I'm glad people are reviewing and letting me know some of their thoughts. I apologize for the slower updates, but I have school and also like to update my other stories to try and stay somewhat fair to all my readers, but here's another chapter for you!

Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock

Chapter Sixteen:

Let the Games Begin

"Leila, Leila you've got to get up. Merlin, don't you want to go see the match?"

"Nghh….what?" Her throat felt dry and she had particularly bad breath this morning, her eyes barely wanted to open, she couldn't see practically any light when she did, and Sirius was expecting her to wake up?

He chuckled, "I know it's early, but if you want time for food and to fix that bed head then you should think about waking up now. You're being just as difficult as Harry about this." That fact that Harry had been awake for longer cheered her up in its own way, and Sirius left to finish breakfast while she slowly stretched and climbed from the bed. Leila looked in full-length mirror after dressing in faded jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, and realized she looked quite dreadful. Huge bags were under her eyes and they were so bloodshot she would almost believe them red if not for the glimpses of hazel irises she could make out.

"Can I come in?" It was Harry's voice, muffled on the other side of the door.

"Sure, go ahead." He entered, looking just as sleepy and sat at the edge of her bed. "What's up?" She asked his reflection in the mirror.

"I'm not really sure," he admitted, then looked away while forming what exactly he wanted to say. "I remember bits and pieces…of this really bizarre dream I had last night. It had something to do with a house and an old man…and I think Voldemort." He met her eyes in the glass then, and saw the shock and a confirmation of something akin to understanding. "Anyway, my scar was kind of bothering me for awhile after that, before I finally managed to get back to sleep. Did anything like that happen to you?"

"Well, yeah," she said, distractedly pulling her hair into a loose, messy ponytail. Harry didn't need to know she had woken just in time to vomit in her bathroom toilet; he'd only be able to worry over it. Decision made, she whirled about in her socks to face him. "Let's grabbed something to eat, I feel like my dinner's just vanished."

"Alright then," Harry said, falling back into ease now that he had gotten the dream off his chest. He wasn't abnormal then; and neither was Leila.

OoO

They Floo'ed to the Burrow and met up with the equally grumpy and sleepy Weasleys plus Hermione, and an almost irritatingly chipper Mr. Weasley.

"How have you both been? What's Sirius like? What kind of house is it? I've missed you all so much, tell me everything," Hermione asked the Potter twins, and they happily began filling her in on their new life with their godfather. That is, before a fully grown man dropped out of the tree in front of them.

"Bloody hell!" Leila exclaimed, almost falling backward into Hermione as the other girl shrieked.

"Wha—oh, Cedric!" Harry gasped. Cedric, for his part looked first alarmed, then guilty, and finally settled for sheepish.

"Er, sorry about that, Harry. Didn't see you three down there; I was waiting for my father to catch up."

Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, turned the bend just then with Mr. Weasley and an extremely bored looking Sirius. They seemed to be chatting about office work.

"Ah, boys, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Leila, I'd like you all to meet Mr. Amos Diggory. I'm sure you already know Cedric here." For some reason the Weasley boys were all glowering at the Hufflepuff and for the life of her, Leila couldn't remember why that would be. Until Amos Diggory spoke.

"Bless me, Harry Potter, really? First Sirius Black and now this! What a strange day. Pleasure to meet you, and you as well, Ms. Leila," he shook each of their hands, grinning amazingly, and then said, "I've heard all about you, Mr. Potter, but to see the Seeker my son almost bested last year—"

"Dad," Cedric interrupted, exasperated and almost embarrassed. Of course, Cedric had almost caught the Snitch when Harry had fallen during the match with the Dementors. "It's in the past. Harry caught the Snitch, and he did a fine job of it I say." Leila turned her head away, not quite able to look the older boy in the eye as he said it.

"Well sure," Amos disputed, talking more to his son than anyone else, "but it was a lucky time-out call for him when he fell off his broom. You didn't fall off though, did you Ced? That's something to tell your grandchildren. You nearly beat Harry Potter in Quidditch." Sirius was pinching the bridge of his nose and Fred and George looked like they were biting their tongues to keep from saying anything. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all stared at Mr. Diggory like they couldn't believe the words emerging from his lips. The two Potters hardly could ever, but then Mr. Diggory turned back to them. "I'm sure Mr. Potter understands."

Fortunately Mr. Weasley reminded everyone of the time before Harry had to respond, so they started up the hill, Cedric muttering, "Sorry about him," and began the climb. Harry was slowing compared to the others so Leila took up his pace and again asked,

"What's wrong?"

"Well, Mr. Diggory was right, wasn't he? I fell off my broom and Cedric didn't. He's better than I am, but everybody thinks I pulled through; that I saved the match. But I didn't, I used you Leila."

"Oh come off it, it was Wood's idea."

"Maybe, but the fact still stands—"

"It stands nothing, I would have fainted if I'd been there, too. Remus is right; we have a lot of bad memories compared to most people. I mean, what's the worst thing that's happened to Cedric Diggory? Cho Chang said no to a date to Hogsmeade?" She snickered a little, but Harry's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Why Cho Chang?" He asked with almost too much interest.

"Well, if I remember what Lavender said, they're kind of a thing," she explained, not really sure if Harry understood what 'things' were. His face took on a dejected look, though, and Leila felt a growing suspicion. "Why the interest in Cho Chang? You like her?"

"What?" His eyes were wide and his face quickly reddening. "No, I just- I've seen her before—she plays for the Ravenclaw—"

"Alright, alright, don't need to be so defensive with me," she grinned teasingly. Though thinking about what else Lavender had said about Cedric Diggory being the most attractive boy in school reminded her of how disheveled she looked this morning. It was slightly humiliating to think on.

"Merlin's Beard, what are you two lagging behind for?" Ron puffed from above, and the twins hurried to catch up with their friends.

Gasping and feeling more tired than when they first woke up they group crested the hill and began looking for what Mr. Weasley called a Port-Key. He ended up having them grab an old boot which seemed to hurl them through space until they tumbled down into a grassy field.

"Well, good speaking with you Arthur, come on Ced!" With that Amos and his son left, which seemed to relieve the tension that had taken over everyone. With ease, the children followed Mr. Weasley and Sirius to two tents.

"Well now," Mr. Weasley said, "How do we want to organize this? Boys in one and girls in the other?" There was a general consensus and they got started setting everything up. Ginny decided to commandeer food preparations before her father got too carried away, and asked Harry, Leila, Hermione, and Ron to fetch some water.

"Making a fire is easier than organizing everything in the tents anyway," the redhead muttered to the other two girls. They stifled laughs at the younger one's comment, leaving as Fred and George began complaining.

On their way to fill the bucket Ginny gave them, the four ran into Oliver Wood who immediately dragged them over to introduce to his mother.

"Honestly, mum, Harry here's the best Seeker I've seen since Charlie Weasley, he could easily make any professional team!" Though her brother protested, she could tell these words of confidence were just what he needed to hear at that moment.

"Thanks, Oliver, you've boosted my brother's ego back to normal levels," she joked.

"Oh really? Why, what happened?"

"We saw the Diggorys," Ron explained to the Puddlemore United Reserve Keeper.

"Ah, well, Cedric's dad was always kind of…obsessed with his son's skills. I honestly feel bad for him. He's really not that bad a bloke."

"I guess," Ron replied, not really seeming to think much about it.

"Honestly, Ron," Hermione berated as they continued. "Just because he plays on a different House Team does not automatically make Cedric an enemy! Quidditch."

"You just don't get it, Hermione," Ron told her, "Quidditch isn't just a sport. For people like Oliver—for a lot of people here!—it's a life."

"I pity the life of a Chuddley Cannon player," Leila interjected, and Harry laughed as Ron turned with a red and indignant face to her on behalf of his favorite team.

OoO

After overhearing a rather interesting conversation between "Artie" and another man in line for water, the four friends returned to their part of the campsite and delivered the water to Ginny. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius' group all sat around the boiling pot and chatted, coworkers of Mr. Weasley's coming to join them for brief moments. Shortly after the three oldest Weasley boys arrived, two very important Ministry workers stopped by.

"Ludo Bagman, this is a surprise," Arthur commented, rising to shake the smaller, stouter man's hand. Mr. Bagman returned it cheerily enough, and gave a,

"Hello there!" to everyone seated. Percy shook the man's hand as well, but Leila noticed that his face seemed scrunched up in distaste.

"Everyone, this is Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports," Mr. Weasley introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Bagman. Last time I've heard that name you were playing for the Wasps. I see you've dressed for the occasion," Sirius spoke, gesturing with a hand to the black and yellow striped robes the other wore.

"Oh my, Sirius Black, a pleasure! Yes, I thought I might dig these out again; it certainly brings back the memories! Arthur I was wondering—and you may participate as well, sir—if you'd like to make a little wager on the match?"

"Oh no, Ludo, I really shouldn't," Mr. Weasley said, glancing quickly at the students around him. Percy was very thinly disguising his disapproval at this point. Fred and George managed to get a bet in before their next guest appeared.

"Ludo."

"Oh, Barty! There you are, where have you been?"

"Looking for you, actually." The new man was everything Bagman was not. He was tall, thin, and very crisp and clean. Percy jumped from his seat at once, and Leila wouldn't have been surprised if he snapped a salute.

"Mr. Crouch!"

"Oh, Weatherby, didn't see you there," Crouch responded absentmindedly. When the two men left shortly after, Percy's younger siblings hardly let up teasing him until the sun started to set.

"Looks about time to head to our seats," Sirius said, and Mr. Weasley nodded in agreement.

After a climb nearly as grueling as the trek up the hill that morning had been, the whole group made it to the Top Box. The view was perfectly worth it, of course. The field looked like a tiny patch of green and rows of rows of people becoming bigger and bigger dots as they stands went up and up. The only other occupants of the box were Cornelius Fudge, a foreign-looking guest of his who turned out to be the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and a terrified looking House-Elf who had its face in its hands. As they tried to figure out who was sitting where, Leila almost plopped into the seat next to the creature.

"NO!" She shrieked, for the voice seemed particularly high, and Leila jumped, grabbing Ron's shoulder to keep from toppling over the front row of seats.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, rubbing at his ears and looked at the House-Elf. "What was that for?"

"Winky is sorry, miss," and Winky really did look it, "but Winky is saving this seat for her master."

"Oh, er, right. Sorry," she apologized, feeling a little silly; why else would a House-Elf be in the Top Box? Hermione, who had taken the seat next to the reserved one, was looking at the creature in concern and pity. When Leila dropped into the seat on her other side, Hermione turned to whisper to her.

"That poor thing! She's obviously scared of heights, so what's she doing up here?"

"Well, it was an order, Hermione. It's that or shutting her ears in the oven or something," Leila tried to explain. The only experience she had with House-Elfs was Dobby, and she had the suspicion he was an exception. Hermione, meanwhile, was horrified.

"That's cruel, and absolutely barbaric! Why do wizard's even own House-Elfs?"

"Speaking of House-Elfs," Harry muttered, turned around in his seat in front of them, "Look who's here."

"Oh brilliant," Ron groaned from next to Harry, "Malfoy." It turned out the Malfoy family had been invited by the Minister, and Draco scowled as he took the last seat next to her. She glowered back, and turned to see his parents sit with aristocratic grace in the top row; with some interest, Leila realized this was the first time she had ever seen the Slytherin boy's mother, and she looked distinctly uncomfortable in between Sirius and her husband. Her godfather didn't even look in her direction, let alone introduce himself. Perhaps they'd not been friendly with each other in school. If Mrs. Malfoy was like her son, Leila did not blame Sirius one bit.

It was becoming rather uncomfortable in her own row with no one speaking, so she decided for once to try and attempt conversation with the other. "How was you r holiday?" She asked.

Draco Malfoy looked about as shocked as she had ever seen him, but regained his bored, haughty expression quickly enough. "Quite satisfactory. I suppose you've enjoyed being Black's charity project." Harry obviously heard, for he scooted as far forward in his seat as possible, as far away from Malfoy as possible, so that Leila could even see his wand sticking out of his back jean pocket.

"Alright, fine you prick. I was willing to try and make this as un-awkward as possible, but fine be your usual self." He sneered as she purposefully turned back to Hermione.

"You know, it's really amazing how easily you're able to keep your grades up, Hermione. Did I ever tell you that? You make it seem so effortless, and yet you're way beyond anyone else in our class! Some random stranger would probably think you grew up around magic your whole life!" The brunette's lips twitched in amusement while Malfoy growled next to them.

Fortunately, Ludo Bagman chose then to show up and start the match.

So there's another chapter, I hope you all enjoyed. I'm also hoping the interaction between Leila and Draco was satisfactory to a certain reviewer. Let me know what you thought, I know a lot of the middle was summary of what happened in the book, but I tried to speed it up as best as possible while still remaining coherent. Thank you for reading, and please review!