Chapter 18.

After the Irish team had left the Top Box, Magnolia began to follow the Weasley's back to the tents. They were caught up in the celebrations from the Irish supporters, so it took double the time for the group to get back to the tent.

Mr Weasley had told them that they weren't allowed to go to the Irish celebrations but had allowed them to have a cup of cocoa before they went to bed. Magnolia frowned as she listened to the singing and occasional bang from the other side of the campsite. She wanted to join in with the celebrations, instead she was sat nursing a cup of cocoa for as long as she could.

Eventually, she had to go to bed and followed Ginny and Hermione into their section of the tent. Magnolia slipped into the bed as Ginny and Hermione teased her about George's reaction at the end of the match. She just laughed and stuck her tongue out at the girls.

Magnolia slowly fell asleep, the singing from outside slipping into her dreams. She was dancing and singing with her Slytherin friends, not necessarily celebrating anything- just enjoying their time together.

"Get up! Come on, get up! This is urgent!"

Magnolia was shaken awake by Mr Weasley from her dream, the steely grey eyes that had been looking down at her were the last thing she could remember from it. Mr Weasley was frantic, Magnolia could hear distant screams.

She followed Hermione and Ginny out of the tent without even having time to change out of her pyjamas and saw Harry and the other boys waiting for them. Harry quickly grabbed Magnolia's hand; the screaming was louder out here.

The atmosphere around the campsite had changed, those screams weren't the joyous, fun filled screamed she had heard as she fell asleep. These were filled with fear. The group ran out of the tent with Mr Weasley and Magnolia could see a group of people in the distance that appeared to be wearing masks and hoods. Above them people were being levitated; Magnolia could feel her heart start to pound.

"We're going to help the Ministry," Mr Weasley motioned to himself, Bill, Charlie and Percy, "You all get into the woods and stay together. I'll come and fetch you when this has been sorted."

The group split and ran in opposite directions, until Magnolia and the other school children passed into the woods. Magnolia paused and looked back. Ministry wizards were surrounding the masked wizards, trying to get the muggles in the air down. She felt a hand slip into hers and pull her from the edge of the trees further into the woods. After a little while, they stopped running and Magnolia turned to find her brother.

"Harry? Lumos." Magnolia span around, starting to panic when she couldn't find her brother. "Harry!?"

"It's ok, Nola. He's still with Hermione and Ron, they'll be fine."

Magnolia was still looking for her brother, when had they been separated? Had something happened to him?

"Nola." George held her by her shoulders, "Calm down."

"Morsmordre!"

A voice broke through the silence of the woods, causing Magnolia, George, Fred and Ginny to spin around looking for the wizard who had cast the spell. Instead, Ginny froze and pointed into the sky, where a large green skull with a snake coming from its mouth hovered.

Magnolia gasped; she had seen that before. She couldn't remember where or when, a dream once maybe, but she recognised it and it sent chills through her body.

"The Dark Mark." Ginny whimpered.

The Dark Mark. Voldemort's sign. Magnolia stopped thinking and wrenched herself out of George's grasp, running through the woods as fast as she could. She had to find her brother. She had to find whoever had cast the Mark.

Branches whipped at her face as she ran, barely paying attention to where she was going. She had forgotten that she was still gripping her wand, and just ran until she collided with someone. She felt arms circle her waist before she fell backwards to the floor from the impact.

"What are you doing here!?"

Magnolia snapped her gaze up and saw the same grey eyes she had been dreaming of earlier that night, looking down at her. Malfoy looked furious, his hands on her waist tightened.

"Why are you alone!?" He growled.

"I saw…"

Malfoy huffed angrily, bending his head until he almost touched Magnolia's, "You shouldn't be alone. Do you know what that is?"

Magnolia nodded; she couldn't speak. Under Malfoy's fingers, her skin was hot and tingling; under his penetrating gaze, she felt vulnerable. The air between them felt thick.

"So, why are you on your own?"

Magnolia looked to the ground; she hadn't really thought when she took off. The Weasleys were probably really worried about her. She hadn't even been paying attention to where she was going, she was lucky she had run into Malfoy and not gotten lost.

"I… I was… I was looking for Harry." She mumbled.

"Tell me the truth," Malfoy sighed, "Were you looking for your brother, or were you looking for him?"

Magnolia gulped. She didn't know. She wasn't sure. She definitely wanted to find her brother, but another part of her needed to find the person who had cast the Mark. Maybe she was looking for them both? Magnolia felt paralysed, Malfoy had known her thoughts better then she had.

Footsteps behind her pulled her out of her thoughts, and Malfoy dropped his hold on her like he'd been shocked. George had followed her and finally found her, his wand held high.

"Nola!" George ran to her side, glaring at Malfoy. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Malfoy scoffed, "Because you found her with me?"

George ignored Malfoy, keeping his gaze on Magnolia who shook her head. Her heart was still pounding, and her head still seemed foggy from moments before. She almost felt guilty for being caught with Malfoy, but he was her housemate she shouldn't feel guilty.

"You shouldn't have run off like that when you saw the Mark."

"You should have kept her closer when you saw the Mark." Malfoy growled.

"Keep out of this, Malfoy."

"Or what?"

George had turned to Malfoy now, the two were glaring at each other. Magnolia stepped between them when she saw both of them had their wands out. She put her hands on both the boys' chests and pushed them back away from each other a little.

"Stop it, you two. George, we should go back to the others, Harry might be there."

George nodded slightly, he and Malfoy still glaring at each other and stepped back to walk back the way he had come. Magnolia began to follow him but felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see Malfoy was right next to her, looking down at her again.

"Keep safe. We can continue our conversation when we're alone at Hogwarts, Lia."

Magnolia's eyes widened, that was the first time that Malfoy hadn't called her Potter. She nodded at him and smiled nervously, she knew he was talking about the Room of Requirement and not the Slytherin Common Room; he had told her last year that that would be their place to talk about things properly. She was also sure that when his lips whispered against her forehead, he had been trying to annoy George.

George was waiting for Magnolia a few metres away, and she quickly caught up to him so they could get back to her brother. The walk back through the woods was quiet, Magnolia was feeling uncomfortable walking beside George who seemed to be angry, so she was glad when the Weasley tent came into view.

"Maggie!"

Magnolia saw Harry standing outside the tent and ran towards him, thankful for the distraction from the awkward walk. Harry pulled his sister into a hug and asked where she had been, what had happened after she ran from George, Fred and Ginny. Fred and Ginny had arrived back at the tent before Harry, Hermione, Ron and Mr Weasley and had told Harry what had happened.

"She ran into Malfoy." George grumbled as he walked past the twins and ducked into the tent.

Harry looked at his sister quizzically, George never spoke like that.

"I saw the Mark and just wanted to get to you. I wasn't even thinking, I just ran to find you but ran into Malfoy first. Then George found me." Magnolia explained quickly. "What happened with you?"

"We lost you when Ron fell over and we ran into Malfoy. Then heard someone cast the Mark, it sounded like he was right beside us. Ministry people turned up then, but Mr Weasley helped us. Apparently, it was Mr Crouch's house-elf who cast the Mark."

The twins joined everyone else in the tent then and joined in the discussion about what had happened that evening.

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed." Mr Weasley was saying. "The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside… Everyone's worst fear… the very worst…"

Magnolia looked down, sometimes she forgot how the mere memory of Voldemort could still instil so much fear in people. Her and Harry hadn't known what it was truly like when he was at the height of his power. Never knowing where he was going to go next, what he would do.

"Well, it didn't help us tonight." Bill said, "It scared the Death Eater's away the moment they saw it."

"Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

Magnolia was sure she'd heard that before, another distant memory like the memory of the Dark Mark.

"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters were called. I think we saw some of the ones that managed to stay out of Azkaban tonight."

"We don't know it was them Bill, we can't prove it." Mr Weasley mumbled.

"Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods and he as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters!" Ron exclaimed, "And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"

"We don't know that Ron, Malfoy could have been in the woods for any reason." Magnolia challenged. "You can't accuse people of things like that."

Magnolia heard George scoff and bit back her retort as she listened to the others keep talking. Magnolia knew that Harry would be worried about what this meant after his dream the other night, so was she. If Voldemort really was coming back what would she do? If she saw him again, how would she react? Would it be like with Tom Riddle when she had almost not wanted to fight against him?

Magnolia barely slept the rest of that night; every time she closed her eyes Tom Riddle, Malfoy or George would be looking at her and beckoning her to them or holding her in their arms. She was quiet the following morning when the group walked to the Portkey that would take them back to the Burrow.

She stayed back when they got to the Burrow and Mrs Weasley threw herself at her twins, apologising for what she had said before they left for the World Cup. She had read about the attack in the Daily Prophet, and after Mr Weasley read it, he and Percy decided they had to go to the Ministry to help them.

She followed her brother up the stairs into Ron's room, dreading the conversation he was about to have with his friends. Hermione and Ron reacted exactly how Magnolia had imagined they would; Hermione started suggesting every book she could think of and Ron began panicking about Voldemort following Harry around.

When Harry and Ron went back outside for Harry to practice the Wronski Feint that Krum had done at the World Cup, Hermione pulled Magnolia into Ginny's room.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?" Magnolia replied, confused.

"You've been quiet this morning. Actually, you've been quiet since you and George got back last night, did something happen?"

Magnolia sighed, "It was weird, he got really annoyed when he saw I was with Malfoy."

"Well, what happened?"

Magnolia explained what had happened the night before in the woods, leaving out the weird feelings she had when Malfoy was holding her, and when she had finished Hermione just laughed.

"What? Why are you laughing?"

"Maggie, they're jealous." Hermione said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you really not see it?"

"See what?" Ginny asked as she walked into her room.

Hermione began telling Ginny what Magnolia had told her, and Magnolia rolled her eyes when Ginny also started laughing.

"Maggie, you are so blind." Ginny giggled, "Oh you are going to have so much fun this year."

"What are you talking about?" Magnolia asked.

"Maggie isn't going to string two guys along, Gin."

"Two!?" Ginny snorted, "Did you forget about Cedric?"

Magnolia blanched at what the girls were saying, finally understanding. There was no way what they were saying was true, they were just taking the teasing to whole new level.

"Of course she's going to chose George." Hermione stated. "She's already going on a date with him."

"Yeah, but Cedric is hot!" Ginny giggled.

"Guys!" Magnolia interrupted, "You're seeing things that don't exist."

"Oh, please, Maggie." Ginny replied, "Hermione was right, George and Malfoy are jealous."

"Malfoy? How does he come into this?"

"You two fight like cat and dog, but wasn't it his gang that was escorting you everywhere last year, didn't he give up going to one of the Hogsmeade trips last year to keep you company, and didn't he react when the snake focussed on you at the Duelling club?"

"I still think George is her best pick." Hermione mumbled, "He knows you best."

Magnolia bit her lip, if she really thought about it, she would actually say that Malfoy knew her best. He had known her confused thoughts last night, they had told each other things they couldn't tell other people. But she was just his housemate, and besides Magnolia knew that Pansy liked Malfoy.

She wasn't going to focus on boys this year, it was the first year of their OWLs and she had big plans for her future. Magnolia had had her plans when she thought she would grow up as a Muggle, and those plans hadn't changed since she found out she was a Witch, they were just tweaked slightly to fit in with her new life.

A couple of weeks past with Ginny and Hermione still teasing Magnolia over her love life, Mr Weasley and Percy came home everyday with horror stories about what was happening at the Ministry, and Harry constantly practiced new Quidditch moves that he had seen at the World Cup.

Magnolia was in Ginny's room, making sure that her trunk was packed as they were heading back to Hogwarts the following day, when she heard a yelp come from Ron's room. She ran into his room, to find him holding a long, frilly maroon dress.

"What the hell is that!?"

"Dress robes." Harry explained, disgusted, "Mrs Weasley brought me some too."

"When are you supposed to wear them!?"

"Wear them!?" Ron shouted, "I'm not wearing them! They're hideous!"

Magnolia hadn't seen any new robes except her school ones in her pile of things that's Mrs Weasley had brought her in Diagon alley a few days ago. She wondered why Mrs Weasley would buy Harry and Ron new dress robes and not her. Later that evening Magnolia found out that Fred and George also had been given dress robes. Mrs Weasley had told Magnolia that she hadn't brought hers because she thought Magnolia would want to get hers in Hogsmeade with her friends.

The following morning, Magnolia was with Harry taking their trunks downstairs when they heard Mr Weasley speaking to someone in hushed tones.

"Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-them… please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there… It's a real stroke of luck I heard about it…"

Magnolia peeked around the corner of the staircase and saw Mr Diggory's face in the fireplace.

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Mr Weasley asked.

Magnolia wondered who this Mad-Eye was, from what Mr Weasley and Mr Diggory were saying, he was indeed mad, setting bins on people and possibly making up intruders. When Mr Diggory said goodbye, Magnolia and Harry made their way into the kitchen with their trunks.

When the Weasley's joined them, Harry asked who Mad-Eye was. Bill told them that he was an Ex-Auror, and a very good one at that, but that it made him incredibly paranoid in his later life. They eventually got to Kings Cross, after an extremely uncomfortable trip where Magnolia was squished between Harry and George. George had been in a much better mood the day after they got back to the Burrow.

When she was saying goodbye to Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie, Charlie told the students that they could be seeing him sooner than they thought, and Bill had told them that he wished he was back at Hogwarts that year. Mrs Weasley even indicated that something was happening at Hogwarts that year. As Magnolia sat in a compartment with Harry, Hermione and Ron, she wondered what could possibly be happening at her school that year.

A/N: Hello! Thank you for sticking with my story this far! And a massive thank you for everyone who has favourited/followed and reviewed (especially Ghostwriter71, thank you so much), these all give me more drive to write and upload and I so hope that this story is helping people through the Lockdowns around the world right now.

I am currently furloughed but I work in a vet practice and we may be being called back in soon. Due to this, I'm going to start uploading only 2-3 times a week so that if and when I do go back to work I will be able to have enough time to write a decent chapter.

Keep safe everyone x