𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦

𝘗 𝘙 𝘖 𝘓 𝘖 𝘎 𝘜 𝘌

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August was lovely in Bircham. The city felt more alive than ever and the neighborhood was particularly welcoming today. It has always been a nice place to live in, given that the neighbors were friendly and respectful, but today, it felt more.. energetic.

In the van Blumenthals' backyard, Mrs. Amelia van Blumenthal, employee at the Ministry of Magic, and her daughter, Alina van Blumenthal, were having a cup of sweet iced tea by the garden fountain, shielded from the sun rays by the giant umbrellas. As usual, the youngest member of the family was carefully listening to her mother's stories, her eyes sparking with curiosity and interest.

"I bet you're really busy these days, with the Quidditch World Cup event coming so soon and all that," Alina pointed out, putting one more ice cube in her drink to cool it up before taking a sip. Then, she put one into her mother's cup as well.

"Mhm," Mrs. van Blumenthal hummed in agreement, placing her cup back on the table. "It's always busy, but with the World Cup happening this year, it's only getting worse. The Ministry expects perfect security and organization, don't even try to imagine the splitting headache that comes with it."

"I didn't even think it was easy. It's a huge event with so many wizards from all across the world, how do you even keep all the Muggles away? The risks and the responsibility must be enormous."

"I'm grateful it's held every four years, I would go mad if I had to do this every year." The corners of Amelia's lips tugged up and she let out a low chuckle. "Are you going with your friends?"

"Actually.." Alina hesitated for a short moment.

Before she could speak, however, her mother's owl arrived with two letters from the Weasleys. One meant for each one of them.

The young girl reached for the envelope that read her name, both of them opening their letters at the same time. While Alina received a note from Ron, who informed her that his father got them all tickets for the upcoming World Tour and that they have to go together, Mrs. Amelia was asked by Molly Weasley to allow her daughter to join the Weasley family at the same event.

"I was about to tell you that I was yet to discuss the World Cup subject with Ron, Hermione and Harry, but it seems like one of them was faster than that," she explained. "So... can I go?"

"Of course you can!" Amelia didn't even hesitate before agreeing to Mrs. Weasley's proposal. "I'm sorry Dad and I won't be able to join you, we would have liked that very much."

Alina smiled and gently waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine. The National Security of the Wizards is more important than a match of Quidditch. Maybe we'll go abroad next time, when it's not held in England, so it's not part of your jurisdiction."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll be part of England's National Team by the next World Cup," her mother suggested, raising both of her eyebrows to prove an even stronger point. "I know you're leaving in a week, but I doubt you'd want to come back home before you go to Hogwarts. Make sure to pack your bags accordingly, you know it gets cold there quickly."

Alina nodded. "Yeah, I'll probably stay at the Weasleys with everyone else. By the way, when will Dad come back from Germany?" She avoided mentioning anything about her bags. She always forgot a thing or two at home but luckily for her, Christmas break came right on time.

"Hm.." Her mother placed a finger underneath her chin and thought. "He should hopefully be home tomorrow or the day after that. But don't worry, he's not leaving until the World Cup and he'll be back again right on time for Christmas."

"That reminds me, do we have plans for Christmas this year?"

"Not yet. Why? Do you have plans?"

"Well, I was thinking we could all gather at the Weasleys again. I'm still sad we had to leave to Germany last year and we couldn't celebrate with them like we usually should, I was just checking to see if we have a schedule for this year too."

"You really love the Weasleys, don't you?" Her mother asked with a wide smile. She enjoyed their presence just as much as her daughter did and so did her husband. It was actually quite difficult to imagine life without these lovely gingers. "If they invite us this year too, then we'll be there. No Germany."

"No Germany. Sounds like a deal to me."

"I'm going to miss you so much," her mother confessed, her arms tightly wrapped around her daughter. "I can't wait to see you on Christmas. You promise you'll take care of yourself, alright?"

"Mom, it's not even September yet," Alina pointed out with a chuckle, but hugged her mother back just as tight. "And yes, I promise. I'll try my best this year. Even at potions."

Things haven't been the same since her older brother, Friedrich, disappeared two years ago. He was supposed to start his sixth year soon, but there was absolutely no trace of him left.

Hogwarts insisted they're still investigating Friedrich's case, backed up by the Ministry of Magic as well and the private investigation of the van Blumenthal family, but no leads have turned up in what felt like forever. It was like her brother completely vanished off the Earth.

"You'll do great, sweetheart. Even at Potions," her father encouraged her, waiting for his wife to let go of her so that he could hug his daughter too before she left to the Weasleys.

"Thanks, Dad. I love you both. I'll see you on Christmas!"

After saying her final goodbyes, Alina climbed on her broom and took off the ground. Her luggage was sent to the Weasleys yesterday morning, it should have arrived by now. There was not much distance between Bircham and Devon and the fastest way to travel there was by broom. Luckily for her, she loved flying, so she didn't really mind the journey. If anything, it gave her a feeling of freedom and wildness.

She was a fast flyer and she loved pushing herself forward and breaking her own limits. If she would usually get there in about one hour, today, Alina managed to reach the Weasleys' door in fifty minutes. She jumped off her broom and rang the bell, only to be met by an annoyed Molly Weasley, who switched her mood to a lovely one at the exact same moment her eyes laid upon the blonde witch.

"Alina, you made it right on time!" The woman greeted her, wrapping her arms around the young visitor and giving her a firm embrace. "Excuse us for being loud, I was just informed that Fred and George have pulled a stunt on Harry's cousin. Can you believe that?"

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley. It's been a while." Alina chuckled and hugged her back. "Actually, Harry's cousin probably did this to himself. Not that I'd encourage reckless behavior, but we all know his behavior could use some serious improving."

In reality, she was not only a supporter of such behavior, but she was also quite reckless herself. A troublemaker, according to the professors of Hogwarts.

"Alina! You're here!" Hermione's voice ringed out through the hallway and the girl with the brown hair quickly made her way to the entrance and hugged her friend. "I'm so happy to see you again! This summer felt like ages!"

"Did Alina arrive already? Come on, Ron! Let's say hello!" She could hear Harry's voice coming from the living room and soon enough, the entire house gathered to welcome their guest.

One by one, they all came to say hello to her and they all hugged and asked about her summer. Everybody was excited about the Quidditch World Tour, it was all they could talk about. And just as usual, Alina felt like home here, surrounded by the people she cared about.

There were a few people missing, but she couldn't complain. She spent the entire summer with her parents, she terribly missed seeing her friends.

"So, tell me, what did you two monsters do to Dudley?" Alina asked, a light chuckle escaping her lips as she asked about the twins' latest victim.

"You should've been there, van Blumenthal!" Fred said.

Then, George jumped in, "It's called Ton-Tongue Toffee. Wanna try?"

"Definitely not," she replied, scrunching up her nose at the candy name. "I assume it has something to do with the tongue?"

"It made his tongue get about four feet long before Dad stepped in and saved the day."

"Four feet? That's mental!" Although her words weren't praising them, the expression on her face made it clear that she was happy to hear that the bully got what he deserved.

It was needless to say that she wasn't a fan of Dudley Dursey, but how could she be? Even though she never met him, she was sure she would not show him mercy after hearing what Harry has been going through because of him and his stupid parents.

She didn't despise them for being Muggles, that was for sure. Alina was a half-blood herself. No, she hated them for the way the treated one of her best friends and for what? Just because they couldn't understand magic? Brainless people.

"Okay, that's enough chatter for tonight! Come on, kids! Tomorrow's a long day!" Mrs. Weasley announced, urging them to go back to their rooms and get some sleep. It was already getting late and they were going to wake up early tomorrow to get to the stadium in time. "Ron, why don't you go show Harry and Alina where they'll be sleeping?"

"They know where they're sleeping," said Ron, "in my room, they both slept there last—"

"Yes, we should all go," Hermione pointed out.

The four friends headed upstairs to Ron's room, also followed by Ginny. They weren't going to go to sleep anytime soon. It's been a whole summer since they last met and even though they've sent owls to each other, it wasn't the same as being together. They had a lot of catching up to do, everybody had interesting stories to share from their summer vacation.

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" Alina asked.

"Oh, did you get our food parcels?" Hermione jumped in.

"I did, yes. Thanks a lot," Harry replied, "those cakes, they saved my life."

"Have you heard from—" Ron started, but was interrupted by Alina clearing her throat. At a look from Hermione, the red haired boy fell silent. He forgot he wasn't supposed to bring up Sirius in front of Ginny, since nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how he escaped, and believed his innocence. In the eyes of the others, Sirius Black was a criminal who escaped from Azkaban. Nothing more, nothing less. But Ron, Hermione and Alina had been so involved in his escape that they also felt connected to Harry's godfather. It was like a huge family for them.

"I think they've stopped arguing," Hermione said, trying to cover the awkward moment and hopefully, not raise any suspicions from the Weasley girl. "Anyway, Alina. You didn't get to tell us about your summer. Have you been to Germany again?"

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i'm so excited to finally share this project with you guys! it's something cyn ( -dioryoongi ) and i have been keeping secret for a while and i'm really happy to finally publish it! that being said, i'd like to thank cyn for being the absolute sweetest and the most supportive and helpful person ever 🥺 this story wouldn't have been born if it weren't for you. i love u, cyn. and i love you too, dear person who's reading this. i wouldn't be here without you. thank you for the enormous support. i hope i will live up to your expectations. until then, here is "treacherous."