The world continued to spin in flashing bright lights and it was honestly starting to make me feel dizzy. I could hear Hermione screaming as the portkey did it's magic, terrified as we continued to spin. While Hermione was scared for her life, Fred and George were cheering with excitement. Those two seriously lived in a whole other world to the rest of us sometimes.
"Let go kids," Mr. Weasley called out to us.
"What!" Hermione screeched in fear.
"Let. Go," Mr. Weasley said again.
It was a lot harder than it looked to let go of the portkey, it was almost like gravity was keeping me attached to the old boot. I finally managed to pull my hand away and found myself falling to the ground with Danny next to me. I reached over to my cousin and grabbed his hand as we both hit the ground hard.
Oh, that hurt Danny said through our bond.
Tell me about it. That was worse than traveling through the Bifrost for the first time, I replied as I sat up.
"I bet that cleared your sinuses, eh?" Mr. Weasley said as he along with Cedric and Mr. Diggory floated down with ease.
"Not used to traveling by portkey," Cedric laughed as he helped me to my feet.
"One day you are going to visit my family in Norway and I'm gonna make you travel there the traditional way. Then we will see who's laughing," I told him, knowing that he knew what I was talking about.
"You keep saying that you will take me to meet your family, but it never happened," Cedric said as he helped Harry up.
"Thanks," Harry said, taking hold of Cedric's hand and letting him to help to his feet.
"Just have to wait for my great uncle to make up his mind," I told him, referring to Odin who still wasn't a fan on letting non-Asgardians in to Asgard.
"Yeah, not going to happen anytime soon. The old man is too stubborn," Danny laughed.
"We'll see," I said as I draped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Now, to more important things. How have your holidays been Harry? Dad and I have been trying to get your aunt and uncle to let you visit the complex but we haven't had any luck. It's been driving Dad mad."
"So that's why Uncle Vernon had been muttering about stupid messages from stupid Americans," Harry laughed as our portkey was collected by two wizards from the Ministry of Magic and we were checked off their list. "It's been pretty boring actually. Ever since they found out about Snuffles, they have been too sacred to say anything to me."
"Yeah, but we got revenge on that cousin of his," Fred said with a mischievous grin, interrupting the conversation.
"What did you two do?" Cedric asked wearily.
"I had let Ron know that Dudley had been put on a diet by his schools nurse because he couldn't fit into the school uniform anymore in one of my letters to him and I didn't know that he had told Fred and George," Harry started to explain. "So, when Mr. Weasley came to pick me up with Ron, Fred and George decided to come along."
"Yeah, and that was enough of a disaster to begin with," Ron added.
"Why, what happened?" Danny asked.
"Well, Mr. Weasley had the house connected to the floo network for the day but the only problem was that the fire place was blocked over so Mr. Weasley had to blast it open from the inside. When everyone walked out of the fire place, Fred dropped these sweets and well, um..." Harry explained, not knowing how to finish.
"We dropped Ton-Tongue toffees, available from Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes at a wonderful low introductory price, and the idiot ate them," George finished.
"I probably don't need to ask what happened then," I said as I rolled my eyes at the twins.
"The last we saw of him, his tongue was four foot long," Fred laughed.
"One of these days you two are going to end up in front of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes after one of your 'pranks' goes wrong," Cedric laughed at the pair.
"Ah, not if we open a business and state that our products are for use in the wizarding world only," Fred said.
"Yes, that way we cannot be held responsible for what others do with our products," George finished.
"I'm guessing that's were Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes comes in," Danny assumed.
"You would be correct Odinson. And because our two favorite prefects here have over looked our little pranks, they will get a lifelong discount. When we open the store, that is," Fred told us.
"Wow, I'm really touched," I laughed. "I'll remind you two of that one day when your either millionaires or sitting in jail. Whichever one happens first."
The twins continued to tell us about all their latest creations as we walked through the misty woods towards the camp site that we would be staying at. Truthfully, I wasn't the biggest fan of camping, but I would have slept on the ground in the rain to go to the quidditch world cup. When the tree line finally broke and we walked up a small hill, the camp site came in to view. There were thousands of tents covering the field and there were witches and wizards from all over the world walking around.
"Well kids, welcome to the quidditch world cup," Mr. Weasley announced.
"This is...," Danny said.
"Absolutely amazing," I finished for him, falling back into our old ways of talking.
"Parting of the ways I think old chap, see you at the match," Mr. Diggory said as he waved goodbye to Mr. Weasley.
"Bye Harry, I'll see you later," I said as I gave him a hug.
"See you at the game," Harry said before heading off with the Weasleys.
"Okay, we're looking for a Mr. Payne," Mr. Diggory said, looking at the map that the wizard who collected the portkey gave him.
We walked for about ten minutes until we came across a cute little cottage with the sign that said Manager on the door. Figuring that this is where Mr. Payne would be, Mr. Diggory walked up and knocked on the door. A man who looked to be in his 40's with dark skin, short cropped black hair and a kind smile open the door to great us.
"Hello, how can I help you today?" he asked with a slight Scottish accent.
"Would you be Mr. Payne? I've been told to come see you about our assigned camping location," Mr. Diggory said to him.
"Well, you have come to the right place. Adam Payne, nice to meet you," the man said holding out his hand for Mr. Diggory to shake. "Now, what was the name for the booking?"
"Amos Diggory, we have only booked for a few days."
"You're quite lucky to have been able to book. It's been unusually busy these past few days, normally this many people never want to camp around here. Think it the swamps to be honest with you, but I'm not going to turn down the business," Mr. Payne said cheerily has he checked his list.
"I guess everyone just wants to enjoy the last few weeks of summer holidays before the kids go back to school," Mr. Diggory laughed nervously.
"I know what you mean, my youngest is starting school this year. They grow up so fast. Now here it is, Diggory. You're just ten feet up the hill, right near the small river. Defiantly one of our nicer spots. Now, here's all your information and the breakdown of the camping fees," Mr. Payne said, handing over the information.
"Ah, yes. The camping fees. Let me just get my wallet out," Mr. Diggory said, getting even more nervous about handling muggle money.
"Mr. Diggory, here let me help," I said, rushing forward to grab everything from him and to help him with the money.
"God heavens, your Captain America's daughter, Stargirl. My Zoey loves you," Mr. Payne said when he got a good look at me.
"Yep, that's me. Elsa Rogers, nice to meet you sir," I said, shaking his hand.
"Why am I not surprised that Captain America's daughter had impeccable manners," he laughed.
"Trust me, Dad wouldn't accept anything less than me," I laughed as I handed the money over to him.
"I hope this isn't to forward of me, but my Zoey is inside watching tv. Would it be okay if I brought her out to meet you?" he asked.
I could see that Mr. Diggory was getting impatient with the whole conversation but at the same time I wasn't about to disappoint a little girl. So, I decided to compromise.
"Why don't all of you head up to the camping sight and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes," I said to them, not wanting to put Cedric in an awkward situation.
"Don't worry Elsa, we'll wait for you," Cedric said, smiling at me.
"Now, she has a point son. We don't know how long she will be," Mr. Diggory said, getting even more impatient.
"Okay, why don't you head up and we will meet you up there. I mean, Mum would want me to stay with Elsa to make sure that she finds her way back up to the camp sight. I mean, her father goes way back with the Rogers' family," Cedric reminded him, making it almost impossible for Mr. Diggory to fight him over it.
"Very well, I'll see the three of you soon," Mr. Diggory sighed as he walked off.
"I'm sorry about Dad. He can be very...intense," Cedric apologised when his dad was far enough away that he couldn't hear him.
"That's okay, I understand. My father was the same but I really hope I haven't made things difficult for you," Mr. Payne said.
"It is my duty as an Avenger to meet every fan, no matter what," I told him, giving him a mock salute.
"You really are like your father, aren't you," Mr. Payne said as he opened the door further for us to walk in.
"Trust me when I say that she is, more than you will ever know. You kinda find that out when Stargirl is your cousin," Danny laughed.
"Thank you so much for this, you will never know how much this will mean to her," Mr. Payne said as he showed us into the living room where a woman who looked to be in her early 40's was sitting and watching tv with three children.
The oldest was a boy who looked like he was around ten years old and was a mini version of his father but instead of short cropped back hair, his was a curly afro style. The youngest was also a boy who looked to be about five years old. The third was must have been Zoey and my heart broke when I saw her. She looked like she was about seven or eight years old and she was clearly battling cancer. The poor thing was supper skinny; her dark skin had an ashy tone to it from not going outside much and she had a colourful, floppy sunhat with big daisy on to cover the fact that she didn't have any hair.
"Zoey, baby. I have a surprise guest who wants to meet you," Mr. Payne called out, making the young girl look up.
"Hi Zoey, I've been told that you are a fan of mine," I said to her as I walked over to the armchair, she was sitting one and kneeling down in front of her.
"Oh my gosh! Stargirl! I love you! You're so amazing!" she said as she launched herself off the armchair and wrapped her little arms around my neck.
"Thank you so much, sweetie," I said as I hugged her and blinked back the tears that I could feel forming.
"Can I have a photo with you?" she asked excitedly.
"Of course. Now, why don't you wait here and while I get something for outside that you can hold during the photo," I told her, as I stood up and quickly ran outside and turned my staff back into it original from.
"That's really sweet of you," Cedric whispered to me when I walked back in.
"It's the least I could do," I said, reminding myself to tell Cedric what was wrong with Zoey later.
"Wow! Is that your cosmic staff?" she asked, excitedly when she saw the staff glowing golden in my hands.
"It is, now why don't you hold it for the photo," I said as I knelt down next to her.
"Thank you so much, Stargirl!" Zoey said as she took the staff from my hands.
"You know, I will never know how Stark dose it with all of that stuff," Mr. Payne said as he got ready to take the photo, believing the story we all came up with that the staff was Stark Tech.
"Trust me, none of us do," I told him, as I wrapped my arms around the little girl for the photo.
"Okay everybody say cheese!" Mr. Payne said before he snapped the photo.
After we said our goodbyes and walked out of the cottage, a single tear fell down my cheek which quickly froze. I managed to wipe it away before anyone saw. It was unfair that sweet little girls like her got sick when the people in Hydra never had a problem in their lives.
"So, that little girl was dying," Cedric asked as we walked over to the camp sight where we could see Mr. Diggory waiting for us.
"Sadly, yes she was," I told him.
"And there is nothing muggle medicine can do to save her?" he continued to question.
"Not according to her mother," Danny said.
"That's so sad. I wish there was something we could do," Cedric said, his cheeks turning red from holding back tears.
"I know. But I am going to email Dad and give him the details and see if he can bring them over to the Avengers complex for a holiday," I said, already planning what we could do for the family.
"You know Uncle Steve is going to do everything possible for the family," Danny said.
"That's what I'm counting on," I said as we reached the camping sight where Mr. Diggory had set up on very small tent.
"Where have you three been? I had to set up the tent on my own without magic," Mr. Diggory said, sounding extremely annoyed.
"Dad, the little girl was dying," Cedric told his dad, making stop acting annoyed immediately.
"Oh, I didn't know. I'm terribly sorry. The poor little dear. It was nice of you to spend the time with her, Elsa," Mr. Diggory said, his attitude changed completely. "Now, why don't you three go in the tent and have a look around."
I had no idea how the four of us were going to fit into one little tent, but I wasn't about to question it. But I had to admit I was shocked when Cedric held back the entrance to the tent for me and I walked into what looked like a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment with a kitchenette and small living room.
"Dude, I really love magic," Danny said in awe as he looked around the tent.
"Tell me about it," I said as I walked in further.
"Elsa, Danny, your room is the first door on the left. Cedric and I will be staying in the room across from it and the bathroom is the door at the end. Now why don't you put your things down and get settled," Mr. Diggory told us as he sat down on one of the lounges.
Danny and I walked into the room that Mr. Diggory had pointed out to find two twin beds and a small wardrobe. I walked over to the bed on the right and placed my bag down on to it while Danny flopped down on to the bed on the left.
"On your left," he joked as I pulled scarf and extra coat out of my backpack to hang them in the wardrobe.
"I'm starting to think no one in your family knows any other joke," Cedric said as he walked into the room and leaned on the door frame.
"You know what, you're probably right," Danny laughed.
"Speak for yourself. But I've learnt a thing or two from the god of mischief himself over the years," I said, making Danny roll his eyes.
"If you two are done with the twin like bantering, Dad said we could go and have a look around while he goes to meet up with some of his friends from the ministry. Then he will meet us at the stadium before the match starts," Cedric told us.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" I said as, wrapping an arm around both Cedric and Danny.
The three of us walked out of the tent, arm in arm, excited for what the day might hold.
Authors note: I just wanted to share the story that inspired Zoey. A few years ago, I was at Comic-Con and I was cosplaying as Cinderella. Disney princesses are always popular with little girls and there is nothing I love more than making them happy by talking to them and having a photo taken with them. On this one particular occasion there was one little girl around 6 or 7 who was particularly excited to meet Cinderella, she had an orange wig on but I didn't think twice about it because a lot of kids wore wigs at Comic-Con. After her Mum took the photo, I sat on the floor with her for a few minutes just talking while my Mum was talking to hers. I couldn't break her heart and correct her when she thought I was the real Cinderella. And when I found out what her mum was telling mine, I was glad I didn't. The poor little thing was had just finished her third bout of chemo. It took everything in me not to breakdown crying when I found out and I'm not usually one to cry. Even though her Mum said that the odds weren't good for her, I hope and pray that she won her battle. She truly was one of the sweetest girls and a true ray of sunshine in this world.