Aila managed to catch a few hours of sleep before she was wide awake and staring at the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep. Perhaps it was her survival instincts from when she was younger — she had a bad habit of running away from home. Or perhaps it was because she was a light sleeper — just the slightest of sounds can wake her up and the other two boys in the room were snoring really loudly. Or maybe it was both.

By four in the morning, she was curled up by the toasty fire leafing through some letters. She skimmed through her box of letters before selecting an envelope that was dated just the day before.

Aila giggled a little as she read it. Upon hearing someone coming down the stairs, Aila quickly folded the letter, placed it back into the envelope, then slotted it in with her other letters. Her small wooden box was charmed to hold an infinite amount of mail, perfect for storing all her friends’ letters and never having to worry about running out of space.

“Aila, dear, why are you always awake so early?” Molly exclaimed in exasperation.

“Since you’re awake, you might as well go wake the others,” Arthur suggested, ushering his wife into the kitchen.

Aila grinned. That was her favourite part of waking up early — she got the privilege to wake up her cousins. Clutching her box, she dashed up the stairs, quickly placed the box on her shelf then ran to Ginny’s room. “Wake up!” she shouted, jumping onto a sleeping Ginny and Hermione.

She kept jumping on them until they finally shouted that they were up. Satisfied, she ran up to Ron’s room, carrying with her her trusty alarm clock. “Wake up,” she whispered, gently shaking Harry and Ron up.

“Fred and George aren’t even awake yet,“ Ron mumbled.

“That’s because you’ll want to see this,” Aila replied matter-of-factly. She turned the alarm on her little alarm clock and set it beside Fred’s head. Getting her charmed camcorder in place, she, Harry and Ron waited.

When the minute was up, her alarm clock rang loudly. Aila, Ron and Harry burst out laughing as Fred let out a startled scream and jumped onto George. “Get off me!” George shouted, pushing Fred off him. “It’s only a stupid alarm clock,” he grumbled as Fred continued to cling to him.

Aila kept her camcorder, satisfied with the video taken. Once Fred had calmed down, he turned to Aila and said, “I’ll get you back for this.”

She only grinned and skipped out of the room, only pausing at the door to tell them to go downstairs. She stopped by her room to grab her bag before heading downstairs.

In the kitchen, Molly was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Arthur was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as she and the boys entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

“What d’you think?” he asked anxiously. “We’re supposed to go incognito. Do I look like a Muggle, Harry?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, his mouth tugging up in a wide smile, “very good. “

“Where’re Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?” George asked while failing to stifle a huge yawn.

“Well, they’re Apparating, aren’t they?” Molly reminded, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. “So they can have a bit of a lie-in.”

“So they’re still in bed?” Fred said grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. “Why can’t we Apparate too?”

“Because you’re not of age and you haven’t passed your test,” Molly snapped. “And where have those girls got to?”

“I’m right here,” Aila mumbled as Molly bustled out of the kitchen and started climbing the stairs.

“You have to pass a test to Apparate?” Harry asked.

“Oh yes,” Arthur said, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. “The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a licence. It’s not easy, Apparition, and when it’s not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I’m talking about went and Splinched themselves.”

Everyone around the table except Harry winced. “Splinched?” Harry said, confused.

“They left half of themselves behind,” Arthur explained, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. “So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn’t move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the muggles who spotted the body parts they’d left behind.“

“Were they okay?” he asked, startled.

“Oh yes,” Arthur said matter-of-factly. “But they got a heavy fine, and I don’t think they’ll be trying it again in a hurry. You don’t mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don’t bother with it. Prefer brooms — slower, but safer.”

“But Bill, Charlie and Percy can all do it?”

“Charlie had to take the test twice,” Fred said, grinning at the memory. “He failed the first time, Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?”

“Yes, well, he passed the second time,” Molly said, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.

“Percy only passed two weeks ago,” George said. “He’s been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can.”

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.

“Why do we have to be up so early?” Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

“We’ve got a bit of a walk,” Arthur answered.

“Walk?” Harry repeated. “What, are we walking to the World Cup?”

“No, no, that’s miles away,” said Arthur, smiling as Aila snorted. “We only need to walk a short way. It’s just that it’s very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup–”

“George!” said Molly sharply, and they all jumped.

“What?” George said in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.

“What is that in your pocket?”

“Nothing!”

“Don’t you lie to me!”

Molly pointed her wand at George’s pocket and said, “Accio!”

Several small, brightly coloured objects zoomed out of George’s pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Molly's outstretched hand.

“We told you to destroy them!” said Molly furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. “We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!”

It was an unpleasant scene. The twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Molly managed to find them all.

“Accio! Accio! Accio!” she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George’s jacket and the turn-ups of Fred’s jeans.

“We spent six months developing those!” Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.

“Oh a fine way to spend six months!” she shrieked. “No wonder you didn’t get more O.W.L.s!”

All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Molly was still glowering as she kissed Arthur on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.

“Well, have a lovely time,” Molly said, “and behave yourselves,“ she called after the twins’ retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. “I’ll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday,” Molly said to Arthur, as he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Aila set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Harry sped up to walk beside Arthur.

“So how does everyone get there without all the muggles noticing?” he asked.

“It’s been a massive organisational problem,” sighed Arthur. “The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven’t got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places muggles can’t penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry’s been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use muggle transport, but we can’t have too many clogging up their buses and trains — remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from muggles. I believe there’s a handy wood they’re using as the Apparition point. For those who don’t want to Apparate, or can’t, we use Portkeys. They’re objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that’s where we’re headed.”

Arthur pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.

“What sort of objects are Portkeys?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, they can be anything,” Aila said, coming up beside them. “Unobtrusive things, obviously, so muggles don’t go picking them up and playing with them…stuff they’ll just think is litter.“

They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Arthur kept checking his watch.

“Fred! George!” Aila shouted, racing up to the twins who stopped for a moment and turned to face her. Aila removed a brown paper bag from her backpack and shoved it into George’s hands. “I managed to save most of your stuff,” she said quietly. “Thought I should bring some for you. Aunt Molly won’t suspect me.”

“You’re the best,” the twins chorused happily, hugging her tightly.

“Now, how about a race?” Aila challenged, once they released her.

The twins sported identical evil grins and warned, “We’ve gotten faster.” 

Soon, Harry was running ahead of them to mark the finishing line while Ginny marked the starting line to make sure none of them were cheating. “Ready…Get set…Go!” Ginny shouted.

Aila and the twins sped off. Aila sprinted past Ron, then Hermione. Just a little more, she thought to herself as she passed Arthur, then Harry came into sight. With one last burst of speed, she dashed past Harry and collapsed on the ground. Within a few minutes, Fred and George were sprawled on the ground beside her.

“Congratulations, Aila,” Harry said, sitting down beside her as they waited for the others to join them. Aila nodded in thanks, too tired to speak.

“I can’t believe-” Fred panted.

“-that we just-“ George continued.

“-ran up-“ Aila chipped in.

“-a freaking hill,” Harry finished just as the rest of their party came into view.

“Whew,” panted Arthur, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. “Well, we’ve made good time — we’ve got ten minutes “

Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side. “Now we just need the Portkey,” Arthur said, replacing his glasses and squinting around on the ground. “It won’t be big…Come on “

Harry pulled Aila and the twins to their feet. “You’ve gotten faster,” Aila admitted to the twins who grinned, “but you’ll never be able to beat me,” she finished with a smirk.

“Oh yeah? We accept the challenge,” George said.

“That’s a deal. Now let’s go search for that portkey.”

“So you can quickly go see your boyfriend?” Fred teased, catching the interest of the others.

“Shut up,” Aila said, blushing slightly, “and he’s not my boyfriend.”

Fred rolled his eyes as Aila and the others spread out, searching for the Portkey. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes when a shout rented the still air.

“Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we’ve got it!”

Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

“Amos!” Arthur said, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.

Arthur was shaking hands with a familiar ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a mouldy-looking old boot in his other hand.

“This is Amos Diggory, everyone,” said Arthur. “He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?”

“Ced!” Aila exclaimed, hugging him.

“They’re best friends, dad.” Aila heard Ginny explain to Arthur.

“Hi,” Cedric greeted, looking around at them all.

Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.

“Long walk, Arthur?” Amos asked.

“Not too bad,” Arthur replied. “We live just on the other side of the village there. You?”

“Had to get up at two, didn’t we, Ced? I tell you, I’ll be glad when he’s got his Apparition test. Still…not complaining…Quidditch World Cup, wouldn’t miss it for a sackful of Galleons — and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, it looks like I got off easy…” Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Aila Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. “All these yours, Arthur?”

“Oh no, only the redheads,” said Arthur, pointing out his children. “This is Hermione, a friend of Ron’s, and Harry, another friend–”

“Merlin’s beard,” said Amos, his eyes widening. “Harry? Harry Potter?”

“Uh, yeah,” Harry said awkwardly, still not used to the attention that came with his fame.

“Ced’s talked about you, of course,” Amos said. “Told us all about playing against you last year…I said to him, I said Ced, that’ll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will…you beat Harry Potter!”

Harry remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling again. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.

“Harry fell off his broom, Dad,” he muttered. “I told you…it was an accident “

“Yes, but you didn’t fall off, did you?” Amos roared genially, slapping his son on his back. “Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman…but the best man won, I’m sure Harry’d say the same, wouldn’t you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don’t need to be a genius to tell which one’s the better flyer!”

Aila decided she had heard enough of Amos’ bragging. Taking the opportunity to diffuse the tensions building between them, she slipped behind the twins and slapped their heads. Hard.

“Aila!” they roared, startling everyone else.

“Yes?” Aila said innocently, appearing beside Harry, making him jump.

“That hurt!” George cried.

“I didn’t do anything,” she protested. “Why do I always get blamed for things I didn’t do?” she pouted.

“Because you did it,” Ginny giggled.

Before Aila could retaliate, Amos cut in, “My, if it isn’t little Aila. Cedric couldn’t stop talking about you! Hope you haven’t been giving Arthur any trouble.”

Aila blushed and mumbled, “I never give him any trouble.”

The twins were laughing so hard, they were gasping for air. Aila then moved to stand between them and slapped their backs.

Amos raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Ced said something about finding you wandering around town last week.”

“That’s because Fred and George left me behind in–ow!” The twins quickly elbowed her, cutting her off.

Arthur rounded on them. “That’s not what you told me and your mother, boys,” he said sternly.

“Okay, fine,” Fred admitted. “We told Aila to wait for us to come and collect her in the bookstore while we went to pay for the groceries. We checked out some shops and completely forgot about her until we came home when Mum asked where she was.”

“So we went back to town and started searching for her,” George continued. “And guess who brought her home?”

Cedric said quickly, “I found Aila sitting in the park playing a guitar to a bunch of Muggles so I escorted her home.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Arthur checked his watch and said, “Must be nearly time. Do you know whether we’re waiting for any more, Amos?”

“No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn’t get tickets,” said Amos. “There aren’t any more of us in this area, are there? “

“Not that I know of,” Arthur said, looking at his watch again. “Yes, it’s a minute off. We’d better get ready “

He looked around at Harry and Hermione. “You just need to touch the Portkey, that’s all, a finger will do.”

With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the ten of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory.

They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop. Nobody spoke.

“Three…” muttered Arthur, one eye still on his watch, “two…one–“

It happened immediately: Aila felt as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. Her feet left the ground; she could feel Cedric and Ginny on either side of her, their shoulders banging into hers; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling colour; her forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling her magnetically onward.

“Let go!” Arthur shouted.

Aila turned to look at Cedric who nodded his head at her and she let go of the boot. She could hear Hermione screaming somewhere around her but didn’t know or care as she too was falling. Then her body slammed into something.

She blinked up at the sky, watching Arthur, Amos and Cedric gracefully float to the ground. It looked as if they were walking down an invisible flight of stairs.

“Can you get-“

“-off us now, Aila?”

Aila turned her head and found herself looking at two identical faces. She grinned evilly at them, making the twins gulp. “Ginny!” she yelled, turning towards the others who were slowly getting to their feet.

“What?” Ginny yelled back.

“I think I found a new mattress for you!” Aila called, patting George’s chest.

Ginny squealed and jumped onto the spot beside her, making the twins groan. Ginny turned to her cousin, wide-eyed, and said, “Merlin’s beard, Aila. This is so comfortable!”

Around them, the others laughed at poor Fred and George’s expressions. They looked horrified and fearful at the same time.

Aila rolled off the twins just as Ron flopped onto them.

“Ron!” they roared, making Aila laugh. Suddenly, a pair of arms lifted her up onto her feet. She turned and was face to face with the one and only Cedric Diggory. He held her tightly against him, breathing her in.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, pressing a kiss on top of her head.

“Yeah,” she replied quietly. She stayed in his embrace for a little longer before lifting her head from his chest and looking up to see George holding a camera. He gave her a grin and pointed to his camera in delight. Aila sighed, knowing that George had taken some photos. 

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them, “Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill.”