunately that included him and what's even more unfortunate was that the Seeker always got introduced last. Taking a deep breath he kicked off and did his lap around the pitch. He didn't really hear what the commentator was saying as he felt like he was going to be sick and just wanted to get it done before his lunch landed on some poor unsuspecting spectator. He made his landing again and waited while the other team had their turn. This naturally didn't take as long as he had hoped. Perhaps his emotions showed on his face because Duo, trying to be reassuring, gave him a flap on the back resulting in him landing face first on the ground. The crowd laughed at the incident and he blushed a shade of red so deep you could most likely see from the stands. Glaring at Duo he straightened up and got ready. By this time they were ready to play and after the Referee checked to see if he was okay, the whistle blew and they kicked off.

Immediately he went high above the stadium and circled looking for the snitch. Not two minutes into the game and the opposing team scored a goal. He basically ignored the other seeker and looked on his own. Then at the other end of the pitch he saw a glint of gold and at the same time the other seeker who was closer to it dove for the ground pretending to have seen it.

Smirking to himself he made it look like he was following the other seeker. He shot in that direction apparently after the seeker then took a sharp turn straight for the snitch. He ducked as a Bludger grazed over his head and not looking back reached for the snitch. He was about to close his hand around it when one of the opposing chasers appeared in front of him and Darian flung himself over the side of the broom with only two hands holding on. Once he was under the chaser and safe on the other side he landed back on the broom and discovered that the snitch had disappeared.

Growling slightly Darian continued his search closer to the game. This would make the snitch harder to see, but it was colder higher up. A few more failed attempts later and the score was 100 to 10, not good for them. Darian had to get that golden ball soon.

Then he saw it hovering just above the ground right below him. He directed his Firebolt straight down and put all his weight into it. It wasn't enough though as the other seeker caught up and made level with him. They were neck and neck. As the ground got closer Darian took a deep breath, it was the only way.

Just seconds from the snitch he pushed off his broom and turned it into the other seeker now free falling horizontal to the ground. The poor sod went flying and Harry closed his hand around the Snitch, letting his body fall on the ground. He rolled off his shoulder and wasn't quite sure what happened after that. He tumbled a good long way then training kicked in and he touched his hands on the ground and flipped himself up, his toes grazed the ground and after several uncontrolled somersaults came to a stop. He lay on his back breathing heavily waiting for the world to stop spinning and held the snitch in the air.

Finally he heard the commentator who had he assumed been poking fun at him, say "Unbelievable! Everson actually caught the Snitch!" Tornados win 160 to 100. Medical team on the pitch to fix up the bashed seekers."

Moaning slightly he sat up and shook his head trying to get rid of the adrenaline high he was currently in. He tried to stand up and fell over, a condition of dizziness he blamed on the somersaulting. Three medical wizards had reached him and were checking him over for any serious injuries. After a minute one of them helped him to his feet and got out of the way declaring him alive enough for his team to tackle him.

Glancing over he saw that the other seeking was on a stretcher being taken off the pitch. Hailee Blix handed him his Firebolt and they did a sort victory lap. The second he got off the pitch the medical team took him, Arden and Sanchez (the keeper) off to the side to heal them. Darian got lucky in that he only had some good scratches and bruises, the most damage was to his shoulder and back from hitting the ground the hardest. After being under observation for 10 minutes he was free to sit over with the rest of his team who were waiting to see how Arden was who had taken a good hit to the head.

The next week and a half was much the same only the games got more intense and progressively more violent as they went. Remus showed up for the ones on the weekend and cheered him on; money was no object to Moony now. He never played the Cannons team as they got cut off near the start.

Currently he was playing Puddlemore United (yes against Wood) and his team was up in points but Darian was having a hard time about the snitch. It was snowing out and despite the heat of the stadium he was freezing searching above. He had no choice however as if he went lower he was likely to get pegged off in the head with a bludger for the third time that game. Having seen something out of the corner of his eye Darian pulled a loop de loop and turned into a shallow dive. Closer to the Stadium below him he could hear screaming and the commentator advising people to go for the exits and not to panic but for said commentator let out a scream and was heard no more.

Panicking himself Darian shot for the stands to find Remus who had been watching the game. He didn't find Remus or any of his teammates in fact, many people were already gone. Below he saw figures' moving in black cloaks firing spells left and right at anyone in the vicinity. Death eaters! What were the chances! Oshitoshitoshitoshitshityyyy! At least his scar didn't hurt, so no Voldie. Staring below for a moment Harry noticed that there were people fighting the death eaters, they were apparently the security, go figure. Unfortunately they were wearing navy blue and were for this reason hard to tell from the death eaters in black, at least from a distance.

Maybe he was just mad at the death eaters for interrupting his game, cause he decided to do something stupid. Instead of staying aloft away from the fight like he should have he turned his broom to the stands and picked up somebody's rather large backpack. He held it with one hand and feeling particularly mean he waited on the edge of the stands until he saw a death eater fighting a security person one on one. Grinning evilly he dived at the guy in the darker coloured robes (hopefully the death eater) and lobbed him in the back of the head with the back pack which, by the way, felt as if it was full of bricks. Needless to say, he went out cold.

Now with his feet firmly on the ground Harry only wanted to be back in the air, he had no idea what to do down here. He was surrounded by fights and was going to be engaged in one soon if he didn't do something. A green light shot at the sky and the Dark mark appeared above the stadium like a permanent firecracker, this might have actually been brilliant if it wasn't a sign of evil.

Growling slightly Darian was about to mount his broom and do something about that light show when he got sent flying. His broom slipped out of his grip and went in another direction and his body in motion collided with another going at much the same speed. Rubbing his elbow he got back up and looked to see who he had squashed because lucky him landed on top of a soft body, rather than the hard ground.

One look at the hair and he knew who it had to be, Tonks. As spunky as she was, her hair was a ridiculous neon green colour. Looking around to make sure he wasn't about to get his head shot off he quickly got her on her feet and asked "where's Remus?"

Surprised by the fact that they were talking in a battle she turned around and looked at him. The second she saw the robes she got worried, then when she saw his face she really flipped. She was obviously smarter than anyone gave her credit for because she summoned his broom (probably sacking a few death eaters on the way) and thrust the Firebolt into his hands.

"Get out of here!" was all she said before disappearing into the fight. When a disgusting pink spell was shot and sped past his right ear he actually considered leaving. That was before his eyes picked out a woman among the death eaters and he lost all reason.

With rage coursing through him he tightened his grip on his broom and charged at her. When he was close enough he swung at her as if he was holding a baseball bat and bashed her in the face with the handle end of his broom. She went down then covered her face in pain with her hands. He wasn't sure of the damage but he smiled when blood seeped through her fingers. He wasn't done yet though. He kicked at her repeatedly in the stomach, the back, anywhere available. Feeling particularly aggravated he kicked at her hands covering her face, adding to the damage already inflicted. He crouched down next to her and took the wand from her hands, which he pocketed.

He smiled menacingly and said "hey Bella". She didn't take her hand from her face but she looked at him and almost laughed when she saw that it was a teenage boy. If she knew who he was she wouldn't be laughing. Thunder cracked nearby and he ignored it, it could hit her for all he cared but not until she knew she was a dead woman.

He flicked out his wand and pointed it at her chest. She tried moving back but only fell over. He let the blue in his eyes fade back to green and stared at her. She gasped and frantically tried to crawl away before he got up and kicked her again as hard as he could.

"You!" She spat in disgust. "You're dead, Nott killed you I saw it!" She protested, as if he would suddenly realize she was right and just say oh, you're right, I'll just go then.

Rolling his eyes and tired of the conversation he said "Good bye bitch" and out of the blue she actually got hit by lightning. Harry didn't stop to think but if he had he may have noticed that thunder and lightning just don't happen in November or on a snowy day.

Feeling sick from the smell and just overall sight he turned and ran the other way, searching again for Remus. So, what would he do if he found Remus? He wanted to drive that sickening image out of his mind, he'd never seen someone struck by lightning and it was a horrifying sight. He got on his broom and kicked off ignoring the stinging in his left hip. He must have gotten hit by somebody.

He didn't know where to go, Tonks just said to get out. More death eaters had appeared on the scene he noticed as he flew away low to the ground heading for the exit. Someone summoned his broom down to the ground. He turned around and saw that it was Remus. His eyes went wide as Moony pointed his wand at him and the world went black.

Harry shot up wide awake and looked around him frantically. Where was he? What happened?

"Harry?" a familiar voice spoke. He looked down and spotted Remus kneeled on the floor. He took in his surroundings ignoring Moony. He was in an old room, the wall paper was falling apart, and everything was shabby, it didn't look like it had been lived in since the dinosaur age. He was laid out on a worn out couch and focusing back on Moony he saw that the man was sitting patiently on the floor.

"Where is this Moony? It is so crappy it looks like my bedroom." Harry added honestly. It truly did!

"Watch your mouth! This is my living room" Remus replied indignantly.

"Wait, seriously? You live here?" Sensing hostility from Remus, Harry decided to change the subject. Soooo, this is in London then? Wasn't I in Germany?" Harry was clearly getting really confused.

"Err, what is the last thing you remember?" Remus asked uncomfortably.

"Playing Quidditch, I was fuckin' freezing from the snow…" Remus frowned at his swear. "Then I saw the death eaters… don't remember that too well… YOU! You stunned me didn't you?" Harry yelled as he remembered that little detail.

"Oh, you remember that huh?" Remus muttered lamely. "I had too, really. I knew that you weren't about to let me use your port-key to get you out of there. The crest Dumbledore gave you is a direct port-key to my house, whereas the… watch is it? The watch is a two way link between his office and wherever it is you practice." Remus explained in his teacher voice.

"Bring me back! We can help!" Harry said suddenly and for no obvious reason. Delayed reaction maybe. Upon noticing Remus' guilty look he asked "what time is it?"

"I kept you out for a good three hours. They weren't after you but you could still have gotten hurt".

Harry said nothing and dug his hand into his jersey looking for his time turner. It was about then that he remembered that all his stuff was in the teams' tent. Whoop de doo.

Remus continued "Tonks and Mad-Eye were there. Mad-Eye has been following you around through the whole tournament. Don't get mad! Dumbledore ordered him too. Hungry?" Moony popped the last question to get his mind off things and it worked. Harry learned a few things that day, one of them being that getting stunned makes you hungry. Another being that if Remus' clothes were baggy on Remus, they swam on little old Harry. Moony insisted that Harry change out of the bloodied up and just plain dirty team robe into some of his "not fit for teaching" clothes.

It wasn't until the next game that he remembered Lestrange. He found her wand in his pocket, and knew what he did. His magic had gone wild and somehow formed lightning and he hit her with it. He did it intentionally. It scared him at first, but this was a war, people would die, and he was just glad that he got to help and avenge Sirius at the same time. He kinda wished that he hadn't done it so messily though, her image hadn't been a pretty one and for days whenever he closed his eyes, there she was.

The days turned into months and soon it was June. He had finished his first Quidditch tournament and they came in third place out of he didn't know how many, never really looked into it. Thankfully not many people were killed in the attack, many were injured though.

And before that it was December, thus christmas! He got lots of presents and such but none from the Weasleys. He really missed his Weasley jumper, really. It was the best christmas ever as it was spent at Remus' crappy crappy apartment instead of the luxurious Hogwarts. He truly enjoyed himself. That doesn't sound like a holiday but it was just him and Remus.

Since then he had acquired another girlfriend or two, not at the same time and he had been in another tournament. It had super high security and wards everywhere, just about impossible for an attack. Luckily there was no attempt.

Darian Everson was becoming known as a brilliant seeker and he was becoming famous again. This was mostly due to the fact that he beat out Krum in a Quidditch game and, made the front page of the newspaper generally shocked people in various instances. In his opinion he had gotten lucky but that wasn't how anybody else saw it.

He and Ron remained unfriendly but Hermione had eventually gotten them to stop fighting. They merely pretended the other didn't exist. Word was Hermione was concerned for Ron's health after the number of times he got beaten. Too be fair Ron had dealt out some damage, but Ron really took the worst of it. Ron was very cold towards him, beyond their tiff in fourth year. Ron often glared at him or hexed him when his back was turned. He got to see a really bad side to Ron. Ron of course only got more angry as he got more money and fame and press coverage, la-de-da.

One Hogmeade weekend around March he and Remus were in the Three Broomsticks talking not expecting to be overheard and Darian called Remus by his marauding name, Moony. Well, the Weasley twins sitting at the next table heard what he said and went nuts. They couldn't believe it, their old Defense teacher was one of the great marauders! Since then they had taken to going up too the school whenever they could and drilled him on all the pranks he and the guys pulled. They made "we met Moony" T Shirts and just worshipped Remus. They were satisfactorily embarrassed when they realized that he was called Moony because he was a werewolf, not that he mooned people when he was young. Often.

Soon after they discovered who the other marauders were and immediately wished that they had known sooner for they would have made Harry Potter a fan T shirt too, being the son of THE Prongs. Anyway, that was amusing.

So his pretty, pretty world was full of sun shine and daisies until mid June, the Hogwarts Quidditch game for the cup. That is, so long as horrifying visions, a lingering phrophesy, homeowrk and Ronald Weasley were exempt from this observation.