Rowen Bishop walked out of her tent closely followed by her father. The tent was situated close to the Quidditch stadium, near the player's tents. Rowen and her father had watched most of the Quidditch matches over the past two weeks. Although they both quite enjoyed watching the sport, neither of them was very good at playing it. Rowen wore a green Ireland jersey with the name Ryan embroidered on the back in silver. The Irish Keeper was a family friend of the Bishops and was only a few years older than Rowen. A green clover was painted on Rowens left cheekbone.
Rowen came from a family of wealthy purebloods, and as she headed towards her seat in the Top Box she had to force her way through a crowd of nearly a hundred thousand people come to watch the match. This was the final game of the cup. Ireland vs Bulgaria.
Rowen finally found her seat and looked around, observing her surroundings. Tens of thousands of witches and wizards were taking their seats around the stadium. Ludo Bagman rushed into the Top Box. "Everyone ready? Minister ready to go?"
"Ready to go when you are." Fudge replied.
Ludo pointed his wand to his throat. "Sonorus," he said, "ladies and gentlemen welcome. Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup."The voice of Ludo Bagman boomed over the stadium and the crowd erupted into cheers."And now, without further ado allow me to introduce the Bulgarian team mascots."Rowen watched in amazement as a hundred Veela soared onto the Quidditch pitch. Their skin glistened as if moonlight was shining off of them and their golden hair whipped behind them, despite the seemingly windless day. Rowen couldn't help but notice how beautiful they were. They began to dance, and Rowen couldn't take her eyes off of them. The music suddenly stopped and a collection of angry yells sounded from throughout the stands. Ludo placed his wand to his throat once again. "And now, kindly put your wands in the air for the Irish national team mascot." A green and gold ball of light zoomed onto the pitch. It made a lap around the stadium before splitting into two and a rainbow appeared in the sky. The crowd cheered. The ball merged and exploded into a shimmering shamrock. Gold coins rained from it, but Rowen was so transfixed on the shamrock that she didn't reach for any. Looking closer, Rowen realised that the shamrock was made of thousands of leprechauns. The crowd applauded. The shamrock dissolved and the leprechauns settled across from the Veela, along the opposing side of the pitch. "And now ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the Bulgarian national Quidditch team." Half of the crowd exploded into deafening cheers and applause as Ludo introduced the team. The same happened when he introduced the Irish. At last, the match began.
After both teams had scored a goal the team's Seekers dove amazingly fast towards the ground. Rowen stood hoping to get a better look. At the last second Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker pulled out of the nosedive just in time. The Irish Seeker was not so lucky, and he hit the ground with a loud thud. A groan cascaded through the stands and a timeout was called. The crowd cheered as the Irish Seeker stood from the ground and kicked off into the air. About fifteen minutes later Ireland had scored ten more goals and the Irish were in the lead 130-10. The Bulgarian Keeper fouled Ireland's Chaser, and Ireland was awarded a penalty shot. Half of the stadium cheered while the other booed. Two Bulgarians began to argue with the referee, and a second penalty was awarded to Ireland. Ireland scored both penalties before a third was rewarded to them. The leprechauns formed into a hand and gave the Veela the finger. The Veela darted across the pitch and began to launch what looked like fireballs at the leprechauns.
"And that boys, is why you should never go for looks alone." Rowen heard from beside her and couldn't help but laugh. She turned her head to see an older man with fiery red hair who she assumed was Arthur Weasley. He was speaking to his sons and Harry Potter, whom she recognised from school.
Rowen looked back to the game and realised the Irish had scored another goal, but the cheers of the Irish was drowned out by the screaming Veela. The Irish Beater hit the bludger straight at Viktor Krum and it struck him square in the face. The crowd groaned and blood smeared across the Seeker's face. His nose seemed to be broken but suddenly the Irish Seeker spotted the snitch and zoomed after it. The Irish crowd roared but was quickly silenced when the Irish Seeker hit the ground -again- and Viktor Krum emerged with the snitch. Despite this sudden upset, Ireland emerged victorious, the score 170-160. "Ireland wins!" Ludo suddenly shouted. Rowen cheered along with the rest of the crowd.
Just like that, the match was over. Rowen's father went to speak to the British Minister of Magic, leaving Rowen alone in the stands. She smiled to herself as she watched the Irish team lift their Seeker into the air. Barry Ryan snuck a look at Rowen and flashed a bright smile. She smiled back at him.
"Is that an actual Ireland jersey?"
Rowen turned around to discover an extremely tall ginger boy smiling down at her. He was wearing a large green and silver top hat and a painted-on clover covered his entire face. She recognised him instantly as one of the Weasley twins, although she wasn't certain which one. "Yes," she answered simply, "Barry is a family friend."
"Wicked," he said not dropping his smile. Fred recognised the girl. She was quite popular at Hogwarts, and for good reason. She was a Bishop, one of the most well-known wizarding families in England, not to mention extremely beautiful. They had been partners in Herbology their third year when they were to defang a vampiric plant. Although Rowen was in Slytherin, Fred was convinced that she should be a Hufflepuff because of how kind she was to him. Fred may have developed a minor crush on the Bishop girl, though he was confident he had gotten over it.
Rowen cleared her throat, snapping Fred away from his thoughts. "You're blocking my way." Fred quickly moved out of the way and apologised. "No problem." she smiled at him. "Catch you later Weasley," Rowen said looking behind her and waving quickly.
Fred waved back, a dumb smile plastered on his face as he watched the girl walk away.
"Was that Rowen Bishop?"George Weasley asked, suddenly appearing beside his twin brother and slapping an arm around his shoulder. George glanced at his brother and a smile formed on his lips. "Don't tell me you're still in love with her?"
Fred knocked George's arm off of him and rolled his eyes. "Don't be a git."
Rowen was about to walk into her tent when she felt a pair of arms slide around her waist. She yelped as she was lifted into the air and spun around. When she was set on the ground, she turned and looked up to see Barry Ryan looking down at her with a small smirk. "Shouldn't you be celebrating your win with the rest of the team?" Rowen asked.
"I've come to see my favourite fan. I was hoping for congratulations."Barry Ryan still held a hand on Rowen's waist, and the girl couldn't help but notice the butterflies forming in her stomach. He was quite an attractive guy. He stood six feet tall, and his dark hair was cut in a short faux hawk. He had graduated from Hogwarts two years earlier and Rowen was pretty sure her parents were trying to arrange a marriage between the two. "Besides, those gits probably haven't even noticed my absence yet."
Rowen pulled away, realising how close she was to the boy. A slight blush burned her cheeks, and she begged that Barry hadn't noticed. "Congratulations. You played wonderfully. I suppose you'll be wanting your jersey back then?"
Barry merely shook his head. "It looks better on you anyway." Her cheeks burned hotter and she looked to her left, hoping her father would be coming this way. Instead, her eyes locked with a Weasley twin who hastily looked away. "We're having a small celebration late tonight. I was hoping you would come. There won't be many people, mostly sponsors and ministers. I think I'd better enjoy myself if you came."
"I um-well I mean-sure, why not?" Rowen smiled at the older boy and silently cursed herself for stuttering.
Barry smiled brightly. "Great see you then." He began to walk away but not before glancing back at the girl and giving a small wave goodbye, which Rowen returned.