The Krums, Weasleys and Higgs' all arrived without a hitch - swelling the ranks of cavorting children. Luckily it also brought plenty of guards and watchers as well. The Krums had chosen several loyal young men who could be counted on to be able to join into the fun - but were able to still keep an eye open for trouble.

Hugo had recruited a few trusted Aurors who he knew would enjoy the vacation (and the free tickets to the World Cup). They camped close by - but not so close that they would obviously be guards instead of Quidditch fanatics.

The young Bulgarians and the vacationing Aurors were co-coordinated by Hugo. To everyone's satisfaction they were able to make sure there were several sets of eyes on Harry and the other children at all times.

Harry had looked forward to the other children arriving, but now they were here he felt a bit overwhelmed at times. He was growing more used to having larger numbers of people around, but he still felt 'surrounded' at times and would retreat to his room in the tent he, Tom and Severus shared. Usually an hour or so petting and talking to Hedwig or holding his Danburite crystal and doing his meditation that Professor McGonagall had taught him would soothe his anxiety.

To Harry's surprise Draco joined him several times in his refuge. Draco was almost as unnerved by the constant noise as Harry. Malfoy Manor was always peaceful and there was rarely difficulty in finding a quiet spot. The unending games, chatter and noise grated on Draco as well.

Dudley was right in his element with the boisterous bunch, but understood Harry and Draco's more reserved manner and defended them from the other's teasing and occasional less than kind remarks about their occasional need for a break from the crowd.

Tom and Percy lost no time renewing their bond over more Dragon memories that Tom had collected. They discussed Tom's idea of overhauling the Reserve's library and collecting and organizing their knowledge and memories. Percy was just as eager at the idea, but agreed it was ambitious and might be impossible if other Reserves would not cooperate.

Tom and Percy always managed to do their sunbathing / brainstorming close to wherever Harry, Draco and Dudley were. Tom and Yvane watched them carefully, even as Tom continued his jovial conversation with Percy. The Tonks' would not be there until the second week and Tom missed Dora horribly.

The boys had taken to betting on how many people would arrive to the campground by the end of each day, though it was getting harder and harder to keep track of all the people who were now pouring in to camp on the beach and the nearby fields.

They still went shell-hunting in the mornings and swam in the sea under the close watch of the Bulgarians and the Aurors.

They were also under the close watch of Evan Rosier. He'd spotted the Bulgarians as being guards right away even if they were young - their watchful manner and quick eyes gave them away immediately - as well a the fact they ran off anyone that approached the boys. The Aurors had not been so obvious, but they'd been almost the only other campers at first, and Evan had known most of them from before he'd 'died'.

The children were all quite well overseen, so just strolling over and kidnapping the 'Boy Who Lived' would be impossible. He'd been careful to stay out of sight of Severus and Lucius ... and Hugo Savage, as well. He'd been quite appalled to see that the old Auror really was there. He was quite sure that Mad-eye Moody had tracked him so successfully due to direction from Hugo.

Faking his death hadn't been easy -- but a conveniently dead muggle, some polyjuice and a confounded ministry worker had made it possible. He'd nearly given this 'vacation' up as a bad job when he'd seen all the people milling around the campsite. But on reflection, he'd decided to sit back, enjoy the beach ---and see if something occurred that would aide him.

It had been far too long since he'd tried something like this, and he silently admitted that he'd not really prepared - he'd simply bought a portkey and come here.

He leaned back against some driftwood and pretended to doze, while watching the group splash and swim. He nearly snickered. He was quite sure Severus' skin hadn't seen this much sun since his birth, but he was sporting a pretty good tan, now.

Severus let himself be dragged into another game of water-polo - only a Frisbee was in use ---and the rules seemed to be made up on the spot. The Bulgarian youths had been fascinated by the Frisbee when it had been introduced and spent a lot of time making up games to go with it.

Severus had volunteered to be 'goalie', so he could just stand in the waist-high water and wait for action to come his way. He glanced over at the beach, uneasily. He had the feeling he knew one of the strangers sunbathing. He could sense magical signatures, and recognize those he'd met before. Not a common gift, but it had been handy during his time as a Death Eater and a spy - knowing who was around and avoiding encounters.

Once acquainted with someone, it was difficult to fool him. Polyjuice and a few other things could confuse him, but for the most part Severus always knew who was nearby. Lately he was sensing a magical signature that he should know. However, with the increasingly crowded beach the air was swirling with magic and as quickly as he would sense the familiar magic, it would be gone or lost among the other magical signatures.

Severus frowned slightly. It bothered him that he couldn't identify the signature. While he gazed toward the beach his frown deepened. The young Longbottom boy was there, busy making a sandcastle with the small Weasley girl. The boy had proved to have a bit of a phobia regarding water. Enid and Molly had shushed the other children when Neville had refused to wade further than knee deep in the water, explaining that Neville's Uncle Algie had dumped him off a pier a couple years before, and it had caused 'problems'.

The children had choked back their comments, but Severus suspected that the pitying looks bothered the boy more than any teasing from the other children might have. Severus suspected that Enid and Molly shouldn't have interfered. Some peer pressure might have motivated the boy into overcoming his fear. He shrugged; he himself had preferred almost anything to pity at that age, bit perhaps Neville was different.

The splashing, shouting group came closed to him and he managed to slap the Frisbee out of the air - he never seemed to be able to actually catch it. He grabbed it back out of the water and threw it as far as he could toward the other goalie. Hopefully it would take time to get back to his end again.

There were whoops and catcalls and a few shouts of 'good save, Professor!' as they splashed back the other way. Severus grimaced a smile at them and wondered if he needed to make another batch of sunburn salve. From the look of the simmering Bulgarians and the deeply pink Dudley and Draco he likely needed to.

The younger boys finally tired and dragged themselves to shore and flopped beside Petunia and Lucius, who had turned a deaf ear to pleas to join in the game. Severus relinquished his spot as goalie to someone else and followed the boys to shore. He waved the Bulgarians to stay in the game - he and Lucius could watch them for now.

Severus fumbled in his bag for the last big jar of sunburn salve, barking at them to 'get it on, before you blister'. They managed to do so, and then lay on the sand, unmoving except to drink bottle after bottle of water.

Harry lay blissfully soaking in the sun, feeling exhausted in the best possible way. Victor and his older friends were lots of fun - but difficult to keep up with. Apparently Durmstrang had a mandatory exercise program and most of its students kept in very good shape. One of the older boys had remarked that since the weather rarely let them indulge in outside activity in winter, that the Headmaster counted on indoor sports and exercise to keep the students too tired to cause a great deal of trouble.

Harry was glad he and Dudley and Draco had kept up with the home gym over the winter or they'd have made a very poor showing in anything athletic. Victor soon wandered up and joined them, smearing some salve on as well - Durmstrang students saw little sun, at times and he was burning as quickly as Draco.

"Aaah." He sighed happily, making Harry snicker. "Any more tourists ask for autographs, Harry?" He quipped.

Harry grinned, "No, Van and Bjorn have gotten the hang of stopping them with glares before they get close enough to ask. Most people just stare and point, anyway - so it's not like there was ever a big problem."

Lucius and Severus glanced at each other, smirking. Hugo - at their suggestion - had had a small flyer given out by the owner of the campground that said 'anyone making a nuisance of themselves to any person of importance would be escorted off the property'. Most realized that they meant Harry Potter and there had been only a few who had tried to approach them. Most settled for gawking and pointing. Harry waved cheerfully at those that waved at him, so Severus was satisfied that the vacation was not spoiled by celebrity hunters.

Lucius passed him the paper with a grin and Severus rolled his eyes. Of course there was no real escape from photographers. Not that they had been awful, either. Today's update on Harry's vacation was a picture of yesterdays 'tackle Frisbee game'. There had been a bit of dismayed concern about the exuberate violence, but they had conceded it wasn't as bad as Quidditch.

Below that there was a short article about the run on Frisbees in the magical world - with the magical toy stores raiding the muggle ones to buy case after case of them to resell to the wizard children. The writer seemed mystified by the fascination for the toys, saying they had absolutely no magic in them. None the less, they were now a hot item.

Harry squirmed deeper into the sand, while Dudley got up and went over to Neville, who had been joined by Ron and was still working on the sandcastle. Dudley had struck up a tentative friendship with Ron and Neville. Although Harry hadn't forgotten Ron's remarks about Severus and neither he or Draco liked Ron, they had a bit of a truce for the summer and avoided conflict with each other - for now.

Dudley was wary of Ron's prejudice toward any and all Slytherins, but as long as they weren't mentioned he and Ron got along quite well. Neville however was a mystery at times. He didn't hesitate to answer questions as long as they were not personal. Dudley, though he wasn't the most attentive person on the planet, did notice the balefully cold looks Neville sent toward Harry and Draco.

Dudley had hoped to lessen the animosity of the two toward his cousin and Draco, but had not made much progress, as most of their dislike seemed based on ... well, jealousy. Ron envied the wealth, Neville envied the caring guardian or parent and both thought Harry and Draco had perfect lives. No amount of argument could convince them otherwise, to his aggravation.

Dudley glanced over at Lucius, he had gotten Mr. Malfoy alone for a moment and asked what he could do to change the boy's minds, realizing he was out of ideas. Lucius had looked pleased at Dudley's request, and had mulled over the request for a few minutes.

"All you can really do is continue to give reasoned arguments, however you might just simply stop trying to change their minds with verbal arguments - they are determined to be right about this and don't want to be persuaded otherwise. In any case, Draco and Harry do have money - and Ron doesn't, and they do have guardians that protect them - unlike Neville. I'm sure that their lives do look very exciting and perfect - so no argument will make them like them. You'll likely have to let them find a common ground - like Quidditch or chess ... or dragons. Just shoving their faces in the obvious won't work with such obvious Gryffindors."

Dudley had shuffled his feet and whispered. "I'm afraid I might end up in Gryffindor, Mr. Malfoy - I don't think I'm very subtle - not enough to be in Slytherin, or clever enough for Ravenclaw. I could probably argue myself into Hufflepuff - that might not be so bad, as the twins are in there." Dudley had looked at Lucius rather desperately. If his mum and Lucius did get together, he didn't want Lucius to dislike him because of his house.

Lucius had sighed and leaned forward in his chair. "If you belong in Gryffindor that is where you should go. It would be nice if you stayed with Draco and Harry - though there is no guarantee Harry will be in Slytherin ... he seems to have a bit of all houses in him. I promise that even if we do tend to joke rather unkindly about Gryffindor, we won't think less of you for being there." Lucius shifted uncomfortably - if Dudley did end up in the den of lions he would need to tread carefully - Petunia would be unlikely to view him favorably if he was constantly disparaging her son's house.

"You need to remember that Slytherins simply have a different mindset than Gryffindor - they leap in where we wait and plan ... there are many dissimilarities and if I'm honest I would have to say that there is a need for both types of wizards - even if we don't necessarily like each other." Lucius smiled ruefully. "I promised to still like you, anyway, even if you end up sporting red and gold."

Dudley had sighed in relief, and had tried to do as Lucius had suggested - not preaching the virtues of Draco and Harry - instead he spoke of Quidditch, and although that had ended in an argument over the Harpies vs. the Cannons, at least the four of them had been speaking - or maybe they'd been yelling.

"So, Ron, tell me about Wizard Chess - I've only played the muggle kind a few times?" Dudley asked.

Ron perked up and started a lengthy explanation.

Breakfasts and lunches were always buffet style with the house-elves cooperating. Supper was usually in the individual tents, although no one seemed to always be in their own tent. Tom floated with Percy into various tents, depending on who he'd been picking the mind of that day. One never knew where the kids might eat in the evening, though Severus and Lucius insisted Draco and Harry inform them where they would be.

Molly had been at first a bit unhappy to be usurped by house-elves, but after a day or so of only having to worry about the evening meal she had decided she rather enjoyed it. This meant more time with her children and a more pleasant vacation.

One or two of the Bulgarians always followed Draco and Harry to wherever they had supper. Molly had been let in on the Bulgarian's status as guards and welcomed them warmly. They'd been a bit surprised by her habit of hugging everyone regardless of their age or status, but she was soon among their favorite persons in the campsite and her motherly ways helped stave off any homesickness the young men might have.

Petunia had most dinners with Lucius, though she'd gone with Lucius to the Krum's one evening and once to the Weasley's - without him. Tonight she and Lucius were dining alone - Draco had announced he and Harry were organizing their driftwood and shell collection. Hugo was dining with the Krums and had snuck the Aurors in as well.

Lucius felt he and Petunia were making headway - the kisses were definitely getting quite a bit warmer and he was almost looking forward to Draco and Dudley leaving in September - he would have less difficulty catching Petunia alone, then.

Harry sat at the table, grinning at Severus' hair - which was highlighted with a sparkling dark green. He and Draco had helped Severus make the burn salve that afternoon. The twins had supplied the 'hairdresser bomb'. The two of them had hesitated over the prank, Harry especially had nearly thrown it away - being aware that Severus had a bad history with pranks from James and the Marauders. They had decided that as long as all three of them got dosed with it, they could claim 'Slytherin Pride'. So the three of them now had the glistening emerald streaks.

Severus had initially looked furious, until he saw the boys had the same hair as he did. Harry's happy smile and Draco's crafty "Its Slytherin colors" had weakened his anger and he'd finally chuckled ruefully. He'd even laughed when Lucius had asked why he'd not been invited to the prank in pretended jealousy.

The twins had answered Lucius' question by setting one of the bombs off in the Malfoy tent. Luckily for them Petunia had thought the highlights looked well on him ... and had said so quite convincingly.

Hugo had informed the twins they likely now owed Petunia a life debt.

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Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Dora and her parents arrived. Tom had been so jittery the day before that even Percy had snapped at him to go for a run ... or a cold shower already. Tom had finally settled down muttering the age-old teenage mantra of 'No one understands'.

Bill and Charlie had smiled a little sympathetically and Arthur shook his head. Molly had patted his shoulder, but from long experience with her own sons, didn't bother trying to reason with him.

But, at last, Dora and her parents arrived and the pair had wandered down the beach hand in hand.

All the younger boys grimaced in disgust, though Neville's eyes held more malevolence as well as the usual lack of understanding as to why Tom would be wasting time talking to a mere girl. Neville had been quite excited to be invited along with his Higgs cousins to the World Cup. He might hate the idea of flying, himself, but he'd loved watching the few Quidditch games he'd been to.

He'd been less enthused when he'd learned the Snape household and the Malfoys would be there as well. It had become obvious that almost everyone there was helping guard the 'Brat Who Lived' and his poncy little mate Malfoy. He almost laughed when Dudley had tried to tell him that Harry didn't have a perfect little life ... the entire campout had practically been planned around him. And everyone had read the article about Harry going on his tent-buying trip. The salesman had gushed on and on about how nice and polite Harry's been - and how attentive and supportive his guardian was.

Dudley was clearly deluded.

Neville was glad Ron saw through all the hype to the spoiled creature Potter really was. Neville didn't mind Dudley - as long as he shut up about his cousin. He and Ron talked a lot about Quidditch and chess - Dudley was trying to learn and Ron was happy to be Dudley's teacher. All in all it had been and idyllic week. He wasn't looking forward to his Uncle and Grandmother's arrival.

They would arrive the day of the cup and Neville would have to spend all day with them, likely. He prayed they would leave after the game and not spend the night.

Harry watched Ron, Neville and Dudley hovering over the chessboard the day before the World Cup. He was glad Dudley was finding friends that were likely to be fellow Gryffindors, even if he and Draco didn't like them. He and Draco had talked to Dudley after he'd told them his fears of the three of them not being friends if he was in Gryffindor, as he suspected he would be. They had reassured him they would remain firm friends no matter what house Dudley was in.

"The three of us have been together through thick and thin ... dragons, mad Death Eaters, falling off cliffs... no house affiliations are going to undermine us." Harry had said emphatically, and the others had nodded. "My father - James Potter - had a bunch of friends that were like blood brothers, called the Marauders. They spent all their time on pranks - but we have something more important to do - we have a Dark Lord to fight and we're going to need people from all the houses for that - so you being in Gryffindor will be a good thing. With Cho Chang and the twins - we'll have a way into all the houses. We'll make you an honorary Slytherin, Dudley, and then - we'll be the 'Three Slytherin Marauders'. No one will be able to stop us, 'cause we'll have more allies than the Dark Lord ever thought of having."

Harry wasn't sure any of what he'd said would actually ever work, but it sounded good. Draco looked impressed and Dudley looked relieved - so that was alright then. And the 'Three Slytherin Marauders' - well it was good enough for the musketeers (one of his favorite books) so it was good enough for them.

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Rosemerta arrived the day of the Cup, along with Algie and Augusta. She and Severus immediately followed Tom's example of a walk on the beach. Augusta sniffed at most of the other campers in attendance and retired to the Higgs tent to tell Enid in detail how little she thought of her camping companions.

Algie immediately left to find a convenient method of killing his nephew that could be made to look like a tragic childhood accident.

Unfortunately he found that once he left the campground and crossed a field - there was a marsh that was well fenced in to keep the dugbogs that lived there from escaping. The owner of the marsh made an excellent living on the creatures for potions ingredients and they also kept the area clear of rats and other pests. And of course there were several species of orchid that were essential to certain potions that would only grow in a marsh that had ample dugbog dung.

Algie stood outside the fence mulling over the fact that he could clearly see several orchid plants close by - orchids that the Longbottom Greenhouses did not have. He'd sneered at Neville's growing skill in the greenhouses and his love for plants. But now - it might come in handy.

He would need to be subtle, of course, in letting Neville know about the orchids in the marsh. No one could know he wanted Neville to enter the dugbog infested marsh. But, he hadn't much time - just today, and if he persuaded Augusta, perhaps until sometimes tomorrow. He wandered back to the camp deep in thought.

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