A/N - I want to thank people for their suggestions for this series, and to assure you all that I am keeping a track of every idea which comes my way. Some of the stories suggested already have a piece written for them, and some were already in the pipeline, but I have also received some ideas I hadn't actually thought of. So keep your ideas coming, and I will keep updating and working on pieces for this story (as well as all the other stories I am working on, including the 3rd part in the darkness trilogy). But for now, enjoy the newest piece for The World Cup.
The World Cup.
The opening match of the Quidditch World Cup always featured the defending champions, and as the World Cup began in France, that meant England would be opening the defence of the title they'd won four years previously in New Zealand. In that time they'd gone on to dominate world quidditch and they were the overwhelming favourites to regain the trophy. Not only were they still led by one of the best chasers in the world in Draco Malfoy, but they also had the world's best seeker in Harry Potter.
For the first match of the tournament there was a festival feel in the stands of the stadium erected on the outskirts of Paris, and Harry and Draco's friends and family had clubbed together to hire a private box for the match. In fact thanks to a few pulled strings by the two quidditch stars, their box was located right next to the official England box. Although since all their friends and family were in the next box, Draco and Harry's wives had chosen to forgo their seats in the official England box.
Everyone who had attended the World Cup final four years ago were present in the box, along with a few newcomers. Draco's friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had managed to take the time off to attend the match, and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Another newcomer was Draco's godfather, Severus Snape, who had been working during the last tournament, but was now available and eager to see his godson in action. The Slytherin contingent were also joined by Sophia, the two year old daughter of Pansy and Theo Nott.
And there were also additions to the Gryffindor side of things, and Sirius had made the effort to be at the match right from the beginning. Weasley wise, Bill and Fleur were in attendance with their children, although Percy had once again found a reason not to attend. But the big difference was Ginny's presence. After their reunion at the previous World Cup, Ginny and Ron had kept their word and visited home, and predictably, Ginny had been lured home by her family. Now she was living back in England full-time, had a good job working for a luxury hotel resort, and always had wizards begging her for dates. But more importantly, she was once again part of the Weasley family and she was a doting aunt to her brother's children.
Sadly the same couldn't be said for Ron. While he hadn't lost touch with his family again, he'd yet to reconcile with them in the same way as Ginny had done. He still hadn't accepted Harry and Hermione's involvement with Slytherins, and he resented their presence as part of his family. As such, it meant his meetings with Harry and Hermione were always tense and it was clear their friendship was lost forever. However, to Molly's delight, he kept in touch and even though he was still living in New Zealand, he did visit occasionally and his nieces and nephews all knew who he was.
But the big additions to the box were the two children of England's two biggest stars. Draco and Hermione's son, Scorpius was now one year old, while Harry and Daphne's son, Jamie, was just six months. It was the first quidditch match for both children, and they were each dressed in replica quidditch jerseys. Scorpius's shirt had Draco's number on the back along with the name Malfoy, and Jamie's shirt had the name Potter and Harry's number on the back. Before entering the stadium, Hermione and Daphne had posed for a picture with the back of their sons jerseys on show and they both suspected the adorable shot would make the papers back home.
"Why am I so nervous?" Daphne asked Hermione as the teams were announced and the crowds went wild for England.
"I don't know, you should be used to this by now," Hermione laughed. "Especially with a match like this, where they're expected to win easily."
"Never underestimate your opponents," Daphne said seriously.
"Now you sound like Draco," Hermione remarked. "He's always saying that. According to him the fact England are favourites for the tournament puts more pressure on them."
"It does," Daphne agreed with a nod. "Harry is so much more stressed this time around. In New Zealand they were underdogs, and even though they had the talent to win, there was no pressure on them. But now, everyone expects him to catch the snitch every game."
"To be fair, he had a phenomenal season last year," Hermione said. "He set the record for the most consecutive matches the same seeker had caught the snitch."
"It was the excitement of fatherhood," Daphne laughed. "Harry reckons he played better last season as he was so excited to be a father. Besides, I think he wanted to out-do Draco. The season before when you had Scorpius, Draco was on fire."
"I'm not going to keep popping out the kids just to keep my husband at the top of his game," Hermione remarked.
"Don't you want more children?" Daphne asked as the two sets of Weasley twins, now nine and eight, ran down to the front of the box with their cousins.
"One more would be nice," Hermione admitted. "I'd like Scorpius to have a sibling. But I don't want too many."
"I want more," Daphne said with a smile. "In fact, Harry and I are gong to start trying again once the World Cup is over. We'd both love a big family."
"Why wait?" Hermione laughed. "If Harry is anything like Draco, winning a match gets him going. If they win as often as they should, you could be pregnant before the end of the tournament."
"Ooh, a quidditch baby, I like the sound of that," Daphne chuckled. "Let's hope they win today, so we can get started tonight."
Hoping that England did win, more so that Scorpius could witness a victory at his first match, Hermione turned her attention to the game as it got underway. Very quickly it became obvious that England were far superior than their opponents and they'd soon built up a healthy lead. Knowing it was only a matter of time before Harry caught the snitch and England won the game, Hermione gave Scorpius to Narcissa and wandered around the box to make sure everyone was having a good time.
After buying ice-creams for the children, Hermione ended up sitting next to Ginny. Despite the fact things had been awkward between them when Ginny first came back into the picture, things were now better than they'd ever been between the pair. Ginny had apologised several times for her past attitude, and she'd admitted more than once that she'd been immature and it had taken her a long time to grow up. But now she had grown up, and not only was she pleased that Hermione and Harry were happy with their respective lives, she was also contented with her own life.
"How are you enjoying the game?" Hermione asked.
"The game itself is a bit too one-sided to be really good," Ginny replied honestly. "But just being here is brilliant. I can't believe I almost lost all of this. I'm so grateful the last World Cup was in New Zealand."
"I think it was more to do with the fact you'd grown up," Hermione pointed out. "Let's face it, Ron had the same opportunity and he didn't take it. Even now, four years later, he's still out in the cold."
"But at least he's moving on with his life now," Ginny said. Even though Ron had been upset that she'd chosen to go home, they were still close and she was still the person who saw him the most. "He's got a girlfriend and they're looking to buy a house together. He's finally starting to live his own life and not wallow in what could have been."
"If it means he spends more time with the family, Molly will be pleased," Hermione said. "But enough about Ron. How are things going with you? Draco said you and Blaise had a date the other week."
"I wouldn't say it was a date, we just had a drink together," Ginny replied with a slight smile.
"I thought Draco said you spent the night together."
"Okay, so it was a drink and great sex," Ginny conceded. "Really great sex," she added with a smirk.
"I'm not sure Blaise is the settling down type," Hermione warned.
"Who says I am?" Ginny countered with a grin. "I'm not looking for a husband, Hermione. Maybe one day, but for now, I'm happy as I am."
"Having great sex with Blaise?" Hermione teased.
"Put it this way, if the opportunity arises again, I wouldn't say no," Ginny chuckled.
Pleased that Ginny was happy, Hermione returned to her seat next to Daphne just in time to see Harry catch the snitch and earn England a massive victory in the opening match.
"It's a great start," Daphne beamed as Hermione as they cheered on their husbands. "They're going to win the tournament again, I can feel it."
"Let's hope so," Hermione said as she took Scorpius back off her mother-in-law. "You want to see your Daddy winning the World Cup, don't you?" she cooed to her son.
"Da-da," Scorpius cried, waving his chubby hands in the air at the mention of his father.
"Yes, Da-da will be coming to see you soon," Hermione chuckled, pressing a kiss to her son's chubby cheek.
Sure enough both Harry and Draco paid a quick visit to the box, where they accepted the congratulations of their loved ones and had a quick cuddle with their sons. They then returned to their team-mates, and got back to the job in hand, which was winning the World Cup for the second tournament in a row.
Three weeks later at the very same stadium a box had once again been hired out to Draco and Harry's friends and family, and everyone watched in anticipation as England squeaked a tight game and won the World Cup for the second tournament in the row. And better news followed weeks later when Daphne announced she was pregnant, and when she gave birth to a baby girl, she was christened Paris, after the city where she'd been conceived.