S O R R Y
xlii||the quidditch world cup
"Up! Pip pip!" Another early wake up call from James Potter echoes through the halls of the Potter Manor as he uses that stupid microphone set again. Maria groans loudly and rolls over, completely forgetting she was half hanging off her bed already, falling onto the polished wooden floor of her bedroom with a loud thud. The dark haired girl grumbles when James abruptly opens her door, followed by a grumbling Peter Pettigrew who seems to have been woken up by being hit with something, by the red mark on his forehead. "Good morning guests and Potters! I would like to announce that today is a very big day!"
"Shut up!" She hears Sirius shout groggily from across the hall as she covers her ears with her pillow. James seems to leave for a second before she's being messily lifted up from the ground, still wrapped in her bedsheets as at least three people begin to carry her down the stairs. She doesn't even try and get out of their grasp, keeping her eyes closed peacefully as Remus, Sirius and Peter almost drop her onto the sofa as they place her down.
"Morning to you too, Mar." Remus rolls his warm brown eyes as he slumps on the sofa next to her feet, actually almost squashing them. "Excited?"
Maria makes a noise of agreement, her face still buried into her sheets as Peter sighs and slouches in the armchair, Sirius lifting Maria up before sitting where her head was and letting her rest on his lap again. James walks in looking very pleased with himself, checking the time.
"Ah, five o'clock." James makes a satisfied sound at the back of his throat. "Lovely morning."
"Yeah, lovely." Maria grumbles, speaking for the first time today. "Unless you've been woken up at forbidden hours of the morning!"
"Hey, we're going to America." James points at her, slouching into the sofa and stretching his arms across the back of it.
"So, when are we actually going?" Peter yawns, hugging his frayed, green jumper closer as he scoots closer to the warmth of the roaring fire.
"Well, we should set off for about nine, just to avoid those huge crowds." Remus says, leaning forwards with his elbows resting on his knees. "Hey, did you get an invite to the Weasleys 10 year wedding anniversary party?"
"Yeah." Maria hums, sitting up now, and grabbing the Daily Prophet that must have been dropped off by one of their owls. Unfolding it, she chews on her lip, every headline the same 'ANOTHER ATTACK OF MUGGLE FAMILY', she sighs, placing the newspaper down and not wanting to read through the dozens of names on the list. Remus purses his lips and gives her a look, asking is she okay and she gives him a small smile and reassuring nod.
"Better get ready." James states, slapping his hands on his knees as he rises from the sofa cheerfully and Maria sighs, taking Peter's outstretched hand and he heaves her from the sofa.
Maria dressed in a large band t-shirt with 'Queen' sprawled across the front and some high waisted jeans, slipping into some high top shoes with the laces messily tied and she lazily brushes her hair into a messy ponytail, one she'd argue could probably pass as if she'd been dragged through a hedge. Trudging down the stairs, Maria sees the boys in the foyer and James claps his hands together sharply.
"Right." James grins happily, quite obviously very excited for the match. "Maria. . .you can apparate, right?" Maria nods unsurely and Remus nudges her.
"She can come with me." He smiles and James nods, Maria grabbing Remus' arm tightly and James nods once more before they disappear from the Pitter Manor.
Maria stumbled slightly when they land on a steep hill, James quickly steadying his younger sister when they see a humongous arena over a the hill and share a look, trudging up the grass and Maria lets out a soft breath at the sight. Thousands of tents set up across a vast field, thousands of people walking into them and weaving between them. A few small fireworks are let off every few seconds and there's a sudden joy that overwhelms the quintet as they stare over the land in awe. Maria looks at James who grins at them, taking off at a run towards the tents, Maria shoving Sirius back as she runs after him, Sirius rolls his eyes, running after them. The four wizards and the teenage witch smile brightly, Peter and Remus grabbing Maria's shoulders and pulling her to duck when a young boy on a broomstick comes zooming over their heads. Sirius winks at a group of American teens who giggle and tuck their hair behind their ears, Maria rolling her eyes at how easily they find him perfect to giggle about.
"Hi." One of the American girls smiles, her hair rather curly and blonde and her eyes a crystalline blue, she seems to be chewing some sort of gum obnoxiously, making Maria look at her strangely as her three friends join her. "I'm Amy."
"Sirius." Sirius kisses her hand, the teens seem to melt at his British accent and Amy flushes a dark pink.
"So, where are you from?" A dark skinned girl with light brunette hair and beautiful, bright blue eyes smiles sweetly, Maria deciding that she'd her favourite out of the four, and the one who seems the nicest. "I'm Cecelia, by the way." She sticks her hand out, but not to Sirius, to Maria who smiles and shakes it.
"Maria." Her soft, English voice seems to make the other girls scoff quietly. "England, I go to Hogwarts."
"Oh wow." Cecelia smiles. "We went to Ilvermorny, but we graduated a few months ago."
"Us too!" Peter chimes before turning rather pink in embarrassment. "From Hogwarts, obviously."
"So. . .siblings?" A red haired girl with a rather large nose and pressed lips asks, gesturing between Sirius and Maria who looks t each other incredulously.
"No." Sirius says, slinging an arm over Maria's shoulder. "Siblings." He gestures between Maria and James.
"And what's your name?" The last girl with dark hair and golden honey eyes asks James with a seductive smirk but James furrows his eyebrows in a sort of disgust.
"Back of bitches!" A familiar voice exclaims and Maria's eyes widen at the sight of Marlene strutting over with Mary, Dorcas and Lily.
"There you are." Lily smiles, leaning up and pressing a kiss on James lips, Maria and Sirius faking some gags in disgust before looking at each other.
"There you are." Maria tries to mock Lily's softer voice as they lean in before swerving to the side and meeting Lily and James' look that says 'what the fuck'.
"We should get going, I'll see you." Cecelia smiles and Maria nods, waving as Cecelia rolls her eyes at her friends and pulls them along.
"You came!" Maria squeals, hugging Mary and Marlene and then Lily and Dorcas.
"Couldn't miss their faces." Dorcas smiles and Maria notices Alice's absence. "Oh—Alice and Frank went to Lanzarote for a week, trying to get some time to themselves before the war becomes even worse."
"So, shagging for a week."
"Sirius." Maria scolds, slapping his arm and he rubs the spot she hit with a look of feigned agony. "I'm glad they're having fun."
"Well, personally, I wanted to see if Sirius got hit in the face by a quaffle or something—" Marlene is cut off by Lily's hand covering her mouth.
"We—just wanted to join you, thought we'd take up the offer." Lily corrects and Marlene huffs when Lily removes her hand, Maria trying not to laugh at the sight.
"Perfect!"
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A few hours later, they're trudging up the steps of the crowded arena, Sirius and Maria bickering over who gets to use the omnioculars first. Peter had tripped over two small children on their journey up the steps, the other boys and Maria laughing uncontrollably whilst Lily had scolded them. Sirius had flirted with at least ten different girls from ten different countries, most of them speaking quickly in a different language, making him give the others looks before they scurried away. Remus had eaten two chocolate bars and then complained loudly when he fumbled in his pockets, realising he didn't have any left and that he'd left them at the house. Marlene had made at least five comments on how she could be sleeping in her 'lovely, warm bed' but instead she's walking up an 'endless' staircase. Mary had spotted approximately three boys, two of which were French, that she had whispered to the other girls she would marry one day, one of the French boys with blonde curly hair and dark green eyes had actually spoken to her for a while but the others had to drag the curly haired girl away. Dorcas had blabbered about the fact she'd barely left her bed since they graduated and was not prepared for the long walk up a dozen staircases. James had been chattering happily about how he thinks that France will definitely beat America in the cup but Sirius had argued that America has an amazing seeker called Diego Muñoz who has never failed to catch the golden snitch
Finally, Maria is able to lean on a railing, the group of them breathing heavily as they look out over the arena and the hundreds of thousands of witches and wizards all in the stands, cheering excitedly. They're clad in different coloured scarves and hats, waving flags in the air, Maria is wearing a red, white and blue flag to support the French quidditch team but Sirius wears the American colours, along with Peter and Dorcas.
Suddenly, a whoosh flies past them and wizards and witches on broomsticks all fire past them with red, white and blue sparks shooting from the ends of their brooms. People clap and whistle, James excitedly shaking Maria's arm and pointing to the French keeper, Alaine Badeaux, her red hair tied in a tight ponytail and her hazel eyes darting over the stands as she smiles happily and waves, Maria's first thought is she would be fun to get drunk with.
Then, a team of just men come zooming onto the pitch, a huge firework making the French's seem unnoticeable as the dragon made from firework sparks soars over the pitch before exploding into green sparks that fall down.
The chaos eventually dies down as everyone reaches their seats and the American Minister for Magic steps up and holds his wand to his neck to project his voice across the whole pitch.
"Welcome, to the final of the 415th Quidditch World Cup." The Minister says clearly. "Let the match begin!"
After around an hour, Maria is sat back in her seat, watching the match carefully before she hears something in the distance, like a sort of explosion that makes her eyebrows furrow as she slowly stands up, walking towards the railing and earning inquisitive looks from her brother and friends. It's dark out now, the only thing illuminating the pitch being the bright lights shining down on it as she squints, touching the cool railing that sends an uneasy feeling up her spine.
Then, everything went wrong.
Black clouds of smoke swirl through the air and land on the pitch and in the stands, explosions going off and people screaming loudly, James grabbing Maria quickly but she yells at him and points at Lily who's being dragged by a person in all black with a silver mask covering their face. James shoves Maria to Sirius who catches her and steadies her easily, the stands shaking as flames erupt from some of the explosions.
James seems to have gotten Lily back as they run towards the group and they all huddle together, Sirius grabbing Maria's hand and pulling her through the mounds of terrified witches and wizards.
Maria wants to cover her ears, agonising screams and children crying is heard from each direction, Mary trips over a step as they stumble down and Maria lets go of Sirius' hand.
"Maria!" Sirius yells as she pushes past people and helps Mary up, the curly haired girl giving her a thankful smile but they're separated by people shoving past them, Mary screaming Maria's name in hopes of locating her but Maria is pushed so far away she can barely hear her yells over the chaos around her.
Someone grabs Maria and suddenly she's on a hill, throwing up slightly and coughing from the surprise apparation, she looks and sees the arena in bits about a dozen or two yards away, her eyes welling with tears at the still audible screams.
She turns to see her rescuer and is met with stormy grey eyes, making her sigh in relief and step forwards quickly, throwing her arms tightly around Regulus' neck and he closes his eyes when he wraps his tightly around her waist, her feet hovering from the floor for a few seconds from the impact.
"Are you okay—hurt?" Regulus fusses, grabbing Maria's head in his hands and moving it to examine it but Maria places her hands over his, shaking her head.
"I—fine, I'm fine." Maria breathes and Regulus swallows, cupping her jaw with both hands and bringing his lips down into hers hurriedly, her hands clutching his black leather jacket as a tear rolls down her cheek, not wanting to let go of him.
"Y—I have to go." Regulus mumble, resting his forehead against hers and caressing her cheek, sliding his thumb down and slowly tracing her lip.
"I know." Maria whispers, her chocolate eyes moulding with his grey ones and he sighs, kissing her forehead.
"Meet me tomorrow, the muggle town near your house." Regulus murmurs and she sniffles nodding and he leaves one long kiss on her temple before he's gone.
Maria wipes her cheeks and looks to the sky, her mouth agape in terror when she sees the green, glowing mark in the sky. A skull with a snake slithering from its mouth and twisting around itself.
The dark mark.
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