Women Woes and Quidditch Quarreling (Part Three)

"Oww," Harry moaned from the ground near the Quidditch World Cup underneath several grumbling bodies a few weeks later. He had only himself to blame for these circumstances. Like seemingly every other method of wizarding transit, Harry was apparently horrible with Portkey travel. Everyone but him had remained standing as they arrived at the grounds. Harry, however, had managed to stumble and fall as soon as the magic let him go. He'd tumbled and proceeded to drag down Luna, Hermione, Sirius and Shiva on top of him.

"I hate magical travel," Harry muttered as his friends and family picked themselves off him and helped him up.

Shiva dusted him off and laughed. "It really seems to hate you too, kid. One day maybe we'll figure out why you suck at it so much."

"Or I'll just invent a new way to travel instead," Harry said sullenly. The others laughed and he scowled deeper. "You think I'm kidding. Not this time. This getting really old. And Portkeys suck."

"Eh, Apparation is more uncomfortable at first, kid," Shiva shook her head with a smile. "Come on people. Let's go find our tent. Luna, you said your father is going to be set up nearby right?"

The Quidditch World Cup tickets from Sirius had been a bit of a surprise but in hindsight, they really shouldn't have been. The Ministry kept trying to bribe Sirius so that he wouldn't try and crucify them for his wrongful imprisonment and had given him box seats to the game. Sirius managed to con them into a few extra tickets so he'd gotten enough for Harry, Shiva and Hermione to attend as well. Everyone had been somewhat surprised when Harry had asked his godfather to get seats for Fred and George to join them too. His only explanation had been 'business'. A few others from Harry's group were around but were in general seating and Luna was going to be joining her father in the press box. They were supposedly almost as good as the ones that Sirius had.

Harry admitted to himself that he was greatly looking forward to this game. While he enjoyed playing Quidditch as much as the next bloke it was really just the flying itself that made it fun. Getting to watch the professionals practice their skills though…that should prove to be amazing. He loved his Firebolt, but he had no illusions that the pros would know how to handle one far better than he did. Victor Krum in particular should be prove to be impressive. Harry was hoping his side bet with the twins would work out – he really didn't want to make a set a rune stones that forced someone to sing "I'm a little teapot".

When Harry entered the top box he scowled. Of course the Malfoys would be here. And the Minister too. "Why did I let you talk me into this again?" Harry asked Sirius.

His godfather chuckled and led the group towards the front of the box. "Hey, we get to thumb our noses at them, pup. Perk up!"

"Harry!" one voice belonging to a tall red-head sounded.

"Our friend! Our pal!" a second red-head grinned.

"Our partner!" Fred yelled clapping the messy haired young on the back and dropping into the seat next to Hermione. She just shook her head at the twins' antics while Shiva looked at Sirius who shrugged.

"Hey, guys," Harry said nodding to the twins. "Owl order form set up then I presume?"

"That it is partner, that it is," George said grinning like a loon. "Products will be ready to ship at the beginning of the term. You sure we can't convince you to ramp up production on your end yet?"

"Not just yet, guys," Harry said with a laugh. "It's going to be hard enough keeping up with the special orders. You sure you can handle the one time use ones?"

"Don't worry, Harry, we got it covered. Tested it out over the summer. Instructions worked fine."

Shiva tapped Harry's should. "What are you up to, kid?" She was smirking apparently already having a good idea.

Harry smiled at her. "I'm starting my business. Potter Runes are currently only offered via owl order through affiliation with Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. Part of the deal was getting them box seats."

"Nah, that was just a joke clause. Never actually thought you'd do it, Harry," Fred said lounging back. "Seriously, thanks, this is awesome. The rest of the family has some rather terrible seats somewhere down there." He waved towards a section of the crowd towards one of the hoop posts.

"We tried to convince Ginny we'd smuggle her up here, but she apparently got conned into following Luna to the press box instead," George continued.

Hermione peered between the three teens. "You three are actually starting that business you've been discussing off and on?"

"Well we don't have a place yet," Fred said with a shrug. "It takes a lot of seed money to open a physical shop on Diagon but we have enough products ready that we can at least start an owl order. Harry's inventory is far more limited since he won't let us sell a lot of the more impressive ones."

"More dangerous ones you mean," Harry said shaking his head. "I'm reserving some of those for Susan's Aunt and a lot I'm just not willing to sell. Do you really want a magical grenade to be available on the open market?"

George nodded. "We're not criticizing, Harry. It was just a comment. Whatever happened to those Reflector Robes you had talked about a while back by the way?"

"The what?" Sirius asked.

Harry just grimaced at the memory of that abortive attempt. "Yeah. Those are not happening. You know the rune on my glasses, Sirius? The one that bounces back spells? Well I tried making some robes with that stitched into them. It…was scary."

Shiva quirked her eyebrow. "Oh? How so? And why didn't I hear about this?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I…sorta swore Daph to secrecy."

Hermione laughed. "Okay, now I seriously need to hear this story, Harry." The other four nodded their concurrence as well.

"Fine," Harry sighed muttering a curse under his breath. "I made the robes, we used that room to test whether they worked or not since the walls seemed to absorb spells for some reason. Daphne shot some stinging hexes and stunners at me and a few other things. It reflected almost everything, but the spells went everywhere. It's a good thing she hadn't thrown anything dangerous because she got hit by a ton of the ricochets. The design was interesting but it would just end up being a huge hazard in any sort of combat situation where you had allies remotely nearby. Plus it had…a minor problem…"

"Do tell," Sirius said grinning wildly at the scent of weakness.

"Cloth isn't a good magical conductor…" Harry sighed as Hermione just raised her eyebrows at him and motioned for him to go on. "The robes disintegrated after Daphne tossed out a few too many spells at once. And I had neglected to wear my pants that afternoon…"

Shiva started laughing uproariously and the others in the group quickly joined in. Harry turned bright red. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Like I said, those are not happening again."

Hermione shook her head with a large smile on her face. "I feel somewhat jealous of her now. Daph has gotten to see something that I, as your girlfriend, have been so far denied." Harry just groaned as everyone laughed even harder.

Shiva clapped Harry on the back and wheezed out between her laughs, "Kid, that is impressive! Next time you try out new robes don't forget the underwear."

"You guys suck," Harry said though he had a slight upturn to the edges of his lips.

"Getting delirious from the altitude Granger, Weasels?" Draco drawled from across the aisle. "I can't say I'm surprised. None of you could possibly be used to such a lofty view seeing your meager means. Who did you have to bribe to get these seats? Offer any…alternative favors?"

The twins scowled but before they could say anything Shiva subtly shook her head and waggled her eyes at Hermione. The younger girl took the hint and leaned over to smile at Malfoy. "The problem with a pedestal Malfoy is that when you get knocked off one, you tend to break everything once you hit the bottom."

"Is that a threat Mud – " he cut off glancing around the inhabitants of the box with a scowl. "Is that a threat, Granger?"

"Merely an observation. We are in a box after all, not a pedestal," Hermione chuckled lightly. "I admit I'm impressed with your restraint. You managed to stop before finishing your customary slur and you have yet to say 'My Father' once!"

"Don't give him too much credit, hon," Harry commented waving towards a reddening Lucius Malfoy next to Draco. "He probably doesn't think it's necessary to say it since his father is right there."

"Shut up, Scarhead!" Draco shouted.

"Wow is that best he's got?" Fred asked. "Rather weak of a comeback there."

"Ah, brother, not everyone can approach our brilliance," George said shaking his head.

Fred smiled and nodded. "Too true, brother. Too true. I wonder which side of the family had the lack of grey matter?"

"Could be either," Sirius commented rubbing his chin. "My family certainly wasn't known for their stability. Besides Andi and me we're pretty much filled with oddballs and arseholes."

"I thought my grandmother was a Black?" Harry asked.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah but she married a Potter so my point is proven."

Shiva and Harry both laughed at that. Lucius' scowl had deepened the entire time and Draco eventually lost his cool. He jumped up and started to draw his wand before Sirius casually glared at him. "You really want to curse the Lord of the Noble House of Black, little Draco?"

Draco's expression darkened even further but Lucius jerked him back into his seat. "I would ask you not to antagonize my family, Lord Black," Lucius said in clipped words.

"Well, I consider not dissolving your marriage and reclaiming my family's dowry to be pretty non-antagonistic," Sirius said with an evil grin. He nodded towards Draco. "Control your son."

The Bulgarian Minister next to Fudge snorted and said something to his bodyguards who started laughing. Fudge just glared at everyone present except his counterpart and tried to shift his one sided conversation back to the upcoming game. How he was failing at that when the Bulgarian wasn't even speaking English made things even more entertaining.

"Oh, quiet guys, here come the mascots!" George suddenly said leaning forward. "Veela! Sweet!"

"Veela?" Harry asked as he reached for his omnioculars. "Whoa, they all look really similar."

"Oh, is that all, Harry?" Hermione asked far too casually.

Harry could sense a trap though he had no idea what the trigger was. "Umm, yeah?" Hermione made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement.

Sirius laughed. "She's fishing to see if you think they're beautiful, Harry"

"Oh," Harry just shrugged and looked askance at Hermione. "Sure, they're pretty and that silvery hair is ethereal but none of them are as amazing as you."

Hermione smiled and patted his knee. "And that, Harry, is why I care for you so much."

Fred and George gave Harry a thumbs up before George started talking. "Veela beauty isn't entirely natural, Harry; it's partly magical. They have an aura, an Allure, that draws in most males and some females."

Fred continued, "They're pretty sexual people. We don't know much in depth stuff though. Not too many Veela in England. There's a whole enclave though in Bulgaria and another really big one in France."

Sirius was grinning into his own omnioculars as the women moved into the center of the field. "Never piss off a Veela, pup. They have a self-transfiguration ability that lets them become harpyesque. And they can throw fireballs from their hands when really mad."

"That's pretty cool," Harry commented. Besides him Shiva nodded in agreement.

The Veela started to dance and a quiet fell over the stadium. The more they swayed and sang the more charged the air felt. Harry found it a bit hard to breathe initially but he felt Hermione and Shiva's hands on his legs and shook his head. Whatever had been affecting him seemed to mostly dissipate and Harry turned to ask what had happened. His eyes widened as he saw Sirius practically drooling into his lap and the twins were on their feet seemingly torn between sitting back down and going straight up to the railing. Draco was insensate on the floor of the box and Lucius was slumped over in his chair along with Fudge, both had their eyes completely glazed over. "Bloody hell," Harry muttered.

The two girls on either side of him started and looked at him with wide eyes. Though Hermione's were a bit hazy, they cleared as she tried to focus on him. "Harry?" Shiva asked. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine. What's going on with the others?"

The Bulgarian Minister looked over at him and gave a polite smile and head nod. "They vill be fine in short order. Our Veela can overdue it bit much sometimes. Not many unaffected. You are of strong vill young man. Bravo."

Harry frowned but thanked the Minister for the information before his eyes were drawn to a commotion in the stands below. He raised his omnioculars to check it out and saw Ron Weasley trying to leap over the edge of the stands to get to the Veela. Arthur and another redhead – who he assumed was Charlie from the resemblance – had their arms around him and were dragging the youngest brother back towards his seat.

The Veela song stopped and Fred and George shook their heads and turned to each other before sheepishly dropping back into their seats. "We didn't do anything too embarrassing did we?"

Harry grunted. "Well neither of you tried to jump a hundred feet down to the stadium floor like your brother so I'm going with: no."

George groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Bollocks, Ron…really?"

"Yeah. Saw him through the omnioculars. Your father and – I think – Charlie pulled him back though."

"Makes sense Charlie wouldn't care," Fred muttered. "Charlie never seems to care about relationships or stuff like that at all."

Sirius shook his head and finally snapped out of his trance. "What'd I miss? Where'd the girls go? Amy?" Harry, Hermione and Shiva all just stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. Sirius still dumbfounded looked to the twins who both shrugged as well. The three of them quickly joined their friends in laughing along at whatever joke had been made before turning back to watch the game.