These characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Twenty-One: Impact
"I don't want to go." Amelia told her mother quietly. "I don't even like Quidditch."
Her mother clicked her tongue, "Your father specifically requested that you go with him and Draco. It's best not to question him."
"I know." Amelia muttered, "I have the bruises to prove it. But it is a question as to why he actually wants to spend time with me."
"Don't think about those things now." Her mother scolded, "Just enjoy yourself, my dear. You will be sharing a box with the Minister of Magic himself. Surely that will raise your spirits."
Amelia wanted to tell her that she had no interest in the Minister of Magic or sharing a box with him. She would much rather stay at home with Richard, reading a book.
"Amelia, my dear." Her mother sighed, "I know that you and your father are not in best place right now He's going through a lot. Can you please try to forgive him and bond with him? I'm sure he'd enjoy it. Why else would he want you to come with him today?"
Amelia looked at her hands and sighed, "Okay I'll try."
Her mother smiled. "Lovely. Now bundle up. It will be chilly."
Amelia's least favorite form of transportation was Apparation. It curled her stomach and made her vision blurry every time. Despite her quiet protests, her father insisted that he apparate them to the arena himself. Afterwards, Amelia was silent and curled over herself for a few minutes.
The smile on her father's face seemed irreplaceable. This was the first time in a long time, maybe forever, that Amelia had seen him so excited for something. If she asked anyone else, they would guess it was because of the match or the quality time he was spending with his children. If she asked herself, she would guess it involved the Minister.
"Ah, Lucius." The Minister greeted them. "These are your children, I presume."
"That's correct, Cornelius. This is my son, Draco. He'll be entering his fourth year at Hogwarts. And Amelia here is a third year."
"My, my, young lady you look quite green." The Minister pointed out.
Lucius nodded and laughed slightly, "Yes, she has a bit of a weak stomach. She'll be feeling better soon."
"Well now, let's speed that up, shall we. Nymphy?" Form the shadows, a small house elf joined them, looking rather timid. "Fetch Miss Malfoy here a nausea remedy from the infirmary. Tell the Healers I am requesting it for a special guest."
"Yes, sir." Nymphy replied before disappearing.
"She's a fine house elf. Very loyal. Are you sure you're not struggling now that you're one elf down? I know you have many serving your home."
Amelia's father nodded again, "I looked into it after we lost the other one but the timing isn't quite right. I'm expecting some trouble at work and I don't want to bother with training a new elf."
"Very understandable." The Minister replied just as Nymphy reappeared with a glass bottle. "There you are. Now give it to Miss Malfoy so we can make our way to the box."
"Yes, sir." Nymphy said, handing Amelia the bottle gently. Amelia took a gentle sip and thanked Nymphy for it. She instantly felt better.
When she stood up and smiled, the Minister grinned too. "Excellent, let's get going!"
While they walked, her father and the Minister walked side by side, leaving Draco and Amelia behind to fend for themselves.
Draco was losing his mind. "Amelia, imagine what it's going to be like. None of those athletes who think they're worth more than they actually are. These guys are actually going to be skillful and talented."
"Which team are you for?" Amelia asked, half-heartedly.
"Well, Father says we're not supposed to root for anyone." He said this quietly so that Lucius wouldn't hear. "But Bulgaria has to win it. They've got Krum."
Amelia had no idea who Krum was or why he was supposed to help Bulgaria win. She was going to ask her brother but then she was reminded that she didn't care.
The Minister's box was large and had plenty of large, cushiony chairs for everyone to sit in. There were several house elves scattered throughout the room to be at the disposal of all the guests.
"Draco, Amelia, go ahead and take a seat. I'll be with you momentarily."
"Father, may I go down to the concessions to visit with my friends? I told them I would." Draco asked.
Lucius nodded and tossed Draco a sack of Galleons. "Get you and your sister something nice. Nothing too flashy, understand?"
"Yes, sir." Draco replied, smiling. "Come on, Amelia."
Amelia, reluctantly, followed her brother out of the box and down several flights of metallic stairs until they came to the concession stand. There, Goyle and Crabbe were waiting for her brother.
"Amelia, go ahead and look around. I'll be with you in a minute."
Amelia had no interest in getting anything in this shop so instead, she went to the edge of the railing, and looked over the field.
She was just about to scream from her extreme boredom when she heard her brother laugh.
"Look at what we have here. The Weasleys. I'm surprised you blood traitor father could afford your tickets."
Amelia turned to see the whole of the Weasley clan, plus Harry and Hermione, standing in front of her brother and his friends.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry said, "I'm sure you and your posh father are sitting in luxury."
"You've got that right. In the Minister's private box."
Ron laughed, "I'm sure you haven't bragged about that enough."
"You're all just jealous you don't have seats as good as mine. I'm sure you're high enough that if it rains, you'll be the first to know." This made Crabbe and Goyle laugh obnoxiously.
Amelia decided it was time for her to greet Ginny. She pushed past her brother and smiled at her new friend.
"Hello, Ginny, nice to see you."
Ginny was surprised at this sudden kindness, from a Malfoy no less, but smiled back. "It's nice to see you too, Amelia. Are you excited for the game?"
"Not in the slightest. I'm here for moral support. Draco would probably throw himself out onto the field in order to be near the players."
This made everyone, but Draco, chuckle.
Ginny glared at her brothers. "Shut up, you lot. You know you'd do the same thing. Ron, don't act like you wouldn't marry Krum given the chance."
Ron and Draco both blushed.
"You should try to find me after the match. We can hang out at our tent." Ginny said.
Amelia smiled, "That sounds nice. I'm supposed to find Neville too but once I do, we can make our way over there."
"Brilliant. I'll see you later! Come on!" She yelled at her brothers as she walked away briskly.
Amelia gave her brother a quick look before starting back towards the box. Draco said a goodbye to his friends before following after her, mumbling something she couldn't quite understand.
The game passed without much incident. Draco was amazed at Krum's feat, catching the glorious and all-powerful Golden Snitch. He was upset that the Bulgarians didn't win but was pleased that his idol managed to do his job.
"Did you have any fun?" Draco asked her as they walked to the Minister's private tent.
Amelia shrugged, "Not really. I didn't understand a bit of it."
"Who are you? You're not my sister." Draco joked.
Amelia only rolled her eyes and enjoyed the rest of Draco's excitement. "You know," she said once he was done, "maybe you should be a professional Quidditch player."
Draco snorted, "That's not a wise career path. How am I supposed to provide for my family?"
"You don't have to have a family right away." She said, "You could have fun first. If it's something you enjoy I don't see why you can't pursue it."
"Father wouldn't approve of it. And he wouldn't approve of this conversation."
"Well Father isn't here, is he." Amelia said. Then she looked around, "Where is he anyway?"
"Not sure. I thought he was staying behind to speak with the Minister."
"Do you mind if I go off to find my friends? I told them I would try to meet up with them tonight."
Draco looked around nervously, "Do you know where they are? I don't want you wandering around by yourself."
"I'll be fine. Neville told me the general area where Seamus' tent is."
"Be careful. There's all kinds of riffraff running around here." Draco said in disgust.
Amelia sighed, "I'll be fine, Draco."
"Be back at the Minister's tent by midnight. I think Father wanted to leave by then."
Amelia waved him off as she broke out into a skip. She desperately wanted to see a friendly face after being forced into the company of bourgeois men and their conservative views. The whole time that the Minister had been ordering that poor house elf around, Amelia had been secretly furious, wishing only to free her and put the Minister in his place.
Suddenly, there was a scream. At first, she assumed it was all a part of the festivities. Her brother had told her the Irish were a rowdy bunch so she wouldn't have put it past them. But then she saw smoke coming from the tops of burning tents and people running in all directions.
Amelia gasped when she looked up and saw three men hanging above her in the sky. They had blank looks on their faces, their bodies were contorted in odd ways, and they had multiple cuts on their faces.
"Amelia!" She heard her brother scream above the roar of the crowd. There were so many people running around her, calling out the names of their own loved ones, that she couldn't tell where Draco was.
More and more people started appearing in the sky, all with the same blank looks on their faces, the terrifying white eyes and ragged cuts.
Someone behind her said, "Muggles."
The crowd began to thin. Amelia thought maybe this was a good thing, maybe they were escaping and getting home. But then she saw people tumble to the ground, writhing in pain as men in black cloaks and silver masks marched in.
They shouted curse after curse in every direction, not caring about who they hit. She recognized some of the voices, she had heard them in her own house for weeks now, plotting, planning. That was no coincidence.
She hoped and prayed to whoever was listening that she wouldn't see him. If he as here she wouldn't know what to think. But then she saw the wand, the ugly straight, black wand with a gaudy silver snake head on the end. His long white-blonde hair was pulled back so it wouldn't get in the way of his attacks.
"Father." She whispered. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and willed him to disappear. He was back at the Minister's tent, waiting to take she and her brother home. He was not a killer.
"Father." She said louder, someone looked over as they ran away from his attacks. They had a family, a life.
"Father!" She shouted, her ability of movement kicked back in as she walked towards him.
"Father, stop!" Amelia cried, running towards him, ripping his extended arm down. His curse hit the ground. A chunk of earth flew up and dotted her face with mud.
Lucius whipped around and threw her to the ground. "Get away you insolent child! This is not the place for your idiocy."
"Amelia!" Draco had found her. "Let's go home. Mother is waiting for us."
"No!" She replied, "I can't let him do this."
"There's nothing you can do!" He cried, but she had pulled herself out of his grasp. She ran after her father again and held him back from the right. This time, she got hit.
She could feel the cut and the sting and the blood running down her arm. She looked up at her father and was about to ask him why when he attacked again.
Draco screamed at Lucius, "Stop, Father, you're hurting her. This isn't the place!"
"Take her home. I will deal with her when I am finished." He replied darkly.
Amelia felt herself grow numb. Her vision was cutting in and out. Everything was drowned out by the screams, the terrible, awful screams. She was dragged by her brother to a tall tent at the edge of the field. He held her close and whispered, "Go to sleep, Amelia" as he Flooed her home.