That Mark in Summer

No thanks to the chaos during the night, everyone only got a few hours of sleep at camp.

Then Mr. Weasley woke them all up early.

He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague, monotonously-drony 'Merry Christmas.'

'He'll be all right,' said Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. 'Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while...and that was a big thing they had to make him forget.'

They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all clamoring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had really risen. They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.

'Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!'

Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in her hand.

'Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried -'

She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Hailey saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops.

'You're all right,' Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, 'You're alive...oh boys...'

And to everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.

'Ouch! Mum - you're strangling us -'

'I shouted at you before you left!' Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. '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 OW.L.s? Oh Fred...George...'

'Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay,' said Mr. Weasley soothingly, prying her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. 'Bill,' he added in an undertone, '-pick up that paper, I want to see what it says...'

When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder. Hailey had looked at what's for breakfast that she was glad she pitched in when she came. She bought a sack of rice and a sack of flour. Flour for pancakes, and bread-making, and rice is tummy-filler so the family won't spend so much on meat and veggies just to fill up. It definitely shut up Ron's hunger pangs, rice. She also bought sacks of spices, powdered milk, tea, sugar and salt on her first day here, accompanied by Bill of course, and she cooks during dinner to give Mrs. Weasley a break.

She noted that in everything, even culture...wizarding society is ways behind, even in food and health. Since it's safe to use underage magic as long as you're in magical property not in muggle areas, that loophole got her and Hermione basically using the grounds as their firing range as long as they don't hit anybody or worse, a muggle that needs a Memory Charm a pop. She can even use psychometry on everything so her food will always be prepared to perfection and deliciousness. She also makes wonderful Chai in the mornings as Mr. Weasley and Percy attests, 'It has a good wake-up kick!' for work.

Summer this year as Hermione reckons, is 'Very fruitful!' as they can practice magic without getting in trouble as she still had trouble in some spells.

Breakfast that morning is wholewheat sliced bread loaves with spiced scrambled eggs, a mug of Chai and Egg drop soup. Mrs. Weasley's learning from her recommendations, not bad. This is sufficient for the morning.

'I knew it,' said 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!' said Percy furiously. '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 favor, Perce,' said Bill, yawning as he came into the dining room, '-and shut up.'

'Memorized an entire rule book did you?' Hailey grinned while sitting down for breakfast. 'Hermione, you've got a rival.' Hermione sputtered at her while Percy scoffed.

'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. 'If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!'

'Not by name,' said Mr. Weasley. '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 some time 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,' said Percy importantly. 'Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person.'

He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked 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...'

'...at least they finished tea, soup and one sandwich.' said Hailey wryly, noting the consumption amount on the table by the two government employees.

'More for us!' Ron said happily, eagerly taking the leftovers from his dad and Percy's plates, making Hermione roll her eyes.

'Seriously, where does it all go when I can barely stomach one and half sandwiches?' she scoffed as she avoided looking at Ron while eating lest she lose her appetite.

'Mystery of the year in this house if it's Ron AND food we're talking about!' Charlie laughed as he sat in too for breakfast.

'Shut it, you guys!' said Ron, going pink in embarrassment. He's a growing boy, he needs food, OK?

xxx

Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night. Dinner was something to look forward to as Hailey was a very good cook, though how she got to that skill angered the Weasleys and Hermione. Enough for Mrs. Weasley to send Dumbledore a Howler about it on her second day with the family this year.

Hailey, in her relatives' bid to 'stamp out the magic out of her' as they 'don't want her freakishness around', learned how to clean, laundry and cook at a young age. A horrifying seven years old. In short, she was her relatives' own slave in the house. But out of spite, she deliberately cooks 'misery on purpose' and never gives her best as what little revenge she can get and 'half-asses everything' she can get away with. She never gets to eat what she cooks for them anyway and she was only given 'food fit for a beggar' that when she came to Hogwarts on her first year, that had been her first time eating real food, and took advantage of magical medical services through Madam Pomfrey. Though she can't spend money on things she needs like clothes as she didn't wanna clue the Dursleys that she has an Inheritance...or else...

As those days went by, Hailey feels an odd sort of pain around the back of her right hand.

And it got worse today, when Percy was the first to come home for dinner. She bore the pain with gritted teeth and pursed lips while checking on her chicken curry and chicken pilaf rice the latter of which, she had to keep a closer eye on. Her rice has its yellow color from Turmeric and Saffron while different spices are used in her chicken curry. The dining room was so fragrant with her uses of Spices, and that summer was when spices got them all feeling better and more alive than ever due to Health Benefits.

But she wondered how long can she keep mum about this?

'It's been an absolute uproar,' Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. '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, who was mending her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.

'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 en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks.'

Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner.

Hailey liked this clock. It was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names. There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. Home, School, and Work' were there, but there was also Traveling, Lost, Hospital, Prison, and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, Mortal Peril.

Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the Home position, but Mr. Weasley's, which was the longest, was still pointing to Work. Mrs. Weasley sighed.

'Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You-Know-Who,' she said. '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 truth 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 at once.

'If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented,' said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. '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,' said Mrs. Weasley gently. 'If you'd just let me -'

'No, Mum.'

Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Hailey, and Ron in Diagon Alley. Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.

'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!' she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.

Mr. Weasley's hand had suddenly spun from Work to Traveling; a second later it had shuddered to a halt on Home with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.

'Coming, Arthur!' called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room.

A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room. He looked completely exhausted.

'Well, the fat's really in the fire now,' he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shriveled cauliflower. '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 swiftly.

'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 hotly. Hermione was about to snark about her opinion on house elf slavery when they heard a pained hiss, causing several heads to turn to look for where the hissing was. Hailey was nursing the back of her hand and looking like she was hurting.

'Oh, are you alright dearie? That hand looks a tad tender!' Mrs. Weasley looked at Hailey's reddening hand. 'Did you get hot oil on that?'

'No. It started on my second day here, I thought its a late bruise but bruises go black and blue, not red.' said Hailey with a wince. 'I have no...' next thing they know, reddish-white light came out of the back of her hand that Mrs. Weasley was looking at and out came bright-red symbols! 'AAAHHH!' Hailey cried in pain as it formed. The red symbols looked like a bird wing looking like a child drew it separated into three parts.

'BILL! LOOK AT THIS NOW!' Mrs. Weasley cried frantically as a symbol appearing out of nowhere on the family guest was cause for concern, especially if said symbol caused pain! They were baffled while fearing it's a Curse, which should be Bill's forte.

'Owww...' Hailey rubbed her hand hard in a bid for comfort while teary-eyed, but nothing, until Bill took her hand to look at the red tattoo that appeared. Bright red and shiny!

'Merlin's beard Hailey, I've never seen anything like this.' said Bill, looking at Hailey's hand before casting a couple healing charms. 'Better?' he asked in concern. Hailey felt the pain and numbness disappear, and she gave him a grateful look.

'Thanks...I didn't ask for a tattoo though.' said Hailey, looking rather peaky as the ordeal tired her. 'My hand hurt for days and then this...?' she croaked out, utterly mystified.

'Describe everything so I can ask some friends about it tomorrow if the Headmaster can't figure this out after dinner.' Bill told her. 'We could use a full stomach for brainstorming.'

'I second that, let's enjoy comfort food.' Mr. Weasley agreed grimly. While Hailey's chicken curry dinner was delicious, they all worried about the mysterious mark on her hand. Mr. Weasley then firecalled the Headmaster after a short waiting time, before Dumbledore came to help Bill study Hailey's newfound tattoo.

'It doesn't seem evil at least.' said Dumbledore as he and Bill did all they could to dissect the symbols for information.

'I can make out some stuff out of it at least.' said Bill. 'Binding. Absolute Authority and Absolute Order...the kind you cannot disobey whether you like it or not.' he said with a frown. 'Who applied this is anyone's guess without us noticing.'

'D-does that mean Hailey can't disobey whoever put that on her?' Hermione croaked out and the notion horrified them all.

'I hope not.' said the Headmaster grimly and he looked just-as-disturbed. 'For Hailey's sake.'

'Maybe she should skip Hogwarts this year, that oughta teach them.' said Ron.