Hi folks, welcome back to chapter 4, first I would like to thank everyone who has, favourited, followed and reviewed my story so far. Secondly, I apologise for the delay between this chapter and the last, but I started a new job and working 12 hours, five days a week is exhausting. And with that said please, enjoy this chapter.
The Quidditch World Cup
Sirius Black Innocent, Pettigrew the real traitor.
Harry grinned as he looked at the framed Daily Prophet article that Sirius had hung up behind his desk of his study in their new home out in the Yorkshire Dales. After twelve years locked in a tiny cell in Azkaban, Sirius wanted a large open home with rolling fields as far as the eye could see. It was a really beautiful five bedroom, three bathroom home with open plan everything, living room, dining room, kitchen, everything, Sirius hated closed in spaces, not that Harry could blame him for that and he loved the home, the master bedroom for Sirius, a huge bedroom for him and a bedroom for Mooney, who he had gotten to know over the rest of his third year, which had been surprisingly quite. He had learned that his Defence Professor was a Werewolf, not that he cared about that and had been best friends with his dad back when they were in school, but due to his fury little problem was unable to take Harry in after that fateful Halloween night, Harry could hardly blame him for not been in his life when he had been threatened with execution by the then Minister, Milicent Bagnold if he went anywhere near Harry. It's a good job she had retired to parts unknown as Sirius had wanted to rip the woman limb from limb when he heard of her threat to Remus.
''Oh well, I have my uncle and Godfather now and I'm away from the Dursley's'' Harry thought with a grin. And what was even better, both men knew of and totally approved of Astoria, Remus after teaching her for a year, knew her to be a very intelligent and thoughtful girl and Astoria had won Sirius over within an hour of them meeting and her regaling him with tales of the pranks she had pulled on Draco Malfoy, he especially liked the pranked she had pulled that had caused his robes to vanish as he entered the Great Hall, leaving him in nothing but a pair of frilly pink knickers and suspenders to the roaring laughter of the entire hall, Harry could still remember Ron rolling on the floor in laughter and McGonagall hiding her face but her shoulders jumping, giving away her mirth.
Thinking of Astoria reminded him that she, Daphne and Tracey were due to arrive tomorrow to go with him, Sirius and Remus to the Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria. A part of him was disappointed that England had missed out on the final after been beaten by Ireland in the Semi-Finals but he was happy that England had beaten the USA to claim third place in the World Cup last week, which in itself was a huge achievement for the English national team, he briefly fantasied been the seeker for England and leading them to the world cup final but quickly shook it off, after all he had a huge mission in front of him didn't he?
After he and Astoria had brainstormed the reason for Voldemort coming after him when he was a baby and had concluded that there had been a reason why the Dark Lord had targeted an 18-month-old baby, Sirius had confirmed that there was indeed a Prophecy.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
The day after Hogwarts broke up for the summer, Sirius and Remus had taken Harry to the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries hall of Prophecies so he could hear the Prophecy that had caused the Dark Lord to target him and his parents, the fact that the Prophecy had been made out to Dumbledore and he had not bothered to tell Harry for whatever reason vexed the young teen, if he had been told, he could have been preparing for the inevitable fight instead of slacking off his schoolwork with Ron, playing Exploding Snap or Chess or whatever else they could come up with to put off their schoolwork. He found it very fortunate that he had met Astoria and they had studied and practised together in secret, after first learning of Sirius's apparent betrayal on their first date in Hogsmeade and concluding that Voldemort would continue trying to kill Harry until one of them was dead. He knew that sooner or later Voldemort would regain his body, that he would not be able to prevent the Dark Lord from rising back to power forever, though he hoped he could get a few more years of training under his belt before that happened, he wasn't holding his breathe on that count, however.
Astoria had had the brilliant idea of asking Dobby if he knew of anywhere in Hogwarts that they could practice magic without been disturbed either by teachers or other students. Dobby had shown them the come-and-go room or the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to train Trolls Ballet. The room that had appeared after Harry had paced three times in front of the blank stretch of wall was perfect, a duelling platform with training dummies, bookshelves full of books of all kinds of subjects, DADA, Transfiguration, Charms, Runes, healing and many, many more. The was also a place to practise potions, Harry thinking that they would need to learn healing potions as well as healing spells would be especially useful for the coming battles that would no doubt take place in the future. He and Astoria had made use of that room nearly every night for the rest of the year, when Ron and Hermione had confronted him for his disappearing every night, he had admitted to having a girlfriend but due to the fact that he was the Boy-Who-Lived and that she would be put under the figurative microscope as soon as her identity was learned by the school, he was keeping her identity secret for now, they had both agreed not to pester him too much as they both had seen how much people watched and stared at him, Ron had good naturedly ribbed him and had tried to guess the girls identity, coming very close when he had guessed Daphne Greengrass, stating that she was fit enough that he could overlook her poor house placement if Harry was dating her, funnily enough he never thought to guess the other Greengrass sister which Harry would have confirmed was his girlfriend as he had promised he would let Ron and Hermione know if they guessed correctly as long as they kept it to themselves, he was confident that neither would guess Astoria. Though he really shouldn't have been when it came to Hermione, she was scarily intelligent after all and had cornered him a week after he had confessed to having a secret girlfriend.
Flashback
"Can I have a quick work in private Harry?" Hermione had asked him a week after he had confessed to having a secret girlfriend.
"Sure Hermione." Harry had smiled at his female best friend before leading her over to a quiet corner of the common room, Hermione quickly raised a silencing charm around them to Harry's raised eyebrows.
"I read." She shrugged at his questioning glance at her charm.
"Fair point, now what's up." Harry asked, Hermione very rarely asked for words in private after-all.
"Astoria Greengrass is your secret girlfriend, right." Hermione grinned as Harry's jaw almost hit the floor in shock.
"H-how did you find out?" Harry asked as he got a hold of his shock and picked up his jaw.
For an answer Hermione tapped the side of her nose and winked at him with a smug smile.
"Hermioneeee." Harry dragged out her name in a pleading whine causing the girl to snort in laughter.
"A girl has to have her secrets Mr. Potter." Hermione grinned at him causing the boy to pout at her. "Stop pouting and don't even try the puppy eyes, they won't work, and you know it."
"Damn it Hermione, how did you work it out, if you could then somehow Malfoy might be able to and give Astoria grief over it, not that he has anywhere near the level of intelligence you have." Harry smirked when he saw that his emotional blackmail had worked.
"Oh fine, I came upon you both making out yesterday on the fourth floor." Hermione confessed with a slight huff; she had been looking forward to teasing Harry, but he made a valid point.
"Damn, I could have sworn I'd checked around us." Harry swore that he would be more diligent and check the map every time from now on, yesterday he had slipped up, never again though.
"You might have checked around you, but I came out of the girl's bathroom just as you both locked lips." Hermione waggled her eyebrows at him.
"You are enjoying this far too much." Harry said as he narrowed his eyes at his best female friend.
"Of course, I am." Hermione grinned at him. "But seriously I'm happy for you both." She squeezed his arm slightly in a show of support.
"Thanks Hermione." He smiled at her as he touched her hand on his arm, Hermione's approval meant a lot to him.
"Though I do have to ask, how does one go so long without breathing when kissing." Hermione asked him with another teasing grin.
"Woman." Harry growled in warning causing Hermione to laugh at him.
Flashback End
Harry was brought out of his thoughts as the fireplace flashed green twice depositing Sirius and Remus into the office. They had both been called into the Ministry an hour ago and Sirius had sent him a Patronus asking him to meet him in his office five minutes ago.
Judging by the grave looks both men sported, something very bad had happened. Sirius slumped into his chair behind the desk with what sounded like a growling sigh, whilst Remus started pacing the room, his eyes an ominous amber colour, indicating that the wolf was very angry, and Remus was doing his best to calm down.
"What's Happened?" Harry asked his godfather who was glaring down at his desk.
"Pettigrew has escaped." Sirius spat as he looked up at Harry whose jaw dropped.
"How?" Harry asked after gathering his wits.
"You remember how at his sentencing him to life in Azkaban, Fudge declared that it was only fitting that Wormtail be placed in my old cell." Sirius asked him as Remus growled behind the teen as he continued pacing.
"How could I forget." Harry replied. A week after the questioning of both Sirius and Peter in the Headmasters office, the trial had taken place in front of the entire Wizengamot and what seemed like every press outlet in the world, whilst also been broadcasted live over the wireless network.
Thankfully, Harry wasn't needed as a witness and was able to listen to the trial via the wireless in the common room with the rest of Gryffindor house. He had cheered with everyone else when Sirius was declared innocent and was rewarded a million galleons for every year he was imprisoned, along with the expenses paid for his medical bills at St. Mungo's that included an extensive potions regime to get his body back in tip top shape and visiting a mind healer three times a week. He was still seeing the mind healer but after so many months he only had to see her once a week, though Sirius did not seem to mind visiting her. He had also been confirmed to be Harry's legal guardian and thus now had custody of his Godson. He and Sirius had exchanged weekly letters getting to know each other for the rest of his 3rd year at Hogwarts.
"Fudge in his infinite wisdom, didn't think to have anti-Animagus wards placed on the cell." Sirius said in disgust as he shook his head at the fool's idiocy.
"What a moron." Harry said in equal disgust.
"That's not the worst of it." Growled Remus as he finally stopped his pacing and dropped into the chair beside Harry.
"Oh, don't tell me, he's sending the Dementor's back to Hogwarts." Harry hated those foul creatures with a passion, He and Astoria had practised for hours learning the Patronus Charm and had both managed it in the last term of the school year, his Stag and her Lion with the large mane made for an impressive sight.
Harry had tried to tease Astoria, saying that she was a true Gryffindor at heart, however, the girl had shocked him into silence when she replied that she loved a true Gryffindor and that was why her Patronus was a Lion.
He had been shocked for a full minute before he had gathered himself enough to admit that he loved her too, the kiss they shared after that had been very sweet and full of promise for the future. In that moment, Harry knew that he would marry Astoria one day, that he would kill for her and if necessary, die for her. He didn't tell her that though, not wanting to scare the girl off. He would have been shocked to learn that she thought the same as him. She would marry him one day, kill for him when the time came and if she had to, she would die for him.
"No, thankfully Sirius managed to convince Fudge that Peter is too much of a coward to try and harm you at Hogwarts." Remus bit out in a low growl.
"Then what could be worse?" Harry asked looking between the two men.
"Wormtail escaped a week ago." Sirius replied with a scowl.
"A week ago, why are we only finding out now." Exclaimed Harry, he had thought that the rat had escaped last night.
"Because last night there was a break-in at the Ministry and Voldemort's wand was taken." Sirius replied as he shoulders slumped, and Remus growled beside Harry.
"He's trying to seek out Voldemort and bring him back to power." Harry concluded to the nods of the two men. There went his hopes of having a couple more years before Voldemort regained his body.
"Yes, the cowardly rat needs the protection only the biggest bully in the playground can offer him." Sirius spat in disgust, he well remembered the horrors of the war against Voldemort the first time around and it looked like it was all going to start again.
"And what has Dumbledore said about this?" Harry asked after thinking it all over.
"Well first he tried convincing me to send you back to your aunt and uncle's." Sirius said with a shake of his head.
"Fat chance of that happening." Harry spat with a scowl, why couldn't the old man just be happy that he was with family that wanted him around for more than just slave labour and loved him unconditionally.
"My reply exactly." Sirius grinned at him. "He also tried to convince Fudge to beef up the wards around Britian to make it harder for Voldemort to return to England." Sirius said to which Harry nodded in understanding, it made sense to try and impede Voldemort from getting into the country to start with.
"But of course, Fudge didn't even believe that Voldemort was even still alive." Remus growled causing Harry to groan and roll his eyes.
"Why else would Peter go to the trouble of stealing Voldemort's wand." Harry said as he thought about the bumbling fool who was meant to be the leader of the nation.
"Don't you always say, don't try and apply logic to the majority of the wizards." Sirius replied with a grin at his Godson.
"Yeah, I know but come on something that obvious doesn't take Hermione to work out why he stole that wand." Harry said causing the two men to laugh in agreement, both aware of Hermione's genius level intelligence.
"How did he ever become Minister?" Harry asked Remus after the man had calmed his laughter.
"Lucius Malfoy." Remus replied causing both Harry and Sirius to roll their eyes.
"Of course, that blonde peacock is involved." Harry groaned in frustration.
"Be thankful you didn't go to school with the ponce, he was Head Boy in our first year and he strutted around like he was on a bloody catwalk." Sirius grumbled causing Harry and Remus to burst out laughing.
"I remember poor Alice had to do most of the work as Head Girl." Remus commented causing Sirius to nod his agreement.
"Yes, I don't think there was a night in our first year where Alice wasn't complaining about Malfoy." Sirius replied with a shake of his head and a fond smile.
"Ah yes, Alice's rants about Malfoy, I think we learned 90% of our swear words from her in our first week." Remus grinned causing Harry and Sirus to break up laughing.
"Who is this Alice anyways, sounds like a great woman to meet." Harry asked with a chuckle.
"Alice Fortescue, married Frank Longbottom, Neville's mother and father." Remus replied in a somewhat sombre tone.
"Is she related to Florean Fortescue, the ice-cream shop owner?" Harry asked wondering why Remus and Sirius looked a little downcast.
"He is her uncle." Sirius replied simply.
"What happened to her, you are both pretty sombre all of a sudden." Harry asked as he looked between the two men.
"After Voldemort fell, a group of Death Eaters were trying to find him and broke into their home, they tortured Frank and Alice for hours but they didn't know anything, they had been in hiding themselves but the Death Eater's continued to use The Cruciatus Curse on them, however the human mind can only take so much before it snaps, they are now both on the Janus Thickey Ward for permanent spell damage at St. Mungo's." Remus explained to the shock of Harry. He wondered why Neville had never said anything but as he thought more on it, he realised that Neville probably didn't want people to look at him with pity.
"Were the Death Eater's caught." Harry asked after a few moments silence, he was going to ask if there was a cure but surely it would have been given to them if there was one.
"Oh yes, they were all caught and sent to life in Azkaban." Sirius replied quietly. "They were brought in not long after me, Cousin Bellatrix, her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, his brother Rabastan and Barty Crouch JR."
"Those are quirky names, Rodolphus and Rabastan." Harry said with a slight grin trying to break the tension in the room.
"Well, their last name is Lestrange, what do you expect." Remus snorted a laugh, Harry and Sirius joined in snickering at the brother's unfortunate names.
"Anyways back on topic, Wormtail has escaped and is trying to bring Voldemort back to power, we knew he would regain his power one day, it's just going to happen sooner than we had hoped, so during the next year Astoria and I will continue our spell and duelling practise." Harry said bringing the two men back to the original reason of why they were in Sirius's study.
"Yes, and as she will be staying here for the last couple of weeks of summer, Remus and I will help you with your duelling practice before you return to Hogwarts." Sirius replied getting a nod of agreement from the man. Daphne and Tracey would be returning home after they returned from the World Cup. They were going to stay in Paris for a week with Tracey's mother and Father, Astoria didn't want to go and had asked Sirius if she could stay with them, Sirius of course had extended the offer for her to stay until September the 1st, which Astoria had happily agreed to.
"And whilst you are at School, I think its best if Sirius and I try to work out how Voldemort managed to stay alive after the curse rebounded on him, by all rights he should be dead, then again so should you." Remus said with a thoughtful look between the two of them.
"Sounds like a plan, we can start with the library at my family manor in London, if there is a way to cheat death, I'm sure we will find it there." Sirius agreed getting a nod from Harry and Remus.
HDA
The following morning, Sirius and Remus were sitting down to breakfast in the dining room, Harry was still asleep, when a ping sounded through the home indicating that someone was calling on the floo in the entrance hallway.
"I'll get it." Sirius said as he got up from his seat and went out of the dining room into the entrance hallway.
The hallway in question was a light grey in colour, with white skirting boards, with picture's hanging on the walls, some of the three men living in the home, some of Lily and James, at school, at their wedding and some of them holding baby Harry either at St. Mungo's or at Godric's Hallow. There was a huge picture of James, Lily, and Harry in Sirius's arms on Harry's first birthday taking pride of place on the wall opposite the fireplace, Remus had taken the picture.
"Sorry for the early morning call Mr. Black, but somebody was too impatient to wait any longer, is it ok if we come through now." Daphne Greengrass, whose head was floating in the green flames explained as soon as she caught sight of Sirius.
"No problem at all Daphne, you three are more than welcome here." Sirius grinned at the girl and moments later, Daphne, Tracey and Astoria were standing in the hallway, Astoria holding her school trunk as she would be staying until school started back up, Daphne and Tracey had overnight bags as they would only be staying until the next day.
"Sorry again Mr Black but Astoria would not stop going on about how we needed to set off right away so that we weren't late." Daphne explained with a feint blush.
"What, I'm excited for the cup final." Astoria defended herself with her chin slightly raised as she stared at her sister.
"Yeah right, your just impatient to see lover boy again." Tracey snorted a laugh causing Astoria to flush red.
"No worries at all ladies and please call me Sirius, Mr Black makes me feel like I'm in trouble with McGonagall back at Hogwarts." Sirius said with an easy grin causing the three girls to giggle, putting Daphne and Tracey right at ease, this been their first time of meeting Sirius.
"Harry is still in bed if you want to go and wake sleeping beauty, he can also show you which room you will be staying in so you can leave your trunk there." Sirius said to Astoria who nodded and started towards the stairs.
"And no funny business, if you are not back in ten minutes, I will be coming to find you." Daphne warned her sister with a glare.
"Two sisters at the same time, I'm sure that will excite Harry." Astoria said to Daphne with a wink before she continued up the stairs.
"T-THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT." Yelled at scarlet faced Daphne as Sirius and Tracey roared with laughter. Astoria just continued up the stairs whilst waving her hand in the air and dragging her trunk behind her.
"Have you had breakfast yet ladies?" Sirius asked them once he had stopped his laughter, Astoria really was a breath of fresh air and very funny.
"We didn't get bloody chance did we." Grumbled a still red-faced Daphne.
"The impatient one upstairs wanted to set off as soon as we woke up, luckily she knows to at least let her sister have a morning coffee, least she causes Mount-Daphne to erupt." Tracey explained with a grin causing Sirius to snort whilst Daphne gave Tracey the evil eye to which Tracey just winked at her.
"Well come on then ladies, let's join Moony for breakfast." Sirius said as he led the two teens into the dining room.
Astoria meanwhile had reached Harry's bedroom and leaving her trunk outside the door entered the room. The room was dark but with enough light coming through the curtains that she could make her way across the room to Harry's bed without knocking anything over.
"Cute." Astoria whispered to herself as she looked down at Harry who was laid on his back snoring lightly. She then bent down and kissed him on the lips and seconds later the boy was awake and kissing her back.
"If this is a dream, then I never want to wake up." Harry said sleepily as they came up for air and he sat up in the bed putting his glasses on as he did so.
"If this were a dream, then I'm sure that I would be wearing a lot less clothing." Astoria teased with a grin. She was currently wearing a pair of figure hugging dark blue jeans, her Slytherin t-shirt that Harry had bought her on their first date and a pair of white running trainers.
"Obviously." Harry replied in his best Snape drawl, the blush on his cheeks ruined the effect, however.
"Oh, what would I be wearing then Mr. Potter?" Astoria asked as she waggled her eyebrows with a large smile on her face.
"I'm a teenage boy and we are sat on my bed alone; I don't think that's a safe topic for us to discuss." Harry said as his blush became more pronounced.
"Ah, would I be wearing a sexy bra and panties set?" Teased Astoria, she loved to tease Harry, he's blushing was just too cute.
"Not exactly." Mumbled Harry refusing to look his girlfriend in the eyes.
"Oh, I'd be completely naked then." Astoria smiled at him.
"Not completely naked." Harry replied still refusing to look at her as he got up to begin getting ready for the day. Astoria was disappointed to see that he was wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, she had been hoping that he was wearing boxer shorts only, or nothing at all.
"Don't mind me, I'm here to enjoy the show." Astoria grinned at him as Harry raised his eyebrows at her after he had collected his clothes for the day.
"Yeah, if I start to get changed right now you won't be able to keep your hands off of me." Harry replied in a teasing voice.
"Guilty." Astoria grinned with a feint blush to her cheeks.
"Yes well, I'd rather Mount-Daphne didn't erupt on me this early in the morning." Harry laughed as he began making his way towards the door so that he could use the loo and shower.
"Ah yes, Daphne did threaten to come find us if I wasn't back downstairs in ten minutes." Astoria replied with a grin.
"Two sisters at the same time, how exciting." Harry said with a grin.
"Prat." Astoria grinned back as she slapped him on the shoulder as he passed her on his way to the door. "Oh, Sirius said you can show me which room I can use for the rest of the summer." She said as she followed him out of the room.
"Yes, you can use the one across from Moony's." Harry said as he hefted her trunk in one hand and walked down the landing a little way from his room.
Opening the door showed a decent sized room with warm neutral walls and furniture, there was a double bed, desk and chair, a small empty bookshelf and a walk-in wardrobe.
"The bedroom next door is the same except Sirius Transfigured the bed into two single beds for Daphne and Tracey for tonight." Harry explained as he put her trunk at the foot of the double bed.
"This is perfect." Astoria grinned, it was almost like her bedroom at home, except her room was more girly with pinks and purples like Tracey's, Daphne's bedroom was done out in greens and silvers for her Hogwarts house. Merlin knew what the girl would have done had she been sorted into Gryffindor as she hated the red and gold combo, not Gryffindor's themselves, just the colour combination.
"Glad you like it." Harry smiled at her as he exited the room followed by Astoria. "I'm just going to grab a quick shower then I'll be down."
"Ok then." Astoria smiled before she gave him a quick kiss before she headed towards the stairs.
"Oh Astoria." Harry called after her causing the girl to stop and look at him. "If it had been a dream, you would have been wearing a pair of high boots and nothing else." Harry winked as he grinned at her.
"Pervert." Astoria grinned at him causing Harry to laugh.
"Only for you baby." Harry grinned at her before he turned towards the bathroom door.
"Maybe one day I'll make that dream come true for you, if you're a good boy." Astoria called to him as he opened the bathroom door and turned to look at her.
"Oh, I do hope so." Harry grinned before he closed the bathroom door.
Astoria smiled to herself as she made her way down the stairs and into the dining room.
"Finally, I was about to come looking for you." Daphne said as she watched as her sister took a seat at the table.
"Yes, I mentioned that to Harry, he agreed that two sisters at the same time would be exciting." Astoria replied with a smirk as she began helping herself to some bacon and eggs at Sirus's gesture towards the food in the middle of the table, Remus had put on a nice breakfast spread to help welcome Daphne and Tracey into their home, Astoria had already been over a few times and had been made to feel most welcome.
"Tori." Growled Daphne in warning as Sirius, Remus and Tracey broke up laughing.
"Did you actually say that to him?" Tracey asked with a laugh.
"Of course I did." Astoria grinned at the black-haired girl, Tracey really could be her older sister, she had the same black hair she and Daphne shared, her eyes were a shade lighter than hers and Daphne's though.
Just then Harry entered the dining room with his arms full of wrapped packages causing everyone to pause and look at him.
"What's all that you have there?" Sirius was the first to ask, beating the others by mere seconds.
"Dobby has finally finished making the outfits from the Basilisk hide." Harry explained. He had already told Sirius and Remus about the Basilisk from his 2nd year and Astoria's idea to turn the hide into armour.
He then quickly explained to Daphne and Tracey about what was happening in their second year and how he had killed the Basilisk and how Astoria had informed him that the hide could be made into a stronger armour than Dragon hides.
Harry then passed a package to everyone in the dining room, including Daphne and Tracey shocking both girls, as they weren't expecting anything like this.
"You are Astoria's sisters and very important to her, therefore you are important to me too." Harry explained to the girl's questioning looks.
"Thank you Harry." Astoria said as she gave him a hug.
"Yes, Thanks Harry." Tracey agreed as she gave Harry a hug of her own when Astoria had let him go.
"Thanks." Daphne grinned as she too hugged the boy, that he thought so much of Astoria to also protect her and Tracey with Basilisk Armour really said a lot about the boys' character.
"You're all welcome." Harry smiled once Daphne had let him go and they had all taken seats at the table. "Inside the packages, you will find a vest, a jacket in a biker style, pants, boots and wand holster, so don't get hit in the head." Sirius and Remus snorted in amusement.
"Boots eh." Astoria said with a wink at him causing Harry to colour a little.
"What's this." Daphne asked as she looked between the two of them.
"Nothing, just a little joke between me and Astoria earlier." Harry replied not looking Daphne in the eyes as he helped himself to food.
"It didn't sound like a joke earlier." Astoria grinned at him as Daphne narrowed her eyes at the two and Tracey sat looking amused at them.
"Shut up Astoria, I'm not wearing my armour right now." Harry replied causing Tracey, Sirius and Remus to snort in laughter.
"I'm curious about something." Tracey said causing Harry to turn to look at her, hoping she would offer a change of subject and save him from Mount-Daphne. "Why do you always call her Astoria, never Tori or even Stori."
"Because I refuse to butcher my girlfriends beautiful name." Harry replied eternally grateful for the change in topic.
"Suck up." Muttered Daphne.
"Jealous Miss. Greengrass." Harry asked the girl with a grin and a slow exaggerated wink.
"No." Replied Daphne with a scowl, however the corners of her mouth were giving her away, she was very happy for her little sister.
"Yes." Laughed Tracey causing everyone to look at her. "What? Its sweet, if you ever tire of him, I will be happy to take him off your hands." She told Astoria with a grin as everyone else laughed.
"Not on your life Davies." Astoria said with a grin causing the girl to pout good naturedly.
"Thank you for the compliment, Miss. Davies." Harry said as he took the girls hand and lightly pressed a kiss to her knuckles causing Tracey to blush.
"Harry stop teasing Tracey, she will need a change of knickers if you carry on." Astoria said with a straight face.
"What." Tracey squawked as her blush deepened and everyone else broke up laughing once again.
"Tell me I'm wrong." Astoria challenged the Weasley red-faced girl. "I know that most of the girls at school want him, hell even Parkinson looks at him in a dreamy way when she thinks nobody is looking."
"And that's my appetite gone, thank you very much." Harry said as he pushed his plate away, it wasn't that Pansy was an ugly girl, he was sure that she would be very nice looking when she was older, but her attitude and personality towards half-bloods and Muggle-born's was very ugly indeed.
"The Portkey will leave in 20 minutes." Remus spoke up before anyone else could say anything else and causing the four teens to look at him. "So, if you want to use the loo or grab a jacket, I suggest doing so now."
"I'll show you the room you will be staying in tonight and where the family bathroom is." Astoria said to Daphne and Tracey as she stood up, followed by the two girls, all three grabbed their packages that Harry had given them before quickly leaving the room.
Harry, Sirius and Remus all opened their own packages and found their jackets and threw them on. The jackets fit the three of them perfectly and once zipped up, were nice and warm.
"Good room for moving." Sirius commented as he flexed his arms around, getting nods from Harry and Remus who did the same.
HDA
Forty minutes later they had taken the portkey and had walked to the campsite that they were using for the day. As they were only staying until the match finished, they didn't have a tent like everyone around them. They did have a table and chairs for them to sit at, Remus also had a bag of finger foods and drinks for them to eat but he assured them that there would be plenty of vendors around for them to buy food from and other knickknacks.
"I spent a bit extra and got us seats in our own box." Sirius explained with a grin to the girls. Fudge had tried to invite him into the Minister's box but Sirius, not wanting anything to do with the Malfoy family who were joining the Minister had quickly paid for his own box before replying to Fudge that he had already hired a box for himself and his guests and would therefore have to decline his most generous offer.
"Some people have been here for about three weeks." Remus said with a grin to the shock of the teens.
"But the cup final hadn't even been decided three weeks ago." Harry replied in shock. Three weeks ago, was the first semi-final between Bulgaria and the USA, two weeks ago had been the second semi-final between England v Ireland and last week had been England v the USA for third place and today would decide the world cup winners and the runners up.
"Yes, but been here for three weeks is how some people were even able to afford tickets to attend the match as they were the cheapest ones going." Sirius explained to the teens.
"Damn that must have been boring, staying in a field with nothing to do." Tracey commented to the nods of agreement from Harry, Astoria and Daphne.
"Very boring." Remus agreed, he was glad that Sirius had bought a box for them, allowing for them to arrive on the actual day of the final and to allow them to leave right after, whoever won, their fans would be very rowdy tonight and neither him nor Sirius fancied been around for that, Sirius wasn't yet used to large rowdy crowds after 12 years in prison and the wolf inside Remus hated large crowds too.
Hours later the group made their way up to the box that Sirius had paid for laden down with merchandise and other knickknacks, they each had a replica Irish Quidditch Jersey on, Harry of course had a number seven on the back of his for the seeker position with Potter written on instead of the Irish team seekers name Aiden Lynch. Sirius and Remus had numbers five and six with their names on the back, representing the beaters on the team and the girls were wearing numbers two, three and four for the chasers with their names on the back. The keeper had the number one written on the back, Harry had bought one to give to Ron for Christmas and a copy of Quidditch World Cup A history for Hermione.
The Weasley's and Hermione were also at the final as guests of the Minister after Mr. Weasley had won a competition at work but with a hundred thousand witches and wizards attending the final, they had been unable to find their tent.
Harry and the three girls went to the railing of the box and looked down into the stadium. A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Harry's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.
The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer . . . Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain! . . . Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade . . .
Minutes later, a voice boomed throughout the Stadium.
"Ladies and gentlemen . . . welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message (Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans — A Risk with Every Mouthful!) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.
"I wonder what they've brought." Said Remus as he and Sirius joined the teens at the railing. "Aah, Veela." He and Sirius quickly turned around and closed their eyes and covered their ears.
Harry who knew exactly what Veela were and all about their Allure, turned to smile at Astoria who smiled back at him to the shock of Daphne and Tracey.
"There's a hundred Veela on the pitch, how are you not affected?" Daphne asked him with raised eyebrows.
"The effect of Veela is lessened when one is in love and even more so for people who practice Occlumency." Harry explained with a smile as Astoria gave him a tender kiss. Tracey gave the two a smile whilst Daphne rolled her eyes and turned back to the pitch.
The Veela had finished their dance that the group had missed out on and had taken seats at the side of the pitch. Judging by the angry yells from the crowds they hadn't missed the dance and didn't want the Veela to leave.
"And now." Boomed the same voice. "Kindly put your wands in the air . . . for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it — as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Harry realized that it was comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.
"Leprechauns!" said Sirius over the tumultuous applause of the crowd. "The gold will vanish in about twelve hours."
The great shamrock dissolved; the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the Veela and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Dimitrov!" A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters. "Ivanova!" A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out. "Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — Krum!"
"That's him, that's him!" yelled Tracey, following Krum with her Omnioculars. Harry quickly focused his own. Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.
"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled the announcer. "Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaaand — Lynch!" Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Harry spun a small dial on the side of his Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa."
A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a moustache to rival Uncle Vernon's, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the moustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other. Harry spun the speed dial on his Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open — four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and (Harry saw it for the briefest moment, before it sped out of sight) the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed the announcer. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!" It was Quidditch as Harry had never seen it played before. He was pressing his Omnioculars so hard to his glasses that they were cutting into the bridge of his nose. The speed of the players was incredible — the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that the announcer only had time to say their names.
"TROY SCORES!" roared the announcer, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"
"YESSS." Harry cheered right along with the three girls, Sirius was jumping up and down and Remus as clapping with a wide smile on his face.
The leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Across the field, the Veela were watching them sulkily.
Harry knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Harry's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy — Mullet — Moran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green-clad supporters. Harry's hands were stinging from clapping so hard, he was sure that the rest of his group had stinging hands also.
The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.
The scarlet glad supporters roared their own approval as the Veela began to dance again.
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova — oh I say!" roared the announcer. One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the centre of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Harry followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was — "They're going to crash!" screamed Astoria next to Harry. She was half right — at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiralled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats.
"Fool." Moaned Harry. "Krum was feinting!"
"It's time-out!" yelled the announcer's voice, "as trained medi-wizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"
"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Sirius said reassuringly to Tracey, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course..."
Harry hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to his eyes. He watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow motion. WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT — DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION read the shining purple lettering across his lenses. He saw Krum's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and he understood — Krum hadn't seen the Snitch at all, he was just making Lynch copy him. Harry had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless. Harry turned his Omnioculars back to normal and focused them on Krum. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by medi-wizards with cups of potion. Harry, focusing still more closely upon Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.
Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivalled by anything Harry had seen so far. After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier. As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Harry didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told him it had been a foul.
"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" the announcer informed the roaring spectators. "And — yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"
The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The Veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.
"Look at the referee!" Astoria said giggling. Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing Veela and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his moustache excitedly.
"Now, we can't have that!" said the announcer, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!" A medi-wizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Harry, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the Veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous. "And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said the announcer. "Now there's something we haven't seen before... Oh this could turn nasty…"
It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle. "Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted the announcer, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms . . . yes . . . there they go . . . and Troy takes the Quaffle . . ."
Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov seemed not to care whether their clubs contacted Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom. "Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green.
"Foul!" echoed the announcers magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran — deliberately flying to collide there — and it's got to be another penalty — yes, there's the whistle!" The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the Veela across the field. At this, the Veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Watching through his Omnioculars, Harry saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders.
Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the Veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. Harry turned this way and that, staring through his Omnioculars, as the Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet. "Levski — Dimitrov — Moran — Troy — Mullet — Ivanova — Troy again — Moran — MORAN SCORES!" But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the Veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov.
The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face. There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Harry couldn't blame him; one of the Veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.
"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him" yelled the announcer.
"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled. For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing.
Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on . . . but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Harry had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again.
Suddenly Lynch pulled his broom up arm raised and clutched in his hand was the golden snitch, the match was over.
The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 10, IRELAND: 320 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet was revving up, the rumbling from the Irish supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.
"IRELAND WINS!" roared the announcer and the Irish crowd seemed to scream even louder.
"Time to go." Sirius shouted over the crowd. "With how that match went, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulgarians rioted." Remus, Harry and the girls nodded in agreement and turned to follow Sirius out of the box and back down the stairs.
The stairs were clear as they made their way down, nobody else in the stadium had yet left their seats. Sirius led the group down the stairs and across the field towards the Portkey area.
"That was a bloody good match." Tracey grinned as she skipped along beside them.
"It was, I can't believe how much Ireland flattened the Bulgarians." Daphne agreed smiling at her best friend skipping beside her.
"Krum is the only reason that Bulgaria got this far." Harry said with a smile. "Their chasers are abysmal; their beaters and keeper are just as bad, but Krum is a brilliant seeker and made up for it with always managing to catch the snitch before the score was more than 150 difference but coming up against far superior players and a seeker as good as him and Bulgaria crumbled." He explained to nodded agreement of the group.
"Everyone grab hold." Sirius said as they came to the portkey area, and he took out the rope portkey that would take them back home. "Activate." He tapped the rope with his wand once everyone was touching the rope and in a bright blue flash, the group were whisked away from the cup final and the excitement that was going to take place that night.
End of chapter.
Damn I think that was one of the longest chapters I have written for any of my stories. So how was it? I don't know how the numbers are done in Quidditch teams, so I just did what I thought made sense. Please review, review, review. Until next time.