Hey everyone! Would just like to thank those of you who read this story :) I hope you're enjoying it and I'm sorry that it's been so long since posting the previous chapter. Also, I would appreciate it if you ould review this story so that I know what you think of it! Thank you, and enjoy :)
{The Heart of a Weasley}{Chapter Three}{Unexpected Happenings}
"Here Rose, you're a talented painter. You can decorate us." Fred and George sat down on Rose's bed in the tent, and attempted to hand Rose some green and white paint. She didn't move from where she was zipping up her boots.
"You really want me to paint your faces?" She said, getting up and looking at herself in the mirror.
"Yeah, of course! We don't want to be the only ones at the match who're boring and not dressing up!" George replied.
She rolled her eyes, whilst wearing a smile, then conformed to their request. The finished result consisted of Fred having a massive green and white cross going right across his face, and George having two Irish flags on his cheeks.
"Aw, wow! I'm jealous! You're gonna have to paint my face now." I said, grinning at Rose.
She laughed, and seated me down, and proceeded to paint my face. I had two green and two white stripes across each cheek. I thanked her, and then she finished with putting the same patterns on her cheeks.
My dad then turned up about five minutes later, and I greeted him with a hug. Once he had set his bag down on his bed for the night, we were all heading out of the tent, and joining the crowd towards the Quidditch World Cup stadium.
"I hate the cold so much! Why is it this cold in the middle of August?" I moaned, rubbing my hands up and down my arms. We were making our way to the stadium for the match between Ireland and Bulgaria, all clad in our various colours and attires.
"Because you live in England." George replied, slouching his arm around my shoulders.
He had a very good point…
After what felt like an hour of moving at a very slow pace around tents and through fields with thousands of witches and wizards, we reached the stadium. The sight was truly magnificent. It looked about sixty stories high, and was all illuminated by white, red and green lights, obviously portraying the colours of the Quidditch Teams. Mr Weasley handed our tickets to the very short, old guy at the base of the hundreds of flights of stairs. We then noticed that Cedric and Mr Diggory were waiting for us just inside the Stadium. We greeted them happily, and then proceeded to walk amongst the crowd.
Fred then informed us that our seats were at the very top, and I heard Rose groan next to me, looking up at the amount of staircases that we had to climb. I sighed, and along with everyone else, started to make the trek to the top. I soon forgot about how tiring it was going to be, and got caught up in all the hype that was now surrounding us. It was an amazing feeling. I couldn't help but grin when I saw the paint markings that people had on their faces, and the different souvenirs people were wearing.
Once we got to the top of the high stadium, which didn't happen for a good half an hour as we kept having traffic jams with the number of people going up and down the stairs, we all rushed to the railings to get a good view of the stadium.
"Blimey, Dad! How far up are we?" Ron asked excitedly, trying to fix his eyes on pretty much everything.
"Well, put it this way. If it rains, you'll be the first to know." A cold voice reached our ears, and I gritted my teeth, turning in the direction to see Lucius Malfoy, and his son, Draco. They were both looking at Arthur and Ron with their famous Malfoy smirks. Mr Diggory didn't look impressed either, however still returned the slight nod Mr Malfoy gave him.
Along with the majority of magical folk, I wasn't too fond of the Malfoy's. I know that my mum and dad hadn't gotten along with Lucius while they were at school, and I didn't get along with Draco. I can never understand any wizard who wanted to keep magical people pure, and despised Half-Bloods and Muggleborns.
As Draco started to brag about being invited by the Minister himself, Cedric put his hand on my upper arm and led me towards the final staircase. Fred, George, and Rose followed in suit.
"Why does he have to brag about everything? You're richer than he is, Rose." I stated, practically stomping up the stairs now.
Just as we reached the top of the stairs, sensing my sudden anger and frustration, Fred and George came up behind me and tackled me in a double bear hug, making me laugh. I gripped their arms tightly.
"Aww, you guys." I said, smiling up at both of them.
They knew exactly how to make me feel instantly better. They eventually let go of me, and we continued to our places, the rest of our squad now behind us.
"Did you see that dive that Krum did? How bloody fantastic was that? He is flawless!"
It was the end of the match, and Ron wouldn't stop talking about Viktor Krum, Bulgarian's Seeker. I found it amusing and enjoyed talking to him about Krum. The twins on the other hand were having a field day. They wouldn't quit teasing Ron about it; it was basically a replica of the conversation we had earlier at breakfast. Rose was giggling with Hermione and Ginny in front of Ron, Harry, and I, most likely how gorgeous all of the Quidditch players were.
Back at the tent, none of us had made any attempt to calm down, and Mr Weasley was showing no sign of trying to settle us. We had proceeded to all hum the Irish tune loudly.
"Told you that the Irish would win, but Krum'll get the Snitch!" Fred announced, half-shouting over the noise in and around the tent.
"Yes, Fred. You've told us about a hundred times since the match ended like an hour ago!" I teased him, laughing.
"But I told you!" I just ended up laughing. It was though we were all drunk on happiness. For what felt like hours, we were all celebrating Ireland's victory, and us Quidditch players were having deep and lively discussing about some of the moves the players did on their brooms, and were all hoping to successfully try them out on the Quidditch Pitch back at Hogwarts.
The evening was a truly eventful one, and even past midnight, we were all still laughing and having fun. When Fred and George had, once again, resorted into teasing Ron about being in love with Krum, I heard a loud crash outside. I turned towards the entrance to the tent, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Looking briefly back at the others, I noticed that they hadn't heard the noise; they were still messing around. As I headed to the opening in the tent, Mr Weasley beat me there. Our faces illuminated orange as the tent opposite us caught fire. Mr Weasley instinctively grabbed me and pulled me further into the tent, startling the others out of their bright moods.
"Dad, what-"
"Everybody, grab your jackets, we have to get out of here."
"What's going on?"
Even though we were all confused as to what was going on, we all hastily put on our jackets, and made sure that we all had our wands.
"Get outside! Quickly!" My dad urged, grabbing his own wand.
Outside had completely transformed from the events earlier in the evening. Instead of the happy and celebrative atmosphere, there was that of fear and terror. Screams were erupting from all around us, and many tents were up in flames. People were running in every direction, and I was scared as to what was causing all the screams.
Rose was instantly by my side, holding onto my arm as she looked around in horror. Dad and Mr Weasley soon emerged from the tent once all of us kids were out.
"We're going to help the Ministry." Dad informed us, holding his wand ready.
"You lot, get to the woods and stick together! We'll come and get you once all this is sorted out. Go, hurry!" Mr Weasley shouted over all the noise, ushering us towards the woods, along with the majority of the crowd.
Fred grabbed Ginny's hand and started to run, and the rest of us followed. Running as fast as the people around us would allow, the woods didn't seem to get any closer. Looking behind briefly to check on the others, I noticed that we had lost Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Panic surged through me, but that soon changed when I heard Rose scream,
"Alex! George!"
Turning to my right, I saw that Rose had been separated from us, and was trying to battle through the crowd to get back to us. She then disappeared completely out of sight with another scream.
"Rose!" George and I yelled together.
Suddenly, the tent next to me burst into flames, sending me and a few others crashing to the ground. I cried out in pain as I landed on something hard. My arm surged with pain as I rolled over onto it. I quickly checked my arm and saw that it was just a gash. I then tried to get back onto my feet, but with the rushing of people, it was hard to stay balanced. Looking around, I could see neither Rose nor George. My grip tightened on my wand, but before I had the chance to resort to magic, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me to my feet.
"Alex, come on!" George shouted, gripping me around the waist firmly and pulling me along with the crowd. We reached the woods quickly. Once there, we were reunited with Fred and Ginny, who both looked unscathed.
"Thank God you guys are alright!" I said, smiling at them. Looking around them, I saw no sign of Rose. I started to look round more rapidly. "Where's Rose? Did she make it out? Rose? Rose?"
Just as Fred and George were starting to sprint back towards the opening in the trees, a figure ran towards us, carrying someone in their arms. As they came into view, I saw that the figure was Cedric, and he was setting down Rose on the ground gently.
"Oh my God!" George fell to his knees next to her and grabbed her hand, looking into her face. "Rose?" He whispered.
"Thank you Ced for finding her, and I'm glad you're alright." I said, touching his arm. I got on the ground on the other side of Rose, and saw that she had her eyes open, but she had been hurt. Her lip was bleeding and there was some blood on her t-shirt.
"It's just my stomach. I think I scraped myself on one of the tent pegs when I fell to the ground. It's nothing serious."
I lifted up her top slightly, and saw that the cut was relatively deep. I gently touched the edge of the gash and Rose winced. "Okay, Rose, hold still." I said, pulling out my wand.
"Wha—What are you doing?" George asked, clearly concerned for Rose.
"A healing spell." They knew that I was gifted with being able to use healing spells effectively. I was studying to become a Medi-Healer. I pointed my wand at Rose's wound, and whispered, "Episkey." The cut started to magically heal itself, until only blood stains were left on her skin. I cast a second spell, "Tergeo." Those blood stains were soon non-existent. I looked back up at Rose. "How do you feel now?"
She was smiling at me. "You're the one person to count on. Thank you."
"You're welcome." I said, helping her to sit up.
"Come on, let's see if we can go back. See if the mayhem has passed." Cedric said, heading towards the edge of the trees. I reached out and grabbed his arm.
"No! They could still be there!"
He placed his hand on my shoulder, comfortingly. "Don't worry. It'll be alright." He moved and looked out of a break in the leaves, returning back to us seconds later. "It looks like they've moved on from this area, but I think it's best to stay here. Wait until someone comes and gets us."
We all found a rather sheltered spot that wasn't easy to see into, and settled on the earth, waiting.
What felt like hours went by, and bit by bit, the air eventually became still and quiet once more, the first time since arriving at the World Cup. Ginny and Rose were huddled up shivering, whilst Cedric, Fred and George were keeping an eye out for an suspicious being or danger lurking nearby, although, I'm sure we would have heard it. I decided to break the silence.
"It's been quiet for a long time now."
Looking over at Cedric, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. He nodded, indicating that we should try to get back to the tent.
Coming out of our hiding place with caution, we moved at a slow pace, wands at the ready. We were taking no chances. Through the trees we went, without bumping into another soul, so when we came out of the comfort and safety of the trees, we were startled to see dad and Mr Weasley rushing towards us. I ran and embraced my dad, much as Ginny did to hers.
"Thank Heavens you're all safe!" Mr Weasley said, checking that we were all uninjured.
"The group of bandits have done their damage, and have scattered. We've managed to put out most of the fires, but haven't found Harry, Ron, and Hermione yet."
"Head back to the tent as quickly as you can. It's safe to go. We'll be back shortly, but try to get at least some sleep before we have to leave later on. Quickly, go!" He ushered us off, whilst they ran into the trees.
The six of us made our way hastily to the tent, trying to get out of the open. Once back at the tent, we found that we were the only ones there. Thankfully, our tent was one of the few that hadn't been set on fire, so everything was still as we left it a few hours ago. Cedric had the idea to stay awake while the rest of us slept, but we hadn't even laid down when Mr Weasley and dad returned with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all seemed unharmed. Mr Weasley sent us all to bed, which we obliged, with it being about four in the morning, and we were leaving for the Burrow in a few hours.
I felt as though I hadn't even been asleep when Mr Weasley woke us after only three hours. It took a lot of effort to pull myself out from underneath the covers, but once I remembered the terrifying events from last night, I soon found the energy to get dressed and pack my things.
Once Mr Weasley had packed up the tent, using magic, we were on our way out of the campsite, to get a Portkey back to the Burrow. The place was swarming with witches and wizards, all urgently trying to get hold of a Portkey, and by the tone of their voices, they also wanted to escape the still-lingering danger. We joined the queue, and managed to get an old rubber tyre to take us back to Stoatshead Hill, before you could call it dawn. We all walked briskly down the hill that took so much energy to climb the previous day, and before long, the Burrow was in sight. A warm feeling came over me, and I instantly had a smile on my face; the feeling of home is a wonderful thing.
A cry then reached our ears, and Mrs Weasley came bounding out of the house, a newspaper clamped in her hand. She rushed over to us and hugged us all in relief that we hadn't been harmed during the raid. She then grabbed Fred and George in a fierce hug, apologising about what she said to them before we left. Rose and I giggled when we saw how embarrassed Fred and George were when Mrs Weasley started peppering them in kisses. Thankfully for them, Mr Weasley soon prised her off of the twins, and calmed her down by leading her back into the house, explaining that we were all fine and there was no need to worry anymore.
"Mothers. Why are they so embarrassing?" George asked, rubbing his cheeks.
"Aw, she just loves you, is all." Rose said, wiping some lipstick off of his face. "You'll be like this with your children, I'm sure."
"I won't be that embarrassing…" He mumbled.
"So, are we still heading to Diagon Alley later?" Fred asked, as we made our way to the Burrow.
"Yeah, there are still a few things I need to get. And Tierney needs some more food. What time shall we go? I mean it's only…half seven now." I said, checking my watch.
"Just as long as it's daylight, any time is good." George replied, laughing.
For the next hour, the whole family, including Rose, Harry, Hermione and I, sat in the kitchen, enjoying some much needed coffee, and discussing what had been written in the Daily Prophet about the World Cup. Everyone was outraged by what Rita Skeeter had written in her article, as she was known for focusing on her own opinion about the events, rather what the overall look was. How she still allowed to publish her articles I do not know.
Rose and I decided, along with Ginny, to grab a few more hours' sleep, as we didn't function well when we had had too little sleep. We bid the others 'goodnight', even though it was the morning, and retired to bed, looking forward to the day ahead after we had absorbed some more energy.