The cold air nipped gently at Mina's arms as she walked past tents full of celebration. People ran past her cheering for the Irish, their flags and banners trailing behind them as they skipped about. Their laughs carried their way to Mina's ears even after they were long gone. She was begginging to feel more like the Bulgarian fans. Trailing their feet, muttering to themselves with a drink in their hand. Minus the drink part, that was her. She just couldn't shake the fact that her friendship with Fred was on the rocks, and she didn't know how to save it.
Well, she did. It'd involve talking to him about it, and she was too proud, and only a little too anxious, to do that.
If she ignored the problem long enough, surely it would go away. That's how it worked, right? Or maybe Fred would be the first to come talk to her about it considering how he was the one who had whatever problem with her. Yeah, that's what she'd do. She would wait until he confronted her about whatever was bugging him. Especially since the last time she tried to solve her problems head on she ended up in the Nikolai relationship mess for a month.
Mina rolled her shoulders, hoping that the tension that had been growing there since the beginning of the summer would disappear instantly. It didn't happen, and the tension remained. A constant reminder of her problems and the fact that she didn't know how to deal with them. She gave up, and instead focused on kicking a rock as she walked, begging her mind to stop running. Until a long mess of red hair ran straight into her. She reached out to steady whoever had run into her, only to see Ginny's face. Her eyes were wide, and it was hard to miss the look of frantic terror that ran though her expression. She had never seen Ginny look like this before, and it scared her. Especially when she started pulling her along.
"Ginny what's wrong? What's going o-," Mina was cut off as she heard a loud pop. The laughter and skipping that she had been ignoring had morphed into screams and people running towards them. No, not towards them. Away from something. Fear washed over her as she tightened her hold on Ginny, and began to move with the crowd so they wouldn't be trampled. Another pop sounded from the direction where everyone was running. A spark of fireworks lit up the sky, and Mina's hand grew clammy.
The dark mark.
She let out a curse, and tried to get her expression under control. the last thing she needed to do was freak Ginny out anymore than she already was. Mina began to tug on Ginny, picking a direction away from the already frantic crowd. More pops sounded, and Ginny's hold on her became iron clad. Mina frantically reached down for her wand, where it lay hidden in her sock. Her hand became erratic, suddenly worried that she had left it at the tent, until her hand felt it. It was illegal for her to use magic outside of school, but she would face whatever charges if she survived the evening. Right now her priority was keeping Ginny safe and finding a place where they wouldn't be found. She pulled her wand out, and gripped it as tightly as her hold on Ginny. It was her lifeline and she would sooner be damned than lose it.
They made their way quickly, keeping an eye out for anyone following before they stopped shortly behind a tent. It was mostly hidden, but Ginny needed a moment to catch her breath and Mina wasn't cruel. Scared out of her mind? Yes, but not cruel. Until a rustling sound came from behind her. Quickly Mina grabbed a hold of Ginny and pulled her behind and tried to cover her as much as possible. Curses ran through her mind as she had her wand out in front of her, her eyes scanning the motion for a threat. It felt like forever, and just as she was about to turn to Ginny, someone popped out from behind the tent. Her hand tightened and she opened her mouth, ready to put up a dying fight to keep Ginny safe. But then she looked closer. And the red hair and freckles were familiar. Right down to the slight mischievous glint in his eye that had been stamped down due to the utter relief that washed over his expression.
"Mina?" Fred asked her, as if he didn't believe that it was her. Before she could reply Ginny ran past her and into his arms. He was focused on her, on calming her down, but he still cast Mina a confused look. There was something else there, maybe gratitude or surprise? Maybe Mina had hidden Ginny behind her her far better than she had thought. Either she answered his unspoken question.
"She found me, I didn't know anything was happening until she ran into me. Fred, what's going on?" She willed the fear to stay out of her voice, but by the way his eyes widened slightly she hadn't done a good job.
"There's been an attack. Members of the Minsitry have gone to investigate, along with just about anyone who can cast a spell if they haven't already gotten their family and left." There's been an attack. He didn't want to scare Ginny, but now Mina could feel her own fear creeping back in. The dark mark. There were Death Eaters here. And then her mind jumped again. Members of the Ministry had gone to fight.
Her uncle would be fighting, and she wouldn't know if he was alright.
Panic began to set in. He didn't know where she was, that she was okay. She didn't know where Nikolai or Anne were. It was taking all she had to fight off the panic attack that was slowly creeping it's way into her lungs. She couldn't have one now. Slowly, she took deep breaths, urging herself to get it under control. She would find them later. They were perfectly able wizards and would be able to keep themselves safe. It was all good and well to tell herself that, but it was another thing entirely to think it.
Another pop sounded, and Fred's head jumped to the source of the sound. They were getting closer.
"We've got to go."
He pulled Ginny along behind him with his wand in his other hand, and Mina trailed them. They weaved and darted around frantic people, although considerably less than earlier and Mina prayed that it was because they were able to make their way out, as they headed for the edge of a nearby forest. They finally were able to rest as they came to a stop, and were able to catch their breaths.
How long did they it there? Hours or minutes? How many were injured? Was it anyone they knew?
Mina sat on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms curled around them. Her head sat on her knees, watching the sun start to rise, bringing with it more anxiety. It was too quiet. Why was it so quiet, surely there was still a fight? Maybe the Ministry had captured all the Death Eaters. Or maybe... she shook her head. She didn't want to think about that option.
She turned her head, to where Fred sat his eyes far off, and Ginny's head in his lap. She would have guessed that he were perfectly at ease, were it not for his grip on his wand or the ways his eyes would scan their surroundings every once in a while. His eyes drifted and found hers. She gave him a weak smile, although neither of them believed it.
"Fred?"
He hummed, letting her know that she was listening. Mina took a deep breath.
"I don't know what's gotten between us lately. But whatever it is can we put it aside?" There was a pause and Mina felt the need to keep talking, although her voice was considerably softer, and she avoided his eyes. "If they really are back it feels weird worrying about silly stuff like that."
Silence stretched and she didn't think he would respond. She turned her head back to the sun, slowly rising, and way too cheerful for the events that took place last night.
"Of course," his voice came, so soft she almost didn't hear it. "There hasn't been anything that got between us, I've just been in a bad mood lately. But last night really puts things into perspective."
She turned her head back to him, and found his eyes on her, as soft as his voice.
"Mina, I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, I should've been more considerate." He took a pause, and conflicted as he looked he moved to speak again. "Mina, I-"
"Mina!"
Her head snapped back around, to the figure of her uncle running up to them. Behind them were Nikolai, his dad and Anne. In the distance she could make out Mr. Weasley. She hurried to her feet and ran into his arms for a hug.
"I was so worried about you."
She let out a laugh, trying to quell the sudden flow of tears that wanted to fall. "You were worried? I heard you went off to scare them away, what happened?"
He pulled back his face grave. "We went but couldn't find them. It seemed more like a message than anything. But let's not talk about that now."
It seemed like a message. She had goosebumps. If the Death Eaters were sending a message it's not one she would like. What would they be trying to tell people if they were gathered around him and he was gone. Be scared. You are too comfortable. He will return. She shivered, and tried to keep that out of her mind.
Her uncle pulled back and Anne ran straight into her arms.
"We were so worried! You went for a walk and didn't come back and then all this happened. Mina don't ever do that again."
Mina fought the tears harder as Anne cried. "I ran into Ginny and Fred and then everything happened so fast. I was worried about you guys too." Anne pulled back and Mina's eyes drifted to Nikolai, who looked terse but quickly pulled her into his arms.
"Mina," his voice cracked, and she knew at this point there was no use fighting the tears. If Nikolai had been so scared, then it would be fine for her to have a moment of weakness. "Mina, I was so worried. I thought-"
"I know I though the same thing."
They stood there for a moment, trapped in a hug unable to put words to the emotions they felt, before they pulled away. Nikolai sent her a sheepish grin. She turned back to Fred and Ginny.
Ginny was now awake, talking to her uncle as he began to lead her over to her dad. Fred watched her where she stood, his expression tight until he visibly relaxed. There was still tension but it was as if he had realized he was so tense when her eyes made their way over to him. She walked over to him.
"Fred? You were gonig to say something, right before they showed up. What was it?" His eyes stayed on her for a moment, and in the quickest movement they made their way over her shoulder, before right back to her. "It was nothing Mina. I'm glad you're safe."
"I'm glad you're safe too."
Not feeling too hot this week so this chapters on the shorter side. Next week though, should be longer by comparison as we will probably be back on the Hogwarts Express! Wooooooo! (Wrote this authors note before the chapter and uhh we got a pretty good word count bois, never mind. I'd like next chapter to be longer than this but I'm not sure if that'll happen it might be right around the same length.)
I'm kinda dragging out the problem between Fred and Mina, but I'm figuring true to kids in high school, they're still a little immature and in the mindset that if you ignore whatever is bugging you and don't talk about it it will all blow over eventually. Which, isn't how it actually works as most of us know, it only ends up stringing the problems out further and creating a mess of emotions in the end. But, they're in high school and I know plenty of friendships that went south for people because of this. (If you're still in high school let this be a lesson to you; if something is bothering you, talk about it with whoever - it gets cleared up pretty quickly one way or another.) They'll be doing some talking at some point, but it'll be very much on the top layer of their issues for now. But, they will actually talk about feelings of being upset deeper(and maybe other sorts of feelings) within this school year, it'll just be a small bit until we get to it. I'm ready for them to grow a bit more with each other.
Thank you guys for your constant support, it means a lot and I get a little giddy each time I get an email saying there's been a review. Love you all, and I'll see you all next week on the Hogwarts Express.