Percy finished filing the paperwork that Mr. Crouch had foisted off onto him. It seemed, lately, that Barty Crouch Sr. was out of the office more than he was in, even though there were several important events that the Department of International Cooperation was helping oversee. Many days he left Percy with paperwork or a list of things that needed doing, or both, and only showed up when he had meetings or needed to sign paperwork.

A part of it, Percy though, was that Crouch was being pulled through the mud in The Daily Prophet. From what Percy had gleaned from reading the paper was that Crouch had been in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the end of the First War and had issued the arrest warrant for Sirius Black among other things.

According to the paper, by the time the First War ended, Crouch had managed to get permission from the ministry for the aurors to use extremely aggressive spell work that was normally off limits to the aurors, and he had encouraged and created an environment where aurors acted first and asked questions later leading to many false arrests or injured prisoners. He had, after his own son was revealed to be a Death Eater, been moved to the Department of International Cooperation, a disgrace to the DMLE. He had, however, in recent years, regained much of his lost respect and status within the ministry.

Only to have it come crashing down with Sirius Black.

Crouch had ordered the aurors after Sirius Black. Had given the order to take him directly to Azkaban instead of the ministry holding cells. It had been his responsibility to ensure Lord Black was duly processed and given a fair trial. None of which he had done.

Of course, Mr. Crouch was not fully to blame, Percy thought. He knew Dumbledore had had the power to call for a trial, he was pretty certain Dumbledore was Chief Warlock even then. Or maybe he wasn't Chief Warlock then . . . but either way . . . Dumbledore still had a lot of pull at the ministry during those dark days. Or at least that's what he had heard throughout most of his life.

He personally thought Dumbledore needed to be thrown under the bus with Mr. Crouch. He had wanted to yell at the man when the headmaster had come by the Burrow the other day for dinner and a chat with his parents about Harry and his change of guardianship. Dumbledore was very concerned about Lord Black becoming Harry's guardian, especially after twelve years in prison. He was worried that Harry might get confused, being a ward of Lord Black but left alone with Remus and never seeing his guardian.

Which was stupid, because Professor Lupin was Harry's co-guardian, which meant he had equal guardianship rights to Harry. Percy had looked it up.

Thankfully, even though his parents had not done anything to really disagree with Dumbledore, he had caught his siblings rolling their eyes. Not that their parents had been quick to agree with Dumbledore either, which was very different from their usual actions regarding the man. Their mother tended to admire the man to the point of idol worship and their father held great respect for the man.

Percy finished straightening his desk and glanced at the clock. Time for lunch. He secured his desk area with a quick ward that Marcus had taught him last year and left the department. He had just reached the lifts when he ran into Teddy Lawrence.

"Ah, Percy Weasley, just the man I was looking for!" Teddy cried. Percy eyed him a little critically. He and Teddy had never run in the same circles while at Hogwarts. He had, of course, known Frank Treworgy who was now married to Teddy, as Frank had been a Slytherin prefect. Still, only two years separated them, so they were not strangers to each other.

"What can I do for you?" Percy asked.

"Lunch," Teddy answered, motioning for Percy to step ahead of him into the lift. "I'd like to speak with you."

"What about?"

"Our mutual friend," Teddy said, "Little Miss Muggleborn."

"She hates being called little," Percy commented.

"She's too darn cute not to call little," Teddy answered. "Maybe if she has a growth spurt . . ." he shrugged with a grin. "It's nothing bad, but I would like to chat with you since I feel that . . . our interests will cross paths not just for ourselves but for her."

Intrigued, Percy agreed to lunch. Teddy and he entered the ministry canteen and Percy showed his ministry badge which allowed him to get the food at the canteen for free. Teddy, as someone who did not work for the ministry, still had to pay. Percy chose a soup, salad, and butterbeer. Teddy chose a thick sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, tomatoes, and chicken. They settled at a table in the corner of the canteen and Teddy erected a quick silencing ward so no one could overhear them.

"I'd like to know more about the World Cup," Teddy said after a minute of eating. "And these rumors surrounding the Triwizard Tournament."

"I thought you said this had to do with Aria."

"It does. In a roundabout way. It mostly concerns Lord Black and Harry Potter. By default, then, it involves Aria Bourne because she and Harry are nearly attached at the hip. I half expect them to get married someday."

"I don't think that's on either of their minds."

"Yes, Percy. Yet. I've got a pool going with the alumni. Would you like in?"

Percy gaped.

"You've got a betting pool about who Aria Bourne ends up marrying?" he cried. "What if she doesn't get married right out of Hogwarts?"

"Oh, this all has to happen within seven years of graduation," Teddy answered. "Else it's null and void and the proceeds will go to the scholarship program at Hogwarts. I've got her marrying Harry Potter two years after graduation. Frank seems to think she'll remain unmarried for four years and end up marrying a yet unknown chap."

"Do I dare ask who else is involved in this pool?"

"Prudence Attlebury thinks she will marry Draco Malfoy though she was quite hesitant to put a time frame on it, but eventually settled on four years."

Percy shook his head. Slytherins were weird!

"Anyway," Teddy continued, "what can you tell me about the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament? Strictly off the record. You understand?"

Percy did. And he could not help but grin.

"The biggest concern is that there will be a lot of important foreign dignitaries at the World Cup," Percy told him. "Not only is the Bulgarian Minister of Magic showing up with other government officials, the Tsar and his family will also be present."

Teddy raised an eyebrow.

"The Tsar?" he cried. "They rarely make internationally appearances. Merlin, half the time I forget Bulgaria's a constitutional monarchy!"

"As you can imagine, the security concern is enormous," Percy said. "The Department of International Cooperation has been working with our aurors and theirs to ensure security is in place. However, security must be even greater, because I have it on very good authority that Harry Potter will be coming to the World Cup. No one wants him mobbed."

Teddy shook his head.

"I think that'd kill the kid," he said. Percy nodded.

"As for the Triwizard Tournament, the biggest concern is that the headmaster of Durmstrang is Igor Karkaroff."

"I've heard the name but am not familiar with him."

"He was a Death Eater," Percy explained, "a Bulgarian national whose very sparse family were Grindelwald supporters."

Teddy whistled.

"There also remains a lot of anti-Muggle sentiment in Eastern Europe," Percy told Teddy. "In many ways, Eastern Europe is more progressive than Britain. Just look at their werewolf laws. Only Hungary and Serbia continue to be hold outs, like Britain. However, Bulgaria is still a stronghold for pureblood supremacy. Durmstrang still has yet to admit Muggleborn students."

"I remember reading something about that," Teddy commented.

"Most likely. They were meant to already begin admitting Muggleborns. Some agreement they had with the ICW, but they haven't yet."

Teddy nodded and they fell into silence, each in their own thoughts.

"Do you think Durmstrang will be a problem for Aria?" Teddy suddenly asked. Percy shrugged.

"I don't know," he answered. "Because I don't know who Karkaroff will choose to represent the school. I know Madam Bones has wanted a list, but the Bulgarians are being evasive and will only discuss such things with Crouch. On top of that, the Triwizard Tournament is not going to be announced until the school year starts!"

"Seriously?" Teddy cried.

"Yes. Ministry gag order, so you can't reveal the information outside the bounds of the ministry. Not that a lot of people know about it in the first place. I'm surprised how hush-hush they have managed to keep it."

Teddy frowned.

"If I can't reveal the information once I leave the ministry, it will be difficult to prep Harry for anything," he muttered. "Lord Black will not be pleased."

"I'm sure there's a loophole somewhere," Percy said, polishing off the lentil soup. "I can look into that for you."

"Down right Slytherin of you, Weasley."

"Well . . . I've been hanging out with Marcus Flint too much. He and Oliver are quite good friends . . . frenemies I believe is the term Penny used."

"Ah yes, I had heard you and Wood were dating. If you don't mind me asking, when did that happen?"

"We . . . started dancing around each other fourth year and finally got together early fifth year. It just . . . we were friends beforehand, and it just seemed like the logical progression. Isn't that what happened with you and Frank?"

Teddy laughed.

"I was your stereotypical Slytherin pureblood," Teddy told Percy. "Truth be told, my parents did not raise me like that, but Dad is the lawyer to quite a lot of old purebloods and . . . well . . . some things made an impression on me as a child. Frank ended up making a greater impression."

Teddy was distracted from saying anything else. Percy glanced over his shoulder at where Teddy was staring. On the other side of the canteen Barty Crouch Sr. stared at them. With a start, he realized they had caught him, and he turned sharply and exited.

"Mr. Crouch has always given me the creeps," Teddy muttered. "Dad use to be his lawyer, but refuses to represent him now."

"Because of the issues with him while Head of the DMLE?" Percy asked.

"I think that's only a part of it," Teddy admitted. "But he stopped representing him when I was a kid, before the war ended. He's always told me not to be alone with him. Guess he gives Dad the creeps too."

A chill wandered up Percy's spine. Teddy took down the silencing ward and they parted ways with plans to have dinner together with their partners.

Crouch was in the office when Percy returned.

"What were you doing speaking to the Lawrence boy?" Crouch demanded. Percy paused in the doorway of Crouch's office.

"Just catching up, Mr. Crouch," Percy answered.

"I didn't realize you were friends with the Lawrences."

"We have mutual friends, sir."

Crouch hmphed and went back to the paperwork Percy had left on his desk. Percy took the opportunity to escape back to his desk and settle in with the new paperwork that had been dropped off over lunch. Something about the thickness of cauldron bottoms being imported into the country.

As he worked through the paperwork, his mind wandered back to the conversation with Teddy. It was clear that Lord Black was worried about Harry and that the Lawrences were worried about their biggest client. Lord Black would not be the only client affected if things went south for the World Cup, but he would be if things went south in the Triwizard Tournament. Someone with Grindelwald or Voldemort sympathies could take a pot shot at Harry. Worse, Aria was in a House that would probably closely associate with the Durmstrang delegation, and Harry was best friends with her and could get caught in the crossfire. Not that he would want to avoid anything. Harry, like so many of the students, was rather protective of Hogwarts' Muggleborn Slytherin.

Percy did not think Aria even knew how much people went out of there, generally, to keep unpleasantness away from her. Except for a few times when the students were going after Slytherins en masse, or when the twerp Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff was involved, most students tended to want to protect her. There was just something about her!

He remembered when she shared her cookies with him her first year. She had not even known him well, just that he was the big brother of her friend. She was kind, even when others were mean, though she was no push over. And she was as protective of Harry and he was of her, so anything that happened to him she would most likely be involved in.

Their first year was an example of that!

Percy was certain Harry was not involved in anything that happened the year Aria killed the basilisk, but again, he did not know any details.

Making a snap decision, Percy pulled a blank piece of parchment to out and scribbled out a few concerns that he had regarding the World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, and Crouch. Sealing it, he wrote "LORD SEPTIMUS WEASLEY, BRITAIN ICW OFFICE 1" and put it in the outgoing Secure Mailbox used to send secure mail throughout the ministry when written communication was too sensitive to put into the flying memos.

He suspected that his grandfather would not take too kindly to what the anonymous letter of concern had to say.