Chapter One

Irish or Bulgarians?

There were wizards and witches everywhere - the noise was ridiculous. Hundreds of rows of tents surrounded the grand stadium where the 422nd Quidditch World Cup was going to take place. The whole atmosphere of the grounds was crowed, noisy, festive and one of the most ludicrous things Victoria had ever witnessed.

There were people dressed in what is assumed to be their idea of muggle clothing and people dressed in supporting colours too. Oddly enough it would be Victoria that stood out in this crowd, dressed in a solid black uniform of a long-sleeved shirt, trousers and with a heavy matching cloak thrown over her shoulders. She had left her hair loose for the event, letting the equally dark locks tumble freely over her shoulders. Victoria did not support any colourful face paints like the many that surrounded her, instead her Nordic blue eyes was the only colour she wore.

Victoria returned her attention back to the stand she was in. She was with a dreary and uptight looking man called Barty Crouch. The man was her judge for the day. Any mistake no matter how small it would go straight back to the Minister, she had to be careful.

"Nightingale!" he bellowed despite their proximity. The man was talking with some other important looking gentlemen, that Victoria presumed were helping to run the event.

"Yes, Mr. Crouch?"

"Please do fetch Mr. Ludo Bagman. I need his assistance dealing with the Bulgarians extra seating. This is after all, his job," he ordered her, only briefly turning to wave her away.

"Of course - Sir." Victoria was slightly hesitant to leave. This was the first time she has been outside the Ministry without an auror watching her every move. She had expected there to be more reluctance to let her wander the grounds by herself. Either Mr. Crouch had forgotten or had more faith in her than she expected, but Victoria did not question it and so with a brief nod in Crouch's direction she turned in search for the wizard.

Ludo Bagman is an aged wizard with short blonde hair and a noticeable gut squeezed under his old, bright yellow Wimborne Wasps quidditch uniform. He was also the wizard that was supposed to be organising and controlling the Quidditch game however, he is once again disregarding his responsibilities to gallivant about the place taking bets.

Standing at the top of the stadium Victoria breathed deep summoning her confidence to stand next to the rail. She gave her best efforts not to think about the plunging height and willed her hands to stop shaking. She pushed through her fears to scan the large gathering of magical folk for the missing wizard. She caught a glimpse of the only bright yellow robes amongst the sea of the tents on the far side of the field.

It took her far longer than anticipated to reach the small gathering of witches and wizards. Slightly out of breath and uncomfortably warm under her robes she arrived and stood directly in front of a lounging Ministry representative.

"Barty Crouch keeps saying that but we really can't spare anyone at the moment -" Ludo was cut off by his own surprise. He frowned only for a second before letting his usual bold smile return, "Nightingale! Good to see you! Barty finally let you have a wander, eh?"

"I have come on request of Mr. Crouch. He requires your presence immediately, something to do with the Bulgarians wanting more seats," Victoria said, ignoring the jab at her current freedom from the ever-watchful eyes.

"Oh, is that what they were after?" Bagman asked rhetorically. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."

"Miss? Would you like a cup of tea?" A scrawny redheaded wizard asked her. There was a slight tremor in his hands and voice.

"No." Victoria could already hear Kingsley's scolding words drift from the back of her mind. "Thank you," she added and the voices diminished. "I'm not here to drink tea."

"So Crouch is keeping you busy then, eh, Nightingale?" Bagman heaved himself up from the ground. His old and tight quidditch uniform didn't make it an easy job.

"Yes. He is keeping me busy with your responsibilities. Now if you please, we should return to Mr. Crouch." Her irritation rose as the man in front of her yet again tried to avoid doing his job.

"Now, now. What's the hurry? I'm sure our Bulgarian friends can wait a little longer," Ludo said with a bright smile and turned to the oldest of their company. "Besides you haven't been introduced yet! This is -"

Victoria's patience snapped, "I don't care who these people are. Now will you please stop slacking and return to Mr. Crouch before I drag you there myself." There was a brief moment of silence before she strained an empty, "Sir," through clenched teeth.

Ludo stood dumbfounded. He gaped like a fish out of water until he found some words to stutter over. "Well – uh- seems I'm needed elsewhere. Thanks for the tea Arthur! I'll see you later; you'll be up in the top box with me - I'm commentating!"

ϟ

As the day moved on Victoria found herself sitting at the top of the stands. She slouched heavily against the plastic with her eyes shut. The young witch found a moment of peace as she listened to the many sounds around her. Victoria could hear the chatter of hundreds of conversations, the loud bangs from several charmed tents and supporting props, and the distant whizzing sounds of people flying around on their brooms, she could also hear Mr. Crouch, Ludo Bagman and the Bulgarians discussing the seating arrangement somewhere off to the side.

Victoria's attention was suddenly drawn to a new sound - the echo of footsteps that were gradually approaching her. Years of relentless training made her tense. She sat up straight and flexed her wand arm in preparation for it to drop into her hand, only to let out a frustrated sigh as she realised that would not be happening since the Ministry was still in possession of it. Instead, Victoria snapped her eyes open and clenched her fists in preparation to take on the potential threat with her bare hands.

It was in fact a young man, who could not be past the age of eighteen. He had dark brown hair cut short and a light skin tone that contrasted his brown eyes making them appear even darker.

"May I help you?" Asked Victoria.

The stranger took a fleeting glimpse around him, then offered a shy smile and his hand in greeting.

"Viktor Krum," he introduced himself in a thick Bulgarian accent and offered her a hand.

"Charmed." She ignored his outstretched hand. "What do you want?"

"Ah. Vell, you looked lonely." Instead of swooning to his charming smile Victoria let out an unpleasant scoff. Victor was taken aback. "Fine then. I'm lonely."

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest.

"Humour me?" Krum said hopefully and arms spread low and wide. Victoria closed her eyes briefly and took a deep sigh. She plastered a forced smile letting him know that she would listen. Krum smiled brightly, "Irish or Bulgarians?"

"Neither. I don't know anything about Quidditch, nor do I care."

Krum's smile immediately fell as soon as her words slipped free from her mouth. The young quidditch player did not hide his disappointment as he questioned her further. "Oh, then vhy come to the game?"

It wasn't my choice. She thought. Luckily, she did not have to answer as a gruff looking Bulgarian man pulled Krum away and Victoria was joined by her two authorities.

"Come along Nightingale, the stadium will be opening to the public now. We best get to our box." Mr. Couch urged her, his voice strained with an imminent fatigue. It was clear that day's event was taking a matching toll on their energy.

ϟ

Mr. Crouch chose to walk to the Top Box, they were intercepted by many witches and wizards along the way. He quickly got very frustrated and summoned his house elf to save him a seat in the box. By the time they were only one floor away, a sudden look of realisation washed over Mr. Crouch's face. He abruptly stopped to spin around to Ludo and Victoria.

"I have something I wish to see to," he blurted. The usually very refined man looked panicked. "You best go on Ludo; the match is about to start. Nightingale go with him, make sure he actually gets there."

Victoria frowned at her superior's odd outburst but agreed nonetheless.

The pair eventually made it to the box just in time for the start. Ludo rushed straight to the barrier and pulled out his wand. The witch took a position further back from the dropping height.

"Everyone ready? Minister – ready to go?" He asked beaming with excitement. The Minister gave him the go ahead and so Ludo put his wand to his throat and spoke "Sonorus". The spell magnified his voice giving him the ability to speak over the roaring crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome! Welcome to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup!" The stadium erupted into huge cheers and screams, spectators waved their supporting flags and sung out-of-rhythm national anthems. "And now without further ado, allow me to introduce..."

Victoria tuned out to Bagman's incredibly loud voice and looked around the box she was currently stood in the corner of. Glancing at each of her company she noticed that the redheads and friends were here from earlier, the Malfoys and some important looking Bulgarians were also present. She also noticed a small house elf tucked in a tight ball on one of the seats, Victoria guessed it was most likely Mr. Crouch's.

"Good evening Nightingale. Behaving I hope?" The Minister asked coming to stand by her side.

"Absolutely sir."

"Yes, well, I'll be asking both Ludo and Barty for their opinions later on." The Minister caught a look at Victoria's bored expression and frowned. "Do try to look like you're enjoying yourself, Nightingale. You are representing the Ministry."

ϟ

Hours after the match had ended, and the Irish celebrations still had not diminished. Victoria was glad she had no official part in overall control the event. She laid sprawled out over a sofa in Mr. Crouch's tent, awaiting his return so she could finally go back to the Ministry for the night. Whilst her position made had given the first impression of comfort Victoria felt the furthest thing from it. She had her eyes tightly shut and her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the noise, she silently willed Barty to hurry up with whatever he was doing.

Then jubilant noise suddenly changed.

Victoria bolted upright. Cries of joy were now filled with terror. Broken screams, pleas for help and hopeless commands filled the air. The witch rushed to the door and all but fell out of it.

Outside was worse, a lot worse. Flames tore through tents with furious speeds, spitting sparks, igniting the next. The sky was veiled in thick smoke eradicating any light from the moon and stars. Amongst the cloud were mangled bodies, twisted and limp. They were muggles, Death Eaters would not kill magic folk unless they had to.

Given the sheer size of the event, there had to be more than one Death Eater attacking. Fighting back without help would be suicide and right now Victoria did not have help. She had to find Mr. Crouch, she needed her wand. Pulling up her hood she darted towards the forest.

Victoria was thrown about just as much as she shoved back but in time she managed to make it to the edge of the forest. It was much quieter there, only a few people darted in between the trees. Victoria pushed herself forwards deeper into the gloom. She thought the Ministry would take cover here, but the eerie silence of the dark wood said otherwise.

The adrenaline had worn off. Her limbs had become sluggish as her lungs heaved starved breaths. Victoria took a second to lean against a tree. She closed her eyes forcing her body to regain some sort of energy. Then she heard it. A bout of manic laughter echoed through the trees.

Her eyes shot open, she scanned the trees with an unfocused gaze. She flew around as the cackle appeared behind her.

It's just your head playing tricks. Nothing is there. Victoria replayed the thought over and over as if she could trick herself into believing it.

The laughter struck the silence again this time accompanied by the crunch of leaves and twigs. Her heart pounded against her chest. Her ears deafened by the rush of blood. She could barely see but never did her watch waver from the trees.

A darting figure crossed between the tall shadows, Victoria backed herself up against the trunk she was once leant against. She had no wand. No way of protecting herself, and now she was surrounded.

Her attention refocused on something to her left. A group three of boys were trekking through the woods unaware of the danger they were walking into. Revitalised by the need to protect, the second they were close enough, Victoria leapt forward and placed a finger over her lips.

"Be quiet, we are not alone out here," whispered Victoria.

The boys, that were no older than fifteen, begun to look around them. They scanned the area for what the witch had warned them about, but when they saw nothing one turned back around and asked, "are you sure? I don't see anything."

As if their words were magic the figure had disappeared as had the laughter. Despite the lack of movement in their surroundings Victoria remained suspicious.

"I don't understand," she muttered.

"Look, we're all scared. Maybe you just thought you saw something," said the oldest of the kids. "Come on guys. We need to find a way out of here."

Just as they started to move away from Victoria she caught a flash of light in the corner of her eye. She moved on instinct pushing the boys to the ground before the magic could hit them. The curse collided with the tree above them, sending splinters of oak in every direction.

"Run," she shoved the boys and took off running with them. The Death Eater although out of sight, was not far behind. Every minute another spell flew passed them with worrying proximity. They leapt over branches and sprinted around trees until the youngest of them group missed a step and crashed to the floor.

"Leo!" Both of the other boys cried. They changed direction and went back for their friend. Victoria kept an eye out for the Death Eater whilst they checked on the boy.

"My ankle, it hurts," the young boy wept quietly.

"Can you walk on it?" Victoria asked. The boy shook his head, a few tears dripped down his cheeks. If they did not hurry up they were going to suffer injuries worse than a sore ankle. "Give me a wand."

"What?"

"A wand. I need one."

"We don't have wands," the oldest said, "we're squibs."

Now they were definitely in danger. It is unlikely that a Death Eater would hurt any magic folk, but a squib, they were viewed like muggles. Victoria had to do something. She crouched next to the boys and whispered, "Stay here, and stay low."

Victoria picked up a decent size rock and trekked off slowly in the direction of the Death Eater. Her dark clothes provided the perfect coverage, keeping her form concealed within the shadows. It was not long before she heard the snapping of twigs under the weight of heavy footsteps.

Off to her right was the man she was looking for. Cloaked in a similar attire to her own, just without a hood. He was well camouflaged except for the moonlight reflecting off the top of his pale bald head.

Her breathing steadied, this what she was trained to do. The confidence of knowledge and experience enabled her to take the few steps into position behind the Death Eater. She jumped forward and kicked the back of his leg knee then smashed the rock into his head. The Death Eater fell flat, unconscious.

Before Victoria had a second to comprehend she was hit from behind and sent flying into the forest floor. The impact left her dazed.

"Fuck," the witch groaned and turned onto her back to see two more Death Eaters raise their wands at her.

Victoria rolled away just before the spells hit the ground where she once laid. She dived behind the cover of a tree and controlled her breathing, keeping it as quiet as possible. The ache in her side and sting of the cuts clouded her senses. The witch strained her ears and listened for the slightest movements. One was approaching on the left, the other she could not hear.

Crouching to the ground Victoria took a handful of dirt, replacing the rock she had lost, and stayed low. The footsteps grew closer, but she waited. It was only when the boot of one of the Death Eaters appeared next to her she sprang into action.

Delivering a swift hit to his leg, the man tumbled giving Victoria the opportunity to spin around the other side of the tree. She found the second Death Eater instantly and threw the handful of dirt into his face. He screamed and franticly rubbed his eyes. Victoria disarmed the man and sharply introduced her elbow to the side of his face.

As his comrade dropped, the remaining Death Eater twisted onto his back and threw a hopeless curse at the witch. Victoria dodged it easily and retaliated with a stunning spell from her stolen wand.

Victoria pulled her hood down and finally let herself breathe properly as the last Death Eater slipped into unconsciousness. She walked over and picked up the two wands from the other Death Eaters, hissing in pain every time she had to bend down.

"Bloody hell."

Victoria spun around wand at the ready but lowered it the second she realised it was just the group of boys she had been protecting. They looked at the three bodies on the forest floor and then to her.

"Did you kill them?"

"No." Victoria rolled her eyes and started her march out of the forest. "Stay close, there could be more," she said as the boys followed behind her, the tallest one was carrying the injured on his back.

ϟ

It must have taken them at least half an hour to make it out of the forest, but when they did all four of them huffed a deep sigh of relief. The masses had died down, only a few people remained gathered around the small stone cottage on the edge of the event grounds, majority of which were Ministry representatives and reporters. When they got closer the parents of the boys cried their names and rushed for them.

Victoria watched them embrace in tight hugs. She felt a tingle of jealousy at the sight. She did not dwell on the thought for long as she was soon joined by a familiar presence.

"You look a state, what have you been doing?" Asked Kingsley Shackleblot mentioning to her knotted hair and the minor cuts on her face.

"Making friends," Victoria looked at her mentor and handed him the three wands. "There are three sleeping Death Eaters somewhere in the forest if you want them, but I'd hurry I didn't hit them too hard."

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be sore in the morning, but nothing a small potion can't fix."

"Good," Kingsley prompted her to follow him as he wandered towards the cottage, "the Minister wishes to speak with you."

Victoria could only just keep up with his swift pace, having to jog every couple of steps. Inside the cottage was fairly pleasant. The warm room had a faint orange glow from the candle lights and several piece of brown furniture. Kingsley had gone straight to the Minister by the fireplace and handed him the three wands, speaking to him in a hushed voice.

The Minister soon waved Victoria over as Kingsley took his leave.

"Good work this evening, Nightingale," said the Minister as he waved the wands slightly. "I'm prepared to allow you back to the Ministry for the night and do the debrief tomorrow. The floo network should be open here soon."

"Thank you, Sir." Believing their conversation was over, Victoria rolled her should back and awaited the network.

The Minister cleared his throat and regained her attention. When Victoria look back at the short, balding man she drew a sharp breath. He was holding out her white wand. She took it gingerly as if it were made of glass or as if this whole thing was a joke. She has not seen nor held her own wand in nearly two years and the Minister was just handing it to her.

"Well done." The Minister left her stunned by the fireplace.

Victoria clutched to the familiar weight, almost fearful that if she was to let go it would disappear. She felt a smile catch at the corners of her lips. She felt whole again.