Heart & Soul (The Untold Harry Potter story)

Chapter 25

"Arthur! It's about time!"

"Sorry Amos. Some of us had a bit of a sleepy start!" Arthur cast a look over his shoulder to his youngest son, who rolled his eyes at his dad. Amos Diggory was a soft looking man, with round cheeks and a small pair of glasses that rested on the edge of his nose. Castor only knew who he was because Cedric had dropped down from a high branch of the very tree they were standing under. "This is Amos Diggory everyone, works with me at the Ministry. And this strapping young lad must be Cedric!"

Cedric Diggory was known as Hogwarts' pretty boy. Castor could admit that he was good looking. He was a 6th year, like her, and a Hufflepuff, who played seeker for his own house team. With golden auburn hair and a strong, handsome face, it was no reason why many of the girls at school found him attractive. Catching the look shared between Hermione and Ginny, Pollux chuckled. Fred and George had politely shaken hands with the Diggorys and continued on walking up the hill, Castor following after them.

And there, standing lone by itself at the top of the hill, was one dirty, old boot. The portkey. They were nearly late to leave, so they all quickly crowded around the boot. Pollux could hear Harry's confusion, and as the Weasley twins explanation, he took his spot beside Hermione and Cedric. With the portkey being so small, they all had to squeeze in tightly, barely able to brush their fingers on the dirty shoe. Castor, as always, found herself squished between the Weasley twins. As Arthur counted down, Castor felt her heart jump with excitement. She'd never been to the Quidditch World Cup before, and she was elated to experience the entire weekend of quidditch with her best friends.

"Time to go!" Arthur called to his children.

"Ready after three!" Amos began to count down. Sparing one final glance around the group, Castor panicked as did Arthur and Pollux.

"Harry!" They cried, all relieved to see that he had managed to grab the boot just after Amos finished his countdown. Castor felt herself spin, the inertia of the feeling making her slightly dizzy, and soon she was following Mr. Weasley's instructions to let go.

She landed hard on her back, knocking the breath from her lungs and made to push herself to lean up on her elbows, when another larger body landed on top of her, and she landed back on the hard ground again.

"Oof!" She felt whoever it was that was laying on her chest push themselves up, and he came nose to nose with none other than Fred Weasley. Both parties froze, teenage awkwardness permeating the air before Fred righted himself and reached down to pull Castor to her feet. She blushed, biting her lip and avoiding his eyes as she mumbled a quick thanks to the ginger boy and pushed past him. She cursed herself to wearing her hair in braids this weekend, wishing she could duck behind her midnight curls.

And once again, they were all rushing up the hill, and what revealed itself was better than Castor could have ever imagine. The large stadium was barely visible in the distance, and the tents all around were brightly colored and had several flags waving in support of one of two teams that were playing this weekend. Red and green littered the rolling hills. There were people on stilts, players and quidditch fans flying through the air. Families of all kinds had campfires going, and there were plenty of children running around and floating on their own kiddie brooms barely a foot off the ground.

"Well kids, welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" Arthur couldn't seem to contain his excitement either, practically bouncing on his feet giddily as he lead his family and adoptive children to their own tent. Arthur pulled open the flap of their tent, which looked barely big enough to fit two people, let alone nine. Harry's confusion was prominent, and Pollux chuckled as he pushed in the younger boy.

Harry was astounded, obviously not familiar with extension charms, and looked around the wide interior of the tent with awe. Several couches, and two areas with plenty of beds that would house both the boys and the girls, with a small kitchen for their use over the weekend.