CHAPTER ONE

"And then Krum caught the snitch-"

"But Ireland won the match!" Fred and George Weasley conclude, high-fiving each other proudly as they watch Amira's expression closely to see if she's just as excited as them yet.

Despite the fact that she had been there to witness what people are already claiming to be one of the greatest moments in quidditch history, the twins have been describing the match in vivid detail for the past thirty minutes, trying desperately to get her to understand why they need to celebrate even more so now to rub it in their younger brother's face.

Sitting in their box seats with Venus and the Malfoys, Amira hadn't truly appreciated the match that many would kill to see. She continuously grew distracted by watching how much fun wizards and witches in less expensive seats were having and would absentmindedly cheer whenever any player scored a point, rooting for whichever team happened to be in the lead at the moment.

Draco, on the other hand, could not have been more thrilled with their seats and used every opportunity to rub it in the face of his self-proclaimed arch nemesis, Harry Potter. He provided no help when Amira pleaded with her father to be allowed to mingle with the other fans, pointing out that she could join the crowds for the celebrations to occur when a team declares victory.

"If I agree to wear one of those ridiculous hats, will you let me come inside?" Amira finally caves, goosebumps covering her bare arms as the wind picks up through the campgrounds.

Fred and George share a look, contemplating her offer before grinning and simultaneously pouncing on her. One places a matching clover-covered hat and scarf on her head and neck while the other swipes green and white face paint under her eyes. Stepping back, they nod once and dramatically lift each of the tent flaps they had been guarding, ushering her in.

"Amira!" Arthur greets her warmly, drawing her into a hug. "I was beginning to think we wouldn't be seeing you at all this summer!"

"If your sons had it their way, you wouldn't even be seeing me tonight," she snitches. "They've been keeping me hostage outside until I converted to a fan of the Irish!"

George gasps, throwing a pillow from his bunk in retaliation for her betrayal, prompting her to stick her tongue out childishly. Fred, on the other hand, doesn't notice as he is already pestering Ron.

The youngest Weasley male stands on the small kitchen table, his Bulgarian souvenirs quite the eyesore in the midst of the Irish colors donned by the laughing children that surround him.

"I think you have a crush," Ginny teases through a laugh, her eyes lighting up further when she spots Amira. "Perhaps Amira could introduce you to the love of your life."

"Could you?" Ron asks, spinning on his heel and nearly falling to the floor in his hurry to face the girl. Though Ginny had been joking, he most certainly is not.

"I'm sorry, Ron, but I could never affiliate myself with the enemy," Amira lies, her own giggles giving her away. "I've been a hardcore Ireland fan for the past five minutes. I simply can't betray them."

While Amira's father works more closely with the Minister of Magic and the political side of the wizarding world, her mother, Meri, deals with international affairs. Her job allows her to meet all sorts of interesting characters and host dinner parties with influential people from all over the world, this making it an all too easy reality for Amira to be able to introduce Ron to his idol.

"Viktor, I love you!" Fred croons.

"Viktor, I do!" George adds as everyone comes together to sing the last line.

"When we're apart, my heart beats only for you!"

As their laughter dies down and Ron finally gets off of the table, the music playing throughout the vast fields can be heard again. George wraps a large flag around Amira's shoulders, causing her to spin as they join Fred in dancing around the tent. Ginny jumps in, being spun around by Fred as the remaining trio of Gryffindors slip outside.

When they've danced until their feet hurt, Ginny and Amira fall onto one of the plush couches in breathless gasps, leaving the twins to argue amongst themselves about some sort of candy.

"How was your trip to Greece?" Ginny questions as they happily accept the snacks and drinks Arthur has laid out on the coffee table for his kids. "You never sent any of the pictures you promised."

"It was dreadfully boring," Amira complains, a frown briefly hiding her smile as she recalls the uneventful three days. "Mother hardly let me leave the hotel, and her meetings didn't take nearly as long as I had hoped. We were back home before the week was over."

"But?" The younger girl presses, knowing there has to be more to her vacation story.

"There was a cute muggle that stayed across the hall from us," Amira confides, dropping her voice to a whisper as she leans in conspiratorially. "He gave me something called an email address, but my owl keeps returning the letters I've attempted to send to it."

The remaining hours of the evening seem to fly by, with the girls gossiping and occasionally being interrupted by Arthur offering his own opinion or Fred and George pestering them to play Exploding Snaps.

They finally cave, promising only one game and get up to move to the table Ron had previously stood on so they could sit without fear of anyone cheating by looking at the other's cards.

"Has anyone seen Ron, Harry, and Hermione?" Arthur asks, lifting the tent flap to glance outside. "I don't want them staying out too late."

Amira gasps as she catches sight of the sunset disappearing over the hills, clambering back to the couch to put shoes on her aching feet. Fred groans, stomping his foot childishly as a pout falls on George's face.

"Sorry, boys. I'll have to kick your arses another time," she says. "Father wants me back in our tent before dark."

"There's still plenty of time for a game!" George argues, his siblings nodding adamantly in agreement.

"Not in this mess," she counters, a new wave of cheers from the crowds outside proving her point. "I'll be lucky to make it there by midnight!"

Bidding the Weasley family goodnight, Amira promises to visit for breakfast before the twins have a chance to latch themselves onto her legs. As the tent flap closes behind her, she briefly considers going back in to steal a sweater from one of the boys as a chilling breeze once again causes goosebumps to cover her arms.

Ultimately deciding against it - mainly due to the fact that she knows none of them would let her leave again - Amira braves the cool night and fights her way into the midst of the celebrations.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't think twice about going against Venus's wishes and would have gladly spent hours more with her best friends. He's normally an easy-going man that doesn't require her to follow any rules, offering them only when his colleagues make snide comments about his skills as a parent, and even then Amira knows better than to think he'll actually enforce them.

But something about his demeanor had been off when they had last spoken and his tone was one so harsh her mother would have a fit if she knew he used it with their daughter. Amira didn't know what caused this change in Venus, and had been so ready to get away from it that she didn't think to ask.

"Amira!" Someone calls out, stopping her in her tracks. Cedric bids the group of teenagers he had been talking to farewell and pushes through the crowd to reach her. "Where are you off to? The parties are only just beginning."

His questioning confuses the girl and she almost doesn't answer, having assumed that their brief interaction from the previous day changed nothing and they would go back to barely being acquaintances. Being in the same year, Amira and Cedric often see each other in shared classes and the hallways of Hogwarts, but neither had ever actually spoken to the other before yesterday.

"My father wishes for me to return to our tent by nightfall," she answers honestly, continuing her slow journey through the throngs of celebrating wizards and witches. "Why do you care?"

"Because no one should be alone at a party," he says, the words leaving his mouth so easily that it isn't hard to tell that this is a statement he lives by. "May I join you?"

"But I'm not partying," Amira points out, nevertheless gesturing for him to follow alongside her. The crowds seem to automatically part for the kind boy now by her side and she briefly wonders if he muttered a spell to do so.

"You could still use a friend, even in the most mundane of tasks," he counters, grinning as she scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Unless you'd rather be alone, in which case I'll go."

His smile only grows as she latches onto his elbow to keep him at her side. The last of the sunlight disappears from the sky, but Amira finds herself no longer worrying about her father's wrath as Cedric tells her stories about his time at Hogwarts.

"Which is why the giant squid no longer eats blueberries-"

A scream cuts through the music and his story; all of the night's joy seems to be sucked away in an instant as everyone freezes. Red and orange flames can be seen dancing across the tops of trampled tents in the nearby horizon, followed closely by cloaked figures levitating the source of the scream above them. Before Amira can even take all of this in, Cedric is instinctively taking her hand in his and leading her to the safety offered by the forest close by.

His movement seems to knock everyone else out of their stupefied revelry and panicked cries surround them as the crowds take down anything in their path to get away from the dark menaces.

A wizard twice Amira's size slams into the duo, causing Cedric's hand to slip away as she falls to the hard ground. Amira cries out as scared people accidentally trip over her legs and step on her hands, making it nearly impossible for her to get back up. Cedric struggles to fight against the crowd to get back to her, ultimately losing and being swept further from her with each second she remains down.

Amira manages to push herself onto her knees and crawls out of the immediate trampled path of thousands, only to immediately be kicked back down with such force it can't be an accident. A cruel laugh rings high above the screams and a spell she can't hear over her own coughs is shouted.

Amira rolls onto her side and the last thing she sees is a green light emitting from a wand and striking her chest before her entire world goes black.