A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. I'm back this week even though I said I might not be. But here I am taking a well-deserved break from my studying to bring you another chapter. A note about Alicia Spinnet: I figured since she doesn't really play a big part in the series anyway like Angelina and Katie (Angelina + Fred; Katie + necklace), I figured I would just leave her out. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 9

Annie followed Harry into the top box and sat down next to him, greeting the Ministry of Magic officials along the way. She turned to give him an excited grin but found he was looking somewhere else.

"Dobby, is that you?" he said. Annie turned around in her seat to find that he was looking at a house-elf seated directly behind them with its head in its hands. The house-elf looked up and stared at Harry. Ron and Hermione turned around to look at the house-elf too.

"I is not Dobby," she said in a high, squeaky voice. "But I is knowing Dobby."

"Oh, I'm sorry I confused you with him," said Harry. "I'm Harry by the way. I'm a friend of Dobby's. What is your name?"

"Winky, sir," she said hiding her face in her hands once more. "And I is not liking it up here one bit. But I must save a seat for my master."

Harry looked sideways at Annie who looked like she was about to burst out in laughter. "Well, if you do see Dobby, will you tell him I said hello?" he said.

The house-elf shook her head and Harry turned back around.

"So that's a house-elf," said Ron. "You are right, Harry. They are weird."

Harry laughed. "Trust me, Dobby's weirder."

Annie turned her eyes on the stadium and found they were sitting right between the goalposts on either side of the pitch. Annie loved Quidditch more than anything and hoped one day she would be playing in a stadium just like this one. Annie joined the Gryffindor house team in her second year as a chaser after Alicia Spinnet had graduated. Since she grew up with a Quidditch-obsessed James as an uncle, she quickly became one of the best chasers the school had seen in many years and she prided herself on that fact. Lily told her that her mother, Marissa, used to play chaser with James and Annie had always felt a special connection to her as she played. When she made the team, Lily and James sent her the Quaffle necklace that Marissa used to wear under her robes as she played. This was the same necklace Annie was wearing now. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sirius nudged her in arm.

"You're thinking about her aren't you?" he said.

Annie nodded. "Every time I play. I just wish she was still alive so I could get to really know her, you know?" she said taking her eyes off the pitch and turning to look at Sirius, absent-mindedly playing with the necklace.

"Yeah I know what you mean. She was pretty great," said Sirius. "And from what I hear, you're not so bad a chaser yourself."

She smiled. "I'm not bad," she said. "According to Professor McGonagall, I'm better than Uncle James."

"Not possible and I don't believe she said that," said James as Remus and Sirius laughed. "Professor McGonagall has never told a student anything of the sort."

"But she's thinking it," said Annie. "I know Minerva pretty well. We've become pretty good friends over the past three years."

"That's because you spend every waking moment in detention with her," said Ron laughing. "I'm surprised she hasn't put your name on the nameplate on her office door yet."

Just then, Ludo Bagman walked in wearing his old Wimbourne Wasp robes of bright yellow grinning from ear to ear. "Are we ready?" he said clapping his hands together.

"Take it away, Ludo," said Fudge. Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and began to speak.

"Welcome, to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup!" he yelled. Cheers, screams and whistles erupted from below. Flags waved and the red and green rosettes squeaked the names of the players. "First, I would like to introduce the Bulgarian team mascots!"

The veela entered the stadium and started to dance. They tossed their long, flowing hair and winked at the crowd. Next to her, Sirius had plugged his ears and was watching them with a bemused grin. On her other side, Harry started to make his way to the ledge, no doubt to try and jump off. She and Hermione rushed forward and pulled him back to his seat where he stood looking a little dazed. Annie laughed at his expression and turned back to the stadium. The veela had stopped dancing and made their way to the edge of the pitch and sat down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the Irish National Team mascots!" roared Ludo.

The sky above them erupted into a sea of green and gold. Leprechauns danced in the air and formed themselves into rainbows and four-leaf clovers. Gold rained down upon the cheering spectators and Annie stuck her hand out to grab some. As the leprechauns settled on the ground across from the veela, the shook their hair violently and tossed them angry glares. Ludo Bagman's voice boomed over the stadium once more.

"And now to introduce the teams!" he yelled as the crowd burst into applause. "Please put your wands in the air for the Bulgarian National team: Dimitrov, Ivanova, Levski, Vulchanov, Volkov, Zograf, aaaaaaannnd Krum!" Seven scarlet-clad players zoomed onto the pitch and took a lap around before assuming their positions while the audience cheered and hissed. "Please welcome the Irish National Team: Mullet, Troy, Moran, Connolly, Quigley, Ryan, and Lynch!" Cheers and jeers met the team as they soared onto the pitch. They waved to the fans and took their places on the pitch. The referee blew his whistle and threw the Quaffle in the air. "And they're off!" yelled Bagman.

"So that would be two Galleons from you, Uncle James, and three from you, dad," said Annie who was sitting atop Remus's shoulders.

"We told you to steer clear of Annie when it comes to a bet, mates," said Fred.

"Yeah," said George. "But when has anyone really taken us seriously?"

Sirius laughed as he dug around in his pockets. "Here you are, kiddo," he said extracting the money and placing it in Annie's outstretched hand. "I should have listened; after all, you are my daughter and know your stuff."

"Uncle James, I'm waiting," said Annie grinning mischievously.

"Okay, okay here. You earned it," he said. "That's the last time I make a bet with you. You called everything right. What I want to know is how you do it."

"Don't you pay attention to the games in the Daily Prophet or on the Wireless? It was very simple really. You just have to pay attention to the stats of each player, figure out their moves, how they play, that sort of thing. Oliver Wood and I used to sit together and collect all the information together," she said.

"Actually, it's really brilliant what she does in the Common Room," said Ron. "She takes all of the Daily Prophets and articles in Which Broomstick? and comes up with entire stat charts and everything."

"If only she put that much effort into doing her homework," said Hermione. Annie laughed.

They reached the tents and Remus placed Annie on the ground. They gathered around while Mr. Weasley started a fire. They sat talking and reliving the match and drinking hot chocolate until Mr. Weasley declared it was time for bed. Annie, Hermione and Ginny slumped into their tent and Annie flung herself on the couch while Hermione and Ginny took the bunk bed. Annie fell asleep with images of Connolly winking and cheering as he hoisted the World Cup above his head. However, her dreams were interrupted by Sirius shaking her awake, a scared expression etched upon his face.

A/N: I apologize for the semi-shortness of this chapter. It's finals week. I also apologize for not including the actual World Cup. I couldn't express the actual event as well as J.K. Rowling because her words are magic. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. See you next week! P.S. Check out my one-shot story about Annie in her third year called Boggarts.