Evie jumped up quickly and rushed to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by the bushy brown hair and large smile of her best friend Hermione Granger. "Hello, Hermione!" she greeted happily.
"Hello, Evie!" Hermione smiled in return. Behind her were her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Both were dentists, something Evie had come to know as Muggle teeth Healers. She found the very idea absolutely fascinating, Healers for teeth.
"Nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Would you like to come in?" Evie stepped out of the way to let the Granger family in. They greeted her politely in turn and walked inside, Mr. Granger carried Hermione's school trunk with him. It sounded quite heavy. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were looking around curiously. Evie was sure they hadn't ever really seen a wizarding home. She imagined she would be staring the same in their home.
"Hello." Amos greeted behind her, coming over to shake Mr. and Mrs. Granger's hands. Amos and the Grangers were fairly familiar with each other. They often stood in the background as their daughters ran off to purchase their school books. Their conversation was always polite, if a bit stiff, as they themselves probably did not consider each other to be friends exactly.
Amos directed Mr. Granger to the guest room so he could put Hermione's trunk down. Then Hermione's parents said their goodbyes, as they had a long drive back ahead of them.
After they left, Evie took Hermione up to the guest room to show her where she'd be sleeping. The guest room at the Diggory cottage was rarely used. It was neutral in color, cream and beige for the most part. "Right, so my room is just there at the end of the hall. So we'll be really close. The toilet is just across the hall. Cedric's room is the door right next to it and Dad's is right next to yours. You can let Crookshanks out, if you want. Bernard and Noel hunt during the day when they've got nothing to do, so he won't be a threat to anyone. Just be sure to bring him back in the room at night so he doesn't wander into Cedric's room and find Noel." Evie explained as they stood in the doorway of the guest room.
"Right, well, what should we do now?" Hermione asked looking a bit excited as she set Crookshanks loose on the house.
"Well…oh! Harry should be at The Burrow by now. Let's head over there and say hello." Evie suggested, as she remembered the time.
The two girls rushed down the stairs and towards the back door, only to be called back by Amos.
"Where are you girls off to?" He asked as he eyed them from the living room.
"The Burrow, Harry should be there now and we wanted to say hi." Evie explained.
"Alright, but don't be too late." Amos ordered.
"We won't." Evie called as she had already opened the door and was halfway outside. They rushed across the wide field and into the Weasley's kitchen. "Hello?" Evie called.
"Hello, Evie, who is this?" Two red headed young men sat at the table. One was short and stocky, with a broad smiling face and short curly hair. He had light scars and burns on his arms and his face was so freckled it almost looked tan. The other, the one who had spoken, was thin and lanky like Ron. His hair was long and worn in a ponytail. He wore a fang earring and dragon hide boots and his freckles were much more tamed than his brother's.
"Hello Bill. Hello Charlie. Sorry I didn't see you there." Evie walked over to the two oldest Weasley boys smiling brightly. She had been reintroduced to them for the first time in a long time earlier in the summer. They had also come for the World Cup. "This is Hermione; she's only just arrived this afternoon." Evie motioned to Hermione who came up to shake both Weasleys' hands. "Hermione, this is Charlie." Evie introduced as Hermione shook the hand of the stockier boy. "And this is Bill." Hermione shook the other boy's hand.
"It's nice to meet you both, Ron has told me so much about you," Hermione greeted politely.
"You don't have to be formal with them, Hermione. It's not like talking to Percy," Evie joked, winking at the two boys who laughed.
"She's right; I get enough of the stuffy talk at work," Bill confirmed.
"And I work with dragons so any conversation that doesn't end in me nearly dying is considered polite," Charlie added with a laugh. This loosened Hermione up fairly quickly.
"Are they back with Harry yet?" Evie asked, looking around.
"Oh, we aren't enough for you?" Bill pulled a mock hurt face.
"That's clearly something Fred and George learned from you," Evie commented, pursing her lips at him. "They're rubbish at it too," She added, causing both Hermione and Charlie to laugh.
"They've only just gone a little bit ago actually," Charlie answered Evie's question.
"Have they? I thought they were supposed to be getting him at five." Evie checked the clock, then remembered, as it always took her a minute to, that the Weasley clock doesn't show time; it instead showed the location of each of the Weasleys.
"They left late. Dad had to get the floo set up with his connection in the Ministry," Bill answered and Evie nodded her understanding.
"They traveled by floo to get him?" Hermione asked. Evie, Bill and Charlie all nodded. "Did they ask Harry's aunt and uncle if that was okay?"
"I asked the same question!" Evie blurted out. "Ron said there was no reason they shouldn't be okay with it."
"Hello Evie, and Hermione dear, so good to see you!" Mrs. Weasley walked into the kitchen at that moment. "Would you like to come into the living room with Ginny and me while you wait for Arthur and the boys to get back?" She walked over and hugged Hermione before ushering the two girls into the living room.
When they entered, Ginny was no longer in the room. "Where did that girl get to?" Mrs. Weasley wondered out loud. She started up the stairs and having nothing else to do Evie and Hermione followed her.
They found Ginny in her room, brushing her hair. Evie and Hermione had to smile because they knew why she was doing it. Poor Ginny just blushed when she realized she'd been caught. "Hello Hermione." Ginny smiled.
"Hello, Ginny. It's good to see you." Hermione's knowing smile stayed planted on her face.
"Your hair looks lovely, Gin," Evie commented, trying to sound offhanded, but failing a bit she imagined.
Just then a commotion could be heard from the kitchen, and it sounded like Mr. Weasley was yelling. "Oh, what's happened now?" Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and rushed past Evie and Hermione, heading down the stairs. The three girls followed quickly behind her, eager to see what was happening.
"That's not the point!" Mr. Weasley was fussing. "Wait until I tell your mother –"
"Tell me what Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley and the girls reached the kitchen just in time to hear this part of the conversation clearly.
In the little bit of time they had been gone, the kitchen in The Burrow had filled quickly with gingers and one messy raven haired boy.
"Oh, hello, Harry dear." Mrs. Weasley's voice instantly cheered up when she spotted him. She then rounded back to Mr. Weasley. "Tell me what, Arthur?"
Evie could see from Mr. Weasley's face that he had probably not actually intended for his wife to hear anything that had happened while they were off getting Harry from the Dursleys. They all watched in silence as Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously, trying to figure out what to do.
"It's nothing Molly," Mr. Weasley mumbled. "Fred and George just – but I've had words with them – "
"What have they done this time?" Mrs. Weasley cut in. "if it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes –"
"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping Ron?" Evie cut in quickly.
"Harry knows where he's sleeping," Ron looked at her confused. "In my room, he slept there last –"
"We can all go." Hermione eyed him pointedly, understanding what Eve was doing much quicker than Ron.
"Oh," said Ron as he began to get it too. "Right."
"We'll go too," Said George.
"You stay right where you are," Mrs. Weasley snapped.
Harry and Ron eased out of the kitchen and then the five of them walked up towards Ron's room.
"What are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked. Ron, Evie and Ginny all started laughing. Hermione just looked as confused as Harry.
Evie and Hermione stayed at the Weasley's for dinner probably later than they should have. As such, the next morning when Amos knocked on her door to rouse her, Evie found that she hadn't had nearly the amount of sleep she preferred. It was still dark out and though she knew where they were going, she was still not happy to be up so early. She slowly shuffled herself from bed to wardrobe as she tried to open her eyes enough to actually see what she was grabbing.
She could hear the equally sluggish movements from the rooms next to her and was glad to find that she wasn't the only one almost too exhausted to move. Yawning and rubbing her eyes free of the crumbly bits in their corners, Evie opened her eyes wide and stared at her clothes. She knew she was not to wear any robes so muggles didn't notice anything odd. She grabbed some jeans and a teal jumper and dressed as quickly as she could manage.
After she dressed Evie was glad she had packed her rucksack the night before, seeing as she didn't have the mental capacity to figure out what she might need this early in the morning. Grabbing the bag she made her way down the stairs, if a bit clumsily.
In the kitchen Amos was stirring oatmeal on the stove. Cedric was sitting in his usual seat, seemingly unaffected by how early it was. As Evie took her seat Hermione made her way down the stairs. She looked pale and drowsy and her hair was particularly unruly. Evie imagined she looked much the same as her friend.
"Morning," Hermione mumbled as she slumped into her chair.
"Morning," The Diggorys all greeted her back, though two of those greetings were definitively more lively than one.
As Amos started ladling oatmeal into bowls and handing them out, he smiled at the two girls. "I told you not to be out too late. You knew we were heading out early."
"We didn't plan on being out that late," Evie grumbled sulkily as both her father and brother grinned at her grumpiness.
"Well I slept wonderfully," Cedric teased.
"Oh, shut it," Evie snapped, with minimal energy. Amos handed her a bowl and tried to hold back his smile. As she ate, Evie's mood improved exponentially. Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair, as the sleep was just leaving Evie and Hermione. Most of the conversation was between Amos and Cedric as they speculated on who would win the Cup.
When breakfast was over Amos cleaned the dishes and locked down the house. Then the Diggorys and Hermione began the trek to Stoatshead Hill, which was the designated Portkey spot closest to them.
They walked through the town of Ottery St. Catchpole is darkness, Evie was surprised they didn't run into Harry and the Weasleys on the way. The town itself was a sleepy little place on any normal occasion, but passing by when the sky was still dark was weird for Evie. The town didn't look sleepy, it looked dead. All the shop windows were dark and reflected the small group's silent journey to the hill. Every house was closed up tight and not much sound besides snoring could be heard. As they reached Stoatshead it loomed over them shrouded in darkness.
The lack of light made it hard to see as they trekked up the hill. Nobody spoke as the climb was a tough one. Evie and Hermione fell behind Amos and Cedric as they continued on. Just when Evie had tripped over her last rabbit hole and was about to claim defeat, the ground leveled off and she was thankful to see they reached the top.
"Alright, spread out and look for it." Amos requested of the group. He and Cedric started off immediately.
"What are we looking for?" Hermione asked Evie was they started off together.
"Well, technically I'm not sure. But Portkey's are usually things muggles would consider litter, things they wouldn't want to pick up and take home. It'll be decently small, also. Not really my favorite way to travel to be honest with you. I was never very good at it." Evie shrugged.
As they continued to look the sky began to lighten and the distant sound of footsteps began to reach their ears.
"That must be Ron and Harry," Hermione commented.
"Yeah, maybe we should go say good morning," Evie suggested, mostly because she didn't feel like searching for the Portkey anymore. Hermione nodded and they searched their way to the direction of the footsteps they had heard. They kept looking as they went and before they reached Harry and Ron they heard Amos call out to the group.
"Over here, I've got it!" They immediately turned in the direction of her father instead.
Evie endured a very embarrassing and uncomfortable conversation in which her dad boasted about Cedric's victory over Harry in their Quidditch match the year previous. Being saved only by Mr. Weasley telling them it was time to gather around because the Portkey would be leaving shortly.
Evie stood close to Cedric to make room for everyone, and placed her first two fingers on the boot. She then motioned Harry and Hermione to follow. "You've just got to touch it." She explained to them as they followed her lead.
It was a tight fit, with all the full bags they carried. "It's not a great feeling," Evie added the warning to her two friends.
"Three…" muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, "two…one…"
The feeling she dreaded was immediate, as usual. Like something was pulling her by the navel up and away from the ground. Hermione was on one side of her and Cedric was on the other. Their shoulders all banged into each other and she closed her eyes, never liking the swirl of colors and howl of wind that accompanied this mode of travel. Evie partially wanted to pull her finger away from the boot so it would stop, but she knew from her attempt the first time she had ever traveled this way that it wasn't possible. She was probably lucky it wasn't as she always jerked back a bit at the initial yanking, and who knows where she might end up, or what other unfortunate things would happen to her if she was ever able to.
Soon her feet slammed onto the ground again and her knees buckled under her, as they always did. Cedric was also used to this and reached out to grab her before she crumbled to the ground. It seemed as though, with the exception of Cedric, their father, and Mr. Weasley, everyone else ended up on the ground. Evie was happy to know she would not have been alone had she toppled. With Cedric's arm still holding hers firmly, Evie straightened herself up.
"Thanks." She smiled at her brother, gratefully. She held out a hand to Hermione and then patted her hair back into place before turning to catch her first view of the Quidditch World Cup grounds.