I am aware that the Quidditch World Cup is played every four years and the canon year is '94, so it couldn't possibly be played in 1992, but I am asking everyone to just ignore that bit of information for fun's sake. The records indicate that U.S.A played in the World Cup in 1990, and I am just going to pretend that the World Cup is still an every 4 years event, but the years are '88, '92, '96, '00. etc. U.S.A is going against England, for colonial lawls. I am only assuming that the wizarding world nations don't 'hate' each other.
Now, about the Mascots...I've picked Hippogriffs for the English, and Unicorns for the Americans. I was trying to find something cool that was mentioned in the canon HPverse as being American, but found nothing. So, sorry, but there we go.
I super appreciate everyone's support by reading/following/favoriting/reviewing. I try to reply to all the reviews I can, and I encourage more interaction in the future! It helps me, and it's totally just awesome.
This Chapter is friggin long.
Love you guys.
J.K. Rowling owns this all, for real. Not me.
It had seemed like the adults had been plotting while the younger generation was still at Hogwarts. The Potters and the Longbottoms had housed themselves inside the Black family home a few days before the World Cup was set to start. Draco had suspected this was so he didn't have to spend so much time alone. Draco didn't really mind being by himself...in that big house...alone.
Sybil was a pleasant woman and she always had a funny story to tell Draco about Sirius and how he had never really noticed her in Hogwarts-she was a Hufflepuff, but in his same year-and yet they had met each other after Hogwarts after she had become an auror, and Sirius had been a part of the Order of the Phoenix. Their relationship hadn't blossomed until after the fall of the Dark Lord. Sirius had been a troublesome boy, who was always getting into trouble with James. They played pranks on each other constantly, and had a tight friendship with Remus Lupin and another boy; Sybil wouldn't tell Draco more about him.
She and Draco spent most of their summer days in the drawing room. Sybil had a very impressive talent for drawing and painting, and had introduced Draco to painting. He was horrible, in comparison, but she promised him that if he ever wanted to, she would supply him all the canvas and paint he could use.
Sirius joined them some times, but he didn't do well with idle hands. He was either up in the attic going through things, or actually cleaning the house with the help of Kreacher, a very stern faced House elf that Draco stayed away from, and Dobby. Dobby had stayed around Malfoy Manor after Draco's mother passed away. Dobby had told Draco, that he had cleaned the entire house top to bottom, to stop himself from crying all the time. Draco had Dobby move into the Grimmuald Place, but from what he could tell, Kreacher didn't like the other house elf. Sirius and Sybil had no problem with him, and Draco had always had Dobby, so they didn't make him free the house elf, which Dobby didn't want to lose Draco either. Draco hated telling him what to do though, and would always say things like, 'well if you need something to do,' or ,'I was going to do it later but if you insist,' and the usual, 'please, Dobby, could you help me with my laundry?' Dobby was a very nice elf, and was always smiling and complimenting Draco. Kreacher was just mean.
When Harry and Neville showed up, Draco realized how starved he was for people his own age. He missed his friends, that went without saying, but he realized how much he missed being surrounded by them. It was like he was on eggshells around Sirius and Sybil. They didn't know how to act around him, and neither did he around them. It was awkward despite their best efforts. Meal times were the worst.
But with Harry, Neville, and Harry's little sister Rose, the four of them would play outside in the warmth, or run up and down the stairs playing games. Draco's friendship with the boys grew, when before they had just been friendly acquaintances via Hermione. She hadn't been there to bridge the gap between them, instead they were forced into a pretty awkward conversation about their feelings. Draco still couldn't forgive them for that night before the sorting, and both of them had always kinda regretted it. They were used to hearing their parents go off on long tangents about the dark wizarding family's and had always been told that the Malfoy's were a poisoned lot. They had explained that after they got to know him through class and Hermione, that they realized Draco didn't have a mean bone in his body. They couldn't apologize for Ron though...Ron could certainly be an ass at times, but Draco could forgive them. It didn't help that he wiped the floor with them during Dueling Club a few times a well.
So after that first awkward conversation, the boys had become friends, much to the delight of their parents. Draco was basically a cousin to Harry and Rose now, being Sirius' godson, and the Longbottoms were super close friends with both family's as well. It was a circle that was closely knit, and clearly wasn't going anywhere. It was a lucky thing that Draco fit in so nicely.
On the last night before they were to leave for the World Cup, Sirius and Draco left to go retrieve Hermione from her family's home.
Draco would never forget the dinner he attended at Hermione's house, it was the weirdest and most alien experience he would ever have. Sirius, Sybil, and Draco had used the floo network to get there the first time, which scared the living hell out of the entire Granger Family. It turns out that Hermione had no idea what the Floo Network even was. She had expected the family to walk up to the front door. It took almost fifteen minutes to calm down Gwen and Rupert and to explain that the Floo Network was one of the most direct forms of wizarding travel. Gwen managed to calm down enough to ask politely for them to never do that again. Sirius, laughing, agreed.
The rest of the dinner was spent with the wizards asking the muggles, 'what is that?' Such as the television in the living room, the refrigerator and microwave in the kitchen, the stereo system, the electric lights, etc. Gwen and Rupert were beside themselves in amusement but Hermione was slightly embarrassed the entire time, and had a blush painting her face constantly. After dinner, Gwen had turned on the 8:00 news, and Sirius' eyes nearly popped out of his head at the appearance of the 'slightly shrunken flat man and woman' who were the news anchors. Hermione had to explain to Sirius and Sybil what was going on, because Gwen and Rupert couldn't hold in their laughter. It was too much for them, having to explain to adults what a Tv was, and how it worked. It was just unreal.
After they left, Hermione told her parents off for embarrassing her, to which they told her she needed to lighten up. Draco had had a similar conversation with Sybil and Sirius, where they told him roughly the same thing.
This time, Sirius took Draco down the road and hailed a taxi. While Sirius didn't know much about muggle life, Lily had imparted him with enough knowledge to work out how to handle muggle transportation. Sirius gave the driver the directions to the Granger house, to which the man replied that it wasn't too far away which was good, because of the day's traffic. It took them roughly twenty minutes through the thick traffic to arrive. Draco had memorized the way by intently watching the street signs that they passed.
Sirius told Draco to go ahead and fetch the girl while he held the taxi up. Draco pushed the little button next to the door, and listened to the bell ring about inside the house.
Gwen Granger opened the door, who smiled down at Draco, "A pleasant surprise," she quipped, and ushered him inside, with a wave to Sirius, "the bloody football game's got London gridlocked," Rupert was saying in the living room, his eyes on the television.
Draco waved at him, when Rupert registered his presence. Rupert waved him over to watch the game. "I take it this is football?" Draco asked, watching the people run around on foot chasing a white and black ball. Something happened that had Mr. Granger upset.
"Yes, my boy. Tell me about this...Quid-leech?" He asked looking at Draco, as the game was interrupted by a woman telling them about some new car, Draco couldn't understand it so he looked at Mr. Granger.
"Quidditch, sir. It is played by two teams of seven players: three chasers, who handle the Quaffle; two beaters, who handle the bludgers, a keeper, who defends the hoops; and the seeker, who chases the snitch." Draco explained with a small smile. Draco could tell Mr. Granger was trying to follow along.
"And what's the object of the game?" He asked, curiously.
"The chasers try to get the quaffle, a ball about this big-" Draco held his hands up, "-into the other teams hoops, there are three of them. And the other team's keeper defends. The beaters work as defense and try to hit the opponent chasers with the bludgers, which are balls about this big," again Draco held his hands up," each time the quaffle makes it through a hoop is ten points. The game isn't over, however, until the snitch is caught by one of the team's seekers. The snitch is this big," Draco held up his fingers, "and is golden and very hard to see. Some Quidditch games have gone on for days, because the snitch couldn't be found. When the snitch is caught, that team wins one hundred and fifty points." Mr. Granger nodded his head to all of this.
"And this is all done...on broomstick?" He seemed to recall Hermione mentioning that.
"Yes, the hoops are about fifty feet off the ground, or higher," Draco admitted. Mr. Granger nodded faintly again.
"I wouldn't mind watching a game, I don't think. It sounds dangerous, like Rugby." Draco had no idea what that was, but nodded.
Hermione came down the steps, followed by her mother. Hermione had a book under her arm, and her owl in its cage in the other, while her mother had a cloth duffle bag of Hermione's things. Hermione put down her owl carefully, and then the book and hugged Draco. They had been back from Australia for only a couple of days. Hermione's skin had browned from her stint in the sun, even if it was winter there.
"Hello," She greeted. Draco took the bag from Hermione's mother and took it back to the taxi, after he wished her parents well. Draco liked his dad, he seemed interesting. When Hermione's bag had been put into the 'trunk' of the taxi, she came down the steps with the owl and her book. The taxi driver looked warily at the owl. She stammered out something about a school pet project, and then the three were off. Hermione was at the window, with the owl cage in her lap. Keema had grown since Draco had seen her last, but she hooted at him for a treat. He held out his empty hands to show her, and she hopped around so her back was to him. Draco and Sirius laughed faintly.
Sirius and Draco had no idea how to have a conversation around an unsuspecting muggle, so they remained silent the twenty minute ride back to Grimmuald Place. "My babysitter used to live here! She told me stories about the ghost family that lived on the street," she said pointed to where Sirius house was located though it was invisible, "the numbers go from 11 to 13. She said that after the family died, their house vanished from the street." Sirius laughed faintly, but didn't say anything to her because of the taxi driver.
After they got out, Sirius paid the man. Sirius shouldered Hermione's bag and they stood in front of the houses 11 and 13. Hermione gasped with realization. "It's hidden! What's the spell called?" Sirius smiled down at the astute girl.
"The Fidelius Charm. It was first put into place during the first Wizarding War, after I inherited the house," Sirius explained. "It keeps the muggles out, now." As Sirius was speaking, Hermione watched as house number 12 became visible, by squeezing itself out of between the two walls of 11 and 13. It was the strangest sort of thing Hermione had ever seen, it reminded her of the bricks moving out of the way in Diagon Alley, but it wasn't near as powerful as an entire house becoming visible. Sirius led the two children inside. Harry and Neville thundered down the steps to meet her, and they both gave her awkward one-armed hugs. Draco smirked to himself, remembering the full hug he received from Hermione earlier; not that that made him proud that Hermione obviously liked him better- it had nothing to do with that. They greeted each other.
At hearing the noise, the parents emerged from various rooms down the hall. Hermione was properly introduced to Lily, Alice, and Frank, and reacquainted with Sybil and James. She shook all of their hands and they all decided to move into the sitting room to talk. Rose was hidden behind her mother so well, Hermione barely noticed the young girl. "That's Rose. She gets shy around new people," Harry told her, he waved her little sister over, but she didn't budge. Draco thought back to meeting Rose, she had run to him and given him a bone-crushing hug. That didn't strike him as shy behavior.
Hermione waved to the little girl, she must be six or seven. "It's ten minutes until dinner, show Hermione up to where she will be sleeping tonight," Sirius suggested. Draco picked up her bag, and Harry took Keema from Hermione, despite her protests, and the two boys fought for the lead up the staircase.
"I'm sharing a room with Neville up on the third floor," Harry told her.
"And my room is on the third floor as well," Draco explained.
"Rose usually sleeps in the room you get, and she would have shared with you, but she decided to sleep in my parent's room," Harry explained. On the landing, they led her down the hall instead of up the stairs, and they opened the bedroom for her. The wallpaper was clearly old and faded, but was a pleasant shade of green. The curtains were a brighter green, having been sun bleached for many years. Draco sat her bag down onto the bed, which had peach colored sheets, and sat down next to it. Harry sat Keema down onto the nightstand and opened the cage for her, to be able to fly around. Keema launched out and landed on Hermione's shoulder. She absently stroked her tawny feathers.
"So how is tomorrow going to work?" Hermione asked.
"We're going to Hyde Park to take a Portkey to the camping grounds outside of the Quidditch arena in the morning," Draco explained. Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and he could guess the question forming in her mind.
"A portkey is an object the Ministry makes to allow for travel. It is faster than flying but complicated," Draco explained, "because you have to be touching the object at the exact second it is activated for it to work properly."
"So it could be anything?" She asked, to which Draco nodded, "That's fascinating."
"We'll be next to a tent with your Ravenclaw friends," Harry said, "my dad arranged it all, after I told him about Boot getting tickets for Christmas. I don't know if we are in the same box or not, though." Harry admitted, Hermione shrugged. She didn't care about the actual Quidditch game at all, she didn't even know who was playing.
"Where is the World Cup being held?" She asked, having done a tiny bit of research, she discovered it was held in a different country every four years.
"France this year, the next one I think is set for England," Neville spoke up. "America is playing England," he informed her which caused her to roll her eyes, they didn't quite understand the eyeroll so she explained.
"There is just a muggle grudge, about past colonization that we learned about in primary. Some parents teach their children to still hate the Americans for seceding from the monarchy years ago. It is pointless but there is still a feud that goes on. I guess that isn't the case for the wizarding countries."
"Most wizarding countries get along, I mean not everyone likes everyone, but there aren't wars like the muggles have about land and resources. A dark wizard will pop up now and again, but that's something different." Harry explained. His mother was muggleborn, so she had taught him and his sister a bit more about the muggle world. Hermione nodded faintly in understanding.
"So how have your summers been so far?" Hermione hadn't taken Keema with her to Australia, and had instructed the boys not to write her while she was there because of the distance. She didn't want any owls being hurt or exhausted during the trip. Before that, everyone had been too wrapped up in being with their families.
Hermione ran a hand through her hair. Draco realized she was wearing the bracelet he had gotten her for Christmas, and he went to look out the window to hide his blush, so they didn't notice. Honestly, Draco had forgotten about the stupid thing as well. It looked like Hermione finally found it, after seven months. The others didn't seem to notice his strange behavior and he was glad they weren't observant. No doubt Hermione had noticed though.
She did.
"Dinner time!" Dobby popped out of thin air, startling Hermione so much she fell against Neville, who steadied her. Dobby grabbed a hold of both of his ears and pulled them downwards. "Dobby didn't mean to scare you miss! Forgive Dobby! Dobby didn't mean it!"
"It-no. It's okay, Dobby. I am fine! I'm not mad, just pleasantly surprised." Hermione sank down in front of him and held out her hand, "I'm Hermione Granger," she said. Dobby looked at her hand and then up at the other wizards, and then back at her. He gingerly took her hand-well he grabbed a few of her fingers and shook it, and then smiled.
"Miss Granger is very nice to Dobby. Dobby thanks Miss Granger for her kindness." He took his hand back and then waved at the other boys.
"Mister Malfoy, is there anything I can do for you?" Dobby asked, catching sight of Draco at the window. His blush was completely gone then, so he turned away and smiled at him.
"You could call me Draco," the boy said, like he had been saying for the past several years.
"Yes Sir!" The house elf popped away with barely a noise. Hermoine stood and turned to Draco.
"You have a house elf?" She asked surprised. She didn't know much about them, she had only been into the Hogwarts kitchen once.
"He has been with my family since he was born." Draco shrugged faintly, "I don't like ordering him around," he admitted.
"You guys forget his important message," Harry reminded them," Food!" The three boys launched themselves out of the door and thundered down the stairs. Hermione followed, but at a reasonable speed. They immediately got quiet as they passed by a curtain in the hallway. Hermione was curious, but didn't ask, and they were soon in the dining room. The table was oddly long enough to house the four Potters, three Longbottoms, the two Blacks, and Draco and Hermione. Sirius, Sybil, Lily, Rose, Harry, and Neville sat on one side and James, Frank, Alice, Draco and Hermione sat on the other side. The table was clearly divided to have an adult side and a child side.
The food looked delicious and was expertly arranged. The hodgepodge of people dined on turkey, dumplings, black eyed peas, spinach salad, and potato soup. Hermione didn't know where to begin, but Draco had no problem filling his plate. She took a modest helping. She listened as the boys excitedly chattered about tomorrow's game, while she tried to catch Rose's eyes. The girl was deliberately ignoring her, Hermione realized. Draco had faded out of the conversation between Harry and Neville. Hermione leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Thanks for the bracelet," she told him, causing his face to heat up.
"It took you long enough," he managed to get out, she smirked faintly.
"I don't eat candy that often, Draco. I found it because Keema knocked the bag over when I was repacking my trunk for school." Draco made a mental note to feed Keema an extra treat. He shrugged his shoulders a little.
"Still."
"How is the puzzle coming along?" She asked, her mind had been on their Christmas presents. Draco grinned ruefully.
"I don't see how you expect me to put a puzzle together when the pictures keep changing," he admitted. She almost seemed disappointed.
"I thought you were clever," She said with a faint purse of her lips. Draco glared at her faintly.
"I am clever," he vowed, "I'm in Ravenclaw."
"Then you should have no trouble figuring it out." She remarked. Draco rolled his eyes and decided he was going to finish his meal without talking.
"Has anyone gotten the item's list from Hogwarts yet?" Hermione asked across the table to Harry and Neville. The two boys shook their heads.
Alice seemed to have heard her and looked at her from over Draco's head, "that letter usually gets sent out the first or second week of July, dear." She smiled kindly, "Neville tells me that you were instrumental in his passing of Potions class." Hermione blushed a little, and realized Neville was as well.
"He didn't need that much help," Hermione told his mother, "Professor Snape just moves rather quickly."
"He also told me about your last second help to win the Gryffindor House Cup," Alice pressed, causing Hermione to blush again.
"Well, I didn't do it on purpose. I had won the tournament that Professor Snape was putting us through and they decided to announce the winners during the end-of-term feast," Hermine admitted.
"So you beat the other first years?" Alice inquired. Hermione looked down at her plate and pushed a spinach leaf around.
"The second and third years as well," Neville supplied the missing information and Hermione bit her lip.
"Well not all of them," she said, "I only went against a few of them. It came down to Draco and I." Hermione didn't like the attention, and she noticed she had drawn the gaze of Sirius, Sybil, and Lily as well. She only suspected the Frank and James were paying attention as well.
"Is it also true that you dueled three fifth years at once, and beat them all?" Lily asked, leaning a little over the table. Her eyes looked identical to Harry's, though they were not behind glasses. The dining room was eerily quiet for a moment.
"Yes," Hermione replied meekly, "they weren't very smart, or organized. One of them hit another with their own spell..."
"She is Professor Snape's favorite student," Harry revealed, which caused Hermione to laugh.
"He likes his Slytherin students more," she waved a hand dismissively. She desperately wished the conversation moved away from her.
"I'll get her next year," Draco spoke up, "I'll be Dueling Champion next," he promised. Hermione grinned cheekily at him.
"We'll see." The adults had turned back to talking, about the good ole days at Hogwarts, and the children listened.
They had gone to school with Snape, they revealed. Severus was a childhood friend of Lily's, and James and Severus did not get along. They played pranks on each other daily; Lily called it bullying, but James dismissed the notion. It was true that there was no love lost between the two men, but James would always owe the man for saving his wife when he was unable to do so. Severus had killed the Dark Lord in order to protect Lily. That wasn't something one could forget.
After dinner was over, the adults retired to the sitting room for tea, and the children were dismissed to go to bed. They had a super early morning, apparently. Hermione didn't mind, she was pretty tired. The boys grumbled as they climbed the stairs. Hermione waved them goodnight as she went into the room she was staying in.
Sirius stood at the bottom of the stairs, his wand pointed at his throat. "Sonorus."
"CHILDREN IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! BREAKFAST IS SERVED IN TEN MINUTES, BE DOWN HERE OR ELSE!"
"Quietus," Sirius pointed his wand at his throat. Sirius rejoined the adults in the kitchen, who were laughing at what he just did.
"If we had been woken up like that, you would have hexed someone." James was laughing at Sirius. Sirius took a sip of his tea and shrugged his shoulders. The adults were all dressed in their best muggle attire: James wore a grey button up and black slacks, Lily was in a green and yellow summer dress, Sirius wore a white and beige pinstripe suit, Sybil was in a maternity dress that was white and purple, Alice wore gray shorts and a black tank top, and Frank wore cargo shorts and a white polo shirt. The kids all knew to wear muggle clothes and at random intervals foot steps thudded down the stairs.
Hermione was first down, she wore a blue blouse with short sleeves and brown shorts and sandals. She sat down easily at the dinner table and smiled at the adults, "Goodmorning," she said happily.
"You must be a morning person," Alice observed as she put a plate in front of the girl, laden with eggs and bacon. Hermione smiled her thanks up at Alice.
"Yes ma'am. Keema also wakes me up to let her out every morning," Hermione replied, stabbing some bacon with her fork. Harry joined them next, who didn't really smile at anyone, sank down next to Hermione and stole a bite of bacon from her. She smacked his hand away, but didn't complain too much. Lily smacked him on the back of the head lightly and sat a plate of food down in front of him. Draco was the next one down, who seemed to be still asleep as he walked. He almost tripped over his own feet as he slumped into a spot on the table.
"Why so early?" Draco mumbled with his palms rubbing his eyes.
"The portkey will be activated at precisely 6:15, and we need to be there!" Sirius replied to the boy, patting his back. Sirius sat a plate of food in front of him and Draco absentmindedly picked at it.
Neville ran down the stairs, and when Neville made it through the archway first he yelled out, "Good Morning!"
"Must you do that?" Harry asked bitterly, glaring at his best friend. Neville was so full of energy, it was like waking up early was just something he did. Everyone in the room save Draco and Hermione knew how wrong that was. Neville was just excited for Quidditch.
"It's annoying." Rose made her entrance with a doll in the crook of her arm. She climbed onto the bench next to her brother and leaned against him. Her hair wasn't brushed and her muggle shirt was on inside-out and backwards. Hermione hid a little laugh at the girl's pitiful state. Lily picked up her daughter and carried her out of the room to fix her shirt.
"Hurry children! Ten minutes until we have to leave!" Sybil clapped her hands and urged the children to finish eating. Hermione picked up her plate and took it into the kitchen, where she came across Dobby and Kreacher, fighting over sink space to clean and dry. Hermione sat her plate next to the sink and wished the two a good morning. Kreacher ignored her presence, but Dobby turned and smiled at her, with his huge eyes.
"Good morning, Miss Granger! Dobby hopes you have a wonderful time!" He had to turn his attention back to the sink, however, because Kreacher nearly elbowed him off the chair they were balanced on.
When Hermione went back into the dining room, Mrs. Longbottom suggested she go retrieve what she was taking with her to the World Cup. Draco had told Hermione they could be staying there as little as one night, and as many as an entire week. The Cup wasn't over until the snitch was caught, and it had taken a week before. Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted that to happen, but the closer it came time to the match, the slightly more excited she became. Everyone else was practically salivating for the game, she supposed it was rubbing off.
At the end of the allotted ten minutes, the children all had their bags with them, and the adults theirs. Sirius and James were nominated to carry the tents they would be splitting between the eleven of them and they hoisted those packs on their shoulders. They had originally wanted to hail a taxi, but they decided that would be too strange to explain to the multiple taxi driver's about why they had all of this gear and wanted to go to Hyde Park.
So off they walked. It wasn't too far away, but the morning air was crisp and even after being awake for a while, some of the children were dragging their feet.
Hermione, however, walked with her head up, her eyes looking around the early morning traffic. She knew this area pretty well already, because of the time she spent at that babysitter's house. Hyde Park eventually came into sight. James took out a paper and consulted it and then waved them across the road to the park. Hermione wondered what the paper told him, but decided she didn't need to break the silence of the morning.
They came to a bench in the middle of a walkway, to the unknowing eye, it was a normal bench, however, Hermione noticed an M engraved into the wood of the seat, to which she leaned into inspect. "That's the sigil to the Ministry, dear," Alice supplied the information and Hermione nodded. This was the portkey? She wondered.
James suddenly said, "I have it!" He held up a ripped rugby ball. Hermione raised an eyebrow but he waved everyone over. "Hurry, hurry, kids, you crouch around low." He waved them over. Draco and Hermione squeezed in next to each other, with Harry on her other side, Neville on his other side, and Rose between Neville and Draco. James instructed them to touch the dirty thing, and Hermione did, but with a bit of hesitance. The adults leaned over the children and also touched the ball.
"Four...three...twoooooo...onneee-" Suddenly, an invisible tether jerked her from her waist upwards. Bodies bumped into her and the scenery evaporated in a whirl of early morning grays. They were spinning and careening through the air with no rhyme or reason. Hermione decided in her mind that if it lasted much longer, she was going to lose her lunch.
It was then that the spinning let them go and they crashed to the ground. The adults straightened themselves up, but Hermione found herself at the bottom of a pile of knees, elbows, and curses. Once she made it to her feet, she looked around them. They were in a field, tents marched off into the horizon to the left and right of them.
A man with a clipboard and a pocketwatch approached them, "Potter, Black, Longbottom," the man in a tweed suit greeted them, "Field 3, put the hill and past the orchard." He waved them off in a hurried manner, so off the adults led the children.
Harry had seemed to come out of his sleepy stupor and was happily chatting with Neville about who was going to win-of course they were going for England. The American team, apparently, had come out of nowhere during the season, and won every match. England was the hometown favorite, but the Americans were the underdogs in this match.
Hermione vaguely wondered what their team colors were, as both muggle flags had the same three colors. She had no idea if that translated into the wizarding world or not. As they walked, Hermione's shoes were drenched in morning dew. She didn't seem to mind, the English air was crisp and-
No wait. France. They were in France.
She looked around with new interest as she drank in the sky and everything. They had been whizzing through the air only for a short amount of time, but she was in a completely different country. Magic was amazing.
They came to a small wooden hut where a man with glasses and overalls waited for them, "Bonjour. Quel est le nom?" Hello. What is the name? The man asked, his French rolled off his tongue easily.
James and Sirius exchanged a look, clearly thrown for a loop. Lily stepped forward with her daughter on her hip, "Bonjour monsieur, nos sommes sous les Potters." Hello sir, we are under the Potters. The man seemed surprised at her flawless French. He flipped through his papers.
"Ah oui, oui. Vous êtes ici, Potter. Juste après les vergers, le site est marqué avec des marqueurs bleus." Ah yes, yes. Here you are, Potter. Just past the orchards, the site is marked with blue markers. Lily smiled at him and then she turned to James and gestured for James to pay him. "Merci beaucoup. Passez une bonne journee." Thank you, very much. Have a good day. He smiled at James for the pouch of money, and at Lily for her French.
"Merci, au revoir!" Thank you, goodbye! Lily called as they walked away. Lily took the lead, as she was the only one who could understand him. They walked for about twenty minutes between the tents until they came to their designated spot, via blue markers.
Frank and Alice took watch as Sirius and James waved their wands a few times. Hermione was caught up in staring at all of the tents around her. Most were canvas tents-she was used to that. Some tents had second floor balcony's, others had glass windows, and chimneys!
Ah, magic. Hermione smiled as she turned. Lily was taking Rose into the tent on the left-the smaller tent. Hermione realized the tents were gender divided. She shrugged her shoulders as she followed them inside. The inside however, looked nothing like she expected. There was a kitchen area, complete with iron stove, bench, sink, and cabinets for dishes. There was a few cots that dotted the back that were divided with canvas walls. The ceiling of the tent was ten feet above her head, which created the illusion that they were in a house.
Hermione claimed one of the beds as her own and then she went back outside. The boys were just emerging from their tent. "Ron!" Harry called and waved. Hermione turned and was no prepared for the sea of red that was coming their way.
A middle aged red headed man lead five equally red headed children behind him. Hermione easily identified Fred and George and Ron in the fray, but she did not know the younger sister, nor the older boy. Rose ran out of the tent and practically tackled the girl. "Ginnyyyyy!" The girl squealed happily. Hermione glanced at Draco, who was busy looking in the other direction.
It was a parade of Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner, plus adults. Hermione didn't recognize any of them, but she waved happily to see her friends. Draco smiled and waved as well. The Weasley family took the empty plot on their left, and the hodgepodge of others took the plot on the right. Hermione and Draco excitedly got reacquainted with their Ravenclaw friends, and Harry and Neville did the same with Ron, Fred and George.
"Ah, Draco," Sirius called walking over to them, "Do you and Hermione fancy going into the orchard and getting some sticks and branches for fire?"
Hermione looked away as Michael had been showing her the bite mark he had gotten from a dog at her name. Draco nodded to Sirius, as did Hermione. The two excused themself and walked towards the thick patch of trees.
Hermione counted them as they walked towards them. Twenty trees made a row, with four columns. "I wonder if anything is in bloom," she mused aloud. Draco shrugged as they passed into the shadow of the trees. Hermione started picking up dried fallen sticks and thicker branches. Draco looked around, not sure what to pick up. The first one he picked up was soggy and nearly fell apart in his hands. He looked to Hermione for help.
"Ahh. oh. Dry ones, like this," She held up a good example and he nodded. She also pulled up some dead grass and dry leaves for kindling. After the both of them were laden with firewood, they walked back to camp. As they returned, it seemed like Harry and Neville had been sent on a mission of their own, because they had buckets of water weighing them down.
Hermione sat herself down and started to arrange the fire in a tee-pee fashion, with the kindling nestled inside. Draco watched with a curiously raised eyebrow, "Why not just pile it on?" Draco asked. Hermione glanced at him and then grinned. Wizards.
"This is so the air can get through all of it. The fire will catch to the kindling first, and then everything else with catch." Hermione looked around but didn't see anything to use to light the fire. Sirius had laid out a circle of rocks to show where the fire went. He came out of the tent with a box of muggle matches. He saw Hermione's fire and handed her the box of matches without hesitation.
He watched as she opened the box and struck the match and dropped it between the upright sticks. The kindling started to smoke and then caught fire. Then the sticks lit not long after that.
"Superb job, Hermione," Sirius praised as he took the matches back from her. Lily set up a teapot over the fire, with water the boys retrieved. Hermione then rejoined the boys as they talked about their gaming expectations. Hermione supposed at the end of the day, there would be a winner and everyone else would be disappointed.
The Quidditch Pitch was erected entirely from wood, and loomed over them like a mountain. Hermione's eyes widened as they went inside and started to climb stairs to get to their viewing box. And up they climbed. And up they climbed.
And up they climbed.
Considerably winded, Hermione didn't even consider how far up in the air they were, she just wanted to sit down. When they actually did get to their box, however, she shivered. They were in the top box. All the way up. The highest they could go. Hermione didn't realize she grabbed a hold of Draco. He looked down at her pale hand gripping him, and then her gaunt face as she looked out. Draco put a hand over hers and whispered to her, "Nothing's going to happen, you're safe," he promised. She didn't seem to hear him, as her eyes didn't leave the open space before them, but her grip lessened.
They were going to be sharing a booth with the Weasley's, the Minister of Magic, the American Governor of Magic, and several other Heads of the Ministry. The children scrambled to claim the first row, and it took a not-too-gentle tug from Draco to get Hermione to move at all. She sat down into her seat with a thud. Lily seemed to notice, "Dear, are you alright?" She asked, her eyes wide with concern.
"She's...not okay with heights," Draco finally realized. He had thought her dislike of Quidditch had just come from her stint with the broom, he realized now that it stretched a bit deeper. He felt bad for basically guilting her into coming. He felt like a horrible friend. Hermione glanced at him and then at Lily.
"I'm-no. I'm fine. I just didn't know we'd be...so high up," she finally admitted. Lily took her hand and gave a small squeeze.
"If you need to, we can step out?" She asked, she still had that gaze of concern. Hermione shook her head and set her jaw.
"No." She realized how rude that sounded and looked down at her feet, "I mean thank you, but I am fine." She seemed like she was ordering herself that, instead of trying to convince Mrs. Potter. Lily stood and put a hand on her shoulder and then went back to her original seat next to her husband. Their group of adults and children took up the entire first row, and a half of the second. The Minister of Magic had not yet arrived, but there were a few other important people that the adults started to mingle with.
Hermione forced her gaze out onto the Quidditch Pitch and tried to convince herself that she needed to stop this foolish behavior, and that she was perfectly safe there. She wasn't going to fall out of the box or anything; that would be ridiculous. She turned towards Draco and had him explain more about what she should expect to see for the Match-she had never paid attention to the games at Hogwarts. The conversation lasted about twenty minutes.
Ludovic Bagman walked in then, a happy gait in his walk, and approached the adults in the booth. He boisterously greeted Arthur Weasley-he apparently had something to do with the procured Top Box tickets-and then James Potter, whom he seemed very friendly with. James introduced him to Sirius Black, and then they briefly went over who the 'unfamiliar children' were in the front row. Hermione turned her head when she heard her name called, but went back to mentally scolding herself for being afraid of heights. Draco turned when James mentioned his name, and Ludovic made a noise of exclamation. The man walked around the seats and put a supportive hand on his shoulder, in a moment of showing respect for Narcissa. Draco looked at the hand and then the unfamiliar man and spared him the tiniest of smiles.
"You're a great boy, Draco Malfoy," the happy faced man said, "you enjoy this game, yeah?" He asked, his eyes crinkled at the sides in a smile.
At that moment, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge walked in trailed by the American Governor of Magic. They two were talking happily, and didn't notice anyone else, until Cornelius Fudge literally walked into Ludovic. "Ahh, Bagman, it's nearly time to start the game, is it not? You should get into your position!" The man urged him on. Fudge and the Governor (named Alexander Pendergast) took their seats and Ludovic Bagman pointed his wand at his throat, "Sonorus!" He cast.
"Welcome, excited spectators to the Four-hundredth and Twenty-first Quidditch World Cup Final!" The Blackboard that they had a full view of went blank of advertisements and said clearly; U.S.A - 0, ENGLAND - 0.
"May I welcome out onto the field, the English National Quidditch Team Mascots!" The right side of the stands, colored red and white, erupted in pandemonium. Down on the field, giant...four legged birds entered the field. There had to be at least a hundred of them and riding these creatures were witches and wizards wearing hooded red and white robes. The giant creatures took flight with huge wings and flew in a loose formation in loops around the pitch, gaining height as they flew. When the horde reached well above the stands, they started dive-bombing in random directions, flying very close to the stands.
"WHAT are they?!" Hermione found herself asking.
"Hippogriffs!" Came the reply from one of the adults behind her. Hermione gazed at the beautiful things, feathered and furred both. After all hundred or so had landed, they went back to their side of the pitch, the riders of the Hippogriffs dismounted and fed treats to their mounts.
"And now! Please welcome the American National Quidditch Team Mascots!" Hermione leaned down and watched as a herd of brilliantly white unicorns ran out of the left of the arena, the left-sided spectators cheered uproariously as they did so, their navy blue and dark red colors flashing. Hermione covered her hand over her mouth in surprise.
"UNICORNS ARE REAL!" She didn't realize she squealed, her fingers clamping around Draco's arm. The boy chuckled lightly at her.
"Of course they are," he replied. But he didn't understand-he wasn't muggleborn, he had no idea the hope that some muggles held out for magical beings, unicorns and dragons topping the list. This revelation was tremendous and Hermione couldn't wait to tell her parents. Unicorns were real!
They paraded around the ground, jumping over each other, Hermione spotted one that stood on its front feet for a moment, and after a few minutes of it, they returned to the left side of the pitch.
"Heeere we have the English National Quidditch Team! Edric Vosper! Avery Hawksworth! Keaton Flitney! Dawn Withey! Indira Choudry! Denison Frisby! Aaaannnd Blythe Parkin!" Each player zoomed out in turn riding silver brooms, they circled the pitch, waving and then took a position on the right side of the pitch.
"And welcome, from way across the ocean, The American National Quidditch Team! Gianni Fedele! Debbie Muntz! Robert Green! Greg Ruczinski! Troy Duvall! Ralph Heidelberger! Ariel Singleton!" The left side cheered crazily as their players took to the field and flew around waving. Once they were into position, the referee took position between the two teams.
"Everyone, let's welcome the Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, aaaallll the way from Egypt, Hassan Mostafa!" The man, as Hermione squinted to inspect, seemed to be bald. He pointed to a box on the side of the pitch, one that he must have put there, and the box flew open and four balls flew out of it. Hermione only saw the Snitch in a flash of gold before it was gone, though the other balls were larger and easier to follow.
"Here you go dear, to watch the game," Alice Longbottom was at Hermione's shoulder with a pair of binoculars, though they had several different attachments. Hermione took them from her graciously and looked through them. She could see the quidditch players much easily now. As soon as the whistle was blown, the American captain Fedele took control of the ball.
Hermione quickly tuned out the shouted play-by-play of Ludovic Bagman and watched the game through the magical device, which she found could slow down time so she could actually watch what the players were doing. After a few minutes of crazy zig-zag flying, America scored the first ten points, much to the groan of half of the arena.
Hermione didn't feel much of anything but apprehension as she watched the game. Occasionally she would look at her friends down the row of seats to find them practically drooling over what they were watching, Draco included. Hermione just couldn't get into it. She did notice that the two seekers, both stern faced women, were flying around the pitch high and low looking for the snitch.
After three hours of amazing flying, acrobatics, and a surprising number of fouls, England was ahead by ten points at 60-80. Hermione excused herself to find a bathroom, and when she let Lily Potter know that, the woman took her daughter and the three of them went off to locate a lavatory. Rose walked on the other side of Lily-as far from Hermione as she could get-and didn't say a word the entire way there and back. When they returned, America had scored two goals which brought it to a tie.
The game seemed to stretch on again for another two hours, Bagman had nearly screamed himself hoarse-he was so into the game because he was a retired player on the English National Quidditch Team. Hermione's fingers itched to hold a book or something; she had lost interest in the game. Both teams were evenly matched when it came to offense. The keepers however...well there was a reason both teams were upwards of a hundred now.
Mustafa blew his whistle for several long seconds, which caused all players on the field to stop playing and look at him. He pointed at his throat with his wand and cast the Sonorus charm, "With the score at America; 120, and England; 110, the game is hereby suspended until noon tomorrow!" Hermione checked her watch and rubbed her eyes, it was midnight!
The adults all conversed and decided to stay in the booth for several minutes, to allow for the lower floors to empty before they attempted to leave. Twenty minutes later, it seemed, the party left the Top Box and made their way back to their tents. Hermione was nearly asleep on her feet, but managed to stay away by listening to Harry, Ron, Neville, and Draco recount their favorite moments of the match. Hermione only really remembered when the English beater Whithey hit a bludger so hard it knocked the American chaser, Green off his broom. Mustafa had caught Green with magic and gently set him on the ground. Green returned his broom to him and got back into the game.
Once the group made it to the campground, the adults quickly prepared a quick and simple meal and they ate in an excited chatter. Hermione didn't weigh in much of her opinion, since she would rather be doing a couple of different things, but after the meal was over she hugged everyone goodnight. She fell asleep instantly, her game day clothes still on.
The game went on for four more days.
Four. More. Days.
Hermione got more of a tan from the French weather than she did in Australia. She was so sick of Quidditch when the game was finally over. America was ahead one hundred points (600) and England was barely managing to keep up (510). England pulled it around, however, when Blythe Parkin caught the snitch. The England side of the pitch when absolutely crazy when she did, because she had dove from her broom twenty feet off the ground to catch it. Once she had it in her hand, she front flipped a few times and landed on the ground rolling in a tight ball. When she sprang to her feet she held the golden ball above her head, grinning magnificently to the crowd.
Everyone was happy the game was over, especially Hermione. The second night of the Cup, Hermione had written to her parents and let them know that the game could go on for a few more days, because the teams were so evenly matched. She had Draco write the explanation as to why the game would last so long, and her parents had written back that they didn't mind that she stay until the end of it. Her father was happy that she liked a sport, even if it was a magical one. Draco and the others were happy that she could stay to watch the rest of the game, but Hermione's bum was sore from sitting, and she was tired of feeling like she was going to plummet to her death from being so high up.
But if she was really being honest, she was over the irrational part of her fear of heights, and now she simply didn't like it.
The English fans partied on the camping grounds for another few days when the rest of the sane spectators went home. Hermione had been so glad when she could sleep in her own bed again. They had taken a portkey back to Hugo Park in the dead of night and walked to Grimmuald Place with all of their things. The boys had considerably more to carry because of the little trinkets and souvenirs they had purchased during the ridiculously long game. Ron and Neville had actually lost their voices on the third day.
Her parents were happy to see her, and they spent the rest of Hermione's meager summer break doing 'normal, boring, muggle things.' Hermione had eventually remembered to tell her mother about the unicorns, which caused her mother to laugh for a few minutes and demand if dragons were real too. When Hermione told her that they were, she went quiet.
Whoo. This chapter was difficult to write. I didn't have much to go off of for the mascots, or the quidditch teams, so I referenced Harry Wikia again. ^.^ I do apologize for not writing more out for the five days of the tournament...but good lord, it would have taken me a LOT longer to do that, and I figured we all wanted to move ahead a bit quicker. Lemme know whatcha thought!
After this chapter, I am going to try my best to keep the chapters at a max of 5000 words (this one is clocked in at 9,100 ish), because damn.