Chapter - 4

Ginny was on cloud nine, and turned to walk up. She caught sight of Hermione and the boys seated at the purple and gold gilded seats in the box and sat along with them, there was an empty seat near Harry, and without thinking, Ginny sat. Their faces looked a bit dishevelled and put off.

Sensing the change, she asked "What's with you lot?"

"Malfoy." Grimaced Ron with a bitter expression.

"C'mon don't let that ponce ruin the game! We're at the World Cup!" Ginny cheerfully relayed, letting out a large "WHOO!" upon hearing Ludo Bagman's sonorous voice announcing the commencement of the game.

Bagman introduced the mascots for each country, and Ginny watched dazedly at the otherworldly brigade of Veelas dancing, their rapid spinning but graceful movements left her mind inebriated.

She stared at them blankly and clutched the railings in an effort to get a good look, but was startled, when she saw Harry put up one of his feet over the railings. She sniggered at his animated movements, and clutched his shirt pulling him back along with Hermione.

Ron, along the same lines as Harry was similarly entranced, and stood frozen with a dopey look occupying his face. This proved to severe the nail on the coffin for Ginny and she burst out laughing at the boys' and their antics, and soon she was chuckling with no restraint, pointing at the both of them and imitating them, even past the mascot's display.

Harry for his part seemed bashful, but Ron would not have it.

Ron turned to her tight-lipped and annoyedly said, "Oh come off your high horse Ginny – you were the same way when you were talking to that Fritz."

This doused Ginny's revelry and she scowled at Ron, retorting, "You have got to be kidding, that was not the same!"

"It was! You were standing there talking to him all giddy like!" he exclaimed.

Ginny turned away and stared at the stadium, and absently noted the Bulgarian players' names being called out. The players all whizzed past their box.

Was she really as charmed by Wilhelm as Ron claimed, but then again, she reasoned, wasn't that what she wanted!

She was no longer thinking about Harry! Even though he was sitting next to her, the old Ginny would've been exhilarated by that. Maybe the book had a point about getting another crush!

The thought that she no longer had a crush on Harry knocked her socks off! She turned gleeful and excitedly directed her attention towards the match, and when Bagman called out 'Lynch!'

She yelled and cheered exuberantly joining in the horde of noises assaulting their ears, throwing her hands in the air. Harry turned towards her smiling at her enthusiastic display, and she grinned back wider.

The game was fast paced, and the Irish lashed out furiously at the Bulgarian side with their attack, and just as Ginny had predicted they pulled out the Hawkshead Attacking Formation.

"YEAH, LET'S GOOOOOO!" She shouted cheering on for the Irish, besides her Harry was busy peering in the Omnioculars.

Ginny gasped in wonder at the uniformity and seamlessness of the Golden Trio of chasers. Troy, Mullet and Moran all flew and interplayed off of each other – as if they all had the same beating hearts.

Ginny wondered, if she'd ever be as good as them. Perhaps one day, she too would don on a Quidditch cloak, with 'WEASLEY' emblazed at the back in silver writing.

The chasers kept scoring, and finally Bulgaria scored as well, but their attention soon turned towards the Seekers. Lynch and Krum were battling it out in the sky descending downward, until they looked like they both were going to collide.

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione. Ginny hurriedly looked back for her favourite seeker and her heart sunk when she saw Lynch hit the ground with a resounding thud. She sunk back at her seat. Groans from the Irish side were heard all over.

Charlie who was sitting across the group, looked at her and reassured her. "It's OK Gin, he only got ploughed." He said out loud. Harry turned to her worriedly and patted her on the shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

"Don't worry Ginny, I don't think he broke any serious bones or anything." He said hearteningly. His bright green eyes glowed at her, and Ginny once again felt her breath quicken a bit.

"Yeah, I'm good Harry!" she said blithely, "Besides, watching you play as a Seeker is way more daunting than this!" she jested.

Harry chortled, and then pushed her away amusedly. He then turned toward her and asked earnestly, "Was what Krum did, a Wronski Feint?"

Ginny's eyes practically sparked and then she breathlessly launched in an explanation, "It was! Wicked mad, wasn't it? It's Krum's favourite move, it's more popular among the Europeans probably because Josef Wronski – the guy who invented it was Polish." she paused realizing she was babbling, but Harry nodded urging her to go on.

"So, Josef Wronski – this Polish Seeker did it first, but according to some articles, it wasn't some move that he tested out and refined, he quite frankly pulled it out of the bag – Because! On a test match, his breaks weren't working so he descended downward in this place where there wasn't much wind resistance, hoping to reduce the acceleration or at least have a soft landing other than colliding with someone, so the other seeker followed suit right? But just as he went down, he found the break working and spotted the snitch so he accelerated upwards and Splat! The other seeker was left plunging down because it was too late!" she finished, catching her breath.

Harry looked at her as if she had just cured Dragon Pox and nodded taking it all in. His eyes gleamed and he beamed. "Thanks Gin! That was an entertaining explanation, also it's amazing that you enjoy quidditch so much! We should really have more conversations about this!" he said, turning back to the match.

"Yeah! We should." Ginny agreed. The match resumed, and after the spirited fouls called by the Referee towards the Bulgarian side, the game continued at an even faster pace than before. And soon Lynch spotted the snitch.

Lynch dived for it, and Krum followed suit, both hurtled down and Lynch crashed.

"Krum has the snitch!" pointed out Harry excitedly.

And there it was. Ireland won with a ten-point lead. Even though Lynch didn't catch the snitch, Ginny hurrahed and shouted along with the thunderous crowd.

The Veela shrieked and created screeching havoc, but it didn't put off the crowd, instead the roar of the crowd resounded, and it seemed like people charmed confetti to fall over.

"Wow! This is mad!" exclaimed Ron at the jubilant celebration. Streaks of white and green fireworks painted the dark blue night sky. The air was perforated by joy, excitement and a meandering hope of better things to come. Ginny screamed and cheered along with them, and even Hermione took part in the bellowing.

The confetti landed all around Ginny, and she was reminded of fresh snow falling, heralding a new winter. Ginny held out her hands in childlike wonder and gazed at the sky.

A bunch of fingers grazed her hair and brushed something off of it.

"Umm, you had confetti on you." Pointed Harry serenely, he turned to the rest of the group and discussed the final moves that led to Ireland winning.

Ginny hurriedly brushed through her hair and brushed off the confetti, she gazed back at Harry who was immersed in the conversation. And clutching at her thumping heart, she sighed.

She shook the sinking feeling in her and joined the festivities, debating the match along with her brothers and dad.

The group then exited the stadium passing euphoric Irish fans who were engaged in all sorts of activities from setting off fireworks to performing Irish jigs. Groups of fans passed around bottles of Ogden's Firewhisky and bottles of Butterbeer. A young man even handed a bottle to Ginny, only to be stopped by Mr. Weasley.

"Now there'll be no sort of riff-raffing like that, young lady." He said sternly, pushing the bottle away from her.

Ginny nodded, and then stuck to the group. Her excitement wore off and her body started feeling heavier to lug around. They soon reached the campsite, and Ginny fell face first onto the bed, her body felt like it was made of lead, and she only had enough energy to remove her shoes off. She zoomed off into a dimension far far away.

A sharp tug aroused her, and hurried cries were heard. Sharp pitched screams made her jolt up and any last trace of drowsiness in her was knocked away.

Fred looked at her worriedly. "Gin, get ready and take your wand with you, we've got to go!"

Ginny looked at him in puzzle, his eyes didn't hold the normal light heartedness she was used to seeing. No – this was different. He looked petrified and pale. He gripped her hand and hurriedly led her out of the tent. Ginny saw her father stand harried and alert. He turned to them and his shoulders drooped down a bit at seeing his family rounded up.

He split them into groups and at once they took off. The spectacle outside the tent was alarming to say the least. She'd never seen a more worried mob than ever before. Faces were contorted with fear, children let out howling cries and flashes of fire illuminated and burned all over.

Fred and George stuck to her, both clutching her hands on either side. Sandwiching her in between, with wands at the ready. She could feel the slight tremble in their hands, when a stray spell hit the branch that they were walking across.

The night was dark and eerie and all semblance of festivities were wiped away, leaving only the stench of fear behind. Ginny clung onto Fred's hand and gripped it tightly leaving crescent indents on his palms.

As they ran into the forest, they heard the stampeding of heavy feet. Turning back, they saw a gaggle of dark robed men. All sporting the same attire. They walked in the forest brashly, voices thundering with glee and excitement. Fred and George immediately hid in a thicket of dark bushes, pulling Ginny along with them.

A hand snaked around Ginny's mouth, Ginny looked up and saw Fred look down at her with bated worry. George moved towards them, but unfortunately, he stepped on a sharp twig creating a particularly shrill 'thwack' sound. The men with the vicious masks turned towards them, and at once the trio took off. They heard sounds catching up right behind them. Ginny ran with her wits strewn all around her, she felt her heart pounding heavily. She ran like her life depended on it.

The hand that was tightly eclipsed around hers soon started to loosen its grip and when she turned. Fred and George were nowhere in sight. She reached a clearing and only the smell of smoke and eerie noises was enclosed all around. She looked hurriedly, and tried to find the familiar shock of red hair. But it was dark all around. Ginny crouched near some bushes, and decided to wait there until Fred and George perhaps came around.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity, until at last she couldn't take it. She gathered up all the courage held in her and ventured out. She walked making sure that the flat of her feet didn't brush past the forest floor too loudly.

A loud angry voice interrupted her quiet treading, and up ahead she saw a group of the same robed men she encountered before. She decided to hide and wait out until they cleared up. She squinched and looked closer. A familiar face soon entered her purview and it took Ginny every ounce of control in her body, to not step back and let out a startled noise.

Up ahead standing with the group of the robed men was Wilhelm. He looked distraught but it seemed like he was familiar with the men. He shuffled around looking all around the forest, and in a whirl, he caught Ginny's eyes.

Ginny stepped back and attempted to hide and back away from the thicket of trees she was standing behind. But Wilhelm kept advancing towards her. He turned to the men and whispered something in hushed tones, the men nodded looking at the trees she was standing behind and walked away.

Wilhelm walked towards her, and Ginny found herself running away. She didn't know whether it was because of instinct or fear, but something in her bones was telling her to stay far far away from him.

Wilhelm's face was shadowed by the darkness, but his eyes seemed earnest.

"Ginny wait!" he shouted, "Stop running, please."

Ginny hurried even more and she felt her legs carrying her before she could even command them to stop. Finally, he caught up to her and she felt herself losing hope and slowed down. She clutched the wand in her jacket pocket, and turned to arm herself, and strike if the worst had to come.

But Wilhelm sharply grabbed her wand and took it away from her.

"Let go of my wand!" she shouted. "Let go of it!"

"Ginny please you have to hear me out." He pleaded. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He looked anguished, and he tepidly gave her her wand back. "Here take it, if you don't believe me."

She armed herself with the wand once again, and turned towards him, whilst mentally trying to survey all the exit points from which she could run away.

"It's not what it looks like." His voice miserably pleaded.

Consumed by a swarm of fear, dopamine and if she had to admit quite honestly, she was tired – she turned to him and faced him, a small voice in her head crowed out that if he had wanted her dead, he would've probably alerted the group of cloaked men to her presence.

"Well, what is it then, what do you want me to think?! Do you suppose I should assume the best of you – a stranger who I met just yesterday! Those men have been vandalizing and doing Merlin knows what to the camp, and you're busy being pals with them!"

Her face accentuated with every word she spat out, and Ginny realised that she couldn't be too harsh. She backed away keeping a safe distance between them, and after she raged, she calmed down and felt the cold air of the night biting at her. She tightened her coat and looked at the surprisingly calm boy in front of her.

"I understand and I want to you to know that I can explain everything, the only thing I ask of you is – patience." He said in a manner as if he were taming a rabid animal, "I know I'm a stranger to you, but I value our newfound friendship – and I don't want you to assume the worst of me."

Ginny's anger receded, and when she no longer saw red, she listened and nodded, she looked at his kind face and sad eyes, and inwardly knew that she didn't want to be wary or scared of him. She nodded urging him to go on.

"Do you remember when I told you I had a cousin?"

He looked at her with inquisitive eyes and Ginny briefly flashed back to their earlier conversation, she nodded, curious as to where this would go.

.

.

"Well, my cousin is Draco Malfoy."

Ginny's mouth gaped a little and she let out an unsatisfactory snort while breathing the cold air in.

"Bloody Hell."

A/N: I had fun writing this chapter, especially the Quidditch parts! But yes. We find out who Wilhelm's cousin is, the one who 'hates' Harry Potter, and how could it be anyone but our very own Draco. Also, if you find yourself liking the story, please do leave a kudos/review or anything really. Please feel free to share your views on the story and where you want it to go and so on. Have a lovely day!