-26-
The weekend came. It's pretty windy and grey day, but that doesn't stop us from going to see the Qudditch World Cup. Me, Minerva, Hagrid and Poppy are waiting more our people to come right outside the Stadium. There are so many people in here, it's hard to see if anyone we know is even going to find us where we are standing. "Wonder if they will find us here?" I try to see over the crowd if there are any familiar faces. "Luckily we got Hagrid with us for them to see." Minerva chuckles. "So, how much we bet this year?" Hagrid rubs his hands together excited. Lift my head up to look at him:"Huh?". "Four galleons." Poppy says. Hagrid frowns:"Four? Last year it was six!". I look at them confused:"What are you talking about?". Minerva leans over and whispers with sneaky smile:"Each year we make a little bet who will win.".
I turn to look at her:"Like with real money? Isn't that forbidden?". "Ouhw, not when it's between friends." she waves her hand so carelessly. Funny to see these new sides of the professors. Hagrid smiles down on us:"So! How about five galleons?". Just when I'm about to open my mouth, I hear familiar voice behind me:"Count me in.". "Huh?" I turn around to see if I heard right. My face brightens up when I see him:"Remus!! What are you doing in here?!". Then run for a hug. There is gentle smile on his face while he hugs me back:"McGonagall send me an owl and told me someone needs a little cheer up. So, I cleared my schedule and came here.". I lean back away from him and glance over my shoulder to see Minerva, who's smiling at us. Minerva...
As we start telling each other the news what has been going on our lives in light spirit, a man in dark clothing walks past us. "Well, well, well... What do we have here?" the man's voice slithers into our ears. All of us turn to see none other than Lucius Malfoy and his party. There are a lot of people walking us by as he looks up and down on us. All of the professors got pretty serious expressions on their faces as they are staring him back. Then his eyes meets mine with an evil smirk:"Congratulations getting your name on the Daily Prophet, (Y/L). Pity they didn't get your sweet face on it.". Wish I could just whip my wand out and..- "At least she's worthy of the news." Remus steps in, knowing how much the Malfoys loves fame and getting praised. Lucius tries to keep his cool and shifts his eyes back to me from Remus:"Shouldn't he be in a leash?". "Says the man who likes to go around poisoning people." I casually snap back. Lucius frowns, slightly confused by my comment. Oh, I haven't forgot what happened in Hog's Head Inn.
Malfoy is about to open his mouth to say something, but his eyes shifts looking right past us. His mouth goes quickly shut. Surprised by the act, we turn to see what is he looking at. "Severus! Took you long enough." Minerva says. My eyes goes wide for a second out of surprise. He came too?! "My apologies, Minerva. There was... Some traffic." Snape lift his eyes on Lucius. Without a word, Malfoy and his party leaves and gets inside of the Stadium. Bet it's because Snape is the Head of his son's House. "We should go too, so we get good seats." Hagrid says and starts leading the way. Everyone starts following him right away. Snape and I make a quick eye contact before going after them. "Thought I made it perfectly clear not to meddle with Malfoy's family." can hear Snape's monotonic deep voice next to me. "He started it." I scoff. No answer. Soon, our ears gets filled with people's loud screams and cheering voices from every single direction.
There are so many people walking and shoving around. It's hard to keep up with the professors that are now walking three meters ahead of me. I'm too shy to just go for it, so I keep evading people:"Sorry! Excuse me... Pardon me.". Snape stops and turns around to see me further away. "Sorry, coming thru!" I try desperately make my way to them, but people keep ignoring me. Other professors have no idea what is happening back here, so they just keep on walking ahead. Irritated, Snape rolls his eyes and quickly comes thru the sea of other people to stand right in front of me. Before I can react, he grabs my hand in his and starts leading us thru the crowd. Blush raises on my cheeks right away. People steps out of our way as we go. Snape's hand is pretty cold, but gets warmer longer we hold hands. Never realized before how big his hands are. Can hear how people are cheering even louder when someone starts the welcoming speech. Their voice echoes all over the place, but I can't hear clearly what they are saying. Snape forces me in front of him when we come to the steep metal stairs. "Climb." he orders. Clearly he's annoyed by the among of the people that are here. Wonder why he even came here if he's this annoyed by big crowds?
As we both climb up the stairs, Snape keeps having his hands on the railings on each side of me. Watching how he grabs the railings each time we go up... His body being so close to mine... My heart starts pounding faster. What's wrong with me?! Finally, we come to the same level where our friends are. We are quite high, so it's easy to see the whole game from here. "There you are!" Minerva notices us. Right then, the players flies in and the crowd goes wild. All of us are standing next to each other while looking up and down at the players. From right to the left; Hagrid, Poppy, Remus, Minerva, me and Snape. The whole atmosphere is amazing when the game starts. Seeing all of the happy faces on my friends and strangers makes me feel so happy. I never really cared for Quidditch when I was young. Partly because I was told I'm not good in it - or in anything that matters, by my parents.
"Which one are you betting on?!" I ask everyone thru the noise. "Peru!" Minerva answer. Hagrid leans little bit forward to take a look at us:"I go for Ireland!". Poppy raise her hand:"Ireland!". Remus smiles:"Peru.". "Peru it is!" just made up on my mind which team I'm cheering on. Then I turn to see the Potions Master. He lowers his eyes on me and I can see he says something, but I can't hear it nor read from the lips, since he moved them with such a small gesture. "What'd you say?!" I ask. He leans in, bringing himself so close, part of his nose brushes against my ear. "Ireland." he answers before leaning back away from me. In that small, quick moment, my heart escapes to my throat for a second. Once again, a blush raises on my cheeks even I try my hardest not to. Players just whooshes right past us, making our hair, scarfs and long coats flow in the air for a moment. My eyes are sparkling by the sight:"Woah!!". Amazing!
After two intense rounds of flying;'DING -! PERU MAKES A GOAL, ONCE AGAIN!' The crowd goes wild like every other time a goal is made. Me and Minerva clap and scream our hearts out with full of joy among the Peru fans. I'm having so much fun! I keep holding onto the railing in front of us and do a little 'Go! Go! Go!' - whispers here and there. Without my notice, Snape shifts his eyes on me as I keep watching at the game amazed. Seeing how happy I am makes a gentle smile come up to his face. Corner of his eye, he sees Remus is staring right at him with a slight grin. The smile on Snape's face drops and he turns his head away, acting like he wasn't just watching me. Remus keeps the gaze for a moment longer before he lowers his eyes on me, who started to shake his arm with bright smile:"We are on the lead!!". He smiles back at me:"So it seems.". In the end, Ireland won.
It's pretty dark outside as people are slowly walking out of the Stadium after the game. Most of them are gathered right outside of the building, making plans where to go to celebrate the victory and such. Hagrid reaches his hand out towards us:"Pay up!". "You'll haveto wait till we get into the castle." Minerva sounds irritated by loosing the bet. Then they start making plans if we should go to a pub to grab a drink or head back to the castle. Remus comes to stand beside me and I turn to him. "Well, this was nice. Although it costed me a lot more than I originally thought." he jokes. "Are you leaving already?" can feel how my throat is sensitive from all that yelling and cheering. "I'm afraid so. Got an angry bride waiting for me back home if I won't show up before midnight." Remus chuckles. Both of my eyebrows raise:"Bride?". Usually he calls Tonks as 'fiancé'.
Remus picks something out of his pocket:"About that, I have been meaning to invite you... To our wedding this summer.". He hands me an envelope. "What?! Really?!" my voice breaks a little as I gasp surprised. My high-pitched voice caught Snape's attention. "Yes, if you're not busy... I'd like you to come." Remus said modestly. Pressing the envelope against my chest like it's one of the most precious thing I've ever been given:"I will, for sure.". Remus and I share a caring smile. Snape comes to stand beside me and I show him the letter excited. "LoOk-!" my voice cracks all of sudden. It gets all three of us off guard. Snape lets out a muffled chuckle, but quickly turns his head away. Remus glances at him, then back at me amused:"Lost your voice, have you?". "mAyBe..." my voice keeps breaking. Snape keeps his head turned away, trying so hard not to laugh. I turn to look at him confused:"iS evRYthinG aLRighT?". "Stop talking." he orders annoyed. What's up with him?