Chapter Fourteen
Fred shook Stella awake the next morning, staring down at her with concern clear in his eyes.
"Is it time?" Stella asked, stretching.
"What happened to your face?" Fred asked rather than answer and Stella remembered the night before.
She shook her head and stood up, finding George looking over in confusion before he saw Stella and anger took over his features. Stella didn't speak. Just grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom beside her room, which she'd spent a week cleaning when Dad had mentioned giving her the attic. She took a quick shower before getting dressed, brushing her teeth and combing her hair. She did all of this without looking in the mirror. She went back to her now deserted room and went to her vanity, setting all of her makeup out before finally looking at her reflection.
A great, ugly bruise in the shape of a hand was on her cheek. Her face was a bit swollen from it and her eyes were red from the crying. She looked down at her makeup, chewing her lip as she tried to decide what to do. Covering the bruise wouldn't cover the swelling and she decided there wasn't much point to it. She put on her eyeliner and mascara before putting on a bit of clear lip gloss.
After adding her bathroom items into her already packed bag, Stella headed down the stairs, hair covering half of her face as she went. She fiddled with her ring but didn't think anything to Sirius, not wanting to wake him when it wasn't even light outside yet.
Everyone was already in the kitchen eating a spot of breakfast when Stella arrived, sitting between the twins and not looking up. She hoped everyone just assumed she was tired. The twins pressed closer to her when Molly walked pass them, who slowed to a stop behind Stella before moving again. Stella told herself not to cry over and over again. Even with the magical makeup, she didn't want to accidentally ruin it. She especially didn't want to call attention to herself by breaking down at the breakfast table.
"George!" Molly's voice cried out.
"What?" he asked in a voice that was meant to sound innocent but definitely wasn't.
"What's that in your pocket?" she demanded and Stella, who had a hand under the table already, patted Fred's leg, signaling for him to pass her whatever he was holding.
She stealthily hid the trick sweets in her bag, which had a protection so nothing could be summoned out of it, protecting the items from being confiscated. All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Molly was still glowering as she kissed Dad on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her, Stella between them so that Molly couldn't get close to her.
"Well, have a lovely time," said Molly, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' and Stella's retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday."
It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue.
Stella knew she was cold, but everything felt numb as she realized she forgot to take her potions the past few nights. She sighed, deciding that she'd need to stay close to Ron if she began feeling worse and remember to take her potions that night to fix her emotions. She also knew that, even with her potions, the events of the night before would haunt her dreams and make her feel worse than ever.
They reached the top of a hill and spread out, looking for the Portkey when they heard someone call out to them. Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop and Stella recognized Cedric Diggory even from this distance. He wasn't bad to look at, especially for a Hufflepuff, but she was in no mood to stare at the handsome seeker at the time. Everyone said hi to him except Stella, who was still not speaking, and Fred and George, who merely nodded, still not forgiving Cedric for beating Gryffindor when the dementors had attacked Harry.
"All these yours, Arthur?" Cedric's father, Amos, asked.
"The redheads and Stella over there," Dad smiled proudly. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's. And this is Harry, Stella's boy—"
"Merlin's beard. Harry? Harry Potter?" Amos asked and Stella looked over, ready to step in if Harry became to uncomfortable.
"Yeah," Harry answered.
"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos. "Told us all about playing against you last year. I said to him, I said- Ced, that'll be something to tell the grandchildren, that will. That you beat Harry Potter!"
"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," Cedric muttered. "I told you. It was an accident."
"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you? Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman, but the best man won. I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh?"
"I believe Hufflepuff got absolutely demolished by Slytherin," Stella spoke up. "The reserve seeker beat Cedric. Reserve. Best man indeed."
Stella didn't care that she was being rude but she did feel a bit bad that Cedric had to be included in it. He had always been kind to the Slytherins, helping the younger ones get to classes when they were lost.
"We'd better get ready!" Dad called out before looking to Harry and Hermione. "You just need to touch the portkey, that's all, a finger will do."
Stella wished she'd just flown as she landed on her back, flinching slightly and hoping she hadn't somehow screwed anything up, even though she knew that her treatments had ended the day before Hermione had arrived. She sat up slowly, not even realizing that her face was visible until Harry was suddenly by her side, hand gentle as he pushed her hair away so he could see better.
"Who?" he practically growled out.
"Doesn't matter," she shook her head, accepting Fred's hand up and covering her face again.
"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill!"
They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but some had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, or weather vanes. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets and another that had a front garden attached, complete with a birdbath, sundial, and fountain. Stella lad a feeling that she knew who owned each.
They ended up climbing another hill, finding their camping spot at the top where they could look out over everything. 'Weezly' was written on a small sign that had been hammered into the ground and Stella smirked at the spelling despite herself.
"Couldn't have a better spot!" Dad said happily. "The field is just on the other side of wood there. We're as close as we could be. Right. No magic allowed, strictly speaking," Stella didn't think it mattered if a Muggle caught sight of the other tents. "We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult. Muggles do it all the time. Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"
Stella snorted and grabbed the tent bag from her Dad before passing it to Hermione, grabbing the second one for herself.
"Stell?" Dad asked.
"We put tents up in Muggle Studies," she told him. "Camped out on the astronomy tower one night."
It was a partial truth. They had set up tents in Muggle Studies, but the class hadn't camped out on the tower, just her and Blaise, Theo having stayed behind, too nervous about possibly being caught. Hermione, thankfully, did not call her out on the lie. Just raised her brow and gave Stella a questioning look. Stella returned the look with one of her own, signaling that Stella would tell her later.
Stella and Hermione began working, Harry doing as the two told him to. Dad tried to help, he really did, but he ended up getting too enthusiastic with the mallet and almost hit himself in the face with it. Harry had grabbed it from him, giving him a reassuring smile before doing it himself. The three stood back a bit later, staring at their handywork.
Harry seemed confused, as if trying to do a bit of math in his head. Stella smirked and grabbed his hand, leading him into one of the tents. She looked back as his jaw dropped in awe. It looked like an old-fashioned, three-bedroom flat, complete with two bathrooms and a kitchen. It was completely furnished as well, even though the furniture seemed like something an old maid would use in Stella's opinion. There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and it smelt as if every Hogwarts cat had wonder through at some point. Stella made a point to remember to air the tent out for a day the next time they planned to go camping.
"I love magic," Harry whispered out, a bright smile taking over his face before he looked to Stella, frowning again as they stepped out of the way for everyone else, brushing hair from her face for a moment before letting it settle again.
Harry reached into his rucksack, pulling out the ice pack she'd sent him and pressed it gently to her face, the two hidden behind a slight curtain so no one could see them.
"Well, it's not for long," Dad said, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago. We'll need water."
"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," Ron spoke up. "It's on the other side of the field."
"Well, why don't you, Stella, Harry, and Hermione go and get us some water then and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"
"But we've got an oven," Ron tried. "Why can't we just—"
"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" Dad was practically vibrating in excitement. "When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"
"He's not wrong," Hermione told Ron softly.
Everyone went to tour the girl's tent and Stella and Harry stayed hidden in their corner as they did so, Harry still holding the ice pack to Stella's face. The twins had blocked the corner when everyone had been leaving the tent, having seen what was going on and making sure no one else saw. Fred kissed the top of Stella's head before he left the tent behind George.
"What happened?" Harry asked, voice so soft it broke Stella's heart a bit.
"Mum basically said I wasn't family so, when I called her Mrs. Weasley, she told me to show her respect. I told her to earn it. I don't know who was more shocked when she slapped me, me or her," Stella whispered, voice cracking a bit as she spoke. "Fred and George saw this morning. Think they figured it out rather quickly."
Harry looked beyond angry but he closed his eyes and took a few deep breathes before opening his eyes again and pulling Stella into a hug. She hugged him back, saying nothing. George poked his head back in a few minutes later, telling them it was time to get a move on. The two nodded and stepped out of the tent, the swelling on Stella's face having calmed a bit. They joined Hermione and Ron, hand-in-hand, and began following the map in Ron's hand.
A little boy, maybe two years old, had his mum's wand and had somehow made a slug the size of a salami. He'd cried when his mum had run out and accidentally stomped on the slug, squishing it. Two little girls just older than the boy were on toy broomsticks ahead of them. A Ministry worker was already rushing forward quickly, trying to find their parents.
Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some were very concerned with the idea of cooking the Muggle way, causing Stella to smirk, thankful that she'd chosen Muggle Studies since she already knew how to make a fire because of it.
"Er- is it my eyes or has everything gone green?" asked Ron.
It wasn't his eyes. They had just walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they heard their names.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Stella!"
Seamus Finnigan was sitting in front of his shamrock-covered tent, a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and Dean sitting with him. The three Gryffindors looked to Stella, as if asking a silent question. She took a step away from the tent and gave a forced smile.
"Go ahead," she told them. "I'm going to go find Teddy and Blaise. We agreed to meet up."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked. "We actually haven't spoken to either of them in a while. Ever since they admitted to being involved in…"
Ron trailed off but they all knew what he meant.
"Up to you," Stella shrugged. "I'll get the water first and go back to our tent before I wonder off."
"I'm not going over there," Harry spoke up and that was all it took for Ron and Hermione.
The four turned away from the green tent, continuing on their way. Ron had a fanboy moment when he caught a glimpse of posters of Viktor Krum and Stella couldn't help but smirk as Hermione said Krum looked grumpy. She wasn't wrong. He was scowling back at them from his poster. There was a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. The four joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry worker and was holding a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation.
"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that. The Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious."
"I bought this in a Muggle shop," Archie argued stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."
"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men. They wear these."
"I'm not putting them on. I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."
Hermione had to duck out of the queue she was giggling so hard. She only returned once Archie had collected his water and moved away. They walked away slowly, passing the water back and forth to take turns carrying it. Here and there, more familiar faces were seen. Oliver Wood waved happily at them and Stella didn't mind waving back. Wood was competitive but he was still Percy's boyfriend, she'd seen them still writing each other. Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff that liked to pair with Stella in Herbology every chance he got, as they worked well together, yelled Stella's name and then introduced her to his dad before moving along. Cho Chang, a very pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team, waved and smiled at Harry, who simply waved back with a tight lipped smile.
"You've been ages" George complained when they returned, going straight to Stella.
"Dad's having fun with matches," Fred said, seeming exasperated.
"Here," Stella passed her bag to her brothers, who immediately began digging their products out of it.
Stella stole the remaining matches from her Dad, a stack of splintered ones littering the ground due to previous attempts to light them. She showed him how to do it properly and lit the fire for him. It took an hour before the fire would be hot enough to cook anything and Stella decided to sneak away. She ended up at the three story tent again, smirking as Blaise and Theo came out of it, her hunch having been correct that this was the Nott tent. Both smiled when they saw her before seeming confused by her appearance.
"What's up with your hair?" Blaise demanded, trying to move it from her face just for Stella to slap at his hand.
"I fell down cleaning the attic yesterday and got a rather large bruise for it," she lied.
Theo, who didn't look like a believed her in the slightest, moved forward quickly, moving her hair before she could argue with him. Blaise gasped, staring in shock. Theo just looked the bruise over before looking into Stella's eyes.
"Did you fall on someone's hand?" Blaise demanded.
"We have bruise salve inside," Theo said to Blaise, eyes not leaving Stella's.
Blaise got the point and ran back inside. Once he was gone, Theo arched a brow at her.
"It doesn't matter," she whispered to him. "I'll figure it out before I go back next summer."
"And the rest of this one?" Theo asked her.
"I'll be alright, Teddy," she smiled to him.
"I hate that nickname."
"No, you don't."
"No, I don't," he sighed as Blaise returned.
Theo gently rubbed a bit of the bruise salve on Stella's face and she felt relief almost immediately. All that was left now was a bit of a bruise on her cheekbone that would need to heal on its own. Magic could only do so much at times, which was annoying, but she didn't mind since she no longer had a handprint on her cheek. The three took off then, joining in on the festivities.
There were carnival games set up at random, food stands, rides and everything. Stella knew for a fact that the Muggle groundskeeper was going to have to be Obliviated at the end of all of this. She laughed as Blaise swung a hammer and hit a lever, sending a puck towards a bell. It got halfway before it came back down. Theo rolled his eyes, paid a galleon, and swung the hammer. Stella cheered when the bell rang before Theo passed her a small stuffed dragon, it's wings flapping lazily every so often. Blaise bought them all fresh cornish pastries for lunch, the three sitting on a patch of grass as they ate.
"Has your Dad told you what's happening at the school this year?" Theo asked.
"I know something's going on but he and Percy are rather hush-hush about it. Want it to be a surprise," she shrugged.
"Do you want to know?" Theo asked.
"Please say yes?" Blaise begged, bouncing a bit where he sat.
"Sure," Stella laughed.
"The Triwizard Tournament," Theo said.
"THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT!" Blaise yelled and Stella shushed him as a few people turned to look at them.
"Quiet down. People are staring," she laughed, also suddenly excited. "It's been ages since there's been a tournament."
The three talked back and forth for a while before they walked Stella back to the top of her hill. The Weasley's were all in their tents and Stella led the two inside the main tent, calling out for her dad when she walked in. He strode over quickly, looking to the two teens behind Stella.
"These are my friends," she explained. "Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott. This is my dad, Arthur Weasley."
"Nice to meet you," Theo held his hand out and Dad shook it, seeming a bit uneasy but smiling through it anyways.
"Hi, Blaise," Harry called out as he headed towards them. "Theodore."
"Potter," Theo nodded.
"How's it, Harry?" Blaise smiled before shaking Dad's hand as well. "Excited for the match?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Who're you routing for?"
"Ireland," Theo said at the same time that Blaise said, "Bulgaria."
The two cut their eyes at one another and Stella laughed.
"Oh, no. Are you getting a divorce?" she asked them.
"Shut it," Blaise bumped Stella's arm, causing her to laugh again.
"We should get back," Theo commented. "We didn't want Stella walking by herself."
"See you later," Blaise smiled, waving as they left the tent.
"Those are your friends?" Dad asked, chewing his lip.
"Yeah," Stella nodded, waiting for Dad to tell her why he was so worried.
"Good of them to walk you back," he smiled instead. "Hungry? I think there may be sausages left."
"No," she shook her head. "Blaise bought lunch. I'm going to the other tent for a bit."
Stella stepped out of the tent to find Theo and Hermione smiling shyly at one another as Blaise very obviously flirted with Ginny. Stella rolled her eyes before joining them, raising her brow at Blaise.
"Oh, fine," he grumbled. "No playing with your sister. I get it."
"The fact that you called it playing," Stella sighed.
"I'll deal with him," Theo promised, dragging Blaise away.
A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards. The last vestiges of pretense disappeared, the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.
Salesmen were apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes- green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria- which were squealing the names of players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved. There were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, which Stella got two of immediately, and collectible figures of famous players, which Ron got one of. No one was surprised as he picked up the tiny Krum.
The bruise on Stella's face had been noticed and she said it happened while cleaning. Fred, Geroge, and Harry stayed silent. Stella fiddled with her ring, telling Sirius how amazing everything was and how she wished he was there to see it.
"Four pairs," Harry said to the man selling omnioculars.
"I have a pair," Stella spoke up, showing the pair Draco had given her first year.
"Three," Harry corrected.
Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes and Dad was carrying the Irish flag. Stella passed flags to Fred and George, along with green hats that they could wear, having seen them place a large bet earlier with all of their savings. A deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods and, at once, green and red lanterns blazed to life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.
"It's time!" Dad yelled. "Come on! Let's go!"
Harry had somehow made friends with a house elf and Stella was rather amused by it. Ron was making some old man pick his nose over and over again in his lens with the rewatch feature. Hermione was going through the program. Stella set off a bit of green fireworks, causing some cheers to go up.
"And here's Lucius!" Fudge yelled, having been introducing the Bulgarian minister to Harry.
Stella held in a groan of annoyance as the Malfoy's appeared.
"Stella," Narcissa smiled to her. "How are you?"
"Good," Stella fake smiled back. "How are you?"
"Oh, we're wonderful," Narcissa smiled back. "I do hope you'll be able to come around for holidays this year?"
"I'll ask Mum," Stella nodded, knowing for a fact she would be doing no such thing but at least she could blame her Mum when she wrote Draco about it.
Dad and Lucius glared at one another for a tense moment before Stella elbowed her dad and a fake smile crossed his face as well.
"Good lord, Arthur," Lucius said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much? Or did you dip into the Black vaults?"
"Classy," Stella spoke up arms crossing her chest, and Lucius turned to Stella. "Very mature."
"Just checking to be sure Draco's inheritance isn't being wasted on… these people," Lucius cut his eyes at the Weasley's.
Stella smirked, looking rather Slytherin as she did so and causing Lucius to feel uneasy for once.
"Oh, I'm sure that whatever amount I put into Draco's inheritance will match what he deserves," Stella told them.
Lucius looked outraged before Stella moved to a seat between Harry and Fred, facing the field again, not catching the proud smirk that crossed Narcissa's face before it went back to neutral. The others followed her lead, ignoring the Malfoys behind them. Harry wrapped his arm around Stella's waist, pulling her close to him. She smiled to him before looking forward again.
"So, Harry, Stella, how long have you been an item?" Bill asked curiously.
"What?" they both asked in confusion.
He looked to Harry's arm around Stella and how she leaned into him.
"Never mind," he shrugged, looking away.
Stella and Harry looked to each other and shrugged as well as George whispered to Bill and Charlie, probably telling them that Harry and Stella were always like that.
"Veela!" Dad yelled.
"What are Veela?" Harry asked.
A hundred Veela were now gliding out onto the field, answering his question for him. Veela were woman… very beautiful women, except they didn't look quite human. Stella watched everyone's reactions, eyes landing on Harry to find him looking more puzzled than anything else. The music started and the Veela began dancing. Harry turned to Stella looking confused by everyone's reactions.
"Huh," she breathed out. "Nothing?"
"What?" he asked confused.
"I'll explain later," she told him as a rainbow appeared over the field. "Oh, look! Leprechauns!"
"Yeah. They aren't together," Charlie snorted from beside Bill.
Stella just rolled her eyes, continuing to watch as the Leprechauns threw fake gold into the stands. Ron passed Harry a handful of the coins "for the Omnioculars! Now you can get me a Christmas present!" and Stella wondered if Harry knew that the gold would disappear in a few hours. Ron sure didn't.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaaand KRUM!"
The stadium was drowning in cheers. Stella laughed as Ron jumped on top of his seat, clapping and hollering.
"And now, please greet the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaaaad LYNCH!"
Stella slowed the players down with her Omnioculars so she see that each player was on a Firebolt. She and Harry exchanged grins before looking back to the field.
"And here, all the way from Egypt to referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa! Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" The game had finally begun. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"
Stella looked to see Harry's and Hermione's reactions. Hermione, who had never looked so interested in Quidditch before now, was on the edge of her seat. Harry's Omnioculars were pressing so hard into his glasses that she was sure he'd have a cut on the bridge of his nose from them. She pulled the Omnioculars from his face and grabbed his glasses. She tapped Percy's shoulder, said something to him and passed the glasses over. He handed them back a moment later and Stella gave Harry his glasses again, a cushioning charm now on them so they wouldn't leave marks on his face. They both went back to watching the game.
"TROY SCORES! Ten zero to Ireland!"
Within ten minutes, Ireland scored twice more, bringing the score to thirty-zero. The match began becoming faster and more brutal. Bulgaria finally made it past the Irish keeper and scored a point, bringing it up to thirty-ten.
"Fingers in your ears!" Dad bellowed as the Veela started dancing.
Harry just shrugged, continuing to watch unaffected.
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanora- Oh, I say!"
Krum and Lynch plummeted through the center of the chasers so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from their brooms.
"They're going to crash!" Hermione screamed.
"One of them is!" Stella yelled back.
Just as she said it, Krum pulled out and spiraled 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! Krum was feinting!" Dad moaned.
"It's time-out as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Lynch!"
"He'll be okay. He only got ploughed!"
"Stella's had worse," Ron shrugged and Stella laughed loudly; Ron always joked about her injuries to make her feel better about them, even when they'd been kids.
Harry seemed very interested in the move and she turned a glare on him.
"If you do that to me, I'll knock you off your broom," she warned him.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry shook his head, turning his head away to hide his smirk from her.
"Mhmm," she rolled her eyes.
The game continued and Stella watched on as a referee got distracted by the dancing Veela.
"Why do people keep looking at them like that?" Harry asked Stella.
"Veela can capture the attention of men when they dance or sing. It doesn't affect men who are in love, though," Stella explained. "I'll have to reread the book for it to tell you how it works."
"Alright," Harry nodded, accepting the answer before squeezing Stella's hip as the referee tried getting the Veela kicked out. "I don't think that's going to go over well."
The Veela no longer looked beautiful. Their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders.
"And that, boys, is why you never go for looks alone!" Dad laughed.
"Levski. Dimitrov. Moran. Troy. Mullet. Ivanova. Moran again. Moran… MORAN SCORES!"
Krum had somehow gotten injured and Ron was yelling that they needed to time out.
"He can't play like that! Look at him!"
"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled.
The Irish seeker had suddenly gone into a dive. Stella could see the snitch, patting Harry's shoulder and pointing to it. Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening. Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming Lynch on. Krum was on his tail and Stella had no clue how he could see where he was going with the blood on his face. They hurtled towards the ground.
"They's going to crash!" yelled Hermione.
"They're not!" Ron yelled back.
"Lynch is!" Harry yelled and he was right.
For the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry Veela. Stella flinched at the sight but her eyes landed on Krum.
"Krum caught it!" she yelled.
The scoreboard was flashing 'Bulgaria: 160, Ireland: 170' across the crowd, most of which hadn't even realized what had happened yet. Suddenly Ireland was screaming in victory, reminding Stella of when the last emerald had been placed in Slytherin's vial at school the year before.
"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH BUT IRELAND WINS! Good Lord, I don't think any of us expected that."
"What did he catch the snitch for?" Ron bellowed. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"
"He knew they were never going to catch up! The Irish chasers were too good… He wanted to end it on his own terms!" Harry shouted back so he could be heard over the crowd.
"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and Veela to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess…"
"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind them and they turned to see the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.
"You can speak English?" Fudge sounded outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day?"
"Vell, it vos funny," said the Bulgarian minister with a shrug and Stella had to turn away, hand covering her mouth to keep from laughing in Fudge's face.
Stella watched with narrowed eyes as Bagman passed Fred and George leprechaun gold before rushing over.
"Leprechaun gold will disappear in a few hours," she told the three but her eyes were locked on Bagman. "I do hope that was just a simple mistake and not on purpose, Mr. Bagman."
"Oh, right!" Bagman nodded with wide eyes on Stella, clearly thinking he had been about to get away with it before pulling out real gold now and passing over Fred and George's actual winnings. "Completely forgot about it. Here you are boys."
There was singing and dancing and fireworks everywhere they looked. Leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally reached their tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all given the level of noise around them. Dad agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa before turning in. Blaise and Theo joined while the others around them argued about the game. She made them both a cup, passing it over before plopping down between the two.
Harry ended up on the floor in front of her, back leaned against her legs as she ran her fingers through his hair and talked back and forth with the other two. Ginny fell asleep first, spilling cocoa everywhere in the process. Blaise and Theo said their goodbyes and Harry hugged Stella before she followed Hermione and Ginny to the other tent, falling asleep rather quickly.