Protected Ivory [2]

Four

"Ivory, you'd better be ready!" Narcissa yelled up the stairs. I sighed and grabbed my bag before heading down the stairs. It was way to early to be awake, but we had an appointment to keep. We were Apparating to the grounds were the Cup was being held, but with the amount of wizards attending, we had to go at a specific time. Ours was at 5:30 in the morning. I would be going with Narcissa while Draco with Lucius. Narcissa and I were used to going together, but Draco hadn't yet experienced side-along Apparition. "Ivory!"

"I'm right here," I said, stepping off the last stair to stand before them outside the sitting room. "I'm ready."

She scowled at me as she took in my shorts and sweater. We had a tent to set up while there so I figured I could get dressed there. Plus, I planned on taking a little nap while we waited for everyone else to arrive. There were a lot of people who had been there for two weeks already, but I knew a lot of people were arriving today. 

"Where is Draco?" Lucius asked, coming into the room completely dressed for the day already. His eyes landed on me and he scowled like Narcissa. "Really, Iv?"

"I'm going back to sleep once the tent is set up," I pointed out. "I could just wrinkle my clothes."

"Draco!" Narcissa called up the stairs instead of responding to my comment. I heard some movement up the stairs, but not much. "Really, we have to leave in a few minutes."

"Why don't you two go ahead," Lucius sighed, straightening his shirt sleeves as he headed towards the stairs. "I'll get Draco."

"Are you sure?" she asked, grabbing her purse. She had already told me it was enchanted in order to keep everything in there. 

"Positive," he said, sighing as he began back up the stairs. 

Narcissa just shook her head and looked at me. "Why are you so gloomy?"

"I'm really not looking forward to this," I admitted, sighing. I took her arm as I saw the time getting closer to 5:30. "I'm not a big fan of Quidditch and I'm not a big fan of dealing with all of this."

"You mean because one of our secrets will be out?" she asked, offering me a kind smile. "It was only a matter of time."

"Doesn't make it any easier," I pointed out, yawning. 

"You have the muggle money, correct?"

"Yeah, Lucius gave it to me when he awoke me rudely," I said, showing it to her as I pulled it out of my pocket. 

"Good," she said, looking towards the stairs, where we could hear a good deal of noise now. "He must have fallen back asleep."

"Sucks to be him," I snorted. 

"Hold on," Narcissa said, chuckling with me. 

With an audible crack, the Malfoy sitting room had disappeared and we were standing before a tired looking Ministry official with a clipboard. It looked like there were about six different spots people could Apparate to, each with its own Ministry official. Ours glanced at us with an indifference that annoyed Narcissa. 

"Narcissa Malfoy," she said and we watched the official mark something on his clipboard. Next to us, I heard another crack and Lucius appeared with Draco, who looked slightly green from the trip. 

"Your camp site is that way," he pointed. "Now please, be on your way. We have a lot of people Apparating in this morning."

"Come along," Lucius said, pushing Draco to get him to start moving. He took my hand to pull me along, apparently needing us all to stay together. 

"Have a nice trip?" I asked Draco, who was walking on the other side of Narcissa, who kept her arm looped with his. 

"How are you not feeling dizzy?" he snapped, glaring at me.