— SOON, IT WAS THE FINALS FOR THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP. Atlas Hwang was still embarrassed of himself for letting the opposing team steal his Quaffle a lot of times, but the press didn't really blame him. He had an injured hand and still played. If anything, it made him more loved by the general public.
However, her mother was on fire. People were quite annoyed that the other team caught the snitch right under her nose, and people were disappointed in her mother for letting that be.
Aurors spent the rest of the time worrying about wether Nicole would rat her out, however the girl did keep her promise of not telling anyone.
Nicole, who was still half asleep, waited for Mr. Weasley to pop out of their fireplace. She tried to convince Mrs. Weasley to come, telling her that their house elf had already brought everything for everyone, but she insisted on staying home. Said that Quidditch wasn't really her cup of tea.
It was 5 in the morning and the outside was still really dark. Tilly the house elf was cooking some food, and she's already woke the guests up. After a few minutes, Hermoine walked beside her and plopped herself down on the sofa.
"What ya waiting for?"
Nicole ignored her, and was about to close her eyes to get another second of sleep but their fireplace went ablaze. Emerging out of the green flames was Mr. Weasley, who was dressed like a muggle.
"Hello, Nic. Hermoine." Mr. Weasley greeted them. Nicole smiled widely.
"Hello, Mr. Weasley. Our house elf just woke the rest up. They'll be here any minute. Would you like to come with us to the dining table? There's food already."
Hermoine raised her eyebrow in suspicion. Nicole was really different around adults than she was at school.
The three of them went towards the table. Tolly was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as the boys entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly.
"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito — do I look like a Muggle, Harry?"
"Yeah," said Harry, smiling, "very good."
"What about mine?"
Harry looked towards Nicole, who was wearing a green dress that she had stolen from Aurora's closet. It looked like something a muggle would wear, so she decided to just wear it.
Harry froze, his cheeks turning bright red. When he noticed that she was expecting for him to answer, he put out his two thumbs up. "Brilliant."
"Where're Bill and Charlie?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.
"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Nicole. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."
"How are we going there, then?" Harry questioned, sitting on the table. He started to eat the food infront of him while Nicole continued to talk.
"Well... we usually fly." she explained. "But since we were with you guys, and mom and dad aren't here and they've got my broom... I asked Mr. Weasley how." she scrunched her eyebrows, trying to remember. "And... I forgot. Mr. Weasley can you please explain it?"
"We use Portkeys." he explained. Aurora, who was now dressed, walked over the table to listen to the redhead. "They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."
"Hey— that's my dress!"
At the sound of Aurora's voice, Nicole went up on her chair and started to run away.
—
"We're going with who?" Aurora questioned. She must have felt her ears betray her— because Nicole started teasing her about how they were going with Cedric Diggory.
Nicole laughed, shoving her shoulder. The big group were walking up a hill. Wearing a dress might have not been the best idea, since the weather was extremely cold, and everyone except for her were wearing jackets.
"Arthur! It's about time son."
Aurora looked at the man confused. This wasn't Cedric.
"Sorry Amos. Some of us had a bit of
a sleepy start." Arthur smiled, looking towards Ron who was still yawning. "This is Amos Diggory everyone, he works with me at the ministry."
Aurora almost cursed out loud when Cedric fell from a tree. "And this strapping young lad must be Cedric, am I right?"
"Yes, sir." Cedric Diggory smiled, his eyes looking over to the small group. He was pleasantly surprised to see Aurora amongst them. He gave her a wink, before leading the Weasleys towards the portkey.
Nicole had never seen Aurora blush as much as she did at the moment.
The two twins stayed behind Harry, who was looking at Nicole in concern. The girl's ears were so red that they looked like they could fall of any moment.
He was about to offer his sweater but Amos Diggory stood infront of him with a smile. "Merlin's beard, you must be Harry Potter."
"Yes sir."
"Great great pleasure." Amos said, and Harry uncomfortably made his way back to the group. Nicole and Aurora stayed behind, but Amos Diggory went infront of them and shot them a smile.
He beamed at Nicole. "You must be Aurora, right? Cedric has been telling me all about you. You're the daughter of Atlas and Noelle, right? I've seen you on the daily phropet with your parents."
"Oh." Nicole immediately shook her head. "I'm Nicole, this is Aurora." she pulled her sister over, who had a nervous look on her face. "We're twins."
"Oh? My apologies." Amos smiled, now facing Aurora. Nicole nudged her shoulder with a smile, walking over to Harry who was trailing behind Cedric.
His eyes went over to her red ears once again, and really wished that Nicole had some earmuffs on her. Her shoulders were shaking, which made him instinctively take off his denim jacket and hand it to her.
"I don't need it." Nicole mumbled, walking past Harry.
"You're shivering, Nic."
"I'm shaking." Nicole lied. "Of excitement."
"Alright." Harry teased, taking the jacket and placing it in his shoulder. He knew that Nicole would eventually stop being so stubborn and would give up.
It took quite longer than he expected, but after 4 minutes of walking Nicole sighed and faced Harry.
"Alright, give me the damn jacket."
Harry smiled with triumph, removing the denim jacket from his sweater and handing it to her.
"Where's your sister, Nic?" Hermoine asked her friend once she caught up. The girl smiled widely, whispering into her ear. "You know.. talking to her father in law."
They eventually reached the portkey.
"Shall we?" Arthur asks, walking over to the boot.
"Oh yeah."
"We don't want to be late." Arthur reminded, leaning down on his knees and sitting infront of the boot. Everyone then followed suit.
"Ready?" Amos called. "After three. One... two... three!"
The group started to spin. What started off slow picked up in it's pace and started to spin fast. Aurora, who never used a portkey before, kept her eyes shut in fear.
Soon, everything stopped.
Aurora fell on her back, and looked up to the sky to see Cedric, Amos, and Mr. Weasley floating down in peace. It looked rather funny.
The girl shut her eyes, and didn't even notice the approaching boy walk up to her with an outstretched hand. Aurora smiled widely as he pulled her up.
"Thanks."
"Being polite, are we?" Cedric joked. "You aren't this shy when we're alone."
"Shut up, Cedric." Aurora stated, her cheeks turning red. The boy smiled, placing his arm around her shoulder. Aurora tried to hide her now really red face away from him.
As soon as everyone got to their feet and they managed to get Nicole who was at the bottom of the hill, they followed the two adults until they finally make it over the final stretch of the biggest hill.
Nicole's eyes went wide when she saw the sight infront of her. Thousands of tents, food, and people stood around. The crowd was extremely cheerful and people were screaming out of joy.
Atlas Hwang suddenly apparated infront of them. Before the people who haven't met him yet got a chance to freak out, he looked at Artur and Amos with a smile.
"Thanks for brining my kids here." he smiled genuinely, before looking over to the twins. "Nicole, I need to introduce you to some people. The minister of magic says he wants to see you fly. Aurora, your mom is looking for you."
Nicole turned her back on her father and looked at her friends. "See you guys later." she said, walking with her father.
"Bye, Cedric." Aurora smiled, catching up on her sister and dad.
—
"Nicole this is Captain Darren O'Hare and Aidan Lynch." Atlas introduced his daughter to the captains of the Irish National Quidditch Team. Aurora had wondered off somewhere to go find her mother while Atlas was showing Nicole around like she was some sort of prize.
"Hello!" Nicole greeted, shaking their hands. "Good luck on the game later. I'll be rooting for Ireland."
"You look just like your father, aye?" he smiled, patting her head. "He tells me you're amazing in a broom. You two visit our arena sometime. We would love to bring her in."
Nicole beamed at this statement. Being complimented by a Quidditch Legend meant a lot to her.
"Oh, Nicole!" her father called out once again. Nicole quickly bid the irish goodbye and walked over to her father, who was now beside a grumpy looking man.
"Oh, hey Viktor!" Nicole greeted, giving the older boy a high five. She knew him because she spent the last summer in Bulgaria, and he was a little to peculiar for her liking to be a friend, but she was still okay around him.
"How are you?" he asked with his thick accent.
"I'm good." Nicole smiled. "Goodluck with the match later. I'm rooting for Bulgaria." she said, pretending that she didn't say the same exact thing to the Irish captains.
"We need to have a team meeting." he stated, walking away. "Goodbye."
"Dad, I'm going to Harry's tent." Nicole said once she caught up on her father. Before Atlas could stop her, he was dragged away by a bunch of news reports. Nicole took this a chance to go out of the arena, not before spotting Aurora who was drinking a cup of tea on one of the tables.
"Aurora, wanna go see Cedric?"
Her sister hit her head with her hand.
—
"You go first, Ron. I'm kind of in an awkward situation right now."
It had been a few hours after Nicole met with some Quidditch players, and she was quite exhausted at this point. It didn't help that the Minister's Box was really far and it was making her exhausted.
Ron looked at his friend in confusion.
"Nicole, we can't go in there without you. You're our way in. You're Hwang's daughter."
"It's just—" Nicole looked over to the field. "I told Viktor that I would be supporting Bulgaria today, but my face is full of Irish face paint."
"Merlin, you know Viktor Krum?" Ron asked excitedly.
"He's my friend. Well not technically my friend. Weird kid he is."
Ronald was about to ask her a lot more questions but Nicole just sighed and walked over to the box. The girl spotted her father and quickly ushered the group to go towards her direction.
Soon, they were in. Atlas was about to tell Mr. Weasley something until a cold, drawling voice came from behind them.
"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"
Atlas, who had heard the entire thing, gave Lucuis a smile. "They're my guests, Lucuis."
"Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Harry, Nicole and Hermione turned to face the field again. "Why is your sister friends with him?" he questioned Nicole, who glanced at Aurora who was sitting with Malfoy. They seemed to have made up since the whole Buckbeak incident.
"She's a slimy git too." she whispered back.
Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.
"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister — ready to go?"
The minister of magic nodded.
"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.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
Atlas and Nicole started cheering loudly.
"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning for- ward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"
Atlas' eyes widened, before turning on his back so he wouldn't see the Veela. Now panicking, he shot Aurora a look. "Aurora, where's your mother?"
Aurora shrugged.
The Veela started to dance, and Nicole stared at them. She couldn't help but admire how graceful and amazing they danced. How beautiful the Veela were, too.
"Harry, what are you doing?" said Hermione's voice from a long way off.
The music stopped. Nicole looked at her friend.
Harry was standing up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.
Nicole hastily pulled Harry back into his seat.
"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's 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.
After some leprechauns appeared, everything was calm again. They were only waiting for the players to come.
"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 Ron, following Krum with his
Omnioculars.
Nicole laughed at his enthusiasm. "You know, Ron. I could introduce you to Krum later if you want?"
Ron nearly fainted at this.
"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — Lynch!"
Nicole clapped loudly, saluting the two team captains who caught her eye. Her father laughed at this, patting her head.
The match was a bit controversial. The Irish Chaser, Troy scored the first goal of the match. After another two Irish goals, Ivanova registered Bulgaria's opening score. Then Ireland's Seeker Aidan Lynch was fooled by Viktor Krum's Wronski Feint, but managed to continue play after the aid of some mediwizards. Fifteen minutes later Ireland had stretched their lead to 130-10, when their Chaser Mullet was fouled by the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, and was awarded a penalty.
This penalty led to anarchy, with another penalty being awarded to Ireland and referee Hassan Mostafa being distracted by the Veela. Quigley sent a Bludger towards Krum which broke his nose. Lynch then spotted the Snitch, but was beaten in the race for it by Krum. Despite this, Ireland still ran out the victors. The final score was 170-160.
"I need to go find your mother." Atlas said once everyone was clearing out. "You go with Mr. Weasley, okay? I'll be back in a bit. Tell Aurora too."
Nicole nodded and went to go pull her sister away from Draco. Before she could complain, Nicole gave her to Ginny and ran towards Ron.
"I couldn't get you to meet Krum." she shrugged. "He broke his nose so... Maybe next time?"
Ron, who was a bit sad, nodded grimly.
—
"Harry, what's this?"
Harry's eyes widened once Nicole went up to him holding a pack of cigarettes. They were on their way back to the tent, and she somehow managed to grab a cigarette pack out of nowhere.
"It's like a pipe." Harry explained, about to take it away from her. However, Nicole smiled and grabbed it away and placed it on one of the pockets on her dress.
He should have took it from her before explaining what it his. For all he knew, Nicole could be smoking those before she slept.
They were the only ones out of the tent because of the conversation, and when they went in Ron was standing in the table sighing dramatically.
"There's no one like Krum. He's like a bird the way he rides the wind. He's more than an athlete, he's an artist!"
The Weasley twins started to circle him, flapping their arms like they were wings and chanting, "Krum, Krum, Krum!" Then Fred proceeded to throw the Irish flag on Ron.
Nicole was starting to think Ron was in love with Krum. Judging by the look on her face, so was Aurora.
"Seems like little Won-Won is in love." Nicole teased, making her way beside Hermoine. "I could arrange a date if you would like?"
"Shut up." Ron mumbled, going red.
"Viktor I love you!" Fred suddenly bellowed. George and Harry went in as well. "Viktor I do! When we're apart my heart beats only for youuu!"
Their teasing stopped once shrill screams suddenly came from the outside.
"Sounds like the irish have got their pride on." Fred said.
"Sounds like someone's dying." Aurora deadpanned.
"Stop!" Mr. Weasley came running back into the tent to separate the boys. "Stop it."
The smile on everyone's faces slipped away as they stared at the very frantic Mr. Weasley.
"It's not the irish. We've gotta get out of here. Now."
Nobody moved.
"I said, NOW!"
—
"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot — get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"
As he said that, they sprinted away.
Nicole looked around her surroundings in worry. Where the hell was her sister? Why were they always separated in moments like this?
"AURORA!" Nicole called over the screaming people. Hermoine was trying to drag her away, but she was rushing around the tent trying to find her sister. If Aurora somehow dies, she would be the one to blame and Nicole wasn't really fond of that.
She could still hear Hermoine calling out to her, but she needed to find her sister.
So much people were going into her direction at once, and the Weasley's and Harry were long gone. People were running around, escaping from the burning tents and fiery grass.
"NICOLE!"
Nicole turned around to see Aurora running her way. The taller twin almost got trampled but she quickly regained her balance and ran over to her sister.
"Oh no." Nicole mumbled, looking towards the army of marching people in black hoods. "Are those—"
"Death eaters." Aurora breathed out. She quickly grabbed Nicole's hand, trying to pull her away to safety. They were too near and none of them wanted to risk being caught.
"Stop!" Nicole exclaimed, pulling away. "Harry! I need to find Harry! And Hermoine! And Ron?"
Aurora sighed once again. They were about to die any moment and Nicole was still thinking about her friends.
Aurora was about to scream at her until Atlas Hwang suddenly apparated infront of them. He had a frown on his face; something the twins rarely saw on him.
"This is a portkey." he explained, handing them a bag. "Hold this and it'll bring you back to the mansion. I had this for emergency."
"But dad, what about—"
"I'll handle them." he cut Nicole off. "What I need the two of you to do now is to go back to the mansion, okay?"
"Dad where did mom g—"
"I DONT FUCKING KNOW!" Atlas Hwang screamed, now stressed out. "Now do as I say and go back to the mansion. Now!"
Aurora looked at her father in fear. Nicole, who was clearly surprised as well, touched the portkey.
Soon, they were back in the mansion.