Rose thought that she had never woken up earlier than she had the morning of the world cup. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but she instead had to get up early and eat breakfast. Rose noticed that she was still exhausted from healing her mother, but she was feeling more energized than she was yesterday. She was already at the table when Harry and Ron came down.
"What do you think? We're supposed to act like muggles?" Mr. Weasley asked Harry, referring to his clothes.
"Yeah, you're good," Harry said with a smile. Rose gave him a look as she knew he wasn't being completely honest. Mr. Weasley looked as if he just threw together random clothes.
"Where's Bill, Charlie and Percy?" George asked with a yawn. Rose looked around, noting the absence of the eldest Weasley sons.
"They're going to be apparating so they get to sleep in," Mrs. Wealsey explained.
"So they're still in bed? Why can't we apparate too?" Fred questioned.
"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," Mrs. Weasley explained. "Lyn, where are Hermione and Ginny?".
"Ow! What- oh, sorry. They must still be getting ready," Rose explained after Harry elbowed her in her side. She kicked him in retaliation. The girl wasn't yet used to going by Rose and Lyn but she understood now more than ever why she had to.
"There's a test to apparate?" Harry asked, noting the confused looks on the twins when Rose didn't answer to her name.
"Oh, yes. There was a couple fined just the other day for apparating without a license. They splinched themselves and everything," Mr. Weasley answered. Everyone in the room grimaced except for Harry.
"Splinched?" Harry asked.
"They left part of themselves behind. They couldn't go either way. Big problem, of course. Lots of paperwork and the muggles that saw them..." Mr. Weasley trailed off and continued to eat his oatmeal.
"Were they ok?" Harry questioned, confused as to why no one else seemed upset at the fact that people literally split themselves in half. Rose snorted into her coffee, causing Harry to glare and kick her again. She kicked him back, but harder.
"Of course! They were put back together in no time! But I bet they won't be doing that again. Many wizards don't apparate- they prefer brooms or the floo network," Mr. Weasley explained to Harry. Rose marveled at the amount of patience he had for Harry, but she assumed part of the patience comes from payback for all the times Harry was forced to explain the muggle world to the man.
"Bill and Charlie and Percy can all apparate?"
"Charlie had to take the test twice. The first time he apparated onto a random muggle lady doing her shopping," Fred said with a grin. Rose let out a loud laugh at the thought and Harry smiled in her direction.
"Yes, well, he passed the second time," Mrs. Weasley said as she reentered the kitchen.
"Percy passed two weeks ago. He's been apparating everywhere just to remind us," George explained with a grimace.
"Don't act like you wouldn't do the same," Rose pointed out, causing George to stick his tongue out at her, leading to Mrs. Weasley to hit him in the head with a spatula.
"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny asked as she finally entered the kitchen with Hermione behind her.
"We have a bit of a walk," Mr. Weasley explained. Rose groaned and hit her head on the table.
"I don't even like quidditch!" Rose grumbled as she continuously hit her head on the table, only stopped when Harry put his hand in between her head and the table.
"We have to walk to the match?" Harry asked.
"No, only a short way. The actual match is-" Mr. Weasley started to explain.
"George! What is that in your pocket?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. With a few accios, the pockets of both twins were empty of any of their inventions, including the ton-tongue toffees that Harry had told her about the night before. They had turned his cousin Dudley's tongue into what looked like an elephant's tongue.
The atmosphere in the room was tense after that and so were the goodbyes. Mrs. Weasley was the only one staying so she sent everyone off with a kiss and a warning to behave.
"How does everyone get to the match without the muggles noticing?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley a few minutes into the walk. Rose and Harry had sped up to walk next to the man after hearing the twins never ending complaints towards their mother. While they understood why the twins were upset, it still sucked to hear them taking her for granted.
"It takes a lot of organization. Some wizards have to get there weeks in advance and others the day of, like us. Some people floo, some people apparate and a few take muggle transportation. Other, like us, take a port key as they're good for large groups of people," Mr. Weasley explained.
"A portkey?" Harry asked, causing Rose to sigh.
"You really need to get a book on basics of the wizarding world, Harry," Rose groaned. Harry blushed, knowing that she was probably right.
"They can transport you anywhere. They can be anything from a bubblegum wrapper to an old shoe. For the world cup the ministry used things that muggles would think was trash so that no unassuming muggles would end up accidentally using them," Mr. Weasley replied.
Everyone was mostly quiet for a while, as the walk was through so many hills and they had to watch for any holes in the ground that it was hard to hold a conversation. The only sound heard was birds chirping and heavy pants.
"We should be about here. We've made good time, too. We have about 10 minutes," Mr. Weasley panted as the group reached the top of a hill. Hermione leaned on Rose's side as they both panted.
"Now we have to look for the portkey," Mr. Weasley said. The whole group spread out and started to look.
"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son! I've found the portkey!" A voice shouted. Rose squinted and saw two figures nearby.
"Amos!" Mr. Weasley shouted. The group started walking in the direction of the two men. Mr. Weasley and the man shook hands as Rose let out a squeal and jumped into Cedric's arms. He caught her with a bright laugh.
"Lyn! It's been so long!" Cedric exclaimed.
"I know! So much has happened!" Rose responded.
"I notice you didn't greet us like that," Ron said loudly, a smirk on his face. Harry quickly looked away as the pair looked in their direction. Amos and Mr. Weasley were off in quiet conversation.
"I notice you haven't cut your hair in a while. If you want to tell us something you can. I won't judge," Rose replied with a smirk, noticing that Ron's hair was almost to his shoulders and starting to look very feminine. Ron let out a grumble and ran his hand through his hair. Rose and Harry met eyes but both looked away quickly with red cheeks. Cedric nudged Rose as he saw.
"Everyone, this is Amos Diggory. I think you know his son, Cedric?" Mr. Weasley introduced, glancing between Rose and Cedric and Harry.
"Hi," Cedric muttered shyly. He really only knew Rose so the whole meeting was awkward for him. Everyone else said hi other than the twins who nodded their heads. They were still upset about the game they lost to Hufflepuff.
"Long walk, Arthur?" Amos asked.
"Not too bad," Mr. Weasley said, causing Rose to raise an eyebrow at the man. "We live on just the other side of the village. You?"
"Had to get up at 2! I'll be glad when he gets his apparition license. Of course, I'm not complaining... wouldn't miss the quidditch world cup for anything!" Amos said as he took in the group. "Are all these yours, Arthur?"
"Oh, no, only the redheads. This is Hermione, a friend of Ron's, and Harry, another friend and-"
"Merlin's beard! Harry Potter!" Amod gasped.
"Er...yeah," Harry mumbled, obviously uncomfortable at the man, who wouldn't stop staring wide eyed and wide mouthed at the scar. Rose sent a pleading look to Cedric who cleared his throat loudly. Amos looked up suddenly.
"Cedric has talked about you of course," Amos started, a little embarrassed to have stared for so long. "Told us all about the game last year...him beating you... and I said 'that's something you can tell your children- you beat Harry Potter!"
"Harry fell off his broom, dad. It was the dementors fault," Cedric muttered, obviously embarrassed. Rose noted that all the Weasleys other than Mr. Weasley seemed to be glaring at Amos.
"Well, that just proves who the better flyer is! One stays on the broom, the other doesn't! You know, I think that Ced is the best-" Amos exclaimed, obviously not sensing the tension.
"Dad, meet Lyn!" Cedric interrupted. His hand reached out and grabbed her elbow, not tightly but enough that she couldn't move. He pulled her forward a little so that she was closer to his father.
"Lyn! I've heard so much about you! You're even prettier than Ced told us! Now, wouldn't you agree that Ced is the better-" Amos was once again interrupted, but no one seemed to mind.
"Must be nearly time!" Mr. Weasley announced, looking at his watch. "Come on everyone, gather around. Just one finger will do."
Everyone gathered around an old boot. There wasn't much space to move due to all the luggage everyone had and Rose was shoved so close in between Cedric and Harry that she felt like she couldn't breath. She had just enough time to notice that no one else was as close as the boys were to her when counting distracted her.
"Three...two...one!" Mr. Weasley counted down. As he said the last number, Rose felt her feet lift off the ground before suddenly slamming back down. She stumbled into the nearest person and squeezed her eyes shut as she fell, but she didn't hit the ground. Instead, she opened her grey eyes to meet emerald eyes. Blushing profusely, Harry and Rose sprang apart and stood up, muttering apologies while those around them scoffed at how oblivious the two were.
"Having some trouble?" Cedric asked. Rose noted that he hadn't fallen but seemed to float to the ground. Mr. Weasley and Amos started talking loudly about the world cup, so Rose knew she had a few minutes before she had to say goodbye to Cedric. Fred and George were angrily muttering to each other, most likely trying to figure out how to get back their inventions.
"Oh, no. I meant for that to happen," Rose said seriously.
"I'm sure you did," Cedric said, a small, teasing smile on his face. Rose's face burned one more
"So, what's this about me being pretty?" Rose questioned. This time Cedric was the one to burn red. Neither noticed how quickly Harry turned to look at the pair.
"Well...I mean... you are pretty... but you're like a sister to me...no worries! I won't get in between you and Harry," Cedric said, talking slowly at first before rushing out the last sentence. His rushed sentence led to Rose gasping and slapping his arm.
"There is nothing happening between us!" Rose whispered angrily, glancing at Harry who was talking with Ron. Both boys would glance over at the pair every once in a while, but quickly look away.
"Oh, please. Everyone can see it except for you two," Ginny scoffed, causing Rose to jump back into Cedric's chest and hold her hand over her heart. Cedric's arm wrapped around her waist to steady her.
"When did you get here?" Rose gasped once she got over her shock. She thought Ginny and Hermione were standing over near Fred and George, not right next to her.
"About 2 minutes ago," Hermione said, checking her watch for clarification.
"Don't scare me like that next time! And nothing is going on between us!" Rose said, raising her voice a little although her cheeks were red. She made a mental note to search for a charm or a potion to keep her from blushing so much.
"Between who?" Harry asked. Rose once again jumped but she also let out a shriek. Cedric's arm tightened around her waist as she jumped, making sure that she didn't fall. Everyone let out a laugh at her fear except for Harry, who stared at Cedric's arm.
"Between nobody. Because there is nothing," Rose replied. Cedric, Hermione, and Ginny all scoffed while Harry and Rom looked dubious.
"If you say so. Now, let's go ask Mr. Weaey about the tents. If he talks to Mr. Diggory much longer I fear they'll never stop," Harry pointed out. Rose shrugged and stepped away from Cedric. As she stepped away, a foot stuck out and caused her to fall, once again, into Harry's chest. Harry quickly placed his hands on her arms to stabilize her. Rose was quick to turn around and glare at Ginny, who was looking around and whistling. Ron let out a small 'ohh' as if realizing something new while Hermione scoffed at him.
"You good?" Harry asked softly, still holding Rose's arms.
"Yep. I'm good. Nothing wrong with me," Rose said quickly, nodding her head.
"Ok, well....let's go," Harry said and in a rare moment, stuck out his hand for Rose to take. She did hesitantly and allowed herself to intertwine their fingers. The pair walked over to the two adults and Rose wondered how something could feel so perfect.