act two: little dark age
chapter twenty-four

The Quidditch World Cup, one of the grandest events of the year. One that Daphne had been looking forward to since she had been invited by the Weasley's, since her father had got the two of them tickets so that she could go spend time with her friends and enjoy her youth, for what it was worth. For what was left of it.

The girl was scared for what her future had in store for her. After Fred and George had painted her face, and after they finished getting everything in the tent set up, Daphne found herself at a pause. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had returned and each one of them looked for Daphne first. Finding her holding onto part of the fireplace while George told her a story.

The girl was nodding her head as if she understood what he was saying, as if she was truly listening to the story, but she wasn't. Something else catching her attention, something she prayed wouldn't be hurting her just yet. The whispers that seemed to fill her ears whenever she turned her head.

The last thing that Daphne needed was someone realizing something was off about her. More people were in danger, but it seemed that she only saw things when danger was near or danger was coming. Her mind was a place that seemed to hold the fates of those around her. Fates that she hoped she'd never have to see, but it seemed that's all she had to see.

Daphne wondered what her mother would think. Her mother was a very opinionated woman and could care less about her daughter, but she knew there was something about her. Daphne hated to realize that her mother knew... she knew her daughter was different. Maybe that was her only use to Rosalie, maybe that was why she wasn't dead yet.

"Blimey, Daph," George nudged her shoulder as he looked over at her, "You're pale. Malfoy pale."

Daphne made a face as she looked disgusted, "Excuse me? Malfoy pale, now that is an insult!" She exclaimed as she looked at the redhead in slight disgust.

The Malfoy's, her cousins. People she wanted more than anything to simply take out on her own. They followed after the beliefs of the past. Believing in blood purity and blood supremacy. Keeping their line in what they believed to be pure. Daphne would like to think that she looked better than them, even at her worst.

"I don't mean to hurt your feelings, love," George made a face realizing how that sounded as he grinned, "I just mean... are you alright?"

George Weasley, always the entertainer. Being the more down to earth between the twins with a heart of gold, despite the occasional twisted prank. He was one of those that protected the ones he loved till the end but loved to cause chaos within his own household. In his mind, he was allowed to cause the problems. Not anyone else.

"I need you to understand something, Weasley," Daphne crossed her arms as she stood chest to chest with the boy who was much taller than her, "One, never compare me to a Malfoy, especially not Malfoy white. That is the greatest insult I will ever receive."

Hermione stifled a laugh as she watched the two, Harry looking a little angry while Ron muttered with a grin, "Bloody hell, she's about to lay it on him."

"Two, you can't sweet talk your way around everything, Weasley," Daphne hummed while grinning as George raised an eyebrow while Fred laughed.

"Or can I, love?"

The two stopped messing around before it was time to leave. Harry ignored Daphne as he seemed to be fuming about something. Not that Daphne minded, though she kinda did, she ran her fingers through her hair while trying to ignore whatever sign the world wanted her to know as they began to trudge off to find their seats.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Harry's face. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again . . . bless them," he added fondly, leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go. Nice to see you again, Lucerys."

"You as well," Lucerys seemed unsure of who exactly this witch was but he wasn't going to be rude, having too much of a heart for that.

Daphne let out a small laugh as she walked up the carpeted stairs alongside her family and friends. Harry trailing behind her like usual, grinning as he occasionally make comments about not tripping which caused her to lose focus of where she'd step and then she'd trip.

"You arse," Daphne faked a huff as she looked back at the green-eyed boy, "You're a git!"

"Wasn't I just an arse?" Harry asked, smirking at her as he let sarcasm slip from his lips.

Daphne rolled her eyes as she huffed out again while fighting back a grin, "Why do I even put up with you?"

Harry let out a laugh as he caught her from tripping yet again, "I dunno. I ask myself that often, Odette."

Daphne felt as her face burned while a grin tugged at her lips. She wasn't sure why he had started to refer to her by her middle name, it started when it slipped from his lips the year prior. Ever since every letter she had received had been addressed as Odette. Then he'd slip up and call her Daphne or Odette. It was different.

"Stop flirting you two," Fred and George faked a look of disgust, "You're almost as bad as Ron back there with Hermione! He's trying, game is low."

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed as he looked at his brothers before shaking his head as he made a face, "Yuck!"

Lucerys looked back and seemed to find the entire situation amusing which caused Daphne to turn and look at her father as she raised an eyebrow. Ignoring the pit in her stomach that something was going to happen. That someone was going to get hurt. That was the last thing that needed to happen.

Daphne could hear the way Ron was getting tired of the long walk that they had ahead of them. He seemed to be struggling to keep up with the others as he began to heavily rely on the railings that lined the entire way up as he huffed out on occasion.

"Blimey, Dad! How far up are we?" Ron questioned as he leaned against the metal railing with a sigh.

There was a moment of silence. No one was talking besides the overwhelming chatter of the crowd that had piled into the Quidditch World Cup with eager eyes. Everyone wanted to see the action and everyone was bustling about who was going to win. Bulgaria? Or would Ireland take the cup?

"Let's put it this way," Looking down the lot caught sight of Lucius Malfoy who sneered up at the group with his son at his side, "If it rains: you'll be the first ones to know," Lucius snickered as he looked back at his sons before he continued to walk forward.

The lot sighed. Ron making a face not understanding why Lucius Malfoy decided to take initiative and make some sort of remark or nasty comment. Fred and George leaned at Daphne's side as both looked in disgust at the Malfoy's while making snide remarks under their breaths.

"Father and I are in the minister's box!" Draco began to cheer as he moved forward, seemingly following a path nearly identical to that of the ones above him, "By personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself!"

Lucius turned around swiftly and gave Draco a sharp nudge in the stomach with his cane, "Don't boast, Draco. There's no need with these people," He stopped for a minute before looking at Harry who was a few steps away from Daphne, sinking his cane into the boy's hand, "Do enjoy yourself. While you can."

"Father," Caius moved forward as he gave the man a stern look while looking up at Daphne who sent him a sharp middle finger as she roughly jerked Lucius' cane away and out of Harry's hand.

"Give it back," Lucius looked beyond angry at the young girl who had stolen his cane.

"Daphne," Lucerys placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder as the whispers in her ears grew louder, "Give it."

Daphne looked over at her father, gripping the cane tighter before she looked at Harry as if giving him a look, telling him something wasn't right, "Think fast, jackass," She muttered as she dropped the cane down, not caring if he caught it or not.

"Daphne," Lucerys' tone was slightly scolding but he had a slight smirk on his lips, "You remind me so much of your Uncle," He whispered as he chuckled, "My sweet girl."

Daphne let out a small laugh as she rolled her eyes while looking at her father, "I won't tolerate bullying, even if it is from a man who is blinded by his hate."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, most now filled by the Weasley's.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.

Daphne looked in awe at the scene. Finding herself entranced by everything around her. She loved the sights and the game... and just everything. It was bringing her a lot of joy to see all of this. She watched as the stadium lit up to let both teams make their dramatic entries. The girl's began screaming while the boy's screamed for Krum. Daphne found herself happy.

The game started and from early on it was wild.

"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"

"Ireland forever!" Daphne yelled as she raised her fist in the air, ignoring the looks she received all around.

"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars, "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Harry, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honor around the field.

At Hermione's words, Harry looked quickly over the top of his Omnioculars and saw that the leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Daphne looked in front of him and made faces while Harry spun his speed dial back to normal as play resumed. And to rub it in, Daphne kept commenting on how hot the Irish chaser was.

They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be talking without talking while sitting in silence as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Harry's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy — Mullet — Moran!"

And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green-clad supporters. Daphne and the twins were high fiving and going wild over the scores, ignoring how Harry kept spitting about Bulgaria to her.

The match became faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the Veela started to dance in celebration.

Daphne watched as all of the men and boys covered their eyes while some girl's did too. Daphne simply shrugged her shoulders believing she'd be fine, waiting the Veela out before coming out of her sort of daze and screaming at the match once again.

"IRELAND FOREVER!" Daphne yelled again, ignoring the complaints from Harry.

"Bulgaria!"

"Ireland!"

The two lost track of the game as they continued to yell at one another over who would win. Daphne was sure on her stance with Ireland, not batting an eyelash at the fact Harry believed Bulgaria would have it in the bag.

"Has your eyesight affected your brain? You're blind in more ways than one!" Daphne exclaimed as she continued to yell on about Ireland.

"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

"HAHA!" Daphne cheered as she snapped in Harry's face before the twin's hoisted her up, nearly hitting her head, "IRELAND FOREVER! EAT SHIT BULGARIA!"

A bit of laughter was caused at the commotion. Daphne and the twins yelling wildly about the win, and shoving it in their friends' faces. She did not care who was around her or who they pulled for, she knew that Ireland won and they did.

"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head, "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead,

the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly while glaring at Daphne, "The Irish Chasers were too good. . . . He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all. . . ."

"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione spoke dreamily, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and veela to get to him, "He looks a terrible mess. . . ."

"IRELAND FOREVER!" Daphne got down from her friend's grasp as she got off of the twin's and leaned over the railing of the Quidditch World Cup stadium while screaming loudly about the victory, "YOU THOUGHT! HA HA IRELAND FOREVER!"

"Ireland can eat shit," Ron grumbled, clearly angry about the loss while Daphne flipped him off, "Hey!"

"Your Bulgarian ass can eat my shit!" Daphne grinned before side hugging Ron as if reminding him that it was simply a joke, "So sorry for your heartbreak. It had to happen."

Ron scoffed and Harry grinned, trying not to be mad at the girl who continued to dance around and yell about her great victory as well as the twins and many other irish fans around the stadium. They didn't stay in too much longer after that, finding themselves piling into the tent once again as they began to light a fire.

"Krum! Krum! Krum!" People cheered from the outside while Mr. Weasley lit the fire.

"You are madly in love with the fact Ireland won," Lucerys looked at his daughter who was still cheering and dancing around as Harry watched her from the other side of the room, "Pure bliss."

"Ireland won! This is my entire personality for the next year!" Daphne exclaimed as she stopped dancing while jumping up and down, "Look at us go!"

But then the whispers got louder. Which caused her to completely pause and look around before moving out of the light acting as if she had calmed down or grown tired which caused the three of her friends to look over at her as if waiting for her to say something or begin muttering her nonsense that often left her lips.

"There's no one like, Krum!" Ron began to exclaim as the twins danced around the floor with their Irish flags in hand.

"Krum? Dumb, Krum!" The twins began to chant in unison while making a face at Ron.

"He's like a bird the way he rides the wind! He's more than an athlete, he's an artist," Ron jumped up on one of the stairs as he looked dead serious.

"Dumb Krum!" The twins continued to chant while Daphne winced as the whispers began to hurt her head.

Harry seemed to notice this and moved over to her from his podium as he placed a hand on the girl's arm. Acting as if he was scared to touch her while she was like this. Daphne looked down before she shut her eyes tightly as she placed her head against his arm. He was a little over five-five, being barely taller than her at this point while last year the girl had been much shorter.

"I think you're in love, Ron," Ginny looked up at her brother with a cheeky grin.

"Shut up!" Ron sneered as he looked down at his sister.

"Viktor I love you, Viktor I do! When we're apart my heart beats only for you!" The twins began to sing as they circled around their brother with smirks, "Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on!"

Daphne saw flashes of curses as screams filled her ears causing her to whimper and lift her head up causing Harry to grab ahold of her quickly. As if he was afraid that she was about to simply fall over.

"Danger," Daphne whispered as she looked at Harry, wincing in pain as her head began to hurt, "We've got to go."

"Stop it! Stop it! It's not the Irish, we've gotta get out of here, now," Arthur looked at the children in sheer worry as he looked over at Lucerys', "Go, I've got her."

"Dad?" Daphne questioned softly, Harry's grip on her tightening as he watched her father slip from the room.

It was only a moment later when they began to run out of the tent. Harry held onto Daphne tightly as she cried out in pain from her head. She felt as if it was about to explode and that there was nothing that could make it better.

They were in for a long night.