32 | The Portkey and the Diggory family
Someone shook Marley Macmillan's shoulder slightly, and she barely opened her eyes and blinked against the light that irritated her eyes. Mrs. Weasley was leaning over her with a candle in her hand, quietly telling her it was time to get up. Marley just snorted, but stood up in sitting position on her bed. It was still dark outside, but it was close to dawn.
She looked around and saw Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley just waking up. Their hair were messy and their faces sleepy. Marley didn't bother to put on her clothes, but only after breakfast. She would go downstairs in her pyjamas, like everyone else.
Still, she didn't understand why they had to get up so early. She wanted to sleep, but inside she was very excited for the Quidditch World Cup that was tonight.
The three girls left Ginny's room dressed in their pyjamas and went down the winding stairs.
Ron, Harry, Fred, and George had gathered in the kitchen, along with Percy, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Bill and Charlie were missing. For a moment, Marley wondered where they were, but then remembered at dinner last night in the garden that something had been said about Apparating and suggested that they would come to the World Cup Disapparating from the Burrow. But Marley herself had no idea how they were going to get there.
"Good morning!" Marley greeted the Weasley family and yawned. She then stretched her arms forward, warming the muscles of her arms as she felt them fall out and barely clinging to her body. She had lost weight, but she was even more resilient after she started playing Quidditch. And even shorter. Or so it felt in the presence of Fred and George.
"Good morning..." Fred and George immediately replied to her and turned around on their chairs but for a moment George stared at her with eyes wide opened.
"What? Is there something in my hair?" she frowned.
"Ugh, no, of course not." George mumbled and his cheeks turned brightly red as his hair. "You hair is good, I mean, perfect. There's nothing on it and you need to chill down."
Marley laughed and sat on her chair next to him. "I'm chill, Georgie. I think you're not. Did you get enough sleep?"
"Haha, very funny." he just rolled his eyes playfully and focused on his breakfast - toast with butter, milk and a little strawberry jam.
"George, are you okay?" suddenly asked Fred, smirk dancing on his face. "Are you getting ill, did I go blind or you just have a crush on Marley?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Marley and George spoke at the same time, cutting him down. But both of them were redder than George's hair. The girl knew that everyone was looking at them, and for a moment she felt uncomfortable, but quickly stopped caring. "We could say the same about how you look at Lina but we don't say anything about it!"
"So you're not denying, huh Marley?" asked Fred again with the biggest smirk on his face.
"But wouldn't it be cute?" Ginny popped in the conversation and Marley looked at her ginger friend confused. "I don't think it's bad if George likes someone, Fred. He can do whatever he wants, but is it just me or I find George and Marley quite a cute..."
"Oh my god, yes!!" Hermione and Ron screamed with red faces and happy smiles on their faces. Suddenly, George choked on his toast with butter and began to cough. Marley hit him hard on the back. But it was a little unsuccessful because he seemed to be choking too hard with this bite. Marley then quickly got out of the chair and pulled George's one back so that there was space between him and the table. Then she put her hands across his waist and squeezed them, trying to pull the bite out.
"Come on, you motherfucker!" she swore angrily. The girl had totally forgot about the Weasleys who were looking at them as they were out of their minds. "George, stand up from the fucking chair, you pie-"
He barely stood up, still coughing. His eyes were tearful, and Marley pressed her hands once more, and this time the piece came out, falling to the floor. Fred was dying out from laughter and Mrs. Weasley looked at him disapprovingly. Then she went down to hug George.
"Oh, George, my boy! Are you okay? Lord, I was so scared. Oh, Marley, dear, thank you, honey! I honestly tell you, I don't know what Fred and George would do without you."
"Don't flatter me, Mrs. Weasley." the girl replied. "What I did, is my full-time routine. George always chokes on with his food."
"That's totally true." he admitted and wiped out the tears from his eyes. His face was still red from all the tension he'd gone through for the past minutes. They went back to breakfast and Marley noticed Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Ron smirking. She bet Fred was smirking too, but why? George was about to die and she just saved his stupid life. Friends do that all the time.
After Mrs. Weasley revealed Fred and George had more from the sweets they 'accidentally' dropped at Dursley's house and took them, they were ready to go. All of them were now dressed with warm clothes because it was cold outside. The sky was fading, hardly any of the stars could be seen.
"Um, how are we supposed to get to the World Cup if we go? Unless you figured out how, huh, Dad?" frowned Fred and ran a quick hand through his already messy enough red hair.
"With a portkey, Fred." replied Arthur Weasley. "Okay, Molly, my dear, we're going. When will Bill and Charlie arrive?"
Mr. Weasley quickly kissed his wife on the cheek and Marley saw the happiness in the woman's eyes. It was good they still loved each other so strong, because some of the married couples with children didn't love each other that much. "Around noon. Now you better go and don't make Amos wait."
"We won't. Bye, my dear." Arthur Weasley waved with his hand and the others followed his example. They went past the village near the Burrow and then reached a steep hill. Everyone was walking in silence, too concentrated on other things or just how to reach the top of the hill without dying.
They finally reached the top of the 'light' hill. At least there was a great view of it and Marley was taking a deep breath of the fresh air. There were two others, and one Marley immediately recognised because he was Hufflepuff's handsome golden boy Cedric Diggory, and Amos must have been his father.
"Hey, Amos." Mr. Weasley greeted the short man with grey hair. "When did you arrive? I hope we aren't too late."
"No, don't worry, Arthur." Amos Diggory smiled nicely. "We've just arrived but Cedric and I had to wake up at two o'clock. It wasn't the best time to wake, but we didn't have much choice. Oh, Arthur are they all your children?"
"Only the red-haired ones." said Mr. Weasley. "These are Fred, George, Ginny and Ron. And these are Hermione, Harry and Marley."
"You are the one who turned out to be the half-sister of Harry Potter, right?" asked curiously Amos Diggory and Marley nodded restrainly with her head and made an effort to smile. "I hope you already know my son, Cedric. His house had a match against Gryffindor and he won. He caught the Snitch and won."
"Dad, stop." said quietly Cedric.
"You are modest enough, Cedric. You can't always win a match against Harry and Marley Potter. It doesn't happen to everyone." Amos just laughed and touched faternal his son's shoulder. Harry looked a little surprised, and Marley was angry because Mr. Diggory spoke so freely about it, as if it were nothing special and that they were not here themselves. No one knew what to say, and Fred and George stepped forward. Marley sensed what they were about to do and she hurried to stop them from doing any bullshit they will probably regret after.
Mr. Weasley just coughed. "Anyway, Amos, did you find the portkey?"
Mr. Diggory just shook his head negatively and everyone scattered to look for it. While they were making their way to the hill, Mr. Weasley explained to Harry what a portkey was. In general, it was an item you wouldn't use and it was usually quite old. They stood at checkpoints, and while they didn't look tempting, the muggles didn't touch them. And this portkey would take them straight to the World Cup. It was in a large field and had piles of spells that diverted it from the muggles. This year there was a huge stadium built all year by the Ministry of Magic.
Ten minutes after, someone cried out that he had found the portkey. It was a big old and worn out boot. Amos Diggory left it on the ground, and everyone gathered around it.
"Don't worry, Harry." comforted him Mr. Weasley with a smile. "It is enough to touch it with a finger."
They were ten people and it was a little difficult to get along, but each managed to touch the boot. Suddenly the earth collapsed beneath Marley, she felt the world twist around her and everyone disappeared from the hill. She felt as though she was stopping to disappear until she finally saw the solid ground beneath her. And so, when they arrived, everyone fell, except Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory and Cedric.
Marley's head was spinning and she stood up from the ground swinging. She helped Ginny, who had fallen beside her, stand up, and then heard a voice announcing: "The Weasley family arrived at seven past five in the morning."