The next several days passed quickly for Harry and he fell into a comfortable routine with the Blacks. He spent his mornings surfing with Carina and when it was just the two of them, he slowly came to know more about her. Little things – such as her preference for lemon tart over treacle, that one of the first spells she taught herself was a warming charm because she is often cold, and that she wants to learn wandless magic.

After surfing, they rejoined the rest of the Blacks for breakfast. Harry would dutifully stuff himself with bacon and sausages and then be nearly overwhelmed by the need to take a nap afterwards, but then Caelum would want to fly. Harry would say something like, 'just for a bit,' but any tiredness always left him once he felt the air whipping in his face and they would stay out for hours.

The time after lunch was spent evening-out the tan lines left by the rash guard worn while surfing — at least, that was Carina's motivation. Little incentive was needed for Harry to spend the hottest part of the day near the water. Caelum joined them too, and the three of them alternated between relaxing by their pool and playing around back at the beach.

Mid-afternoon was reserved for his lessons with Sirius, mostly they practiced dueling. Regulus frequently observed as they did this and gave Harry advice if he noticed any areas that could be improved. Sirius would sometimes get annoyed, though Harry found it helpful. At least, when it came to learning spells. He had been guiltily averting his eyes from Regulus ever since learning he was a Legilimens. While Regulus never brought attention to it, it had to be obvious that he was doing it. He knew he should give him the benefit of the doubt when he'd never attempted to use it on him before, but the unknown of what images he might see was daunting enough to avoid it for now...

In the evenings after it cooled down, he and Caelum re-took to the sky – sometimes Sirius joined them. And to their surprise the night before – Regulus, Maliah and Carina did too, which resulted in an impromptu quidditch match with the three of them playing against Sirius, Caelum and him. The Black brothers each played Keeper for their team, while everyone else was a Chaser. Maliah warned they would have to take it easy on her because she never played on a House team in school, but then turned out to be just as competitive as the rest of them. Regulus and Carina seemed particularly agile in the air and he learned Regulus played Seeker for Slytherin during his time at school.

On this particular day, their routine had been disrupted by rain and Harry was currently sitting in an armchair casting longing looks out the window as it continued to pour down. It started just after lunch and he'd spent most of the afternoon playing wizarding chess with Caelum, until the younger boy went upstairs to get ready for the French League's Quidditch Final.

Partly out of boredom, Harry retrieved the pamphlet Carina loaned him about careers in the wizarding world. As he was looking it over, he didn't immediately notice when she entered the room.

"Hey," she greeted.

He looked up and tried not to look overly interested as she sat down on the couch opposite of him. She was wearing a summery white blouse with dark jeans that accentuated all the things wizarding robes hid. He realized he'd never seen her in muggle clothes before. Her hair was different too – rather than curly or straight, it fell in a purposefully rumpled sort of way that teetered on the verge of looking messy while still looking nice.

He previously assumed she was teasing when she advised him to embrace his messy hair but after seeing what the rain had done to hers earlier, he realized she might have been speaking from personal experience. Unfortunately, his amusement at the idea didn't go unnoticed, and she looked down as if second guessing what she was wearing.

"You look great," he said, without fully registering he was saying it aloud until after it happened. His eyes immediately dropped to the pamphlet in his hand and he tried to act casual, hoping she hadn't heard him despite knowing she did.

"Thank you," she said, after what felt to him like an unnecessarily long pause. "Did you find anything interesting in there?"

He nodded, grateful for the subject change. "If Britain is the same as France, I'm in the right classes to become an Auror."

"That's good news - is it still what you want to do?"

"Yes, at least, I think so," he said, handing the pamphlet back to her as he no longer needed it. "You never said which career you have in mind," he reminded her.

She hesitated, and at first, he didn't think she would answer, and then she was looking at him as if to gauge his reaction.

"I think I'd like being a Curse-Breaker."

He tried to keep his expression neutral, aware she was watching him. He wasn't sure what he expected – maybe that she wanted to teach like Regulus? Certainly, something with a bit less risk involved than what he knew about Curse-Breakers, though he wasn't sure where the notion that she would want something "safe" came from.

"My friend Ron has a brother who does that…he spent several years living in Egypt. It's a bit dangerous – breaking into tombs – that sort of thing, right?"

She nodded, "The ones who live abroad usually work for the bank. I had an uncle who was a Curse-Breaker and worked for the Ministry."

"Would you want to work at the French Ministry?"

"Euh," she shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm fifteen. Sixteen – that's when Blacks make their big decisions."

Harry recalled Regulus had been sixteen when he joined a murderous cult obsessed with blood purity – the same age Sirius was when he moved out and was disowned. He wasn't quite sure how to react to her assertion when neither she nor Caelum ever gave much indication of what they knew about their family's past. If not for the guilty mannerisms they sometimes adopted when death eaters were mentioned, he could have believed it was very little.

He wanted to say something insightful, but his mind focused on the fact Regulus ultimately left Britain because he joined – and then left – the death eaters.

"You might have gone to Hogwarts if not for that," he remarked.

It was clear when she figured out how he arrived at that conclusion as she seemed to mull it over for a moment.

"I don't know that I'd be alive," she admitted.

Harry wasn't exactly sure of the timeline, but it was obvious Regulus and Maliah were quite young when they had her. And while he hadn't considered it in that context before, if Regulus was only alive because he left the country, it stood to reason Carina would not be alive if he and Maliah hadn't left when they did. Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby, after all. Why would the daughter of a traitorous death eater be shown any mercy?

For a bitter moment he was nearly overwhelmed by the unfairness of it. Regulus had been a death eater while his parents had been members of the Order — Sirius told him as much. If either of them should have grown up without their parents it should have been her — Caelum wouldn't have even been thought of.

He closed his eyes to clear his head. He wasn't unhappy that she had a good childhood — he was glad for her and Caelum, but he couldn't help but feel a bit envious of them at the same time. He found himself wondering if his parents would have left the country with him as a baby if they might still be here too. Sirius wouldn't have gone to Azkaban. Perhaps he would have moved away with them and would've watched him grow up. He would have been at the train station with his parents to see him off to some other wizarding school apart from Hogwarts each year. Maybe Harry would even have a younger sibling of his own.

He tried not to dwell on what could have been and when he finally brought himself to look at Carina, she was carefully avoiding his gaze. He suspected some of his previous resentment must have shown while she was still observing him.

Caelum joined them a few moments later and Harry would have expected a bit less interaction from Carina with him around, even without the new unspoken awkwardness between them.

The younger boy plopped down beside his sister and immediately scrunched his nose.

"Why are you wearing perfume? You know we're going to a quidditch game, right?"

She inhaled slowly and released it. "I'm not the one playing," she said, extracting her wand and proceeding to meticulously return the script of the career pamphlet back to French.

Harry's eyes lingered on her for a moment, idly wondering what her perfume would smell like, before realizing he was doing it and he shifted his attention to Caelum.

"Who do you think will win?" he asked.

"Brittany is the better team – Guyenne just plays dirty and somehow manages to get away with it."

"Guyenne has a better Seeker," Carina said without looking up.

Caelum looked as if it pained him to agree, "Brittany is playing with their reserve."

It wasn't long before Regulus and Maliah joined them. Like Carina and Caelum, they were wearing muggle clothing in colors to indicate subtle support for the home team. Caelum looked a bit miffed when Sirius came out of his room wearing black, which Harry knew from Caelum was one of the opposing team's colors.

Sirius adjusted Harry's and his own appearance to replicate how they looked during their last public outing and then it was time to leave. The six of them stood around what looked like a heavy parchment ticket. Carina was beside him and when she reached to grab ahold of it he could smell her perfume then – a subtle mix of floral with something citrusy and...

"Harry," Sirius said warningly.

The portkey had begun to glow blue, and he immediately latched onto it. Not a second later, he felt his feet leave the ground and he was being pulled—

When he was again on solid ground, it was sudden and unexpected, and he would have lost his balance if not for Regulus grabbing ahold of him.

"Thanks," he muttered.

He nodded in acknowledgment as he addressed the group, "We can't linger here."

Muggle-clad groups were arriving by portkey all around them and as they walked away, Harry wondered if everyone coming to the game had to come through that space.

It was an odd sensation being surrounded by people speaking a language he didn't understand. He thought it must have made him paranoid as he could have sworn he heard his name within the conversations of strangers on more than one occasion. Or perhaps he wasn't just paranoid, as one of the times it was so clear he started to turn around before Carina stopped him. "Tournament," she muttered and kept him walking.

They came to an area where people were placing wagers on the match and made to pass without engaging but Regulus was met by a wizard with a thick mustache. They shook hands amicably and then it was clear the man wanted him to place a bet.

Harry noticed no one underage was in the area and Carina seemed to realize it too, or perhaps she'd simply been looking for a reason to get away from her parents.

"We'll go look at the souvenirs," she told her mother, indicating him and Caelum. Sirius looked as if he might go with them, but Regulus gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, indicating he should stay with them.

"Stay together," Maliah advised pensively.

Sirius felt apprehensive separating from Harry but reluctantly acknowledged it would be odd for two presumably well-known kids to have a strange man following them around. He kept Harry in his line of sight for as long as he could, and it was clear Regulus' teacher-status must've been what kept the students of Beauxbatons at bay. Once separated, they flocked to them in droves.

Carina looked comparatively outgoing from what he'd come to expect while among her schoolmates. He supposed she was simply playing the role she'd been given in making the 'new student' feel welcome.

"Are you going to place a bet?" Regulus asked him after he finished making his.

"Sure, if your fronting the money," he muttered, taking the quill from him. Regulus watched him write a substantial sum under his name without batting an eyelash and Sirius gave him a pointed look. "Teacher salaries in France must be better than back home," he said, wadding the parchment up rather than submitting it.

"I've no idea what Hogwarts professors make," he admitted.

Sirius doubted either school paid well. The Bones patriarch was bound to have given them a bit of gold before he died, but that was fifteen years ago. From what he gathered, the other Bones' siblings weren't in contact with Maliah and they were likely to notice if some bit of their fortune was going to someone else by now. It occurred to him he really should check the Blacks' finances to ensure his brother wasn't swindling everything they had left...

Maliah returned from mingling amongst some of the other patrons and Regulus' eyes lingered on her longer than expressly necessary. Sirius would have found it pathetic if he was fawning over her after being separated for a few minutes but suspected that wasn't the case.

There had been an obvious strain between the two of them, ever since Regulus came back from his meeting with Madame Maxime. It likely didn't help that he and Regulus had begun spending large chunks of their days in the basement gathering information that could be useful in their search for Horcruxes.

The trio made their way towards the nearest vendor and the impact of being on their own was felt instantly. Rather than curious eyes on them, they had a flourish of witches and wizards, mostly around Carina's age stopping to greet her, and often Caelum in turn, when before they would have kept their distance. More often than not, their attention would eventually turn to him, prompting an introduction. Carina didn't seem to relish the attention so much as endure it and Harry suspected she was quickly growing tired of the charade.

As they gradually neared the shop, Harry saw children much too young to be in school, waving around wands and pretending to duel. As he could see light exuding from the wands with each spell, he initially thought the restriction for underage magic must be more relaxed in France. As they got closer he realized they were toy wands that seemed capable only of squirting bubbles and colored water.

"Do you hear that?" asked Carina, and he knew she had been watching the kids. "They are casting spells with those wands. I'm surprised they're allowed to sell them to children."

Caelum raised an eyebrow, "Who else would buy them? They're obviously limited in what they can do – and anyone old enough to go to school has their own wand already."

"They're limited in what children can do with them. I expect someone trained could do more than blow bubbles and spray water if they have a wand core."

"Do you think they're dangerous?" Harry asked doubtfully.

She furrowed her brow. "I was actually thinking one could be useful for learning – aah!"

As if from thin air, someone appeared directly in front of her and she stepped back in surprise. Harry instinctively put a hand behind her to keep her balanced and the newly arrived male's attention shifted to him. Harry held his breath as he thought he recognized the sandy-haired boy with gray eyes as one of the Beauxbatons students who had been at Hogwarts and was grateful Sirius had altered his appearance. Apparently finding him uninteresting, the male's attention quickly returned to Carina, smirking slightly.

She didn't look particularly thrilled to see him, but reciprocated the cheek kissing exchange once he initiated it and the two engaged in a conversation in French. Left alone to examine the boy, Harry realized he was too young to have been at Hogwarts for the tournament, but thought he must have a brother whom he closely resembled that was there.

Despite the boy ogling her in a way that bordered on indecent, the conversation seemed cordial until, rather suddenly, it didn't. The male raised his chin as if to ensure he was looking down at her as much as possible and when he spoke again, Harry didn't need to know French to know it was etched with disdain.

Carina's eyes narrowed, and Harry saw even Caelum looked perplexed by the shift. After another brief exchange, Carina stepped aside in a grand gesture of mockery.

"Excusez-moi," she said with a curtsy. Few would have mistaken the action as genuine, though the sandy-haired male looked rather smug as he passed by.

Carina stared after him as if expecting he might come back. Caelum said something in French – which was rare in itself as he never spoke in French when it was just them. To Harry's irritation, neither of their first instinct was to immediately fill him in on what happened. Caelum mentioned before there was a spell that would enable him to understand another language. He wished he would have learnt it.

"What was his problem?" he asked finally, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

Carina's eyes flickered to his and he realized he probably should have waited to ask Caelum in private. Carina had only recently begun sharing more with him — and that was before she caught him daydreaming her parents died rather than his earlier. Of course, he didn't know if she knew that's what he'd been thinking about. Regardless, he liked that she was becoming more forthcoming, and didn't want to ruin it by coming across as intrusive.

"I mean... not to pry or anything."

She shrugged as if it was of little consequence.

"He seems to have picked up a bit of anti-British sentiment, that's all."

Harry blinked in surprise as that was about the last thing he expected. It was obvious she was trying to look unaffected though not quite managing it.

"What do you mean?"

She pursed her lips and Harry looked to Caelum for an explanation.

"He's… apparently of the opinion we're guests in this country and should…" he glanced at Carina uncertainly, "act accordingly."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Just forget it," Carina muttered, mastering her expression then so that it became a mask of indifference.

But Harry didn't want to forget it. The Blacks lived in France and as far as he knew Carina nor Caelum had ever lived anywhere else. Guests, he scoffed. He felt indignant on their behalf, but when he glanced at Caelum he looked as unperturbed as Carina now, despite having been visibly annoyed only moments before.

It wasn't the first time he'd witnessed the dramatic shift in their outward emotions. He couldn't decide if it was enviable or maddening though he was leaning towards the latter for now. He shook his head.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Caelum asked innocently.

He looked to Carina but her attention had shifted to their next visitor. Harry saw it was a witch he guessed to be around his age. She was quite thin, with knobby knees visible just below the hemline of her muggle sundress. Her pale blonde hair fell past her shoulders in spiraling curls. She greeted Carina and Caelum before turning to him expectantly.

"Léonie this is James," Carina said resignedly. "He's thinking of transferring to Beauxbatons; James this is my friend Léonie, she is my roommate at school."

"Nice to meet you," they said in unison, and Harry realized with chagrin he had reverted back to using English. Fortunately, the girl didn't seem to mind, and sounded more comfortable using it than most others he'd met.

She looked between him and Carina as if momentarily conflicted before her eyes settled on Carina.

"What happened with Philippe?" she asked warily.

She scowled. "He's such a little creep with that invisibility cloak."

That's how he appeared so suddenly, Harry realized. He should have figured it out on his own considering he had his own invisibility cloak secretly tucked away, but he'd been more worried about being recognized at the time.

"You can't tell me he hasn't been everywhere imaginable with that thing," she added contemptuously.

Léonie's mouth twitched, seemingly finding the idea of someone sneaking around more amusing than bothersome, though Harry couldn't help but notice Carina neglected to mention any of what he said to her.

"Well, it must be tempting to when – you know he like…" seeing her expression, she aborted the conversation altogether and turned to Harry.

"What year will you be in?"

"Fifth," he answered after a slight delay, not expecting to be addressed further. The others he met were more interested in talking to her than him - which was unsurprising, given his limited French.

Her blue eyes evaluated him for a moment, then she smiled, "Maybe we will have some classes together then."

"Yeah, maybe," he said, trying to sound hopeful.

Léonie looked as if she would ask him something else, but Carina was faster.

"This looks familiar," she remarked, indicating a green and white silk scarf that was tied around the other girl's neck.

She looked down at it and smirked, "It found its way into my luggage," she said cheekily.

Carina quirked an eyebrow, "Well… it suits you," she decided.

"I thought so too," Léonie agreed, her smile widening as her eyes drifted back to Harry.

She opened her mouth to address him, but Carina was again faster, this time speaking in rapid French and giving the other girl little chance to talk at all. As he and the Blacks agreed the less he spoke to anyone the better, he pretended not to notice that her eyes kept flitting back to him.

"Selene Eppinette is coming over here," Caelum warned a few minutes into Carina's tale.

Harry looked in the direction he indicated and saw a beautiful girl around his age. She was gracefully tall with a mane of long, thick brown hair, piercing blue eyes and full lips. She appeared to float rather than walk towards them while the crowd seemingly parted for her without her having to ask. She wore what at first appeared to be a black muggle dress, but as she got closer, Harry saw the style resembled wizarding robes more closely.

She greeted Carina and Léonie with the cheek-kissing-exchange, though they did not appear particularly friendly. Her expression bordered on disdainful when she looked at Léonie and only slightly improved as she addressed Carina - and even that faded after finding some fault in her appearance. Harry noticed it was Léonie who looked more offended by the criticism while Carina brushed it off easily, even looking a bit amused.

If she noticed him or Caelum at all, she ignored them, and Léonie too after the initial greeting was out of the way though it was evident that Carina attempted to draw her into their conversation on at least two occasions. Each time it fizzled quickly, along with much of the confidence the blonde previously exuded.

Despite her great looks, Harry quickly found Selene's cold exterior to be off-putting and he wasn't sorry when she seemingly got bored with them and sauntered away in the same fashion by which she came.

Léonie visibly relaxed once she was gone but had been casting Carina surreptitious glances even before the other girl left.

"What?" she asked finally.

"Why are you not sitting with Selene?"

"With Selene," Carina repeated in an odd tone, "Why would I?"

"You usually do, do you not?"

"I sometimes sit in the Ministry Suite with Camille," she said as if making an important distinction. "Camille or Chloé."

Judging by her expression, Léonie didn't consider the distinction as significant as Carina expected.

"And Selene?" she asked skeptically.

"She's usually there," Carina agreed.

Harry thought back to how aloof Carina had been when they first met. Was it really so different from Selene?

"Why are you not sitting with them today?" Léonie pressed.

"I'm just not," she said simply.

"Did you and Camille get into an argument or something?"

Carina exhaled slowly, "No. I just can't sit up there today. It really isn't a big deal."

Realization flickered in Léonie's expression, "Ooh, do you mean your parents won't let you?"

Carina hesitated before nodding vaguely, "Something like that."

Caelum, who previously looked bored of the conversation, looked between them with renewed interest and Harry suspected their parents had nothing to do with Carina not sitting with her friends. Léonie must've believed it though as she allowed the subject to drop at last.

The crowd noise intensified, and Harry realized the size had grown exponentially since they arrived. Léonie tore her eyes away from Carina and looked at her watch, then grimaced. "I have to go," she said, before initiating another round of cheek kissing with first Carina and then Caelum.

Harry was stricken with panic as she then turned to him and leaned in. He had no idea of what to do – Caelum said he wouldn't have to worry about this sort of exchange because he didn't know anyone.

He recalled noticing Carina's tendency to tilt her head slightly to the left and attempted to mimic the motion. Holding his breath, he offered his right cheek first before switching to the other side as he pretended to kiss each of her cheeks in turn.

What had taken mere seconds to complete felt like agonizing minutes and he exhaled in relief the moment it was over.

"Hope to see you at Beauxbatons, James," Léonie said brightly as she walked away.

Harry could feel Carina's eyes on him and felt heat rising from his neck to his face, anticipating she would tease him for his undoubtedly bad technique.

"She really does," she informed him, matter-of-fact. Harry inexplicably thought she was trying to gauge his reaction and he tried not to have one.

"Well... I hope she won't be too disappointed then," he said blandly. "She seems like a nice girl."

Carina pursed her lips and Harry thought 'nice' maybe wasn't the first word she would have used to describe her but didn't dispute it.

"She is nice," she conceded.

Caelum sniggered a bit too loudly to go unnoticed, causing them both to look at him.

"Sorry," he said though with none of the sentiment. "But the way she had you blushing was hard to overlook."

Harry grimaced and if it was possible his face probably got redder than before causing Caelum to smirk.

"Maybe you should transfer to be with Léonie."

Carina looked between them and frowned.

"I'd still like to get one of those wands if we can make it before the game starts," she interjected impatiently, and effectively changing the subject.

"Its kind of embarrassing if you actually buy one of those," Caelum remarked as they resumed walking towards the shop.

"Six months ago, you would have been begging mum and dad for one," she countered.

"Maybe, but how much older are you?"

She gave him a mocking smile, but then it morphed into one that was more genuine as something or someone behind him caught her attention.

Harry turned and saw an older teenaged-male making his way through the crowd towards them. He was dressed nicely in muggle clothing with colors indicative of his support for Guyenne. Harry was acutely aware when Carina left his side to go and meet him.

"That's Andrae," Caelum told him rather unnecessarily.

He knew there was nothing romantic in the traditional exchange of cheek kisses, but the way Andrae's hands lingered on Carina after theirs would have misled anyone. Harry felt like someone had ripped out some vital part of his breathing process. He knew it was ridiculous even to feel jealous when it was abundantly clear she had no interest in him beyond friendship and they'd be living in different countries by next week. If anything, the realization made him feel worse.

"Come on," Caelum said, and Harry felt a tug on his sleeve as the younger boy led him into the place selling souvenirs. Besides the toy wands, there was various merchandise representing the teams that were playing. Most of it was similar to what had been sold at the World Cup. A large black cat, which Caelum called a Matagot, was a recurrent theme among the Guyenne memorabilia, while the team from Brittany was represented by a cloaked figure holding a scythe.

To his and Caelum's mutual horror, for different reasons, Carina and Andrae joined them a few moments later. Now that he was stood before him, Harry could regretfully notice the taller male would be considered handsome by most. He was well-built with a strong jawline and bright blue eyes. His light brown hair looked almost blond as if he'd spent a lot of his summer break outdoors and the sun had lightened it from its natural shade.

He greeted Caelum and shook his hand, though the latter looked conflicted on how friendly he was supposed to be towards his sister's boyfriend. As the two of them carried on talking in French, Harry contemplated if he should leave – pretend he had merely been standing with them rather than actually with them. He took a tentative step away and Carina looked at him sharply. As much as he'd prefer to be anywhere else, it was clear she wanted him there for some reason. He shuffled his feet as if he'd simply been uncomfortable and stayed put.

Andrae's attention inevitably turned to him and Harry attempted to keep his face relaxed, knowing none of what he was currently feeling would be well-received.

"Andrae, this is James," Carina said, switching to English. "His godfather grew up with our dad in England and they've been visiting for the past couple weeks."

Harry blinked. Sirius and Regulus obviously grew up together, but since when were they telling people that? The slight lift of Caelum's brow suggested he hadn't known she would deviate from the story either. Of the three of them, it was only Andrae who seemed unsurprised.

"And this is Andrae," Carina said, apparently deeming he needed no further introduction. Or perhaps she was simply distracted as her eyes flitted over the older male seemingly without even realizing she was doing it.

Andrae must not have noticed her admiration as Harry got the distinct impression he was appraising him as if they were in some sort of competition with one another.

He knew he should say something. Caelum had taught him a few phrases in French. He'd mostly stuck with "enchanté" throughout the day as it was the easiest to remember, but if it meant something like 'nice to meet you,' it felt wrong to use now.

He settled for, "Bonjour."

"Eet ees nice to meet you," Andrae said carefully, proffering his hand.

Harry unknotted a fist to shake his hand out of obligation. The moment they let go, he looked at Carina, who had a fond sort of smile on her face as she was looking in the region of Andrae's mouth. Never mind that his was the worst English they heard all day, Harry thought callously.

Carina's eyes flitted to him and Caelum, "We'll be back," she announced, leading Andrae deeper into the store.

"What was that about?" he muttered to Caelum once they were gone.

"She's weird," he answered, as was his go-to response to any question he asked pertaining to his sister. He seemed to contemplate something before adding, "A lot of people would have seen you with us last time."

Before he could elaborate, the shop received an influx of new customers that made it difficult to ensure they weren't being overheard. They separated a bit and Harry pretended to take interest in a new set of omnioculars.

He didn't know how much time a 'potential new student' would spend with the Blacks but realized he must have exceeded it by now. A lot of people saw you with us, Caelum mentioned. Was that what prompted Carina to tell Andrae about him? So that he wouldn't hear it from someone else and get the wrong idea?

If that was the case, Harry probably hadn't helped matters with his less-than-friendly attitude when they met. He felt a little guilty for that, but if Carina was talking about him, he was more curious in what she would have said — he'd been careful not to mention her to his friends, thinking it was off limits, after all.

He chanced a glance in their direction and saw Carina was studying one of the toy wands while Andrae was trying to entice her with a light scarf bearing the black and indigo team colors of Guyenne. She smirked, and with an elaborate wave of the fake wand, pretended to change the colors to something more agreeable to her. Obviously, they weren't talking about him right then.

Sirius, Regulus and Maliah rejoined them a few minutes later, which brought back Carina and Andrae, having already made their purchases. Sirius shirked away from them to stand with him and Caelum.

As Regulus interrogated Andrae, Carina seemed to be willing her father not to embarrass her – which by Harry's estimation, Regulus was blatantly ignoring.

Andrae indicated a small group gathered outside, who Harry previously hadn't noticed. There were two males and two females, of which only a male with dark eyes seemed to be paying attention to them. His black hair was cropped short on the sides and left longer on top and styled in a way that added a bit to his height. He nodded respectfully when Regulus looked at him before turning back to the others. The girls cast furtive glances at them in turn before quickly looking away.

Regulus considered the group for a moment before exchanging a glance with Maliah and reluctantly agreeing to something. Andrae stood frozen in place, as if waiting for some other exchange to occur, until Carina nudged him. Then the two of them were walking away looking pleased; Harry accidently caught Carina's eye.

"See ya," she said, smiling with nervous excitement and he took it to mean it would be after the game. Aware that Andrae was looking at him too, he forced a smile.

"Have fun," he choked out.

The other boy in the group, who had dark, curly, and exaggeratedly side-swept hair, feigned shock when he saw Carina was joining them, but was the first to greet her.

Harry watched them for a moment until Sirius' hand dropped on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He looked up to see his godfather's expression was an odd mixture of sympathy and restrained amusement as he looked between him and Regulus.

"So that's the boyfriend?" Sirius remarked casually.

Regulus nodded curtly.

Harry suspected he regretted his decision to let her go. And rightfully so. He couldn't help but think if Carina was going off with anyone it should have been him...

"How old is he?" Harry asked curiously. His tone might have vaguely implied he was too old for her.

"Sixteen," Maliah said with an exasperated look directed at Regulus who was looking increasingly likely to make her come back. "We should get to our seats," she added, while affixing herself to Regulus' arm and leading the way..

An unexpected bubble of excitement coursed through Harry as they climbed the stairs that led to their seats. They weren't quite as high as he'd been at the World Cup, but as he caught his breath, he appreciated they were at the center of the pitch and would have a good view of the match.

He was seated in between Sirius and Caelum and the latter was filling them in on the rather gruesome injury the Seeker from Brittany had endured just as he was catching the snitch in their previous game.

Harry's attention flitted between projector screens on either side of the pitch that he assumed would show the match once it started but for now it was capturing images of the audience. The main area of focus appeared to be behind each goal post where some of the rowdiest fans were seated. They were likely the worst seats in the stadium in terms of viewing the match, but the atmosphere would've improved it. Nearly everyone looked to be older teenagers – to Harry's left, they were mostly wearing white and green, for Brittany, while to his right nearly everyone was wearing black in support of Guyenne.

"There's Carina," Caelum said suddenly, indicating the screen on their right. Harry looked and was able to find her easily, wearing white amass a sea of black. She was seated between Andrae, who looked distinctly more mischievous now they were away from her parents, and the boy he saw earlier with curly hair. She glanced at the latter and then was laughingly picking something like confetti out of his hair. The girl on his other side had been with them before but looked rather annoyed as she watched them while Andrae simply looked resigned to the fact they were close friends.

"Who is that beside her?" Harry asked curiously before realizing he was the only one of them still looking at the screen.

"You can't expect me to know every-" Caelum began before seeing who he was referring to. "Oh, that's Sébastien. He's on the same quidditch team as her and Andrae," he said as some overhead announcements started.

Caelum had found an earpiece that would translate the commentary from French to any other language needed and he realized he should have already had it out and ready. As he was trying to figure out how to select English, he nearly missed the 'special guests' being introduced. Sirius nudged him, and he followed his gaze to the screen where he'd previously seen Carina.

The projection was now revealing a box similar to the one he'd sat in at the World Cup, only it was much larger with couches and plenty of space for the guests to move around. He first noticed the Selene girl he'd met earlier. She was sitting straight with her arms resting on the armrests of her chair and when she looked down Harry was reminded of a princess atop her throne.

Near Selene, but with noticeable separation, were two girls sitting together and Harry had to do a doubletake when he recognized one of them was Susan Bones.

What was she doing there?

He'd never seen the blonde girl she was talking to before but wondered if she was one of the girls Carina mentioned earlier.

His eyes scanned over those who would be around his age, but finding no one else from Hogwarts, he turned his attention to the adults. Judging by their attire, he guessed several were from other countries.

His eyes landed on a lady with graying strawberry-blondish hair who bore a slight resemblance to his classmate and someone else he knew. His eyes started to shift to Maliah before he caught sight of the man beside her. Harry was sickened to recognize it was Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister of Magic.