August 25th, 1994 ~
Garnet was up earlier than the rest this morning. They had to leave the Burrow before the sun came up, so she only had an hour or so before everyone else needed to get up and moving. She headed for the bathroom.
An hour later as everyone was starting to wake up, George was knocking on the bathroom door. "Garnet, is that you in there?"
"Just a moment, George, I'll be right out." she called through the door at him.
"That's fine, everybody is heading down to eat. Don't take too long, Mum says we need to leave before..."
"...the sun comes up, yes, I remember." Garnet said.
As George turned to head down the steps, he thought he heard a squeak of surprise coming from the other side of the door.
"You alright?" he asked, worried.
"I-I'm fine!" Garnet sounded like she was laughing.
"Ookay..." George shook his head and went down to the kitchen.
"Garnet on her way down?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she set a plate of bacon in the middle of the table.
"Yes," he said as he and Fred took their seats.
"Whoa!" Ginny exclaimed, and Ron and Harry were laughing, Hermione had a look of shock on her face.
George and Fred turned and saw Garnet standing there, dressed for the day, with freshly trimmed and green hair.
"Garnet! I thought we got rid of the shampoo we gave Percy!" Fred hollared as George stood and rushed to her. He had a look of horror on his face.
" George Gideon Weasley! Fred Fabian Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley started when she saw Garnet's green locks.
"No no! Mrs. Weasley! I did it, it's hair dye I brought from home." Garnet insisted. Everyone looked at her like she was bonkers. "I'm Irish. Just showing my Irish Pride."
Everyone but George and Mrs. Weasley sat down.
"Are you sure you meant to do that?" George asked, then touched her damp hair.
Garnet laughed, "Yeah, I did." She watched his reaction, "You don't like it?"
"I...it'll take some getting use to, is all." he smiled at her.
Molly sighed, "I don't know how your father would feel about this."
Garnet laughed to herself, "He won't care." She took her seat beside George at the table.
"Hair dye? As in the permanent stuff?" Hermione asked.
All eyes were on Garnet again, "I...um, well yeah." she laughed.
"You're mad, you are." Ron shook his head.
"Alright you lot, are you all about ready to head...GARNET?" Arthur walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his friends daughter.
"Isn't it lovely, Arthur?" Molly asked her husband, giving him a look.
Taking the hint, Arthur nodded "Oh yes yes, quite lovely. Green suits you, my dear." he turned to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Garnet giggled to herself.
Everyone ate quickly, and after a bunch of goodbyes and a severe tongue lashing from Mrs. Weasley to the Twins over their Wizard Wheezes they tried to take with them, they were on their way.
A long while later, what seemed like ages of hiking, the group made it to the meet up with Amos Diggory and Cedric.
"Oh my word, Garnet!" Cedric laughed about her hair as he hugged her, earning an evil eye from the Twins.
Mr. Diggory was going on about Cedric beating Harry during a Quidditch Match last year.
"Dad, I told you, that was a fluke, Harry fell from his broom." Cedric seemed embarrassed.
Amos puffed out his chest, "Perhaps, but you didn't."
"It's easy to hold onto your broom when you're not having your soul sucked out of you by Dementors." Garnet said quite loudly. If looks could kill, Amos would have been dead.
Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and the Twins were chuckling quietly.
Mr. Weasley gave a subtle smile, but Mr. Diggory looked as though he was slapped.
"Ah, well, yes, yes I suppose so..." he turned and started walking away.
Cedric grinned at Garnet and shook his head as he followed his father.
Garnet turned and looked at Harry, who was smiling, and winked at him.
Mr. Diggory and Mr. Weasley walked on ahead of the children.
Cedric hung back so he could walk with Garnet and the others.
"That was pretty amusing," Cedric said, "I've never seen my father quieted like that."
Garnet shrugged, "He wasn't there. He needed to get his facts straight."
George looked over at them from the corner of he eye, then reached down and took Garnet's hand. Garnet glanced at George, and squeezed his hand.
"There it is! The Portkey!" Mr. Weasley called to everyone.
"A smelly old boot?" Harry scoffed.
"Well they had to make them items that Muggles wouldn't want to pick up and start messing with," Arthur explained. "Everyone gather round." he directed them.
Garnet never liked using Portkeys, it made her insides feel scrambled.
"Alright now, three...two...HARRY!" Arthur hollared and Harry grabbed hold just in time.
George watched as Garnet closed her eyes right before they were transported.
When Mr. Weasley gave the go ahead to let go, George let go before he realized Garnet hadn't. He reached for her, but he was too far.
Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny landed with a thud and groans in a heap on the ground.
They looked up just as Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, Cedric and Garnet landed gently on their feet.
George and Fred stood up and dusted themselves off, "How'd you do that?" George looked at Garnet in awe.
"I've...traveled by Portkey a few times." she shrugged.
"Learn something new every day, eh?" Fred laughed, and they all said their byes to Cedric and his father, and followed Mr. Weasley to their location to check in.
They got the tents set up and a fire going, and Bill, Charlie and Percy showed up.
Garnet ended up in a conversation with Percy about his job, something she had avoided doing since her arrival at the Burrow.
"...it's really quite fascinating. Mr. Crouch holds me in high regard, actually. The best assistant he's ever had...uh, Garnet?" Percy stopped talking when he realized Garnet wasn't looking at him, but out in a distance, and blinking quickly. "Garnet are you alright?"
"It's another seizure," Ginny said to him, having witnessed one like this before. Everyone of them was now aware of Garnet's epilepsy. "Ron, call in the tent for George."
George and Fred came out to see what was going on, "She'll be fine." George told Percy, who was not witness to the seizure at the Burrow. "Just give her a minute."
Garnet snapped out of it, and took a deep breath. "Well that ruined my evening." Garnet took another deep, shaky breath.
"What's wrong?" Fred asked.
"I had a vision." Garnet stood, "Excuse me Percy." She stood and stretched her legs.
George was curious. "How'd your vision ruin your evening?" he asked quietly.
Garnet sighed, "I saw who won the World Cup."
"No way!" Fred grinned, "Who?"
"NO! I don't want to ruin it for you!" Garnet shook her head.
"You won't! Come on! Tell us!" George insisted.
They were making puppy dog eyes at her and pouted ridiculously.
"Fiiiine," she said, "But don't blame me if you're just not enjoying the game as much." She looked around to make sure no one else was listening, and whispered in Fred's ear.
"Brilliant!" Fred grinned and then whispered to George.
George looked at Garnet, "You're sure?" he chuckled.
Garnet nodded.
That's when they heard loud, boisterous talking coming from the direction of the fire. They followed it back, and saw a guy talking to Mr. Weasley.
"Ah, and here are my Twins, George and Fred, and this young lady is Alatar's daughter." Arthur introduced them. "This is Mr. Bagman."
"Wonderful to meet you all, I'm just roaming about, discussing the outcome of tonights match," Bagman was cut off.
"Collecting bets from people." Arthur said under his breath.
"Oh come off it, Arthur," Bagman laughed and pat him on the back.
Fred and George looked at each other, eyes wide.
"No..." Garnet said quietly, but it was too late.
"These seats are savage," Garnet glanced around, but stepped back from the window when she glanced down. She took her seat beside George.
"You're doing it again," George and Fred laughed.
Garnet shook her head, "Ay, I canna' help it!" She made the mistake of listening to an entire Irish family walking near them on the way to the stadium.
That's when they heard an arrogant voice behind them
Lucious Malfoy, with his wife and son, Draco.
Garnet didn't know what to think of Draco after their last encounter at school. She just tried to avoid him.
She turned back to the front.
"Prince? Is that you?" Draco laughed as he sat down behind her.
"Aye," Garnet peeked over her shoulder at him.
Draco smirked arrogantly, "What on Earth did you do your to your hair? The other Slytherin will have a field day with this."
"Feck off, Malfoy," she muttered.
"Garnet," Mr. Weasley gave her a warning look. He didn't want any issues in front of all the foreign Wizards present.
Garnet took a deep breath and nodded, "Sorry Mr. Weasley."
The match began, it was full of excitement. Garnet cheered Ireland on with everyone else. She grinned from ear to ear.
She leaned over to George, "I'm gonna run to the loo, I'll be back as soon as I can."
"You're gonna miss the game!" George said, but remembered when she gave him a look. "Oh, right, you know how it ends." he chuckled.
Garnet shook her head and smiled. She kissed his cheek quick and headed down to the lavatory.
When Garnet finally made it through the line, she came out and was greeted by none other than Draco.
Garnet rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.
He stepped in front of her. Even two years younger than her, he was the same height as her.
"So how has your summer been, Prince?" he smiled at her.
"It's been fine, Malfoy," she nodded.
"So green," he smirked at her.
"I like it, I don't care if others don't." she crossed her arms.
Draco shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn't bother me." he smiled again.
Garnet just could not get a reading on him.
"You're going to play nice when no one else is around, but you go back to being a complete arse the moment someone you know is nearby." she narrowed her eyes at him.
He shrugged again and looked away. "I gotta be who they expect me to be."
At this Garnet laughed, "No, you really don't." and she walked away, "I'm going back to the game, and my boyfriend."
"What do you see in him?" Draco asked. "I mean look at him, his family, their homelife."
Garnet rolled her eyes, "Their homelife is warm and loving and comfortable. I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand." she said.
"Does he know about your family money?" Draco asked, making her stop in his tracks.
"He knows I live comfortably." Garnet said.
Draco laughed, "Oh okay, comfortably." he smirked. "Your family vault looks an awful lot more like mine than his."
"Money isn't everything Malfoy," Garnet turned on him.
Draco backed up a step, afraid she may hit him.
She took a deep breath again, "Bugger off." She turned and hurriedly made her way back to the box.
As Garnet had predicted, Bulgaria caught the Snitch, but Ireland won in points. Celebrations could be heard all through out the campgrounds late into the night.
Despite the noise, Garnet managed to get to sleep.
"Garnet, Hermione, Ginny, girls! Come! You need to get out of here!" Mr. Weasley woke them up quickly. Garnet could sense he was on edge, but she found her sweatpants and slipped on her shoes as quick as she could.
When they left the tent, what they saw was a horror. Men in masks, tormenting the Muggle farmer and his family. Fires were started everywhere, people were running as fast as they could into the forest.
"Fred, George, you're in charge of Ginny; Ron, Harry, Hermione, look after each other, Bill, Charlie, Percy and I are going to go help where we can." Arthur was directing them.
"I can help sir," Garnet drew her wand but George grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.
"You most certainly will not. You will go with the others." Arthur watched his older boys heading towards the danger, "Now go! All of you, run to the forest! I'll find you later!"
George took Garnet's hand, and they kept pace with Fred and Ginny. Ron, Hermione and Harry quickly got separated from them. Hoards of people were pushing past each other, Garnet lost hold of George's hand.
"George!" Garnet called, but she only faintly heard her name, and couldn't tell which direction it came from. She remained as calm as she could.
Then someone stepped on her foot in boots, and some kids pushed past her, knocking her into a tree, shoulder first. She looked down at her left shoulder and saw a decent sized gash from the rough bark.
"Just a little blood, no big deal," she told herself, hiding behind the tree, away from the crowd panicky people. She took her shoe off and rubbed the outside of her foot. "I'll be bruised tomorrow, nothing to worry about."
Garnet realized it was quiet, no more footsteps were heard. She took a breath, and gathered her bearings. She looked down to see the gash did not stop bleeding yet. Now she wished she had grabbed her jumper before running out of the tent, not only would it have helped from getting badly hurt, it was rather cold.
She tore off the hem of her shirt, exposing her belly, and bunching it, pressed on the gash, grimacing in pain the whole time.
That's when she heard a twig snap nearby. Garnet froze. She grasped her wand in her left hand, still holding the rag to her shoulder. She heard a few more steps.
Garnet raised her wand and rounded the tree, pointing the wand directly at Draco's face. He was holding his hands up.
"Prince?" he looked at her, clearly surprised.
Garnet realized she was safe, and began shaking. She was freezing, and her shoulder was still killing her. "Malfoy." she said, and lowered her wand.
"Bloody hell, are you alright?" he stepped closer to her and saw the bloody rag pressed to her shoulder.
"I'm f-f-f-fine..." she was trying to hold it together, she did not want to break down in front of Malfoy.
"Come here, let me take a look." He gently lifted the rag and she winced. "It seems to have stopped bleeding, but you should have it looked at." Draco said. He could feel her skin was ice cold.
Garnet's body shook but she sat down against the base of the tree.
Draco clenched and unclenched his hands, trying to decide what to do. He let out a breath, rolled his eye and took off his jacket, placing it over Garnet's shoulders, careful not to bump her sore one.
Garnet was shocked, "Thank you Malfoy, you didn't have to do that." He crouched down in front of her, studying her face. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" she finally asked him.
"Same as you, hiding." he said too quickly.
Garnet narrowed her eyes, "You're an awful liar, Malfoy."
Draco scratched the back of his neck, "It's best you don't know." He stood and looked the direction he came from. "I had seen Potter and the other two that direction. If you head that way you may find them."
Garnet shook her head, "I'm going to hang tight for a few minutes." she said, "George may come back for me once he knows Ginny's safe."
Draco scoffed, but remained silent.
Then they heard a spell called out and shot into the air.
A great green skull with a snake lit up the sky.
"Oh my God," Garnet gasped. Almost everyone knew what that symbol was. Garnet perked up when she thought she heard Harry in the distance. She stood and began racing towards them.
"Prince, wait!" Draco called, but didn't listen.
"Harry!" Garnet called and the trio saw her, but as quick as a flash, a bunch of people surrounded them.
"Get down!" Harry yelled, but it was too late.
The Ministry officials had cast a stunning spell throughout the surrounding area, and Garnet got hit.
Mr. Weasley came running, screaming at everyone.
"That's my son!" he confronted the Ministry members.
"Dad! Garnet was coming from that direction! She was hit!" Ron pointed, the three of them afraid to move, knowing the Ministry now accused them of casting the Morsmordre.
Arthur moved quickly in the direction Ron and Harry pointed. He found Garnet unconscious. Then he saw the gash on her shoulder.
He gently picked her up and carried her towards the group.
"Is that the culprit?" a male Ministry Official said gruffly.
Mr. Weasley shot him a look, "Do you know whose daughter this is?" he got no response from the man. "This is Alatar Prince's daughter. She's as likely to have cast the Morsmordre as Harry."
After some others headed off to try and find who did it, Mr. Weasley knelt down with Garnet propped up against him and Mr. Diggory pointed his wand at her "Rennervate!" and her eyes flew open and she took a deep breath.
"What?!" she sat up quickly then regretted it when the pain of her shoulder shot through her. She looked to Ron, Harry and Hermione, then to Mr. Weasley, "That wasn't a seizure..." she watched his face for confirmation.
"Calm down, dear," Mr. Weasley said calmly. "You were stunned. You'll be alright."
Amos looked at the gash and nodded his head. "It needs cleaned, but the bleeding has stopped. It'll be sore for a while."
Mr. Crouch stood in front of Garnet, "What were you doing out there on your own?" he asked.
"I..." She shivered, realizing she must have dropped Draco's coat. "I got separated and hurt, so I staid put. Then the Dark Mark showed up over head. It freaked me out but then I heard Ron and Harry and started this way." she looked at all the adults staring at her, "Then I got stunned."
The Ministry Officials deliberated, until someone hollared that they found a house elf unconscious, clutching a wand.
"Since she's obviously injured and didn't do it, can she go back to the tent and get cleaned up?" Arthur looked to Mr. Crouch.
Barty scowled, "I suppose, but they" he pointed at the Trio, "Are staying for further questioning."
Arthur looked at his son and friends and nodded his agreement. A female Ministry Official approached them. "I'll walk her back."
Garnet eyed her up and down. "Thank you."
"Garnet!" George saw her approaching the tent and ran to her, seeing the large mark on her shoulder. "Bloody hell, I was so worried!"
She saw him, safe and sound at the campsite, not out looking for her. "I bet," Garnet walked past him.
George was confused. He thanked the Ministry Official and followed Garnet into the big tent. She had already started rummaging through the first aid kit she brought for some peroxide, ointment and a bandage. She set them on the table and sat down. She cringed as she lifted her arm onto the table.
"Let me help you with that," George offered.
Garnet didn't say anything, so he picked up the bottle of peroxide. He poured some onto a clean rag and dabbed her shoulder.
Garnet hissed when it burned.
"I'm so sorry," he blew on it, trying to stop the burning.
Garnet shook her head, "I'm fine," she looked away from him.
Fred and Ginny were watching from across the tent. George looked to Fred, who gave him a look that said "Figure it out."
George looked back at what he was doing "Are you sure? You seem upset with me." he asked quietly.
Garnet stood quickly, "Did you even look for me?" she turned on him. "I don't even know how long I staid at that tree close to the path we took, thinking you might be coming to find me." Garnet shook her head. "And here you are, back at the tent. I can only imagine what would have happened if Malfoy hadn't found me." she walked away from him.
George's face fell, "Malfoy?" he stood and walked over to her.
"I was freezing. He gave me his coat. Unfortunately I seem to have lost it when the Ministry stunned me unconscious." she replied. A look of pure horror washed over his face.
"Garnet," George turned her towards him. "I'm sorry, really. I knew you had your wand, and Dad wanted me to make sure Ginny was safe. I figured I'd drop her off here quick and head out to find you, but when we got here and Ron and the others weren't back yet, Dad made me stay here and said he'd come find you."
He could tell she was still quite upset with him.
"I swear, I feel like a complete arse letting your hand slip from mine. I turned to grab you and you were already gone." George put his hands on her waist, pulling her body against his.
"He's been pacing like a caged animal since we got back." Ginny piped in, trying to help.
Garnet sighed. Him worrying about her made her feel a little better about the whole situation. She laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her right arm around his waist.
"I was scared," she whispered.
"So was I. I'm so glad you're safe." he kissed the top of her head. Then he realized she was still cold when she shivered. "Come on, let's get a bandage on your shoulder and get you warmed up."
Garnet nodded and followed him.
Once her shoulder was properly bandaged (it took Ginny helping to get it on right) George pulled Garnet to his bed, not caring what his father might say. He laid down, pulled her down beside him and covered her up with a blanket. She laid her head on his chest and was out quickly.
