"Couldn't have a better spot!" Arthur announced happily as they arrived to a shabby looking grey tent, with a sign that read:Weezly. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be! Prime spot this is," he smiled as he lifted up the flap of the tent. "We might be a bit cramped, but I think we'll manage. Come on."
One by one, the Weasley's all started filing into the tent and Grace paused at the entrance to look at Harry and Hermione, who were both looking at the tent with concern. "You two coming?"
"Er..." Harry started, confused.
"Well, how are we all going to fit?" Hermione asked.
"... Magic," Grace answered with a smile and a short shrug of her shoulders before entering the tent. She loved the cozy appeal to the interior, with all the warm browns and oranges all around her. It reminded her of the Gryffindor common room, a bit.
"Girls, choose a bunk and unpack!" Arthur called.
Grace turned into a room to her left, the same one Ginny was in. It was small, but had two sets of bunk beds. Ginny took the bottom bunk of one, and Grace instantly threw her backpack onto the bottom bunk of the other.
"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed as she stepped into the room behind her. "
"You snooze, you lose," Ginny laughed as she stood up from her bed.
"Yeah, first come, first choice, Hermione!" Grace grinned as she sat on the bed. Hermione huffed, tossing her bag up on the top bunk above Ginny, then grabbing the Pillow and smacking Ginny in the face with it. Ginny exclaimed, then laughed as she took her pillow and started hitting Hermione with it.
"Ron! Get out of the kitchen!" Grace head Arthur shout, "we're all hungry!"
"Yeah, get out of the kitchen!" Fred and George repeated. Grace laughed as she walked out of the room, trying to escape the flying pillows, and she bumped into Harry.
"Oof, sorry!" she smiled, but Harry shook his head, grinning at her.
"Feet off the table!" Arthur told Fred and George as he walked by them, the twins were lounging at the kitchen table with their feet up. As Arthur walked by, they brought their feet down.
"Feet off the table!" they repeated, then once Arthur had walked by, they propped their feet back on the table.
"I love magic," Harry said, looking around them.
"It is a bit great, isn't it?" she smiled.
"We'll need water," Arthur said, coming back into the main sitting area with a bucket.
"There's a tap marked on this map that the muggle gave us," Ron said as he held up the map, walking out of a room. He must've put his bag down. "It's on the other side of the field."
"Well, why don't you, Harry, Hermione and Grace go fetch us some water then," Arthur said, handing Ron a kettle, and putting the bucket into Grace's hands, "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire."
"But we've got an oven," Ron protested. "Why can't we just-"
"Ron, anti-muggle security!" Arthur interrupted, his face brightening in anticipation. "When real muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it! It's really fascinating."
"C'mon, Ron, it'll be fun!" Grace smiled hopefully as she tugged Ron's arm. "Maybe we can scout around to see if we can find anyone we know!" This seemed to get Ron's attention and he nodded begrudgingly.
All around them was excited witches and wizards, showing off their preferred teams. Lots of green and silver for Ireland, and red and black for Bulgaria. Cheering, loud music being played around them. Grace couldn't help but grin and feel the excitement begin to rub off on her. There were small children running, laughing loudly as they chased each other on their small, child-safe brooms.
They passed wizards from Africa, who sat in their long, white robes, having deep conversation around their fire as they cooked their breakfast. Then there were a group of witches gathered under a large, red, white and blue spangled banner that read: 'The Salem Witches Institute', and Grace figured they had to be American. She caught the eye of witch, who gave her a bright, friendly smile and a wave – to which Grace returned the gesture before catching up with her friends.
"Er – is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?" Ron asked confused. Grace blinked a few times before squinting so her eyes could adjust to all the green.
"No, not your eyes," she answered as she looked at the small colony of tents that were covered in thick layers of shamrocks; it made them look like oddly shaped hills, and made Grace giggle. She thought it was charming and whimsical. As they walked through the hill-tents, faces of other wizards would turn and grin at them in greeting. There were lots of friendly greetings, some were almost indistinguishable due to the thickness of their accent.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" A familiar voice called out. "Gracie!"
They all turned around and saw the friendly face of their class and housemate: Seamus Finnigan, he was sitting outside of his own shamrock hill-tent with his mother, who he looked just like, and their other housemate: Dean Thomas.
"Like the decorations?" he asked with a large grin. "The Ministry's not too happy."
"Why?" Grace frowned, confused. "There's nothing wrong with them, they're actually quite whimsical and charming."
"Why aren't you a stór," Mrs. Finnigan smiled at her, making Grace's cheeks flush a light pink color. "Well, I hafta agree with you there, lassie. Why shouldn't we show our colors?" she asked, resting her hands on her hips. "You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling over all the tenets! You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she asked, eyeing the four of them.
"Of course," Grace nodded politely, even though she was for sure supporting Ireland (mostly because she thought Aiden Lynch and Barry Ryan were attractive), she knew her friends were nodding just to agree.
"Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot," Ron muttered under his breath as they made they way through the Irish camp.
"I wonder what the Bulgarians have on their tents," Hermione wondered.
"Let's go and have a look," Harry suggested, pointing toward a large group of tents that supported a white, red and green flag that flowed with the breeze.
As they approached the Bulgarian colony, Grace frowned as nearly every tent had the same poster attached to it. It was of a man – no, more like a boy since he only appeared to be a handful of years older than her, with a blocky jaw line, black eyebrows that were narrowed in a surly look. All the picture did was blink and scowl at them. Grace didn't think he was unattractive, but felt like he'd be a little more attractive if he actually ...smiled.
"Krum," Ron whispered in awe.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Krum!" Ron repeated. "Viktor Krum! He's the Bulgarian Seeker!"
"He looks really grumpy," Hermione commented off-handedly as she glanced at one of the pictures of Krum scowling at them.
"I kind of agree," Grace nodded. "He should really smile, he'd look nice if he smiled."
"Really grumpy?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raising. "Look nice if he smiled!" his voice went higher. "Who cares what he looks like! He's unbelievable! He's really young too, only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see!"
Hermione and Grace shared a look, then rolled their eyes. "He would look better if he smiled," Hermione whispered to her as the four of them entered the queue for the water tap.
"I mean, he's got that surly, mysterious vibe going on, and I can see the appeal," Grace whispered back. "He's very attractive, he just... needs to smile. It'll make him look a little less intimidating, I think."
"Oh most definitely," Hermione nodded, glancing at another picture of Krum.
"I think he'd have a nice smile," Grace nodded.
"I think so too," Hermione added, and Grace raised an eyebrow at her and she started to smirk. "Oh don't give me that! You wrote nearly half a roll of parchment on Harry's smile!" she hissed under her breath, and Grace's cheeks burned.
"SHHH!"
"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked as he and Harry looked over their shoulders at them.
"Oh, just how much Grace loves-"
"Barry Ryan! And Aiden Lynch," she cut Hermione off, giving the girl a cool glare. "They're really fit, aren't they?"
"We're here to watch Quidditch! Not fantasize about the players!" Ron scoffed, and Grace rolled her eyes at him.
"You've got to watch the players to watch the game, Ron! Besides, the more attractive they are, the more fun it can be," she teased. Harry frowned, turning back forward, and scowled at the ground as that familiar unpleasant feeling stirred inside him again.
After their turn at the tap, their trek back to their tent took longer than before due to the weight of all the water they had to carry. Since it was later in the day, they saw more familiar faces from Hogwarts. There was Oliver Wood, who finished Hogwarts last year, he had excitedly told them that he had been signed to Puddlemore United, on their reserve team.
The second set of familiar faces they met on their way back was Ernie Macmillian and Justin Finch-Fletchy, both Hufflepuffs. "Hi, Grace!" Justin greeted her brightly as he and Ernie walked up to them.
"Oh, hi, Justin," she smiled. "Ernie," she nodded at the other boy, who smiled at her.
"Are you here with your family?" Justin asked curiously.
"Er, kind of," she nodded her head to Ron, who was standing with Harry and Hermione, impatiently waiting for her to follow. "I'm here with the Weasley's, they're my cousins."
"Right, right, of course. You've mentioned that before," Justin nodded. "Have you had time to practice the pieces that Professor Flitwick sent us? I noticed that there are a few foreign pieces."
"Yeah, I thought it was strange, but there are a few muggle songs too, which I'm excited for."
"You like muggle music?"
"Well, I auditioned with a muggle song..." she reminded him, and his cheeks flushed pink and he nodded.
"Right, of course, silly me," he laughed awkwardly. "Are you going to audition for a solo this year? I saw that since we've been in the choir for a year now, we can have solos."
"Yeah, I read that too," she nodded. There was a cough coming from her friends, and she glared at Ron, who was giving her a look to hurry up. "I don't know if I'll audition for a solo though. I thought Professor Flitwick assigned them?"
"He does, at least that's what Haley Bishop told me. She also told me that some pieces he holds auditions for, especially if the piece is a duet," Justin told her and she nodded. "Professor Flitwick has to make sure that the two singers are compatible to not only the song, but to each other."
"Right, makes sense," she nodded again. "I hate to cut this short, but this water is getting really heavy and we have a bit of a walk left to our tent..."
"Oh! Right, right, of course! I'm sorry," Justin nodded, his cheeks growing darker. "We'll catch up later?"
"Yeah, of course."
"On the train?" he asked. Grace didn't notice the hopefulness in his voice or his eyes, but Harry did and huffed under his breath and looked away with a scowl.
"Er... maybe? I usually sit with Ron," she answered. Harry's eyes narrowed even more at the ground as the familiar, nauseating feeling of jealousy started to rise. Why didn't she include him? Why did she just say Ron's name, she sat with him too. She usually satnextto him on the train. "I'll probably be sitting with him, Harry and Hermione, since we're all staying at the Weasley's and will be arriving at the platform together."
"Of course, makes sense," Justin nodded, and Harry caught the look of disappointment on Justin's face. "Well, we'll catch up at the feast?"
"Yeah, sure," Grace nodded. "Well, I've got to go-"
"Right, yeah, bye Grace!" Justin waved at her, as Ernie pulled him away and started whispering to him. Grace shrugged and caught up with Ron, Harry and Hermione.
"Bout time! My arms feel like they're about to fall off!" Ron exaggerated and Grace rolled her eyes.
"I didn't know you and Justin were friends," Harry said, trying to sound casual but his voice came out more bitter than he expected.
"Oh, well... kind of?" Grace went to shrug but the water was starting to feel too heavy to move her shoulders. "I mean, we are in the choir together."
"So that makes you friends?"
"Well,no, but he's also in our year and we have classes with him. He's a nice guy, at least he's always been nice to me," she answered simply. This made Ron snort and she glared at the back of his head.
"I think he's got a bit more than friendship on his mind," Ron muttered, this made both Harry and Grace glare at him. Ron, expected it from Grace, but was surprised at the look from Harry. "What?"
"Nothing," Harry muttered, shaking his head. "Let's just go."
The third set of familiar Hogwarts classmates they ran into was Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. "Hi, Harry!" she smiled at Harry and waved. Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and he smiled at her, feeling a flutter in his chest. He forgot how pretty Cho was.
"Hi, Cho," he replied, trying to wave at her but ended up splashing quite a bit of water over his front.
Grace's eyes narrowed at him as the sour taste of jealousy crept up. "I didn't know you andChowerefriends," she sneered, glaring at the Ravenclaw girl, who was now looking back at her friends.
"I mean – er," Harry started nervously, still staring at Cho, then stumbled when he tripped over a rock.
"Hmph!" Grace huffed and pushed past him.
Ron and Hermione both turned to each other, looking shocked and awkward; neither of them knew what to say or do. Both knew of Grace's feelings for Harry, but they didn't know how Harry felt about her, and seeing how he reacted to Cho, they wondered if Harry liked her instead of Grace? If that was the case... well, things might be becoming a bit more complicated than they hoped.
"You've been ages!" George exclaimed when Grace entered the tent, still looking annoyed.
"Met a few people," Ron answered as he followed behind her, and they set the water down. "You haven't got that fire started yet?"
"Dad's having fun with the matches," Fred answered. They turned and saw Arthur trying and failing trying to start the fire. There were splintered matches scattered all over the floor around him, but he looked as if he didn't care about them and was having more fun trying to work it out.
"Oops!" Arthur gasped, dropping a match that he finally managed to light. He was surprised he managed it that he ended up dropping it.
"Come here, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said kindly, taking the box from him.
After getting the fire lit, they sat and waited for the water to heat up, but they filled that time with people watching. It really was the only thing to do, but Mr. Weasley made it entertaining with his commentary.
"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office," He told them. "Oh, here comes Gilbert Wiumple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms, he's had those horns on for a while now..." he muttered. "Hello, Arnie," he nodded at a man who passed by them. "Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator – member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know," he added. "And that's Bode and Croaker, they're Unspeakables."
"They're what?" Harry and Hermione asked.
"From the Department of Mysteries," Grace answered. "Top-secret stuff, no idea what they work on."
"How do you know?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Mum's an Unspeakable," she answered with a shrug as she went back to reading an issue of Witch Weekly, promptly ignoring Harry. She was still annoyed. She didn't understand why Harry got annoyed at her for being friendly with Justin. She also didn't understand how he could make a git of himself in front of Cho Chang, of all people. She noticed the way he blushed when Cho smiled at him, she had seen that same look on him last year before the final Quidditch match. She wondered if HarryfanciedCho, and if he did, she wondered why...
Cho wasn't ugly, actually she was very pretty and Grace envied the girls flawless skin, and petite figure that made everything look good on her. Cho didn't look like she had to spend forever on her hair everyday just so it didn't look like a wild, frizzy lions mane, not with her silky, straight black hair. She also, obviously, didn't seem to have a problem finding clothes that fit her right, or that flattered her; unlike Grace, who struggled to find things that she liked that fit her well. Her waist was a smaller and her hips were a little bigger than they used to be, it made finding bottoms that felt comfortable hard. Her chest had also gotten bigger, and last spring she had to double up on shirts to feel less self-conscious, hoping no one would notice since she had outgrew the bras she did have and with the fact that some of her shirts didn't fit the same anymore only made her feel more embarrassed.
So remembering how thin and petite Cho was, left her feeling bitter and jealous. Of course Harry would find her pretty, and that he would fancy her. She tried not to let that realization dampen the day, but every time she looked at Harry, she couldn't help it. She wished that he would look at her the same way he did Cho, and that he would like a git of himself in front of her... but he didn't. He never did... because she was just his friend, and her dad was his Godfather... that's all she'd ever be to Harry, and she hated it.
A/N: Aawww pooor Gracie it's okay, curves are great... and the fact that she doesn't realize how much Harry does look at her... xD; it's hard not to notice and more than just Harry has and will notice xD;.
Part one of the Quidditch World cup~ we're seeing some familiar faces~ and yes... if you haven't guessed it already, the boy that will stir up the pot between Grace and Harry with Cho is none other than Justin Finch-Fletchley! Plot twist~ lol.
I was wracking my brain for a while on deciding who it was going to be that would get Harry jealous or who could stir up the pot some that WASN'T Cedric. None of the other Gryffindor boys made sense, since it's obvious to EVERYONE (except Harry) that Grace likes Harry. And it wouldn't be a slytherin... and if it was, it would've been Blaise but her and Slytherin wouldn't have made sense since she cant stand the lot of them. But it needed to be someone who would make sense, who would actually know her a little out side of classes, and so it would have to be someone from the Frog Choir so I thought about it for a while and reread the beginning of the fic and decided on Justin~ :)
It's definitely a twist, and y'all probably didn't expect that... unless you did? Idk let me know if you did or if you didn't~ :)
ALSO In December I am going to be posting four times a week for the first four weeks! (this means that the Yule Ball chapter will most likely be posted on Christmas or Christmas Eve!)
I usually tell y'all something like this closer to the time, but I need to plan out the chapter schedule for December here soon (once I get my monthly sticker kit in for my planner) and I am not sure what extra day I will be posting, so I am giving a link for you all to vote what day you would like a 4th update on! I'll have the poll open until Sunday the 17th~ So please follow the link and vote~ :) the day that has the most votes will be the day I'll post~
Link: /poll5326532x43064B4B-160
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter~ :)