star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER TWO

When Arabella stood up, what she saw amazed her. There were what looked like thousands of tents in front of them and a sea of people, either decked out in all red or all green.

Mr. Weasley led his children plus Harry and Hermione through the crowd to a campsite towards the back of the campground with two small tents. It wasn't nearly as extravagant as some of the other sites surrounding them, and Arabella's face burned slightly with embarrassment before she, Ginny, and Hermione entered the smaller tent.

The three of them chose their beds and unpacked and then entered the boys' tent. Hermione left with Ron and Harry not long afterward, and Ginny found out that Evelyn was staying at the campsite next to theirs with her family. This left Arabella with no choice other than to find her two best friends, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

She didn't have to look very long. Dean had come with Seamus and his mother, and by the look of their tent, it was very clear who they were rooting for; the site was practically covered in green.

After greeting the two, Arabella was introduced to Mrs. Finnigan, and after she reassured her that she was also rooting for Ireland, the woman took kindly to her. The three of them stayed at the campsite for a cup of tea and then left to wander.

"So," Seamus started, "have you seen your boyfriend yet?"

"I'm sorry," said Arabella, "my what?"

Dean laughed. "He means Malfoy," he clarified.

"Why would you call him my boyfriend? What is wrong with you?"

"It was just a joke, Ari," said Seamus, laughing along with Dean. "Calm down."

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Anyway, to answer your question... no, I haven't. And I know what you're gonna ask next, and I haven't received any letters from him, either. I wasn't expecting to, really."

"I bet you'll be seeing him at the match. He's bound to have Top Box tickets like you've got."

"Or better," Dean added.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Arabella said. "I just hope his father doesn't stop to 'chat.' I'm in too good of a mood to have it ruined by Lucius Malfoy."

As the trio walked along the path in between campsites, they felt broomsticks narrowly miss their heads. Every time they looked up to see who the owners of the broomsticks were, it was always a member of the Wood family or one of their friends that had come with them. This didn't come as a surprise. It wasn't a secret that the Wood family loved Quidditch; just about every single one of them had been on their House teams during their time at Hogwarts.

Seamus, Arabella, and Dean spent the afternoon together until it was almost time for the match, at which point they all went back to their own tents. Arabella could hardly contain her excitement as she waited and squealed with joy when she finally heard the distant gong.

They had been climbing up stairs for a really long time when Ron finally asked, "Blimey, Dad, how far up are we?"

"Well, put it this way," said a cold voice belonging to Lucius Malfoy, "if it rains, you'll be the first to know."

"Father and I are in the Minister's Box, by personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself," said Draco, who was standing next to his father. He seemed to be talking specifically to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. He hadn't seen Arabella yet, but she hadn't taken her eyes off of him. She saw his black suit and noted that he didn't look half bad in it. Suddenly, she felt underdressed.

"Don't boast, Draco. There's no need with these people." The Weasley party turned to leave, but Mr. Malfoy caught Harry's hand with his walking stick. "Do enjoy yourself, won't you? While you can." He removed his walking stick and walked away.

Draco only looked at Arabella once his father had turned his back. He gave her a small smile and waved. Arabella, feeling quite embarrassed and hoping he hadn't noticed her staring at him, waved back, trying to ignore her face burning and the butterflies in her stomach.

She was brought back down to earth when Ginny smacked her arm and said, "What is wrong with you?" in a harsh tone.

"That hurt!" Arabella exclaimed, rubbing her arm where Ginny had hit her.

"Girls, that's enough," said Arthur. "Come on. At this rate, the match will start before we even take our seats."

Arabella looked around and saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione looking thoroughly unimpressed. Her older brothers, thankfully, hadn't seemed to notice a thing.

When at last they had finally taken their seats in the Top Box, they were shortly joined by the Wood family. Leading the way were nine adults, two of which were holding the hands of small children. They were followed by Sarah Wood, who had been Head Girl at Hogwarts two years previous; her brother, Ben, who was a fellow Gryffindor in his seventh year; her other brother, Fraser, who was also a second-year; another boy Arabella didn't recognize; a fifth-year Slytherin boy; Oliver Wood, the previous captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Evelyn, and last but not least, Angelina Johnson, Olivia Wood, and Alicia Spinnet, who were walking with their arms linked and huge smiles on their faces. The three girls were in their sixth year at Hogwarts and were Chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Arabella knew them well. Angelina waved, and while it seemed to be in Arabella's direction, she knew it wasn't at her. She looked around and quickly saw that Fred and George were greeting the girls with goofy grins on their faces.

"Interesting," Arabella said aloud.

"What's interesting?" Hermione asked. Ginny finally turned back around in her seat from talking to Evelyn to listen.

"Looks like the boys have got crushes." She motioned to the twins, who were now whispering amongst themselves.

"They're not the only ones," Ginny said, giving her sister a knowing look.

"Says you," Arabella retorted, knowing all too well her fascination with Harry. She looked at Hermione, who was stifling a giggle. "You can't talk, either."

"What? Me?" said Hermione.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Bella, I do not- You're disgusting!"

"You say that now," said Arabella, putting her feet up on the railing in front of her and waiting for the match to start.

[word count: 1085]
[written: 5/1/20]
[published: 6/2/20]