...GOoHS...
Chapter 5
The Quidditch World Cup
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harry rose from his fitful sleep gasping for breath and drenched in sweat. His hand flew to the scar on his forehead. It was still throbbing but only moments before waking, he swore it felt as though someone had pressed a red-hot iron poker on it.
His hands felt around for his glasses on the desk beside his bed, cursing as he did so. He remembered placing his glasses not too far away from the edge of the desk. He shouldn't have this much trouble locating them. The moment his fingers brushed against the cold metal frame of his round glasses, he picked it up and rammed it on his face. He bolted to his bathroom, feeling bile rising up his throat, and kneeled over the toilet bowl, upheaving whatever was in his stomach. He grimaced at the foul taste in his mouth and shakily stood up to rinse it out over the sink.
As he reached for the faucet, Harry caught sight of his pale, sweaty, and very shaken face. His eyes then wandered to the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry reached out and touched it tenderly. He gasped in pain and drew his fingers back as soon as it made contact with the scar. He groaned and clutched the edges of the sink, letting the pain subside before he raised his eyes to look at his reflection again.
Harry paused for a second, looking at the scar again, making sure that it hadn't split open or anything.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he focused instead on rinsing his mouth. Once he spit out the water and watched it swirl down the drain, the contents of his dream came to him.
'Perhaps… if we do it without the boy'
'Without… Lucas Potter?'
'My lord!'
Harry closed his eyes tightly as another wave of pain washed over him. Even trying to remember his dream was enough to trigger the pain on his scar.
He was certain though, that he had seen Peter Pettigrew in his dream. He couldn't have been mistaken. Those watery blue eyes and that voice… it had haunted him ever since. He had been so determined to kill Lucas the night he lured them to the Shrieking Shack. And now, his dream showed him that the cowardly man found old allies.
Harry sincerely hoped it was all a dream. He didn't want another repeat of their third year. One encounter with the man had been enough.
He closed his eyes once more, trying to remember what else he had seen and heard in the dream but it was all quickly fading from his memory. All he was certain of was he had seen Wormtail and –Harry felt himself grow cold at the realization—Voldemort.
He was there.
Feeling queasy once again, he threw up over the sink.
James woke up before sunrise. Actually, that was an understatement. He woke up at 3:48 AM to be exact. Lily groaned beside him when she felt him move around and get ready. She didn't open her eyes but she did throw a pillow at James' general direction. James chuckled and bent down to kiss her head.
"Sorry, darling. We'll be out of your hair in a minute."
"Is it time already?" she asked groggily as James pulled away.
"I'm afraid so," James replied, slinging a backpack over his shoulders.
Lily turned over and blinked tiredly up at him. "Mmm… have fun at the World Cup. Be safe… all of you."
With a yawn, she buried herself under the blankets again and fell promptly back to sleep. James quietly left their room, whispering apologies for the noise as he went. Lily didn't even stir when he closed the door behind him.
She went to bed late that night. She had gone to a Slug Club reunion party and had come home later than she anticipated. She needed to get up early too, as she had made plans to meet up with her friends for breakfast in muggle London.
She never had any interest in anything Quidditch related and James and the boys thought it would make for a nice break if they left her to herself while they went off to the World Cup. Lily appreciated the gesture from her boys.
'Speaking of the Quidditch World Cup,' James thought as he checked his watch, 'we need to leave in forty-five minutes.'
He could hardly stop himself from skipping down the hall towards his sons' bedrooms. Harry's room was nearest so he knocked on his door first.
"Portkey's activating in forty-five, Harry."
He heard Harry's footsteps echoing inside the room so he hummed in satisfaction. At least one of his sons was awake and getting ready. He was about to go and wake up Lucas when Harry's door swung open. Harry stood there, rubbing sleep off his eyes.
He had already changed and had a bag slung over his shoulder. James was surprised to see him get ready so quickly.
"Blimey how long have you been up?"
"Not long… woke up to Hedwig's hoots." Harry lied. He had been up long before James. He had been thinking about the dream he just had but he had forgotten the details now. It slipped from him like water through his fingers.
"Good man, Harry." James said happily as he patted him on the back. "Why don't you go ahead and wait in the foyer while I go wake your brother."
Harry nodded and fixed his glasses on his face, yawning as he passed James. He vowed to get some more sleep once they got settled in, if he could. They had agreed to sharing a tent with the Weasleys (at Molly and Arthur's insistence) and that did not bode well for his plans to rest.
It took Lucas nearly thirty minutes to get ready so it left them with about fifteen minutes to get outside the bounds of the Potter estate's wards. They needed to get out of the wards for the portkey to work, otherwise they would just bounce back to the estate grounds. They just had to get outside the property and they had to sprint to get there, much to Harry's mortification. 'Just outside the property' meant a distance akin to the length of a Quidditch pitch.
By nothing short of a miracle, they reached the portkey point with three minutes to spare and Harry used it all to catch his breath. James was at his side in an instant, concerned that it might trigger his illness in any way. Harry had to firmly insist to his father that he was fine and the whistle from the portkey (an old and rusty can of beans that James produced from his pocket) activating marked the end of the discussion. Harry's last thought before the portkey whisked them away, however, was how he really needed to get back some sleep.
As it turned out, he didn't get to have his rest. Ron and Hermione had whisked him away the moment they arrived. The tent had already been set up since they arrived earlier than the Potters and so they dragged Harry to the section of the tent he would be sharing with Ron, Lucas, and James.
James and Lucas only stayed long enough to get their things settled before leaving to talk with their own friends. Lucas planned to find Seamus and Dean but he was ambushed by Fred and George before he could even leave the tent. Harry vaguely heard them talk about making money off of bets tonight. James was off to visit the other Aurors who were unfortunately on duty, Sirius being one of them. James was no doubt on his way to beg the Head Auror to let Sirius off early tonight so he could watch the match with them.
"Eat some breakfast, Harry, alright?" his father called out as he exited the tent. Lucas was already eating with the twins so he didn't need reminding.
Harry called out his goodbyes to him before turning his attention back to Ron and Hermione. Ron looked giddy, as though the merriment around them had been absorbed and concentrated in his body. Hermione, though never one for Quidditch, looked quite happy as well. Something exciting must have happened in the Burrow in the four days they had been apart.
Harry had invited them to stay at the manor until the match but they had to decline. Tickets to the World Cup were checked upon arrival and Mr. Weasley had yet to get his hands on theirs.
"Did something happen?" Harry asked his best friends.
Ron nodded enthusiastically.
"Dad's got prime seats!" he almost squealed in delight. "Got them off connections at work, he says!"
Harry's face split into a wide grin. "Brilliant! We can sit together then!"
Ron nodded enthusiastically. "That's not all, mate! Bill and Charlie are coming to the match too. They managed to get time off work. Took Charlie a while to get approved to travel though. Got himself burned again recently. Mum went mental went she saw it."
Ron snickered at that. Charlie apparently got an earful from Mrs. Weasley. Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved Ron's face away.
"Never mind that! Look!" she held out a battered copy of a book he didn't recognize. "I got this book from Bill. Introduction to Curse-Breaking. Fascinating read! I didn't know Bill's job could be so fantastical."
Harry's eyes brightened. "I've been looking for that! Bill mentioned useful spells from there."
Ron groaned. "No, no, no… bloody hell, we're at the Quidditch World Cup finals and you two are more excited about a bloody book."
Harry and Hermione shared a look and then burst out laughing.
"What? It's true!" he stood up and pulled Harry and Hermione's arm. "Come on, you two. As your best friend, I won't let you spend this once in a lifetime opportunity fawning over a book of all things. That's just sad."
Hermione rolled her eyes but conceded. She tucked the book away in her inner pocket and followed Ron. Harry made to follow them but he suddenly felt lightheaded and stumbled into the corner of the bunk bed. Ron and Hermione were on his side immediately.
"I'm fine. I'm fine," he said weakly, trying to pull himself up.
Hermione cast a worried glance at him and then told Ron to put Harry to bed while she fetched Lucas. Ron nodded and started pushing Harry towards the bottom bunk.
"No, Hermione, wait—Ow! Watch it, Ron!—stop, Hermione!" Harry struggled to break free from Ron's insistent pushing.
Hermione paused and turned to face him. "What is it? Does something hurt? Should I tell Lucas to get Mr. Potter?"
"No! There's no need for that!" he swatted Ron away and glared at him. Ron put his hands up in surrender. "I'm just tired."
Hermione didn't look like she believed him but she didn't fight him on it. She just moved closer to him and asked what he needed. Almost four years of friendship taught her that Harry's symptoms could range from mild to severe at unpredictable times. She also knew that he carried some potions to counter the milder ones.
"Are the potions in your bag?" she asked. Ron immediately made to pick up Harry's backpack.
Harry shook his head. "It's in dad's bag. Front pocket. He shrunk the case."
Ron nodded and rummaged around James Potter's bag. He returned with a miniature leather case that rattled and clinked as he moved towards them. Hermione accepted it from Ron and returned it to its original size. She took one look at the colorful row of vials inside the case and turned to Harry.
"Which—"
"Vertigo Curative, the—"
"Pink one, yes, I remember." Hermione said, already removing the cork on the vial. Ron stood beside them, not sure what he should do.
Harry accepted the potion from Hermione and took one gulp. His face contorted at the disgusting taste. He gave the vial back to Hermione and laid back on the bed, closing his eyes.
"I just need a minute," he told them, breathing deeply. "and then we can go explore the campgrounds."
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks.
"Maybe we shouldn't, Harry." Hermione said slowly, looking to Ron for help in convincing their stubborn friend. "Why don't you just rest?"
Harry clenched his jaw, cursing his illness yet again. "I was planning to, actually, but I also want to explore with you guys."
Ron shook his head. "Nah, that can wait. Tell you what, you get some rest, and 'Mione and I will wake you up for lunch, and then we can explore the grounds."
Harry chuckled bitterly at Ron's compromise. He felt like a young child being talked down to by his older siblings. His emerald green eyes peeked from under his eyelids and he took in their worried faces, feeling guilty.
"Yeah, alright…" he conceded.
Ron's grin returned. "Sweet dreams, Harry."
Hermione scolded Ron for his slightly teasing tone. Ron only rolled his eyes and clapped Harry's shoulder and went outside with Hermione to give Harry some peace.
Harry knew Ron was just joking but his mind drifted again to the dream that he had. He shuddered as the image of a bright green light invaded his thoughts again.
No, don't think about it.
With a determined grunt, he turned over and tried to sleep.
Thankfully, Harry woke up feeling much better after his nap. He even dug in enthusiastically to the modest lunch Mr. Weasley and James prepared for them.
In the time he had been asleep, Fred and George had accumulated plenty of bets, Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived with packed food from Mrs. Weasley, Lucas had purchased plenty of merch, and James had managed to talk Scrimgeour, the Head Auror, into switching Sirius' post to security at the top box, where they would be watching the match. It came at the cost of filing paperwork for the match afterwards though but James didn't seem to mind.
True to their word, Ron, Hermione, and Harry roamed around the campgrounds after lunch. Harry had been given a large amount of pocket money from James, along with a conspiratorial wink and a 'don't tell your mother'.
He put the money to good use, buying Omnioculars for him, his father, and his brother. He also went overboard and bought out the complete figurine sets for the competing teams, as well as any merch that showed his support to both teams.
He wasn't that familiar with the Ireland and Bulgarian teams but he did hear about the Bulgarian Seeker's skill. As a Seeker himself, Harry looked forward to how he would play tonight.
Laden with their purchases, the trio returned to their tent as the sun was about to set. The sight of Charlie and the Weasley twins howling enthusiastically for Ireland was the first thing that greeted them. Percy looked disgusted at their display. Bill and Ginny both grinned widely at their brothers' antics. Mr. Weasley and James Potter were off in the corner, talking about something.
Ron scooted past Percy and sat next to Ginny but Charlie grabbed him before he could even bend his knees. He and the Weasley twins draped a large green and white piece of fabric over Ron and started chanting the Irish team players' names.
Harry and Hermione shook their heads at them and settled into two chairs that they grabbed from the "kitchen" table. Harry caught his father's eye and James said something to Arthur (to which he nodded) and then made his way to Harry.
He bent down and started talking in his ear, "We're just waiting on Lucas now. He's off with his friends."
Harry nodded to show that he had heard. James smiled and then bent down again.
"Are feeling alright? No aches? Dizziness?"
Harry shook his head. "I feel great dad, don't worry."
James' smile widened. "Alright, good man."
"THE LANTERNS ARE LIT! THE LANTERNS ARE LIT!"
James and Harry's heads jerked to the entrance of their tent in surprise. Lucas stood there, out of breath, covered head to toe in merchandise. His face held so much excitement, enough to rival ten children on Christmas morning.
"Right, up children. It's time." Arthur Weasley said loudly, gesturing at his children to get up. He too, looked giddy with excitement.
Harry and James waited for the entire Weasley brood to exit the tent before they did. Lucas waited for them near the tent entrance.
"Alright, Harry?" he asked as Harry walked out with James' arm around him.
Harry grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up, his hands both holding a Bulgarian and Irish flag. Lucas grinned back and showed him his own flags. James guffawed.
"Look at my indecisive sons, sporting merchandise from both teams."
Lucas laughed. "I got these for you and Padfoot. I've also um…" he laughed nervously. "only had enough money for two Omnioculars."
James' eyebrows shot up. "What...? How? I gave you fifty galleons!"
"Hey, the prices here are ridiculous, alright?" Lucas said in his defense.
Harry remembered the Omnioculars he bought and gave two of them to James. "I got these for eight galleons near the Irish camp. I got three."
Lucas looked relieved at that. "Oh good, I thought we would have to leave blind old dad to squint."
James clutched at his chest dramatically. "The disrespect!"
With a roar, he grabbed Lucas with his other arm and glued him to his side like he did Harry. Lucas laughed as he tried to push his father away. Harry laughed at their banter and decided to break it up before they got left behind by the Weasleys and Hermione.
"Dad, Ron and the others are already lining up at the edge of the forest. Let's go." Harry told them.
James, squinted at the mass of red hair ahead of them. "Merlin's beard, they're fast. Come on."
With a theatrically massive grunt, he dragged his sons with him to the queue. Both Lucas and Harry laughed as they held on to their father's arms that was tightly secure around their shoulders.
A/N: Helloooo sorry about another slight filler chapter. Rest assured, we'll be skipping the match and go straight to the chaos that happens after the game and also the aftermath in the next chapter. The chapter after that should be Hogwarts. Hopefully.