Ariana groaned as she was woken in the pre-dawn hours of the next morning. "This is so early," she said.

"But worth it," said Ginny. "I mean, this is going to be once in a lifetime!"

"Doesn't it happen every four years?"

"Well, yes, but, we're never gonna have seats this good again, probably. And this exact match is never gonna happen again. And Viktor Krum is playing."

"Who?"

"Bulgarian seeker. Best in the world. And really young, too."

"Cool."

Hermione, somehow, was already up and dressed, bringing her things downstairs. "How does she do it?" Ariana asked.

Ginny shrugged.

When they got downstairs, Mrs. Weasley was in an argument with the twins. Determined to be far away from it, Ariana stood in the back corner eating her toast until it was time to leave. The walk was tiring, and her feet ached by the time they reached the hill. By the time Mr. Weasley was explaining what a Portkey was, she was ready to just accept anything.

But then, Cedric Diggory's father had to go and insult Harry, and she couldn't stop herself from running her mouth. "Hey, Harry's done a lot of pretty great things, too," she argued. "He fought a basilisk."

Harry looked sharply over at her, and she couldn't tell whether he was angry or pleased. Either way, she wanted to sink into the ground.

"Well, I know he has," said Amos Diggory with a grin. "That's why Cedric beating him is all the more impressive!"

Ariana felt her face burning as they grabbed onto the Portkey.

When they arrived at the field, Ariana felt that she fit in more; people from all over the world were here, so having an American accent didn't make her stand out terribly. She helped Ginny and Hermione set up their tent, then walked around with Ginny for a bit. "So," said Ginny when they were alone. "Having some trouble keeping secrets, hmm?"

"You have no idea."

"That was a nice defense of Harry. Not sure he needed it."

"He didn't seem to appreciate it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"I don't know how I'm going to do this, Ginny."

"Just think about how annoying big brothers are, maybe that'll help."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Your brothers are great."

As if on cue, Percy came over, a little breathless. "Have either of you seen Mr. Crouch?"

"No, sorry Perce," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

At the match, Ariana used the wizarding money her parents had exchanged for her birthday to buy a pair of Omnioculars. They were expensive, but then, her parents were fairly well-off. They had exchanged a large sum of money in Diagon Alley last year, not sure how much would be needed to get her through Hogwarts; Ginny had said that should be more than enough and looked down at her feet. Ariana felt awkward about that, but she couldn't exactly ask her parents to give the Weasleys money, and anyway, they'd probably be offended.

When she heard about Fred and George's bet, though, her eyes popped right out of her head. "That's a crazy bet."

"We don't think so," said Fred.

"I don't know much about Quidditch, but why would he ever catch the Snitch if they weren't up by enough to win?"

"You'll see, American Girl."

"Please stop calling me that."

The match itself was exhilarating, but watching Fred and George's bet come true might have been the highlight of the whole event.

"How?" she said incredulously to Ginny.

Ginny shrugged. "Mum loves to call them slackers, but really they are geniuses."

Ariana chuckled. "Can't they be both?"

Afterwards, as she was chatting with everyone in the tent, Ariana was starting to feel like maybe she belonged, at least just a little bit. With these people, with this country, with this magical world. Then they got sent to bed.

Then there were shouts from outside.

"Get outside, girls!" shouted Mr. Weasley.

Confused and scared, Ariana followed Ginny and Hermione outside, to a scene of utter chaos. And utter horror.

"What is happening?" she asked, but she was drowned out in the noise. There were people being dangled in the air... the Muggle family. Who would do such a thing? Why?

As Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy went to assist the Ministry, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and her all headed into the woods. When they ran into Draco Malfoy, Ariana groaned internally. He would only make this worse.

She was right. When he told Hermione they'd be coming after her next, she felt her blood boil.

"How dare he?" she muttered to Ginny under her breath, but Ginny didn't reply for a moment.

When they had walked away, Ginny whispered, almost in a hiss, "He's vile, but not necessarily wrong."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had disappeared into the woods, and the twins, Ginny, and Ariana walked past a group of American kids as they headed further into the woods.

"Alright, what exactly is happening?" she asked again, when they were in a quieter place.

"They're Death Eaters," said George.

"What are Death Eaters?" she asked.

"Followers of You-Know-Who," said Fred.

She felt her stomach drop. "Voldemort's people are here?"

They all flinched at the name. "Who do you think you are, Harry?" Fred asked.

"I'm not scared of a name." She gestured back at the campgrounds. "I'm scared of them."

"You should be," George agreed.

"Not helping," said Ginny. She was shaking slightly, which was unlike her usual confident self. "What are they doing here?"

"Looks like they decided to have a get-together and mess with some Muggles," said George.

"That's awful," said Ariana.

"No, really?" said Fred sarcastically.

They stood around for a few more minutes, unsure what to say, but then a bright light made Ariana look up. A giant skull was in the sky.

"What the hell?"

There was a crack from nearby; evidently someone had apparated, probably to wherever the light was coming from.

"We should get back to the tent," said Fred.

Ariana followed them. Once they were back, she asked, "What was that?", but she didn't have to wait long for an explanation. Mr. Weasley was back, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in tow.

His explanation chilled her to her very core. There were Death Eaters, followers of Voldemort here. His mark, the mark of killing, had appeared in the sky. Was this a sign? Was Voldemort coming back? Was her brother in danger? Was she?

She didn't get very much sleep that night.