Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or this wicked match, or Cedric, or his father. I do however own a really nice set of humorous, yet witty banters, and Promise and Sam… Yeah… All that? That's mine

Chapter 3
Quidditch

Cedric watched the trees move slowly past as he followed the path Promise cut through the forest. The constant buzz of anxious fans filled his ears. His eyes began to droop, but perked up after every fall with the prospect of the coming match. He smiled at the prospect of seeing the legendary Irish chasers. Perhaps he could pull strategies from this game and use them in practice this year.

"There it is!" Promise smiled, waving her hands and presenting the stadium in front of them with her hands.

Cedric's jaw dropped. The gold stadium stretched high into the sky and curved around so far that Cedric couldn't even see much else besides the huge sheet of gold glinting in the twilight in front of him.

"Blimey," Cedric's father's jaw dropped. "I heard rumors about this place. Guess they weren't rumors."

"Yeah," Promise sighed. "I get like that every time I see it, too."

Cedric refused to ask her the question because he already knew the answer: Every day since she figured out that she could.

Promise kept her very heroic looking pose for several seconds until Cedric pushed past her, careful to bump her as he passed. He smirked, but didn't bother to turn his head. She would just stand there, looking offended until she realized he didn't really care and then she'd just skip merrily to catch up with him. Nothing else would be said on the subject.

Cedric's father moved slightly faster to catch up with them. "So, Promise, where are you sitting?"

"Did Cedric not tell you?" Promise asked. "I'm sitting in the row above you."

"That's exciting," Cedric's father said.

"I blame my father," Promise smiled, but after a second it faltered and her head drooped.

"Can I have my ticket dad?" Cedric asked when they got closer to the gate.

Cedric's father withdrew the shiny gold tickets engraved with both of their names and handed Cedric's to him. Shivers shot down his spine as Cedric looked at the ticket. Its flexible gold showed a shamrock shaking a fist that transformed into a beautiful woman, who looked back, fire in her eyes.

Cedric walked up to the man taking tickets at the gate.

"Excited Mr. Diggory?" the man asked practically wrenching the ticket from Cedric's outstretched hand.

"You have no idea," Cedric quivered with anticipation.

"Dead center of the pitch! Fifth row from the top! Great seats! Enjoy the match!"

He smiled as he waved his wand and engraved a seal in the bottom of the ticket.

Cedric nodded and moved to one side of the line to wait for Promise and his father. Once assembled, they joined the trek up the stairs to find their seats in the stadium. They moved up the stairs slowly and every so often, each time a group siphoned off into another row. The trek to Cedric's seat left him weary, especially after the full day and then some he'd been awake for. He grew a feeling in his stomach that his father had the right idea by sleeping all day. He looked over at Promise, who shook almost uncontrollably in anticipation for the match.

At last, they reached their seats, Cedric flopped into it, pulling out his Omnioculars and people watching with his new pair of Omnioculars.

A woman on the other side of the field began to nod off as her children pointed imaginary wands at each other from over their mother's back. Could you blame her? She probably hadn't had a wink of sleep in two days. Cedric shook his head in disgust. They needed to give their mother a rest.

Something tapped the top of Cedric's head. He turned around to see Promise sitting directly behind him in the row above. She looked through her own pair of Omnioculars at him, but instead of people watching as Cedric did, she looked at him through giant, magnified eyes. A purple lens slid down inside the Omnioculars and tinted her blue eyes.

"Promise?" Cedric looked at her. "What are you doing?"

"You slowed down when you said that," Promise giggled. "Your lips are still finishing what you're saying and the purple lettering at the top of the lenses say: Pretty Boy Staring: Boring Formation."

He scowled at her.

"I'm just kidding," she laughed and started people watching like Cedric.

Cedric laughed and followed suit. He watched the thousands of people slowly file into their seats, slowly, each person consistently checking their row, their seat number, and make sure everyone else sat in the proper seat.

"Cedric!" Sam's voice came from his right side.

"Ms. Bennett!" he said, teasing as she shuffled along the row to take her seat at Cedric's side, and forgetting, in his excitement, to remove the Omnioculars from his eyes.

"Oh!" Sam squealed. "Where did you get those?"

Cedric frantically took them from his eyes. How embarrassing!

"Let me see them," Sam pleaded.

Cedric handed them over without so much as a second thought. How could he say no to those green eyes? Those luscious, beautiful, entrancing green eyes? The way she flicked her hair back behind her ears as she lifted the Omnioculars and gracefully brought them to her eyes as she took her seat.

He blinked hard to snap himself out of his daydream. He couldn't possibly focus on Sam now. The stadium would be completely full in a matter of minutes. Sam just made it so difficult to concentrate.

"Where's Promise?" Sam asked, continuing her Omniocular sweep around the stadium.

Cedric looked over as Promise's hand tapped Sam on the head. Sam giggled and handed Cedric back his Omnioculars.

"You got some too, Promise?" Sam said excitedly. "I'm so jealous! They make those Muggle binoculars look like complete jokes."

"And you are?" Cedric's father leaned over and looked at Sam, holding out his hand.

"Dad," Cedric smiled. "This is Samantha Bennett. She'll be a fifth year at Hogwarts this coming September. Sam, this is my dad, and member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Diggory," Sam smiled, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

"Likewise, Ms. Bennett," Cedric's father chuckled at her formality.

Cedric checked down the row as the people he assumed to be the four other Bennetts take their seats next to Sam. Strategically, it seemed, Sam's parents sat between each of the siblings, so that it followed a child-parent-child pattern.

"Cedric," Sam said. "This is my family. Down the line we have my mother, my youngest brother, Harold, my father, and my younger brother Alex. Family, this is Cedric. Cedric Diggory."

"Cedric?" Mrs. Bennett inquired confused. "Sam's talked all about you, naturally. Seeker and captain of the Hufflepuff house Quidditch team and a Prefect, but Sam'll be joining you, of course."

Cedric stared blankly at Sam's mother.

"Didn't Sam tell you?" Sam's mother turned from Sam to Cedric and then back to Sam. "Sam, would you like to tell him?"

"Mom," Sam sighed, attempting to look impassive about the whole thing although she did a very terrible job of it all. "It's not a big deal."

"She's going to be a Prefect this year," Sam's mother beamed with pride.

Cedric's jaw dropped. "Sam!" he exclaimed. "After hanging out with you all day, how could you not tell me?"

"Or me," Promise intruded on the conversation by leaning on Cedric's shoulder. She responded quickly to the look on Mrs. Bennett's face. "Sorry about that," she held out her hand. "I'm Promise. Cedric's bestest friend in the whole wide world and the better Prefect."

"I didn't think it was that important," Sam blushed furiously. "How am I supposed to compete with you two?"

"You know what this means, Ced?" Promise nudged Cedric's arm. "We'll have to have even more fun as Prefects."

Cedric's mind drifted slightly, drifting to the all Prefect meeting in the Hogwarts Express, The Hufflepuff Common Room, the Kitchens… Promise, Sam, and him. Three Prefects from Hufflepuff.

Promise snapped her fingers in Cedric's left ear without Sam's noticing. "We'll have so much fun!"

Cedric nodded as the announcer's voice boomed around the stadium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen… Welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The roar of the crowd in Cedric's ears deafened him, creating the vibrations in his ear that happened only when the sound got too loud.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… The Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

Cedric put the Omnioculars up to his eyes, watching as a hundred beautiful, silver haired women glided gracefully onto the field.

"Oh," Cedric looked over at his father's drooping face. His father plugged his ears. What could be so important that Cedric's father needed to cover his ears?

He suddenly, however, realized that his father was really missing out on something. Then, just as fast, he realized he didn't care. They had always danced, and they always would dance. He didn't care. They danced gracefully, hair swishing so rhythmically.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Cedric heard Promise's voice whisper in his ear. A hand grabbed his shoulder as his body slapped together, going rigid. Another hand grabbed his shoulders. The first he instantly recognized as Promise's hand. Of course Promise would stop- Who had the other hand? Sam. It was Sam… He snapped out of his daze and realized where he was.

He was standing up straight and couldn't move any part of his frozen body. Men from around the stadium moved, almost possessed, towards the pitch, where the pretty women danced, the focal point of the convergence. Slowly, he felt himself slip back into his trance.

"Careful, lover boy," he heard Promise whisper from somewhere far away. "You're not doing a very good job of impressing Sam."

Sam giggled, snapping Cedric back to reality. "This is really funny, Ced."

He felt his body turn to jelly as the women stopped dancing and Promise released him from the body binding curse.

"Plug your ears next time," Promise hinted. "They're Veela. You remember what Lupin said last year?"

Cedric plugged his ears, causing Promise to break into peels of laughter.

"Good timing! Too bad they already stopped!" She laughed.

"Ha ha, Promise," Cedric murmured blushing.

"Just remember it for next time," Promise patted him on the back.

"Sam helped it," Cedric whispered in Promise ears so softly he could barely hear it himself. "What does that mean?"

"Cedric," Promise looked at him as though he was a complete idiot. "For being one of the smartest people in our year you sure are stupid."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Anything you want it to mean," Promise scoffed, looking back into her Omnioculars.

Cedric clenched his teeth. Sometimes she could be such a pain.

"And now!" the announcer's voice echoed around the stadium again. "Kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

A massive green jet of light flew into the stadium right over Cedric's head. It circled the stadium quickly and broke apart into two other jets of light at the center of the pitch and sped towards the goalposts. They arched over the stadium and met in the center, creating a huge colorful rainbow. The tail ends of the rainbow met each other and erupted into a massive shamrock which soared around the stadium, dropping huge handfuls of gold.

"Leprechauns!" Sam shouted over the greedy din.

Cedric looked up as the gold dropped and landed all around him.

"You don't want any?" Promise shouted as people scrambled for the coins.

"Nah," Cedric waved her off. "That's alright."

And as far as he was concerned, it was. He didn't need money. Sure, it made him happy, but who didn't get some joy from money? But he had Promise, Sam, Prefect status, Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff team, and a pocketful of O.W.L.'s. Money just wasn't a necessity.

"Noble Cedric," Promise smirked. "More for me."

Sam looked at the gold she'd been collecting in her hands as it fell out of the sky. She pondered for a split second before dropping it. "I had to do it fast or I would have second guessed myself," she smirked weakly.

Cedric smiled back. "You didn't have to do that, you know. I just don't need gold, you know?"

"Yeah, but," she looked into his eyes purposefully. "I guess I don't need it either."

They both smirked and turned around slowly to face Promise, whose pockets bulged with gold.

"Right," she smiled, unconvinced. "Like I'm emptying my pockets for you two."

Cedric's father, who had taken interest in the situation, turned around and beckoned Promise to lean over. He whispered something in her ear. Promise's face turned instantly sour as she grabbed the gold out of her pockets and slammed the pieces into the ground ungratefully.

"Now," Sam looked innocently at Promise. "Don't you feel better?"

Promise scowled and muttered something about "stupid little Leprechauns"

Cedric looked back at Sam as the leprechauns finally descended to their position on the pitch across from the Veela and sat cross-legged, smoking their pipes.

"And now," the announcer's voice bounced around the stadium once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome- The Bulgarian National Quidditch team! I give you- Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaand Krum!"

Eight red blurs zipped out of the entrance at one corner of the pitch as the Bulgarian supporters screamed and clapped in support of their national team. Cedric paid particular interest in Bulgarian seeker Victor Krum, who was supposedly the best seeker in the world.

"And some girls say he's attractive," Sam rolled her eyes. "Poor girls have no idea what a good looking guy looks like."

"Well, Sam," Promise said slowly, contemplatively. "What do you think- Ow!" She yelped as Cedric nudged her in the ribs.

How could Promise actually ask a question like that at a time like this?

"And now, please greet- The Irish national Quidditch Team!" The announcer yelled, obviously enjoying the opening match as much as the crowd. "Presenting- Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand Lynch!"

Seven green blurs raced out of their entrance to tumultuous applause.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A wizard in gold robes strode into the middle of the pitch, wooden box of balls under one arm, broomstick under the other. Mostafa mounted his broom and kicked the box open, propelling the Quaffle high into the sky. The two bludgers zipped off in two random directions, and Cedric never even had the chance to watch the snitch leave the crate.

Mostafa shot into the air and, with a blow of his whistle, the match began.

Cedric found himself torn between the three events of the match. The seeker part of him wanted to watch Krum and Lynch frantically search for the snitch. The part of him that wanted to laugh wanted to follow the chasers and their bludgers. After a few seconds, however, he felt the overpowering urge to watch the superb chasers. True, he had seen professional Quidditch in the past, but this far surpassed anything he had ever seen. He tried his best to keep an eye on the Quaffle, but it passed so quickly that even the announcer had a hard time keeping up. After less than two and a half minutes, Ireland managed to score one goal. After ten minutes they were leading by thirty points.

What the Bulgarians lacked in chasers, however, they made up for in their two beaters. After a few more minutes, they had effectively managed to scatter the Irish team enough to allow Ivanova to score Bulgaria's first goal.

Cedric instinctively grabbed Sam's hand as, from the lower part of his vision, he noticed the Veela begin to dance. Sam shot him a look of astonishment.

"Keep me distracted," He smiled, trying to find the confidence in himself to keep holding onto her hand.

She smiled back and kept watching the game. Her fingers felt cool. Silky. Smooth. Entrancing. So delicate that-

Every last wizard in the stands gasped, all eyes shooting to the two seekers, Krum and Lynch, who both spiraled downwards towards the pitch.

"What are they doing?" Promise screamed.

Cedric released Sam's hand and brought the Omnioculars to his eyes quickly. He caught sight of Krum and followed his trail to the pitch, but saw no snitch. Smirking smugly, he looked back at Krum, whose face seemed contorted in intense concentration.

"What's he doing?" Promise half screamed. "There's no snitch!"

"Promise," Cedric lowered his Omnioculars and moved his head backwards to acknowledge Promise, not taking his eyes off of the plunging seekers. "For being one of the smartest people in our year, you sure aren't very bright."

Cedric felt the anger come off Promise as Krum pulled out of the dive and Lynch ploughed straight into the ground. A groan rippled through the crowd. Cedric smiled. Simple.

"What was the point of that?" Promise asked Cedric as the announcer announced a time out.

"Use the Omnioculars," Cedric proposed.

He handed his own pair to Sam as he watched the three people around him (his father, Sam, and Promise) all fiddle with the dial on their Omnioculars to watch the play-by-play replay breakdown in slow motion.

Sam and Cedric's father sighed in understanding.

"Why don't you ever feint?" Promise said loudly, almost disappointed.

"You might think I'm good Promise," Cedric winked at Sam. "But I am certainly not good enough, even by your standards, to even risk feinting. I'd get ploughed like Lynch down there."

When the game continued, Cedric watched the Irish whisk off a hundred more points. Still, the game fell into chaos. The Bulgarians, jealous of the Irish players' control of the game, began to commit fouls against them. At one point, the referee joined the Veela in their dance. Cedric squeezed Sam's hand in order to not lose himself in their seduction as he laughed along with most of the crowd at watching Mostafa's hilarious antics.

Within the next five minutes, the game had escalated to such bedlam that the Veela began openly attacking the Leprechauns as the Bulgarian Beaters began beating anything in their path. One of the Veela managed to set Mostafa's broom on fire during the war between the Veela and the Ministry wizards.

Amid the commotion, Krum broke his nose due to a stray bludger mere seconds before Lynch spotted the snitch and spiraled into another dive. Krum barely managed to outdistance Lynch in his mad grab for the snitch and pulled out of the dive. Unfortunately for Lynch, he hit the ground at full speed yet again and immediately fell to the mercy of a platoon of Veela.

"Well that's a way to get back at someone for winning," Sam muttered.

Cedric laughed. Was victory really worth the whole debacle of mass chaos and panic on the field? But now that he thought about it, he couldn't get the mass chaos and panic out of his brain. Perhaps that was why everyone loved the Quidditch World Cup.