When Bella's feet hit the ground she stumbled and Cedric put his hand on her back to steady her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving his hand away from her.
"Yeah." Bella replied softly. "I just really hate Portkeys."
Bella and Cedric said a hurried goodbye, promising to meet up once they were back at school and Bella followed after her family to the field they would be staying in.
"- talking about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?" Bella heard Ginny say as she approached them.
"Who's talking about Bludgers near Muggles?" Bella asked.
"Ludo Bagman." Ginny replied. "Even though he knows he shouldn't."
They walked through the misty field between rows and rows of tents. Most tents had only small adjustments such as chimneys, bell-pulls and weather-vanes. Others had been so dramatically decorated that Bella couldn't help think they would be discovered by the Muggles. Further up the field stood a tent covered in striped silk like a minature palace with live Peacocks tethered by the entrace. A little further on they passed a tent with three storeys; and further on again they passed a tent with a front garden attatched, complete with a sundial and a water fountain.
"Always the same." her father chuckled. "We always like to show off when we get together."
They reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field , and here was an empty space, with a sign that read 'Weezly'.
"Couldn't have a better spot!" Arthur said happily. "The pitch is just on the other side of that wood there, we're as close as we could be." He dropped the rucksack from his back with a dull thud.
"Right," he said excitedly. "- no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Can't be too hard, Muggles do it all the time... hey, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"
Harry looked as puzzled as Bella felt. Harry, Hermione and Freya, the only three in the group who knew about Muggles, managed to figure out where everything was supposed to go and they eventually had erected a pair of tents. Arthur had an excited gleam in his eyes as he dropped to his hands and knees and crawled inside the first of the two tents.
"We might be a bit cramped." he called from inside the tent. "but I think we'll all manage just fine, come on in and have a look."
Bella was eager to get inside the tent, hoping she would at least be sheltered from the bitter cold that only she seemed to be able to feel. Once inside the tent, Harry, Hermione and Freya looked thoroughly inpressed with the furnished tent and Bella couldn't help smiling at their expressions of awe.
"Well, it's not for long." her father said, wiping his bald patch with his handkerchief. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago."
He picked up the dusty kettle and peered into it; "We'll need water..."
"There's a tap marked here on the map the Muggle gave us." Ron pointed out as he and Bella looked over it. "It's on the other side of the field."
"Well, why don't you and Bella go and get some water for us?" Their father handed them the kettle and a couple of saucepans. "- and we'll get some wood for a fire."
"But we've got an oven." Ron said. "Why can't we just -"
"Anti-Muggle security Ron!" Arthur cried. "When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors! I've seen them at it!"
After a quick tour of the girls tent which looked much the same as the boys, Ron and Bella set off across the campsite with Freya who had offered to accompany them, carrying the kettle and the saucepans. Now, with the sun fully risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring around at each extravagantly decorated tent.
Their fellow campers were beginning to wake. First to stir were the families with small children. A tiny boy, no older than two, was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking at a slug in the grass which was steadily growling larger with each poke of the wand against its slimy skin. Just as they reached the young boy, his mother came rushing out of the tent.
"How many times, Kevin? You don't - touch - Daddy's - wand!"
"Were you two like that as kids?" Freya chuckled as they passed them.
"Ron definitely was." Bella sniggered.
"Hey!" Ron cried. "You were too. Most of the time I only did things because you told me to and I got into trouble for them."
"That's why I done it." Bella laughed.
"I was the one getting my brother into trouble when we were young as well." Freya smiled. "Half the time he took the blame though, can't think why."
"Er - is it just my eyes or has everything gone green?" Ron asked.
It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of Shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, odly shaped Hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those which had their tent flaps open. Bella heard a voice up ahead that she would know anywhere and she cringed internally; Seamus was here.
When they reached the tent he was sat outside, he looked startled. Sat outside the tent with him was no other than his best friend, Dean Thomas, and Lavender Brown. He opened his mouth to speak but Ron cut him off.
"Come on Bella," he said sharply, putting himself in between her and Seamus. "Something stinks here."
Bella kept walking, feeling a tinge of sadness within her chest; not that she felt anything at all towards him anymore but they way they had treated her still left her feeling upset. Ron pulled her from her thoughts as he tugged excitedly on her arm. Bella caught sight of the Bulgarian tents just ahead and smiled.
"Krum." Ron said quietly.
"Calm down, Ron." Bella said. "It's only a poster."
"But it's Viktor Krum!" Ron cried, earning some looks from the Bulgarians within hearing distance.
"So, you'll be supporting Bulgaria then?" Freya asked Ron.
"Of course he will." Bella answered for him. "Ronniekins has a crush on the big, handsome Bulgarian seeker."
"I do not." Ron huffed.
"Sure." Bella chuckled, patting him on the arm. "Sure you don't."
There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Ron, Bella and Freya joined the queue just behind a pair of men involved in a heated argument. One wizard, a very old wizard indeed, was wearing a long, flowery night-dress. The other wizard was clearly from the Ministry; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying in frustration.
"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap, you can't walk around like that, the Muggle on the gate's already getting suspicious -"
"I bought this in a Muggle shop." the old wizard said stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."
"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these." the Ministry wizard tried to push thr trousers into Archie's hands and he shook him off.
"I'm not putting them on." Archie said firmly. "I like a healthy breeze around my private parts, thanks."
Freya was now crying tears of laughter, so much so that she had to take a step out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and left. Walking more slowly now, due to the weight of the water, they made their way back across the campsite. Here and there they saw more familiar faces; other Hogwarts students and their families.
"You've been gone ages." George said when they finally made it back to their tents.
"This water's heavy, you know." Bella said, setting down the kettle.
"You got that fire started yet?" Ron asked.
"Dad's having fun with the matches." Fred replied.
Their father was sitting in the grass outside, having no luck at lighting the fire but looking as though he was having the time of his life.
"Would you like me to show you how to light it now, Mr Weasley?" Hermione asked from where she sat across from him.
"Oh, yes please." Arthur smiled. "I fear we'll be here all night if you don't."
At last, they got the fire lit, but it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch as they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right beside the passage to the pitch, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Arthur as they passed. He kept up a running commentary, more for Harry, Hermione, Freya and Emily's benefit; the Weasley's knowing far too much about the Ministry to really be interested.
At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie and Percy came strolling out of the woods towards them.
"Just Apparated, Dad." Percy said loudly. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"
They were halfway through their lunch when their father jumpped to his feet, waving and grinning at a portly man that Bella knew to be Ludo Bagman. He was wearing his old Quidditch uniform, Wimbourne Wasps, and was easily the most noticable wizard in the entire campsite.
"Arthur, old man." he said as he reached them. "What a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming... and hardly a hiccough in arrangements... not much for me to do!"
Percy hurried forwards with his hand outstretched. Apparantely his disapproval of the way Lugo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression.
"Ah - yes." their father said, grinning, "This is my son, Percy, he's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughters, Bella and Ginny - and their friends, Freya Scott, Emily Anderson, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
"Everyone," Arthur continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, its thanks to him we've got such great tickets -"
"Yeah, and thanks to him the Muggles are getting suspicious." Ginny muttered under her breath, making Ron and Bella chuckle quietly.
"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" Bagman said, jingling what sounded like a large amount of gold in his pockets. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and litte Agatha Timmus had put up hald shares in her eel farm on a week-long match."
"Oh - go on then." Arthur said. "Let's see... A Galleon on Ireland to win."
"A Galleon?" Bagman said and his smile faltered slightly but he recovered himself. "Very well, very well... any other takers?"
"They're a bit young to be gambling." Arthur said uneasily. "Molly wouldn't like -"
"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles and three Knuts." Fred said as he and George pulled all of their money from their pockets. "that Ireland win - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand."
"You don't want to go showing Mr Bagman rubbish like that -" Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his round face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.
"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"
Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.
"Boys." their father said under his breath. "I don't want you gambling... that's all your savings... your mother -"
"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur." Bagman boomed, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland'll win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance... I'll give you excellent odds on that one... we'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we..."
Their father looked on helplessly as Bagman pulled out his notebook and began jotting down the twins names.
"Cheers." George said, taking the slip from Bagman and tucking it into the front of his robes.
Bagman turned more cheerily back to their father.
"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."
"Mr Crouch?" Percy said, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll..."
"Anyone can speak Troll." Fred said dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt."
Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigourously to bring the kettle back to the boil. Seeing an opportuity to annoy Percy, Bella, Fred and George began grunting loudly and pointing at each other and everyone around them, as if in comversation. Ron and Ginny joined in and soon the five Weasley children were pointing and grunting loudly. Percy's face had gone a violent shade of red and he looked furious.
There was a pop in the air and Percy's boss, Barty Crouch arrived at their fireside. The grunting stopped immediately but they could not look at each other for fear they would laugh again.
"Pull up a bit of grass." Bagamn said brightly, patting the patch of grass beside him.
"No, thank you, Ludo." Crouch said stifly and there was a note of impatience in his tone. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."
"Oh, is that what they're after?" Bagman said. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."
"Mr Crouch!" Percy said breathlessly, sunk into a kind of half bow that made him look like he had a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh," Mr Crouch said, looking down at Percy in mind surprise. "Yes - thank you Weatherby."
Fred and George snorted into their own cups and Bella had to bite down on her bottom lip to stop from laughing, lest Mr Crouch think they were laughing at him. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.
"Oh, and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur." Crouch said, his sharp eyes falling on Arthur. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."
Bella tuned them out, not bothering to listen to Bagman's ramblings or Crouch's stiff words as though he'd rather be anywhere else.
"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" Fred asked and Bella's ears perked up.
"You'll find out soon enough." their father replied with a smile.
"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it." Percy said just as stiffly as Mr Crouch. "Mr Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."
"Oh, shut up, Weatherby," Fred said.
A sense of excitement fell over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still simmer air itself seemed to be thick with anticipation. Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of merchandise.
"Been saving all summer for this, haven't we, Bella." Ron said as the six of them made their way through the salesmen.
"We have." Bella beamed.
Ron and Bella purchased matching dancing-shamrock hats and Ron also purchased a small figurine of Krum that Bella thoroughly teased him about. Harry disappeared into the thick crowd of salespeople and returned five minutes later with six pairs of Omnioculars.
"Oh, Harry." Bella said, slipping them around her neck. "Thank you!"
With everyone's money bags considerably lighter, they made their way back to the tents. Bill, Charlie and Ginny were all wearing green rosettes and Arthur was carrying a large green flag. Fred and George had no souveniers as they had given Bagman all of their money but that hadn't stopped them supporting their team; both their faces were painted to look like the Irish flag.
And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and, at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the pitch.
"It's time!" Arthur said, looking as excited as any of them. "Let's go."
