30

30. The Quidditch World Cup

The day before the Quidditch World Cup an auror picked me up and apparated me to the Burrows. Harry and Hermione were there already and I felt so excited to meet my friends again.

"Oh, hello Aryanna." Mrs. Weasley surprised me as she pulled me in a warm motherly hug.

"Please, I prefer Arya." I replied smiling and she laughed nervously.

"Oh, right. I forgot." And with that she returned into the kitchen, leaving me with Harry, Ron and Hermione outside. Suddenly, a very loud bang made us flinch and turn around in less than a second.

"Arya!"

"You're here!"

Some firecrackers were still burning as Fred and George hurried in our direction, huge grins on their faces. Laughing, I embraced them.

"New experiments? What are you doing this time?" George grin grew bigger but it was Fred who answered.

"You'll see in time."

"So, do you guys want to play Quidditch?" George asked with raised eyebrows and Harry cheered.

"I've waited all summer! Who wants to play?" Eagerly, he looked around and Ron and I grinned.

"We're in. Do you want to play Hermione?" I asked but she shook her head and mumbled something about reading a book.

"Five… hmm." Fred furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, Charlie do you want to play Quidditch with us?" He shouted as he spotted his older brother coming around the house.

"I'd love to!" He replied smiling so we spent the rest of the day playing Quidditch.

"Arya, you have to wake up. It's almost time to leave the house." Hermione's voice woke me early the next morning. It was still dark outside. Groaning, I freed myself from the blanket and rubbed my eyes.

"Everything okay?" Hermione sat down on my bed, watching me closely. Quizzical, I furrowed my eyebrows and she fidget nervously with her hands. "You've tossed around in your sleep, you've been dreaming. I heard you waking up several times. I didn't sleep much."

"Sorry." I sighted and turned away but Hermione knew me better than this.

"Arya, what's wrong?" I felt her hand on my shoulder and sighted again. Aggressively, I dressed myself.

"I have dreams, Hermione. Strange dreams that penetrate me if I'm sleeping and keeping me busy if I'm awake. And I have nightmares about my father. Something is going to happen. I can feel that he's coming. My father will return soon!" Annoyed, I packed the rest of my things in the bag I would take with me.

"What strange dreams?" She asked carefully, I let myself plop down next to her.

"I dream I'm kissing somebody. He tells me he loves me and then we're kissing. Honestly, I don't know what it means."

"Do you know him? Do you think he's your fairy-love?" Hermione asked with furrowed eyebrows. I had told her everything about fairy-love and everything she could know about fairies.

I laughed shortly. "Oh, I don't think so. I mean I know him but I'm not sure how I feel about him."

Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley entered the room that moment so that Hermione couldn't ask further. Still feeling very tired we started our walk to the place where we would find the portkey.

"Tell me about your nightmares." Hermione appeared next to me with Ginny by her side.

I remained silent for a while. "Well, I can hear my father's voice. He tells me to join him. And then suddenly, I see dead bodies and Death Eaters. I cannot see his face but I feel it's him. I see a graveyard. There are Death Eaters everywhere. And Harry's there too. And then I wake up." Clenching my jaw, I walked faster. I could handle the dreams about Severus but the nightmares were horrible…

"Over here, Arthur." We all turned around as we arrived on top of a small hill. Two silhouettes appeared in the darkness.

"This is Amos Diggory everyone. He works at the Ministry too. He's here with his son, Cedric."

Cedric, seeing him closer for the first time, appeared to be a very handsome boy of seventeen years- nevertheless, something told me that he wasn't my type. He was Hufflepuff's Quidditch Captain and Seeker. Hermione and Ginny exchanged short looks as Cedric greeted them smiling.

"Fine, now gather around. Everybody has to touch the portkey!" Mr. Weasley stated loudly.

Suddenly, we whirled up in the air. Around us the world was exploding and we sunk in the colourful lightening. I fell hard as my feet slammed into the ground. It took us some time to find our tent. We met several people we knew, we passed the corner of the Irish fans. The Bulgarian fans had their tents decorated with red banners.

In the afternoon, we made our way to the stadium. We walked through a small forest until we arrived on the largest opening I'd ever seen. A huge stadium appeared in front of us and my mouth fell open.

"The Ministry task force has worked here all year. Every muggle-repelling spell has been put in every inch of this stadium so that no muggle can come near it." Mr. Weasley explained us.

I didn't know where to look as we entered the stadium, climbing up to the priority rank, getting higher and higher. Never had I felt so small as I leaned forward to the railing and looked down. The stadium was huge and we were seated right in the middle between the two goal sides.

"This is awesome!" George exclaimed grinning next to me. Beaming, I stood up and leaned myself on the railing, feeling amazed at all the waving flags and the colourful battle between the green Irish fans and the red Bulgarians.

"Oh, there comes Lucius." At the words of the Minister of Magic I whirled around in a second. There they were: Lucius, Narcissa and Draco. They were edging through the second row to three empty seats right behind us. Lucius greeted the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione with a very cold expression and of course they returned it. When his cold gaze met mine, I raised my head a little and watched him provoking. My hands had gripped the railing tightly and I clenched my jaw. Nobody here knew who I was – Tom Riddle's daughter - and Lucius surely could be so cruel to tell everybody.

Luckily, he decided to go with a nod, nevertheless I didn't return it. Narcissa watched me up and down, a disapproving expression on her face and I answered by turning my eyes. Draco, sitting next to her, raised one eyebrow and I knew it was his way of showing his amusement and happiness. The corner of my mouth twitched slightly. Provoking, I stared at the three of them as I sat down slowly, not breaking the gaze. Seeing as Lucius was talking to the Minister of Magic now, I grinned smugly in Narcissa's direction, earning a dark look from her. Draco, however, kept a straight face, making me grin even more. By the twitching muscle around his jaw I saw that he had difficulties keeping his face blank and I decided to be fair today.

I turned towards Hermione who looked at me with a quizzical expression. Chuckling, I shook my head and she nodded thoughtfully as if to say I was being crazy. Luckily, Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge announced the start of the Quidditch match so that she couldn't ask further.

It was a very impressive match! I loved Quidditch but the matches at Hogwarts were nothing compared to this one. Every player had a firebolt so it was way faster than any match I'd ever seen. Krum, Bulgaria's seeker, and Lynch, the Irish seeker, fought a bitter battle until Krum finally caught the snitch. Nevertheless, Ireland won. Every Irish fan screamed and shouted out in surprise and happiness as the Irish Quidditch team flew around the stadium.

With all this noise around our tent it was impossible to sleep. The Irish fans were celebrating all night. In the early morning hours, I finally managed to fall asleep but not for long…

"Look who decided to join us tonight!" My father walked smoothly in my direction. My body was numb and cold... I had lost my magic… Desperate and helpless I was kneeling on the wet grass. As I raised my head slowly I realized that I was on a graveyard. The moonlight made the gravestone shadow's grow bigger and bigger. Between the shadows stood Death Eaters. They were all staring at me through their hideous masks.

I didn't even flinch as a cold finger forced my head up and I stared in two lifeless snake eyes. "You won't get away this time."

Disgusted, I pulled my head out of his grip and spat:" I'll never help you! I'd rather die!"

He laughed coldly and pushed me on the ground. "You will." Tom Riddle raised his wand grinning ugly. "Crucio!"

A sharp burning pain rushed through my whole body but I forced myself to keep my mouth closed. I wouldn't scream out in pain... The pain felt unbearable... I couldn't give in… Far away I heard somebody screaming…

I woke up shaking and drenched in sweat. My heart was still pounding rapidly in my chest.

"Arya!" I heard Hermione's worried voice and raised my head like in trance, not really realizing what was happening. Screams and the sound of fire penetrated my ears and I jumped out of bed, feeling all awake all the sudden.

"Get dressed!" Never had I heard Mr. Weasley so worried and I exchanged a short look with Hermione. "HURRY!" He emphasized.

As we all got out of our tent people were running in one direction: they fled the camp. Some tents were burning, the bright light blinding in the dark night. "George, Fred, you take Ginny. The four of you stay together. We meet back at the Portkey if we lose each other. Now RUN!" Mr. Weasley shouted and pushed Ginny in direction of the forest.

As soon as he had finished speaking we run. After a few meters, we had already lost sight of Fred, George and Ginny. Suddenly, a tent next to us caught fire and we jumped away in surprise. I fell on the ground hitting it painfully.

"Come on!" Harry urged and helped me up roughly. We started running again. I looked behind us and froze right where I was… People in black robes were walking between the tents. They put every tent on fire and attacked the few muggles who were in the camp. Their faces were hidden behind hideous masks. I had seen them in my dreams… Death Eaters.

A firm grip on my arm pulled me away from them and I followed stumbling. What if my dreams aren't just dreams? If Death Eaters dare to attack people in front of the whole Ministry my father must have something to do with it, I thought whilst we passed tents after tents.

"Damn it, Aryanna!" We had reached the small forest and I was pushed behind a hedge. The thorns made their way through my thin jacket and I flinched. As I looked up I was surprised to find myself staring in ice blue eyes.

"Draco?" I whispered with furrowed eyebrows. "What the hell are you doing here? Where are my friends?"

Draco pushed me even further into the hedge and squeezed himself in front of me. "I saw you with your friends but you stopped suddenly. So I pulled you away." He answered angrily and my expression became worried.

"Draco, Death Eaters. They're here! We have to leave." But instead of making an effort to leave he took of his jacket and helped me putting it on.

"I know, my father's with them. I saw him leaving when he thought I was sleeping. My mother told me that he had some business to take care of." Draco clenched his jaw and exhaled deeply.

"Draco, I need to find my friends. We cannot stay here. Somebody will find us." I urged, watching him worried and he sighted.

"Fine. I'll help you." He pulled me on my feet.

"No, you stay here."

Angrily, he shook his head. "I'm NOT leaving you, Arya!" Draco started walking but I made him turn around.

"I'm leaving! End of story." I told him seriously. Suddenly he opened his eyes in shock and pulled me behind a tree.

"Crap!" Quizzical, I watched him closely. His jaw was clenched and he was looking around alerted.

"What is it?" He remained silent. Annoyed, I tried to get out of his grip but he had pinned me against the tree, holding my arms firmly and pushing his weight against me.

"Draco!" I whined but he didn't look at me.

"Shut up!" I closed my mouth again and stared at him annoyed. Suddenly, he released my grip and pushed me in the other direction we had come from. "Leave. Some Slytherins are coming. Find your friends!" He urged whispering and left in the opposite direction.

"Glad to see you too." I groaned to myself, shaking my head in disbelieve. Then I started running again. I couldn't use my magic whilst I run. I wasn't good enough. There were easy things I could do without thinking but this was beyond my abilities.

Angrily, I clenched my jaw and ignored the sharp stitch in my side. I screamed and stopped dead in my track as I reached a clearing facing three people with wands pointed in my direction.

"Thank Merlin, you're here!" Ron exclaimed and lowered his wand.

"What happened to you? You were with us and then suddenly we had lost you." Hermione asked frantically and I grabbed my side, completely out of breath.

"I… saw Death Eaters… Somebody pulled me away and I found myself alone in the woods… So… I went looking for you." I said panting.

"Shht." Hermione whirled around in less than a second and we all looked around alerted. We heard somebody staggering towards our clearing.

"MORSMORDRE!" Somebody shouted into the silence and we flinched as a flashing green light made its way towards the sky. A colossal skull, composed of emerald green stars, with a serpent protruding out of its mouth like a tongue rose higher and higher until it looked like a drawn picture against the dark sky. The Dark Mark.

For the second time this night a cold wave of fear rushed through my whole body. My father would return soon.

"We need to leave." Hermione dragged us towards the forest. We hadn't moved more than a few metres when the series of popping noises announced the arrival of several wizards. Every wizard had its wand pointed in our direction and we ducked just right in time before the first spells crashed against each other above our heads.

"Stop! That's my son!" A voice I recognized shouted between the spells. "Are you okay?" A very worried Mr. Weasley asked and we nodded.

"Who of you did it?" Mr. Crouch asked, all the other wizards stared at him in disbelief. Did he thought we had conjured the Dark Mark?

"This is insane, they're just kids." A witch said in our defence and luckily Mr. Crouch decided to let it drop.

Feeling very shaken and cold Mr. Weasley walked us to the place where we had arrived with the portkey. Fred and George greeted us relieved whilst Ginny run towards her father. Together, we walked back to our tent and found Bill, Charlie and Percy inside.

As soon as we had woken up later in the morning we took the portkey back to the Burrows. Mrs. Weasley awaited us already, her whole composure showing her worry.

"Mrs. Weasley, Hedwig hasn't come back, hasn't she?" Harry asked all the sudden and the three of us turned quizzical in his direction.

"No, she hasn't." Mrs. Weasley answered distractedly. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I left to Ron's room. He told us about a nightmare he had had a few times in which he had seen how Riddle had killed somebody.

"It was only a nightmare." Ron stated matter of fact.

"I don't think it was." I said thoughtfully and Harry looked at me curiously. "I had dreams too. I'm on a graveyard with a lot of Death Eaters and my father. He asks me to join him but I refuse. It ends always the same: I suffer under the Cruciatus Curse."

"You shouldn't take them seriously! Or you won't be able to sleep anymore one day." Hermione said in a tone that said that this discussion was over.

A few days later we were all busy with packing our things for Hogwarts. Hermione and I had been sleeping with Ginny in her room and because we were eager to return to Hogwarts we were in a very good mood.

"I wonder why you need dress robes this year…" Ginny exclaimed whilst putting her robes in the suitcase.

"I don't know. I mean your parents seem to know why but they don't want to tell us." Hermione said laughing. Then she became serious and turned to me. "You don't have a dress yet, have you?"

"No, I mean we agreed on going to Hogsmeade together, didn't we?" Raising my eyebrows, I nervously bit on my lip.

Hermione seemed relieved and grinned. "We did and I'm looking forward to it! Shopping together for the first time."

Ironically, I turned my eyes but couldn't suppress a grin. "I only hope I'll find something to wear."

"I read that Hogsmeade opened a special shop just for Hogwarts this year. We'll find something!" Hermione assured me.

"Shouldn't you rather be worried about who you're going with? I mean I guess it's something where you'll have to go with a partner." Ginny asked grinning mischievously and I exchanged a look with Hermione.

"If so I'm going alone!" I stated determined, ignoring their giggling.

"Is there nobody you would like to go with?" Ginny asked watching me carefully. Suddenly, feeling lost and alone I plugged my last books into my suitcase a bit to aggressively.

"No, there isn't." I mumbled making them grin even more.

"Hm, whatever you say." Ginny returned her attention to Hermione who shrugged and I felt relieved. I trusted Ginny but I didn't think she would understand it. She didn't even know who my father was; Ron was the only Weasley who knew about me. The rest of them only knew that I was half a fairy.

That night I couldn't sleep. Ginny's question was penetrating my mind. Who would I want to go with if it's a real ball? The picture of me and Severus kissing came to my mind and I sighted in annoyance. Tomorrow I would be seeing him again… At that thought my lips turned into a smile and a strong wave of anticipation rushed through my body, giving me goose bumps and making my heart pound faster in my chest.