***I skipped the match… in case you didn't notice. Also I've realized my chapters are getting longer… Hopefully that's a good thing :) Please keep giving me you opinions on the update options too. And a little picture is up for this chapter, the link is in my author profile thing. But anyway, enjoy the chapter :3***
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After the match we made our way back to the tents. Fred and George were very happy most likely due to their sudden winnings. The Malfoys offered me a spot in their tent but I politely declined. That made the twins happier and Draco covered his expression with a blank stare. I kissed his cheek goodbye and left with the Weasleys. Once we arrived the place was too noisy, full of excitement from the winning fans. We went inside the boys' tent for a cup of cocoa together before turning in. It wasn't until Ginny spilled her cup of hot chocolate from falling asleep that Mr. Weasley sent us to bed. Hermione and I took Ginny to the next tent. They went lazily to change into their pyjamas as I dug around for mine
"What's that?" Ginny asked emerging from her room. Part of my dress robes had slipped out. "Were you expecting something fancier?"
"No, actually, I just came from an event, before coming here" I said not looking at her and found my pyjamas
"What kind of event?" she asked curiously
"Does it matter?" Hermione intervened. "We should get to bed." I was thankful to her for that. I couldn't think of a lie at the moment and if I'd said the truth or refused to add anything it would only have sounded suspicious. Ginny nodded and began heading to a room but stopped. There were only two rooms, and only two beds
"I can sleep on the couch" I told them before they worried too much
"Seriously?" Ginny asked genuinely shocked
"Yes, why not?" I fall asleep on couches all the time, usually with a book in hand. "I don't mind. Besides, I obviously hadn't been included in the plan until later"
"Are you sure?" Hermione looked at me wondering if I meant it. I had given in rather easily
"I just need to borrow one of your rooms to change and I'll be okay." They nodded once and I left to change in Hermione's room. I made sure to transfer the piece of parchment to the pocket in the shirt of my pyjamas. I would need to find a more convenient way to carry that. Once I was done I came back out and stretched myself out on the couch. This was one of the rare occasions when it a good thing I was small or else I wouldn't have been able to fit my feet in. Hermione came out of her room and handed me a duvet before saying goodnight
I lay on the couch yawing. This was sort of nice. It wasn't what I was used to but it wasn't so bad. And I couldn't see what was so horrible about the Weasleys or why people like the Malfoys treated them so badly. They were good people. I let out a loud yawn which Lev imitated. He was so cute. I grabbed him from the floor and covered him with the duvet. Comfortable, I fell asleep. But it wasn't too long before I was woken
"Mr. Weasley?" I asked in a groggy voice to the man who had shaken me awake. My eyes took a little to adjust and I let out a yawn
"I'm sorry Katerina but you must wake up. It's an emergency." Once he saw my eyes were staying open he left into Ginny's room. I sat up rubbing my eyes for a second. I stood up slowly and Lev grumbled annoyed; he didn't like to be woken up. I watched as Mr. Weasley stormed out of the room with Ginny right behind him.
"Both of you get a coat, we must go outside" he called before moving to Hermione's room. I went to my bag getting a coat out like he'd said. I was too tired to even think about arguing
"What's going on?" I asked Ginny as I shrugged into my coat. She shook her head not knowing either. Hermione joined us.
"Quick, outside!" I grabbed Lev not wanting to leave my half-asleep puppy alone and we did as he said. As we rushed out it made me glad to have brought pyjamas with pants and not a nightdress like Hermione and Ginny. I noticed the chaos as soon as we stepped outside. There was plenty of shouting but it wasn't the happier kind we had heard when the game ended. Mr. Weasley said to hide while they helped the Ministry. But help with what? What was happening?
"C'mon" Fred said grabbing Ginny's hand leading towards the woods. Ron, Harry, and Hermione followed. I didn't move
"But –"
"Not now, let's go" George interrupted grabbing my hand. It surprised me but I let him pull me to the woods. I ran after with him trying to catch up to their siblings. We ran and kept running past someone in the woods. I tried to turn to look but George was pulling too hard. We ran some more. It wasn't until I saw the green light above that I stopped. Lev noticed too and jumped out of my grasp before I could stop him. My hand slipped from George's and I turned my back to them trying to look for my puppy. But with the sudden change my feet came from under me and I fell. There was a sharp pain in my forehead and I rubbed my face as I heard George's footsteps rush to me
"Kitty, are you okay?! What –" He stopped when he saw light coming from the sky. I looked up too. It was the Dark Mark. Lev started barking, but not at the mark. I reached for him and he climbed onto my lap, petting my face with his paws. George looked over and his eyes grew wider
"What?" I asked sitting up. My head started throbbing. That's when I noticed it, the feeling of something sliding down face.
"You're bleeding" Ginny said as she and Fred walked over to us. I reached for my head and saw the blood when I pulled my hand back. The red illuminated by the Mark. It was starting to reach my cheek too. I wiped it off
"I'm fine" I told them looking at George. He kept fidgeting not knowing whether to touch me or not
"Where are the others?" Fred asked suddenly looking around. He was right; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere in sight. The twins shared a look and nodded to each other. George helped me up then turned to the woods
"You two stay with Fred, I'll be right back" he whispered and walked away. Fred pulled me near him so to keep an eye on me. I saw him holding his wand in his hand. After a little while of no one saying anything George emerged from the woods. He shook his head before any of us could ask. With a sigh George joined the rest of us. For a while we stood there and waited for silence; until there was no more screaming from the campsite.
"We should go back to the tent now. I'm sure they'll meet us there" Fred said quietly. We circled around making sure no one was near us. The Dark Mark stayed in the sky even as we finally reached the tents. The commotion had died down and people were looking around frantically for someone to answer their questions. None of us said anything on the walk shaken by, well, everything. When we got into the tent we were surprised not to see anyone else there
"Come here." George led me over to kitchen having held my hand the way back too. My puppy grumbled a little but followed us. "We should get that cut cleaned up"
"Okay" was all I said staring at the entrance. Was Hermione okay? She was Muggle and if the Dark Mark was out that wasn't good. She only had Ron and Harry to help. I suppose Harry could serve as a good distraction from her but I still worried. Not that I wanted anything to happen to Harry but given the choice I'd rather Hermione be safe.
"This cut's not that bad. Try to relax" George said as he walked back from the sink. I was getting light headed but I wasn't sure if that was from my injury or from what was happening
"You should take your own advice" I said to his anxious face. He smiled sweetly and put the damp cloth to my head. I winced a little but stayed still. Lev growled at George probably thinking he was hurting me. I smiled at my puppy reassuringly and motioned for him to go to the living room. Lev did as I said
"Oh good you're here" I heard someone say. I tried to turn my head to see but George stopped me. He put his hand on my neck and cheek to keep my head in place.
"Hold still..." George mumbled softly. I heard shuffling as people came in. They kept to the living room except for Bill who had a big cut on his arm. He gave me a sympathetic smile noticing my own injury and moved to the sink where he could wash off the blood staining him.
"Where are the others?" I heard, what I guessed was Percy, ask
"George and Katerina are in the kitchen" Ginny answered in a small voice. "Hermione, Ron, and Harry…"
"We lost them on our way here" Fred finished for her. There was silence again. George took my arm and had me lean against him as we walked to the others. He must have been worried my injury was worse than it looked
"You okay?" Fred asked when he saw us. I nodded but took a deep breath as the movement gave me a headache
Bill walked back in too, having gotten a bed sheet from one of the rooms and wrapped it around the cut. I didn't know how that was going to help but it wasn't like I was thinking clearly. I sat on the couch with the twins and Ginny. We were all worried about the missing three and it was making the whole room uncomfortable. Mr. Weasley had not returned either and I could tell his children were worried. The only sound in the place came from Lev as he occasionally growled at the noises outside
I sighed and leaned against George on the couch. He put his arm around me trying to get me to relax. He had said the cut wasn't bad but it was obviously enough to worry him. But I didn't fight back; it felt nice to have him hold me. The only people I usually let do that were Draco and Nikolai. My parents weren't big huggers. It was nice knowing I had someone else I could rely on if needed. I did hope Draco was okay…
When Hermione finally walked through the door I wanted to hug her. I tried to get up but George's arm kept me in place. Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley walked in too though I didn't pay much attention to them. Knowing Hermione was okay my body relaxed and I leaned a little more against George. He didn't complain though. Once everyone was seated they began talking about what had happened, about the Dark Mark. But there were still a lot of questions. Who conjured it? What really happened? None of them knew for sure.
They did have one suspicion: Death Eaters. I shivered a little at the word. I hated thinking about them. According to Nikolai our father had been close to joining them but never quite agreed on it. I was glad. People like that were nothing but murderers. Their means as well as their cause only harmed; there was nothing okay about it. They are the ones who give purebloods a bad name…
"Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods" Ron said. My head snapped up making it hurt. But I ignored pain. Draco was in the woods? Why? Was he trying to run away? But he wouldn't need to if Death Eaters were involved. Especially if his father was involved... "He as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"
I looked to my puppy as a distraction. Ron wasn't lying. I knew he wasn't. But there was no way Draco would be okay with this… would he? I knew he didn't care the least for Muggles but he would've warned me if something was happening… Maybe his father told him not to. Maybe that's why he hadn't told me he was coming to the game. The Weasleys kept talking but I didn't listen.
"Relax" George told me slowly bringing my head down to his shoulder. He was sweet but that wasn't enough to help. I pretended it did for his benefit but my mind wouldn't stop overthinking. Eventually Mr. Weasley told us we'd be taking a portkey back in morning and to try to get a few hours of sleep. I was about to tell them I could fly but one look at George told me he wouldn't let that happen. We walked back to the girl tent and all three of us headed for the couch
"What was Draco doing?" I asked softly once we were left alone. Hermione looked like she didn't want to say but I insisted. "What was he doing?"
"He was just standing around, laughing…" she said not looking at me
"That's awful!" Ginny exclaimed, I ignored her
"What else?" I insisted
"Well, Ron tripped and that's when we lost you. We found Malfoy standing nearby smirking…"
"You said he talked to you." I knew there had to be more to the story, something she couldn't see herself. There had to be. I looked down frowning as she continued
"Yeah he kept making jokes and telling me to hurry along or they'd come for me too." My head snapped up making it hurt slightly again. Ginny was frowning at Hermione as she heard the story
"He told you that?" I asked wanting to make sure I understood. She nodded
"He said that they were after Muggles and if we thought they couldn't spot a mudblood to stick around." I nodded not wanting to talk about it anymore. I'd heard enough. Even if she couldn't see it I knew what he had done. Ginny kept giving me looks as if trying to decide if my expression was due to Hermione or Draco. The truth was, it was both
It took a while but I convinced Hermione that it was probably best we all got some sleep. Ginny looked too exhausted to fight me so she went almost as soon as the words left my mouth. Hermione was more reluctant but eventually agreed that the trouble had passed and rest was an important part of our health. I covered myself with the duvet and lay down, eyes closed. Some minutes passed and once no more sound came from either of their rooms I opened my eyes and reached for my bag. Inside I had a quill and a closed bottle of ink I tried to always keep with me. I pulled out the piece of parchment from the pocket of my pyjamas, the one connecting me to Draco. I kept an ear out for the girls and began to write
Deedee? Just as they always did my words faded into the parchment. I could hear my breathing as I waited for his reply. It was a little faster than it should be but recent events withstanding it wasn't surprising. The parchment grew warm as Draco's reply appeared almost immediately
Are you okay? I smiled at the parchment before replying
I'm fine, you?
I'm okay. I gave a small sigh of relief. I paused and listened to the quiet to make sure the girls were still sleeping. Lev was too, snoring softly near my feet. I readjusted myself on the couch and moved on to what I had started writing him for
Thank you for warning Hermione. I watched as the words disappeared and he didn't reply. He didn't want to admit it but I knew that's what he had done. If he didn't care he would've just left them to get caught. He annoyed her so she would leave, away from the Death Eaters. He didn't like being the nice guy but he truly was one. She thinks you were just insulting her though
I was. He replied. I smiled again; I knew him better than that
Well thank you for insulting her
Any time. Goodnight
Goodnight. Draco wasn't the bad guy everyone thought him to be. He was no different than most his age. The boy was just spoiled. But people didn't take the time to get to know him, the real him. He was a sweet boy just had a tendency to say things in the wrong manner. Whether he had warned Hermione because of her or because of me was irrelevant. The point is he had told them what they needed to hear to get them to safety. I smiled and tucked away the piece of parchment before falling asleep. This was why I loved him