Where'd You Go

I sat at the top of the stairs, watching the sun rise. The house was quiet with the exception of the dishes washing themselves in the sink and Mrs. Weasley making breakfast. The boys slept like they were dead, and I was almost certain that Ginny was still sleeping as well. I pulled my jacket tighter around me as a light breeze blew through the window.

"Alex!" Hermione rushed over, throwing her arms around my neck. I'd almost forgotten that she was going to the Quidditch World Cup with us.

"Hello Hermione. How was your summer?" I asked, smiling lightly at her.

"It was great, but we'll talk about that later. We've got to get the boys up. Breakfast is ready and we've got to get going soon." I knew waking up Harry and Ron was going to be a challenge. The twins were probably running around setting up pranks for the day.

"You take Ron. I'll take Harry," I said, walking over to the cot he was laying in. His mouth was slightly open, soft snores coming from his lips. I felt bad for him. He'd been through so much, and none of it had been his choice. He lost his parents. His guardians were psychopaths. He faced death every year. None of it was fair.

"Ronald, wake up!" Hermione shouted, pushing at his shoulder. I giggled when he groaned and nudged Harry with my hand.

"Come on, Harry. You've got to get up." His eyes opened slowly, and he blinked a few times, looking up at me, a small smile coming over his face.

"Hi," He mumbled, shoving his glasses up his nose.

"Good morning. Breakfast is ready." He nodded once, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Hermione was having a bit more trouble getting Ron to wake up. She smacked him a couple times, and he jumped, pulling the covers over himself.

"Bloody hell," He whispered, looking Hermione up and down as if she were an intruder. I giggled again, turning to exit the room. The walk downstairs seemed long, and Fred and George flew past me to make sure they were the first to get breakfast. I shook my head at them, heading into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Alexandria." Mrs. Weasley smiled at me, pulling me into a hug before holding me at arms length.

"Morning, Mrs. Weasley." She instructed me to sit down, putting a plate of food in front of me.

"Are you excited?" Fred asked, nearly bouncing in his seat at he shoveled eggs into his mouth. I scrunched my nose and handed him a napkin. The boys needed better manners.

"Sure. I've never taken much interest in Quidditch, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining," I shrugged, taking a bite of my toast. Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally got to the bottom of the stairs, followed by Ginny. Breakfast passed rather quickly on account of the fact that Mr. Weasley was rushing us. Mrs. Weasley bid us goodbye, pushing everyone out the door before kissing her husband. We ended up in the woods, though I wasn't sure why. I stayed back with Hermione while the boys walked in front of us.

"Are you alright? You're awfully quiet," Hermione said, giving me a concerned look. I didn't know what I was supposed to tell her. Every year since we've been at Hogwarts, I've been able to tell when something bad was going to happen. I had that same feeling in the pit of my stomach now, but I didn't want to ruin the day for anyone. This was supposed to be a fun trip, and I refused to be a debbie downer.

"Nothing. I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep." That wasn't a lie. The reason behind me not getting a lot of sleep was much more serious, but I didn't want to tell her that.

"You know you can tell me if something is wrong, right?" She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I know. Thank you, but honestly, I'm tired. I'll be fine." I gave her a reassuring smile, but she didn't seem to buy it. I pulled my hair over my shoulder, braiding it and securing the end with a hair tie.

"Who's that?" Ginny was gaping someone in front of us. I followed her eyes, watching as Mr. Weasley exchanged greetings with a man that was few inches shorter than him with a receding hair line and glasses. Clearly Ginny wasn't talking about him, but the boy next to him that looked close to six feet. He had a strong jaw, wavy brown hair, and eyes the color of storm clouds. He shook Mr. Weasley's hand before he looked in our direction, a small smile on his face. I swallowed hard as his gaze found mine.

"Girls, come here," Mr. Weasley said, beckoning us forward. Hermione pulled me along because it seemed as though my feet were cemented to the floor. Ginny snickered from behind us, "Girls, this is Amos Diggory and his son Cedric. He goes to Hogwarts as well. This is Alexandria, Ginny, and Hermione." Cedric smiled at the three of us, waving in our direction. I heard Ginny swoon next to me, and it was Hermione's turn to snicker. Of course she wasn't affected by the charm that was Cedric Diggory. She was completely in love with Ron, though she'd never admit it.

"It's nice to meet you." I heard him speak, and my cheeks started to heat up. It seemed as though he was talking directly to me, but I didn't want to make assumptions. Hermione was attempting to discreetly nudge me with her elbow, but with the way Cedric was chuckling, I could tell that he noticed. My cheeks flamed, more than likely turning the color of my hair.

"We better get going if we want to make it there on time." Mr. Weasley walked forward, and we all followed quickly behind. I tried my best to keep my eyes away from Cedric, and I guessed I was being obvious because I could hear Hermione laughing behind me. We got to a clearing where an old boot sat on the top of a hill. I turned, raising my eyebrows at Ginny. She shrugged and continued to walk forward.

"Why is everyone standing around that manky old boot?" I heard Harry ask from behind us. I was wondering the same thing, but I figured we'd all find out in time.

"It's a portkey." I wasn't sure which one of the twins spoke. You never really knew unless you were looking at them. They sounded exactly alike. I watched Cedric and his father grab onto the boot. Common sense told me to do the same. One by one everybody grabbed hold. Harry seemed to be the only one that was confused.

"Harry!" He grabbed on at the last second possible, and we began to spin. My stomach dropped, and I got a faint feeling of being nauseous.

"Let go, kids!" My eyes snapped to Mr. Weasley. I wasn't sure how portkeys worked, but I didn't want to let go. It was almost certain that I was going to get a concussion. I was clumsy enough on foot.

"What?!" Hermione yelled from next to me.

"Let go!" I released the boot, crossing my fingers and hoping that I didn't fall to my death. I smacked into the ground hard, groaning as I held the back of my head. I knew that was a bad idea. I opened my eyes and looked up. Cedric, his father, and Mr. Weasley were all floating down like they'd done this loads of time. They probably had done it loads of times. Who really knew.

"You okay?" Cedric asked, standing above me, a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I pushed myself into a sitting position, and he stuck his hand out to help me up. I slipped my fingers into his and let him haul me off of the ground, dusting off the back of my jeans.

"I take it that was your first time?" He placed his hands on my shoulders to steady me, though I wasn't sure I needed him to.

"Yes, and I hope to God I never have to do that again," I muttered, tugging at the bottom of my shirt.

"It gets easier. I promise." I nodded once, looking around to find Hermione. She was a few feet away, whispering and pointing at me like Cedric wasn't looking in their direction. They seemed to notice that he was looking at them and tried to act innocent, but it was too late.

"Thanks," I said before walking away from him. I took quick steps to Hermione's side, giving her the look of death as we followed behind Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory.

"You're blushing," Ginny commented, a smirk on her face.

"My cheeks are naturally red," I retorted. It was a lie, but I didn't want to admit to the fact that Cedric made me blush. I'd never hear the end of it if I did. I'd always been independent. While girls at Hogwarts were worried about having a boyfriend, I was more concerned with my studies. It was why Hermione and I got along so well. She wasn't ready to admit that she loved Ron, so we spent majority of our time in the library together.

"It's okay to have a crush on him, Alex," Hermione encouraged, smiling a little. I gave her another fierce look. She wasn't anyone to talk. She'd been in love with Ron since we were 11 and had yet to say anything to him about it.

"I don't have a crush. I just met him."

"What are you three whispering about?" Ron seemed to appear out of thin air, though I was pretty sure he'd been behind us the whole time. I could faintly hear music in the distance, and I knew we'd almost reached our destination.

"Alex has a crush on Cedric." Ginny decided to open her mouth, and I whipped around, glaring at her.

"Seriously? You finally decide to fancy someone, and it's Golden Boy?" Ron began to laugh, and I punched him in his shoulder.

"Shut up. I do not fancy him, and keep your voices down before he hears you," I grumbled, walking a little faster. We reached the top of the hill, and I smiled at what I saw below. There were so many people laughing with their friends and families. Men and women were flying around on their broomsticks, whizzing past people's heads. I could smell all different types of food which made my stomach rumble. I followed closely behind the Weasleys to a very small tent. However, I knew looks could be deceiving, and I was proved correct once we stepped inside. The inside of the tent was the size of a small house. There were four bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. You have to love magic.

"Get out of the kitchen, Ron! We're all hungry." I laughed because of course Ron would be the first one to walk into the kitchen. He never stopped eating. It was a wonder that he wasn't fat. He was a bottomless pit.

"Who are you going for?" Hermione asked. The boys were already putting on their respective clothing, Harry in black and red for Bulgaria. The twins seemed to be going for the Irish, and Ron just loved Viktor Krum, so his face was adorned with the Bulgarian flag on one cheek and a red K on the other. Ginny and Hermione seemed to be the only two that were neutral.

"Probably the Irish, considering I have red hair, but I don't think I'm going to cheer for anyone. It's going to be fun to watch either way." I shrugged, pulling on a sweatshirt. On account of where our seats were, I knew it was going to be cold. I'd rather not freeze while trying to enjoy myself.

"Smart choice." Fred grinned at me, waving his Irish flag as he ran around the tent.

"Come on. It's time to go." As we walked out of the tent, I got another sick feeling in my stomach. This was going to be a bad night.