Karina Potter, Aunt Marauder

Chapter 12

"Look how high we are, Harry!" Karina told him excitedly as they walked up a few thousand flights of steps it felt like. "It's almost as if we'll be flying with the players!"

"Well, let's hope the Quaffle doesn't hit you on the way down." Came an awfully familiar voice.

"Lucius Malfoy." The name was like ice on her tongue. "What are you doing here? If I recall, the devil's apprentice was never a fan of Quidditch."

"I know, but my son Draco wanted to come, and Narcissa seems to find it difficult saying no to him." Malfoy told her, drawing attention to Narcissa, who held the hand of a small boy, who looked as much like his father as Harry did to James. "Though, I didn't expect you to come, Potter. What, were they giving away tickets for being some sort of hero?"

"We earned our tickets." Karina told him coldly. "Unlike you, we don't have to buy our way to the top." Malfoy sniffed disdainfully.

"Then I best not allow my son to associate with the common folk such as you and your son." Then he took Narcissa by the arm and pulled her and Draco away, Karina waving to Draco. After all, the little boy hadn't done anything. She would be kind to him. But his father deserved none of it.

She brought Harry up the stands, and found vendors bringing around little treats, special binoculars, and little pin that looked like little cups of tea with real steam for the English team. Karina wasn't sure who else was playing, but she'd already explained to Harry that they were cheering for England, the Wimbourne Wasps, through and through.

"What does your pin smell like, Hairy Harry?" She asked him, and he put his pin up to his nose.

"Peach!" He told her gleefully, kicking his legs wildly. "Peach! Peach! Peach! Peach!" Karina laughed and sniffed her pin.

"Mine smells like pomegranate." She told him. "Yummy!" That was the announcer came on, and the players zoomed out onto the field.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports's, voice came floating across the stadium. "Boys and girls of all ages! Welcome to the field! The Bulgarian team!" That was when Karina saw them. A couple of beautiful women dancing across the field.

"Veelas!" She exclaimed, then covered Harry's eyes. "Plug your ears, Harry!" He didn't need to be exposed to that at such a young age. Stupid women, Veelas were, in her opinion. She'd only met one when she was younger, and it was the only girl that could make James fall to his knees other than Lily. She had used her looks to fly through school, and made everyone go ga ga for her.

Karina hated Veelas, and it bothered her that the Bulgarians thought that they could use them now. At least the English didn't have a mascot of any sort. There wasn't much that represented England.

"Phew!" Bagman sighed as the Veelas left the field. "Nice dance there, ladies! Could have made me lose my job!" And that was when Karina let Harry unplug his ears. "Now, lets get the game started!" Karina watched as the referee struggled onto the field with the box that held all of the Quidditch balls, before reaching the centre of the field and opening the box, releasing the Quaffle and the Bludgers. "The Quaffle is out, the Bludgers are attacking already, and the Snitch has been released!" Karina hadn't seen it at first, but the Snitch had indeed been released, and was zooming all over the field. "And Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova takes the Quaffle immediately, though she had better watch out for English Chaser Remington, who plans on winning the Cup this year!"

"Come on, Remington!" Karina shouted. "She's not even that fast! My grandmother could move faster than you!"

"And Remington is blocked by Bulgarian Chaser Levski! Bulgaria is not giving up so easy!" Bagman called, and Karina jumped up from her seat.

"Come on! Where's the rest of England's Chasers!? Get in there, you pompous arseholes!"

"Mama said a bad word!" Harry shouted, reminding Karina that she was there with her two year old nephew.

"Sorry, Harry." She told him, sitting back down. "It's hard not to say bad words when you know they could play better."

"And the Quaffle is blocked by English Keeper Sendrews and a Bludger knocks it into England's favour!" That was when Harry jumped up and pointed at the field.

"Snitch! Snitch! Snitch!" He called. Karina grabbed the binoculars she ha bought and zoomed in on where Harry had been pointing, reversing it back a bit, and sure enough, the Snitch had been there! And she wasn't the only one who had seen it.

"Looks like the Seekers had some unexpected help from the audience- holy Merlin! Is that Harry Potter?" Shoot! Karina stood up next to Harry, just in case she needed to protect him from anyone, but luckily everyone was still focused on the game.

The two Seekers, Thomas Stout from the English team and Erika Venerez from Bulgaria followed the Snitch as Harry pointed at it. Neck and neck, they flew, following the tiny gold ball.

"Its going to be close!" Bagman called, his focus returning to the game. "Stout's nearly there- Venerez- Stout- Venerez- And its Stout! Thomas Stout has caught the Snitch, earning England one hundred and fifty points and the Quidditch World Cup!" The entire English crowd went wild, Stout flying up into the centre, holding the Snitch up for everyone to see.

"Yay! Yayayayayayay!" Harry shouted, making Karina laugh.

As soon as they got the chance, they left the stands to head back to the apparating points, only to stumble into Thomas Stout himself!

"Karina Potter." He murmured, crossing his arms, smiling. "Last time I saw you, it was on the Hogwarts Quidditch field." She smiled back and nodded.

"I believe so. You were the Hufflepuff Seeker. And now look at you. Earning England its first win in the World Cup in years!" He shrugged, and Karina daw that familiar glance at Harry, who was holding her hand.

"Well, look at you! Raising the Boy Who Lived, there! And an Auror, always impressive!" She shrugged.

"Its not much different from raising a normal child." She told him. "After all, Harry just had the misfortune of meeting You-Know-Who at such a young age. And now he's famous for it."  Stout nodded.

"Still, very impressive." Then he saw a load of his fans, and gave her a small salute. "I've got to. Good seeing you, Potter!" She gave him a playful salute back.

"Back at you, Stout." Then he hurried off, and she looked down at Harry. "Now, come on Harry! We've got a party to get to!"

(You British people with your crazy tea flavours! Whatever happened to Earl Grey or Chamomile? I Googled tea flavours because I didn't know what those two smelled like.)