It was early. Way too early, but she had to get up. Cassie waved her wand and shut off her alarm clock. She let out a heavy sigh and shut her eyes for a few more moments. "You're not supposed to use magic outside of school," a groggy voice said beside her.
She looked over and saw her best friend and boyfriend of two and a half month, Ben giving her a sleepy smile with his unruly curls sloshed around his head. She playfully rolled her eyes and said, "It was hardly magic. Come on, we should get up."
They each took their times getting up from her bed and stretching to get themselves more awake. "You need to get back downstairs before my dad finds out you were up here," Cassie told him. He stayed the night because they were both going to the Quidditch World Cup with Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry today and wanted to leave together.
Her mom made Ben a comfortable spot on the couch so he could sleep there, but he snuck up to Cassie's room in the middle of the night. They didn't do anything but sleep, of course. They're only fourteen so they haven't even discussed sex or anything like that.
Of course, her father thinks they go at it like jackrabbits.
"I can't believe your dad doesn't trust me after fourteen years," he grumbled. "You and I grew up together; went to the same school, were on the same rugby team, we carpooled to games, we've had hundreds of sleepovers. What's the problem?"
Sighing, she told him, "The problem is that you are a teenage boy and I am a teenage girl and we get shipped off to a magical school way far away. He doesn't know what we do there, besides learn magic."
Ben shook his head. "It's still ridiculous," he told her. "Anyways, I'll get downstairs before he finds me here. Remember, we have to be at the portkey by no later than five." She nodded and he gave her a sweet kiss.
"Are we still keeping us under wraps until school starts?" He asked. She shyly shrugged. "I think that would be best," she told him. "We can tell them altogether that way." He didn't want to keep their relationship a secret, but if it was what she wanted, then he couldn't argue.
After hearing footsteps coming from her parents' room, he bolted downstairs and pretended to just be waking up, as her dad came walking downstairs.
**
"Have fun, you guys!" Cassie's mom, Ella, told the couple as they gathered around the bucket in the backyard. "Promise you'll write to us everyday!" Cassie rolled her eyes. This was a yearly occurrence and it got old when she was going into her second year.
Ben's parents Wanda and Tim weren't there because they had an emergency at the Ministry of Magic. Wanda worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, while Tim worked in the Department of Mysteries. There was always some emergency going on.
Ben looked to his watch and said, "We need to go." He put his hand on the bucket, while Cassie gave her parents one last wave. She put her hand on the bucket with Ben's and they were suddenly swirling and hanging on to the bucket for dear life.
"Let go on the count of three!" Ben shouted. "One...two...three!" They both let go and were suddenly falling until they hit the hard ground. They both groaned into the grass in pain. Cassie looked up from where she was practically eating the dirt and looked right at the Burrow.
Molly Weasley was rushing out of the house towards them. "Oh my dears!" She shouted. "Are you alright?" Ben helped himself and Cassie get up. "We're fine, Mrs. Weasley," Ben told her. "I guess we should practice our landing a bit more."
Molly brushed the dirt of their clothes, then said, "Well come on, Hermione's just gotten in and Ginny is up. The boys are all still asleep, of course, but Arthur's been ready for hours." They followed her into the Burrow where they happily greeted Hermione and Ginny.
"It's so good to see you!" Hermione said, as she hugged Cassie. "I loved all your letters, but I missed you." Cassie hugged her tightly, then let go and said, "I missed you, too. It's hard being the only girl around my neighborhood."
Ben scoffed at her, making the girls laugh. They all sat down at the table and talked for a little while, until Molly asked Hermione to go wake the boys. She happily obliged, but then came back annoyed. "Boys," she grumbled.
Harry and Ron came into the kitchen about twenty minutes later. They both greeted Cassie with hugs and Ben with a handshake. Fred and George then came down and Arthur joined them shortly.
Once they were all stuffed with food and the boys were changed, they were ready to head off. During their retched hike, Ben did everything in his power to not cave and hold Cassie's hand. He would brush his fingers against her's on occasion, but it wasn't the same.
They all soon met up with a man by the name of Amos Diggory, who introduced his son, Cedric. Cedric was very handsome and very cute. Hermione, Cassie, and Ginny all started giggling when they saw him.
Cedric seemed to take a keen liking into Cassie, though. He introduced himself and talked to her as they walked the rest of the way to the portkey. When Amos called him over, Cedric brushed his hand against Cassie's and promised they'd speak again soon, before running over.
Ben didn't like that.
"Having a nice chat with your new boyfriend?" He asked, his tone having an edge to it. He tried not to seem to obvious around everyone else. Cassie shook her head and told him, "I am, actually. Thanks for asking. Prick."
She quickly walked with Hermione and Ginny to the portkey. Ben threw his head back and sighed. He, Ron and Harry went over to the portkey as well. They gathered around an old boot and put their hands on it.
They were soon in the same swirling state as Ben and Cassie were just a couple of hours ago. When they all let go, they landed with a hard thud on the ground...except the older and wiser wizards, of course.
Thankfully, they winded up at the tournament camping ground and made their way to the tent. While everyone else went in, Ben quickly pulled Cassie aside. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I was being a prick and I know that. I'm jealous, I'm protective and especially when some handsome sod is flirting with my girlfriend, but you didn't deserve that back there."
She pursed her lips, then quirked up a small smile. "Thank you," she said. "I forgive you. Just promise me you won't pull something like that again." He nodded furiously and said, "I promise."
After a quick look around, she got up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He smiled, then followed her inside the small tent that turned massive on the inside. They both gaped at the place and started laughing.
Harry stood next to Cassie and said, "I love magic." Knowing very little about magic is how they both bonded. It was amazement like this that always took their breaths away.
**
They all climbed stair after stair, trying to reach the very top of the stadium's seats. They didn't know how far up they were going...but Lucius Malfoy gave them a pretty good idea. "Put it this way, if it rains...you'll be the first to know."
Of course they had to run into him and Draco. "Traveling with the mud bloods I see," Draco said. "Only you have a special kind with you." His eyes landed on Cassie, who averted her gaze down to her feet.
Hermione put her arm around her and pulled her close, while Harry, Ron, Fred, and George said all at the same time, "Shut up!" Draco then opened his mouth again to gloat about their seats, but his father stopped him from saying anymore.
Thankfully they left and the gang made their way up to their seats once again. When they got up there, they were all amazed. Cassie, Ben, Harry, and Ron were all shouting for Victor Krum, while the other's were going for the Irish.
It was the most amazing and intense match they had ever seen! "I could totally see you in Victor Krum's place," Cassie told Harry. "Can you imagine playing in a place like this?" Harry had a kind of dreamy look on his face as he envisioned it, then laughed with Cassie when she tapped his face to snap him out of it.
They were both on the Quidditch team and were both insanely good. Cassie was a damn good Keeper. She got trained by Wood and joined her second year as a Chaser. Once Wood left, she took his place.
This game was everything to her and Harry. They wrote letters about how they thought the season was going to go and even sent game plans as if they were captains of the team. They couldn't wait for this season.
After the match, there were celebrations going on inside their tent and outside with everyone else. Fred and George were dancing, Ron was gushing over Victor Krum, Harry and Ben were teasing him about it, and the girls were laughing and giggling in the corner about all of it.
Unfortunately, that had to stop all too soon when Arthur came into the tent and told them all to stop. When they went outside to see what all the commotion was about...they saw death eaters making their way through the camp grounds, blowing up and setting fire to everything!
"Get back to the portkey everybody and stick together!" Arthur shouted. Ben immediately took Cassie's hand and started running with Fred, George, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron. A moment later, Cassie stopped, causing Ben to pull back as well.
"Wait!" She shouted. "Where's Harry?"