Algernon Longbottom watched the children playing in the enormous yard. It would be summer very soon and even more of the unruly brats would be around. He'd been gleeful when Neville had shown his phobia of heights and refused to have anything to do with the brooms. It had put a crimp in the whole 'making friends with the cousins' plan of that old bat Enid.

He'd spent the time since Augusta had warned him off openly tormenting his nephew planning what to do about the obstacle in the way of his rightful inheritance. He'd mulled over ways to get his hands on it - his first thought had been to just arrange Neville's death, since he was now obviously not a squib.

A squib would not have been able to inherit the Longbottom estate - Neville would have had a small inheritance to keep him comfortably and likely a cottage on the back of the property to keep him out of sight. Then Algie would have then been the heir - Augusta would have had no choice.

Algie would have to be overly careful, now - Enid and perhaps that hateful cat Minerva were watching out for Neville. Professor McGonagall had always had it in for him he fumed, even when he'd still been a student in Hogwarts. Whether they suspected his intent, he didn't know. He'd thought endlessly of ways to kill Neville, but it was more difficult to find a way that wouldn't point directly back to him. He would have to have an excellent alibi, and the death would have to have no whisper of his involvement.

For several weeks he thought it would be better to kill Augusta instead and become Neville's guardian - he would be in control of the fortune for over a decade. Killing Augusta would certainly be easier - though since she was in excellent health and quite active no one would believe she'd just got sick and died.

Then he'd snuck a peek at Augusta's will. If she died, he wouldn't be Neville's guardian - there would be an entire team of accountants and lawyers looking after Neville's money, and Enid would be his guardian. Algie would receive a nice chunk of money - which would be administered by the same team of lawyers. Algie would be reduced to receiving an allowance, just like he was now - it would just be a larger allowance.

That ended his idea of killing his mother - it just wasn't worth the bother.

Neville - if he died, though, that would improve things greatly for him. His mother's dearest wish was for him to marry and fill the mansion with more little Longbottoms. He shuddered at the thought; however caring for any future children was what wives, houseelves and nannies were for. The problem was that any heiress that was looking for a husband was not interested in him because everyone knew how he had 'frittered away' his own inheritance.

A few wealthy girls that were not pureblood with very prosperous fathers had 'looked him over' because they wanted a pureblood son-in-law with the well-respected Longbottom name. They had said they would contract a marriage - but the money would remain in the girls name and under the father-in-laws control if she died. Algie had been thrown out of one home after sneering that if they wanted a stud that they should just advertise for one.

Still, if he became the heir, he could contract a reasonable marriage and Augusta would be far more generous once there were more grandchildren in the works. She would forget about Neville and Algie would be her favorite again, with no competition from the saintly Frank's little brat.

He just needed to think of the right plan.

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Neville watched Uncle Algie out of the corner of his eye as he left for another 'night out with his friends'. Callidora and he had found another charm they could use out of the book that could be changed to activate after several hours. He'd had to quietly sneak into Algie's rooms after the house-elf had laid Algie's clothing for the evening.

The charm was simple enough for Neville to master after a week or two - enough so he was sure he could cast it and get out of Algie's rooms quickly. The charm, after about two hours would activate and his pants would suddenly shrink three sizes. Since Algie already wore his clothing fairly tight, it would hopefully be quite painful - just before the pants split open and fell off.

Callidora had reassured him that Tom Riddle, after this amount of time was unlikely to do anything about the curse he'd sent at Draco Malfoy. So, it was okay to restart his pranking. He smiled brightly at his grandmother, startling a smile from her in return.

"A game of chess, Grandmother?" Neville asked on impulse. He hadn't really forgiven the overheard discussion between her and Professor McGonagall, but perhaps she had just been startled by the question. It was hard to hate someone you had to live with, especially when the only other person in the house was one you hated even more.

They sat down to play and had the usual enjoyable time. Neville still wasn't very proficient at it, but was improving. Augusta was a fair player and taught him more moves and strategies every time they played. They were sipping a before bedtime cocoa while Augusta told a story about her late husband's forays into the wild to find a plant for the greenhouses. Since her own mental decision to have Neville work in the greenhouses - to Neville's smug relief - she had been 'encouraging' him down that path. Neville needed little encouragement since that's what he wanted to do, but did enjoy the stories.

The story was interrupted by Uncle Algie's return; the furious purple-faced wizard was wearing his elegant cloak over the silver-trimmed tunic just as he had been when he left. However, the pants had been replaced by a pair of hospital-issue pajama bottoms.

Augusta leaped to her feet in shock, "Oh my...whatever happened, Algie?"

"Someone hexed my pants smaller and after nearly strangling my...well, they split down the seams and fell off - right at the wizard roulette table. Probably happened because I was about to win some money back. Friends took me to St Mungo's to check...things for damage." Algie stuttered angrily through his story. "Well, they took me there after they stopped laughing."

Neville looked at Algie's appearance in glee. Wonderful! He thought. A bit of payback for the humiliation Neville had suffered - being called a squib for years and than 'practically a squib' until Grandmother had told him to stop.

He managed to duck his head and mutter a strangled sounding request to go to his room. Augusta waved him off absently while she struggled not to laugh. She mused that whoever had done the charm had apparently been quite good at it.

Algie watched Neville leave with narrowed eye, an unwelcome suspicion entering his mind, but he dismissed it quickly. There was no way Neville could learn any spells without someone teaching him. The thought of a portrait doing so never entered him mind.

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The three scheming boys collected large stacks of information on numerous places around the wizarding world that they might want to camp in. Tom and Dora had taken that as an opportunity to introduce them to geography in general and the differences in the maps of wizards and muggles. The wizarding maps included areas that were disillusioned to muggle sight or had been enchanted to appear different that it truly was.

There were apparently hundreds of islands scattered across the globe - not just Lyonesse - that were hidden from the muggles. Some were owned privately by families or housed small communities, some - like Lyonesse housed government buildings. Some were wizarding 'resorts'. A very large one near New Zealand that was only slightly smaller than New Zealand, itself, sheltered a Dragon Reserve with quite a few Antipodean Opaleyes.

They had an excellent time looking at all the places and once Dudley and Harry got used to the thought that they could use a series of portkeys to go anywhere in the world, they did look at some of them more seriously.

Then came the news that the Quidditch World Cup between France and Japan would be held in Quiberon, France at the end of July, which made further searching unnecessary. They decided they need look no further - the campsites would be by the sea, the area was excellent for exploring and there were water sports galore.

Lucius rolled his eyes but agreed that it was a good plan - if Severus agreed. Tom oversaw the three of them writing a careful letter to Severus extolling the numerous virtues of the Quiberon peninsula as a vacation spot that just happen to also be hosting the Quidditch World Cup. They enclosed a brochure on the area from the wizard who owned the land the campers would be hosted on which listed nearby sights and attractions.

The three carefully attached the letter to Hedwig and sent her off.

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Hedwig winged into the great hall during lunch the next day, students pointing at her and turning to watch the Potions Master, to see if it appeared to be good news from Harry or bad. Severus' faint smile at receiving a letter from Harry turned to appalled resignation.

The students froze a bit in consternation - bad news from Harry often meant the return of 'the old Professor Snape'. They rather liked the new one, who was less surly and point-taking. This one also spent less time patrolling after curfew.

Albus and Minerva looked at him in concern, visions of amok Animagi or rides on dragons having occurred. "Is everything alright at Dragonsrest, Severus?" Albus asked hesitantly.

"Lucius and I have let the boys pick a location for a 'camping trip' during the summer." Severus grimaced, making it clear what he thought of their choice.

"Have they picked a lion - infested area of Africa, Severus?" Madame Sprout asked cheekily. "If they have - there are some plants I'd like..." She grinned.

"Oh, no, it's much worse than that." Severus groaned. "On safari I could at least collect potions ingredients as well as the plants." He muttered.

"Did they find an active volcano to camp at the base of?" Sinistra asked in amusement. She was beginning to like the less uptight Severus. She could now see why Rosemerta had pursued the Potions Master.

Severus shrugged, "No, they have decided to camp at a lovely beach...that happens to be where the Quidditch World Cup will be played - in Quiberon, France." He slumped back with a sigh - the place would be packed to the gills and incredibly noisy, he just knew it.

The teaching staff tried to stifle their laughter in their napkins and the listening students relaxed - not such bad news, then. Maybe Professor Snape would be so busy trying to think of a way out of this he would forget to take points. They news spread quickly down the tables - Harry Potter was going to the world cup! Plans for summer were quickly rethought and pleading letters to parents were quickly written.

Madame Hooch swatted Severus on the back, making him lurch forward. "Excellent, I'm sure the lads with have a great time."

Severus winced in pain, and nodded warily, he didn't want her swatting him again out of aggravation. He fed Hedwig some tidbits, waving her off for home, and then he wandered down to his office, mentally composing a reply that would sound eager instead of annoyed. He didn't mind the Quidditch games at Hogwarts so much - he had running wagers with Minerva that made them tolerable and they were good for house pride.

The World Cup, though - there would be tens of thousands of people there. Luckily most of them would floo or portkey in and then leave. He would prefer to do that himself, but Harry wanted to camp there, and that would be a security nightmare. He wagered Lucius was already sweating over the details and making a stack of emergency portkeys and tracking charms for the boys to wear.

Once word got out that Harry Potter would be there...Severus shook his head. They would be looking for him - both the good wizards who just wanted to shake his hand, and the bad - who wanted to kill him.

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Lucius reluctantly flooed to the Ministry with resignation, once he started to really think about it, he had realized that the sheer number of people at the games would make guarding Harry, Draco and Dudley difficult. He and Severus needed a plan - preferably several plans. He did have people on his payroll who knew how to secure a residence or a business, but guarding active preteen boys was a different matter, and he didn't want to ruin the whole trip by making them virtual prisoners.

So he now found himself once again entering Hugo Savage's amused presence, seeking help.

"What can I do for you Mr. Malfoy?" Hugo asked. He could tell Lucius needed something. When Lucius had something you wanted his face didn't have this partly sullen, partly defiant look.

"Severus and I let the boys pick out where we would go camping this summer." Lucius sighed despondently. "They decided it would be most restful to camp amongst several thousand other tents in Quiberon, France during the World Cup."

Hugo guffawed loudly, greatly enjoying the thought of Lucius and Severus sweating it out while the boys ran around the beach with god-knows-who. He eventually sobered and wiped his eyes. "Yes, I can see your dilemma - you won't be able to control who is in the crowd, so you'll have to control access to the boys - without making them rebel against restrictions."

Lucius nodded in relief, he hadn't been sure if he could hold off hexing the old Auror if he had kept laughing, and he was quite sure that even at his advanced age Hugo could wipe the floor with him. "Yes, I was hoping you could point us in the right direction in obtaining discreet security."

"I would go with simply surrounding yourself with those you trust - let them know the problem, and make sure that the lads are never alone. Perhaps a hired guard or two that you know is trustworthy to keep an eye on them from a distance, as well." Hugo suddenly smirked humorously. "The Weasley family is large enough to provide 24/7 coverage on keeping track of them. The older boys would be good bodyguards without anyone being aware of their roles."

Lucius swallowed a large lump that he suspected was his pride at the thought of asking help from Arthur. He would have loudly objected, but the idea made too much sense to immediately shove aside - and it would keep his son as well as Harry and Dudley safer. His own eyes lit with mischief and he let a small, smug smile escape.

"You seem to have excellent skills in planning security. I'm sure the Minister for Magic - Cornelius would agree that you should accompany us on our little camping trip - disguised as a 'guest of ours'." Lucius gave him a sunny smile by the end of his declaration.

Hugo could almost hear the snap of trap closing tightly around him. He gave Lucius a pained look. Part of him warmed to the idea, his own family was grown and scattered. He took occasional vacations to see some of them. However the thought of a trip with the Dragonsrest occupants - even if it was likely to be a noisy and turbulent stay at the World Cup - well it was appealing. But he knew better that to let Lucius know he liked the idea.

"You're going to saddle a tired old wizard like me with the scamps you and Snape are trying to pass off as respectably civilized young wizards?" Hugo asked in appalled tones.

Lucius snickered, "Why yes, I guess I am." Lucius could see the old Auror wasn't as adverse to the idea as he seemed, but let him continue his charade. Having Hugo around would deter many that might have evil intent, and the boys would obey Hugo without hesitation - a true asset. Best of all Tom trusted Hugo implicitly, which seemed a rare occurrence and not to be overlooked.

Hugo grumbled half-heartedly. "Well, I suppose I could go - but only if I get to stay in your tent. I hear your house-elves put on quite a spread." Hugo smirked craftily, wondering how far he could push Lucius.

Lucius lifted an eyebrow, though he knew the action didn't have the same effect as when Severus did it. "Well, if I bring the really big tent I don't suppose I'll even know you're there. However if you annoy me I'll show you its dungeon."

Hugo laughed, distracted "Your camping tent has a dungeon?" Hugo wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.

"Annoy me and find out." Lucius warned with a sly grin.

"Now I might have to do that, just to find out if you do." Hugo snickered, and then became more serious. "If I find any likely lads that won't mind shadowing the lads in exchange for an expense paid vacation and tickets to the World Cup, I'll send them your way."

Lucius nodded in agreement and stood, shaking Hugo's hand. "Thank you for the help."

Hugo smiled cheekily, "Thank you for the vacation."

Lucius rolled his eyes and fled to the door, fairly sure he'd come out ahead on the deal, but not sure how much Hugo had gained, as well. Lucius wished he could remember what house Hugo had been in. Lucius wandered to the Minister's office and was shown in fairly soon.

"Well, what can I do for you, Lucius?" Cornelius asked happily.

"I need you to pull a couple of strings and get an entire box at the Quidditch World Cup - I need that many seats for all the people that will be looking out for Harry, Dudley and Draco. We're going to be camping there for a week ...maybe two." Lucius smiled at Cornelius' delighted but crafty face. "You are, of course welcome to join us, unless the dignitaries insist you sit with them."

"Well, I can always insist the box be next to the French minister's box. I'm sure they won't mind." Cornelius was already looking forward to the photos of him watching the game with Harry Potter. "I'll send you the tickets - are you sure you need so many?"

Lucius hid a smirk; Fudge was so easy to maneuver. He'd gotten the best box for the simple promise of the Minister sitting near Harry.

"Even if I don't fill the box - though I'm sure I will, I don't want strangers in there. Security, you know." Lucius intoned solemnly.

Fudge nodded in agreement. "Of course, quite right." They said their fairwells and Lucius watched as Fudge immediately went to squeeze the box out of the French committee - they would provide it, of course, for Harry Potter, especially with the promise of the Malfoy's as well.

Lucius walked a bit more slowly to Arthur's office. The man had certainly had an upswing in luck - promotions and raises. He wondered how Arthur had done it. Lucius of course never thought his own visits had anything to do with it.

Lucius waved off Arthur's boss, saying that he just needed Mr. Weasley. The man wrung his hands anxiously. He would have to make a decision soon and it was becoming apparent what one he would be making.

Lucius strode into Arthur's office, waving off his secretary to 'fetch some tea'. Arthur was amused, but indulged Lucius by scowling darkly at him for his high-handedness. Lucius took a seat - uninvited - with a smug smile. Arthur had to bite the inside of one cheek to suppress a laugh, and managed a glare.

"To what do I owe the ... honor ... of your visit, Lucius?" Arthur said frostily.

"Oh, I'm here to invite you to go camping with the lot of us and attend the Quidditch World Cup - I have tickets for you and your family to be in the Minister's box with us." Lucius smiled in triumph as he watched Arthur spew his tea over what Lucius hoped were important papers on Arthur's desk.

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