Not Alone After All

Chapter XLIII

The afternoon was spent by the group changing their clothes and painting their faces. Ron and Harry were busy swooning over Viktor Krum whilst Ginny helped Laura and the twins with the green and silver paint.

"Boys," Mr. Weasley called out at the twins. "Feet off the table," he said.

"Feet off the table," the two repeated in perfect unison as they slid their feet off the table. However, as soon as Mr. Weasley turned his back, their feet were back right where they previously were. Laura rolled her eyes.

"You two are impossible," she scoffed, shooting a look at them. Her eyes lingered on Fred's face for only a second, and she blushed and looked away when Gyinny noticed it. She raised her eyes at the Potter girl, who waved it off and ignored it.

Not too long after, Ludo Bagman himself walked into the tent. Mr. Weasley presented him to the children and explained that it was thanks to him that he'd gotten the tickets.

Ludo Bagman offered a flutter on the match, and Mr. Weasley took him up on that. He had a Galleon on Ireland to win. It was a safe bet.

"A galleon?" Mr. Bagman looked a bit disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to he gambling-"

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," Fred said as he and George quickly pooled all their money. "That Ireland will win but Krum gets the snitch." Fred told him.

"I shall take you up on that," Ludo said beforeMr. Weasley could comment anything. "Anyone else? A Potter maybe?"

"Definetely," Laura spoke up, fishing 10 galleons from her pocket. "Ten Galleons says Bulgaria only scores one goal." The Minister raised his eyebrows at the sight of the young girl.

"Yes, please," he laughed, writing her name on the small notebook right below the twins'. They had thrown in a fake wand too, which made the minister weirdly excited.

He was quickly out of there after having written down their names, as if he had only been there for the money. The group shrugged it off and went back to their paints and hats.

♧♧♧

The group left their tents unaware of the effort they would have to put into finding their seats. They were really high up, and an unfortunate encounter with the Malfoys as they were climbing the stairs was enough to ruin their mood.

"Blimey, dad," Ron said. "How far up are we?"

"Put it this way;" a voice said from below them. "If it rains, you'll be the first to know." Malfoy said with a laugh. Draco laughed too.

"Father and I are in the minister's box," Draco spoke up. "By personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself."

"Too bad for him," Laura commented, making the twins laugh at her side.

"Don't boast, Draco," Lucius told his son, poking his stomach with his cane. "There's no need with these people." Lucius sent a particularly dirty look at Hermione, which was enough to anger Harry. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her away. Laura was about to follow when Lucius used the top of his cane to grab at her shoes. She was about to say something amongst the lines of 'who the hell do you think you are', but one of the twins grabbed her arm and she got the message, opting to simply tighten her hands into fists to keep her calm. "I do suggest you have fun... while you can."

Malfoy sent her a creepy smile that made her nostrils flare. Laura pulled her foot away form him, pulling the cane just enough for Lucius to trip towards them and their platform. There was a snort from behind her head but she ignored it.

"Don't touch me and maybe I will," she told the blond man, who just growled at her group and walked away. Fred and George shared a look.

"Are you sure about this?" George asked his twin in a whisper only he heard. Fred smirked.

"I have never been so sure about it."

♧♧♧

Turns out they were on the highest possible platform, and it was so worth it. Laura couldn't understand why Draco had been boasting about their seats close to the ground when from where she was standing, she could see the whole stadium.

However, she started to regret coming when she finally looked down and actually realised how far up they were.

Laura didn't enjoy flying very much. She loved quidditch, yes, but flying wasn't her favourite thing to do. Truth was, she was very scared of heights. And these seats were not helping.

Her smile returned to her face when the Irish Team flew right past them, the wind blowing her hair over her face. She looked around her and saw the faces of awe of her two best friends. She grabbed their hands and took a deep breath, breathing in what she thought would be one of the best nights of her life.