─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
It felt like Sara slept only two minutes when she heard someone yelling at her.
'WAKE UP, YOU SLEEPY HEAD! WE HAVE TO GET READY TO GO!'
'Okay, okay, Ginny. But I would like to have my hearing back,' Sara muttered.
'Hurry up or mom's yells will be louder.'
They were supposed to dress like muggles Sara took a pair of blue jeans along with a dark-blue T-shirt which she stole from Nico and a black sweater. She simply brushed her hair that was very messy and in the end she looked presentable.
She quickly took her bag where she had all the things she needed for that trip.
'Where are Charlie, Bill and Percy?' Sara asked when she walked into the kitchen.
'They are gonna Apparate there so they get some extra hours of sleep,' Mrs. Weasley said.
'But that's not fa-fa-fair!' George said, failing to stifle a huge yawn.
'Why can't we Apparate too?' Harry asked.
'Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test,' Mrs. Weasley snapped. 'And why aren't those girls with you, Sara?'
She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.
Nico who was trying not to fall asleep at the table, turned to face Sara.
'Did you steal one of my T-shirts, again?' Nico asked, tired.
'It is not my fault that they're all over the place,' Sara said while she made her way to sit next to him. "A good morning to you too."
'Good morning,' he said yawning.
'Ginny almost made me lose my hearing when she yelled at me to wake up.'
'So did Hermione,' Harry spoke.
'Anyway, where are them?' Ron asked.
There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.
'Why do we have to be up so early?' Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.
'We've got a bit of a walk,' Mr. Weasley said.
'Walk?' Harry asked.'What, are we walking to the World Cup?'
'No, no, that's miles away,' Mr. Weasley said, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup. . . "
Mrs. Weasley went a little mad as soon as she spotted some candies in George's pocket and she started to use the Summoning charm to find them all.
All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.
'Well, have a lovely time,' Mrs Weasley said, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer.
It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer.
'So how are we going to get there without Apparating?' Sara asked Nico as they were following Mr. Weasley.
'Dad said something about a portkey on Stoatshead Hill,' Nico replied.
'Tell me, were you the only one curious about the way we are going to get there?' Sara chuckled.
'Well of course, am I not the only one smart in this family?' Nico joked.
Both started talking about the Irish team that was going to play against the Bulgarians later that day. Sara and Nico were both on the Quidditch team as chasers.
They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Sara's hands and feet were freezing. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.
They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Sara was often helped by Nico because it was a hell to climb that hill. They both climbed, hand in hand, each breath they took was sharp. After what felt like ages, they were on the top of the hill.
'Whew,' Mr. Weasley panted, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. 'Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes.'
Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.
'Now we just need the Portkey,' Mr Weasley said, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. 'It won't be big. . . . Come on. . . '
'Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it,' Mr Diggory yelled.
Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.
'Amos!' Mr Weasley said, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.
Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand.
'This is Amos Diggory, everyone. He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?'
Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts. Sara never really met him, she just saw how he was playing in their first match last year, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. If there weren't the dementors...
'Hi,' he said, looking around at them all.
When his gaze stopped on Sara she started to blush and he smiled softly at her. She smiled back.
They all said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their Quidditch team last year.
'Long walk, Arthur?' Mr Diggory asked.
'Not too bad. We live just on the other side of the village there. You?'
'Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still. . . not complaining. . . Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy. . . . " Mr Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the four Weasley boys, Harry, Sara, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"
'Oh no, only four of the redheads and Nico,' he said, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, Nico, Sara- and Harry, Ron and Nico's friends -"
'Merlin's beard,' he said, his eyes widening. "Harry and Sara? The Potters?"
'Er - yeah,' Harry said.
They were used to people looking curiously at them when they met them, used to the way their eyes moved at once to the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, to Sara's left shoulder where they couldn't see her scar, and it always made them feel uncomfortable.
'Ced's talked about you, of course,' he said. 'Told us all about playing against you last year. . . I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will. . . . You beat Harry and Sara Potter!'
'They fell off their brooms, Dad,' he muttered. I told you. . . it was an accident. . . . '
'Must be nearly time. Yes, it's a minute off. . . We'd better get ready. . . .You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do -' Mr Weasley said.
With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the eleven of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory.
'Three. . . " Mr Weasley muttered, one eye still on his watch, two. . . one. . .'
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───