Chapter Six

Danica, dressed in a green dress, the outer layer of the skirt had several floating shamrocks dancing around, ran up to Harry and gave him a huge hug. Lily followed at a slightly slower pace, pulling a large trolley with their things on.

"How are you Harry?" Lily asked, pulling him in for a hug.

"I'm OK, had to get up really early." Harry said through a yawn, he knew his excitement wouldn't let him have a nap though.

"Lily!" Mr Weasley said walking over and shaking her hand, "We've just finished with our tents, want a hand?"

Lily nodded, "That would be lovely thank you. I think the Malfoys will be here soon as well."

Mr Weasley's smile got slightly tense and the sound of the Malfoys name, "Well the more the merrier."

They helped Lily get the tent set up and helped Narcissa and Lucius when they arrived not long after. From the outside it looked like four perfectly normal tents and Lily was rather pleased with their effort. She'd even managed to get Mr Weasley to take the chimney off his tent, pointing out that a spell to disperse the smoke would be less strange to a muggle eye.

Mr Weasley, with some help from Lily, was able to get a fire going and cook up some sausages for their lunch.

Narcissa was sitting with them, on a smart little camping chair, while Lucius and Draco finished up in the tent.

"I do love your kettle." Lily said, admiring the shiny new camping kettle that Narcissa had warming on the fire.

"I just loved the bright green colour." Narcissa smiled, "We've never been camping before, so we had to get all new things."

Mr Weasley muttered something under his breath that Harry didn't catch.

"Need any help with the sausages Mr Weasley?" Harry offered.

Mr Weasley put the first lot on to a plate and smiled, "No, I think I'm getting the hang of this Harry." he beamed.

Ron let out a loud sigh, he was annoyed as Ginny had taken the seat next to Harry so he had to sit further away.

"I don't understand why we can't just cook in the tent. It's got a cooker! The one in the Malfoy tent is huge." he sulked.

Mr Weasley shook his head, "No, no, no! We're muggle camping therefore we cook like muggles!"

Lily helpfully bent down and put some more wood on the fire.

"Ah excellent, lunch." Percy Weasley walked over, and sat down next to Mr Weasley, taking several sausages from the plate and making himself a sandwich.

"Percy." Mr Weasley said, "Guests first." he muttered.

Percy gave a rather distasteful look towards Narcissa, Lucius and Draco, "Forgive me. I've been very, very busy. Managed to get a lot of work done before arriving here."

"Well then, you should thank you family for being willing to set your tent up and make you lunch so you could get all that work done." Danica said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the extra crispy sausage that she'd wanted that was now half eaten on Percy's plate.

Percy looked rather taken aback at being scolded by a five year old, "Yes...well… umm. I am grateful."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure you are."

Mr Weasley quickly put more sausages onto the fire, "Wont take long for them to be done."

"I wonder how long the game will take." Fred mussed.

"Last one lasted a week!" Ron said excitedly, "I hope this one lasts that long!"

"I don't!" Percy sniffed, "I can't imagine how full my in-box would be if I was forced to leave it for a whole week."

"Well Mr Crouch is here so there wont be that much work." Ginny pointed out.

"Apart from cauldron bottoms." Charlie laughed, most of the Weasleys also let out a chuckle, earning them all a sharp glare from Percy.

"Thank you very much for cooking for us." Narcissa said, pulling Danica onto her lap and slipping her a sweet to suck on.

Mr Weasley looked surprised for a second before smiling, "Not a problem, not really a huge amount more sausages to make when I have to cook for this lot anyway."

Lily smiled and opened another packet for him. It wasn't long before they'd all eaten, Harry had found out that sausage buttys were possibly the only food Narcissa couldn't eat without looking elegant. Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly did the washing up and they sat round the fire, finishing their tea.

"This is lovely. Thank you Lady Malfoy." Mr Weasley said, taking another big gulp.

"Narcissa is fine, and thank you." She smiled.

"Arthur!" a booming voice called over, "How are you all?"

"Ludo. We're doing OK."

Percy's disapproval of Mr Bagman's lack of security didn't stop him from wanting to make a good impression.

"Mr Bagman, lovely to see you again." Percy said, jumping to his feet, "Can I interest you in a cup of tea? Or a sausage? I'm sure we're all happy to share."

Danica looked protectively at her sausages and for a moment considered licking them all so no one could take them. She knew that was naughty though, and Mr Weasley would make her more so she held out her plate as an offering.

Ludo grinned at her, "No it's all right. I wouldn't say no to a cuppa though! Thank you Percy."

Narcissa poured out a large mug of tea for him, Percy took it from her and added milk and sugar.

"Here you go sir, I'm sure you know everyone here, My father of course, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Lord and Lady Malfoy and Draco, Mrs Snape, Danica, Hermione and Harry." he said, pointing at everyone in turn.

"Hello all." Ludo Bagman said, his eyes lingering on Harry's scar.

"It's lovely to see you Sir, and you've organised a wonder here." Percy beamed.

"Thank you Percy. So how's it going?" Bagman asked

"Well enough. Got the tents up, going to go for a wonder in a bit." Arthur smiled.

"Any thoughts on the game?" Ludo nudged him, "I'll give you good odds."

Arthur smiled, "Oh go on then. Say one Galleon, on Ireland to win?"

Ludo looked a little disappointed, "One Galleon? All right then. Anyone else?"

Harry got a sharp look from him mother that read very clearly, Don't you dare.

"They're rather young to be gambling. Molly wouldn't…." Arthur said slowly.

"We'll bet you… thirty seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles and three Knuts," Fred said as he and George quickly emptied their pockets, "That Ireland win but Krum gets the snitch."

"And we'll throw in a fake wand." George smiled.

"Mr Bagman doesn't want to see any of your rubbish." Percy hissed.

Mr Bagman thought it was brilliant though, not at all rubbish. He looked over the wand and gave it a good flick; laughing hysterically when it turned into a rubber chicken.

"Oh that's brilliant!" He laughed, "I haven't seen one this good in years. I'd pay five Galleons for this. You've got a deal boys!"

Fred and George looked rather chuffed with themselves.

"So how are you finding the event?" Arthur asked, "All running as planned?"

Ludo shrugged, "Well enough. I'm having some bother with the Bulgarian representatives, they don't speak a word of English and I can't understand them either! I was on my way to find Barty, he'll be able to help."

Percy looked up from his disapproval at the twins behaviour, "Oh yes. Mr Crouch is a wonder in many ways, not least his ability to learn languages. He speaks over two hundred you know, including Mermish and Gobbledegook and Toll..."

"Anyone can speak Toll." Fred said dismissively, "All you have to do is point and grunt."

Percy shot him a nasty look and poked at the fire to bring the kettle back to a boil. Mr Weasley thought it was time for a change of conversation and shot a look to Fred and Percy to stop them glaring at one another.

"So Ludo, any news on old Bertha Jorkins?" Arthur asked.

Ludo sighed, comfortable in the spare chair he was occupying, "Not a dicky bird."

"Poor girl." Arthur shook his head, "Don't you feel like you should really be looking for her?" he said gently.

Ludo shrugged, "She'll turn up. She's got a memory like a sieve, always late or wondering off. Barty keeps saying we need to find her, he knows what she's like but she's a bit desperate about the whole thing. At the moment we just don't have the people to spare." he took another sip of tea, "Ah speak of the devil, I was just looking for you Barty."

Another wizard had just appeared by the fireside. He couldn't have looked more different than Ludo Bagman who was sprawled by the fireside, wearing his old Quidditch robes from when he'd been a professional player for the Wimbourne Wasps years ago.

Mr Crouch, who had just arrived, however was dressed in a smart suit; he had followed the muggle dress rule so well he could have passed as a bank manager. His greying hair was parted unnaturally straightly along the centre line and his toothbrush moustache expertly trimmed. His shoes were highly polished and Harry could see at once why someone like Percy would idolise him.

Lily however was not happy, "Danica, come help me set up the tent. Harry."

"I'm fine here." Harry smiled at her, he was comfortable and didn't really want to move.

Lily gave him a tight smile, "I'll just be in the tent." She took Danica's hand and walked into the tent quickly. Narcissa and Lucius also left and followed Lily into the tent, taking Draco with them.

"How odd." Percy said, "Can I interest you in a cup of tea, Mr Crouch?"

Mr Crouch looked round and saw Percy, looking slightly surprised, "Yes Weatherby, thank you."

Percy made the cup of tea for him and handed it over. Harry tried not to laugh at Percy being called 'Weatherby'.

"Anyway where have you been Bagman? I've been looking for you everywhere. Bulgaria want to put twelve more seats in the Ministers box."

"Oh that's what they want!" Ludo grinned, "I thought they wanted to borrow my tweezers. Bit of an accent."

Mr Crouch rolled his eyes, "I see."

Percy moved forward and did an awkward sort of half bow, "Would you like a seat Mr Crouch? You can have mine."

Mr Crouch nodded and took the seat, "Thank you Weatherby."

Fred and George did their best not to choke on their tea.

"I've actually been wanting a word with you Arthur." Mr Crouch said.

Mr Weasley looked up from where he was trying to get the fire hotter, "What can I do for you?"

"Me? Oh nothing, no it's just that Ali Bashir is on the warpath. He wants to talk to you about you rule on flying carpets."

Mr Weasley sighed, "I've told him before that it just can't be done. Carpets come under a muggle artefact in the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. I sent him a letter just last week, but will he listen?"

"Unlikely." Mr Crouch said, "He's rather desperate to import here."

Ludo waved his hand dismissively, "Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?"

"He thinks that there would be a market for them as transport for families, I remember my Grandfather had a wonderful Axminster that could seat twelve. Before they were banned of course." Mr Crouch said. He said it in a strange way, as if to point out there had never been anyone in his family that broke the law.

"So, been keeping busy Barty?" Bagman asked.

Mr Crouch sat up slightly straighter, "Well yes, rather. Organising Portkeys over five continents is rather a lot of work."

"I suspect you'll both be glad when it's all over." Arthur said, "Must have been so much work."

"All over?" Bagman looked shocked, "Not at all! I've never had so much fun! And even after the Quidditch World Cup is over, still got plenty of fun lined up hey Barty!"

"We agreed to wait to make the announcement." Mr Crouch said sharply.

Ludo Bagman waved his hand, like he was batting away a fly, "Oh they'll all know soon enough. They've all signed haven't they? And it's happening at Hogwarts-"

"We have to go meet the Bulgarians." Mr Crouch said, standing up quickly. He handed the mostly undrunk cup of tea to Percy and glared at Bagman until he stood as well.

"Nice to see you Arthur. Catch you soon!" Bagman said.

"Thank you for the tea Weatherby." Mr Crouch said.

They turned on the spot together and left the small camp. Harry wondered what was going on at Hogwarts this year that would have such high ranking Ministry officials involved. He remembered his Mother saying something about something happening this year as well.

He got up from the fireside and wondered into the tent. Lily was standing at the sink noisily doing the washing up.

"Pleeeease Mummy!" Danica begged, standing by the bed.

"Danica Rose James Snape you are NOT sleeping on the top bunk and that is enough!" Lily snapped, turning round to face her daughter. She spotted Harry and took several deep breaths, "Harry are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry shrugged, "What's up?"

"I didn't like you being out there with him. I wish you'd come in when I asked you too." Lily said. She'd gone over and given Danica a big hug, "Sorry I snapped but you can't go on the top bunk, you're too little. How about doing some drawing OK?"

Danica gave a little nod and sat at the table. Harry walked over to his mother and took over doing the washing up.

"Why don't you like him?" Harry asked.

Lily sighed, "Not here." she pointed to Danica and led Harry into the bedroom part of the tent, "During the war, Barty Crouch was in charge of rounding up the Death Eaters. However, he had strange ways of going about it. The man is ruthless Harry, I wouldn't trust him with a goldfish. He has no feeling, no compassion at all."

"What happened?" Harry said quietly.

"Narcissa ended up on the wrong side of one of the Aurors Crouch employed. This was after she had been cleared, they went to her house and used the...one of the unforgivable curses on her. It had been legalised, by Crouch, to try and fight those few who remained. She put in a complaint, of course, she wasn't the only one. He was well known for attacking those who had been cleared but it didn't matter. Crouch didn't care." Lily shook her head, "I just get very uneasy around him."

Harry nodded; he could understand why and was feeling rather unsure about having been sat next to the man himself. "How could he do that? The unforgivable curses are just that!" Harry said.

Lily nodded, "I agree with you. Most of us refused to even think about using them. I've seen people tortured, Harry and it's not nice. People don't do it because there is no other choice, they do it to make themselves feel better."

"Sorry." Harry said, "That I didn't come into the tent with you."

Lily shook her head, "It's fine. Just have to remind myself that you're all grown up."

Harry grinned.

"Knock knock." Fred said, sticking his head into the tent, Lily walked out the bedroom, followed by Harry.

"Hello Fred. What can I do for you?" Lily asked.

"How can you always tell us apart?" Fred laughed.

Lily smiled, "Trained to spot tiny differences I think."

Fred grinned, "Well we were just going for a wonder, does Danica and Harry want to come with us? You can as well of course."

Lily looked down at Harry, "I'm sure they'd love to go. I'll just grab my bag."

She picked up her handbag and took Danica's hand, walking out the tent. It wasn't long before Harry had seen several things he wanted to buy. There were small sellers everywhere, stretching out over the huge camp grounds.

"HARRY!"

Harry turned around to see Daphne and Pansy run over and give him a big hug.

"We're so glad we found you!" Pansy said, catching her breath.

"Where are you camping?" Harry asked.

"Over there." Daphne pointed over to a field a couple over from where Harry's tent was.

"Sucks we're not all together." Harry said, "Draco is next to us though, and the Weasleys."

"I'm so excited!" Daphne said, "Mum and Dad and Astoria have seats as well but nowhere near as good as ours."

"Is Neville here?" Pansy asked.

Harry shook his head, "No I got a letter. They had tickets but his Grandmother insisted they go to her birthday party instead. She moved it forward to clash with today."

"Ugh, that sucks." Pansy shook her head.

Harry nodded, "Not surprised though, his Grandmother has never been all that fond of Quidditch."

"Harry, come look at these." Lily called walking back towards them.

"Hi Danica, Mrs Snape." Daphne smiled.

Danica gave them both a big wave.

"Hello girls." Lily smiled, "I just found these Omnioculars, I think they'd be worth it for the match."

Harry nodded and wondered over with Pansy and Daphne.

"Brilliant these things!" The salesman said, "They can slow down, rewind and even pause anything you can see! Record bits to save for later! Bargain at just ten Galleons each."

Harry looked over them and nodded to his mum. She smiled and bought both him and Danica a pair. Daphne and Pansy also got some as they continued to wander around.

"Hey Harry!" Ron said as they all regrouped at one of the stalls.

Draco was also their with his parents, Narcissa looking rather white faced still.

"Find anything good?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded until he was distracted by a group of stunningly beautiful women behind Harry. Ron moved forward, talking about how he was a famous inventor.

Harry grabbed his sleeve. There was something strangely hypnotising about the women but he didn't want Ron embarrassing himself; they were giving snotty looks to anyone who talked to them.

Danica saw them however and walked straight over, pulling on the corner of the tallest ladies silver robes.

"You're very pretty." Danica said.

The woman's face softened at Danica and she smiled lovingly, "Lele, kolko so sladka! Goliama si krasavitsa."

Lily moved forward and took Danica's hand, "Sorry to disturb you."

"Non non, she is beautiful." The woman smiled as the others in the group cooed over Danica before waving goodbye.

"I need to get a little sister." Ron said, staring love-sickly at the women.

"Excuse me!" Ginny snapped.

Ron snapped out of his trance, "Well you know. A little little one. A cute one."

Ginny looked like she could have slapped him and stormed off to another stall. It wasn't long before Mr Weasley informed them it was time to make their way to their seats. He handed Lily the two tickets for her and Danica and apologised again for not being able to get more.

Harry wondered why he hadn't been able to get more when the Bulgarians had just added another twelve last minute. He wasn't about to worry about it now though as he said goodbye to his mother and felt the excitement grow.

The stadium was huge! Bigger than Harry could have even imagined. Thousands and thousands of people were moving slowly through the gates. Mr Weasley stopped and handed over a large stack of tickets.

"Minister's box?" the worker said, "Very nice."

Harry held tightly to Hermione and Ron's hands as they made their way through the crowds so they didn't get separated. They climbed higher and higher until Harry's legs were aching from so many steps.

"How high is the box?" Harry asked.

"Well put it this way, if it rains we'll be the first to know." Draco smirked, having caught up with them.