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The next morning, you awoke to a bright amber light searing your eyes through their closed lids. Someone had turned on the light bulb that was hanging from the roof. The feeling of someone gently shaking your shoulder soon followed that unpleasant sensation.
"Rise and shine Y/n!"
You recognised the voice instantly, it belonged to none other than Hermione Granger. Like Mrs Weasley had said the night before, she had arrived early that morning.
"Don't ignore me, you need to wake up." she grunted, now deciding to start poking your shoulder.
"Too early 'Mione." you rasped out, voice tired and strained from only just waking up.
For the first time that morning, you opened your eyes just enough to see Hermione's face through your eyelashes. You lifted your head for a moment, only to slam it back into your pillow.
"You're just as bad as Ron and Harry! Maybe it's a Potter thing - it's impossible to wake you up." she exclaimed.
You lazily turned to be face-down on your bed, then let out a loud groan of reluctance into the pillow.
"For Merlin's sake." Hermione sighed. You could only imagine all of the exasperated arm-waving she was doing right now.
She felt like she had no option other than to turn to the open bedroom door and yell, "Harry! Get in here and wake up your sister or we'll be late!"
"You didn't need to do that." you mumble loud enough for Hermione to hear you through the pillow, "And where's Ginny?"
"She's getting ready."
Instantly recognising that tone of hers, you thought to yourself, "Wait for it."
"Like you should be doing too."
"There it is." you internally groaned. It was exactly the follow-up you had expected from Hermione.
Finally giving in and sitting upright on the bed, you said, "Let me wake up properly first. What time is it?"
"I don't know exactly, but it's definitely before five o'clock, the sun isn't even up yet." Hermione said, her unbelievably calm voice was what shocked you, wasn't she tired too?
"What?!" you exclaim in disbelief. It was no wonder you felt so exhausted.
"You'll find that she's right." George said, leaning against the doorframe, looking like he'd only just woken up.
"It's four fifty-two in the morning, to be precise." Fred yawned, popping up from behind his brother and leaning against the other side of the doorframe to mirror him.
"I thought I woke you two up ages ago, did you seriously fall back asleep?" Hermione scowled.
The twins glance at eachother from the corners of their eyes, passing a certain look to the other. That look was one you'd become used to, it was always the same expression they pulled when they were up to no good.
They both tried to conceal the small smiles that were growing on their faces as Hermione's annoyed glare deepened.
"Us?"
"Never."
Each boy replied one after the other, doing their usual habit of finishing eachother's sentences.
"I'm not buying it." Hermione scowled, causing both of them to act hurt, much to your amusement.
"Why would we ever lie about such a heinous thing?" Fred wailed.
"We never lie!" George cried.
"That's a lie in itself." you add bitterly.
"Oh really?" he challenged you with a cocky smirk, "Name one time we've lied to you."
"You two spiked my pumpkin juice with one of your nosebleed nougats! And then you convinced me that you'd done nothing and that it was just expired." you say, "And then you tried to make it seem like a coincidence that my nose had just suddenly started spouting blood after I'd taken a single sip!"
"That was ages ago!" George denied, exaggeratedly crossing his arms.
You stare at him for a moment, unable to do anything but blink up at him. This made George think he'd won, but then you spoke again.
"It was at the end of last year." you say, deadpan.
"Yeah exactly, ages ago!"
You only rolled your eyes at him, "I could've shrivelled up into a raisin from loss of blood. What would you have done then?"
"Eh, we'd get over it pretty quickly." George replied, acting unbothered.
"Oh come on Georgie, let's be honest with the poor girl." Fred sighed dramatically, then turned to you and added, "We'd mourn you for a good day or two, don't you worry."
"Dickheads." you muttered, which they thankfully didn't hear.
"Come on you guys," Hermione groaned, stopping the twins from making any sort of rebuttal against you, "Molly will be wanting us to be ready soon!"
They both flash shit-eating grins to eachother but do as Hermione says, saying their goodbyes before leaving.
"That was almost too easy." you say suspiciously, keeping your eyes on the empty doorway in case they reappeared.
"Yeah..." the other girl agrees, "But don't try changing the subject, you need to be ready too!"
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The drowsy hassle of that morning lasted too long for comfort. There were too many half-asleep people fumbling around the house, packing their bags up for the trip. You lost count of how many times you knocked into someone else, but thankfully that was over now.
Instead, you (along with everyone else) were now trekking through the countryside, not knowing where you were going. Only Mr Weasley knew of your destination, though it seemed that even he was unsure.
There was nothing around you, no houses, no landmarks. Absolutely nothing. But at least the view was somewhat nice... if you ignored the cloudy, grey sky.
You and the twins were lagging behind as a group, supposedly to make sure nobody got lost on the way, though it was really so you could talk in peace.
"Do you really have to carry my stuff?" you ask George for what could've been the seventh time by now.
"I'm being a gentleman," he replied with a roll of his eyes, "I don't want you to hurt that bad arm of yours."
"I have my other arm y'know, I could carry it by myself." you insist.
"Yeah, well you're not going to." he replied stubbornly, hiking your bag further up his back for emphasis.
You were all too used to this, the twins had a tendency to carry your heavier things for you. It was endearing and sweet, but sometimes it was a little overbearing.
Harry was the same way, which was strange because you were supposed to be the over-protective older sibling, but you didn't mind it all that much.
"Where are we actually going?" you hear your brother ask from ahead.
"I don't know." Ron replies, "Hey Dad! Where are we going?"
Mr Weasley replied as cheerfully as ever, "Haven't the foggiest, keep up!"
His words made your jaw drop, you'd been walking for way too long, and now apparently nobody knew where you were actually walking too.
"That isn't concerning at all." Fred sarcastically grumbled, voicing exactly what you were thinking.
"Yeah, it's not like we needed to know where we're going anyway." George agrees.
"We woke up at four in the morning and don't even know where we're going?" you groan.
However, the three of you hushed your complaints quickly as the group ahead came to a slow stop. Near the very top of the hill you were climbing stood two figures who seemed to be waiting for your group.
"Wait, is that Cedric Diggory?" you gasp, mouth agape as you get close enough to see them both.
You squinted your eyes just to make sure, and admittedly you were trying to get a better and clearer look of him.
The twins both turned to you, eyes blown wide and full of accusation, "Don't tell me you're one his fan-girls." George exclaimed in disbelief.
"I'm not!" you protest, but neither boy seems convinced, "Hey! Don't look at me like that!"
Thankfully you were saved from that interaction when the man's voice boomed out.
"Arthur! It's about time." the unknown man said, stepping forward.
"Sorry Amos, some of us had a bit of a sleepy start." Mr Weasley said, shooting a side-glance to the children behind him.
"This is Amos Diggory everyone, he works with me at the Ministry." he added, giving a name to the face of the man in front of you, "And this strapping young lad must be Cedric, right?"
"Yes, Sir." Cedric confirmed, glancing around the group of people in front of him.
Amos was apparently doing the same, because he suddenly let out a quiet gasp of recognition, "Merlin's beard, you must be Harry Potter. And you! You're Y/n Potter."
He approached the pair of you, holding a hand out for Harry to shake.
"Yes, Sir." Harry mimicked Cedric's earlier words with a forced smile. You matched that smile as Amos moved to shake your hand too. His grip was alarmingly strong.
"Great, great pleasure." Amos said. Something that always amused you about these sort of interactions was how happy these adults were to meet a pair of children.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Sir." you and Harry say in sync, it's pretty much a rehearsed response by now. You have to ignore the twins' laughter that echoed behind you when they heard the bluntness in your voice.
You join your friends' side again as everyone starts to walk up the rest of the hill. But what actually surprises you is that Cedric appears to your right, midway through your resumed conversation with Fred and George.
"Hello Y/n." he says, suddenly gaining your attention. In all honesty you hadn't noticed him before he spoke up.
"Godric, you scared me." you laugh, holding your chest as if to keep your hammering heart from bursting out of your ribcage, "How are you?" you ask politely.
"A little hungry, but I'm sure that can be fixed once we arrive." Cedric replied with a small smile.
"D'you know how we're even going to get there?" George butted in.
The Hufflepuff boy ran through thoughts in his head, "I remember my Dad mentioning something about a portkey."
"What's a portkey?" you whisper to your left, hoping the twins would tell you.
They didn't need to reply, because as everyone reached the top of the hill, you heard Harry as something similar to you.
"Why are they all standing around that manky old boot?" he asked from the other side of the twins.
"That isn't just a manky old boot, mate." Fred laughed.
"That's a porkey." George confirmed for the both of you.
But you were still confused, "So what does it do exactly?"
"Just wait, you'll see." George meets your eyes and grins back, almost evilly.
His answer only made you fear what was to come, you had a feeling that this would be another case of being plunged into the unknown nature of magic yet again.
When you dragged yourself out of your internal worries, the twins were starting to kneel down next to the boot, like everyone else had done a few moments prior.
George raised an eyebrow at you as if to wordlessly say, "What are you doing just standing there?"
Confused, you dropped to your knees, the mossy floor providing a soft enough landing. You were positioned between the twins, Fred to your left and George to your right.
Everyone else pressed a finger against the tough, dirty leather of the boot, so you did the same. Even though you'd followed the twins' lead, Harry stood, unmoving as he tried to process what was going on.
"Time to go. Ready?" Amos announced to nobody in particular, seemingly not noticing your brother standing a few feet away.
"What's a portkey?" Harry echoes to himself.
"That's what I'm asking." you mumble under your breath, earning a small rumble of laughter from Fred.
"After three." Mr Diggory announced, though even that didn't prompt Harry to move, "One... Two..."
"HARRY!" Arthur yelled, finally snapping Harry out of his haze.
Just as you started worrying he'd be left behind, your brother lunged towards the boot, quickly grabbing ahold of it as your vision started to go white.
"THREE!"
You screwed your eyes shut when you started to spin, it was a truly sickening sensation. But as soon as it had started, it was over.
The breath was knocked from your lungs as you landed on your back. Somehow you must've flipped over in the last few seconds.
And another thing that was stopping you from breathing properly was the large body that landed on you with a thud. You recognised the mop of untamed raven hair almost instantly.
"Bloody hell Harry! Get off'a me!" you choke, trying to shove him away from you to no avail.
Thankfully he rolled off of you as quickly as he could, muttering a quick, "Sorry."
Whilst regaining your breath, you noticed three figures descending through the sky as if they were waltzing on nothing but air. As they got closer, you realised this trio was Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and Cedric. You envied their ability to not hit the ground like a rock as you'd done moments prior.
"Are you okay down there Miss Potter?" Amos called over with slight amusement in his tone.
"Uh- Yeah just resting." you joke, forcing yourself to sit upright on the ground.
"On the muddy grass?" Cedric chuckled, extending a hand for you. You didn't know when he got there, but you weren't going to refuse his aid.
You smirk and take his hand, allowing him to help you up, "Of course, where else?"
When you stood, both of you stayed facing eachother. You could see the clever smile forming on his face as he turned to check behind him, then looked straight back to you.
"Maybe your tent?" he suggested, "Look, we're here."
He stepped to the side to reveal the view behind him, magic always had a way to amaze you.
"So that's what a portkey does." you gasp, taking in the view in front of you.
Tents adorned the fields in front of you, wizards and witches from all over the world weaving between them. Stalls were set up, selling all sorts of merchandise and food.
"Y/n! We're leaving!" the twins called out to you, in sync as per usual.
"That's my que, I'll see you around Cedric." you say, giving the boy a wave as you jogged back over to your friends.
"Done with pretty boy over there?" Fred teased, eyes flickering over your shoulder to watch the Hufflepuff stare aimlessly into the distance.
"Maybe you really are one of his fan-girls." George added bitterly, "We'll have to abandon you if you are."
"I'm not. He's just being nice." you explain, grimacing at their similar teasing expressions, "Scared I'll run away from you at the first opportunity, hmm?"
"You would never." George rolled his eyes, whacking your shoulder playfully.
"You're stuck with us for life." Fred added.
"Yeah, it sucks." you scoff sarcastically. Both of their jaws dropped and eyes widened in mock-offence.
"Hurry up you guys! I want to get to the tent." Harry yelled over his shoulder to your trio, cutting off any protests that the twins may have made.
You laugh at your brother's perfect timing to get you out of this situation, so you quickly snatch up your discarded backpack and run after Harry.
The boys both yelled after you, breaking into a sprint as they tried to catch up.
"Oi! Get back here!"
"Yeah, wait up!"
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After splitting off from the Diggorys, you all followed Mr Weasley to your alloted tent space. The man had a little bit of a struggle with the muggle money, but Harry was there to help.
On the way, George had tried to wrestle your bag off of you again, but you managed to fight him off until you got to the entrance of the tent itself.
You and Harry shared a look of doubt when you both saw the size of the thing, it looked like it'd barely fit the pair of you, let alone the six other people you were with.
But of course, the tent was just as magical as the rest of the world you're a part of, and it turned out to be ridiculously big on the inside. It was almost too big, there was too much space for you to know what to do with.
"Girls, choose a bunk and unpack." Mr Weasley commanded, gesturing to a wing of the tent that you hadn't even seen yet.
The three of you obliged and rushed into the other 'room' of the tent. You'd never seen anything like it in the wizarding world, let alone when you lived among muggles.
"Merlin's beard, this place is massive." you gasp, taking in the wild mix of colours that decorated the room you'd be sleeping in.
It was stuffed full of different pillows and blankets in all shapes, sizes and colours. Three beds took most of the space of the room, each with a small set of drawers beside it for your clothes.
"Still not used to magic yet, Y/n?" Ginny laughed, hauling her bag into her bed.
"I doubt I ever really will." you smile sheepishly, leaving your heavy backpack at the foot of your bed.
"But it truly is wonderful." Hermione added, discarding her belongings too as she followed you and Ginny on your way out.
Almost as soon as you'd gotten into the room, the three of you had left to explore the other areas of the ever-expansive tent. Just as expected, everyone else had spread about the place: the twins were reclined at the table, Harry was still stood in awe by the entrance, and Ron was nowhere to be seen.
"Ron! Get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry." Mr Weasley called.
"So that's where he was." you think to yourself, though you should've been able to guess it.
"Yeah, get out of the kitchen Ron!" Fred and George echoed, earning a glare from their brother.
Upon hearing their voices, Arthur turned to the other boys, "Feet off the table." he demanded.
"Feet off the table!" they echoed with a laugh, removing their feet from the oak surface, only to return them once their father had passed by.
You smirked slightly at their antics and approached your brother, "So? What d'you think?"
"I love magic." Harry grinned back.
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