"I don't understand. Why do you all have to go and pick him up?" Castor reached across the table to steal her brother's last piece of bacon. Pollux huffed at her while she smirked and shoved the whole piece in her mouth.
"I'm going because I haven't seen my best friend all summer!" Ron's eyes lit up in pure excitement of seeing Harry. "I honestly don't know why Fred and George are coming."
Pollux coughed to hide his laughing, hiding his grin behind his morning coffee. The Weasley twins each kicked him under the table. They'd taken to thinking the most random and outrageous thoughts quite loudly in order to try and make him slip up and laugh, a testament to his ability to upkeep his poker face. He knew why the twins were going, they'd been hiding Ton-Tongue Toffees in their coat pockets all morning.
"Speaking of which, we should get going." Arthur stood from his seat at the head of the table, kissed Molly's cheek lovingly and grabbed the jar of Floo Powder, holding it out for each of his children to take a handful.
It was quiet interesting to watch from her spot on the couch. Castor did her best to hold in her laughs as she heard Arthur's directions of NOT to come through the fireplace, yet the children didn't listen. And not long after, Ron came back through first, along with Harry, and then the twins.
"Where's your dad?" She pulled Harry into a very enthusiastic hug, squeezing him as much as he would allow before he let go.
"Probably shrinking Dudley's tongue." Pollux laughed as he ruffled Harry's shaggy hair.
It seemed this would be the year that everyone refused to let Molly cut their hair. Pollux's dark curls fell just past his shoulders, while the rest of the Weasley's hadn't quite gotten that long yet. Castor's own wild curls were longer than she'd ever had them as well, falling to rest between her shoulder blades. On days where the weather was a bit warmer, she'd taken to splitting it into two long braids down her back so avoid her hair becoming frizzy in the humidity.
"Oh, you didn't!" Castor gasped and gaped at the snickering Weasley twins.
"Oh, but we did!" They echoed laughing. Molly took this moment to hurry around the corner, pulling Harry into a large hug and kissing both his cheeks. She offered him a seat at the table, handing him a plate and piling it high with eggs, bacon, sausage, and several pieces of toast with jam. Harry did not object, wasting no time in eating what was probably his first real meal in weeks.
"Hermione should be here soon." Ginny was excited as she looked at the clock. She'd very much enjoyed having Castor around more this summer, and the two girls had spent a lot of time together, painting each other's nails and exchanging gossip stories about the people in their own houses. Ginny would talk about the letters she'd been exchanging with Neville and Luna, who was a lighthearted curious girl in Castor's own house. The Jones girl got along well with Luna, and the blonde girl did not mind at all if Castor occasionally compared her to Alice from the Lewis Carroll novel, "Through the Looking Glass".
"Are we still on for girl's night tonight?" Castor refilled her cup of coffee as she took a seat across from Harry at the table.
"Of course!" Ginny laughed. "Is Eliza coming tomorrow, too?"
"Yea, she said she'd find me there. I don't know how, the event is huge and there's going to be more people than I can probably count."
Eliza Nicole Perkins, roommate to Castor Mya Jones for the last 3 years had been a blessing from above after last year. When Professor Snape had, for whatever reason, told all of Slytherin house of her and Pollux's relation to Sirius Black, she'd openly (and quite loudly) told Castor at the end of the year feast that she didn't care who her parents were, and that her lineage should not reflect on her own personal character. Castor, who was definitely not expecting this from anyone who wasn't her usual group of friends, had teared up at her showcase of disregard for Snape's tactless act.
Over the summer, the two had grown closer. Not that they weren't close before, they'd shared a room together for several years now, but through many letters back and forth over the last few months, they'd learned a lot about each other. Eliza had learned about Castor's mother (though she left out the Voldemort witch hunt and that she was sent into hiding), her time spent growing up America, living in New York, and her brief years attending Ilvermorny. She asked questions with grace and didn't pry for information more than Castor wanted to give.
Castor, in turn, had learned that Eliza was a half-blooded witch, with her father being the muggle of the family. Her dad, Erick, had ran into her mother (literally) Elaine while on a holiday in France. He'd been biking through the streets of Paris, and she'd ran out into his path too quickly for him to swerve and avoid her. Erick had apologized more times than Elaine could count and offered to buy her something from the café on the same corner where the collision had occurred. They've been together ever since. Erick had not been very surprised at all to find out the Elaine was a witch and had taken to learning all he could about the Wizarding world.
"Hello!" Hermione's cheerful voice came through the front door. She was greeted by many hugs, several kisses from Molly and an excited rambling from Ginny about their plans to avoid the boy as much as possible.
"You can't just claim her for the night!" Ron cried from beside Harry.
"You have her all year!" Ginny cried back. "I think I can have her for one night, Ron!" And she grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her up the stairs to her room, the bushy haired witch sending and apologetic wave to her male friends at the bottom of the stairs. Castor followed after a few minutes later, she just had to finish her coffee first.
~
The next morning was absolutely hectic, with everyone running around and gathering their bags for their weekend at the Quidditch World Cup. Molly had triple checked that everyone had their things, and then just about exploded when several large handfuls of Ton-Tongue Toffees were claimed from the Twins' jacket linings. Arthur had yanked his children outside before Molly would commit murder on two counts.
The hike to Stoatshead Hill was long, and by the time the sun was all the way above the horizon, they'd been walking for a couple hours. The morning was a bit chilly, and they could smell the dew that stuck to the grass. Castor's boots sunk into the soft dirt beneath her, and her bag swung against her hip as she walked.
"Hey dad, where are we actually going?" Ron called from the back of the line. He and Harry had, to nobody's surprise, been the one's to sleep in the latest.
"Haven't the foggiest! Keep up!" Castor cackled from her place between the twins. By the time they were deep into the woods, Pollux couldn't recognize where he was. He'd been kind enough to listen to Molly's warning on his own forest adventures, and he'd never gone this far into the trees.
"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.
"I love magic." He gasped.
"Girls, chose a bunk and unpack." Arthur called. "Ron, get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry."
"Yea, get out of the kitchen, Ron." The Weasley twins echoed.
"Feet off the table!" Their father ordered. Castor and Pollux laughed as they moved to occupy the space behind them.
"Feet off the table!" The redheaded twins barely moved their feet off the surface before they went back to their original spot.
They spent the rest of the evening walking around their area of the campsite. They'd found Seamus Finnigan and his Irish family, all of the proudly sporting the colors of their team in bright green, white, and orange. Dean Thomas was with him as well. Harry had bought Ron a fancy pair of binoculars, though he ignored Pollux's warnings that the game would move too fast for them to be all that useful. The campsites then began to change, moving from Irish colors to deep red and black in support of the Bulgarian team. Banners with player's numbers flew high above the tents.
"Castor!" The Jones girl whirled around at the sound of her name, the group turning as well. Eliza Perkins ran to give her a hug, and both females stepped back with a look of mock confusion and shock on their faces.
"Eliza! What are you wearing?" Castor playfully grimaced at the red and black jersey the brunette sported. "That jersey is awful!"
"What do you mean?" Eliza cried, smoothing out the material. "The Bulgarians are the superior team. Don't tell me you're a fan of the Fighting Irish?"
"Well normally I support the Ballycastle Bats, but they didn't make it this year. And you will never catch me wearing that gaudy red, so yes, I'm a fan of the Irish." Castor laughed.
"Where are you sitting?" Eliza waved to the group around her, Ron being the only other one to fully support the Bulgarian team.
"In one of the high boxes."
"Us too!" Eliza pointed back to her campsite where her mother was standing with her father over their campfire. Castor and the rest of the group waved before they heard Arthur calling for them from their own tent.
"We need to get back. The game is going to be starting soon." Pollux commented.
"I'll see you up there. And when my team wins, you have to wear my spare jersey for the rest of the weekend!" Eliza joked.
"Okay, and when the Irish win, you have to paint your face in Ireland's colors."
"Oh, you're so on!" Eliza laughed as she made her way back to her parents.
They all ate their evening dinner quickly, rushing to pull on their respective gear in support of their favored teams. Castor, who had been in the middle of painting George's face, had to pause to pull her green scarf around her neck. She swiped two green and white stripes across Fred's cheeks, all while having to avoid looking at his eyes entirely. Meanwhile, Fred was in a world of his own, admiring his pretty best friend she did her best to conceal the blush on her face. The greyish-green color of her eyes had captivated him so much that he hadn't noticed she was done and had been talking to him.
"Freddie? You good?" She laughed.
"Yea." She stood to his full height, towering over her again and held the tent flap open for her as they made their way to the stadium. Up and up and up they climbed, further into the higher boxes, until Castor has lost count of the number of flights of stairs they'd climbed.
Somewhere along the way, they'd ran into Percy, who was in the company of the Minister of Magic, Barty Crouch Sr., and Ludo Bagman, a former quidditch star and commentator of tonight's game. Ludo Bagman was an eccentric man, who shook hands with Harry Potter and introduced himself to Arthur and his group as if they were old colleagues. The Minister, however, did not share the same eccentric attitude as his counterpart, completely forgetting Percy's actual name and calling him something else entirely. And though Castor and Pollux both wanted to correct him (they've never been afraid to stand up to authority figures), one absolutely scathing look from Percy behind the Minister's back sends them quiet again.
And so higher up they climb, until finally Ron's puffs out between breaths, the question they're all wondering.
"Blimey, Dad! How far up are we?"
"Put it this way," They all look down to see Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco leaning against the railing on the platform beneath then. "If it rains, you'll be the first to know."
Draco is dressed professionally, wearing a nicely pressed black-on-black suit, with his father's silver signet ring gracing his hand. His platinum hair is free of any gel, leaving it to blow slightly through the breeze. Lucius, however, could not be doing any more to flaunt his wealth, wearing his fancy robes with bright, shiny silver claps, and his unnecessary cane with a snake head adorned at the top. The Jones twins don't miss the curious look they both receive from the pompous man. Draco, though, seems a bit indifferent to their presence, and only paints a sneer on his face when his gaze moves to settle on the redheaded family.
"Father and I are in the Minister's box." Draco calls up to them. "By personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself."
"Don't boast Draco." Lucius swings his cane back, hitting his only son in the stomach as he does so. By the way Draco flinches harder than he probably meant to, Pollux can tell that this probably isn't the first time he's done this. "There's no need with these people. Do enjoy yourself won't you. While you can..." Lucius spares another long look at Castor and Pollux before he turns away, and Castor discreetly gives a tiny wave of her fingers towards Draco. The blonde boy looks back at them once more, stuffing his hands into his pockets before he turns and follows after his father.
After the hippogriff incident the year prior, Draco had calmed down a bit. She knew that while he had overplayed his injuries to get special treatment, the entirety of the investigation with the Ministry and the scheduled execution of Buckbeak...Castor knew that was all Lucius. Pollux still held some bitter feeling towards the family, but she suspected that was mostly due to her twin brother sharing the same common room with the Malfoy's only son, therefore having no real escape from their better-than-thou pureblood attitude all year.
The Irish team flew into the stadium with a flourish of green and white fireworks, their mascot shining through the fireworks in the forms of a dancing leprechaun. The Bulgarian team was not far behind, bursting through the green and white façade with a fury like no other. And while Castor and her twin were both supporting Ireland to win, she had to admit that Viktor Krum was one hell of a flyer. There was no doubt in her mind after seeing him move through the stadium why everyone called him the best seeker in the world.
There's a loud clearing of someone's throat, and Ludo Bagman's voice fills the arena.
"Good evening! It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup." Ludo waves his hand dramatically as he speaks. He introduces the referee for the game, an exotic looking man by the name of Hassan Mostafa. "Let the match begin!"