Chapter 5: The Quidditch World Cup

As the sun started to rise, casting a pinkish glow along the street, Kat almost broke her alarm clock as she hit the snooze button. The one con about the Quidditch World Cup was that you had to get up super early. The other con was that it was Monday, almost a week after she had got the letter but the day had snuck up so quickly. She sat up groggily and forced herself to get up. As she was brushing her teeth, Sirius came in behind her.

"Sirius, I look a mess!"

He laughed as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I like the 'just got out of bed' look"

Kat smiled. She finished brushing her teeth, brushed her hair and got dressed. Kat was just walking down the hall when she stopped and frowned in concentration. Suddenly her hair turned blonde with red highlights.

"One way of supporting Bulgaria without smearing paint over my face"

Sirius looked shocked.

"But that's half the fun!"

Kat laughed and then screamed as Sirius drew a line across her face in red face paint. She grabbed his hands and forced them away from her but Sirius was much stronger and had her up against the wall and was messily trying to draw on her cheek. Kat summoned the closest paint colour which was green. She then drew a squiggle on Sirius' cheek and so the paint war began. By the time Ali and Remus had arrived the kitchen, Kat and Sirius were a mess. Kat cleaned up the kitchen in no time but they decided to scare the other two. They open the door slowly, making sure they were hidden behind it. When the other two were inside, Kat slowly closed the door and then tapped Ali on her shoulder.

"Argh! What the hell happened? Did you guys have a paint explosion or something?"

Kat and Sirius laughed before going to clean off their faces. When they came back out, Remus was kissing Ali against the wall. Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder, making him jump.

"Ahem, Moony, when you're finished, we have a Port-Key to catch"

They grabbed their stuff and went outside. Seeing as it was 3 o'clock in the morning, no one was awake so the four got on their broomsticks and headed off. After a while, they came to a forest. Kat signalled for everyone to land and as soon as their feet touched the ground, the sound of voices made them immediately hide their brooms in a nearby bush and wait for the people to pass. However...

"Harry!"

"Sirius, Kat, Ali, Remus! What are you guys doing here?"

More people followed Harry - Arthur Weasley followed by three of his sons: Ron, Fred and George who gave Ali a high five and thanked her for the picture of Snape she had sent them, his daughter Ginny, Hermione Granger and two other people.

Harry rushed to give Sirius a hug. Kat smiled as she introduced herself and Ali to Mr Weasley.

"And who are you may I ask?"

"Oh sorry. Kat, Ali, Remus and Sirius, this is Amos Diggory. He works with me at the Ministry and this is his son Cedric"

The six shook hands before Ali asked the obvious question.

"Where are you going?"

"The Quidditch World Cup of course!"

"No way, we were just heading there too!"

The now respectably larger group all headed off – Kat with Sirius and Harry who was shocked to hear his godfather was dating one of his teachers, Ali with Fred and George listening to pranks they had pulled so far over the holidays and Remus alongside Mr Weasley as he excitedly told Amos about the properties of a kettle.

Ali, Fred and George were by far the loudest when together but the whole procession stopped when Fred grabbed Ali's hand and showed George the ring.

"Professor Daniels, anything you'd like to tell us?"

Ali suddenly became very quiet and her cheeks turned bright red. Fred and George exchanged grins before loudly announcing,

"Who's the unlucky fella?"

Ali shot a dark look at the twins before Remus spoke up, sounding rather embarrassed but he could see Ali was having trouble finding the right words.

"That would be me boys. Yes, me and Ali are getting married. I proposed to her last week"

The wave of immediate and different reactions was almost comical. Harry looked shocked once more before congratulating Remus and Ali. Hermione and Ginny both clapped. Mr Weasley congratulated them both before hastily writing a letter to his wife Molly and apparating it back to his house. However, Fred and George were patting Remus on the back and shaking their heads but smiling at the same time.

"Good luck Remus, you've got your work cut out for you! And congratulations to you both!"

Remus laughed before pulling Ali into a sideways hug.

"Thanks boys"

"Yeah, thanks guys"

"Yes well, can we get moving, we're on a very tight schedule!"

Mr Weasley's reminder got everyone moving again and they made it to the Port-Key in plenty of time. Kat, Sirius, Ali and Remus went first closely followed by the rest. Kat helped up Harry and the rest of them as it had been their first time using a Port-Key and they had fallen rather than landed and turned round to see Mr Weasley, Amos and Cedric calmly 'walking' in mid air as they landed. They continued over the hill until three or four fields full of brightly colour tents came into view.

"Partings of the way I think old chap"

Mr Weasley shook hands with Amos and Cedric and then continued on. Kat and the other followed on behind as they were under 'Smith' so they would be signing in at the same point.

Mr Weasley went first and after sorting the money, said goodbye.

"Name?"

"Smith"

"Right, Smith, Smith, ah here you are. Oh, you're opposite the Weasley's so just follow them"

"Thanks"

Kat paid in the money for their place and they set off, trying to catch up with the others. They eventually did and quickly found their spot which was marked only with a wooden sign with the word 'Smith' written on it. A few minutes later, their 'tent' (it looked more like a canvas house) was set up.

"Right, I've worked this out, me and Ali are in this room and you two are in that one"

Ali moaned and Sirius hugged Kat from behind and began to plead.

"I'm serious guys..."

Sirius gave her a cheeky grin.

"No you're Kat, and this is Ali and that's Remus. I'm Sirius and..."

Kat slapped his hand, trying not to laugh unlike Ali who was laughing so much tears were running down her face.

"Don't even start"

"Oh come on Kat lighten up. Have fun. In fact, I'm making it a legal requirement that you do. Now about this room assignment..."

Kat sighed.

"You sound just like Fred and George. Ok fine, Ali and Remus in that room and me and you in this one. Happy now?"

"Yes... but you're not. Darling, what's wrong? You were happy this morning"

Kat leant her head against Sirius' chest.

"When we were walking down, people kept on looking. Parents were taking their children away and people were pointing"

Sirius laughed.

"Oh Kat, don't let that bother you. Fudge has declared me free; it was in the Daily Prophet so people can't deny it. It'll be fine"

Kat smiled.

"Yeah, you're right. Ok, fun, I'm going to have fun"

"That's my girl!"

The four set up their rooms and then went to say hi to the others before getting breakfast and sitting in the mouth of the tent, watching the last of the sunrise. Remus was just putting the plates away when Harry crossed over to join them.

"Harry. How are you?"

"I'm fine Sirius. How's life as a free man?"

Sirius smiled as he patted his godson on the shoulder.

"It's more than I could ever hope for. I really can't thank all of you enough for helping me. Maybe Fudge will think more about investigating before arresting"

Harry smiled at his godfather's comment.

"That would be nice wouldn't it?"

Remus had rejoined them and was leaning against the side of the tent with Ali resting her head against his shoulder.

Harry laughed.

"I never thought I would see this. You two engaged and you two dating. It all takes some getting used to"

They all laughed and Harry was then called away by Ron and Hermione who were going to get water. Harry said bye and the four retreated into the warmth of their tent as it was quite cold despite it being the summer.

"Hey Kat, should we go and get water as well. We'll need to for drinks won't we?"

Kat nodded so Remus and Ali grabbed a bucket and headed off. Kat smiled as she leant against the side of the tent, letting the cold air rush through her hair. Sirius came up behind her and placed his hands in her shoulders. Kat leant her head back and smiled as her emerald green eyes locked with his sparkling blue ones.

As Sirius placed a gentle kiss on her lips, Kat felt something stir deep inside her, a warmth that spread through her entire body. When Sirius pulled away, Kat immediately moved forward to close the gap but Sirius took her hand and led her to their room.

"Kat I..."

Kat wrapped her arms around his neck and gave Sirius a tender kiss. Sirius picked her up and sat her on the bed, still kissing her gently along her neck, each one getting stronger until they turned into soft bites. Kat ran her hands along his hardened chest and the once gentle kisses were turning into hot messy ones that made the feeling inside Kat grow. They were still kissing when Ali and Remus walked in holding a bucket of water. Ali was just about to say something when Remus shook his head and led her outside.

"Ok, that was cute and weird at the same time. More cute than weird but still"

"Oh Ali, cut Kat some slack, think how many times she's come across us kissing"

Ali laughed and headed back inside the tent to make drinks. Kat and Sirius emerged from their room to help and they were just sitting down to drink when Ginny, the youngest of the Weasleys, asked if they wanted to join. The four walked over and they spent the rest of the afternoon together – Kat showing Ginny and Hermione her Metamorphagus skills, Ali listening to Fred and George talking about their idea for a joke shop, Harry talking with Remus, Sirius and Ron about last year and Mr Weasley and Mr Diggory were quietly drinking tea while talking about their jobs.

All too soon the evening came and the group set off towards the giant stadium. Half an hour and 200 flights of stairs later, the group found their level and were just about to head off when Lucius Malfoy stopped them by trapping Harry's jumper on the bar with his staff. Mr Weasley stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Malfoy"

"Weasley"

Suddenly, Draco stepped out from behind his father, boasting about sitting in the Ministers box. He suddenly caught sight of Kat and whispered something to his father. Lucius' smile curled into a frown as he accusingly pointed his staff at Kat.

"So, you're the so called teacher who humiliated my son?"

Kat could see both Sirius and Ali getting ready to react.

"You could say that Malfoy, but I prefer to say I was teaching your son a lesson. He wasn't listening to Hagrid when he was teaching so I made him listen. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him now so no harm no foul. Goodbye"

Malfoy stormed off with Draco following in hot pursuit. The rest of the group cheered and they took their seats. Sirius sat next to Kat and pulled her into a hug.

"Well handled honey"

Kat smiled and sat with her head resting on his shoulder. Ali swung round in her seat and propped her legs up on Kat's knees, resting her head against Remus' shoulder. Normally Kat would push Ali off but she didn't mind, she was having fun. Ginny laughed to see them all looking so relaxed and took a picture which she gave to Kat.

"Thanks Ginny. That's a nice camera"

"Yeah, it's a muggle one but it prints out the pictures automatically. Dad wanted to charm it so it made them move but I said I could do that after they printed"

They laughed but it was soon replaced with loud cheers and clapping as the Bulgarian team flew over head and put on a show. The seeker, Victor Krum, was getting the most attention as he performed stunts on his broom. The audience screamed and cheered, the noise was deafening. Just then, the Irish team flew in from the other side and a giant firework leprechaun appeared in the sky and it began to dance as the audience sang a traditional Irish jig song. After about ten minutes of this, the voice of Cornelius Fudge boomed over the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup. Let the match ... begin!"

The referee walked out on to the pitch, yelled something to the teams and released the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch. After a ten second head start, he threw the Quaffle in the air and the game began. The roar from the crowd as balls were passed, goals scored, fouls committed, was tremendous. The team mascots, Veela's for Bulgaria and Leprechauns for Ireland, were sporting leadership from each ends of the pitch but when a foul was committed against the Irish, the Leprechauns immediately began flying around the Veela's, making them very angry.

"AND IRELAND SCORE AGAIN!"

The noise from the Ireland supports was enough without the howls from the Bulgaria supports who were shouting and yelling what sounded like chants to try and encourage their team. They were only an hour and a half into the game and Ireland were already 160 points ahead of Bulgaria. Suddenly, there were shouts concerning the whereabouts of the Snitch. Every one began frantically searching the sky until Harry pointed to Krum, whose robes were soaked with blood from a nose injury, coming into landing, a glint of gold just visible in his clenched hand. The scoreboard flashed BULGARIA: 160 IRELAND: 170.

The voice of Ludo Bagman, the commentator, boomed over the stunned audience.

"AND IT'S A WIN FOR IRELAND. KRUM CATCHES THE SNITCH BUT IRELAND WINS. Well, this is an exciting twist of events"

Then came the announcing of the names, a lot more shouting and another hour later, Kat, Sirius, Ali, Remus and the others filed out into the fields. By the light of their wands, they stumbled their way back to the tent. The four collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Had it not been for the screams that awoke them ten minutes later.