Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.


Chapter 40 – The Quidditch World Cup


Pettigrew's escape put a damper on the rest of the summer. Cornelius had the entire Ministry out searching for him, but it was no use. As Sirius and Remus knew well, the rat could disappear almost completely and they knew finding him would be near impossible; he'd spent twelve years as a rat already so there was little doubt that he'd not make an appearance in his human form anytime soon. As the weeks passed the wizarding world began to forget about Pettigrew and went back to normal, more or less. Unlike with Sirius there were no break ins at a highly secure school to get the public riled up, nor was there the imagery of a madman laughing at the deaths of twelve people to have them worried. Everyone knew that Pettigrew had faked his death and spent twelve years in hiding, as a rat no less, so were much less concerned about a cowardly murderer then the supposed mad one Sirius had been. Even so, the search for Pettigrew didn't stop, though it did dial back as another event took place that required the aurors' presence.

"The Quidditch World Cup?!" Ron cried, looking at Harry in both shock and wonder. It was Ginny's birthday and Harry was attending a party at the Burrow for her. He'd gotten her a gift, naturally, but had also decided today would be a good day to drop the news that the entire Weasley family, and Hermione of course, were invited to attend the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.

"Those tickets must have cost a fortune, Harry." Ginny murmured, in just as much awe as Ron, and her other brothers, all of whom, with the exception of Percy, were hanging on his every word.

"Actually, they cost nothing." He said. "There are some perks to being the Minister's ward, one of which is getting to invite guests to attend with me."

"You mean we'd be sitting in the Top Box?!" Percy joined the conversation. The third eldest Weasley had graduated in June with top honours and an offer to work at the Ministry. He was currently the Junior Undersecretary to Barty Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation. Percy absolutely worshiped Crouch, as he worshiped just about anyone of any importance in the Ministry, so it was unsurprising that he was interested now that he might be sitting among the highest-ranking members of the Ministry.

"Well…yeah." Harry was distinctly uncomfortable with Percy's hero worship. For once it wasn't of him, at least it wasn't most of the time, but it was of people he knew well, and as he knew Percy relatively well too, it just made everything uncomfortable.

"Are you sure about this, Harry?" Hermione asked, the one person caring more about seeing how such a large group of witches and wizards interacted than about the game itself.

"Of course. Cornelius will be entertaining the Bulgarian and Irish Ministers and I'll have made my appearance for them already." Harry rolled his eyes, not looking forward to the hero worship that would be directed at him as it always was when someone first met the Boy Who Lived. "We've got a tent for you as well, so we can all stay at the campground. It'll be fun." The first bit of fun this summer, he thought bitterly, before pushing thoughts of Pettigrew aside. Cornelius and Aldora were very welcoming to the entire Weasley family when they arrived in the VIP section of the campsite the day of the World Cup, and even invited Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to share their tent while playfully kicking Harry next door into the 'children's tent' as it had been dubbed. He received many raised eyebrows – everyone save Percy who puffed up at his parents sharing a tent with the Minister for Magic – to which Harry replied that they were hosting the other Ministers for Magic and their spouses in their tent and that the husband of the Irish Minister for Magic was a muggle. Cornelius was hoping Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm for all things muggle would be a benefit and put the Irish Minister's husband at ease. That made more sense to everyone, though Harry hastened to assure them that his guardians also actually liked the Weasley parents, the warm welcome wasn't entirely because they wanted to use them. After settling in Harry led the Weasley siblings out of the VIP section and, ignoring the auror guard who followed the Minister's ward as they left, they joined the crowd and took in the sights. While technically a muggle campsite there was nothing muggle about anything they saw. Two, or even three, story tents with chimneys were the norm, people flew around in the open, throwing quaffles between them, and cauldrons were set up on front lawns that were mowing themselves. The group ran into several of their classmates with their families – Seamus' mum didn't let them leave until she was sure that they were supporting Ireland – before finally making it to the souvenir stands. Harry tried to talk Ron out of buying a miniature figure of Viktor Krum, the seeker for Bulgaria, who while being the youngest professional quidditch player in the world was also said to be the best, but Ron was quite in awe and spent the next three hours holding the figure or watching it zoom about the room on its broom. Finally, the time came to head to the stadium and the children re-joined their parents and guardians. Cornelius waved Harry over and he was introduced to the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Bulgarian Minister.

"I apologize for my daughter's tardiness, Mr. Potter." Both he and Cornelius were smiling brightly as Harry shook the girl's hand. "She would have been here to meet you yesterday at dinner, but Elena is a chaser at Durmstrang and the school holds a training camp every summer, which just ended this morning. I understand you are quite the quidditch player yourself. A seeker, no?"

"Er…yeah, I play for my house team."

"Don't be so modest, Harry." Cornelius chuckled. "Harry is the youngest seeker at Hogwarts in over a century, he rarely misses the snitch." Harry shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Now, Harry, why don't you escort Miss Oblansk to-"

"Come on, Harry, we don't want to be late!" Ginny pushed past Cornelius and, staunchly ignoring the older girl, she grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him away.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley hissed, sounding quite mortified, but Ginny ignored her mother as well.

"I did not know he had a girlfriend." Elena said, and Ginny blushed profusely but continued dragging Harry away.

"I didn't know I had a girlfriend either." Harry couldn't help but needle Ginny once they were far enough away not to be heard. This Ginny didn't ignore, and Harry grunted as she elbowed him in the side.

"I'm sorry, it seemed like you were uncomfortable, but if you want her paws all over you, be my guest." She dropped his hand and kept walking, quickly catching up with Bill near the entrance to the stadium. Harry was stunned. This wasn't their usual teasing, Ginny actually sounded upset.

"Aren't you going after her?" Hermione came up beside him, Ron at her side.

"W-what?" Hermione scowled.

"Ginny." Harry merely blinked, no sign of understanding on his face. "For Merlin's sake, Harry! Please tell me you're not so thick that you haven't noticed her feelings for you. Or yours for her, for that matter." Harry wasn't sure what to think. He knew he and Ginny were close and had continued to grow closer all the time, but she was just a friend, wasn't she? Sure he turned to her before anyone else and couldn't imagine his life without her anymore, and yes he felt happy when she smiled and wanted more than anything to make things right whenever she was upset, but-

"Bloody hell!" He gasped, the realization that he liked Ginny, as in liked liked her hitting him hard. Suddenly another thought hit him, and he turned to face Ron, panic in his eyes. Ron's lips were in a tight, unhappy line, but he met Harry's eyes and merely shrugged.

"Hermione pointed it out to me a few months ago." He mumbled. "I wanted to hex you – just on principle mind, that is my little sister after all – but she wouldn't let me, and you know how scary she can be." Harry nodded.

"Boys!" Hermione groaned in exasperation before taking off and leading the way into the stadium. They caught up with Ginny and Bill, the latter of whom scowled at Harry momentarily, as he did every time he saw him. Harry realized then that the eldest Weasley brother hadn't been so clueless and knew exactly what he felt for Ginny. Just like Ron there was a part of him that had to dislike Harry on principle, thus the real reason for the scowl, but Harry knew that Bill didn't really have anything against him or he would be subjected to much more than a few moments of a displeasured look. Sidling passed Bill with a new look of understanding, Harry made his way to Ginny who was sitting in the front row with her own scowl in place. Harry sat next to her but found that he didn't know what to say. That had never been a problem with Ginny before, but suddenly he was tongue tied. Not knowing what else to do, Harry reached over and took Ginny's hand in his again. She refused to turn toward him, but he saw her eyes looking his way and so he smiled and did something he'd never done when they'd held hands before: he entwined their fingers. He may be clueless to the finer points of romance and dating, but he'd seen couples at Hogwarts hold hands like that before, and clearly Ginny knew the difference, for she finally turned toward him, her eyes uncertain. Still not knowing what to say, Harry tried to convey everything in a look, and luckily for him he and Ginny had gotten quite good at reading each other's looks over the last two years. He saw hope in her eyes and squeezed her hand, her hope turning to joy. Nothing else was said between them, though they knew eventually they would need to talk. For now though it was enough and the two turned towards the pitch where the team mascots were making their entrance.

The game lasted for almost four hours before Krum caught the snitch, though Ireland still won. The excitement of the crowd was so high that even though it was close to midnight when they made it back to the tents no one was the least bit tired. Even if they had been, the Irish began to celebrate and the noise was such that none of them would have been able to sleep anyways. When explosions began to sound none of them thought anything of it. Fireworks had been going off all night, and these explosions sounded similar enough that none of them knew anything was wrong until a panicked Aldora and Mrs. Weasley ran in.

"There's an attack on the campsite, we have to go!" Their words were sobering and the high they were all still feeling fled instantly. Bill, Charlie and Percy didn't hesitate in drawing their wands and rushing outside with the clear intention to fight. The others quickly followed and grunted as they ran into the three eldest Weasley siblings, who had stopped not ten feet outside the tent. Everything was on fire, people were screaming and running for their lives, but their group didn't run, for quite simply they couldn't. No matter which direction they looked there were people in black hoods and robes, each one of them wearing a mask. Their wands were drawn, and they were fighting aurors and anyone else brave enough to challenge them, though it was clear that not even those trained to fight dark wizards felt particularly brave right now given who they fought: Death Eaters, followers of Voldemort, who had not been seen or heard from in almost thirteen years. In the distance Harry could see Sirius locked in a duel and was one of the few who appeared to be winning. After a moment the shock wore off and Harry drew his own wand, looking to Ginny, Ron and Hermione, who had all done the same. This is what they had trained for, was the reason they had been working with Snape since first year, and though none of them felt remotely ready to test their skills in a real battle, they didn't really have an option. That was one of the first lessons Snape had taught them: that a fight for your life rarely happened when you were expecting it or were ready for it. However, no matter how ill-prepared they felt, now that the moment had come Snape's training kicked in and they pushed any fear down and prepared to do what needed to be done.

"Ron, Hermione, you two take the left side of the tent, Ginny and I have the right." Harry fell into the role of a general easily, just as the others fell easily in line behind him. That wasn't to say that Harry was solely in charge, they all had their own skills, they thought differently, noticed things the others missed, which during a battle was key, and they would all throw out orders at some point or another that were followed without question. Even so, Harry was a natural leader and none of them were ever upset when he took charge. The others present didn't feel the same though.

"What?!" Aldora screeched, making a grab for Harry but he brushed her off.

"Charlie, go with them." He added and though Charlie looked at him like he was crazy, Ron and Hermione had taken off, so with a curse he followed his youngest brother. "Bill, with us. The rest of you stay here and take out who you can." Like Charlie, Bill looked at Harry as if he was insane, but also like Charlie, he too followed when his sister grabbed Harry's hand and the two ran off. Harry and Ginny worked as a team, just as they had been taught. One of them attacked while the other defended, it was their best chance, as they had been shown more than once in training. Even after three years, two with Ginny, and all the spells and tactics Snape taught them, they were still only children and their magical cores were still not yet developed enough to have the power needed to win in a fight. Certainly they knew an impressive range of spells – many of them beyond their year – and they were far from helpless, but when left on their own in a fight they weren't yet strong enough to both attack and defend. At least not effectively or for any real length of time. Together, though, they each concentrated on either defense or offense, not both, and they'd trained together enough by now to move seamlessly between the two depending on their vantage and the opportunities that presented themselves. It was the same with Ron and Hermione – Snape having purposefully had them train mostly in those pairs to ensure they could fight as one without even thinking – though the four of them could switch partners, or fight all together, with only minimal extra effort.

"Stupefy!" Bill watched in shock and wonder as his thirteen-year-old sister cast spells he hadn't learned until fifth year or later. The way she worked with Harry didn't go unnoticed either and Bill knew there was a lengthy discussion to be had, though now was not the time. Casting his own stunner, Bill followed Ginny and Harry behind one of the few tents that weren't burning, the three taking cover as well as a moment to catch their breath.

"They're after you." Ginny murmured and Harry nodded, having seen one of the Death Eaters call for his comrades to join him when Harry had gotten close enough to be recognized. The Death Eater hadn't lasted long though, Harry having taken full advantage of his assumption that he was nothing but a weak kid to stun him.

"Explains why they were surrounding the tent."

"But why show up now?" Ginny asked, jumping up and shooting a full body bind over the top of the tent, though she didn't stay in the open long enough to even see if it hit its mark. Harry shot her a look.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of." They knew, of course, that Voldemort wasn't really gone, and Sirius and Remus' biggest fear when Pettigrew had escaped was that he would try and find his old master. Now that people knew he lived they would never stop searching, so even life as a rat was no longer safe, meaning the only option for him was to find the strongest person he could to hide behind. His fellow Death Eaters may have sprung him from jail, but they would sooner kill him than protect him, and while he was no doubt expendable to Voldemort as well, the dark lord was currently alone and friendless, without even a body of his own, and so it was unlikely that he'd turn away a follower, which gave Pettigrew his best chance at protection. For Death Eaters to appear now, mere weeks after the rat's escape, it was likely that he'd succeeded in finding Voldemort. Bill looked at them both, having no idea what they were talking about, but before he could ask, or even shoot off another spell, the sky lit up. It was a sickly green colour that formed into a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth: the Dark Mark. More screams were heard, the loudest ones yet, but seconds later things quieted. The shouts of spells and the explosions as they impacted around the campsite had disappeared and when Harry ventured a glance around the tent he saw that the hooded figures were gone.


A/N - Review please!