Updated: June 29th, 2017

Chapter 5: The Portkey

Two days passed in a blur. The night before the World Cup, Molly made us a large dinner. At nine, she forced all of us into bed with full bellies. We had to be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry and I left our school list with Molly so she could get our new books and things from Diagon Alley. Apparently there wouldn't be enough time for us to get it ourselves. The last match went on for five days! Harry was a ball of enthusiasm; he clearly did not want to go to school. Percy was the least excited, saying he couldn't stand the state of his in-tray at work if he was away five days. Fred joked that someone might slip dragon dung in it…again. His pompous brother turned as red as his hair when he told us that it was a fertilizer sample from Norway, nothing personal. A likely story! When Percy went to his room, Fred turned to me and said it was personal. He and George sent it.

It was early in the morning (way to early if you ask me) when I was shaken awake on the day of the game. I opened my eyes to see my bushy-haired best friend hovering over me. She was already dressed for the day and had a bag slung over her shoulder.

"When'd you get here," I yawned largely.

"Just now," Hermione replied with a grin. "Get dressed. Ginny says her mum will have breakfast ready soon."

As Hermione left Ginny's room, I rolled out of bed. I dressed in dark jeans and a green shirt in support of Ireland. I yawned again and stretched as I grabbed my pack and headed downstairs into the kitchen. Molly was, as always, over the stove while Arthur was shuffling through a package which held our tickets. He looked up as I entered, spreading his arms so I could see his No-Maj clothes. He was wearing a golf sweater and an old pair of jeans.

"Do I look Muggle enough, Cora?"

I smiled, "You look perfect, Arthur."

Molly turned around and smiled at me. "All ready for the match," she asked. I nodded and sat down at the table. Hermione and Ginny appeared in the doorway, along with Fred and George. "Where are Ron and Harry?"

"Still asleep," Fred answered. He rolled his neck around as he took a seat next to me. I cringed when I heard the cracking noises.

Molly asked Hermione to wake them as she poured porridge into bowls. With a flick of her wand, the bowls floated to the table and were set down in front of us. I put three large spoonfuls of sugar in mine and grabbed a handful of raisins. Before the others could dig in, I had already begun chowing down.

"Where're Bill, Charlie, and Percy," George yawned.

"They're going to Apparate there later so they can have a bit of a lie-in," Molly explained as to why her three eldest sons weren't with us.

"So they're still in bed," Fred grumbled. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and haven't passed the test, dimwit," I chuckled.

Fred threw me a playful glare and bumped his knee against mine, sending a jolt up my spine. There were footsteps in the hallway and Hermione, Ron, and Harry came into the kitchen. The boys looked pale and drowsy. Ron rubbed his eyes, "Why do we have to be up so early?"

"We've got a bit of a walk," Arthur said. Collective groans from his family (me as well) were heard around the table. "We only need to walk a short way. It's difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be careful about how we travel."

"George," Molly said sharply. We all jumped at the sudden change in tone. "What's in your pocket?"

"Nothing…"

"Don't you lie to me," Molly pointed her wand at George's pocket. "Accio!"

Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket. He tried to grab them but missed and they sped right into Molly's hand. Uh-oh. Molly threw a fit. She had her twin sons empty their pockets. They had been trying to smuggle out as many of their sweets from the house as possible. Molly used the Summoning Charm at least three more times to get all the candies off the boys. They came from all sorts of unlikely places like the lining of George's jacket and the cuffs of Fred's jeans.

"We spent six months developing those," Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the candies away.

"Oh, a fine way to spend six months! No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s," Molly retorted.

The atmosphere was not very friendly as we left the Burrow moments later. Molly was still glowering as she hugged and kissed us all goodbye. Fred and George, however, walked out without another word to her. Molly's face fell as she shouted at them to behave. As the rest of us set off, Molly said she'd send the other three later on in the day. No one answered her.

It was chilly and still dark as we moved on through a wooded area. The sky turned orange and pink along the horizon where the sun was slowly rising. Arthur caught up to the twins, passing them by at a rate I had no idea he was capable of. Harry and Ron fell behind as Hermione, Ginny, and I walked side-by-side talking about the stuff we wanted to do when we got to the World Cup. Besides our soft conversation, it was quiet. The only sounds were our footsteps and the soft breeze through the leaves in the trees. We walked until the sun was just over the horizon, making the sky a deep blue tinged with pink and orange and now red. My hands were frozen inside my jacket pockets and my feet were starting to get damp from walking in the dewy grass.

"Hey dad," Ron shouted from behind. "Where are we going?"

"Haven't the foggiest," Arthur shouted back. "Keep up!"

Up ahead, a man was standing under a large tree. When he saw Arthur he smiled widely, "Arthur! It's about time!"

The girls and I neared as the two men shook hands. The other wizard was tall and had an aging face with peppery brown hair. His oval glasses were slightly askew on his wide nose. Arthur introduced him as Amos Diggory. He worked with Arthur at the Ministry in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. As he was saying this, a rather handsome boy dropped down from the tree.

Cedric Diggory was the boy all the girls wanted at school. Like I said, he was a very handsome seventeen-year-old; tall, strong and silent type. He had chiseled features with light brown hair and light brown eyes. He was the Seeker and Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team at school. He greeted us all, smiling a dazzling smile. We all said hello back. Except for Fred and George, actually. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating Gryffindor in the first match last year (the one where Harry fell a few thousand feet in the rain).

"Well," Arthur hiked up his pack, "better be on. Still have more walking to do."

We all followed in suite. Ginny giggled softly as Cedric turned to follow. I looked at her, then back to him. I nudged her with my elbow and smiled, understanding why she felt the need to giggle. Cedric had a nice ass. Behind us, Mr. Diggory was introducing himself to Harry and start up a conversation. I don't know how long we walked, but we eventually came to a slope. The dewy grass made it hard to keep my footing. I stumbled over the occasional rabbit hole and slipped on tufts of grass. Cedric, who was walking with Harry behind me, had to catch me at times. I apologized but he said it was nothing. He was such a nice guy. Soon, each breath was sharp in my chest and my thigh muscles screamed at me. I hated being out of shape.

"There it is," Arthur pointed to something at the top of the hill.

Ginny sped past us all, reaching the top first. I kept my pace as Cedric caught up with her. Upon my arrival to the top I took a large breath and let it out loudly. Climbing was not my thing. Looking down, I saw our mode of transportation; an old boot. Right away I realized it was a Portkey, something I had never used before. I stood in the semi-circle next to Ginny as we waited for the others to catch up.

"Why are they standing around a manky old boot," Harry questioned out loud.

"That isn't just any manky old boot, mate," Fred smirked, joining the circle.

"That's a Portkey," George finished, following his twin.

"Time to go," Mr. Diggory announced.

Everyone was in the circle now. It was a bit difficult because there were ten of us and we all had bulky packs on our backs. A chilly breeze swept over the hilltop making me shiver next to Ginny and Hermione. We all touched the boot, trying to keep at least one finger on the old leather.

"After three," Mr. Diggory told us. "One…two…"

"Harry," Arthur exclaimed. Harry rushed over, throwing his hand over the twins to touch the boot.

"THREE!"

I screamed as we shot up into the air. I felt as though a hook had yanked me up from my bellybutton. I didn't look down as my feet left the ground. I could feel Ginny and Hermione on either side of me, their shoulders banging into mine. We sped forward in a howl of wind and swirling colors of green, white, blue, and red. My finger felt as if it was glued to the boot, keeping me from falling to the ground below. After a few minutes, Arthur shouted at us.

"Let go!"

"What," Hermione screamed incredulously.

"Let go!"

Suddenly my finger detached itself from the boot. Ginny, Hermione, and I screamed as we all fell to the ground. Hermione and Ginny hit the ground next to Ron as I fell on top of George, who was just getting up. He let out a muffled groan.

"Ah gravity, thou art a heartless bitch," I groaned and I looked at George. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he smirked as I got off him, "not like you weigh a ton."

I playfully smacked him in the chest as Fred walked over to us, his expression unreadable. "Alright you love birds, time to get up."

I laughed as Fred grasped my hand, helping me stand. We were standing close, very close. I was very aware of the warmth in my hand and the heavy thumping my chest. I watched as the corner of Fred's lips twitched up. "I bet that cleared your sinuses, eh," Arthur slapped Fred on the back. I looked away from the young red-head twin, blushing furiously. Fred grabbed his fallen pack and left to join his twin. I let out a short breath. What the hell just happened?

"Cora," Hermione waved me over to where she was standing with Harry and Ron. I ran to catch up with them. Everyone was standing at the edge of the hill. Just beyond was a massive, MASSIVE crowd gathered in the basin. We could hear the music and cheering from all the way up on the knoll. Hundreds upon thousands of tents were set up. All stretched out in front of a large stadium that glittered in the early morning sunlight.

"Well kids," Arthur smiled. "Welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!"