14

Spell light flashed all around him as he fought against the tide of people running away from the death eaters. He pushed and shoved and yelled at people to 'get the fuck out of the way' and eventually he was through, and there they were dressed in black with white masks and a muggle family floating above them. A circle of aurors surrounded them, but their spells were too cautious, too concerned with hurting the muggles to do any real good. Harry grabbed the nearest one, a plan forming in his mind.

"Split your team in half, half concentrate on getting the muggles to safety if they are dropped, half to take out the bastards in masks," he yelled, fighting to be heard over the screaming. The older man looked shocked that this young teen was ordering him around, but he nodded dumbly anyway and sent a message around to his peers. Grinning happily, Harry glanced over his shoulder to check that Sirius was not far behind before running into battle.

"Stupefy!" he yelled at the nearest death eater who tumbled to the ground, the muggle he was floating fell for a few metres but was soon saved by one of the aurors, and floated safely to the ground. Harry smirked viciously as he punched the next death eater he came across, following it up with a kick to the stomach and an 'incarcerous', leaving the large man tied up and bleeding on the floor before moving on to his next victim. Had Harry bothered to look behind him at any time, he would have realised that Sirius and Bill were permanently stationed behind him, watching his back and shielding him from harm as he took out over half of the death eaters. But Harry didn't look back, not even for a second, concentrating fully on ploughing ahead in the fight, a grin permanently on his face and a laugh occasionally slipping from his lips.

Harry was shocked when about half an hour into the fight the man he was fighting suddenly stopped, his gaze transfixed to the sky. Never one to miss an opportunity, Harry tackled the man to the ground, causing his hood to fall off and his white mask to go flying. Blond hair spilled across the ground, and Harry tightened his grip on the man's throat as he realised who it was. Lucius.

"Hello, Lucy," he smirked, pressing his wand into the older man's temple, "Fancy seeing you here." Malfoy's face was distorted into a grimace of disgust, but if Harry wasn't mistaken then there was fear there too. Fear of what, though?

"Look behind you, Potter," Lucius spat out, glaring daggers at the boy who destroyed his master. Harry couldn't help it, his curiosity got the better of him and he turned. There in the sky, writhing in the clouds was a skull. A skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. The sign of the death eaters, the sign of Voldemort. Sirius had told him about it earlier in the summer. Told him how it would be sent up when someone had been killed. It was over the woods- Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Nevi-

Thump. His panic was interrupted as he fell to the floor, the man he had been on top of having dissapparated from beneath him.

"FUCK!" he yelled, pounding the grass with his fists in frustration. He had lost him; he had let his fucking guard down. He should know by now not to do that, he was such an idiot.

"Hey, pup, you hurt?" Sirius's concerned voice cut into his inner monologue and Harry climbed to his feet, only just realising that several people surrounded him. They were all looking at him warily, bar Sirius and Bill who looked impressed but concerned.

"Why the fuck is everyone looking at me?" he snapped, taking his irritation at having lost Malfoy out on anyone who was closest.

"Cos you look a bit like a serial killer right now?" Bill said. He was joking, but he was half-right. Harry's messy curls were slick with sweat and blood and stuck to his forehead, above blazing green eyes only slightly dimmed by the blood-splattered glasses in front of them. The black sleeveless tee he had put on that morning was covered in mud and was torn in places revealing several large gashes on his torso. His knuckles were bloodied, and his right hand still grasped his wand tightly, making blood run down from his hand to drip from the tip of his wand.

"Never mind that, pup, are you hurt, for fuck's sake? I mean, beside the obvious," Sirius asked, his tone urgent and his worry for his godson obvious.

"I'm fine, Pads, just a few cuts is all. I've had worse," Harry said, pushing his hair from his forehead and trying to get a control of the anger that still bubbled beneath the surface in his mind. Needing to distract himself, he patted his pockets and found his lighter, but his cigarette's were gone, probably scattered across the field somewhere.

"Anyone got a fag?" he asked, glancing around the group. Arthur and many other purebloods looked at him questioningly, but from behind him a feminine hand promptly held out a cigarette, "Cheers, love," he said, taking it and lighting it without checking to see who it was that had offered it.

"Is that all I get?" Tonks asked, walking forward into view, "and I thought you cared about family," she grinned. Her hair was chin length this time, and bright gold. It seemed she still couldn't settle on a colour, Harry mused as he smiled crookedly at her.

"Sorry, Tonks. I would hug you, but I wouldn't want to dirty your clothes," he chuckled as she looked down at her own mud and blood-stained clothes and rolled her eyes at him. He reached out and gave her a one-armed hug, before looking around and realising that half of the aurors were still staring at him.

"Gees, I know I'm hot, but don't you lot have better things to do?" he asked, glaring around at the lot of them. A middle aged man with dark skin and a gold hoop earring through one ear stepped forward.

"I would like to thank you, Mr Potter on behalf of the ministry for your help today," he spoke with a deep, slow voice that had a calming effect on Harry. Or that might have been the nicotine kicking into his system. But he could feel the anger receding and smiled at the man in front of him.

"S'my pleasure, mate. Fighting wizards is way more fun than fighting muggles," he grinned slightly manically, knowing full well that he was about to destroy his reputation as the 'Golden Boy', "Wizards put up more of a fight, see." Sirius's barking laughter was the only sound that followed, everyone else was too shocked to speak. Arthur turned to Sirius, looking angry.

"I don't know what you've been teaching the boy, Sirius, but I'm not sure it's done him a lot of good, do you? What happened to the boy I used to know? The one who was polite and brave and loyal?" he was almost shouting at the end, distraught at the damage inflicted upon the boy he thought of as a son.

"Dad, calm down," Bill said, his hand on his father's shoulder, as he saw Sirius's face contort into a snarl and Harry throw his cigarette to the floor and step forward, ready to back up his god father.

"Mr Weasley," the teen started, fighting to keep his voice even, "I am still the same boy I was. Christ, all Sirius has done is teach me how to have fun, how to live. I can defend myself now, I have control over my own fucking life. And I finally have a life worth living, so I'd thank you to back the fuck off," the last was hissed out through gritted teeth, and Arthur stared at him in shock.

"Harry? Dad? What the hell is going on?" Ron's voice came from behind them and they all turned, Harry and Sirius already with wands in their hands, ready for any threat. They lowered them instantly when they saw that it was only Ron, Hermione and Neville, though a few ministry officials stood behind them.

"Nothing, son," Arthur said instantly, flashing a look at Harry and Sirius, warning them to keep quiet, "Are you all okay? Where are Fred and George and Ginny?"

"Back at the tent with Percy and Charlie, we wanted to make sure Harry was alright," Neville answered, looking between the three men questioningly. His look went unanswered however, and instead they were set upon with questions about what had happened in the woods. Hermione explained most of it, how they had lost the others but headed into the woods, finding a clearing and staying there. How they had heard a voice saying a spell, and then the dark mark had been shot into the sky. They spoke of the discovery of Winky, who appeared to have stolen Neville's wand.

"The ministry decided to keep the wand for evidence, and then we were brought back here," She finished, eyeing Harry confusedly. He was covered in blood and dirt and looked furious with something. What had happened, had he been attacked? She didn't get an answer to her unasked questions though, as Harry stepped forward and grabbed Sirius by the arm.

"I'm glad you're all alright, guys, but we have to go," he said curtly, and the pair of them stalked away, heading in the direction of the portkey point.

Harry was fuming, and he knew that Sirius beside him was as well. He would always be grateful to Arthur for being so kind over the years, but that didn't give him the right to speak to Harry's only close family in that way. He was so caught up in his rage that he didn't notice the blonde boy in front of him until they had walked into each other.

"Get the fuck out my way!" Harry snarled, looking up and realising that it was Malfoy jr.

"My, my, Potter, get into a fight, did we?" The blonde taunted, sporting his signature smirk.

"Why don't you ask your bloody wanker of a father?" Harry retorted, drawing the attention of Sirius beside him.

"You caught Lucy?" the ex-convict asked, hope shining in his eyes.

"Nah, he wiggled away at the last second," Harry replied stalking past Malfoy and out of sight.

Draco stood rooted to the spot. His father had definitely been out there then. He had suspected, of course, that he would be, but a small part of him had hoped that his father had come to the world cup to spend some time with his son. But no, of course not. Draco growled slightly, low in his throat, causing passersby to look around, only to be met with a glare to rival any other.

It was all Potter's fault, he decided, and the boy hero would pay.