/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝟏,𝟒𝟓𝟏 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬

The next morning, Marlene shook Artemis awake a little too aggressively, and Artemis pushed her away with equal aggression, sending her tumbling back on the sleeping figure of Lily, who yelped loud enough to wake the entire campground. "Match day!" said Marlene, recovering quickly. "Everyone up!"

Artemis groaned and sat up, trying to tame her hair with two fingers until she was hit square in the face with a set of clothes Mary had tossed over one shoulder. "Sorry, those are mine," she said, not looking back. "I can't find anything good to wear."

"You always look cute," said Lily, rooting through her own bag. "Just put on shorts and a t-shirt-"

"I feel like I should wear something better than shorts and a t-shirt."

Artemis shuffled over to her on her knees and leaned over her shoulder. "Here," she mumbled, pushing Mary out of the way and sorting through her clothes. "This shirt. These shorts. Hair down."

"Thanks, love!" said Mary, hurrying off to change.

Nearly an hour later, the girls emerged from their tent, decked out in Puddlemere colors. Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter were all sitting around the long-burned out embers of last night's fire, waiting for them. "Took you long enough," James said when they finally appeared. "It's just a quidditch match, you didn't have to get all dressed up."

"We're not all dressed up!" Lily argued.

"You look great," said Remus getting to his feet and adjusting the Puddlemere flag tied around his neck. "Now let's go."

It was a long and sleepy walk to the field. Everyone they saw looked mildly hungover from the night before, but Artemis knew it would pass the second the match begun. They took their seats, and a few minutes later, Frank, Alice, and the Prewetts showed up in the seats right next to them. "You sitting here?" said Frank, showing James his ticket.

"You're next to us?" James said excitedly. "Oh, this is going to be good."

They waited impatiently for the match to start. Sirius kept taking Artemis's hand just to check her wristwatch. "Where's yours?" she asked at last.

"Left it," said Sirius. "Didn't want to lose it." He sighed and rested his feet on the railing in front of them. "Jesus, when are they going to start? I mean, I know wizards are never on time, but-"

At precisely that second, a canon sounded and little blurs streamed from the openings to both locker rooms. They swirled around the pitch so fast Artemis could barely make out the numbers on their backs. James stood on his seat and cheered at the top of his lungs, Sirius at his side. The announcer's voice boomed from the top box. "Welcome one and all to the nineteen seventy-seven Quidditch World Cup! On the Arrows side, we've got Adams, Wilson, Burton, Stevens, Robinson, and Lewis. And on the Puddlemere side-"