One of the worst feelings to Ophelia was waking up after getting close to no sleep and waking up early in the morning with a pounding headache and blurry eyesight. She had let Cedric know when she went to the Burrow that she was with the Weasleys, and Mr Diggory informed her that they were all going together to the portkey that was taking them to the World Cup anyway, so it was much easier if she met them there.
She threw on a tank top, a cool-girl biker jacket and leggings as she walked with Hermione and Ginny down to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was already cooking. On the table sat Mr. Weasley, and at the sight of Harry he spread his arms wide as if to showcase his clothes.
"What d' you think" he asked earnestly. Mr. Weasley was wearing a golfing sweater and washed out jeans that were held up by a thick leather belt.
"Yeah," Harry replied with a small smile. "Very good."
"Where's Bill and Charlie and Percy?" George asked, spotting the three missing redheads.
"They're Ap-Apparating." Ophelia replied sleepily, yawning. "Pretty sure they're still in bed."
Fred yawned next to her. "Why can't we Apparate too?"
"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," Mrs. Weasley snapped.
"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked. Sometimes, even Ophelia forgot that he was basically a muggleborn and still relatively new to all things magic.
"Oh yes," Mr. Weasley said, checking their tickets. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to find a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparation, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. They went and splinched themselves yesterday."
"Er—splinched?"
"They left half of themselves behind—had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair bit old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind..."
"Were they okay?"
"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley. "They got off with a heavy fine."
"So Bill and Charlie can do it?"
"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred with a grin. "Failed the first time, Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear, remember?"
Mr. Weasley tucked his tickets back into his pocket, turning to Ophelia. "Have you got your ticket, dear? Seems like I don't have yours."
Swallowing a spoonful of porridge quickly, Ophelia replied with a gulp. "Oh yeah, Ced's got mine."
"Of course, Ced's got yours." Fred teased.
"Come on now," Mr. Weasley said, gesturing for everyone to stand up. "We've got a bit of a walk."
"Walk?" asked Harry incredulously. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"
"No, no, that's miles away," waved Mr. Weasley. "We only need to walk a short way. It's jut that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention, so we have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times—"
"George!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted sharply, pointing at his pocket. "What is that in your pocket?"
"Nothing!" George feigned innocence.
"Accio!" The small brightly colored candies zoomed out of George's pocket and into Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"We told you to destroy them!" Ophelia winced at Mrs. Weasley's furious tone, holding up the Ton-Tongue Toffees. "Empty your pockets, go on, both of you! Accio! Accio! Accio!"
Toffees zoomed out from everywhere on the twins bodies. Ophelia unconsciously fiddled with her own stack of sweets the twins had given to her for a safekeeping in her jacket, sending a small smile to the twins so they could relax a bit.
But of course, Fred was always a one for dramatics. "We spent six months developing those!"
"Oh, a fine way to spend six months!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more OWLS!"
Huffing at their mother, the twins threw their bags over their backs as they followed Mr. Weasley on their backs.
"Have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, waving goodbye. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday."
Stepping outside, Ophelia wrapped her jacket around herself as the chilly breeze hit her, huddling next to the twins.
"Fee," Fred whispered once his father walked further ahead with Harry. "You got them?"
She zipped open her right pocket. "You betcha."
George swooped in to give her a bone crushing hug, rocking her back and forth as Fred joined, looking like a human sandwich. "Ah, we love you!"
Ophelia huffed to catch her breath when the twins finally let her go, pulling them ahead to catch up with everyone. "Yes, yes, I know."
"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" Ophelia heard Harry ask curiously.
"Well, they can be anything," said Mr. Weasley. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them...stuff they'll just think is litter..."
It was still dark out, and they headed down the dark lane toward the village in silence. The sky started lightening to a dark blue as they made their way through. Following Mr. Weasley, they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, and Ophelia had to be glad she wore shoes with a decent grip as they slipped and slid up the hill.
"Whew," Mr. Weasley panted, giving the rest of them a moment to rest. "Well, we've made good time—we've got ten minutes...Now we just need the Portkey. It won't be big...come on..."
They spread out and started to search at the ground. "Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"
Ophelia spotted two tall figures against the air, their hands waving on the other side of the hilltop.
"Ced!" Ophelia was still out of breath, but she didn't care—it had been too long without seeing her boyfriend and she missed him more than she could ever imagine.
Cedric laughed as she ran across the hill and literally jumped on him, his hands steadying her hips as she wrapped her legs around him, sweeping her curly brown hair behind her. "I miss you too, Fee." he said, pulling her into a short and sweet kiss that Cedric had imagined during the whole summer.
"Dad, this is Ophelia." Cedric introduced her shyly as she jumped down, swinging his arm around her shoulders.
"Ophelia!" Amos Diggory boomed, shaking her head very violently. "You're the girl my son doesn't stop talking about! I'm very pleased to finally meet you!"
Smiling through the pain as Amos Diggory continued to shake her hand, Ophelia greeted him back. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Diggory."
He finally let go of her hand. "No, the pleasure is mine!"
"Amos!" Mr. Weasley interrupted, clapping him on the back. "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?"
"Hi," said Cedric, giving Ophelia a look as she snorted softly at his awkwardness.
"There goes the lovebirds!" Fred and George sang with an amused smirk, eyeing Cedric warily because they still haven't forgiven him for the Quidditch match last year. Ophelia jumped down, snuggling into Cedric's arm contentedly.
"Long walk, Arthur?" Amos asked.
"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "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 it off easy..."
Ophelia and Cedric didn't listen much to his father and Mr. Weasley's exchange, both grinning at each other.
"So you talk a lot about me at home?" Ophelia teased, snuggling in closer to him.
He blushed. "No...I don't!"
Ophelia faked hurt, putting a hand over her heart. "So you don't talk about me?"
"Yes...wait no! I mean no, I do!"
Ophelia tsked. "Which one is it, Diggory?"
"How you manage to get my flustered every time is beyond me," Cedric grumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Merlin, my dad's talking to Harry."
"And that's a bad thing because?"
"Ced's talked about you, of course," came Amos Diggory's voice. "Told us all about playing against you last year...I said to him, I said—Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren—" Cedric stiffened next to Ophelia, glancing down at the girl who had him wrapped around her finger, relaxing when he noticed that she was too amused to catch it.
"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," Cedric muttered in embarrassment. "I told you...it was an accident..."
"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos, slapping his son on the back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman...but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier?"
"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"
"No, not that I know of."
Turning around to look at Harry and Hermione, who have never used a portkey before, he said, "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do—"
The ten of them crowded around the murky old boot on the grass. "Three...two...one..." Mr. Weasley muttered as he checked his watch.
Ophelia has used a portkey before, and she would be lying if she said that she liked the feeling of it, especially with so many people—she was able to feel everyone banging and she didn't quite enjoy being sucked in and thrown into the wind by a boot.
She felt the ground before she saw it, and it seemed as if the rest had too—everyone except Cedric, Mr. Diggory and Mr. Weasley.
SNAPCHAT
raemae7 i fell on my ass and he just floats down