disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella. Hope you like it!

Mayhem at the Ministry

After a few hours of sleep, Mr. Weasley woke them up. He used magic to pack up their tents and they quickly left the campsite. As they approached the spot where the Portkeys were, there was a great number of people gathered around the keeper of the Portkeys. It seemed as though everyone at the campsite wanted to leave as soon as possible. They were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had risen.

They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane towards the Burrow. None of them felt like talking much as they were still very exhausted and their stomachs rumbling. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came in sight, a loud voice echoed towards them.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley came running towards them, still wearing her bedroom slippers. Just behind her was Remus, exhausted and jogging to catch up with her. He had a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet in his hands.

"Arthur – I've been so worried – so worried –"

She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck as Remus held Arabella close to him.

"Are you alright?" he asked quickly. "Are you hurt?"

"No," said Arabella, shaking her head. "I'm fine, I really am. When did you get here?"

"A few hours ago," said Remus. "I had to come once I heard what happened." He then looked towards Harry, Hermione and the others. "Are you lot alright?"

They all nodded, still a bit drowsy, as Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, "You're alive… Oh boys…"

Her eyes were red as she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into a tight hug. Their heads banged together.

"Ouch! Mum – you're strangling us –"

"I shouted at you before you left!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred… George…"

Arabella and Remus shared a small smile as Mr. Weasley slowly pried Mrs. Weasley off the twins and led her back to the house.

"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay."

They all crammed into the Weasleys' tiny kitchen, and Remus made Mrs. Weasley a cup of tea with a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey. Once Remus set the cup in front of Mrs. Weasley, he handed the Daily Prophet in front of Mr. Weasley. Arabella took a quick look at the front page. The headline read: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, and there was a complete picture of the Dark Mark over the treetops.

"You're going to want to read this, Arthur."

Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it," sighed Mr. Weasley heavily. "Ministry blunders… culprits not apprehended… lax security… Dark wizards running unchecked… national disgrace… Who wrote this? Ah… of course… Rita Skeeter."

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" Percy was furious now. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans –"

"Do us a favour, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."

"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the Daily Prophet article.

"Where?" spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. She then looked towards a confused Remus and said, "If we had seen that, we would have known you were alive!"

"Well, not by name. Listen to this: 'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged sometime after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.' Oh really," said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. "Nobody was hurt. What was I supposed to say? 'Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods…' well, there certainly will be rumors now she's printed that." He heaved a deep sigh. "Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office. This is going to take some smoothing over."

"I'll come with you, Father," Percy said formally. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."

He quickly left the kitchen while Mrs. Weasley looked the most upset. "Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office, surely they can handle this without you?"

"I've got to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off. It was good to see you again, Remus."

"Mrs. Weasley," said Harry suddenly. "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"

"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley, distracted. "No, she didn't bring anything back."

Remus gave him a significant look before standing up and saying, "It's always going to be the four of you, isn't it?"

Arabella and Ron looked at each other sheepishly before shrugging. He certainly wasn't wrong. Remus left the house with a kiss on the cheek for Mrs. Weasley. Arabella, Ron, Harry and Hermione quickly went after him.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Harry?" said Remus. "Or something you wish for me to tell Padfoot?"

Harry hesitated for a moment and looked around. He then whispered, "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."

Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once. She mentioned a number of books, and named nearly everyone she knew, including Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Ron looked thunderstruck. Arabella told him to go straight to Dumbledore. Remus, however, was the only one who was composed. He simply held up his hand and the three of them fell into silence.

"And what exactly happened?" he asked. His voice seemed to struggle to be calm.

"I was… well, I was dreaming about him," said Harry. "Him and Wormtail. I was sure they weren't on Privet Drive. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone."

Harry seemed as though he was struggling to say the last word. Arabella knew instantly that he was hiding something already, and just by looking at Remus, he knew that as well. Perhaps, Voldemort wanted to kill…

"It was only a dream," Ron said strongly. "Just a nightmare, right?"

He looked towards Remus for reassurance. Remus, however, stared at Harry intently.

"I am assuming that you do not have normal dream, Harry," he said crisply. "And as much as I do wish for this to be just a simple dream, it is rather… odd to say the least. Your scar hurts one day and the Dark Mark appears in the sky the next night. We could chalk it up to be coincidence, but I don't believe we can this time, can we?"

Harry shook his head. "There's also what Professor Trelawney said at the end of last year."

Hermione let out a snort and said, "Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"

"You weren't there," Harry told Hermione touchily. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance – a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… greater and more terrible than ever before… and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped."

Silence followed him. Remus was deep in thought when he said, "And you were expecting something from Hedwig?"

"I told Sirius," said Harry shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer."

Remus nodded and said, "That was a good idea, Harry. I'm pretty sure he will get back to you in a couple days. He's probably still travelling right now. Though I believe he will turn around if he's read your letter. Now, listen to me, all of you. I'm only going to say this once."

The four of them leaned in closer towards Remus.

"I've been hearing strange rumors going around the wizarding community. People from the Ministry are disappearing and the Death Eaters – the ones who didn't get caught during the last war – they're being reckless and active. The four of you must not go out looking for answers. Tell Dumbledore if you hear anything strange and Harry, go to him if your scar hurts again. These events – your scar, the Dark Mark and what Professor Trelawney said are no coincidences. Stay safe, all of you. Keep out of trouble and write to me if you need to."

Remus quickly squeezed Arabella's shoulder before turning around very quickly and Apparating away from the Burrow. Arabella bit her lips at his words. It sounded like some sort of warning. As though there was some sort of war coming for them.

"That was cheerful," Ron said cynically. "Quite optimistic, isn't he?"

"Well, he's not wrong," said Hermione. "He's worried and, by the looks of it, tired."

"We're all tired," said Ron, yawning.

Harry turned to Arabella very quickly and said, "Can I talk to you real quick?"

Arabella blinked at him and said, "Um… yeah, sure."

She took a quick look at Ron and Hermione before following Harry back inside the house. They climbed up the stairs towards Ron's room, ignoring the loud snores from the other Weasley children. Harry looked around at the other doors, making sure that they would not be disturbed, before closing it.

"What's up?" Arabella said casually.

Harry winced at her words. He looked at the floor as he said, "There was, um, something else I wanted to tell Remus, but… I couldn't."

Arabella's cheek turned red. "Oh… and – er – what were you going to tell him?"

What Harry said next wasn't what she was expecting.

"Voldemort and Wormtail were talking about something else. Well," he was really uncomfortable, "they were talking about someone else. A girl who looked like her mother and would either join them or be given to someone else. Someone named Bella."

Arabella flickered at him. There was a lot of things going through her mind. She was sure he was talking about her. If not, he wouldn't be talking to her right now. But did it matter if she looked like Kassandra? And she would be given to Bella? There's only one Bella she knew of, and she's locked up far away in Azkaban…

"Why… what does he want from me?" asked Arabella.

"I think it has something to do with your mother."

"But she doesn't know Voldemort," Arabella said hotly. "Not in… not like that at least."

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not the enemy here. I'm just letting you know what I saw."

She wasn't completely mad at him. More frustrated at herself. She expected something else from him, and in the end, got the threat of being served up to Bellatrix.

For the rest of the week, neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy were at home. They left the house each morning very early and only came back after dinner.

"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them prominently. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."

"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny.

"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with an ensuite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."

"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You-Know-Who" said Mrs. Weasley, sighing. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon."

"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy. "If trust be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first –"

"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up.

"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Bill. "Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"

"Well, it is a bit long, dear. If you'd just let me –"

"No, Mum."

Arabella looked back at the books Mrs. Weasley got them from Diagon Alley. Rain was hitting the living room window rapidly. She hadn't heard anything from Remus in over a week. It wasn't worrying her, but she felt uncomfortable. His last words weren't exactly reassuring.

Hermione was engrossed in her new textbooks while Fred and George were sitting in the corner, whispering to each other with their heads bent over a piece of paper.

"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.

"Homework," said Fred vaguely.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, we've left it a bit late," said George.

"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"

"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"

Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, your father's coming!" Mrs. Weasley said suddenly.

Arabella looked up at the Weasley's family clock. His hand had suddenly spun from "work" to "travelling", and a second later, "home." In seconds, they heard him calling from the kitchen.

"Coming, Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley.

A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room, carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.

"Well, the fat's really in the fire now. Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."

"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," said Percy quickly.

"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."

"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" said Percy.

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione angrily.

"Now look here, Hermione!" said Percy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants –"

"His slave, you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"

"I think you'd al better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you…"

Hermione stomped her way up the stairs with Ginny right behind her. Arabella sat in the kitchen for a couple minutes, waiting for Hermione to cool down a little. She grabbed a quill and began to scrawl her name inside her textbooks.

The sound of the rain grew even louder with the whistles of the wind, but Arabella still heard the little taps at the kitchen window. She looked over her shoulder and saw a drenched Bruce carrying a large white rectangular box.

"Oh, Brucie," whispered Arabella.

She opened the kitchen door and he zoomed in, dropping the box on the kitchen table. She scratched behind his ear and offered some bread. He purred against her hand before taking off through the door once again.

There was a small notecard attached to the package. She opened it slowly. It was Remus's handwriting.

This once belonged to your mother. Now it belongs to you.

Arabella opened the box and shoved the wrapping tissue away. It was a dress. It was a beautiful dress. She took it out of the box and it cascaded towards the floor quietly. It was red and made of silk. She ran her fingers through the material. It was soft and cool to the touch. There was a v-neckline and a v-back, and the straps and waistline were covered with red rhinestones. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Wow…" whispered Arabella.

Mrs. Weasley entered the room without her knowing and said, "Ah! I see Remus has finally sent you a dress. It's very pretty, Arabella. I'm sure it will suit you."

"But – but why do I need one?"

"It says on your school list that you're supposed to have a formal dress for formal occasions."

"But why?" asked Arabella quietly.

It wasn't as though she didn't appreciate it. She did. The dress was gorgeous. But she wasn't the most fanciest person she knew. She never wore makeup before nor did she find herself in a situation she needed to. She usually left the house casually with a jeans or a jumper. This was certainly new for her.

Mrs. Weasley inspected the dress with pursed lips. "We might need to alter the dress a little bit. It's a little too small around the waist for you. I'll get my sewing kit and meet you in the living room, dear."

She had no idea how she got herself into this situation.

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