Prologue
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I'd been right on the edge of my seat up until I saw it happen, and I was one of the few who did see it. Nearly everyone else was caught up in the excitement of the Quaffle exchanging hands between the Bulgarian players, but I saw the Irish Beater Quigley swing heavily at a passing Bludger, sending it straight into the path of one of my best friends, the player I'd gone to support that night — Viktor Krum. I called out to him but my voice was lost among the other deafening screams, and so the Bludger hit Viktor full in the face; that was when I jumped to my feet.
There came a groan from the crowd; Viktor's nose appeared broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted by one of the Bulgarian mascots — a veela who'd thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.
"He's hurt! What're you blind?!" I cried out. "Is no one going to do anything?!"
"Demetria," said the person next to me, my grandfather Carlisle.
I turned to look at him and saw the very grave expression he wore. It was time to go.
"Just a bit longer?" I asked, turning my attention back to Viktor. That was when I realized the Irish Seeker had seen the Golden Snitch, but Viktor was right on his tail. "Look, we can't leave now!"
"Carlisle," came the urgent whisper of Lucius Malfoy.
Grandad and I had come to the Quidditch World Cup with he, his wife, and son — Draco.
Malfoy's wife stayed behind in her seat, but Draco and I followed his father and my grandfather as we made our way out of the arena. The game was going to end soon and we had to make it out before the crowd. It wasn't until we reached the edge of the forest on the outskirts of the World Cup camp sight that I could make out a faint cry from Ludo Bagman: "IRELAND WINS!"
The raucous singing from Ireland's fans followed soon after as everyone began leaving the stadium. I could see the glowing of lanterns flickering between the trees which, for a moment, lit up my bright red Bulgaria sweatshirt. Luckily, no one but Draco took notice.
"Take that off," he quietly said to me in a bit of a panic. I rushed to do so, revealing the black long-sleeved shirt I wore underneath. We all continued walking deeper into the forest, dressed as the shadows and soundlessly bearing down on the earth as we joined the rest of the group. Leprechauns were shot above the heads of the crowd which still issued from the stadium, swinging about their own lanterns which emitted a green radiation.
"I take it Ireland won," observed Antonin Dolohov, standing at the front of the group. He looked to the rest of us whose faces were now hidden behind skeletal masks, all except myself and Draco.
"Now that you've decided to join us, I'd say it's about time to break up this party," Nigel Mulciber wickedly suggested.
They all issued their own sinister snickering, except for Grandad and Lucius who brought Draco and I back a ways into the shrubbery. They each lifted their masks and lowered the hoods of their black cloaks, eyeing the pair of us with urgency.
"You know what to do." It wasn't a question which came from Grandad, the life so easily seen draining from his once-vibrant irises.
"You must remain unseen," Lucius reminded his son. "Speak to no one," His eyes then fell upon me as well. "and stick together."
Draco and I each gave our individual nods prior to the men before us concealing their faces. They then gestured for the others to move forward and immediately after, simultaneously gave us the same order: "Run."
I took off first, Draco's trailing behind easily perceived by ear. And though I was fast, I could've been moving faster had it not been for the thickets, their thorns beginning to tear through my darkened attire. A sensation of pine filled through my chest, yet I still struggled to breathe as a heavy weight rested upon it. Deeper and deeper we continued to travel into the dense forest, but more and more the anxiety seemed to build within me. Until finally, Draco had caught up and cut ahead. He was forced to physically stop me, his hands dropping to my shoulders, panic in his grey orbs.
I listened closely beyond the sounds of gunfire and the screams which my rapid heartbeat had been drowning out, and then I heard it — people were fleeing into the woods. Draco and I had then unintentionally darted off in different directions. All light was lost aside from the firey blazes back at the campsite, so when my body collided with something solid, I hoped if it was another, it was Draco. But I knew that wasn't the case, and my fears were confirmed upon hearing a voice in the darkness mutter, "Lumos!"
A trio of red-heads were revealed, one a young girl and the others a set of older twin boys. The one with his wand out leaned forward, baby blue eyes narrowing to get a better look at me perhaps, but I didn't allow him to. My eyes remained in slits, my hand stretched to cover my face from the blinding light of his wand.
"Watch where you shine that thing!" came the other twin, snatching it from his brother's grasp.
I knew I should have turned and started running but the next thing I knew, he'd shone his wand tip on my leggings which I finally saw held home to several tears, cuts in my flesh now exposed. One in particular sent a river of blood flowing down to my combat boot clad foot.
"She needs treatment!" said the girl insistently. "Charlie can —"
I quickly moved to pivot, only to have my hand caught by the twin now wielding the illuminated wand.
"Let us help you!" he insisted, but I snatched my hand back and began running.
If the trio had taken off after me, I couldn't decipher which footsteps would be their's. I simply allowed my feet to carry me aimlessly through the forest until I saw it pierce through the night sky, revealed for the first time in thirteen years — the Dark Mark.