A/N - A longer chapter, and once again, very slow. However pointless these chapters seem, I assure you that they will be extremely significant. Next chapter will have a lot more action, and start the plot that's in the summary. More romance than suits my tastes, but it will serve a purpose later. Just don't expect this fic to contain much more romance than this, as this is not a romance fic.

Exploring the campgrounds was like exploring Hogwarts, but with a lot more dirt and a lot less Snape.

On second thought, maybe Snape fills the entire dirt quotient, since hes such a slimy dirtbag. It's his fault that Pettigrew escaped and Sirius is still on the run.

The Weasley camp was at the fringes of the Ireland side of camp, so Harry started walking towards what he assumed was the heart of the Ireland supporters. He spotted several carts, and made a mental note to stop at a few of them later. When pondering what he would buy, he immediately thought of his friends, and what they were probably doing. Hermione was either explaining to Ron what romantic attraction between a male and a female was, or attempting to explain her feelings to him. It was weird, in a way, because Harry had never pegged Hermione as the type to be so forward about stuff like that. Also, he had barely noticed any romantic attraction between the two. They were always bickering all of the time, so in his humble opinion, a relationship between the two would be strained. Not only that, but it would strain all of their friendships. Was Harry doomed to be a third wheel?

I've always got Ginny as a back up.

On second thought, no thanks.

The idea of being romantically involved with Ginny, little freckly fangirl Ginny, was so absurd as to almost be humorous. Almost. Besides, she's Ron's sister.

Well Hermione is my best friend. Honestly, why do girls have to go and bollocks up perfectly good friendship triangle things?

By this point Harry wasn't paying too much attention to where he was heading, just keeping track of his general direction. Suddenly, Harry was shaken out of his musings by the burst of green light that met his eyes. It literally looked like a giant shamrock monster has risen up out of the ground and devoured the entire camp. Every single tent was completely covered with bright green shamrocks, with the occasional Irish flag waving in the breeze.

The vividness of the camp kept Harry alert to the world, and with a new found enthusiasm, he explored the maze of tents.

Who cares about Hermione and Ginny and romance and feelings and all that other stuff. This is quidditch. Screw that other shite, it's time to have some fun.

He stopped at several carts selling merchandise for both teams, although the Bulgaria merchandise became rarer and rarer the deeper he got into the Ireland section. He bought three pairs of Omnoculars, which were the coolest binoculars Harry had ever seen. They'd be dead useful for the match, too. He bought himself an Ireland scarf and an Ireland flag, along with three figurines of the Irish chasers. Then, under the very critical eye of an Irish cart owner, he bought Ron a miniature Krum figure. Hermione was tough, but he eventually found a book that detailed the political history behind past quidditch matches. It was big, heavily worded, and it very small font, meaning that she was sure to love it.

Several galleons later, Harry ended his miniature shopping spree, and looked to see if there was anybody he knew in the area. Once he started looking, he was surprised at just how many classmates were here. The first people he saw were Seamus Finnigan, with his mom and Dean Thomas, in the very heart of the Ireland side of camp.

"Harry!" Dean yelled, and Harry turned to see him and Dean sitting outside their own, plantlife-covered, tent.

"How's it going, Seamus? Dean?" greeted Harry.

"It's going okay. The Ministry is in a fit over our decorations, but why shouldn't we show our colors?" responded Seamus, asking the question rhetorically, a half-smile on his lips.

"Who're you supporting, Harry?" asked Dean, eyeing Harry questioningly. Seamus also eyed Harry, but with a bit more intensity. After assuring them both that he was supporting Ireland, Harry departed from the tent, wondering what would've happened if he would've said he was supporting Bulgaria.

Life wouldn't be that bad without any fingers on my left hand, right?

Soon after, he was pleasantly surprised to see Oliver Wood, who quickly ushered him into his tent to introduce him to his parents. "Mum, Dad, this is Harry Potter."

"Pleasure to meet you," his dad said, a kind smile on his face. "You can call me Roger. This is my wife, Margaret."

"Nice to meet you," echoed Margaret. Both of them had very warm brown eyes, although Margaret was a redhead, which made Harry start to think about the Ginny problem again.

"Likewise. I hope Wood isn't as bad at home as he is at school," joked Harry. Both parents laughed, and it was immediately evident where Wood got his disposition from. However, Harry had yet to pinpoint who was the Nazi of the family.

"Oh no, Wood has always been a good boy," said Margaret. "I trained him right. Made sure he did his chores every day, without magic. Made him wake up at the crack of dawn, even on weekends. Builds character, it does. Although who am I to lecture Harry Potter about character!"

"Oh no ma'am, please, go ahead, I'm a downright degenerate," quipped Harry.

This brought on another round of laughter, and Harry was feeling much more comfortable than he would have expected.

Wood grew up in a good home. They're all so nice. Although Margaret is definitely the Nazi of the bunch. At least she isn't as bad as Aunt Petunia.

" A degenerate! I find that hard to believe. No decent quidditch player is a degenerate! By the way Oliver talks about you, you'd think you were better then Krum on a broom!" said Roger with a degree of enthusiasm only found in proper quidditch fans.

"No, I'm not that good," disagreed Harry. He actually had no idea if this was true, seeing as he'd never watched Krum fly before. Still, it felt right to be humble.

"Don't be modest, Harry, you're bloody brilliant! Once you get out of school, you should join up with Puddlemore United," said Oliver, with an excited smile on his face.

"Why should I go to Puddlemore United...You're kidding! Don't tell me you've been signed! Congratulations, Oliver! That's brilliant news!" exclaimed Harry, immediately happy for the man who used to be his quidditch team captain.

"Thanks, Harry!" replied Wood, with a well earned self-congratulatory grin. "Don't compliment me too much, though. I only was signed on to the reserve team. But if you ever need me to put in a good word with management, I'd be more than happy to."

"That's still amazing, Wood. Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure if I'm going to play professionally out of school," admitted Harry. After a couple more minutes of catching up, Harry regrettably left the tent, wondering where he would go next. He briefly considered going back to the Weasleys', but Ron and Hermione might still be having their 'talk,' so he decided against it.

A few minutes later, Harry saw Ernie Macmillan, a fourth year from Hufflepuff. Harry talked with him a little bit, but the conversation was rather tedious and pompous.

"Why, the Irish have to give the old one-two to those blasted Bulgarians. I've heard that the Bulgarian seeker is a rather surly fellow."

"Er, yeah, I've heard that too. And yeah, go Ireland."

"I was dithering over whether to give a go at wagering, but alas, I spent my last galleon on those infernal Bertie Botts."

"Mmmhmm, wagering might have been a good idea. But excuse me, I believe I just saw someone I know, I beg pardon."

"Oh of course not old chap! I've enjoyed our conversation immensely. Do go ahead and see this person."

"Me too. And yeah, I'm going too. Bye Ernie!"

"Adieu!"

Ernie always annoyed the hell out of Harry, but he could be a useful acquaintance sometimes. He was a Hufflepuff, but he was as loyal as snake. Meaning, not at all. Currently, though, they were on good terms, and so there was no need to be a dick to someone who only trying to be friendly. Of course, there was no someone else that he had seen, but it seemed like fate was trying to fuck with him when not more than a couple seconds after leaving Ernie, Harry saw Cho Chang.

Cho was a very attractive fifth year from Ravenclaw, and was captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team. She was a seeker, like Harry, and he had faced her before in a match. She smiled at him and waved, and Harry waved sheepishly back, embarrassed that he'd been caught staring. She didn't seem angry, though. In fact, she was still smiling over in his direction.

Now there is one girl I wouldn't mind dating. Sorry Ginny, talk to me when you look like that.

He was about to pluck up enough nerve to go over their and start up a conversation with her, but at that moment, he heard something that he wished intensely he was imagining.

"Hey, scar head!" drawled out a voice that Harry could recognize from a mile away. Turning slowly, Harry readied himself for the inevitable confrontation with Draco Malfoy. There he was, the little prick himself, standing not 15 feet away from Harry. It seemed like fate was really, really trying to fuck with him.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry retorted with as much apathy and disdain as he could put into his voice.

"Oh, touchy, touchy! Sore that the little mudblood wants the Weasel instead of you?" mocked Malfoy.

...What? I don't like Hermione like that! Oh crap, Cho is watching this!

Sure enough, when he glanced over to where Cho was, she had a cute little pout of confusion on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy, but you'd better clean out your mouth and shove off right now. Me and Hermione are just friends."

"True, my mouth was soiled by even mentioning the existence of that filthy mudblood and the blood traitor. Sadly, my eyes were soiled as well, about an hour ago, when I saw the two liplocked outside your pathetic excuse for a tent."

Harry's face turned beat red, and at that moment, he would've like nothing better than to curse Malfoy to hell and back.

There's no way. He's lying. It's just not possible.

"Awww, poow wittle Potty can say all he wants, but he still has a sowft spot for the wittle mudbwood."

"Damn right I do! She's my best mate! I'm surprised though, that you have the balls to insult me without your two goons and half of Slytherin house to back you up!"

"Potter, I stopped needing backup to insult you long ago. Having witnesses to your embarrassment just made it much more enjoyable. But your shame of being jealous of a Weasel for getting a mudblood over you is sweet enough for me."

"I said SHOVE OFF!" With that, Harry took out his wand and yelled "Incendio!"

Draco was no slouch at dueling, though, and pulled out his wand to counter cast. "Glacius!"

The two spells met and cancelled each other out, but Harry quickly fired another series of spells. "Carpe Retractum! Tarantegella! Petrificus Totalus! Immobolus! Calvorio! Bombarda! Bombarda! Bombarda! Expelliarmus!"

Malfoy had countered the easy spells, dodged the ones whose counter he didn't know, but was finally hit and thrown to the ground by the three successive Bombarda's. The Expelliarmus caused his wand to fly out of his hand and into Harry's. Malfoy looked shocked, as he had obviously not expected Harry to outright attack him in the middle of a very public place. The mortification slowly seeped into Malfoy's face as he realised that Harry had just thrashed him, publicly, and now held his wand.

Harry breathed heavily for a second, his mind not quite caught up with his actions.

"HARRY!"

Harry looked around to see a flabbergasted Hermione and a confused Ron standing next to five very serious-looking aurors.

"Hey, Hermione," replied Harry, for lack of anything better to say.

"Don't just stand there, arrest him! Tell him to give me back my wand!" Malfoy commanded, gaining a little bit of his arrogance back now that he once again had the numbers.

"Mr. Potter," asked an auror who looked like he meant business, "What happened here? And give Mr. Malfoy back his wand immediately."

Harry's temper flared up, and for a second he felt like saying that he won this wand from Malfoy, fair and square. Then he realized he would, eventually, have to give it back, and it was stupid to act defiant to a group of pissed off aurors.

Wordlessly, Harry tossed Malfoys wand into the dirt halfway between them. Malfoy gave him a look of pure loathing before he stood up, brushed some of the dirt off his now ruined robes, and walked to where his wand was. He picked it up slowly, reassuring the aurors that he wasn't going to try anything. He turned and started walking away, but then he paused, and looked back at Harry.

"You'll pay for this Potter. I swear it."

He moved to keep walking, when suddenly an auror called out "Just where do you think you're going? You need to be questioned too. Get back here."

Looking like a total fucktard for trying to make some dramatic exit, Malfoy came stalking back, his face pink.

For Harry, the entire thing was rather amusing. It's not every day he got to see Malfoy's ass handed to him, twice.

The auror who had been the speaker for the group once again resumed that role. "My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt. This is Tonks, Dawlish, Savage, and Williamson." At each name, he pointed to a different person, none of which Harry had ever met before.

Tonks was a woman in her mid twenties with bright pink spiky hair, and a nose ring. She was the most unusual of the five, and Harry found himself wondering how she became an auror at all. Dawlish was a plain man in his mid thirties, but he had the meanest eyes, like, he would pretend to be a nice guy until he cut your throat. Savage was a brute, all muscle. Williamson was reedy, and looked like the kind of guy that would apologize for something even if it wasn't his fault.

Overall, not really what Harry expected from London's finest. Kingsley, on the other hand, was exactly what he expected an auror to be. He was dark skinned, with an imposing frame, and a manner that screamed confidence and intelligence. It was also very obvious that he was the leader of the bunch.

"I'd give you our names, but it seems you already know them," said Harry, addressing Kingsley instead of the entire group.

"That I do. However, the question still remains of what happened here. From what I saw, you successfully hit Mr. Malfoy with three Bombarda's and an Expelliarmus. You did this, in front of a large crowd of bystanders, any of whom could have been hurt, in a public place where such altercations are illegal, using underage magic which is not allowed during the summer holidays. You did all of this, even after the warning you received two years ago which clearly stated that using underage magic was strictly forbidden, and if performed again, would leave you subject to severe penalties. Now, is all of that right so far?"

Harry felt a lump form in the back of his throat, and his stomach sank more and more for each word Kingsley said. His mind was in panic mode, so all he could think to do was nod.

"Good. Now, before this goes any further, I want to know what happened before we arrived."

"Sir, I can answer you. That wanker attacked me!" exclaimed Malfoy.

"That's not true, you lying bigot!" Came a female voice near the back of the crowd that had formed.

"I concur!" came a second voice that was decidedly male.

Short bursts of noises expressing pain, disgruntlement, and surprise followed as two people forced their way through the crowd from opposite sides. Harry could've danced when he saw Cho's face appear, although he was slightly surprised to see Ernie's.

"Who are you, and what did you see of the altercation?"

"My name is Cho Chang, sir, and I saw the whole thing. Harry was about to come over and say hello to me when Malfoy appeared out of nowhere and started to insult him and his friends. He called Harry 'scar-head', called his muggleborn friend Hermione a, well, you know, what bigots call muggleborns, and called Ron Weasley a blood traitor and a weasel. Harry told him to be quiet and leave, but Malfoy continued yelling at him, until Harry finally reached his limit and sent an Incendio at him. Malfoy responded with a Glacius, and instead of trying to run away or get help, Malfoy continued the duel by firing several counter-spells to the next round of spells Harry sent at him. Sir, Harry was provoked."

She didn't say anything about him accusing me of liking Hermione. Does she not believe him? Did she not hear it?

"I see. And you sir, who are you and what did you see of the events?" asked Kingsley.

"My name is Ernie Macmillan sir. I'm a tenth generation pureblood, on both sides, and my father, you might know him, he works in the Department of Magical Transportation. Good chap, goes fishing with Minister Fudge and Mr. McLaggen on some weekends. My great grandmother, Melania Black, was the inventor of the cheering charm. Rather ironic story actually, the poor woman was the most depressing person you would ever meet. She was rather good friends with Phineus Nigellus Black at the end of his days, who as you know"

"Yes, Mr. Macmillan, I have heard of all of them. Now that you have firmly identified who you are and who you know, do you mind telling me what you saw happen?"

Was that sarcasm? I swear I heard sarcasm in there.

"Yes, sir, apologies. Well, I saw Harry about to approach this fine young lady, who by the way is a fourth generation pureblood with several key connections in the Chinese Ministry, when Mr. Malfoy confronted Harry with absolutely no provocation. It was utterly uncivilized, I tell you. Then, Mr. Malfoy then began to insinuate that Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley were romantically involved, and mocked Harry for being jealous Mr. Weasley. Well, Harry did what any good chap would do and defended a woman's honor, as well as his own. I was totally apalled to see a scion of the House of Malfoy act in such a way, and treat Mr. Potter, who can trace his lines all the way back to the Peveralls, like some piece of garbage. It was disgraceful, sir, disgraceful."

"Those are absolutel lies!" protested Malfoy. "I approached Potter to inform him of a situation which I thought he would be interested in knowing. I saw his two best friends engaged in a kiss, and figured he would be interested in the development. When he grew angry over my selfless act, and started to insult me, I was admittedly frustrated over how ungrateful he was, and proceeded to insult him back. However, after some mild bantering, nothing too serious, he pulls out his wand like a crazy person! I could barely defend myself, and I'm lucky I escaped relatively unscathed. It's not my fault that he attacked me because he was upset after learning about his friends. I was just the messenger."

"You two," Kingsley pointed at Ron and Hermione, "Are you the two friends in question?"

"Yes sir," replied Hermione timidly. Ron merely nodded.

"Were you engaged in amorous relations?"

"Sir, I hardly see how that matters," said Hermione.

"It matters because if it's true, Mr. Malfoy did have a cause to seek out Mr. Potter, meaning that he did not verbally engage Mr. Potter without provocation. It also would mean that there was a legitimate basis for Mr. Potter's anger, and that after he expressed his anger over the news to Mr. Malfoy, all of Mr. Malfoy's next comments were purposefully incendiary. So, did you or did you not have amorous relations?"

"No!" protested Ron.

"Yes," confessed Hermione.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and Ron eventually backed down.

"Yes sir, we did," continued Hermione, her face turning red enough to rival Ron's.

"Very well then. All of you get out of here. There is no solid case against either of you, and this is shaping up to be a colossal waste of time. However, hopefully this will teach you that altercations in the wizarding world will not go unaddressed. Dueling is serious, and can have very serious repercussions. Do you understand?"

There was a chorus of 'yes sirs' and sighs of disappointment. The crowd had apparently been waiting for a verdict, and there was very little satisfaction in a 'this is pointless' conclusion.

Harry saw Ron and Hermione standing together, looking very nervous. Feeling a little bit like a child, but not really caring at that moment, Harry purposefully turned away from them and walked towards Cho.

"Thank you Cho, you were brilliant," said Harry sincerely. Cho smiled and blushed prettily, muttering a hasty 'it was nothing.' "No Cho, seriously, thank you." Harry leaned forward and gave her a hug, which was much more intimate than the kind of hug he'd give Mrs. Weasley.

Damn, why'd I have to think of her? What a way to ruin the mood.

Still, the hug was nice, and Cho didn't seem to be complaining. As the two stopped hugging, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Harry, old chap! That was a tight spot, but there was no way they could do anything with all of our connections. We make one smashing team, don't we?" said Ernie who gave Harry a pat on the back that was a little too solid for Harry's tastes.

"Still, surprising about Hermione and Ron, isn't it? I never saw it coming, and I have the eyes of a fox," stated Ernie, fishing for more information.

"Yeah. Surprising." Harry glanced at Cho, who had turned away, looking a little awkward. Still, her eyes met his, and they asked him to either confirm or deny what Malfoy had said earlier. "Still, I'm happy for them. It's odd, like having you're brother and sister get together, but I'll deal with it. I don't know how it happened though. I mean, I thought Ron was like me and saw Hermione as one of the guys."

"Ah, well, these things do happen. Of course, the same thing happened with my Aunt Rose..." prattled Ernie, but Harry tuned him out. The look of happiness that crossed Cho's face made Harry reconsider a few things. Mainly, whether or not Cho might actually like him. Of course he had his boyish crush on Cho, but he never saw that as serious. Cho was in a different grade, in a different house. She was part of a totally different circle than he was. He had his crush, but never expected anything to come of it. Now though... Now things were different.

"Well, guess I'll see you around?" offered Cho. To Harry's teenage mind, it was practically an invitation.

"Definitely. Just don't tell me where you're sitting for the match, or I'll have a hard time watching the game," said Harry, a bit more confident than was normal for him.

Alright, a lot more.

"Harry, you're too much. You better get back to your tent though, the match is going to start soon, and you should be with your party. Besides, let Ron and Hermione know you're happy for them. No need to strain their relationship right off the bat," suggested Cho.

"You're absolutely right. Okay then, I'll see you later, then, Cho. And Ernie," acknowledged Harry at the end. Seeing that Ron and Hermione were loitering just out of hearing distance, and were clearly waiting for him, he decided to get this over with now.

You know what, this is all Ginny's fault. Girls don't do this crap unless they have another girl to collaborate with. Bring two girls to a quidditch cup, and what do you get? A whole bunch of pointless romantic bullshit.

Of course, if Sirius were here he'd be laughing his ass off. As someone who knew what true suffering was, Sirius would say that the little things are what make life worth living. Maybe one day I'll look back on this day and smile fondly.

As Harry walked towards the pair, he got close enough to see the frown lines on Hermione's upper lip. That could only mean she was preparing to give someone a long-winded lecture, and since Ron looked relatively unharmed, it was going to be for Harry.

Ok, so maybe not so fondly.

A/N - So, next chapter is when the fun starts. The part with the aurors was mostly for readers to understand that this is nor fairytale land, and people can't go slinging around spells without an investigation. However, Kingsley generally isn't a hardass, and so he let it go. I'd imagine he has more important things to do than get involved in teenaged squabbles. He mostly just wanted to teach them a lesson. If the two people fighting weren't Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, but some random two teenagers, SOMEONE from the Ministry would have come, but it definitely wouldn't have been a group of high-ranking aurors. Oh, and 'auror' is capitalized in canon, but I don't understand why. I mean, it's a profession. You don't say "He went to see a Doctor," you say "He went to see a doctor." Now, if it is said like a rank, I will capitalize it. For instance, "Doctor House is amusing", or "Auror Shacklebolt is diplomatic." So I apologize if any are upset by this breach in canon punctuation, but it's a pain in the ass to capitalize all the times I say auror. Sorry if that's a dealbreaker.