Chapter 2: The Dark Mark

We got back to the tent, I was feeling very happy. The Weasleys twins were dancing and saying Krum repeatedly.

"There's no one like Krum," Ron said, rather dramatically, getting on a chair.

I asked, "What about Krum?"

"He's like a bird the way rides the wind," said Ron. The Weasley twins started moving around, waving their arms like a bird. "He's more than an athlete, he's an artist."

"Think you're in love, Ron?" Ginny teased.

"Shut up," replied Ron.

"Viktor I love you!" the Weasley twins started singing. "Viktor I do!"

"When we're apart, my heart only beats for you," Harry sang along with the Weasley twins.

It sounded some people started yelling in excitement. I hoped the celebrations didn't last to long, because I still had peacocks to free. At this point, it would probably be in the arse-crack of morning before I even get the chance to free them.

"Stop!" yelled Mr Weasley. He pried Ron and George apart. "Stop it. It's not the Irish." He went to Ginny and put his hand on her arm. "We've got to get out of here. Now."

He herded everyone out of the tents and I clambered out after them. I looked for Harry, Granger, and Ron, spotting them.

I stopped cold, seeing smoke in the distance. It looked like someone had caught the tents on fire.

"Get back to the portkey everybody, and stick together. Fred, George…Ginny is your responsibility," said Mr Weasley.

A group ran past me. I ran back inside the tent and grabbed Pepper and my bag that had my possessions in it. I came back out of the tent to find that the group had gone and there was people wearing masks and KKK-styled hoods advancing. Those were Death Eaters and I bet everything in my vault that Major Malfunction was leading the pack.

The worst of the sight was the fact that they had four struggling figures in midair. One was Mr Roberts and the other three had to be his wife and kids.

One of the marchers flipped Mrs Roberts upside down to make her nightdress fall down to reveal voluminous knickers.

Pepper jumped out of my arms and scampered off. If she found us here, she'll find her way back to the Burrow, but I didn't think about that, so I took off to find to find her and to find and free the peacocks. Those poor things would die in the stampede, if not from smoke inhalation.

The smell of the burning tents and smoke was burning my nostrils. My heart was beating fast and I was beginning to feel frightened. People ran by me and I thought I heard someone yelling my name in the distance.

There were people screaming and people running. Tracey stopped right in front of my face. She was breathing heavily.

"Let's get to the wood!" Tracey yelled. She looked wild-eyed and her hair (which she took pride in) was a mess.

"I have to get Pepper! I have to free those peacocks!" I yelled at her.

"I already did!" yelled Tracey.

Stephen came up to him. "We need to get out of here!"

"I need to get Pepper!" I exclaimed.

People ran past us and we passed three kids huddled together crying. I wanted to go over to them and tell them that things were going to be all right, but I couldn't focus on them at the moment.

"What's happening at Hogwarts?" I asked, more to keep calm as I imagined my cat dead after be trampled on.

"It's the Triwizard Tournament," Stephen said.

I was sure I read about it sometime during my first year. "Oh." I needed to look through a book catalog and send my tawny owl, Cinnamon, out.

Everything seemed to be settling down as I finally found my cat, unharmed, thankfully.

"I need to get back to the group," I said. "Look out for another and protect each other."

They nodded and I took off, to head back to Tent Weezly, to find the others. Mr Weasley had said something about the Port Key.

It was beginning to look like a wasteland as I tried to find my way to the wood. A flash of green in the sky caught my eye. I looked at it.

It took the figure of a skull, and it opened its mouth, causing a snake to slither out of its mouth. I felt dread in my stomach at the sight of the Dark Mark.

I hurried onwards and I got shouldered to the side by a man hurrying away. Maybe he was looking for family…

Pepper hissed and spat at the man.

"Mikania!" someone yelled in the distance. The yell sounded masculine

"Harry!" someone yelled. It sounded oddly like Granger.

I hurried onwards.

"Mikki?" Harry said confused.

"Harry?" I mimicked him, using the same confused tone.

"Been for looking you to for ages," Ron said catching up to us, "Thought we lost you both."

Harry was looking at the Dark Mark. "What is that?"

"That's the Dark Mark," I said, swallowing. "It's the symbol of the Death Eaters and Ol' Voldy Mouldy."

"Stupefy!" a crowd yelled and I ducked, holding Pepper close to my chest.

"Stop! That's my son!" yelled Mr Weasley. Mr Weasley ran up to us, "Ron, Harry, Mikania, Hermione, are you all right?"

"We came back for Harry and Mikania," said Ron.

"Which of you conjured it?" demanded Barty Crouch, pointing a wand in my face.

Mr Weasley started, "You can't possibly—"

"Do not lie! You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Crime?" asked Harry.

"Barty, they're just kids," said Mr Weasley.

"What crime?" asked Harry.

"Harry, like Mikania said, it's the Dark Mark. It's his mark," said Granger.

"Voldemort," said Harry. "Those people tonight, in the masks…they're his too, aren't they? They're his follows," said Harry.

"Yes, Harry, they were Death Eaters," I said annoyed.

"Follow me," said Barty.

We started following him.

"There was a man. Before," said Harry. Crouch looked at Harry, who pointed. "There."

"Yeah," I said. "He bumped into me and didn't apologise."

"All of you," said Crouch. "This way."

"A man, Harry and Mikania," said Mr Weasley, "Who?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "I didn't see his face." He looked at me. "Mikki, did you see who it was?"

I shook my head, "No. I was busy trying to find my way to the Port Key."

We started heading back to…wherever we needed to go.

"How did you get separated?" I asked Harry.

"I was looking for you," said Harry. "You didn't go with us, so I went to find you. How did you get separated?"

"Pepper freaked out and ran away," I said.

Harry moved his arm, like he was trying to decide what to do with it, before he tapped my shoulder with his fist. "Glad you're okay."

I tapped his shoulder with my fist in return, "I'm glad you're okay, too, Harry."

We had never shown affection to each other since…ever. That was probably the first time we had ever shown some kind of affection to each other.

I was glad it was a start.

The morning after The Death Eater attack, Rita Skeeter had written an article about it. I chose not to read it, because she wasn't worth my damn time.

I had sent Cinnamon out to fetch me some books that I ordered from a book catalog, like The Triwizard Tragedies and some random books to hide it in, because I was sure that Mr and Mrs Weasley didn't want any of us to know about the Triwizard Tournament.

On the Sunday evening, before we returned to Hogwarts, Percy told us about how he was putting out fires because people keep sending Howlers, because they were complaining about security at the World Cup. He also told us about how they want compensation for ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher had put in a claim for a twelve-bedroom tent with a Jacuzzi. Percy said that he knew for a fact that Fletcher had been sleeping under a cloak that was propped on sticks.

After a while, Mrs Weasley sent us upstairs to pack our things.

I was in the middle of packing up my stuff when Mrs Weasley came in with freshly laundered robes. She passed the robes out and handed me a box along with my robes. "Make sure it doesn't crease, dear."

I was confused, "Thanks?"

Mrs Weasley left and I opened the box to look in it.

It was a green dress that looked like it would be off-shoulder. It looked like it had flower patterns on it and there was a bow around the middle. Ginny and Granger looked at the dress.

I frowned at the sight of the dress because I had no need for it. I put the lid on it and set it aside.

I opened the other box to look inside it. Inside were two, low-heel Mary Jane shoes that I assume went with my new dress.

"Why did Mum give you a dress and shoes?" Ginny asked me.

"I don't know," I said. I put the lid on the box, set it aside, and took out my supplies list to see if the dress was a part of the list but it wasn't.

So why in Godric's Hollow did she give me a dress?

I slept terribly because I had a nightmare that Barty Crouch accused me of being the one to put the Dark Mark in the sky and for being a Slytherin. He then hauled my arse off to Azkaban, while everyone else glared at me with hate and blame.

I woke up late to it raining and the rain made me feel a little better, because I loved the rain.

We had to take taxis to get to get to King's Cross. I shared a taxi with Ginny and Mrs Weasley, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione had one to themselves.

It was pouring when we got there and got across the street.

We went in groups; of course I went through with Ginny and Mrs Weasley. It was silent the entire time, which made it awkward as hell.

Tracey spotted me and helped me load my trunk and Pepper on the train. Tracey and I were going to be sitting with Granger, Weasley, and Harry, since Stephen, along with Alice Chamberlain, Eddie Carmichael, and Sally Smith always met up with the rest at Hogsmeade Station since they lived in Hogsmeade Village.

I said bye and thanked Mrs Weasley before getting on the train and going to the compartment.

"So, tell me, you low-life bastard," I said by way of greeting, "Did you get a dress to wear?" I took off my black hoodie and tossed it to the side to dry. I could've used a spell to dry it but I always had the habit of somehow shrinking it.

I opened my trunk and took out my denim jacket and put it on.

"Yes," said Tracey.

"Do you always greet your friends like that?" asked Granger, confused.

"Sometimes she's more vulgar," Tracey responded.

Weasley looked surly, probably at the addition of two Slytherins.

Sure, Tracey and I couldn't gone to the Slytherin compartment, but for my sanity, it was for the best.

"…Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the Headmaster, you see. Well, byou know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riff-raff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away," said Drastic Malfunction.

"Such a shame too," I called to him. "If your mother loved you less, she would've done everyone a favour and we wouldn't have to look at your ugly-arse face." I closed the compartment door and Tracey put a spell on it so it wouldn't open.

"I agree with you," said Granger. "I wish he would've gone so we don't have to put up with him."

"Is Durmstrang another wizarding school?" asked Harry.

"No, Harry, Malfunction's parents wanted to send him to Muggle school," I responded sarcastically.

"Well, Durmstrang is another wizarding school," replied Hermione. "It's got a horrible reputation."

"It puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts," I said quickly before Granger could bore me to sleep with her regurgitating a book. "And I mean a lot."

Sometimes I wonder how he was passing his classes, but then I remember that he had Granger correcting his homework for him, which means that he doesn't have to find the answers, but he has Granger handing him the answers.

I'm not saying that Harry was stupid; he was amazing at Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm just saying that he should at least read more than have the answers handed to him. Going through life without doing research and having the answers handed to you, isn't a way to go through life.

"No surprise that Malfoy's dad would want to send him to a Dark Arts school," Tracey said.

"I think I've heard of Durmstrang," said Weasley. "Where is it? What country?"

"No one knows," I said quickly. "There's rivalry between all the magic schools. Ilvermony, Hogwarts, Durmstrang. and Beauxbatons kept their schools hidden so no one can steal their secrets."

"How is Hogwarts hidden?" asked Weasley. "How do you hide a dirty great castle?"

"It's bewitched," said Granger.

I asked Weasley, "How did you even make it to fourteen?"

Weasley gave me a dirty look.

"If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying: DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."

"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outside, too?" asked Weasley.

Tracey shrugged, "Perhaps. I think it might have Muggle-Repelling Charms on it, like the World Cup Stadium. To keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable—"

"Come again?" asked Weasley.

"You don't read much do you?" asked Tracey.

"You can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?" Granger asked.

"Er…if you say so," said Harry.

"But I think Durmstrang must somewhere in the far north," said Granger thoughtfully. "It must be very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Weasley in a dreamy tone. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident…shame his mother likes him…"

That actually made Tracey and me laugh.