AN: This chapter features the introduction of a French character, who I am hoping I got the dialect right for. Any and all feedback on this would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Chapter 6

Ginny had only been asleep for a few hours when she was woken by a gentle tapping on her shoulder.

"Ginny… Ginny we've got to get up," Hermione whispered. Ginny rolled over and rubbed her eyes before slowly opening them to find Hermione standing over her.

"Is it time already?" Ginny asked sleepily as she stretched her arms out over her head and arched her back. She felt like she had just fallen asleep, but then she remembered why they were waking up so early. "The Quidditch World Cup! It's today!" Ginny bolted out of the cot and rushed over to the chest at the end of her bed to pull out clothes for the day. Hermione laughed at the sudden change in the younger girl who moments ago was sound asleep, and now was full of energy and life.

"I'll leave you to get ready Ginny. I'm guessing Harry's not having the easiest time getting Ronald out of bed. I'm sure I could be of some help in that department," And with that the older girl left.

Ginny pulled her Gwenog Jones jersey up over her head and threw on a pair of jeans. She knew Gwenog Jones wouldn't be competing at the Quidditch World Cup, but it was by far her favorite piece of Quidditch apparel, and she figured if she just so happened to run into her favorite Quidditch player that maybe she'd be willing to sign the jersey. Ginny grabbed a jumper as well and threw that over the jersey. She quickly packed an overnight bag, scanned her room for anything she may have forgotten, and headed downstairs towards the kitchen. The twins were seated at the kitchen table, along with Mr. Weasley. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

"Where's Percy, Charlie, and Bill?" Ginny asked of her dad.

"They'll be Apparating. And before you even ask, no, Fred and George, you're not allowed to Apparate. You will be coming with us." The twins grumbled a little at this, but seemed to not be overly bothered.

Harry and Hermione entered the kitchen, followed by a very disheveled Ron. Everyone at the table stood at their arrival, and the whole group followed Mr. Weasley out the back door. They walked out into the garden, through the hedges, up over the hills, and past the orchard. They continued walking… And walking… And walking… Ginny was fine. She'd been trying to get into the best shape she could over the summer as she knew it would only help her flying ability. Some of the others, Ron and Hermione especially, didn't seem to be coping with the length of the walk very well. Ginny, who had been in the back of the group, jogged a few steps to catch up to Hermione.

"Give me your bag," Ginny instructed Hermione as she walked alongside her.

"What?" asked a bewildered Hermione. Ginny could hear that the older girl was struggling to catch her breath as they continued up a particularly steep hill.

"Give me your bag," Ginny repeated. "It really isn't a problem at all." Ginny smirked as she said the phrase she and Hermione had been swapping back and forth over the past few days. Hermione gave her a stern look, but reluctantly allowed Ginny to take her bag off of her. Ginny barely noticed any difference as she began walking with the two bags, and Hermione seemed to breathe easier at this. The two walked side by side for the duration of the trip.

"Good morning, Amos!" Mr. Weasley greeted a man just around his age as they entered a small clearing at the top of the last and tallest hill they climbed on their journey.

"Good morning, Arthur, nice to see you all!" Mr. Diggory smiled at the group as they arrived. "I know that most of you know my son Cedric." A tall, handsome boy stepped out from behind Mr. Diggory.

"Good morning Fred, George, Harry," Cedric acknowledged the boys that he knew from competing against them in Quidditch as he was a Seeker for the Hufflepuff Qudditch team. He then turned to Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, "We haven't officially met, I'm Cedric." He proceeded to shake each of their hands. Although he was on an opposing school team, Ginny had always thought very highly of Cedric based on his Quidditch ability and how he carried himself both on and off the pitch. He was very humble and modest, especially given his good looks and athletic/academic abilities. Ginny never really thought anything of it, he was obviously handsome, but the majority of the girls at Hogwarts were obsessed with him, and she never quite understood what all the fuss was about.

"Alright then, are we all ready?" Mr. Diggory asked the group.

"Uh, ready for what?" Harry asked.

"We'll be traveling by Portkey this morning, Harry. That right there is our Portkey." Mr. Weasley answered while pointing to an old, unassuming boot that was sitting off to the side in a patch of long grass. "Everyone grab hold in three, two, one, now!"

In one moment everyone in the group was grabbing onto the boot, then suddenly they were slamming into the ground in a completely different location. Ginny bounced up before anyone else, looked around, and smiled - they were at the Quidditch World Cup. She looked down and saw Hermione struggling to get up, but when she moved to help her, Cedric had beat her to it and was helping the brunette up by hand.

"Thank you, Cedric, that was very kind," Hermione stammered, seemingly jarred from the hard landing.

"Not a problem. Traveling by Portkey is never fun. Are you okay?" he asked.

"She's fine, Hufflepuff!" Fred hollered as he got to his feet. "Our Hermione is tougher than she looks."

Cedric smiled from Fred to Hermione "I didn't mean to imply that she wasn't tough. I just know how I felt after the first time I took a Portkey. I threw up," he whispered the last part so only Ginny and Hermione could hear him, and they laughed in response. He gave the girls a kind wink and then jogged away to catch up to his father. The girls looked at each other and laughed again, and then caught up with the rest of the group as Mr. Weasley was already up and moving away from where they had landed.

After checking in with the Muggle in charge of the campsites, whom Arthur found to be wildly fascinating, and hiking out to their location, they set up two tents. There was one larger tent for Mr. Weasley and the boys, and a smaller one for the girls. Ginny and Hermione set their tent up pretty quickly, and then helped the struggling boys with theirs. Once both tents were up and bags were stored within the respective tents, the group was raring to go out and explore.

"I'll stay here and wait for Bill, Percy, and Charlie to arrive," Mr. Weasley said. He was exhausted from the journey, and looked as if he might take in a nap while the kids were away.

"We'll see you later dad!" George exclaimed, and the group of six set off to take in the sites of the Quidditch World Cup.

Fred and George pretty quickly split from the group and set off on their own, leaving Ginny with the trio. They chattered excitedly as they passed campsite after campsite, witnessing many different wizarding cultures. Sites seemed to be grouped by country, as colors of tents, flags, and supporters clothing were blocked primarily together. The four stopped at a vendor surrounded by a sea of pale blue, and Harry bought each of them a pair of magical binoculars called Omnioculars.

"Harry, this is too much. I don't need a pair," Ginny tried to resist.

"Consider it a late birthday present then. Plus, I think it'll be good for you to have for tonight – help you prepare for the upcoming tryouts," Harry smiled at her as she reluctantly took the Omnioculars he was pushing into her hands.

"Thanks Harry," she smiled back at him.

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed from behind them. He was looking through his Omnioculars over at one of the largest cluster of tents, all draped in red and black – the Bulgarian campsites. "Who are they?"

"Ronald, I believe those are the Bulgarian fans. Can't you tell by their flags and the colors?" Hermione answered.

"Of course I know that! Who are… They… Bloody hell!"

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione looked over to where Ron was staring and spotted a small group of women that were surrounded by many, many men. The women had long white blonde hair, very fair skin that almost seemed to sparkle, and were strikingly, almost blindingly beautiful. Ron was stumbling towards them, Omnioculars still plastered to his face, and Harry had to grab and hold him back so they wouldn't lose him in the rapidly growing swarm of men. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, puzzled. These women were obviously beautiful, but that seemed to be a bit of an overreaction, even for Ron. Harry was currently wrestling with Ron, trying to keep him with the group, when Ginny held up her Omnioculars to take a look. As soon as she did, she immediately understood Ron's odd behavior. She felt a warmness surge throughout her body that she'd never felt before, as she stood stunned, with her gaze transfixed on the beautiful women. She needed to get closer to them, needed to impress them, needed them. Just like Ron had attempted, Ginny started to walk, still looking through her Omnioculars, towards the now raging crowd surrounding the women.

"Ginny!" Hermione yelled as she threw her arms around Ginny's waist, trying to hold her back. Ginny kept driving her legs forward as she knew that Hermione's strength would be no match for hers. "Harry, help me!"

"I can't, Ron will get away if I let him up!" Harry had pinned Ron to the ground at this point, and was struggling to keep the taller boy from getting away.

Ginny held the Omnioculars up with one hand and reached down with the other to try and pry Hermione's fingers off of her waist. Hermione was scrappier than she thought she'd be, but Ginny knew she could get away with a little persistence. She had to get away, she had to get to these women.

"Ginny please!" Hermione cried out as she struggled to keep her grip on the younger girl. "You could get trampled!"

It was then that Ginny felt Hermione's fingers slip away, and she thought she was finally free. She took a few quick, strong steps forward to break into a run when she was hit with a very solid, yet slender figure that was tackling her to the ground. She could feel whoever it was trying to wrestle the Omnioculars from her tight grip.

"No! I'm fine, no!" Ginny argued as she tried to resist whoever was on top of her while keeping her eyes on the beautiful women in the crowd.

The stranger chuckled femininely, then spoke softly and confidently with a French accent. "I do not zink you are fine, little one."

The Omnioculars were knocked from Ginny's hand and she immediately closed her eyes, shielding them from the bright sun above her as her focus on the group of women had been broken. Reality came flooding back to her, and as the surge of warmth disappeared, she could feel her body again. Ginny was on her back, pinned to the ground, being straddled by a stranger. Her eyes flew open, and again, she was stunned. The girl who had tackled her had silky dark hair that was draped over one shoulder, so long that it was nearly tickling Ginny's face. She had olive skin, a small collection of freckles splashed across the bridge of her nose, and brown eyes with flecks of gold and green swimming in them. Ginny stared up into her face, mouth slightly agape, taken aback by how attractive the girl above her was. The girl looked back at her with a look of smug satisfaction.

"Feel better now, little one?" the stranger smirked. "Feel a little bit more in control?"

"Uh… No… I mean yes… I mean…" Ginny stammered, frozen by her current position.

"Thank you so much, I thought I was going to lose her!" Hermione had suddenly appeared in Ginny's sightline and thanked the girl who still had Ginny pinned to the ground.

"You are very welcome. It 'as been 'appening a lot today, mostly with ze men and ze boys, which 'as been very entertaining," the girl laughed. "I just could not let zis little one get swept up in ze mob. I'm Juliette." The girl reached out her right hand to Hermione as she introduced herself, still holding Ginny firmly to the ground with her legs and left hand.

"Hermione," the brunette shook Juliette's hand. "Thank you for helping her."

"Um, excuse me? Can you get off of me?" Ginny leaned forward to push Juliette off of her, but was immediately pinned back down to the ground with one hand, as the girl hadn't yet released Hermione's hand from her grasp. Hermione blushed at this and looked away from the two of them, and Juliette once again smirked as she looked from Hermione down to Ginny.

"Of course, little one, sorry about zat." The girl jumped to her feet and offered a hand out to help Ginny up, which Ginny ignored. Ginny got to her feet and glared at the girl.

"I'm Ginny," Ginny thrust out her hand towards the girl. "Not 'little one'. But thank you for helping me."

"Juliette. You are welcome, Ginny." The smug look had returned to Juliette's face, and Ginny felt anger bubble up inside of her. "Fan of ze 'Arpies, are you?" Ginny looked down at her jersey as Juliette motioned to the golden talon on her chest.

"Yes, I am," Ginny answered defiantly. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling she needed to defend herself. "Are you a Quidditch fan?"

Juliette's smug smile returned once again as she nodded, "I mostly support ze Quafflepunchers, but I will also back ze 'Arpies every so often. 'ard not to with zem being the only all-women team in ze league. For ze Quidditch World Cup I was obviously 'oping my 'ome country would make it to ze Finals," the girl motioned to her own top now, a pale blue tank top with the French emblem front and center "But clearly zat wasn not in ze cards. It would 'ave been nice to watch my sister play." The girl shrugged nonchalantly as Hermione and Ginny stared at her. "Josephine Marat? French Captain?" Ginny's jaw dropped slightly at this, but she snapped it shut as quickly as she could, not wanting to give Juliette the satisfaction of her shocked reaction. Hermione's expression hadn't changed. Juliette focused on Ginny, "So Ginny, do you just support, or do you play as well?"

"Well, I'm not on our house team at Hogwarts, but I'm hoping to get on as a reserve this year. We've got a lot of talent and experience at the Chaser position, and I'm only a third year, so I don't mind learning from them and earning an opportunity as a sub. Ultimately, I'd love to play for Holyhead someday." Ginny replied, trying to sound as confident and sure about herself as should could. Juliette studied the redhead, looking her up and down before locking eyes with the young girl.

"You are strong, especially for your age and stature, but you could be stronger. Focus on zat. I know I 'ave never seen you fly, but if you are a decent flyer and you work on your build, I would be interested to see what kind of a Chaser you could end up being. Zat is, if you have ze IQ for ze position..." Juliette then focused on Hermione. "And what about you? What do you think of ze world's greatest sport?"

"I support my friends who play it, and I know enough to understand when I watch my friends play," Hermione answered. "Now what I would like to know is what makes you think that you're authorized to give Ginny unsolicited advice? What are your credentials, besides being related to a famous Quidditch player?" Hermione stared down the girl, hands on her hips, sternly awaiting her answer.

"Well… As a fourth year at Beauxbatons I will be ze captain of my Quidditch team after being ze leading goal scorer for ze past two years. And I very narrowly missed out on a chance to represent my country with my sister zis year at ze Quidditch World Cup," Juliette replied confidently, looking amusedly at Hermione. Ginny paled a little at this impressive answer. "At 14, almost 15, zey figured I was a bit too young. I suppose I can wait for ze 423rd Quidditch World Cup." Juliette flashed her perfect smile at Hermione, took a few steps towards her, and lowered her voice slightly, "So, what do you think? Am I qualified enough to 'elp out little Ginny 'ere?" Juliette studied Hermione's fierce stare. Ginny looked between the two of them and was shocked to see Hermione's eyes soften under Juliette's gaze, and then a hint of color appear in Hermione's cheeks.

"Well, I guess that does qualify you to give some advice…" Hermione conceded reluctantly, still maintaining eye contact.

"And what about you, 'Ermione? Any advice zat you would like to give to me?" Juliette asked in that same low voice as she took one step closer to Hermione, giving the girl what could only be considered to be a seductive smile.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Hermione stated pointedly, albeit a bit shakily. "I think some humility wouldn't hurt. And who are you to be going around tackling girls to the ground?"

"Mmm 'umility…" Juliette feigned thought, "I will look into it… But I zink I am fine. And I am sorry, but it looked like you needed some 'elp reigning in little Ginny 'ere. Or did you want 'er to get crushed in 'er quest to get close to ze Veela?"

Ginny had charged forward to argue the use of "little" once again when referring to her, but stopped upon hearing the word she didn't know, "The what?"

Juliette looked at the younger girl, "Veela? Ze women who you were mesmerized by in ze center of ze group of men over zere? Zey are ze Bulgarian mascots for ze Finals tonight. Zey use zeir beauty to seduce and essentially control all zose who are attracted to women." Both Ginny and Hermione again stared at Juliette, and then Hermione glanced at Ginny.

"Wait… They only affect people who are attracted to – " Ginny started to say.

"Hey, thanks a lot! We're lucky that Ron doesn't have nearly any stamina built up, or we could've lost him to that crowd over there! Uh, who's this?" Harry interrupted as he walked up to the three girls, a very sweaty and grass-stained Ron staggered up beside him, a steady stream of swear words pouring out of his mouth. Both boys stared at Juliette, stunned by her beauty, just as Ginny had been.

"This is Juliette." Hermione introduced the dark-haired girl. Juliette stepped towards the boys.

"Juliette Marat," she stated confidently, flashing her bright smile at the two gawking boys. "And you are?"

Both Ron and Harry introduced themselves to Juliette, but said nothing more. Ginny stood there silently, still thinking about what Juliette had said, and trying to process what that meant. Juliette glanced at the young girl briefly before looking to Hermione and tipping her head towards Ginny. She then took a step back towards the sea of blue tents, "It was nice to meet everyone, I am sure I will see you all again soon. 'Ermione, Ginny, boys…" she nodded at each of them before giving Hermione a knowing look and turning away, leaving the four of them to silently watch her walk away.

"How in the bloody hell did you meet her? She was fit!" Ron exclaimed, turning to the two girls. Ginny was still lost in her own thought, and Hermione was now looking at her with a worried expression on her face. "Erm… What's wrong with you two?"

"Mate, you've caused enough issues in the last fifteen minutes to last this whole day. Let's head back to the tent and get ready for the match tonight, alright?" Harry ushered Ron away from the girls and headed back towards their campsite.

"Ginny… Are you okay?" Hermione asked tentatively. Ginny took a moment before she spoke.

"Hermione, Juliette said that Veela seduce and control people who are attracted to women… I was not myself when I was looking at them… I had no control over what I was doing or feeling or thinking… Am I… Do I…?" Ginny broke off, dropping her eyes to the ground. Hermione closed the gap between the two girls and put a reassuring hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"Ginny?" Ginny didn't respond to Hermione. "Ginny, look at me." The redhead reluctantly looked up from her shoes to lock eyes with Hermione. "If that's the case… It's okay… It doesn't change who you are…" A single tear ran down Ginny's face. "Ginny come here." The older girl wrapped the younger girl in a tight hug, putting her hand on the back of Ginny's head as Ginny had buried her face in Hermione's shoulder.

"Sorry…" a muffled Ginny apologized from Hermione's shoulder. "This is just a lot to take in right now." Ginny stepped back from Hermione and wiped away her tears.

"You don't have to think about it right now, if you don't want to. I know tonight's match is a really big deal to you. Why don't you just move this aside for now, and focus on Quidditch? If you do want to talk about it, know that I'm here for you, okay?"

"Are you sure? Hermione, we've been sharing a room for what, two days? I don't want to burden you…" Ginny dropped her head at this and another tear fell down her cheek. This time, Hermione wiped it away. Ginny looked up at her.

"I'm sure," Hermione gave the girl a small, warm smile. "It's okay Ginny. You're okay. Let's go back to the tent and get ready for the match, okay?" Ginny nodded, wiping away another tear. Hermione wrapped her arm around Ginny's shoulders and started to guide her back towards their campsite.

"Thanks Hermione…" Ginny said in a small voice as they walked along.

"You're welcome, Ginny." Hermione returned as she gave Ginny's shoulders a squeeze.