𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

New Faces & Dark Mark Traces

CHAPTER THREE:

Third Person P.O.V.:

"Ah, Fenwick!" Ludo Bagman beamed as he turned around. "Great to see you!"

Charlie had immediately cowered under his father's intense gaze as Fenwick stood there in front of him. Hermione, Harry, and Ron all shared a worried glance before watching their friend and his father's interaction intently.

Fenwick had ignored Bagman completely, and instead repeated his previous question, "What has my son done that I should be proud of?"

"Little Char here has just bet on the match!" Ludo said cheerfully.

"Did he now? Interesting. Hopefully, he's putting my money to good use." Fenwick's tone was difficult to decipher, but regardless, he turned to Mr. Weasley who had suddenly gulped, "Ah, Arthur. How are you?"

"Very well, Minister. Thank you." Arthur said nervously. "And you?"

"Just splendid -"

Suddenly, Percy had made his way to the front of the crowd, "Mr. Minister, sir! It is such an honour!"

Fenwick was taken aback by Percy's eagerness as the ginger haired boy had reached forward and shook his hand aggressively.

"I work with you at the Ministry, but you probably don't know that. You're such a busy man after all! I work down in the Department of International Magical Cooperation! I actually just finished a report on cauldron -"

The Minister laughed slightly and pulled his hand away; a tone of sarcasm had appeared in Fenwick's voice, "Very spectacular indeed, young man. I appreciate your support."

Then Fenwick turned to Charlie, and had plastered an amused smile on his face, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Charles?"

The Weasley's, Hermione, and Harry could feel the tension in the air, almost as if there was something said that meant something completely different.

Charlie's memories of his father's stern voice had overcome him suddenly;

I assumed Lucius was joking when he said you've been associating with muggle-borns and blood traitors.

The boy knew what his father was trying to do, but he chose to ignore him; it was all to get a rise out of him. However, when Fenwick's gaze had singled in on Hermione, who stood behind his son, Charlie felt a wave of a protective instinct flush over him.

Charlie took a dangerous step forward, and confronted his father, blatantly ignoring his question completely, "I didn't think you'd be joining in today's festivities, father."

A twisted smile had crept up on Fenwick's face as he looked back towards his son, "It was a last minute decision. Something tells me today will be very exciting. Besides, I thought what better way to engage with my community than to participate in such a social gathering -"

"Meaning, you saw it as a business opportunity." Charlie sneered.

"Now, now, Charles," Fenwick scolded. "Don't be so pessimistic, son. It might get you in trouble one day -"

"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Minister?" Mr. Weasley asked, trying to pull the attention off of Fenwick and Charlie.

"Not a dicky bird," said Minister Hawthorne, taking his eyes off of his son and plastering a weird smile on his face. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha... memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."