Protégée (George Weasley)

Chapter One

Lisa envisioned herself being ran over by a one hundred ton train, all the while constantly digging her hands into a clear glass bowl of peanuts. She thought, with greatest sincerity, that she would much rather prefer getting ran over than to sit in her seat for another minute.

Camera flashes were going off continuously, and she was convinced that before everything was over, she would have already went blind. Her mother, the all glorious Cynthia Branson, was sitting to her left, back straight against the chair whereas Lisa was slouching. Many times has she been reprimanded about it, and many times has she expressed how much she couldn't care less.

"Mrs. Branson!" a journalist in the far right corner of the crowded conference room called out continuously until he was called on to speak. "How do you feel about the new managerial assignment for the national teams?"

A camera-ready smile was painted across the face of Lisa's mother, drawing her wand closer to her mouth before she spoke, which enhanced the volume of her voice, "As far as I know, all the National teams have been assigned to very wonderful people that I have also worked with in the past. The managers are all equally skilled and competent which makes me certain, that each and every match leading to the World Cup will be very thrilling."

A wave of murmurs passed through the crowds, quills scratching speedily against parchment in hopes of using her statement for an article. Another journalist raised her hand, "Your husband's been assigned to your old team, the Scots. How do you think he will do with managing them?"

"Seeing as I am his wife, he already has my vote of confidence," she joked, a few people up front laughing. Lisa restrained herself from rolling her eyes.

"But in all seriousness, I do believe Martin will do justice to my former team, who's suffered a terrible loss against Luxembourg during the previous year. The Scots will be in good hands, and will be prepared in time for the next World Cup."

"And how are you with coming to terms with managing the Welsh team?"

"They are an amazing, talented lot of people," she smiled, "I am looking forward to working with them, very, very much."

The Quidditch Managerial Assigning happened every year after the concluding of the Quidditch World Cup. It is basically christmas morning for all quidditch players and fans alike. Every four years, National teams across the world are given new managers that will lead them to either success or failure.

Lisa's mother, who played for the Scots in 1978, and her father, who used to be a Chaser for the Tutshill Tornadoes, were two of the most qualified team managers in the industry. Ofcourse, Lisa could barely share the sentiment. She never really cared that much about her parents' fame in the Quidditch world.

"Alright, Mrs. Branson has taken enough questions for today," a man called, which only made the sea of reporters become more persistent with getting their questions across. Cynthia looked at the crowd fondly, before addressing the event manager, "I will take one last question, if you please."

"Very well... One last question," he grunted, in obvious displeasure, as they were already past their alloted time. The next team Manager was waiting backstage for his time to be interviewed. A reporter at the front was chosen to deliver the final question, "Does your eldest daughter have any plans on following you and your husband's footsteps in the Quidditch industry?"

There it was. The one question always asked whenever Lisa was anywhere near either of her parents during their Quidditch-centric functions.

She could not express how much she disliked being asked about it, especially in redundancy. Her mother always answered with the same careful voice, "My daughter will realize her calling in the Quidditch industry. And she will make a name for herself when the time comes."

Lisa wondered whether or not her parents were aware of the lack of enthusiasm towards Quidditch that all their children expressed.

With the exception of Callan, who liked to toss around a Quaffle with them, and has also expressed multiple times on how he was going to try out for the Gryffindor team as soon as he could, which meant this year, as it is his second year at Hogwarts. Maisie—Callan's twin— on the other hand, was a very indoorsy person and could never be bothered with strenuous sports. And Lisa? Well, she couldn't really picture herself in that position.

The hot, Luxembourg weather greeted them as they stepped outside of the building, Lisa's father waiting for them by a car that was rented out for them, an umbrella in hand.

"How was the conference, sweetie?" Martin planted a tender kiss on his wife's cheek, opening the door to the passenger's seat for her. Lisa clambered in to the backseat, wanting nothing more but to escape the scalding sun. "Oh it was fine, you know, the usual questions. Nothing I couldn't answer, ofcourse."

"Did you have fun, Lisa?" her father asked her, and once again she had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. What do you think? She wanted to reply, with as much hostility packed in to her words. Instead she shrugged, "Its been the same ever since. I don't know how it could be different...Tell me, why did you two have to take me on this trip again?"

"Well, darling we thought you'd love a one week extension to your summer vacation. And besides, you haven't been to Luxembourg yet."

"You thought wrong, then." she replied, a little bit of an edge to her voice, "I'm in my sixth year now, mum, dad. You should have let me go on the train with Callan and Maisie. I can't afford to miss any of the lessons."

"Oh stop fussing about that, Elisabeth. We contacted Dumbledore and made sure to verify that there was nothing too important on the first week of school." Martin reassured, starting up the engine of the car. "And Professor McGonagall was kind enough to agree to send you a copy of your time table two days before you leave."

"You two are both very aware that you can't so easily pull me out of classes anymore, right? Especially when all there is to it is for me to make an appearance with both of you like an accessory."

"We're not accessorizing you," her mum replied, "I don't know where you got that idea from, Elisabeth, but I assure you that you can do what you want to do. If you had only told us that you didn't want to go on this trip..."

"I did!" she exclaimed wearily, "Multiple times, infact. You just never listen to what I want."

"Okay, that's enough," Martin declared, "Don't raise your voice when talking to your mother. This trip is already happening, and you cannot do anything about it anymore, alright? So bear with it for the time being, the lesser you whine, the quicker you'll find yourself on the way to Hogwarts.

And she did just that, tightening her grip around her sanity during the next few days of roaming around Luxembourg. Like any European country she's set foot in her whole life, there was nothing that caught her attention apart from Muggle history museums and art galleries, which her parents didn't bother with. She was itching to come back to Hogwarts, to be with Noel again.

Her thoughts drifted to her O.W.L. results, which she had received weeks prior to the trip. She was quite proud of her results, and wondered whether it would be enough to paint a smile across Florence's face. The now seventh year Ravenclaw who was of great help to her as a willing academic tutor. Lisa made a mental note to tell Florence as soon as she got the chance to.

Throughout the last few days she had with her parents, they tried several times to strike up a conversation, but were shut down almost immediately.

It wasn't because she hated them entirely, but because it was hard to talk about anything at all with them. Her parents were barely interested in anything that she liked, which leaned more on the academic side of things.

She wasn't proud of her relationship with them, and wished for it to be better. But they were just too immersed in their careers that they can barely see her properly.

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a.n: Short first chapter, I know. It's more on Lisa's background and all... Next chapter will be fun! But what do you think so far?

-Denise