A/N: So now I'm writing each chapter in only one point of view. I do appreciate reviews a lot, so please do it ^^, and thanks a lot for the people who subscribed or reviewed the first chapter =D.
HPOV
Every day that passed I loved magic even more. A few moments ago we had gotten from Stoatshead, to a nice, camping prairie, transported by and old, rusty and discolored shoe, and now this. Lines of tents were occupying the yard; red and green flowing everywhere, some kids playing with fake wands and swords that turned into little monsters, cuddly phoenixes and half other toys, and even one of the tents looked like a mini-castle, with gargoyles at the top. Amazed by all of that, we walked among them until we got to our place. Pauline helped me raise the tent we were going to share with Ginny. It was funny that even when Paulie was so athletic, she was still so clumsy and she always ended up asking for help, blushing whenever she did. An hour or two later, after getting the tent's picks lost and finding them back under Ron's bag, we looked at our masterpiece. Well, not really a masterpiece at all, but at least it was still up. Only then I started to wonder how could it be possible for three teenagers to fit in a 7ftx8ft tent, and Ginny laughed at my concerned face and pushed me inside. A tiny tent on the outside became a rent with two pieces inside, giving us plenty of room; the boys had a bigger one for them. It also had a small kitchen and bathroom! I was pretty sure I could easily live with magic for the rest of my life.
As soon as we put our things inside the tents, Harry, Ron, Pauline and I went to get some water. Decorations of the Bulgarian and the Irish team surrounded us everywhere, and soon a discussion about the upcoming match started.
"I Know Bulgaria's gonna win, Krum will catch the snitch in a second, you'll see," Ron said, earning him annoyed looks from some people around us while we walked in the Ireland supporters' zone.
"I think it's not quite the right time to say that, Ron," I said.
"Why not? I'm just telling the truth, that looser of Lynch won't stand a second against Viktor!"
Harry and Pauline laughed, and soon the first added, "Well, the problem is, Ron, that you're not just saying it, you're actually shouting it to their fully fervent, enthusiastic and keen fans. Look! That kid is already pointing at you with his toy wand, he wants to hex you! Isn't it cute?" Ron looked where Harry was pointing and yelled "Mind your own business!" to the 8 years old boy. Harry continued laughing and Pauline looked at Ron playfully.
"Alright, we get the point: you're totally in love with Krum and you would stand up for him even against a horrific, toy armed boy, but could we just move a little faster and get the water?" she said, and Harry started wolf whistling. Ron turned to a deep shade of red and, fumbling, walked to the fountain and got in the line, not looking back at us. I looked at Pauline, half serious, half amused.
"Why do you always pick it up on him?" I asked.
"He's kinda, you know, annoyable, I can't help it," she replied, looking me with an innocent look on her face. I playfully punched her in the arm, took her by the hand and reached Harry and Ron. Not until we reached the fountain I realized I was still holding Pauline's hand in mine, and let it go.
We returned to the camp with the water and helped with the lunch. We spent the rest of the evening buying some stuff and hearing Mr. Weasley's explanations about many members of the Ministry of Magic. Suddenly, when the time came, lights were ignited through the forest, marking a path to the other side, where and enormous stadium stood in the middle of the prairie. A bespectacled woman checked our entries and told us to go to the highest box. Most of us meant to go quickly for the best places in the room, but for some reason Pauline stayed behind, looking down from the border of the stadium to the field. When I turned around, she hastily looked at me and said, "It's a little bit high, right? Come on; let's take a seat next to Ron."
The match went incredible and the pets from the teams were just breathtaking, and I had to admit it, Quidditch could be quite a nice thing to watch. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Pauline were shouting all the game long, screaming play moves and gasping whenever Krum or Lynch made to go for the Snitch. Sometimes Pauline would turn and smile at me, kindly explain something about the positions the Irish were using, and then went back to the screaming and punching with the others.
We all returned to the tents, chatting excitedly about Krum and Ireland's victory and we soon were told to go to sleep. But at the middle of the night, something woke me, like agonizing screams and shoots from everywhere. Fear made my heartbeats run, I could feel my pulse in my neck, and when I turned around, I found nobody. Hastily I took my jacket and got out to bed, only to find the boys already together outside the tent, and loads of people running from what seemed like fire and something spinning up high in the air. Ginny was with the twins, Harry and Ron beckoned me to go immediately with them, but Pauline was paralyzed. I've heard from Ron that Pauline could be very frightening when she got angry, but this was more than that. Her eyes showed nothing more than pure hatred, and something like, longing, maybe? She didn't come with us until Harry and I pushed her by our side and started running.
Scream echoes followed us while we advanced into the forest, but soon started fading. All we could hear was our gasps for air, but I didn't want to stop. Muggles were getting upside down, and what were those masked people? When we couldn't hear anything more, we found ourselves in a clearing and so we decided to wait. Bagman appeared and then disappeared as quickly as he came, and something else appeared in the forest, next to us but far enough so we couldn't see who it was. A horrible scream came from the darkness and there it was, his Mark, the Dark Mark. Ron and Harry didn't understand, and Pauline… She was puzzled, again. Just when I started convincing them to go away, twenty other people appeared next to us and shouted spells against us. None of them hit us, and when they got closer to us, we made out Mr. Crouch face, livid and furious.
"Who of you did this? Speak now!" And then he turned to face Pauline, his wand pointing right at her chest.
"You! It must have been you! I know your antecedents, I know where you came from, there's no doubt you'd know how to conjure it!" Nor Harry nor Ron understood, but me, I couldn't believe it. There was no way Pauline had done that, but what did Mr. Crouch mean with her antecedents? Pauline looked straight into Mr. Crouch face, got closer to him and spoke to him in a whisper that echoed through all the clearing.
"As all of you know, I have nothing to do with that, and I for sure did not conjure His Mark there. You can ask Harry Potter, here, or would you doubt him about something like this?" Mr. Crouch was speechless at this, but soon he recovered and started looking around the trees, followed by some other Ministry's people. Pauline hadn't moved, and sometimes looked up, the shiny green skulk reflected in her gray eyes. Winky, Mr. Crouch's elf was found in the crime scene, so to call it, and with the wand that had conjured the mark, which turned out to be Harry's. Impressed and shocked by all of what happened, Mr. Weasley took us back to the tents, where the others were already waiting for us. As soon as the morning came, we got a Portkey and got to Stoatshead again, where Mrs. Weasley was desperately waiting for us after reading the news of last night.
Ron and Harry went straightaway for their room, while I lingered a bit more in the kitchen with Pauline. She had been acting weirdly since last night, just like the boys, but I couldn't figure out why. When we got upstairs, Ron was waiting on the door and Harry was waiting on my bed. The silence was uncomfortable until Ron broke it.
"So? Are you gonna tell us what the hell Mr. Crouch was talking about?" Ron turned to Pauline, waiting for her answer.
"Why do you want to know?" Pauline replied bitterly, not looking any of us.
"Oh, just curiosity, I think I would really like to know if my friends are into some dark stuff or something!" Pauline hissed at this, and turned quickly at Ron, who took out his wand and pointed it to her. Harry also took out his wand and pointed to the middle of them, and I stayed behind Pauline, calling Ron to lower his wand.
"So you believe I'm like some Malfoy, messing around with dark arts, maybe even torturing or killing muggles? Is that what you think of me? Honestly Ron, I know you were stupid but not to this point." Pauline intended to turn away from him but Ron caught her arm and made her look him straight into the eyes.
"What else can I think after hearing Mr. Crouch talking about you like that? If you ever hurt Harry, or Hermione—"
"Fine! Then I'll tell you! My parents were Death Eaters, very bad and powerful ones, and they went on the run some years after Voldermort's disappearance!" Pauline screamed at him, to the shock of us all. "The Ministry was looking for them but all they could find was me. They interrogated me, searched through the entire house but found nothing. They thought they'd told me where they'd go, but guess what; they just left me there, something that surprised me, they were always the nicest people with me that I've ever met. The Ministry still thinks they may get in touch with me one day, follow their way, so they keep an eye on me…" Pauline lost her trail, turned to Harry, stared at him, and then fell in her bed, watching the sky through the window.
None of us knew what to say or do, but after a few minutes Ron mumbled something like Sorry, Harry squeezed Pauline's shoulder and said "I know you wouldn't to that, never" and they both left the room. Pauline continued staring through the window, and just winced when the bed creaked when I sat too.
"You never told me…" I whispered, a little hurt. Wasn't her my closest friend? Couldn't we trust each other? After a pause, Pauline looked at me, a single tear falling down her eyes.
"I didn't want you to judge me—I didn't want to, well, lose you…" she said.
Pauline turned again, sniffed and got a book from the table; she didn't want to keep talking about it, but I couldn't leave her like that. I got in the bed with her, rested my head upon her shoulder and took her hand until I started falling asleep. I could swear I heard her saying something just before I fell completely asleep, but it may have been my imagination.
