Rare Illusions ~ Ron Weasley

one

Regina and Derek Grey were "entirely too busy" to bother taking their only daughter to the Quidditch World Cup, so Narcissa Malfoy offered that her husband and Draco would take her, which is how Lorelei Grey ended up walking through the loud chaos of the Irish and Bulgarian Quidditch fans.

Lorelei wore a long-sleeve black turtleneck under a striking emerald slip dress with her long naturally blonde hair slightly curled and black combat boots, and Draco was wearing a black suit similar to his father's with his hair parted on the side, not nearly as much gel as he used in the first and second year. They almost looked like they could be twins, had Lorelei been taller and had two grey eyes, instead of two green ones. She shivered slightly, the night air of fall creating goose-bumps on her exposed skin. The three were walking to the minister's box, Draco occasionally saying something to his cousin which she would laugh quietly at or respond. They were very high up, and Lorelei was trying hard not to look down until she was safely seated in the box.

"Blimey, Dad! How far up are we?" They heard the voice of Ron Weasley, and immediately Lucius interjected.

"Well, put it this way; if it rains, you'll be the first to know." He and Draco walked over the edge of the platform closest to where the Weasley were standing, Lorelei a little farther back.

"Father and I are in the minister's box, with Lorelei too, of course. By personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself!" Draco yelled, and then Lucius turned and hit his son in the chest.

"Don't boast Draco. There's no need with these people." Draco smirked at his father's words, but Lorelei kept her eyes on the Weasleys and the other people with them. She made brief eye contact with Ron before turning away. Harry Potter pulled Hermione away from the edge and started to walk away with the rest of them when Lorelei's uncle caught his foot with the end of his cane. Harry turned back, as did Arthur Weasley and all the children. "Do enjoy yourself, won't you? While you can." He then gave a fake smile and removed his cane from Harry's foot, adjusting his robes, and leading the children away. He muttered things under his breath that Draco and Lorelei couldn't hear, and then they reached the Minister's box. The minister himself went and introduced the teams, and started the game. Lorelei didn't really go to the Quidditch World Cup to watch Quidditch, she came to get away from her boring house.

The Grey mansion sat on a hill, with rooms and rooms and rooms of empty, boring wallpaper and wood flooring. Maids and House-elves occupied most of the rooms, and Lorelei's parents were on the opposite side of the large house from their daughter. Lorelei loved the color green, so her room had white walls and a singular accent wall of black, but it had green plants, and vines, and curtains, her sheets, blankets, and pillows all silky emerald green. She thought that dark green made her eyes pop, so she didn't care that it made her look paler than she really was, or that it made her platinum hair look almost white. Most of the clothes in her closet were in shades of green, so the few things she had that weren't green or black stuck out like a sore thumb.

Lorelei must have shivered while she was thinking of her home because Draco draped his suit jacket around her shoulders, the warm fabric snapping her back into reality. She grabbed her book and started to read it, occasionally looking up when Draco nudged her about a really cool move made by a player. She always smiled when Draco was like this- happy, not being drowned in his parent's expectation, actually nice. Lorelei knew that Draco was a huge softie, but with his parents being who they were, he had to put up a cold front.

"Lore! Did you see that?" Draco often yelled, which made the young blond smile.

"No, I didn't. What happened?" She'd reply, even if she had managed to see what Draco was talking about because she liked when Draco was acting like a real person. 'Lore' was a nickname Pansy gave her in the first year, and it was used by most of the Slytherins, but not usually by her cousin.

Once the Quidditch game ended with Ireland winning even though Viktor Krum caught the Snitch, The three blondes left the Minister's box and to a very large tent. After twenty or so minutes, Lucius left the tent, leaving Draco and Lorelei to do whatever they wanted. Lorelei sat on her bed in the tent, having taken off her combat boots and switched to a pair of fluffy green socks instead of the black ones she had been previously wearing. She laid back on her bed, shoving her legs under the blankets and grabbing a book.

"Thank you for letting me borrow your jacket, Draco." Lorelei startled her cousin, who was staring off into space. He whirled around with wide eyes but then relaxed.

"Oh, yeah, you're welcome I suppose." He responded, rubbing the back of his neck. The cousins went back to ignoring each other and for about five minutes it was quiet except for the fireworks going off for the Irish. The fireworks got louder and louder until suddenly, Lorelei and Draco looked up at each other, hearing screams. Lorelei jumped up, grabbing her bag that was charmed to fit absolutely anything in it, shoving all her belongings into it, and then pulling her boots back on her feet.

"Draco we should find your father." Lorelei spoke as she moved to get all of her things.

"Yeah, probably." He muttered back. The two blondes quickly left their tent and were met with people running around screaming, pushing each other over, and a few tents that were on fire. After Lorelei and Draco made it to safety, a few hours later all the fire had gone out and most of the people had left. The two blondes were waiting for Lucius to come back, and Draco had dozed off slightly. Lorelei heard a loud crash, followed by a man's voice shouting a spell. The sky lit up, showing a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Lorelei gasped when she realized it was the Death Eater's so-called "Dark Mark". Lorelei thought to wake up her cousin, but then saw something, or rather, someone.

She knew it was Harry Potter once she heard the Weasleys calling out to him, but she also saw a figure who cast the Dark Mark running off. She watched the man until he disappeared, and then turned back to see Hermione and Ron standing with Harry. All of a sudden, a bunch of people appeared, all casting the Stupify jinx at the same time. The three ducked, and then Arthur Weasley ran out calling "That's my son." The group of people talked for a moment before they ran off in the direction the man went, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing with Arthur.

All of them were looking around, Hermione was shivering slightly, and then Harry and Arthur both looked up at the Dark Mark. Ron's eyes were still wandering, and for a second, they caught the light green of Lorelei's, before turning away to pretend like he hadn't seen her.

Lucius came back suddenly, smacking Draco's hand with the snakehead on his cane to wake him up, telling them both to get up. They walked in silence and eventually made it back to Lorelei's mansion to drop her off before once again, Draco and Lucius were gone.

~~1296 words