Chapter 2

So unfortunately, Ireland won, but barely. Krum caught the snitch to make the score 170-160 in Ireland's favor, and the deafening roar of the crowd showed their appreciation for a match well played.

"Woohoo!" Fred and George cheered, having won their bet against Ludo Bagman that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the snitch.

"Damnit!" Ron groaned. "I'm so sorry mate for dragging you into that bet with that Malfoy bitch, it looks like we've lost."

Harry gave his best friend a small pat on the back. "It's ok mate." He smiled showing that it wasn't the end of the world. "For me 500 galleons isn't that much. I'll survive whatever she puts me through."

Viktor Krum and his fellow Bulgarians had now landed in the top box, shaking hands with the Prime Ministers and all of the government bureaucrats sitting there.

"Ah, Harry Potter, why don't you come and take a picture with myself and Viktor Krum?" Cornelius Fudge, the prime minister said opportunistically, greedily anticipating his press-friendly photo next to the most famous 2 people in the stadium. Harry had no choice but to let himself be dragged away.

Ron sighed as he watched Harry get led off to meet a bunch of Bulgarian and Irish dignitaries. "Maybe the bet wasn't such a good idea." Ginny and Hermione both nodded, frowning.

"I worry about what Malfoy is planning for Harry," Hermione stated, "I hope it's not something sick, but with someone like her you never know."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Slimy Slytherin snakes, the lot of 'em."

Celine Malfoy soon appeared in front of them, this time alone, smiling evilly. "Looks like I win." Hermione and Ron both glared at her. "Where's Potter?"

Ginny spoke up. "He's busy at the moment with the Minister of Magic."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "Not trying to weasel his way out of the wager, is he?"

Ron clenched his fists. "No you slimy Slytherin! Us Gryffindors have more honor than that."

"Harry said he will pay you the money when we get to Hogwarts." Hermione said.

"Psh, whatever. I don't want his money." Celine said waving it off, causing Ron's eyes to widen in shock. "What Weasley? Maybe I should have Potter donate it to your miserable family, maybe that might help with your tuition?"

Ron's ears reddened, along with Ginny's. "Fuck you Malfoy!"

"You'd like to, wouldn't you?" Celine snapped, smirking as Ron turned a violent shade of purple. Then she turned to Hermione. "I just came by to let you guys know that I expect to collect on Potter as soon as we arrive at Hogwarts, in time for the feast. I'll release him from his duties the next day at noon." She finished matter-of-factly, as if they were discussing the borrowing of textbooks.

Hermione winced. She was hoping that Malfoy would forget about this part of the bet. But Harry had given his word, and as Gryffindors they would never infringe their honor. "You better not do anything illegal to him."

Celine smiled, not unkindly. "Don't worry. I won't hurt your precious Gryffindor prince. He is after all, a hero." Then with one last disdainful look at Ron and Ginny, she sauntered off, rejoining her parents and her brother, the four of them looking like the perfect, aristocratic family.

"You look happy, my dear Celine." Lucius noted, giving a rare smile to his one and only precious daughter as the four of them exited the stands.

"How could I not be, father? I have everything I could ever want." She said, clasping her father's arm like a little girl. Walking behind them, Draco coughed painfully.

xXx

Later that night, Harry was sleeping peacefully in his tent. Ron snored loudly in the bunk bed above him.

Suddenly a loud noise outside caused all of them to wake up.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, her eyes fraught with fear.

"I think there's trouble outside." Harry said.

The tent opened suddenly and Arthur Weasley came in. "Kids, there's trouble, we have to go!"

Without protesting, the lot of them quickly got out of bed and followed Ron's father outside, where they find the rest of the Weasley brothers already awake, including Bill, Charlie, and Percy, Fred & George.

Near them they could hear shouts and shrieks and bouts of laughter.

"Stay together, but move away from this area." Arthur ordered. "I'll come find you after we figure out what's going on." Then he, Percy, Bill, and Charlie all apparated out of sight.

It was hard to stay together however, as the crowds outside were frantically running around and chaos was everywhere. People shoving each other, laughing, yelling and screaming, pointing at four poor muggles being levitated in midair.

Harry and Hermione were soon separated from the rest of the group – Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George were nowhere to be seen.

Walking quickly, they stumbled into an opening in the forest where there was a group of wizards surrounding two witches, who were disarmed and tied up against a tree.

"Look what we have here, two pretty little French witches in English territory. Let's see what kinds of pleasures the fabled French have to offer, right me lads?" Said a drunken, brutish man, while the other wizards laughed and hooted in agreement.

"Do not dare come closer! I am ze daughter of ze French Minister, once my father finds out-" It was Fleur, and despite being chained and cornered by six wizards with their wands drawn, she looked as haughty and proud as ever. Next to her, Régine struggled against the chains looking desperate. "'e will 'ave all of you thrown into ze Prisons of Azkaban!"

The wizards chuckled at this display of bravado. "Look how smart she is, the little cunt, she knows 'bout Azkaban. Don't be worried dear, by the time we're done wit' ya, yer father will barely recognize ya!"

Harry's eyes narrowed at this gesture of cruelty. Next to him Hermione had the same thought. In wordless agreement the two of them drew out their wands and fired two stunners at the men. Two men fell immediately, but the others quickly turned their attention towards the newcomers.

"Who the bloody fuck?" The leader drunkenly demanded.

"Get away from them you rapists!" Harry shouted, rapidly firing spells at the men.

He shot curse after curse while Hermione levitated rocks into their path to block incoming spells. The fighting was fast and furious when suddenly –

"Avada Kedavra!" One of the men shouted, as a green streak sped towards Hermione. Caught off-guard, she stared, stunned at the incoming flash of light.

"NO!" Harry roared, as he tackled her out of the way, the curse missing her by inches. The two of them tumbled into the ground, as curses slammed into Harry's shield. After making sure Hermione was ok, he turned towards the assailant. "You fucking tried to kill my friend! REDUCTO!"

His fury gave his spells more power than usual, breaking through the drunken men's scrappily casted shields. Against this renewed onslaught the six drunken men were all quickly defeated, and with the wave of his wand, Harry tied them all up in a magic-infused rope, collected and snapped their wands, and unchained Fleur and Régine from their bindings. Fortunately Hermione was not hurt and assisted him with the cleanup.

"Are you two alright?" Harry asked the two French witches as they dusted themselves off, looking disheveled.

Fleur smiled weakly. "Zose low-lifes ambushed us while we were trying to find our friends. I can't believe I let 'zem disarm me like zat, it was pazetic." She turned to Hermione. "Earlier I was rude to 'ou. Please accept my apologies."

"Don't worry about that." Hermione said graciously, her expression serious. Despite Fleur's earlier haughty attitude towards her, she had no ill-feelings towards the French witch. "I am sorry on behalf of us English for you being attacked on our soil."

"Bastards," Harry spat, eyeing the six stunned men lying in a heap. "How low of them to attack our guests from another country, it gives us all a bad name."

Suddenly, a group of French wizards appeared, dressed in dark blue, their leader looked regal and stern, his robes billowing and his wand drawn.

"Papa!" Fleur said in surprise, as the leader rushed forward to his daughter's side. They hugged quickly.

"Fleur flower, are you alright? Who did zis to you?" He turned towards Harry and Hermione immediately. "Who are you two?! Did you attack my daughter!"

"No papa, zey did no such zing!" Fleur protested. "Zat is 'Arry Potter and 'his friend. Zey, zey saved me and Régine from zose men." She directed their attention to the six figures on the ground.

"Sacre bleu! Zese English dogs, attacking my daughter at a place like zis! Cornelius will 'ave a lot of explaining to do ze next time I see 'im" he seethed, as his men rounded up the captured wizards and threw them into a makeshift prison.

Then he turned his attention to the Harry. "Monsieur Potter, my deepest gratitude for saving my daughter. Your actions justify your fame." He turned to Hermione. "And zis beautiful young lady as well, Miss..."

"Granger, I'm Hermione Granger." The bushy-haired girl responded, blushing.

"Miss Granger, the Delacours are forever in 'oor debt."

Then he turned to Fleur. "Daughter, let us return to Paris. Régine, come wiz us too, I will make sure you get 'ome safely to your parents."

Fleur nodded, but then, looking at Harry, she ran up and gave him a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. "'Zank you, 'Arry Potter, I will not forget zis." Harry awkwardly hugged her back, taking in the scent of her, she smelled of cherry blossoms and tulips. "It was nothing, Miss Delacour," Harry said politely as they separated.

The Veela also went to give Hermione a hug to thank her as well.

"I too would like to show my deepest zanks to Mr. Potter," Régine said, stepping forward and embraced Harry, pulling him into a searing kiss. Shocked, Harry did not even have time to respond before she pulled away, giving Harry a sly smile. "I look forward to seeing 'ou soon."

The French minister arched an eyebrow at this display but said nothing, while Fleur covered her mouth in amusement. Régine gave Fleur a playful smirk.

The quarter-Veela rolled her eyes at her friend's attempt to usurp her. The two were childhood best friends, both competing in French witch teenage beauty pageants as they grew up, which Fleur almost always won due to her unearthly beauty. Régine was also drop-dead gorgeous and talented in her own right, but constantly found herself under the shadow of her friend whose Veela blood added to her magical capabilities.

Then the French brigade left with Fleur and Régine and the prisoners, with the Minister declaring that the prisoners would be tried in the French courts, regardless of what the English ministry might say.

Soon, they found the rest of the Weasleys and were able to portkey back to the Burrow. Of course, Mrs. Weasley was worried sick, crying as she showed them the Daily Prophet front page, where the giant Dark Mark was apparent in the sky.

xXx

"I'm so excited this year for the tournament!" Ron exclaimed, as the four of them – Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny piled into a compartment on the train. Fred and George had gone off to find Lee Jordan.

"I'm interested in meeting the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons." Hermione stated, looking thoughtful. "I wonder how their curriculum might differ from ours."

Ron groaned. "Come on Hermione, we haven't even made it to school grounds yet and you are already talking about schoolwork!"

"Why not! It's always better to prepare early!"

"Jeez, Harry, bro, let's talk about something more interesting like how the Chudley Cannons are going to finally break their 195-year championship drought this year!"

"Errmmm I don't think so." There were many uncertain things in this world but if one thing was certain it was that the Chudley Cannons would be last again this year.

"Alright fine." They all laughed, even Ron.

As the train ride progressed several of their friends came by including Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Terry Boot, as well as some of Hermione's library friends – Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, Lisa Turpin and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, and even the Slytherins Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis, whom Harry was remotely familiar with but knew that Hermione was friendly with, as they were all bookworms who spent a ton of time at the library together.

Hermione noted that Celine Malfoy also spent quite a bit of time at the library, but she was frequently studying in the restricted section along with her fellow Slytherin ladies, who seemed to obey her every order.

Near the end of the train ride their compartment door slammed open and at their doorway stood some of their least favorite people of all time, Draco Malfoy and his two goons Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well well well if it isn't Potter, his Weas-"

"-ley servants and the Mudblood. Yes we know your speech Malfoy, get on with it." Hermione snapped, and they all laughed again, causing Malfoy's pale face to redden. Then his greedy eyes opportunistically caught onto something.

"Say, what is that, Weasley?" Malfoy pointed at Ron's dress robes which were hanging near Pigwidgeon's cage, and reached to grab them. "Look at these cuffs! These are antique Weasley, they might have been fashionable back when Merlin was alive?" He hooted as Crabbe and Goyle laughed stupidly.

"Eat shit Malfoy!" Ron snapped, his ears burning in embarrassment, as Malfoy sneered with derisive laughter.

"Draco what the fuck are you doing here?" Another voice came from the hallway, and it was like the temperature in the cabin had dropped ten degrees, at least for the young Malfoy boy, whose expression of mirth froze midway and became something close to fear.

Celine Malfoy and three of her fellow Slytherin sixth-year ladies strolled into view. She was already dressed in emerald green and silver, and if there was one thing that Harry was wrought to admit, it was that she wore her Hogwarts outfit better than any other student in the school. Somehow her uniform hugged all of her curves and made her look like even more of a Slytherin queen. Next to him, Ron seemed to have a similar appreciation for her outfit, his eyes wide.

"Sister! I'm just exchanging some friendly words with these Gryffindorks." Draco said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

The female Malfoy rolled her eyes. "You are always wasting people's time like this. Get the fuck out Draco. I need to talk to Potter." Near him, Hermione tensed up, while Harry couldn't help but be amused at how vicious Celine Malfoy was, even to her own brother.

"What! Is this regarding that silly bet you made at the Cup? I don't think Father would -"

SMACK!

Celine had smacked her brother upside the head causing him to cry out painfully. "My dear Draco, if you want to go cry to daddy, be my guest. This kind of shit doesn't concern him, after all, I am collecting Potter as MY slave, not the other way around. I will also tell him about all the stupid shit you pulled last year and how much of a disgrace you caused the Malfoy name, and who do you think he will punish?"

Draco was left wordless while nursing the bruise on his head.

"Go away now, I'm so sick of having to see you every day at the mansion and having you pester me at every chance to teach you dueling. Ugh."

Both Harry and Ron could not believe this was happening, no one could bring down Draco Malfoy like Celine could. It was one of the most entertaining things they had ever seen. Begrudgingly Draco nodded to his goons and they left the compartment.

"You're here for Harry, then?" Hermione asked Celine, a worried look on her face.

Celine grinned. "Why else would I waste my time coming here? To say hi to Weasley?" Ron's ears perked up for a second, but then quickly burned bright red as she sneered at him. Then her eyes turned greedily towards Harry. "I have been looking forward to this moment all summer."

Ron and Hermione glared daggers at her. "What are you going to make him do?" Ginny asked, looking fearful.

"That's honestly none of your business, Weasley number two." Celine said dismissively.

"It is our business what you do with Harry!" Hermione protested.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Harry said, and stood up. A bet is a bet, and the longer they dragged this out the more insults they would receive from the Malfoy heiress. Better to just get it over with. "Well, see you guys tomorrow."

He followed Celine Malfoy out the door, with her three friends (or more like handmaidens-in-waiting), following close behind, as Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked on helplessly.

Celine Malfoy did not say a word as she led him to the opposite end of the train. Harry had not the slightest clue what she had planned for him.

xXx

A/N: Next chapter will be unlocked once the story reaches 120 Favorites / 180 Follows / 25 Reviews.