Authors Note: I've got to say guys I think this is a pretty good chapter. Also thanks to all of you who reviewed and read chapter 3. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy it, and don't forget to review and follow the story!

Chapter 4 Happenstance

The month had gone by fast for Harry. He had spent a lot of long nights at work preparing for the World Cup. He also had a lot of meetings with the German's Head Auror about security. Much to Harry's dismay, the Germans were so impressed with him that they basically assigned him to run part of the operation.

Harry just wanted to come to the World Cup and put his team where the Germans needed them. He figured he would spend the rest of his time watching matches and goofing around with Ron. However, that scenario was the furthest thing from reality. Harry seem to be buried in responsibility with the German Ministry, who were taking some cues from him.

It was decided that they would break the security forces for the Cup into four different units. To accomplish that goal, they took the festivity grounds and the quidditch stadium and separated it into one giant grid. They then sliced that grid into four equal units, picking a different auror to run each unit. Unfortunately for Harry, he was responsible for not only an unit but also security at the stadium. It was almost like they didn't want him to get any sleep at night.

Harry had over 1000 wizards and witches assigned to his unit. However, Harry was concerned that wasn't going to be enough people considering the World Cup usually generated about 1 million visitors every 4 years. A security force of just over 5000 really seemed abysmal for the amount of people attending the Cup, and Harry had very uneasy feelings about how things stood.

Harry could no longer count the briefings he had gotten on threats made against the Cup. The British Ministry had still not caught all the Death Eaters since the war passed, and there was a bit of worry that one of them would resurface and try to cause havoc, not to mention entities from other countries fixing to sabotaging things as well. It was all just a lovely recipe for Harry getting no sleep at night.

The German Ministry enchanted a fifteen mile square radius of forests for the cup this year. The only thing close that was even habitable was a small wizarding village on the edge of the radius. In those 15 miles however, you had makeshift tents pop-up everywhere. There were restaurants, all different types of pubs, shops, and so much more. In the center of all the festivities was a giant Stadium that could hold 300,000 people. It was quite the spectacle and brought Harry back to the World cup in 1994. He was just hoping that he could skip the riots this time.

"I cannot wait until this bloody cup is over," Harry complained.

"Oh come on now Harry, we haven't even gotten to see any good matches yet," Ron countered as they walked through the busy makeshift streets of World Cup Village.

"It's easy for you to say that. You haven't turned in your paperwork for weeks," Harry said narrowing his eyes.

"Ermm...Yeah I'll get that to you by the end of the week," Ron gave an awkward chuckle, hoping Harry wouldn't bring up his paperwork anymore.

Harry sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I'll believe it when I see it."

"Mate, I think you really need to de-stress," Ron advised, giving Harry a weary look.

"Well to de-stress, first you have to be stressed, and as you can see I am perfectly fine," Harry replied sarcastically.

"You know I've checked with all of the squad leaders. Everything seems to be running in tip-top shape in our sector. The threat level right now is low, and I think we have nothing to worry about," Ron said giving Harry a reassuring smile.

"I'd fill a bit better if the intelligence reports didn't tell me of impending doom. Even the German's intel seems to be doom and gloom," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking about all of the reports he went through this week. In his eyes, there was one sure thing, and that was that someone was going to try and attack the cup this year.

"Look here, you just have to think that your life is stress free and before you know it, it will be. I mean for God sakes you killed Voldemort! Nothing should get you down anymore!" Ron explained.

"You would be surprised what gets me down," Harry muttered, annoyed with Ron's peppy attitude.

"If nothing else, lunch with 'Mione should cheer you up," Ron said still happy as ever.

At this, Harry smiled.

"Are you happy because you get to see your girlfriend? Or are you happy because you get to eat lunch?" Harry asked with amusement.

The line of questioning made Ron chuckle.

"Maybe a bit of both really," Ron said rubbing his stomach.

"I've been so busy checking on the squad leaders and handling petty incidents that I haven't had time to do much of anything, let alone eat. Hell, you and Hermione know me better than just about anyone. You both know I love a good meal," Ron said grinning.

This got a chuckle out of the both of them. They walked through a crowd for a few more minutes before they came to the restaurant they agreed to meet Hermione at.

"Ahh there she is!" Ron said as he ran up and swooped Hermione into his arms, giving her a big kiss and a twirl.

"Good to see you too," Hermione smiled as Ron put her down.

Hermione then went over and enveloped Harry into a big hug.

"Harry, you look stressed!" Hermione said looking up at Harry's tired expression.

"Well I give up!" Ron said comedically throwing his hands up in the air. "I've been trying to cheer him up for hours."

"Thanks for that, Hermione. You really know how to make a bloke feel better" Harry said.

"Well, you know I didn't mean it like that, Harry," Hermione said while swatting him on the shoulder as they entered the restaurant.

"You know we should really catch a quidditch match sometime this week. I'm sick of just working, we need to enjoying ourselves as well," Ron said with a mouth full of food.

"Do you think he breathes when he eats? Or do you think he just holds his breath until all of the food is consumed? Either way you look at it, it's an impressive feat," Harry said as he leaned toward Hermione, making her giggle, which in turn made Harry laugh as well.

"Wha-'s so fun-ny?" Ron said with even more food in his mouth.

This response made Hermione and Harry double over in laughter so much so that it got them a bunch of perplexed looks from around the restaurant. Ron just shrugged it off and kept eating.

"Well, how about we catch the Bulgarian Game later?" Harry said, finally getting his laughter under control.

"Harry, I think that would be fantastic! I did run into Victor earlier today on the way to lunch, and he said we should all come," Hermione said as she recalled her encounter with the Hungarian seeker earlier.

"Oh bloody hell, not him again," Ron grumbled.

"Honestly, Ronald, I don't see what the big deal is. We never even dated. Plus, Viktor is a sweet guy, and he has a girlfriend," Hermione countered.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. He dates that fashion model right?" Harry recalled.

Harry's question made Ron a little more calm about the whole situation.

"Fine we can go, but I still don't like him," Ron pouted. "As far as I'm concerned, Harry and I both get to hate one professional Quidditch seeker, and for me, that seeker is Krum," Ron says as he begrudgingly went back to his food.

"I can second that," Harry said thinking of Rory Wilson and pumped his fist in the air in agreement.

After lunch the trio went to watch the quidditch match of Bulgaria vs Norway. It was a very high scoring match with both team's chasers going back and forth. The game was much better because Harry and Ron had access to the the VIP section of the stadium, which had the best view of the game. As Krum rounded the the corner, he waved at Hermione as he zipped by, which caused Ron to frown. However he soon got over it as Krum's flying had a mesmerizing effect on him, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself or anyone else. The match was fairly quick with Victor grabbing the snitch 20 minutes in. Norway's seeker was no match for Krum, and it showed very quickly.

After the game, Krum came over to say hi to the trio. Before they could get out a hello, a very attractive eastern European woman ran up and tackled him into a hug and kissed him hard at the same time. Hermione was going to congratulate the seeker, but he and the young lady just kept lustfully kissing him. Things got very awkward as the girl started to moan, and Krum was now making animalistic sounds of his own.

"Bloody hell," was all Ron could get out as the couple went at it.

"Ah-hum!" Harry cleared his throat as he shifted from one foot to the other.

The sound made Viktor look up from his snogging session with his girlfriend.

"Ahh Hermione!" he said as he went up and gave her a bone crushing hug. This movement made Ron go from shocked to pissed. Ron was about to voice his displeasure, but before he could say anything, Krum let her go and went up to Harry giving him a hard handshake.

Krum then turned to Ron, giving him a solid nodd. "Ron Weasley, right?"

Victor put his hand out to shake Ron's hand. Ron hesitated at first, but after a sharp elbow in the ribs from Hermione, he begrudgingly took the seeker's hand and shook it as hard as he could. Krum while a little puzzled by the young Weasley's actions shook his hand equally as hard.

"You know I really like your sister's quidditch game, Weasley. But when you see her, tell her she will go down like everyone else," Krum warned with an extremely serious face.

This caught Ron, Hermione, and Harry off guard. The last thing they were expecting was for Krum to mention Ginny. Ron and Hermione both glanced at Harry trying to read his expression.

Harry had been so busy with all of the Cup planning that he almost forgot that Ginny was in the close vicinity. The one thing he did not want was to run into her out of the blue. Harry quickly scolded himself for not keeping a better eye out for her. He was not about to get caught up in an awkward run-in.

Ron, a bit taken back by the whole interaction, just nodded.

"I'll be sure to let her know you plan on losing to her."

Krum smirked at Ron's jab.

"May the best man or woman win," Krum said as he smacked Ron on the shoulder.

"Good seeing you all. I hope you make the next match," Krum said, giving Hermione a quick, final hug before leaving with his girlfriend.

Hermione smiled as he walked away. "I'm glad he learned how to say my name right at least," She said turning back towards Ron and Harry.

"Well, I still don't like him," Ron said when Krum was officially out of earshot.

Hermione turned to glare at him and was about to scold her boyfriend till she remembered Harry was there. She and Ron both noticed their friend's quiet demeanor and turned to look at him.

Harry was so deep in thought that he didn't even pay attention to the prying eyes pointed directly at him. Hermione was about to say something until an enchanted paper airplane came out of nowhere and hit Harry on the side of the head really hard, before falling to the ground.

"Ouch!" Harry said, rubbing the side of his head.

"Those bloody notes are vicious. I had to run from a flock of them yesterday. If I didn't know any better, I say they were trying to kill me!" Ron commented.

"So it seems…," Harry said as he bent down to pick up the piece of paper.

He quickly read over the note and let out a frustrated sigh.

"It looks like I'm going to have to go back for a bit. The ministry is requesting my presence," Harry said.

"Oh okay, I'll go with you," Ron said ready to leave with his friend.

"No, why don't you just stay here with Hermione? You have earned a little bit of a break, mate," Harry said, giving a reassuring nod.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked, knowing that Harry was probably getting rid of him so he didn't have to talk about Ginny.

"Very sure," Harry replied.

"Alright, I'll be back in just a couple of hours," Ron said as Hermione gave him a look he knew all too well.

Hermione quickly came up and gave Harry a hug goodbye.

"If you want to talk, you know I'm just a floo away," Hermione assured Harry.

Harry gave an unconvincing smile and nodded to the both of them before apparating away with a pop. The couple stood there for a few seconds before regrouping.

"Well, that could've gone better," Ron said.

"I really didn't think that he was going to bring up Ginny. I felt like he was doing fairly well through lunch and the game," Hermione replied as they began walking to the exit of the stadium.

"I think your plan was about a 95% success. We got him away from work, and he had a little fun before Ginny was ever discussed. It really shows your brilliance, ya know," Ron said as he wrapped an arm around Hermione.

Hermione blushed.

"I always shoot for 100%," she said with a sigh. "But you played your part extremely well. It's almost like you don't like Victor Krum," she giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, how about we go walk around for a while? It's been a long time since I've seen you and our very frustrating bed," Ron said with just a hint of seduction.

Hermione's cheeks lit up redder than before. "I miss you and our bed as well, especially the two of us doing bad things in the bed, but now that you mention it, why don't we go see if we can find any Ginny Weasley paraphernalia?" Hermione whispered to Ron, knowing she got the reaction out of Ron she wanted.

Sexual frustration between the two had been building for the last couple of weeks. With the World Cup occupying most of Ron's time and Hermione always seeming to have her face in a magical lawbook, the two of them were ripe with anticipation for when they could finally unwind. However, they both recognized that they would have to wait until the Cup was over.

"Bloody hell woman, you're going to kill me," Ron sighed as he knew she had gotten to him. She giggled as they left to find some gear to support Ginny and her World Cup ambitions.

As they walked through the makeshift streets of the Cup, the couple went in various shops. Just spending time together was something important to the both of them. Contrary to popular belief, they didn't argue all the time. When they did, it was more a weird, playful banter than any serious argument, well most of the time anyway.

After a stop at the candy shop, they came across quite a large crowd. Ron looked over to see a bunch of girls that looked like they were not long removed from their days at Hogwarts standing in line. All the young women were wearing a "Witches for Weasley" shirt. The shirts were magically animated, and it looked like Ginny was appearing out of the shirt, riding her broom and throwing a quaffle. The girls, and some guys for that matter, were all standing in line outside of a tent that said Flourish and Blotts.

"Well this is interesting. I guess Flourish and Blotts took their show on the road," Ron observed.

"I guess it is the perfect place to make money," Hermione said trying to peek over the crowd unsuccessfully.

"Ron, do you think she's here?" Hermione asked.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Ron said with a mischievous grin that reminded Hermione of George.

"Official Auror business, please move out of the way!" Ron yelled as the sea of people begin to part so him and Hermione could get through.

"Honestly, Ronald, you should not be using your title for such things," Hermione scolded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want to wait in a long line?" Ron asked, knowing that she was secretly glad he did what he did.

As they pushed past people, they received dirty looks as they made their way to the front of the line. Since the World Cup was an international affair, not everybody knew what Ron was saying, but they knew he was yelling and saw his auror badge. No matter what language you spoke, the badge meant get out the way.

When they finally made it to the front of the line, they found what they were seeking. There in the flesh was Ginny Weasley. For both Ron and Hermione, it was weird seeing her since she was always on tour with the Harpies or doing her off-season endorsement work. Most of the time when any of her family saw Ginny, it was on holidays, which was ok with them. Sure, they would like to see her more, but they knew she was a busy witch. Plus when they did see her, Ginny always tried her hardest to make the most of it.

Ginny was at the center of the makeshift store at an autographing table. Ginny was sporting a new look to match her busy, paparazzi-filled life. Her hair was now cut in a choppy, uneven bob that framed her face in a more mature way than the long hair of her youth. Her red hair was as it always had been, but it was now paired with bronze highlights to bring out the undertones of her face. Her makeup was natural and effortless. Ginny was the face of a feminist wave in the witching community, and man and woman alike could admit that she was easier on the eyes with every passing day.

Ginny was sweet and smiling as she signed autographs and different memorabilia. Ron and Hermione, however, could see the fatigue in her body language. It looked like she had been there for quite a while, so they decided that they should offer her an escape.

They both walked up to be the next ones in line to meet the famous Ginny Weasley. She didn't even recognize that it was her brother and Hermione at first.

"What can I sign for you two?" she queried in a cheerful tone as she looked up.

"Ron, Hermione!" She said, finally realizing it was them. She launched over the table wrapping her arms around both of them.

"I didn't bring anything to sign," Ron said in a cheerfully sarcastic tone.

"Well, I guess we should fix that," Ginny said with a grin.

The quill that she used to help her sign autographs quickly flew up to Ron's head and scribbled Ginny's signature boldly across his forehead.

This signing not only got a laugh out of Ginny and Hermione, but the onlookers in the store as well.

"Blimey I can't get it off!" Ron cried rubbing his forehead, vigorously attempting to get the signature off.

"Oh did I mention that it's permanent ink? It lasts a lot longer on things for my fans," Ginny said innocently.

This information really sent Ron into a frenzy as he gave Ginny a dirty look, still attempting to rub the ink off his forehead.

"Don't worry, Ronald. I'll take it off with a potion I have later," Hermione assured.

"Well, actually, that's the thing. I really haven't found a way to take it off. You see, I've been experimenting with this new ink so that signatures on my fan's memorabilia don't fade. It works brilliantly, but I haven't gotten a proper removal potion for it yet... I was actually thinking I would give it to George for the joke shop," Ginny said with a trademark mischievous Weasley grin.

"Well, it looks like that might be on your forehead longer than I thought, "Hermione said giggling with Ginny.

"How about we go and catch up a little bit?" Ginny asked, gesturing towards the exit.

"Don't you still have fans here waiting on you?" Hermione questioned.

"Well, I actually have been here two hours longer than I should have been. They all will just have to wait until the next signing event," Ginny assured.

"Is no one really going to get this damn ink off my face?!" Ron asked impatiently.

"Quit your worrying. I will get it off your face eventually," Hermione said pulling him towards the back exit of the bookstore.

"What exactly is your definition of 'eventually'?" Ron asked as Hermione ignored him and dragged him towards the exit.

"Come on, Ron. You can be my new Super Fan," Ginny said smiling as she followed them out the back.

As soon as they got outside, Ginny put a hood over her head so that she could not be seen. She had gotten quite popular to the point that if she went out in public in the wrong place, people would hound her. It was quite the blessing and the curse. On one hand, she had separated herself from her family and achieved a status higher than any of her siblings or parents. But at the same time, she couldn't go anywhere without a camera in her face or a person trying to get an autograph. They apparated to a nearby coffee shop that Ginny suggested.

They talked for nearly an hour about all different types of subjects. Mainly just catching up on things Ginny had missed while she was on tour. The whole time they were talking, however, Ron and Hermione never bought up Harry. It was an unspoken agreement between the couple and they were very good at honoring that agreement.

"I can't believe that George would do that to Percy's food!" Ginny laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"It's really not that hard to believe. I mean, it is George," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Percy was quite cross. He wouldn't talk to George for a whole month, and George got it quite bad from mum and dad," Ron recalled.

"The things I miss during the season," Ginny said with a deep sigh.

"So what actually brings you to here? I don't play for another two days," Ginny asked, getting to why they were there in the first place.

"Well the Ministry has us doing some work for the Germans, and Hermione was invited to Viktor Krum's game," Ron said with sarcasm just dripping from his voice.

"Oh, is anybody else from the Ministry here with you?" Ginny asked out of curiosity.

"Would any of you like more coffee?" the waitress asked at precisely the right moment.

The waitress had been irritating Ron all night. Every time she came up to the table, somehow her eyes would always wander to Ron's now red forehead, which irritated him to no end.

"No thank you," they all politely responded as Ron got up from the table.

"If you all would excuse me, I'm going to the loo," he said, muttering something under his breath as he left.

"Soap and water is not going to take that off, Ron" Ginny yelled Ron's way.

The girls couldn't help but laugh as the waitress left, trying to hold in her laughter. It probably didn't help that every time she came over to check on the three, Ginny or Hermione would comment on Ron's condition.

As soon as Ron was out of earshot, Hermione pounced.

"So how's your love life?" Hermione prompted as she scanned Ginny's face for any signs of life.

"Virtually nonexistent," Ginny said, dropping her shoulders to the side.

"But the Daily Prophet and other papers always have you with a different man every few weeks," Hermione said, looking a bit disappointed with her answer.

"You can't believe everything you read in the paper, honestly Hermione," Ginny scolded. "Yes, every now and again I will go on a date with a guy, but that's all it ever really is, a date," she was about to continue when Ron came back from the loo still rubbing his forehead.

"We'll talk about it later," Ginny said as Ron plopped into his seat and crossed his arms like an angry seven-year-old child.

Ginny grinned at this and then looked at the time. She let out a sigh.

"I really should get going. I'm supposed to meet some of my friends at the pub close to our team hotel. I'll see you all at the game in two days?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world. The whole family should be there to cheer you on. I promise you won't miss us in the stands," Hermione assured.

"Great! I will see you guys at the game then," Ginny beamed as they walked out of the coffee shop.

As they parted ways, Ginny gave them both big hug's. She even apologized to Ron for his forehead even though she was laughing as she did it. She then turned and disappeared into the crowd as the two waved her off.

"Do you think when she asked about anybody else from the ministry working here, she meant Harry?" Ron asked.

"Not a doubt in my mind that's what it was about… Thankfully the waitress saved us," Hermione sighed.

"I think it's better if they both just stay away from each other. We don't need a repeat of Christmas two years ago," Ron stated.

"We shall see…" Hermione said as Ron looked at her, knowing she thought much more about the situation than she was telling.

Ginny arrived at the pub to see some of her Harpies teammates. They had come to support her in the World Cup, and they promised that they would stay and be here every step of the way. That really meant a lot to Ginny. Her teammates had become her second family over the past few years. In fact, she spent more time with them than her real family. She really appreciated all of them and the support that they gave her.

"GINNY!" they all yelled as they held their beer glasses into the air, greeting her. They all happily called her over to their side of the pub.

"Hey there, superstar!" Alice said running up to hug her.

Ginny embraced her into a hug and gave her a big smile.

"Good to see you too, Alice. What's it been, a week?" Ginny asked.

"More like six days, but who's counting? When you're friends, it's forever!" Alice said, dragging Ginny over to her friends.

They all had a few drinks and caught up. They talk strategy about the upcoming match and how to best counter the effect of Victor Krum. They also spoke about what it would be like if Ginny could bring a World Cup to England. Everybody was having a great time until an aggressive guy came over and got a bit to friendly.

"Hey there, let me buy you a drink," the man slurred, coming a little too close to Ginny's face.

"I'm actually quite alright with the one I have. Thank you," Ginny coolly replied before pointedly turning the other direction from the man.

"Now, I'm offering you a drink, which I don't typically offer dykes with haircuts like yours. But, I'm hoping that I can explore that Chamber of Secrets in even more intimate ways than You-Know-Who, if you know what I mean," the man finished with a brazenly proud look upon his face.

The patron could no sooner turn triumphantly towards his mates in the bar with a look of accomplishment than Ginny had pulled her wand out and sent him flailing out of the window.

The man in his drunken state thrashed around and kicked several pub-goers before his loud crash through the window. Several of the assaulted men turned towards their neighbors, thinking that they were blindsided. Others looked around for the source of the witch or wizard who caused the flying man to hit them, and still others were busy shaking shards of glass out of their cloaks and hair near the window. Almost simultaneously, every person in the bar decided to begin dueling.

Curses were flying, and smack in the middle of the ruckus was none other than Ginny Weasley. Ginny was dueling multiple witches and wizards at a time. She had become quite a bit more talented than her Battle of Hogwarts days. Expertly subduing every assailant, Ginny helped others end duels before things got out of hand. She was so busy trying to end the commotion that she didn't notice the aurors come into the pub until the stunning flashes illuminated the room. Every witch and wizard who didn't have the common sense to leave at the onset was left without a wand as they waited to be questioned by the unit of aurors in the pub.

The aurors lined everyone inside or outside the pub along the walls. In Ginny's case, she was lined up on the inside of the pub. Everyone was detained in glowing white, magically binding handcuffs. She looked around for all her teammates. This wasn't their first bar fight, and it sure as hell wouldn't be their last bar fight. Being a young attractive witch meant a few things. One, men were going to try and hit on you, and two, you had to be able to defend yourself. Luckily for Ginny, she was used to both things.

Ginny and her friends had been sitting in the handcuffs for quite a long time. So long in fact, that she started to get irritated, and her teammates knew it. A few years ago when Ginny first joined the Harpies, she tried to repress some of her feisty attitude. However, that didn't last very long. In fact, some of her teammates would say that she was worse than Gwenog Jones when she got upset. After 45 minutes of standing in handcuffs in public for something that really wasn't her fault, she had had it.

Ginny began yelling, "Can someone please take these damn handcuffs off. I play quidditch. I'm not a mass murderer, for Merlin's sake!"

At this comment, a few of the aurors looked up from what they were doing. However, it was short-lived as they all went back to their work.

Ginny might have started the whole thing technically, but the asshole who tried to hit on her had it coming. However, she did feel a tad bit guilty for a few people that had to be taken to the hospital because of her hexes.

From what she could hear between the aurors back and forth, he was quite badly beaten up, which serves him right for acting like a jackass, Ginny thought. She would hex him again if she had the opportunity to.

As Ginny was deep in thought she failed to notice a beautiful young auror around her age approach her. She had caramel skin and some of the most beautiful hair Ginny had ever seen.

"Hello Miss Weasley, my name is Auror Skylar Harris, but you can call me Sky," the young woman said in a friendly voice as she walked up.

She gave Ginny a warm smile as she continued talking, "We are just wrapping up the questioning of all the witnesses."

At this Ginny grimaced, "Shit, am I really going to jail? The papers will have a field day with this," Ginny said as she threw her head back in frustration.

"Quite the contrary in fact, Miss Weasley. I'm really not supposed to tell you this, but from what we're hearing, it wasn't your fault."

"Thank Merlin," Ginny said with a sigh of relief.

"But I should add that maybe next time don't hex the crap out of seven people," Skylar added with a bit of a smirk.

At these remarks, Ginny became embarrassed. Coming to her senses, she realized she may have let things get a little out of hand.

"Though I would say that creep definitely had it coming," Skylar said chuckling.

"Well I guess he did," Ginny said surprised that the auror took her side. Ginny gave her a once-over to determine the sort of witch she was dealing with.

"You don't sound like a German auror. You're dressed in British ministry auror robes, but your accent sounds completely American," Ginny said raising her eyebrows and striking up a conversation.

"Well, I am completely American," Skylar said spinning around a little bit still holding the friendly smile. "I am an American auror, but I was transferred to England to help out on a few cases. I guess I'm pretty good because they really wanted me stay," Skylar said, winking at Ginny. "As for why I'm here, the ministry donated some of its aurors to the German ministry to handle the World Cup."

"Well it's good to see that they have the right people working the cup," Ginny said with a friendly smile of her own.

"Thank you for the compliment. As soon as my boss gets here, we'll get you out of those handcuffs. I'm afraid at the end of the day, it's his call what we do with all of you although I don't foresee any problems coming your way."

"Well, that's good to know," Ginny said with a sigh of relief.

Ginny then remembered that her friends were detained with her.

"Hang in there, Alice," Ginny yelled down in Alice's direction.

"You know we live on the wild side, Gin!" Alice yelled back at her friend, making Ginny a bit embarrassed in front of Skylar. Ginny wanted to try to play as innocent as possible, and Alice was ruining that. However, Skylar just proceeded to chuckle at Alice's comment.

Ginny and Skylar spent the next 5 minutes talking and laughing about the whole situation. Ginny could not recall the last time she had such a pleasant conversation in handcuffs. The two were laughing about the way Ginny had taken out seven people in the bar when Skylar was interrupted by a subordinate auror.

"Ma'am, Captain Potter and Vice Captain Weasley are just arriving," the auror said before quickly getting back to work.

"Well Ginny it looks like you won't be in those handcuffs too much longer. I'll be right back," Skylar said, giving Ginny an assuring look as she walked out of the pub.

Ginny didn't hear anything after Auror Potter. Yes, she knew her brother was here, but he and Hermione never said anything about Harry. They could have at least given her a bloody head's up, Ginny thought. This was absolutely the worst possible time to run into bleeding Harry Potter. She was handcuffed like some criminal, and she looked absolutely awful. The only thing Ginny could hope was that he didn't come in the pub.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Blimey, I thought I would get at least get one quiet night," Ron said walking up to Skylar.

"Hello, Ron. That's an interesting face tattoo you have there," Skylar said, giving Ron a questioning look.

"Well it's not a tattoo, my lovely sister gave me this mark, and now I can't get it off my head," Ron said as his voice dripped with irritation.

"Well that's just splendid. It seems she also had a hand in starting this little bar fight. In fact, she's in handcuffs inside the pub as we speak," Skylar informed Ron.

"She is...wait a minute, she is?!" Ron said, taking a while to realize the complexity of the situation.

"Is she hurt?" Ron asked with concern.

"No, she's completely fine," Sky said in a cool demeanor.

"Geez, she really does know how to make a mess…" Ron observed, he then looked to Skylar. "Skylar, I didn't know that you would be in Germany. I thought they had you on a serious magical law case?" Ron asked confused.

"Well yes, they did. But then they heard Harry was up to his neck in work at the Cup and decided to send me down here. Plus, that case is basically wrapped up anyway," Sky said giving Ron a thumbs up.

"I just got here today, and I was greeted by Harry. He told me about the great match with you and Hermione." Skylar added.

"Ahh it was fine," Ron said remembering Krum's match.

"Well I just came out of the pub because they told me you and Harry had arrived," Skylar said while continuing to stare at Ginny's name plastered across Ron's face.

"Wait a minute, Harry's here?" Ron said as he began to get nervous.

"No he's not yet. They called me out here because they said you two were arriving," Skylar replied putting a emphasis on two.

"Well I just got back from hanging out with Hermione for a couple of hours," Ron said. "I'll just send him a patronus and tell him he doesn't have to waste his time with a tiny pub fight," Ron said smoothly, thinking he had just dodged a killing curse.

However, Ron's peace was short-lived as a sudden pop echoed in the air. Both Ron and Skylar turned around to see Harry. Skylar smiled while Ron looked absolutely petrified.

They both walked up to Harry, with Ron going a little bit faster than Skylar.

"Merlin, what's the damage report Skylar?" Harry asked while looking at all the people being detained.

"A broken window and a few broken barstools, on top of that 27 people had to be taken to the infirmary for mild hex hits," Skylar replied.

Normally Harry would be attentive as ever to a scene briefing. However, in this situation, he couldn't take his eyes off of Ron's forehead, which caused Skylar to stop her briefing and laugh at Harry's expression as he gazed at Ron's forehead.

"What in the hell is on your head?" Harry questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Ron quickly came up with a half lie, "Well a fan came up who was super drunk and wrote this on me. The only problem is I'm not sure how to get this damn ink off my forehead," Ron sighed.

This triggered Skylar's suspicion since Ron had told her something completely different.

After hearing his explanation, Harry took out of his wand and pointed it at Ron's forehead. With the quick flick of the wrist, the letters started to fade.

"But, but... I was told that was special and that would only come off when a potion was brewed!" Ron said throwing his hands up in the air.

"Come on, Ron. That's one of the simplest spells. We learned it in third or fourth year."

The wheels began to turn in Ron's head. Both Ginny and Hermione had been lying to him. He had been walking around sporting a Ginny Weasley autograph in bold, black ink on his forehead for the past four hours. Then he realized that if Harry had taken the spell off that easily, then it would've probably been a walk in the park for Hermione to have removed the ink. While Ron was having his own inner conflict, Skylar and Harry began to walk towards the pub.

"You know, Ron is right. You really didn't have to come," Skylar said.

"Yes I know, but I wanted to get out for a while," Harry replied rubbing the back of his head.

"It's a pretty simple case here. All the witnesses say a witch was being sexually harassed, so she hexed the asshole out of the window. After hearing the transcripts of what he said, I don't blame her."

"Well it looks like the case is closed here, Miss Harris," Harry said smirking at Skylar.

"Well you know me, Mr. Potter," Skylar said, giving Harry a wink.

"Still, it seems like you all rounded up everybody at the World Cup," Harry said as he walked around looking at all of the detainees.

"Oh you should see inside, there's even more," Skylar said as Harry and she went towards the entrance of the pub.

Just then Ron snapped out of his daze and rushed back towards Harry and Skylar. He expertly maneuvered in front of Skylar and tried to stop Harry from entering the pub.

"Harry, why don't you just go back to the headquarters and I'll take care of this?" Ron said as a last ditch effort to get him away from the door.

It was too late. Harry opened the door to the pub and walked in.

"Honestly Ron, I know you had that stuff on your head, but you're acting weirder than usual," Harry said surveying his friend up and down.

Harry disregarded Ron and walked into the pub. He noticed a few aurors still interviewing people who were handcuffed. Harry, however, had a funny feeling after entering the pub. He was used to being stared at because of his name. For some reason, though, the whole time he was in the pub, he felt like he was being acutely stared at.

Harry walked around a little bit and surveyed the scene. He then noticed the blood and broken glass on the floor.

Kicking a little bit of the glass with his shoes, he walked over to Ron and Skylar.

"Fascinating the amount of damage one pissed off witch can do…" Harry said impressed with the damage.

"A feisty one I presume?" Harry asked.

"Yes she is, I'm sure you know her by the way. If you want to talk to her, she's right behind you," Skylar said gesturing for Harry to turn around.

It was at this point that Ron gave up on the situation, dropping his arms to his side.

Harry smiled at Skylar and then curiously looked over his shoulder to see none other than Ginny Weasley staring directly at him…

Ending Authors Note: Doesn't everybody like a good cliffhanger? Happy New Year's to all of you, don't forget to review and follow the story.