Attempted sexual assault after the page break. As with all fanfiction, read at your own risk.
At the appointed time, Aria and her party made their way towards the stadium, Sirius and Arthur leading the group as they held the tickets and knew where they were going. They still were not revealing where exactly their seats were, just that they would all enjoy it.
Percy had told the night before that it had taken over 500 workers to build the stadium and about a year for them to do it. It was massive, larger than any soccer field Aria had ever seen on television. Percy had said it could fit 100,000 people.
Inside the stadium, the stairs were carpeted in a deep purple. Aria and her party clambered skywards, moving with the crowd, which slowly filtered off into the stands as they kept climbing. Aria was glad that there were so many stairs at Hogwarts, else she would have been winded with all the climbing.
Eventually they reached a slightly larger landing, a natural break in the staircase. Some people continued onwards and upwards, but Sirius and Arthur walked across the landing towards an ornate door.
"Are you serious?" Bill cried from behind the group. "Top Box?"
Arthur grinned wildly at his children.
"So, like . . . the best of the best seats?" Aria questioned. Sirius grinned wildly at her. She squealed, grabbing Hermione's arm and the two of them vibrated with excitement.
"How'd you do it, Dad?" Ginny asked as Sirius and Arthur passed everyone a thick parchment ticket.
"I cannot give you up all my secrets," he teased.
They gave the security witch their tickets and she handed them each a velvet program gilded with either gold or silver. It was thick with 422nd QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, DARTMOOR, ENGLAND emblazoned upon its front. The program was full of team and player bios, information about the host country, and the countries playing in the final.
In the Top Box were over two dozen purple-and-gilt chairs in multiple rows and they had front row seats. Aria eagerly followed Harry to the end of the row. At first, she thought they were the first ones in the box, but upon another quick look around, she noticed a house elf sitting scrunched in a chair on the end of the second row, peeking out through her fingers as she trembled. Her pillowcase was sewn into a neat little dress and was an interesting shade of lilac or lavender.
"Are you all right?" Aria asked the little creature. The house elf squeaked.
"I is saving a seat for my master," the house elf said, voice trembling, "but Winky is afraid of heights!"
"Oh, you poor thing!" Hermione cried. Aria too felt a little upset on the creature's behalf. These seats were reserved, there was no need to terrify a house elf to save a seat. She wondered who the house elf belonged to.
Turning back to look over the stadium, Aria's breath was taken away. All around, a hundred thousand wixen were taking their seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. The entire stadium was covered with a golden light that brought an ethereal quality to the whole event, as if it were happening in a dream. The field far below was as smooth as velvet, or at least appeared to be, and at either end were the three goal hoops, towering fifty feet high although the Top Box was clearly far above the tops of them. Across from the box, directly at eye level, was a gigantic blackboard that Aria supposed would be the scoreboard eventually, although, at the moment, it was flashing advertisements across the field written in golden writing as if by an invisible hand before being wiped off and going on to the next advertisement.
The door to the Top Box opened again and admitted several more people. At first Aria's heart soared with excitement seeing Draco step in followed by his mother. Her heart sank just as rapidly as Lord Abraxas Malfoy followed behind, with Lucius Malfoy taking up the rear. Lord Malfoy could not keep his face straight as his eyes fell on who was already in the box. His deep frown became deeper the more his eyes lingered on the Weasleys, then Remus and Sirius, and finally, Aria.
"Good afternoon, Lord Black," Narcissa Malfoy said, gently guiding Draco into the second row. He sat in the seat next to the trembling Winky who only looked up long enough to squeak before hiding her face again. Draco sat behind Aria and his mother behind Sirius.
"It's always a pleasure to see you, Cissy," Sirius said, reaching out a hand. Narcissa took it and Sirius kissed her knuckles. Lucius came and sat beside his wife, meaning Lord Malfoy had to sit farthest from Aria, for which she was glad. She did not think she would be able to handle him sitting directly behind her the entire game.
"How on earth did you manage Top Box seats, Arthur?" Lord Malfoy asked. "Isn't this above . . . your paygrade?"
The door opened again, and Percy stepped in.
"Ah," Lord Malfoy said, "I suppose it helps to have an insider."
"Good evening," Percy greeted, voice clipped and short. He settled beside Bill. There was an awkward silence that was only broken by Sirius speaking with Narcissa. Within another few minutes the door opened, and a group of people poured in. Aria recognized the British Minister of Magic, but he was with a group of people that she did not recognize. Minister Fudge was gesturing wildly while talking very loudly to another man. Was the other man deaf? Was that why Fudge was so loud? The other people were a man and woman and two younger children, not quite Hogwarts age, a boy and girl. Behind them were wizards and witches that were dressed in sharp black uniforms, almost like security of some kind.
"Ah, here are our companions!" Minister Fudge cried, throwing his arms wide and gesturing to those already present in the Top Box. "We have here the illustrious Weasley family, they are quite involved in the ministry, and Mr. Percy here was quite instrumental in helping get this World Cup up and running."
Aria shared a look with Ron, Hermione, and Ron.
"Illustrious?" Aria questioned. Ron shrugged.
"And we have here Lord Black," Fudge continued, "his c-companion, Remus Lupin, and their ward, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry looked like he was contemplating jumping out of the Top Box as the delegation made their way down the front row.
"These are my friends," Harry said as he shook the hand of the man next to Fudge. "Aria Bourne, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley."
"This is the Bulgarian Minister of Magic," Fudge said. "Oblansk. And with him here is Bulgaria's Tsar and Tsarina, and their two youngest, Tsarevich Ivan and Tsarevna Desislava."
"Are you really the Boy-Who-Lived?" Desislava accented, her accent thick, but cute for a girl of nine. "I thought you'd be taller."
The Tsarina hushed her daughter while Harry tried not to laugh.
"I am," Harry told her. "Truth be told though; I don't remember much. I'm pretty certain I'm only here because my mum and dad protected me."
Sirius and Remus grinned at Harry. The Tsar looked Remus up and down.
"I remember reading about you in the paper," he said. "There was some . . . how do you say . . . drama about your teaching? Were you unconventional?"
"He was the best professor ever!" Ginny piped up, unapologetically decked out in Irish paraphernalia.
"Hogwarts had its highest NEWTs and OWLs in fifteen years under him," Sirius added. Remus' face began to turn bright red.
"Ah," the tsar said. "Vell, I am certain ve could find a spot open at Durmstrang if you need it."
Minister Fudge's eyes bulged. Aria heard someone behind her cough in surprise. Even Remus could not hide the shock.
"That's very generous, Your Majesty," Remus said. "But I am quite content at the moment looking after Harry. And I don't think he would want to transfer."
"Ah, vell, it was a vorth a try. The Boy-Who-Lived vould be an excellent alumnus to Durmstrang." The royal family and the Bulgarian minister went to their seats and Fudge had to hastily introduce the Malfoys to them. Aria peeked behind her and could see that Lord Malfoy was trying to hide how angry he was. She caught Mrs. Malfoy's gaze, and the woman gave her a quick smile before Aria hurried to turn around.
Music filled the stadium. Sirius and Arthur began passing out ear plugs to the boys. Remus slid in his own ear plugs.
"What're those?" Aria asked.
"The mascots are about to be introduced," Sirius explained. "Bulgaria's mascots are Veela and their song allures men."
"Only men?" Hermione questioned. "What about lesbians?"
Siris slipped his plugs into his ears, leaving Aria and Hermione to look at each other. Aria, taking a chance, turned in her seat and climbed onto her knees, peering over at Mrs. Malfoy.
"Do Veela only affect men?" she asked. "Or is it anyone attracted to women?"
Narcissa laughed.
"That is an interesting question," she said, even as Draco gave them a side-eye. "Veela song allures only men. I don't know why."
Satisfied, Aria and Hermione turned back around.
"My grandmother once gave me an illustrated book of Slavic mythology," Hermione said. "Veela were mentioned. Some tales have them as ghosts of drowned women, usually by their lovers, others claim they're fairy like creatures that live in bodies of water and can control storms. One of the stories out of Bulgaria said that Veela were girls who died before they were baptized."
"Huh. Probably can't ask the Royal Family about it," Aria muttered in response.
"Probably not."
A large group of Veela took the field and everyone in the Top Box with omnioculars used them to peer all the way down on them. They were beautiful women with white-gold hair and skin that appeared to glow like the moon. Their hair fanned out behind them as they danced, even though Aria was certain there was no breeze. They swayed their hips quite prettily and even Aria, who was strictly attracted to boys, could appreciate their beauty.
A moment later the music changed, indicting the Irish mascot was about to make an appearance. To no one's surprise, leprechauns, a large hoard of them, came onto the field, magically creating a giant leprechaun dancing a jig in the stereotypical green suit and hat seen in many cartoons. Aria was surprised at how small the leprechauns actually were and wondered how they traveled because it would be easy to lose a tiny six-inch person.
"WELCOME TO THE 422ND QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!"
The announcer was a man that Aria had not seen enter the Top Box. He wore the standard ministry robes and held his wand to his neck to amplify his voice. At his voice the mascots of both teams descended upon their designated area pitch side.
Once the mascots were corralled in their mascot areas each team took to the field, the Bulgarians entering through a plume of white, green, and red, their scarlet uniforms with gold trim shone bright in the lights of the stadium. With her omnioculars, Aria could make out the team's emblem on the breast of each player, a black and red star and Snitch. The Bulgarian National Team rode scarlet colored Firebolts, which glistened in the stadium lights, showing off how brand new and polished they were.
"Are those Firebolts?" Ron cried. "I thought they flew on Cleansweeps!"
"INTRODUCING THE BULGARIAN NATIONAL TEAM!" the announcer cried. "DIMITROV! IVANOVA! LEVSKI! VULCHANOV! VOLKOV! ZOGRAF! AAANNNDDD KRUM!"
Behind them, Aria could hear the little prince and princess screaming loudly for Krum. She could not help but cheer as well, seeing as she had chosen to support Bulgaria.
"AND NOW, INTRODUCING THE IRISH NATIONAL TEAM!"
The Irish came flying in on their brand new Firebolts through a plume of orange, white, and green. Their white uniforms with green trim flared out dramatically as they took their introductory lap around the stadium.
"PRESENTING – CONNOLLY! RYAN! TROY! MULLET! MORAN! QUIGLEY! AAANNNDDD LYNCH!"
The Weasleys, barring Ron who was keen on cheering for Bulgaria, cheered as loudly as the Bulgarians had for the Irish. Hermione waved her Irish flag.
Th game began to a deafening roar of the crowd. Aria watched in fascination at how fast the flyers were. She had watched Harry take laps around the Black Lake and the Quidditch Pitch on his Firebolt and had even sat behind him on it while he took her at a slow speed around the pitch, but she had never imagined how fast they could get when used by a professional. It was astounding!
Troy from Ireland scored the first goal of the match, putting Ireland on the board. Ireland scored another two goals in quick succession before Bulgaria's Ivanova was able to score a goal, making the score 30-10.
Harry gave a sudden cry and Aria turned her attention away from the Chasers to the Seekers as Krum dived for towards the ground. Lynch turned his broom and followed after Krum. They sped closer and closer to the ground.
"They're going to crash!" Hermione cried.
Suddenly, at the last moment, Krum pulled up, skimming across the field while Lynch, unable to pull up in time, collided with the ground and tumbled a few meters. Krum soared back up into the sky as Irish fans booed him and mediwitches rushed onto the pitch.
"That was amazing!" Harry cried. "I've only read about the Wronski Feint!"
"Oh, is that what he did?" Aria asked. "I thought Krum was going to smash into the ground!"
After the mediwitches fussed over Lynch for a few minutes he got back onto his broom and took to the skies to the cheer of the crowd.
Fifteen minutes later, the Irish had taken their revenge for the Wronski Feint and had pulled away to get the score to sit at 130-10. It was then that the Irish Chaser, Mullet, was fouled by the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf.
The field briefly descended into chaos. The Veela threw fireballs at the leprechauns, stunning Aria because she had had no idea that Veela could even do that; and some Veela tried to distract one of the referees. Eventually, once all the penalties were taken, game resumed with Ireland 170-10.
Only for Krum to take a bludger to the face from Quigley, breaking his nose. Blood could be seen pouring from his nose as the Bulgarian Seeker refused medical treatment for his clearly broken nose and turned his broom to chase after the Snitch. He and Lynch went after the little golden thing. Aria pressed her omnioculars against her face, knowing she was probably leaving marks around her eyes, but she did not care.
Lynch was neck and neck with Krum. The younger Seeker scooted forward on his broom, a dangerous move, but it rewarded him with being able to snatch up the Snitch by its wings.
A whistle blew.
"KRUM CATCHES THE SNITCH!" the announcer cried. "IRELAND WINS 170-160!"
Ron groaned. Aria too felt a little disappointed. At 150 points, the catching the Snitch usually guaranteed a team a win.
The Irish team flew to the Top Box to receive their trophy from Minister Fudge and were so enamored at the amount of Weasleys with red hair decked out in Irish colors, that they insisted on a photo. Ron was convinced to don Irish colors for the photo.
A few hours later, after managing to exit the Top Box into the mass of celebrating witches and wizards, Aria and her friends got permission to go celebrate around the camp. They started heading towards where they knew Seamus was camping. As they made their way through the camp, Aria was jostled by the crowd and Harry barely managed to grab her hand before the two of them were swept away with the crowd towards a completely different area of the camp.
Green, white, and red flags flew around the tents that they found themselves walking by, clearly in a Bulgarian area of the camp. The cheerful celebration around the camp had still infected the Bulgarians. Even though they had lost, they were still partying.
"Since we're here," Aria said, "we should try and find Nikola. He said he would be camping by the team, and I assume that huge red tent in the distance there is the team's."
The tent was emblazoned with the star and Snitch of the Bulgarian team, so it was a good guess.
Moving closer towards the tent, they spotted a few wizards and witches in the same uniform as the royal family guards. That meant one of the large nearby tents must be for the royal family.
"Aria!"
Aria grinned as Nikola pushed his way through the crowd and skidded to a stop in front of her. His face had been painted in Bulgarian colors and he wore a Krum jersey.
"It's great to see you!" Aria greeted. "Sorry about Bulgaria's loss. I was cheering for you."
"I wasn't," Harry said. Nikola laughed.
"It's all right," he told them. "Ve vill vin next time. And ve still got the Snitch so that counts for something. Who is your friend?"
"Ah! Nikola, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Nikola Petrov, he's the one I told you about meeting at the YEP Symposium."
"Harry Potter?" Nikola questioned. "My sister vill be jealous. She likes reading your books."
"My books?" Harry questioned.
"Eh, you know, Harry Potter and the Mysterious Cursed Necklace, that sort of thing."
Harry's eyes were wide with horror.
"Who the hell is writing books about me?" he cried. Nikola blinked, first in confusion, and then a little bit of understanding came over him.
"Someone looking to make money," he settled on saying.
"Wow, Harry, you didn't tell me you were an author," Aria teased.
"Shut up, Aria!"
"No, no! Tell me about this mysterious cursed necklace."
"My life's boring. Your life on the other hand . . . you got a hold of the Philosopher's Stone and you killed a basilisk."
"Vait! You're the one who killed the basilisk?" Nikola was now properly horrified.
"It was an accident," Aria told him. "I didn't know that there was a basilisk . . . I mean . . . I knew about five minutes before the basilisk showed up . . . but yeah. I didn't go looking for it."
Nikola shook his head, looking torn between being in awe and horrified. He settled on a strange half look of each.
"Vell," he said, "since you are here, come celebrate with me and the team!"
"You know the team?" Harry questioned.
"Does he know the team?" a few older boys came up to Nikola, slapping him on the back. Aria and Harry's eyes widened seeing the one who slung his arm around Nikola's shoulders.
Viktor Krum.
"Nikola, you cannot go about stealing my uniform," Krum scolded, only half-heartedly.
"Vhy should I buy a jersey vhen I can get the real thing?"
Krum rolled his eyes and turned his dark eyes to Aria and Harry. Aria glanced at Harry.
"Ron's gonna be so jealous," she said.
"Who're these?" one of the boys asked Nikola. "They look lost."
"Ah, this is Aria, I met her at YEP," Nikola answered. All the boys, including Krum, groaned.
"Another potion fanatic," someone cried.
"And this is Harry Potter."
The groaning stopped and the boys stared at Harry.
"I am not the coolest person here," Harry answered. "Krum, when did you learn the Wronski Feint? Is it hard to learn? I'm thinking of learning it."
"Are you a Seeker?" Krum asked.
"No, the Seeker position's already taken."
"But you've got a Firebolt," Aria reminded him. "Flint nearly booted Draco off the team just to get you on."
"There's a Chaser position that is opening though," Harry said. "I'd like to be Seeker, but Malfoy and I are in the same year so it's unlikely I'll be Seeker unless he decides to suddenly become a Chaser."
Krum laughed, clapping Harry on the shoulder.
"It vas hard to learn," he said, guiding Harry towards the team tent. Nikola waved Aria in with him. "The hardest part vas not hitting the ground."
Two hours later, Aria and Harry were deep in a game of a Bulgarian-wizarding version of backgammon when a dull roaring of voices began to reach their ears. It was enough of a different sort of noise that had been filtering into the tent that everyone paused to look towards the entrance.
"Seems that the Irish really know how to party," Clara Ivanova, one of the Chasers said, taking a sip of her firewhiskey. Nikola had given Aria a sip of the drink and she had immediately decided to never drink it again and had opted for a butterbeer. Nikola, had of course, gotten a head slap from Krum for supplying alcohol to minors and had immediately confiscated Nikola's firewhiskey.
Aria was about to make a joke about the Irish and their party skills when the tent flap opened and one of the royal guards stepped in.
"What is it?" someone asked. "Is it the Irish?"
"It's not the Irish," the witch answered. "It's English Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?" someone else cried. Aria immediately grabbed Harry's hand, surging to her feet, knocking over the game board.
"We've got to go," she cried, tugging Harry towards the entrance. The royal guard put up a hand.
"I've been sent to escort you and Mr. Potter back to your camp," she said. "What're the coordinates?"
Harry rattled off where their camp was and the guard immediately put her hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled them from the tent.
"Stay close!" she ordered, but that was easier said than done. People were running towards the woods surrounding the campsite, screaming. Chaos reigned around them as they pushed against the flow of the crowd trying to cross the campsite.
Over the heads of the crowd, Aria suddenly caught sight of people floating in the air. They were still a distance off, but the people were not just floating, it seemed like they were being bounced in the air. Two were adults, a man and a woman, her skirt flown up over her head showing off her knickers, and the others were children. One child's head was flopping around in an alarming fashion.
"Are those . . . the Muggles?" Aria cried, horror filling her. The royal guard glanced towards where Aria was looking, the grim look on her face the only answer Aria and Harry received.
The crowd around them surged in panic. Aria felt her grip on Harry's hand slip and suddenly she was pulled away with the crowd.
"ARIA!" Harry screamed before he was lost from sight. Aria had no choice but to move with the crowd or risk getting trampled.
As they got closer to the woods, spells began to fly, bursting over the heads of the crowd in horrifying reds and greens and gold. More people screamed. Suddenly, wixen in dark robes and the most frightening skull masks that covered the top half of their faces appeared marching in the crowd, shooting off spells left and right.
The crowd began to thin as they hit the tree line. Wizards and witches disappeared into the woods and the desperate sounds of apparition could be heard echoing throughout the trees.
Aria hoped to find some kind of refuge in the trees. She might be able to climb one and hide up in the branches until this all went away.
As she was about to get to the tree line, a spell hit the ground near her feet. The impact sent her flying and her wand, which she had pulled out and gripped in her hand, went flying. She scrambled towards it, only for a boot to come down on it, snapping it in half. Another boot collided with her side, flipping her onto her back. Air punched from her lungs, Aria could do nothing more but gasp, tears welling up in her eyes from the strike.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! She thought as she stared up at three Death Eaters. The only thing she could make out were their chins and eyes.
Suddenly they were on her, hands everywhere, pressing her shoulders painfully into the ground. A rock stabbed in through her shirt. She screamed as her shirt was ripped down the front and other hands tore at her capris, trying to yank them down off her hips. She managed to land a kick to the one trying to tear down her pants, the Death Eater grunting and moving back for a few seconds. She twisted around, managing to free one arm from another Death Eater.
"Stupefy!" she shouted, throwing her hand out towards one of them. The closes Death Eater was shot back and hit a nearby tree with a sickening thud. Her arm was grabbed, and she was wrestled onto her stomach, face slamming into the ground. She felt blood began to rush from her nose and she spat grass and dirt as she forced her head to the side.
Spells flew above her head. The pressure on her back lifted and she did not take time to see what was happening. She scrambled to her feet and sprinted into the woods.
Another pair of hands grabbed her. She began to struggle.
"Get of me!" she screamed, twisting in the tight grip as the arms wrapped around her waist. "Get off me!"
"Aria! Aria, it's me!"
She managed to twist around and was only stopped gouging out the person's eyes with her fingers by his hand wrapping around her wrist. Nikola's face was deathly pale, and his chest heaved as if he had been running as fast as she had, which, given the circumstances, was probably what he had been doing.
"I-I- I lost Harry!" she blubbered, bursting into tears. "They-the Death Eaters-they-they . . ."
Nikola hugged her tightly as she screamed and cried uncontrollably into his chest, fingers digging into his back as she clung to him. They would need to keep moving. What if more Death Eaters came?
"Tsarevich!"
Aria cringed as more people appeared around them. Nikola tightened his grip even as he shushed her. Rapid Bulgarian was spoken around her. They all sounded like they were arguing. Eventually, Nikola switched back to English.
"Hold me tight," he said. "Ve are getting out of here."
Aria screamed as she was lifted off the ground, legs flying out behind her as she was spun around rapidly as the Portkey whisked them away. She clung to Nikola, afraid that his grip on her would slip, but his hold on her never wavered.