Orange Trees | Fred Weasley

Chapter Four

August 25th, 1994

"Do you smell that boys? That's the smell of Quidditch! Good ole fashion, Quidditch!" Jericho's father said as he guided his sons through the crowd of wizards. Jericho scrunched his nose as he followed his father, and gave a questionable look to those who hustled around them.

"Quidditch sure does smell a lot like sweat." Jericho mumbled as he followed close behind his older brother, holding on to the back of his shirt so that he wouldn't lose him.

It was now dusk, and the air was filled with much excitement. Wizards and witches around them bustled from place to place, hurrying themselves to the stadium the match would take place in. Between each free space, salesmen apparated from spot to spot, advertising the Quidditch themed merchandise they were selling for the game.

There were dozens of banners and flags, each one glittering as they waved in the cool evening breeze. Funky green and red hands were dawned by plenty of heads, with animated images of each team's mascot. Scarves twinkled and shouted the names of different players, adding to the already noisy filled plains. As Jericho looked closer at the kids walking with their families, he could see them clutching mini figurines of different players, each one moving as if they were real.

"Doing alright?" Cedric shouted as he turned to check on his sibling. He could tell he was slightly overwhelmed from the amount of people. Jericho's eyes paused from darting around to look at his brother, who gave him a reassuring smile.

"And I thought Hogwarts matches were crowded!" Jericho shouted through the noise.

Off in the short distance, Jericho heard the yelling of a salesman. He stood in front of a cart filled with brass objects, holding one in his hand as he waved it about. "Omnioculars!" Yelled the salesman, "Replay any action! Slow down any scene! Gives you a play-by-play of everything on the field! Only Ten Galleons! Buy em now, before they're gone!"

As Jericho looked at the scene, he noticed a familiar group of three off to the side. Standing by the large wheels of the cart, stood Hermione, Ron, and Harry; the group of friends he'd seen only early that day.

The sight of the redhead and his friends made his mind wander to another redhead, an older one. He wondered what Fred was up to, and if he was enjoying his time any more than he was. He was probably off with his twin, getting into trouble and making his father's forehead vein bulge with stress.

Eventually the group came to a halt, causing Jericho to bump into his brother directly in front him. Jericho peered around his tall sibling to see that they had stopped at a sales-wizard. On his cart was plenty of Irish paraphernalia. Different shades of greens decorated the clothing hanging from the wagon, each sparkling and moving differently than the one next to it.

"Pick whatever you want, boys, my treat. Only one though, can't have yeh cleaning out my pockets." Amos said, as he motioned his boys to the merchandise filled cart.

These are all so ghastly, Jericho thought, but Fred did say I should buy a hat.

Jericho ended up deciding on a knitted hat, with a sparkling pom pom that sat directly on top. It was one the less flashy items that was sold, and was thankfully the only one that didn't make any noise. Cedric decided on a bright green scarf, which had a leprechaun dancing the jig on both ends. It also obnoxiously yelled in support of the team, and Jericho internally prayed that the magic had an expiration date. His father decided on a hat as well, except this one was much larger, and in the shape of a small top hat. It was green, obviously, and had lights decorating all directions.

After getting their sporting goods, the three Diggorys made their way away from the crowded field and towards a forest of trees. The sun was slowly setting, and as it did, a trail of dimly lanterns slowly revealed itself. There were multiple veins of lights, all leading into the forest and towards the stadium the game would be played at.