Found AIAOY 4

Chapter 3

The seemingly never-ending stairs to the top box had to end eventually, far quicker than Fred and Rebecca had thought that they would.  Inside, they found that the box was lined up perfectly on the mid-pitch line and that the chairs were a bright purple colour.  

Arthur went to thank Ludo one last time for the tickets and to greet other present colleagues as the stands below were slowly filled in.  The kids situated themselves into their two rows: Ron, Harry, Rebecca, Fred, Hermione, and Ginny taking the front row while Charlie, Arthur, Bill, George, and Percy took the row directly behind.

"Hello Arthur."  A tight voice spoke from behind the Weasley patriarch as he returned to his family.  Lucius' cane tapped the floor annoyingly, making it seem as if even just greeting the Weasleys bored him.

"Hello, Lucius."  The men exchanged an uncomfortable handshake in front of Cornelius Fudge, hiding their extreme distaste for each other for the minister's sake.  Draco had his head turned out, looking over the pitch with a blank expression.

"Say hello to your friends, Draco."  Narcissa said sour-sweetly, grabbing his shoulder and turning him towards the mass of children.  He winced, her nails digging into him.

"Hello."  His lack of enthusiasm only irritated Narcissa further.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear.  "If you do not use your manners, I will beat them into you so help me."  Her long, dual-coloured hair hid her words from the other children and she pushed Draco forward a step when she was finished threatening him, turning to join the conversation happening between Arthur, Lucius, and Fudge.

Rebecca nodded her head to Draco, the only one to propose conversation.  "How has your summer been?"

Draco shrugged.  "Haven't done much really."  Rebecca started to talk about anything, trying to fill the silence that threatened to cover them entirely.  Slowly but surely, those behind her began to chat amongst themselves while she and those closest to her engaged with Draco.

"Last year, with the-"  Draco looked to his side carefully to make sure his parents weren't listening.  "With the hippogriff.  You didn't have anything to do with its escape, did you?"

Rebecca's smile faltered a moment before returning with a forced quality to it that Draco noticed.  "I don't know what you're talking about.  Like I was saying though-"

"I never pictured you for such a bad liar, Potter."  Draco interrupted her, anger and rudeness coming out of him instinctively.

Fred turned from where he had been behind her with only half of his attention on Rebecca and Malfoy while Harry did the same on her other side.

"Say it again, Malfoy."  Harry, when he wanted to--when his family needed defending--could sound menacing.  "Say it."

"You should find your seat, I think."  Charlie had risen at the impending brawl and laid a hand on Fred and Harry's shoulders.  Glancing towards the Malfoys' seats, Charlie looked down at the boy.  He hoped it was clear that working with dragons had given him not only a shocking level of strength, but a sense that he wasn't to be messed with either.  "Now."  

Draco left them and walked past the adults, going to his seat and staring straight ahead at the pitch.  Lucius' eyes flitted between Harry and Rebecca, watching as the Potter twins turned to each other quietly.

"Don't pay him any mind, he's just a prat."  Harry said, sitting down next to Rebecca with a sigh.

Hermione leaned forward so that she could see Rebecca, to make sure all was okay.  "Speaking of last year..."  Hermione could hardly contain her laughter to say what she was thinking about.  "When I punched him!"