Lucius watched Arthur waving a drying charm frantically at the papers on his desk with satisfaction. Achieving that certain look of stupefied idiocy on a Gryffindor's face was one of those joys in life that made Lucius' heart sing. But, Lucius at last relented and explained what he'd said.

"Severus and I let the boys pick a camping trip, and of course that means that we are now headed for the Quidditch World Cup. If we were just attending the game, we would have no difficulty. However, they wish to camp on the beach for a week or so. We need to surround ourselves with trustworthy wizards and witches to keep an eye on them...discreetly, of course." Lucius paused, Arthur had abandoned his papers to their soggy fate and was now listening attentively. "Hugo Savage is accompanying us, and I intend to hire some security to watch over them all and perhaps invite a few others - perhaps the Tonks family. However you and your family could ensure that the boys - Harry especially - is never left alone for someone to get to."

"Charlie will likely be starting at the Dragon Reserve in Romania...but not until mid-August. The others, I know, will fall in with the plans whole-heartedly." Arthur mused.

"I know that a few words spoken to the Goblins, asking for Bill's assistance in guarding 'The Boy Who Lived', will get him sprung from Gringotts for the trip." Lucius threw the offer out, knowing it would sweeten the deal.

Arthur's eyes lit up. Having the whole family together for a summer vacation would be a treat. It had been bittersweet to now be making much better money and have longer vacations available, but no longer having all the children available. This would certainly make Molly happy.

Lucius rose, satisfied that he had the Weasley's on track and shook Arthur's hand briefly - no need to get too chummy. Arthur walked him to the lift, as always - so Lucius could get in a few extra verbal shots in if he wanted to. Molly always got a chuckle over Lucius' games, these days, now that Lucius was working for the correct side she usually laughed over the Slytherin's posturing.

"I'll send the tickets to the box seats when the Minister sends them over." Lucius continued. "Cornelius will likely weasel his way next to Harry, of course. Do you just want a long line of seats f or your family - or three rows of three seats, one behind the other? Staging all those children so they are all within swatting reach must be difficult." Lucius sighed in mock sympathy.

Arthur chewed on the inside of his cheek again to keep from laughing. Luckily the effort reddened his face a bit so the glare he cast at Lucius looked real. Lucius smiled happily as he entered the lift and pondered his next victims - Andy and Ted.

Arthur's boss sighed in resignation as he overheard Lucius and Arthur's plans for 'camping together' and 'sharing a box with the minister'. Arthur's boss was being promoted to be a liaison with the Auror Corp to help co-ordinate teams dealing with muggle issues. He'd been looking over possibilities of who could replace him. Arthur Weasley certainly had the skills, but until recently no one would have guessed he had the connections to actually get such a promotion.

However, it was now obvious that he may as well make Arthur the Head of the Muggle Protection Department rather that be called to the Minister's Office and be ordered to give it to him. A broadly smiling Arthur strode back into the offices and his boss waved him over with a forced smile to give him the news the he was now Head of the entire Department.

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Lucius ambled down the lane from the Tonks residence. Andy and Ted had agreed to attend at least part of the time, and stay in the Malfoy's ridiculously large tent. Ted worked happily at one of the Longbottom greenhouses - he might not be able to fight off a bunch of kidnappers, but he was an extra set of eyes. Andy, of course had been raised in the Black household, which was enough to convince Lucius she would be excellent bodyguard material.

Severus had also owled with an interesting idea, so when he arrived home at Malfoy Manor he immediately firecalled to the 'Krum Castle'. Mr. Krum was at home and was beamingly pleased to be invited to camp and see the World Cup with their group.

"If you know of four or five trustworthy young men who wouldn't mind helping to keep an eye on the boys during this, please bring them along with you - we can put them up in our tents and I have an entire box at the game, so they won't miss out on that." Lucius said.

Mr. Krum laughed, "I'm sure I can find some volunteers to watch over everyone in exchange for tickets to the World Cup."

"Let them know that Auror Hugo Savage is 'in charge' of security for Harry and the others, so they'll be taking orders from him." Lucius added.

"Excellent - his name is well known, even here - they'll be impressed to be a part of it all." Mr. Krum smiled.

Lucius ended the call with a sense of satisfaction. Having some sharp-eyed Bulgarian youths helping out would be invaluable. They would take the assignment quite seriously, knowing that having a recommendation from Hugo would greatly help their own prospects, especially if they intended to go into law enforcement later.

They would have a fairly good grouping of tents of friends surrounding them when they were done, and hopefully they would have no difficulty maintaining security with so many eyes on Harry, Dudley and Draco.

Lucius sat back at his desk, sighing. A trip to Brittany could usually be counted on to be restful and almost boring. This trip was likely to be anything but that. The papers had heard of the trip immediately - likely from students who had overheard Severus' conversation and had run with the story. The World Cup would be heavily attended, anyway - but this year, even those with little interest in the sport just might be there for a glimpse of Harry Potter.

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Severus glared at the Weasley twins, one eyebrow lifted. They had managed to explode a potion over most of the class, making everyone hiccough bright purple bubbles that chimed rather prettily. The girls seemed to be enjoying it, but the boys were universally embarrassed.

Severus made a mental note to have the boys market their potion to Zonko's.

"Five points each from the two of you ... and detention tonight at seven." The other boys in the class looked vindictively happy about his point - taking for once. Severus managed a subtle look at the twins that they, by now, knew meant the detention was for other than chopping disgusting ingredients. Still they had to maintain their cover.

"But it's only a week until the end of term..." Fred and George whined in unison.

Severus whirled away from them, robe snapping in the breeze he created. "Do not be late." He barked. "Class dismissed!"

Stebbins and Summerby fell into step with them, grumbling between chiming burps. "Thought that potion was only supposed to hit those gits at the front in the Ravenclaw tables."

"Yeah, sorry about that ... I think we overdid the daisy roots and not enough doxy wings." Fred said, leading the pack into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Well, you're the ones that have the detention, so..." Summers shrugged and another purple bubble burped out. The twins were sure that it was chiming part of the tune 'row, row, row your boat...'

"We very subtly pick the Professor's brain during the detentions, so we're okay with them, really." George said slyly.

Summerby snorted out a laugh. "Sure you do ... Professor Snape helps you with pranks." There was general laughter from everyone who could hear and the twin grinned in answer. Of course - it was ridiculous.

Fred waved at Percy and Charlie - huddled over yet another book about Romania at the Gryffindor table. Percy wasn't interested in going there, himself, but he felt helping Charlie prepare for his apprenticeship there would help when he tried to enter the Welsh Reserve. George shook his head in mock sadness.

"Percy has turned poor Charlie into a book worm - it's just sad, it is." He said in sorrow. They walked on to the Hufflepuff table and reported the results of the overdone cauldron of burping chimes to Cedric.

"Well, we have to accept an occasional slip - up." Cedric shrugged in answer. "You and your co-conspirators have been remarkably lucky the entire year."

Fred and George looked at each other in glee - the 'Marauder's Map' had indeed been invaluable in setting up traps and waylaying their targets. They had been careful to stay within the boundaries that Cedric had set up, as they knew the Professor Sprout was keeping a close watch on them through Cedric.

They did not want to be on the wrong side of their Head of House at this point.

Seven o'clock finally arrived and they managed to hunch their shoulders and look dejected as they left, though they looked eager by the time they arrived to the Potions Master's lab. They knocked and entered, surprised to find Percy and Charlie already there.

Severus waved the twins forward to sit at a table by their brothers, and after waving the door closed and warding it well against eavesdroppers he sat on a stool across the table from them.

"Your father asked me to go over a few things with you." Severus said seriously. The Weasley's looked at each other curiously. "I'm sure by now you've all heard that Harry - and the rest of us are attending the Quidditch World Cup.

The four boys laughed - yes - most of the wizarding world knew that Harry Potter and the rest of the occupants of Dragonsrest as well as the Malfoys were camping in Quiberon and attending the World Cup.

"Well, the whole thing is a security nightmare, of course and Hugo Savage has suggested surrounding ourselves with people we can trust - so your family has been invited to join us in camping and attending the game." Severus watched their jubilant faces for a few seconds. "Of course, there are a few duties in exchange for this..." They turned expectant faces toward him.

"Charlie - you will be reporting to Hugo for your assignments - along with a bunch of Bulgarian youths that have volunteered for this." Charlie's eyes brightened at the thought of working alongside the famous Auror. "Percy - I'm sure you won't mind helping Tom out with his continued research, though he'll be taking his turn keeping an eye on the boys." Percy grinned in response, and then Severus turned to the twins. "The main problem, of course, is that Harry is a target." They twins nodded in understanding. "His cousin, Dudley is also one - because he is Harry's cousin. Draco, because his father has defected to Harry's cause, is also at risk. We need them to always have a set of eyes on them, and the two of you can help with that - by reminding them not to go anywhere alone, and to watch for anyone suspicious. I don't think the three of them will deliberately break the rules - but kids their age are forgetful, and I expect you to remind them of the rules - not encourage them to break them."

The twins' faces had steadily gotten more sober. "We understand, Professor. We'll help keep them safe."

Severus nodded; they seemed to understand, now, when things were serious or not. Likely a result of being around Hufflepuffs instead of Gryffindors, he thought with a sniff.

"Excellent, your parents will let you know more details when we have them." Severus nodded and dismissed them back to their common rooms. The four left, whispering in excitement about the coming summer.

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Evan Rosier read the days-old news on a back section of the Russian paper. He'd been tracking the threads of news from British Wizarding society with interest. The news was minimal, as Russian wizards had enough difficulties of their own without worrying about some British Dark Wizard or his minions. Evan had wandered for quite some time after his supposed death. He'd finally wandered all the way to the Russian border and once inside, found his niche.

The wizarding community there in Russia was in desperate need of Master Wardsmiths. During the reign of the Tsars the wizarding world had been widely scattered, and many had 'hidden in plain sight' as 'wise women' and 'healers'. Most had not warded out muggles or disillusioned their places. Much of their trade had occurred through the gypsies - many of whom were squibs or wizards and witches with smaller amounts of power.

The revolution and the two world wars had totally disrupted the fabric of wizarding society in Russia as it had been for over a millenia. The gypsies had been persecuted - and killed quite often, and many wizards and witches had fled - their homes invaded by those who felt the 'odd people' didn't fit into the communist regime. Some had fled the country, others had crowded into the few disillusioned areas they had.

Warding was not their society's strong point - as they had so rarely used it, so it took long, painful years to one by one, protect areas for wizards. Gringotts had sent some wardsmiths, though their warding was different and only worked for stone buildings. Some wizards from other countries contracted to them, but even now wardsmiths were at a premium.

Evan smiled; it was good that he was a Master at his trade. The Russians had no interest in his past or the ugly tattoo on his left arm. He'd almost not bothered to change his name...but going by Ivan Rossinski had made the Russians more comfortable.

He'd made huge strides for his employers, warding more in a few years than they had in decades, and he was considered a bit of a hero by the relieved wizards. His Gringotts account certainly reflected their gratitude. However, he missed his old life; the excitement and the thrill of danger were addictive. Evan had progressively gotten more bored over time, finding his need for chaos harder and harder to ignore. He'd finally given in to it and found some fun with nearby muggles - but the local wizards had become concerned, so he now had to hunt farther afield. So he slipped away at times to whatever large city he could apparate to for a bit of a 'hunt'.

Evan enjoyed watching - almost clinically - how much terror, pain or anguish his prey could tolerate before dying or going mad. He supposed it was because his mother had been a Ravenclaw, and had taught him to analyze things practically from the cradle. He missed his friends Barty and Bellatrix, they'd understood him, or at least didn't flinch from his proclivities.

News from Britain lately, though - quite interesting. He'd sent for some Daily Prophets, hoping they weren't too far from the truth in their reporting. He chuckled - Snape was in control of the Potter brat, and Malfoy was right in the center of the mix - and divorced from Narcissa Black ... very interesting.

He folded the paper and quietly reflected. He'd not taken much of a vacation since arriving here, and he would be done with warding this latest settlement by the middle of July.

Brittany sounded interesting this time of year.

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Peter Pettigrew listened closely as the reunited Weasley family talked animatedly about the coming trip to Quiberon for the World Cup. He could hardly believe the Malfoys and Weasleys were united in anything, let alone assisting Snape of all people in protecting Harry Potter.

Peter had been hiding as Percy's rat for so long he had almost forgotten that he had intended one day to escape and begin a new life, elsewhere. It had been easier as Percy's rat - he'd escaped much more frequently and been able to go to a pub or two as a human and keeping up with things by reading old Daily Prophets. Certainly he'd enjoyed wandering Hogwarts whether as a rat or as a human.

Ron was pretty boring, and far too attentive as a new owner.

Peter thought perhaps escaping while in France might be an option. Of course he had no idea of what he would do then - he'd been a clerk in the Auror's office, not able to join Sirius and James as Aurors - but seeing them almost daily anyway as a clerk. Still, his skills were relatively mundane and likely a bit out of date.

It was partly the uncertainty of how he would live and partly inertia that kept him from really deciding. He'd learned to exist as a pet rat, he wasn't sure he wanted to scrounge a living as a clerk again. He'd just wait until they were at the World Cup and decide then.

Ron petted Scabbers and listened to the plans with excitement and a bit of trepidation. Ginny of course was ecstatic, to Ron's disgust. She gabbled on about Harry and Draco endlessly - made him want to hurl. He shifted over to his mum and elbowed her.

"Can we take Neville with us, mum?" Ron asked desperately. He needed one person that wasn't thrilled by the bloody 'boy who lived' and that rotten Tom.

Molly was struck by that idea, and wondered if she could persuade Augusta. Of course she might not agree, when she heard Lucius was involved. Perhaps Enid ...Molly patted Ron on the head murmuring 'excellent idea, Ron,' and went to write Enid - asking her if she would like to go camping at the World Cup, perhaps - and bring Neville along.

Severus arrived home to Dragonsrest with a sigh of happiness. He'd had to wait until two days after the last day of school, to help clean the potions labs and classrooms and set the wards with Albus and Minerva.

Harry and Dudley had still been up, waiting for him and after an enthusiastic welcome had gone on to bed, promising to torment him about camping in the morning.

Tom and Petunia had stayed up a bit longer; talking about plans - Petunia's slowly moving her Privet Dr. belongings into the Spinner's End house. She and Tom had found a few more owls for her and the elves had built a nice Owlery for them. She had three pairs of owls, now and things were looking well, so far. He was pleased Petunia was settling in and Tom no longer seemed overtired.

Severus was now lounging back on his bed, watching the stars out the windows. He had a spelled window in the dungeons, but knowing it wasn't real made it unenjoyable for him. They would be shopping for camping gear in a few days and preparing for their 'little trip' in a few weeks.

The real relief though was knowing that he and his son wouldn't be separated for any great length of time again - Harry would leave with him in September to attend school for the next seven years. Severus was smiling smugly as sleep took him.

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