51

A Hit Wizard approached the teens as they stood and banished their left-over trash from their treats. "I'll escort you to Lord Malfoy. We want to be quick to get through this crowd, no dawdling."

The teens merely nodded, they had an inkling that their freedom was only due to the heavy security presence around the site. The Hit Wizards likely thought they were protecting the young witch from Sirius Black instead of the real threat posed by the Dark Lord. The group moved quickly off to the side of the lit path that was packed with people. To keep up with the other two, Emily clung tightly onto Draco for balance on the wooden terrain. Heels and the woods were not a good combo.

"Is anyone escorting my brother?"

"He has one of the top Curse Breakers for Gringotts with him." The man pointed off towards a spot were a smaller group of wizards seemed to be heading. "Bill Weasley is talented, he was top of our class at Hogwarts. Plus, he just needs to get to the stadium, we have people that will be protecting the Minister's box."

"You went to school with him?"

"Bill Weasley?" the man asked looking back at Emily briefly to see her nod. "Yeah, he was a great friend to have. He kept our group in line, reminded us to study but also to have fun. He was quite the lady's man too, the howler his mother sent when he got caught with Bridgit Bane…" the man chuckled as he shook his head clearly recalling the memory, "The two of them had gotten a bit carried away in the restricted section, oh the face on Madam Pince when she found them! She never trusted him in the library again. Despite his popularity with the witches, he never married, I guess that comes with the territory though."

"Curse Breakers don't tend to marry?" Emily questioned.

The man shook his head, "It's not his job so much as his family, when your parents are blood traitors you have to work ten times harder to get to the places the rest of us are already going. Curse Breaking was his way of getting away from the stigma of his parents, he's created a name for himself now but back then he had little to offer for a girl's hand."

"Was there ever someone he wanted to enter a contract with?"

"There was one girl, seventh year, but it's a long story. You could always ask him, it's well known Lord Malfoy thinks highly of him, he was the one to secure his move back to London. The goblins didn't want him leaving Egypt." The teens shared a look, neither one had realized that Lucius had been involved in Bill's new placement. "Okay here we are." Emily quickly recognized Lucius and the Bulgarian Minister standing outside of a quiet entrance, obviously it was meant to be more private. Lucius noticed their approach and with a quick word the Bulgarian Minister waved and headed inside. "Lord Malfoy." The Hit Wizard bowed his head which was returned by the blonde Lord.

"Thank you, Oliver. I must say, I am a bit surprised to see you here today."

"We needed everyone from the team present, no exceptions."

"Please send my condolences to your mother, your father was a close partner of mine. You know my offer still stands for you to take his place."

"I'm afraid I must finish out my contract with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but once that is done, I will take his place as is fitting. My wife is quite pleased to know the end is in sight for my current occupation."

"Yes, I presume she will be happy to know you will return in one piece to her at the end of the day."

"She never was a big fan of my signing up, I think she hoped the training would scare me off."

"It takes a certain disposition to be in your Department, I am sure you will be missed greatly but taking up your inheritance is the right choice and I look forward to tutoring you in your new position."

"You are always far too gracious, Lord Malfoy."

"It's Lucius, we will soon be business partners."

The man bowed, "Thank you, Lucius."

"You will be protecting the box I presume."

"I am."

"Good." Lucius turned to the two teens, "Are you both ready?"

"Of course, Father," Draco responded.

"Then I shall lead the way."

The group entered the stadium through the private entrance and began the climb upwards. The stairs were circular and lined with a gold and purple carpet, it was rather deceivingly quiet in the stairwell which was likely done on purpose so those using it would not have to listen to the chattering of the large crowd. When they reached the top, they found themselves walking down a stone hallway lit by glass lamps with gold gilding on them. At the end of the corridor was a large black wooden door. Lucius tapped three points of the door with his cane creating a triangle that lit up bright purple before sinking into the wood, with a soft click the door swung inwards to allow them entry.

Looking around it was clear they had made it to the Minister's Box. There were golden chairs lining the front of the box for people who wanted to take in the game and the rest of the area was open with small bistro tables set up with comfy looking wingback chairs for those who wished to converse.

So far only the Weasleys had taken spots in the golden chairs to watch the currently empty field. Emily immediately spotted her brother who was in an Irish Jersey and leaning over his chair to speak to a terrified looking house elf behind him.

Emily noticed Bill was with his brother Charlie at one of the tables, both had drinks and were speaking to another man about their age who was likely one of the ministry officials.

"No Mr. Hufflepuff yet," Draco whispered to Emily as Lucius moved to join the Bulgarian Minister once again.

"Perhaps if we hide in the corner he won't see us."

"You just want to sit back there because that's where your favorite Curse Breaker is."

"Must you annoy me?"

"Must you be so obvious?" Emily sent a small stinging hex through Draco's arm and her friend's wince brought a smile to her face.

Emily walked over to the table where Bill was sitting not bothering to look back to see if Draco was following her, "Can we join you?"

"Of course," Bill rose quickly and pulled out the chair next to him for the witch.

"You're evil," Draco whispered as he took the last open spot at the table.

Emily merely smiled at her best friend as a waiter appeared, the poor man looked dead bored and spoke in a monotone voice, "Would you care for refreshment?"

"Two Elderflower wines," Draco answered tossing the man a galleon.

The waiter was quick to catch the gold coin and in an instant his disposition changed. "Right away sir!" With a bow the man quickly vanished, mere seconds later he reappeared with two goblets and placed them before the teens, "If you need anything else just ask."

Draco nodded and motioned for the man to leave. With a bow the man scurried to the next table where a few other Ministry officials were getting settling in.

"If I would have known all it took was a tip to wake the man up I would have done that when we ordered," Charlie laughed shaking his head. "It took him forever to get us our drinks!"

"Money is motivation," Draco drawled taking a sip of his wine.

"Hear, hear!" the Ministry official raised his own glass and took a drink.

"Emily, Draco, this is Heir Pyrites. Argo, this is Heir Malfoy and Heiress Potter."

"Argo as in the author of Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science?" Emily asked.

The man nodded, "That was my great grandfather, who is my namesake."

"He was rather a brilliant man, I quite enjoyed his take on the topic."

"Did you?" the man looked curiously at the young witch.

"So many people theorize about Alchemy, but few ever truly practice it, let alone get to train for a time with the Flamels. He even went so far as to dabble in the effects it had on muggles, it was a fascinating read."

"And that does not bother you?"

"Why should it?"

"You'll have to pardon my surprise Heiress, but my Great Grandfather's ideas were rather controversial and not many people know of his writings. I find he is often looked down upon in modern society, his book is not one I would have expected someone in your position to have read."

"My position?" Emily tilted her head, "Do you mean because I'm one of the Potter twins?"

The man gave a small nod and the witches gaze turned hard, she hated that everyone presumed her to be something she was not. The school had already dubbed her the evil twin for being in Slytherin and her ability to speak to snakes had not helped her image since second year but to be fair to Harry, even he had been shunned a time or two by the school.

"I rather enjoyed it myself," Draco joined in, trying to change the focus. He more than anyone knew where Emily's head was going and the last thing he wanted was her resorting to her wand and harming a ministry official before the game even started. "Em is right, it's not often you can find a decent Alchemy book written by a true practitioner."

Emily looked to Draco, she knew what he was doing but she allowed it. "I don't see what was so controversial, sure the man tested on muggles but his intentions didn't seem malicious in any way. It was a recommended read for us by Severus."

"As in Severus Snape?" the man questioned.

"He's Draco's Godfather and often trains the two of them," Bill supplied. "Emily lives with Lord Malfoy and his family."

"Interesting, makes a bit more sense then."

"It can't be that surprising that people are familiar with his work, despite his Dark leanings not everyone disregards your Grandfather's learnings. I read it while at Hogwarts, it's not hard to get ahold of. In fact, it was one of the reasons I started thinking about Curse Breaking."

"I didn't know that," Argo shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "How did you get from Alchemy to Curse Breaking."

"The Centre for Alchemical Studies is in Egypt, while looking into their research I learned about the efforts Gringotts was putting into curse breaking in the area and became fascinated. I knew then what I wanted to do."

"I envy you sometimes," Argo said standing up and patting his friend on the shoulder. "I better go pretend I care about the game and play nice. You know, half these people I can't remember the name of."

"Enjoy." Bill said shaking his head as his friend was instantly pulled into a conversation by two far older gentleman. "Shouldn't the two of you be making rounds as well?"

"My father can do that for us, next year though, we will not be so lucky," Draco drawled watching the wine as he swirled it in his goblet. "Plus, she wants to remain unnoticed by a certain Mr. Hufflepuff."

"Fair point."

"Mr. Hufflepuff?" Charlie asked looking between the other three people at the table with him though none of them seem inclined to fill him in.

"You know we heard an interesting story about you, Bill, on our walk over here." Draco said changing the topic. "Bridgit Bane ring any bells?"

"Merlin!" Charlie exclaimed as his brother looked shocked. "I remember that! Mum was furious, she even sent a you a howler!"

"How did you hear about that?"

"Oliver Fawley was our escort to the stadium."

"Seems you studied more than books in the library," Emily added taking a sip of her wine, her stomach twisting a bit at the thought. She tried to stop the feeling as soon as it hit her, why should she care if he had messed around in the library with some trollop of a girl.

"I…" Bill looked hopelessly at Emily clearly unsure how to respond.

Charlie had no such problem, "The library was his signature move back in school! He would invite girls to study with him and after a short time of pretending to care about his books he would make his move."

"I wasn't pretending to study, I was top of my year," Bill grumbled shooting his brother a look that was clearly missed by the dragon handler.

"Not a bad idea," Draco said raising his glass in Charlie's direction.

"You are about to be betrothed," Emily reminded the blonde. "You probably shouldn't be inviting anyone but Daphne to the library."

"I go to the library with you all the time," he countered.

"I don't count."

"You're no fun."

"Betrothed?" Bill interjected clearly eager to change the topic. "Congratulations."

Draco shrugged, "It's good for the family business and she is a friend, could be worse I suppose."

"Don't sound too excited," Emily said rolling her eyes. "Some of us are all alone."

"Don't sound so dramatic, we can always pull Mr. Hufflepuff back into the race."

"Emily." The witch froze as the familiar voice reached her ears.

"Speak of Hades…" Emily whispered as Draco's look turned momentarily apologetic before turning to glare at the newcomer.

"Diggory, what are you doing here?" Draco's voice was frosty as he stood to address the boy.

"I was hoping I could have a moment with Emily."

"That would be Heiress Potter to you, I believe my Father has made our intentions quite clear on where we stand."

"Honestly, he is not her keeper! Emily, will you please speak with me?"

"I think Heir Malfoy is correct," Bill said standing and moving to Draco's side. "I believe their family's intentions have been quite clear and as her acting Magical Guardians these past few years, what they say, stands."

"And who are you to get involved?"

A throat cleared loudly before a shout went out, "Quiet through the box!" Everyone within the Minister's box fell silent as Cornelius Fudge stood up on a platform at the front facing the field. "Ladies and gentlemen… As Minister for Magic of the hosting country I want to welcome you to the four hundred and twenty second Quidditch World Cup!"

Cheers roared through the stadium as people clapped and screamed in appreciation of what was to soon begin. The projector that had been displaying advertisements vanished and in its place a scoreboard appeared.

"Let us first welcome the Bulgarian National Team's Mascots!"

Emily, who had been having to peer around Bill to see what was going on turned back to the table and sipped her wine. She watched as Charlie shook his head as if trying to clear it, looking away from the field he raised his glass to her and quickly shot it back. "Veela," he mumbled and Emily had to say she was impressed by his ability to look away. She could feel Draco and Bill close to her, unwavering and she smiled at their strength to not be affected by the beautiful creatures. It was obvious once the performance had ended as yells to 'bring them back' echoed through the crowd.

Draco and Bill moved back to their seats and Emily could see Cedric as he was pulled by his father away from the edge of the box. It seemed the Hufflepuff had not been as resistant to the allure as the men at her table. He glanced back at the witch only to be nudged by his father who quickly started whispering to his son as he directed them to a set of seats by Harry and his friends.

"And now in a sign of welcome, please raise your wands for the Irish National Team's Mascots!"

Emily could hear the crowd 'oohing and awing' as she leaned back in her seat. Large gold pieces began to fall into the box and those around her seemed unimpressed by the display.

Bill picked up a coin and flipped it in his fingers. "Fools gold," he said tossing it up and catching it in his hand again. "It will wear off in a few hours, Leprechauns love leaving this around for muggles to find."

"Really messes with their heads," Charlie added as he waived for the server. "Dad says the Ministry has gotten a lot of complaints over the years about pots of gold that vanish in front of the muggles' eyes and little creatures that taunt them in the woods dressed in green."

"Muggles are their favorite targets," Bill said pulling out his coin bag and grabbing out a real galleon before tossing it to the server who was approaching the table. "Another round for my brother and I please."

The server nodded and disappeared, he returned a few seconds later with the requested drinks and set them on the table before moving on to another group.

"Much faster this time," Charlie sighed in appreciation as he took a sip of the golden liquid.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the Bulgarian National Team to the Stadium – First to the field is Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Krum!"

"Must be nice," Charlie said shaking his head. "To not even be out of school, yet get pulled to play for the National Team… I would have jumped at the chance."

"You made the choice to chase dragons," Bill reminded him. "There were plenty of people who thought you could have gone on to play in the league."

The other redhead shrugged, "I was good but it wasn't like scouts were sitting in the stands every game ready to recruit me. Quidditch can only last for so long but dragons…"

"Can kill you faster than a fall off your broom," Emily provided.

That earned a laugh from the Dragon Tamer, "I suppose they can, but I love it and the pay is good. Also gets me far away from England, why this one is so eager to return I have yet to fully understand."

"I needed a change, not all of us want to be so far away from home for the rest of our lives."

"Who said I was going to be in Romania forever? I just need to be there until enough of you have kids and mum gives up on the dream of me working for the ministry and settling down to have a family."

Bill rolled his eyes, "That probably will take some time knowing our siblings."

"Percy took a job at the Ministry I believe," Emily said looking to Draco, "and he's still dating Clearwater isn't he?"

"Last I heard they were still together."

"That's one brother down for you, I can't however promise the same for the twins," Emily said glancing back towards where Fred and George were sitting watching the game.

"They are very popular with the witches though," Draco added.

"Look at that Char! At this rate you can move home too," Bill patted his brother on the shoulder.

"I think I'll wait it out on the reserve a little longer."

"TEN ZERO TO IRELAND!" Bagman's voice boomed through the box.

"Well I'm going to go watch the game before I miss it all, with Krum's skills he'll have the snitch in no time." Charlie downed the rest of his drink and stood up, "It was nice chatting with you both."

"Actually, I'll join you if you don't mind," Draco stood. "Emily and Bill should be fine and I would like to watch some of the game."

Charlie nodded and the pair walked over to the last row of golden chairs and took two of the open spots. Emily noticed the redhead's father look back briefly and notice the pair before finding the witch and his eldest son at the table together. There was no look of concern or worry, just a simple nod as if he had taken count and all were accounted for before turning back to cheer as a penalty was awarded to Ireland.

"Your father doesn't seem to be worried about your current company," the witch stated taking a sip of her wine.

"Dad is far more relaxed than mum and with him working at the Ministry, it's likely he is aware I often do wards for some of the more prominent families. He and I may not see eye to eye on some more traditional aspects, but he understands my need for space. I think he is glad I still come around and will be closer this year even if it isn't necessarily for reasons he or mum would have hoped."

"Does he know where you'll be living now that you are back?"

"No, and it's better that way. While he can stomach me being friendly to you or Draco, he won't be as kind about me accepting help from Lucius. In his mind, men like Lucius belong in Azkaban and there is probably a bit of jealousy mixed in as well." Emily merely raised an eyebrow at the Curse Breaker's statement. "His family is one of the older Pureblood families, but they protected a group of muggles centuries ago which led to them being branded blood traitors. They lost their titles and wealth for their leanings and I think my father wishes he could provide the life that the other Lords can for their families."

"If he wants that life could he not have chosen a path perhaps that would have helped lift his status among the other Purebloods?"

"His mother was a Black and was disowned for marrying my grandfather, they say the marriage was a love match but part of me believes my grandfather was trying to earn back some status by courting someone from such a strong and prominent family. It did not go very well and my grandmother was an unhappy woman most of her life and I think the way she was treated played a part in my father's views on other Purebloods. He also truly is fascinated by muggles, I doubt he could have put that aside enough to regain any of his family's status."

"And what about you?"

Bill laughed, "I've done my best over the years to get where I am but I am only one person, it would take a strong marriage to prove myself capable of truly moving in the Pureblood circles. There would also always be the question of my true leanings as long as I continue to see my family, I could never fully cut them out, despite their insanity I do love them."

"You seem to be doing a good job on your own though. You have Lucius' support, he helped you get the position you wanted did he not?"

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean I'm still not known as a blood traitor's son."

"Or perhaps you are just William Weasley, Curse Breaker and Pureblood."

The pair were quiet for a moment while they looked at each other, Bill clearly contemplating the witch's words and unsure how to respond, while Emily found herself unable to look away willing him to see what she did. "IRELAND WINS!" Bagman's voice boomed through the stadium and just like that the moment was broken and the pair turned to look towards the front of the box where most of the people watching the match had stood up from their seats and were applauding. "KRUM HAS CAPTURED THE SNITCH BUT IRELAND WINS THE MATCH!"

"It appears Charlie was right, it was a short game."

"Sorry you missed it sitting with me."

"I would prefer sitting with you than watching quidditch any day," the man smiled at Emily and her stomach did a small flip.

"AS THE IRISH TAKE A WINNING LAP THE CUP IS BEING BROUGHT UP TO THE TOP BOX FOR THE PRESENTATION!"

The box was suddenly flooded by bright lights as two panting wizards carried a huge gold Cup through the door Emily had entered the box through earlier. The pair moved as quickly as they could with the obviously heavy item towards Minister Fudge who looked a little put out and kept glancing at the Bulgarian Minister who seemed to be laughing. His demeanor quickly changed as Bagman's voice once again sounded through the stadium, "LETS HEAR IT ONE MORE TIME FOR OUR GALLANT LOSERS – TEAM BULGARIA!"

One by one the Bulgarian team landed in the box and shook hands with their minister before moving on to Fudge. And then the Irish team landed, one of the men looked pretty battered up and had to be supported by two of his teammates. Another two players stepped forward and took the cup, hoisting it up into the air to immense applause and cheers.

Emily gave a polite clap as the men took to their brooms again and flew back onto the field. People in the box seemed to be gathering their things and moving to leave. Bill stood and moved to help the witch from her seat. Charlie and Draco walked towards the pair quickly, both seemingly chatting happily with the other.

"We better join father and head back to the tent," Draco said turning his attention to Emily and offering his arm for her to take.

"Of course," Emily smiled at Charlie as she took her spot by Draco's side. "It was lovely to finally get to meet you, I have heard plenty about you over the years. Hopefully you'll pull yourself away from the dragons to visit again."

"If the company continues to be this nice, I may be tempted back for a vacation or two in the future, as long as no one clues in my mum."

"Big dragon tamer is afraid of his mother?" Draco teased.

"You have not met the woman and she is quite the banshee."

The group laughed as Emily turned her attention to the one person she rather not part with, "I'll see you in a few days?"

"As soon as I leave the Burrow the Manor will be my first stop."

"Good."

"Emily, Draco, are you ready?" Lucius stood behind the pair, at their nod he looked at the two redheads and gave a slight gesture of his head. "I hope you all enjoyed the game, have a safe evening."

"You as well Lord Malfoy, may the Goddess bless your evening."

"And may she protect you under her moonlight."

Bill made a point of a formal bow and then patted his brother on the arm. The two brothers moved to join Arthur Weasley who was looking nervously between his sons and the blonde Lord but seemed appeased by their smiles as Charlie ruffled Percy's hair much to the younger redhead's great annoyance. The twins made a point of exaggerated bows in Emily's direction which earned a smirk from the witch and a small bow of the head. Harry pretended not to notice his sister as he turned his back to speak to Granger who appeared to be berating the youngest Weasley boy.

"Come you two, I'm sure you are both hungry and the elves will have food waiting for us back at the tent."