"Everyone ready?" Ludo asked with a bright smile. "Minister - ready to go?"

"Ready when you are Ludo," Fudge told him.

Alex smiled as she looked forward while Ludo pulled his wand out.  He pointed it at his throat and said, "Sonorus!" which allowed his voice be heard over the loud crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The stadium erupted into applause and Alex couldn't help but whoop loudly, which caused Charlie to laugh from beside her, but he, too, yelled out of excitement.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

Alex leaned forward to see what was walking out onto the field. Her eyes widened when she saw the white-gold hair and when they began dancing, she instantly knew that it was veela.

"Wow, look at that, hey, Charlie - Charlie?" Alex began but when she looked toward him, Charlie began to stand up to try and climb over the railing. "Charlie!" She yelled, breaking him out of the trance as he looked back at her, slightly dazed.

Her gaze betrayed her and she looked over to see Ginny pulling both Fred and George back into their seats as well. She immediately looked away and pulled Charlie back, slapping his cheeks lightly.

"Get a grip, man!" She exclaimed, her chest tightening as she thought about the fact that those woman - or whatever they were - would be far more prettier and attractive than she ever would be, at least to most boys.

Including Fred.

Then she groaned because she knew she was trying to forget this crush.  He was at perfect liberty to think that anyone was attractive.  But that still didn't mean it would hurt any less, especially thinking about how close they had gotten the year before.

"Stupid veela," she grumbled to herself, folding her arms over her chest self consciously.

Someone tapping on her shoulder caused her to look up and see Velkan standing over her.  "Hey, why don't you go and sit with Nikolai?" He offered.  "I'll take your seat so I can sit with Charlie."

"Really?" She asked, glancing over at where Nikolai was sitting and waving her over with a bright smile.  "Are you sure?"

Velkan nodded.

Alex smiled and stood from her seat, quickly letting Hermione know where she was going to sit, which she encouraged her with a shove and approving nod.

Fred had been pulled from his daze in time to watch as Alex walked across the Top Box and toward where Nikolai was seated, his chest tightening when she sat next to him.

"Oh Merlin's beard, Alex is so lucky!" Ginny exclaimed, knowing she was annoying her brother.

"Shut up, Ginny," Fred grumbled, sitting back in his seat in a foul mood.

"You really wanted me to come and sit with you?" Alex asked as she settled into her spot.

"Yes," Nikolai laughed.  "It is alvays nice to vatch quidditch vith a beautiful lady such as yourself."

She blushed and looked away.  "Even with me wearing an Ireland scarf?"

Nikolai laughed loudly before joking, "Especially if you are a traitor."

It was Alex's turn to laugh and shake her head.

"And now," Ludo Bagman's voice brought Alex back to the match, "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Alex's eyes widened in amazement when a green and gold comet came flying into the stadium.  After flying around the stadium for a second, it split into smaller comets before a rainbow arched, connecting the two comets.

"Whoa!" Alex exclaimed, her eyes staring at the fireworks with admiration.

"It is very beautiful, I agree," Nikolai laughed, his eyes watching the fireworks before looking to her.

Upon closer inspection, Alex was able to see that the shamrock shooting across the sky was made of leprechauns and they were dropping gold down on the whole crowd, who eagerly began to grab at the gold.

"I vould not recommend grabbing it," Nikolai told Alex, who was eying the gold around her.

"Why not?"

"Because leprechaun gold disappears after a few hours," he told her.

"Oh I actually didn't know that," she laughed.  "Thank you for telling me that."

"Ov course," he said, putting his arm around the back of her chair.

The action caused her throat to tighten but she sat back, trying to not let it show on her face as the move brought them to sit closer together.  Across the Box, Fred's hands were clenched in fist as he watched how close Alex and Nikolai were sitting together.

But what could he say?  He had been the one to say he wanted to remain friends.  He was just scared that if they did give them being together a chance and it turned sour, he would lose Alex and he didn't want to lose her.  So suppressing his feelings seemed like the way to go.  At least, it did until he saw Nikolai whispering in her ear, causing her to laugh, throwing her head back.

She should be laughing that hard at what I say, he thought bitterly before turning back to the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team.  I give you - Dimitrov!  Ivanova!  Zograf!  Levski!  Vulchanov!  Volkov!  Aaaaaaand - Krum!"

The Bulgarian crowd was going wild as they watched the scarlet robed team soar around the arena, a blur as they zoomed by.  Alex smiled at the sight but Nikolai was clapping and cheering as he watched the team zoom by.

"So do you know the whole team?" She asked as soon as Nikolai sat back down.

He nodded.  "If you vould like, I could introduce you after the match."

Before she could respond, Ludo's voice caught her attention again, "And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!  Presenting - Connolly!  Ryan!  Troy!  Mullet!  Moran!  Quigley!  Aaaaaand - Lynch!"

She was now on her feet, clapping and hollering as she watched the team fly by in a blur of green before settling down and grabbing her Omnioculars that Harry had gotten her and focusing in on the team.

"So I vill take that as a no?" Nikolai teased as he watched her follow the Irish team.

She laughed and only tapped her cheek, gesturing to the shamrocks that were still painted there. That caused Nikolai to laugh before letting his hand drop from the back of the chair to now rest on her shoulder, which caused a blush to rise on her face.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

The referee came out wearing robes that were pure gold.  Alex zoomed in with Omnioculars to see him mount his broomstick before kicking the crate open.

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" Ludo's voice began but Alex tuned him out as she followed through the Omnioculars as she watched the Irish team passing the Quaffle back and forth, trying to remember what she was seeing.

"TROY SCORES!" Bagman yelled.  "Ten zero to Ireland!"

"YES!" Alex exclaimed, standing up to cheer as Troy did a lap of honor.

When she sat back down, Nikolai only shook his head with a smile on his face as he watched the bright smile on Alex's face before they both turned back to the match.

The game was intense as Ireland managed to score twice more within ten minutes, both times Alex had jumped up and down, screaming.  And each time, Nikolai laughed at how excited she was but when Bulgaria managed to score their first goal, Nikolai leapt from his chair, knocking it back as he cheered.

"And you say I'm silly for celebrating," she teased as Nikolai sat back down next to her.

"Vell, can you blame me?" He laughed before his eyes focused back on the field, urging her to look.

Krum and Lynch were in the dive through the center of where the Chasers were, causing Alex to use the Omnioculars to try and see if she could spot the Snitch, but she realized what was happening as Krum pulled up at the last second.

"NO!" She cried as Lynch hit the ground, the sound could be heard throughout the whole stadium.  "He must've known that Krum was just feinting!"

"Perhaps, Ireland is not as good as you had hoped," Nikolai teased.

"Remind me which team is ahead in points?" She teased back before turning her attention to see the mediwzards reviving Lynch back with a potion.  He stood up to the cheers of the crowd and mounted his broom, kicking off the join his team back in the sky.

The next fifteen minutes of the game, Alex's voice was gone from how she had cheered because Ireland had scored ten more goals.  She looked over to see Fred and George were cheering as well.  Fred glanced over and she gave him a thumbs up, which caused him to smile before turning their attention back to the match.

Mullet made for the goalposts and the Bulgarian Keeper Zograf, flew out to meet her.  Alex gasped, grabbing Nikolai's hand out of instinct as the Keeper cobbed her right in the face, causing her to drop the Quaffle.  The whistle blew from Mostafa.

"FOUL!" Alex screamed, standing, nearly ready to jump over the railing.  "THAT'S A FOUL!"

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing - excessive use of elbows!" Bagman said to the furious crowd.  "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

"Rightfully so!" Alex exclaimed, collapsing back into her seat.  Nikolai had an amused smile on his face as he watched.  "What?"

"You are very funny to vatch," he said with a slight laugh.

Alex shrugged.  "I play as a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team at Hogwarts, so I'm a little passionate, is that a crime?"

Nikolai shook his head.  "You are passionate, there is nothing wrong vith that."

Before she could respond, their attention was drawn back to the game as Bagman commented, "Now, we can't have that!  Somebody slap that referee!"

They both looked to see Mostafa attempting to flirt with the dancing veela but a mediwzard ran across the field and kicked him in the shins to break him out of the trance.

"Man, those veela are something, wouldn't you agree?" Alex laughed as she looked at Nikolai, who nodded laughing as well.

"Uh-oh," he mumbled, his eyes wide and back on the field.

Alex looked to see that Mostafa was now trying to get the veela to leave the field, which caused the Bulgarian Beaters to land and begin arguing with him.

"Oh Merlin's beard," Alex shook her head as Bagman called for two penalties to Ireland.

As the game continued, it was clear that the Bulgarian Beaters had no regards for what they were hitting.  Alex winced every time they were hit and was reminded of when her ribs were cracked the previous year by Fred.  And that sent her down a spiral of remembering that the same day he had cracked her ribs was also the day they had kissed....

"How about a vager?" Nikolai offered, pulling her from the spiral of thoughts.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the field.

"If Bulgaria vins, you haff to kiss me," he stated, causing Alex's eyes to widen at his boldness as she nearly drop her Omnioculars.

"W-What?"

"Unless that vill make you uncomfortable..." he immediately backtracked. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

Alex thought about it for a second. The only other boys she had kissed were Fred and Cedric. However, the kiss with Cedric was just him trying to see if she was a good kisser or not. But her kiss with Fred, that had been different...

But it had also resulted in them almost never talking again. And maybe kissing another boy would help her get over the unrequited crush she had on Fred. She knew what Ginny would say if she asked for her advice. Besides, who knew if she would see Nikolai after tonight? One little kiss couldn't hurt, right?

"Okay," she stated with a confident smile.

Nikolai's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

She nodded with a smile. "And if Ireland wins, you have to kiss me. Deal?" She held her hand out for him to take.

He smirked, taking her hand and shaking it. "Deal."

Either way, they were kissing that night and Alex felt her stomach turning over with nerves.

"Foul!" The Irish crowd cried suddenly, pulling their attention away from each other to what was happening on the field.

"Foul!" Bagman yelled. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"

"Your team is playing far too dirty, Nikolai!" Alex told him with a teasing disapproving shake of her head.

"Vell, vone ov us has to vin this bet, right?" He teased, making Alex's cheeks heat up.

She turned her attention back to the field and watched as the leprechauns morphed into a hand and made a very rude gesture at the veela. They didn't like that and immediately morphed into large bird like creatures and went to attack the leprechauns.

"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed with wide eyes.  "I have never seen veela do that!"

"Alex, focus back on the match, it is beginning to get good!" Nikolai told her, causing her to turn her Omnioculars to the blurs of red and green flying around the pitch.

Quigley whacked a Bludger at Krum, who was unable to duck in time, causing it to smack him right in the face.  Alex covered her mouth in shock as blood splattered across his face but Mostafa was preoccupied by the fire that a veela had thrown at his broom, lighting the end of it on fire.

"No timeout?" Nikolai cried exasperated before exclaiming in frustration in Bulgarian. "He cannot play that vay!"

"Look!" Alex quickly pulled Nikolai out of his rant as they watched Lynch beginning to dive as he had spotted the Snitch.

Alex held her breath as Krum managed to come up beside him, the blood not bothering him as they both dove down. Alex was about to cover eyes as she knew a crash was coming, which happened moments later to Lynch, who hit the ground hard and was immediately trampled on by the veela.

"Krum has got the Snitch!" Nikolai exclaimed with a cheer before seeing the scoreboard.

BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170

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

The realization caused Alex to shoot out of her chair, jumping up and down. Nikolai stood and hugged her as she laughed happily.  Her attention was pulled from the moment as she heard loud cheers and looked over to see Fred and George were hugging each other. Then she remembered the bet they had made with Ludo.

"I'll be right back!" She told Nikolai before running over to the twins.

George spotted her first and immediately engulfed her into a hug, spinning her around as they laughed happily. When he let go, she turned and hugged Fred, who lifted her off of her feet as well. He then pulled away and planted a firm kiss on her lips for a few seconds before immediately pulling away, realizing what he had just done again. The action caused both of their eyes to widen in shock and George's jaw to drop over what he had just witnessed.

Alex felt her face heat up as she pulled from Fred's arms, her heart pounding as the feeling of his lips on hers again reawakened all that she had been trying to forget that summer. It even made her forget about the agreement she made to kiss Nikolai a few minutes prior.

Taking a glance around, no one had luckily seen the kiss or if they did, they weren't saying anything or making it obvious, like George was, who still gaped at them. Alex felt her stomach turning over as she looked up at Fred, who was looking at her.

"Alex-" he began but was cut off.

"IRELAND WON!" Ginny exclaimed, running up and wrapping her arms around Alex, who took a second to react but hugged her back, her eyes still looking at Fred.

"Yeah, they did," she mumbled, not as cheerfully as she had been moments before.

Now she was confused all over again...

"Vell, ve fought bravely," a gloomy voice spoke, breaking Alex out of her trance to see the Bulgarian minister standing up, Nikolai by his father, who nodded sullenly.

"You can speak English!" Fudge exclaimed angrily. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Vell, it vos very funny," Nikolai added, winking at Alex.

She smiled softly, even though there was a storm brewing under the surface. So he most likely hadn't seen the kiss between her and Fred. And why should he care if they had kissed? Just because they had been flirting a little, it didn't mean they were automatically together or anything.

"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!"

Nikolai pulled Alex to the side as the bright golden cup was handed to Fudge, who still looked upset for having to use other means of communication all day.  She tried not to laugh at the disgruntled look on his face, but her eyes kept drifting to Fred, who was watching her as well, and glancing at Nikolai's arm wrapped around her waist.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted, followed by the team walking into the Top Box.

When Krum came in, his face was still covered in blood and he had two black eyes. Alex grimaced as he walked by her and Nikolai, nodding at Nikolai in acknowledgment.

"So you are friends?" Alex asked as she watched the Bulgarian Seeker sit down.

Nikolai smiled and nodded.  "Ve go to school together," he told her.

Before she could question him further, the Irish team came walking in and Alex clapped along with the crowd, cheering as they walked by.  Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly but he had never looked happier as a couple other teammates lifted the cup into the air to the cheers of the crowd.

"I believe I owe you something..." Nikolai said to Alex with a smirk, having pulled her from celebrating Ireland's win.

Her eyes widened but he didn't give her a chance to back out as he gently grabbed her chin, leaned in, and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. He pulled away and she smiled at him softly, not thinking he would actually kiss her.

However, as much as she wanted to feel something in the kiss, anything at all... she felt nothing.  No spark or fireworks erupted in her stomach, no warm feeling engulfed her chest, nothing like when Fred had kissed her.  It didn't even compare to the surprise kiss he had sprung on her a minute before.

She glanced over to Ginny, who had a surprised look on her face over what she had just witnessed, but nodded in approval. Then her eyes drifted to the twins, who were grabbing their winnings from Bagman, only to see Fred with a devastated look on his face.

He had seen the kiss as well.

And Alex wasn't sure how to feel about it...

⊰ ⁜ ⊱

Hehe... ok bye!

Just kidding! Sorry this took forever but I was not in love with how it was going and went another route with more angst.... Enjoy :)

Please vote and comment!

-Squid♡