Annabella The Sidekick (Sequal To Defiance)

Chapter 14

Most of the summer passes quickly. I only get one owl. I was at least expecting a few from the twins. The letter reads,
Dear Bell.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You wouldn't understand. I love you now and I always will. You're my favorite person. One day when this is over, I'll explain.
Love forever,
Draco.
The letter just confused me. I wouldn't understand what? Why can't we hang out this summer?
On my thirteenth birthday, my mum and dad give me quidditch world cup tickets. Ireland is my favorite! I also get a single letter from the twins.
Dear Bells,
Happy birthday. We'll probably see you at the world cup if you go.
F&G
Wow. That's brief.
On the morning of the world cup, we all have to get up very early to get to the port key. Halfway there, we meet the Weasleys and Diggorys. While George ignores me, Fred sends me a smile. Ginny glares at me with a fiery intensity. What crawled into her underwear drawer?
Cedric Diggory, a seventh year, falls into step beside me. "Hi. I'm Cedric." He smiles. "I'm Annabella, but if you want to live, call me Anna or Bella." I reply. He laughs. "I'll remember that. So who do you want to win?" He asks. "Ireland for sure! They have the best chasers around!" He nods in agreement with my statement. "Yeah they're good. Bulgaria has Krum though." He says. "Krum is a good seeker, but Lynch is good too." Cedric muses on my reply. "They're both pretty good." He says. "Hufflepuff to the core. Can't you debate?" I tease jokingly. He looks angry for a moment, but then he sees my face and laughs. "Bulgaria rules! Anybody who wants to argue is going to get proved wrong, because I'm a fighting Hufflepuff!" He screams, and everyone looks at us. I nearly fall on the ground laughing.
A cold breeze blows, making me shiver. I stop while everyone else goes ahead. I pull George's sweatshirt out of my bag and slip it on, when I look up, I see George waiting in front of me. "Hey." I say. He nods in reply before falling into step beside me. "We need to talk." He says. But before he can get any further, we've reached the port key. I've never traveled like this before, and I don't know what to expect. Mr. Weasley starts counting down from three, and I place a few fingers on the boot, which was the port key. I wasn't expecting the pull and my hand gets flung off. I start to scream, but I feel a hand gripping both my arms. I look over and see that George is on one side, and Cedric is on the other.
A few seconds later, Mr. Weasley shouts at us to let go, and George pulls me to him. We fall on the ground beside each others, and I jump up quickly. We check where to set up our tents, and we're beside the Weasleys.
We set up our tents and I throw my bag onto my bed in the giant tent. Then Harry and I walk over to the Weasley's tent and George pulls me back outside, claiming we're going to walk around.
"I haven't heard from you all summer." I say. "Haven't heard from you either." He replies. "What's wrong?" I ask, turning to face him. "What's wrong? Well let's see, you hardly even spoke to me last year! And then we get home for the summer and you're still not talking to me!" He explodes. "I haven't heard from you either!" I exclaim. "I'm not supposed to do all the bloody work in a relationship!" He screams. "Would it kill you to pick up a quill and write?"
"You didn't exactly pick up the quill either!" I yell back. "See? You have no empathy for other people! And the whole thing with Diggory earlier? Yeah I saw that. Why don't you go snog him and get out of my hair!" He replies. " I could say the same about Angelina! Care to point out any other flaws?" I ask loudly. "You're too stubborn, you're loud, and lately, you act way younger than thirteen!"
"And you're a- a" I can't bear to insult him and run away sobbing, ignoring him shouting my name.
I dive into my room that I'm sharing with Harry in the tent, only to see he has Ron, Hermione, and Fred in there. They all look up at my tear stained face. "Bells?" Fred asks. "What's wrong?" Harry asks. "It's nothing." I say quietly. "It's something." Fred says.
Ron and Hermione leave the room, and I sit on my bed. "Did George do something?" Harry asks. Swallowing fresh sobs, I say, "He told me I should've written, even though he didn't bother. Then he called me stubborn, loud, and told me I acted younger than thirteen." I say. "He said I should go snog Cedric because I was talking to him earlier."
"Don't worry Bells, he'll come around." Fred says. "It was mortifying! Everyone was staring, and people from school saw!" I cry. "Don't cry Bell. It's okay!" Harry says, wrapping an arm around me. "I'll talk to him Bells. George and I are the two closest people ever, but it wasn't okay for him to say that." Fred says, walking out.
That evening, we all get together to walk to the stadium. I walk next to Cedric with a pointed look at George. I've changed my outfit to green and white for Ireland. "Krum is going to get the snitch." Cedric says. "Ireland is going to win though." I reply. Cedric laughs. "We'll see."
We walk up to the very top, where we're watching the match from. Harry sits on one side of me, and Fred sits on the other. "I'm so excited!" I exclaim. "Me too! We got such great seats!" Fred replies. I reach into my pocket and pull out kettlecorn. "What's that?" Fred asks. "Muggle sweets." Harry and I say at the same time. Fred takes a handful and pops it in his mouth. "This is really good!" He exclaims. I laugh and look down to see Cedric two rows down. Skillfully, I hit him in the back of the head with my sweets. He turns around and gives me a playful glare. I throw another one, and he catches it in his mouth. My jaw drops, and Cedric winks and turns back around. I turn to say something to Fred only to see George glaring at Cedric.
Finally the match starts, and it's amazing from the beginning. There's a lot of fouls, and the Ireland chasers do an amazing job. The game ultimately ends though. Krum did catch the snitch, but Ireland won by ten. I throw another piece of kettlecorn at Cedric to stick my tongue out at him. He chuckles and walks down the stairs.
Back at the tents, I go into the Weasleys' to hang out, since Harry is there. We make up a song, since Ron is seemingly in love with Viktor Krum. Later though, Ginny pulls me aside. "I'm sorry. I was so mean to you for our first two years when you didn't deserve it." She says. "I forgive you." I reply. "Can we be friends?" She asks. I nod before going back to tease Ron.
Well into the night, just as my parents decide to go to bed, Mr. Weasley runs into the tent. "Death eaters!" He yells. "Skylar, Regulus, go! We've got Bella and Harry!" And then Mum and Dad are gone. "George take Ginny, Fred, take Bella. We'll meet in the forest. Go!"
Fred grabs my hand and pulls me outside. It's a mess. People are fleeing, tents are on fire, and muggles are being hung in the air and tortured. Fred and George stick together, and Ginny and I look at each other in fear.
"Petrificus totalus!" I hear, and then I can't move. The twins and Ginny hide behind a tent as a death eater approaches me. "Hello there. Who are you?" He asks, taking the charm off and binding me in ropes. I don't reply. "Answer me, daft girl!" He shouts. "Annabella Black." I say quietly. The man laughs. "Regulus Black is your father?" I nod. "Well you're going to pay for your parents ' mistakes!" He says coldly. Fear courses through me. "Crucio!"
It suddenly feels like thousands of burning knives are piercing my skin. I scream as loud as I can. Why won't anybody help me? The man is laughing manically, and it seems to go on for hours. I cry and sob and scream, but nobody comes. Finally, I hear, "Leave my girlfriend alone!" The pain stops, and my vision is blurry. I hear noises and thumps, and I feel hands untying me. "It's okay. Bells. It's okay." I hear Fred whisper.
He picks me up bridal style and I hear George's voice. "Oh my Merlin! Let me have her Fred!" He says.
George cradles me against his chest. "I'm sorry Bells I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of it." He says shakily. My head falls in the crook of his neck, as I can't move my muscles. When we're in what I assume is the woods, George sits down. "She'll never forgive me Fred!" George exclaims. "She forgave me." Ginny says. "She'll forgive you George."
"Bells? Can you hear me?" George asks. I try to make a sound, but I can't. "Harry is going to kill me!" Fred says. "She was my responsibility and I let her fall!" He exclaims. I lay there and listen to them beg and plead for me to wake up, to make a noise. I fight with myself. I need to wake up. Finally, I muster up my strength and cough and sputter. I sit up, trembling and shaking. Everyone gathers around me, and the memories play through my head. Fresh sobs come, and I bury my head in George's chest, still trembling. "Bells!" He exclaims, hugging me to him and rubbing a hand up and down my back. I'm picked up again, and George whispers in my ear. "We're going to go find everyone, and we're going to take you to St. Mungo's and you'll be okay." He says, sounding like he's trying to convince himself as well.
Still sobbing, George carries me through the woods, and nobody talks. Finally I hear Harry's voice. "Bella! What happened to her?" He asks. "It was my fault Harry. I was suppose to watch her, but she was paralyzed and they used crucio on her. It's torture, and pain." Fred says. "We need to take her to St. Mungo's!" I hear Arthur say. Still sobbing, it's like I can feel the pain all over again. I scream loudly, begging an invisible death eater to stop. "George." I whisper before I black out.
Cliff hanger!!!