When Renna caught up to Mark, he asked, "Who was that?" While dodging her attempt to knock him off his broom.
"That was Harry Potter," she said, looping over him as he retaliated. Misjudging the distance from surprise, he slipped off his broom, hanging on by one hand. Renna laughed.
"That's enough payback for me, big brother."
"Fine," he said, swinging back onto his broom. "Race you back to the tent!" And they were off, dodging other flyers with ease, showing off. Renna was rammed by a Bulgarian but managed to stay on. Mark, however, was the unfortunate participant in a three-way near-collision, and lost precious seconds extracting himself. Renna put that time to good use, and landed in front of their tent several feet ahead of him.
That evening was the 422nd Quidditch World Cup, Ireland versus Bulgaria. The Irish Chasers were good, but the Bulgarian Seeker Victor Krum was amazing. He moved as though his broom was a part of him, as if they weren't two separate things. Renna wanted him to get the Snitch so badly, but she wanted Ireland to win just as badly. She screamed herself hoarse when Krum got the Snitch, but Ireland won.
It was, altogether, a wonderful day.
Renna was awoken by her mother, who looked very pale. "Quick, Renna!" She hissed. " It's the Death Eaters! You have to get up!" She left. Still groggy with sleep, Renna pulled on a pair of jeans, left her black pajama top on, shrugged into her black robe but left it unfastened, and grabbed her wand. She ran outside.
Tents were on fire. Everyone was running and screaming. Coming directly toward her was a group of masked people in cloaks. Someone crashed into her. It was Mark. "Come on! Let's go!" He shouted. He grabbed her hand and began to run toward the forest, Renna doing her best to keep up. Her hair whipped out behind her, getting into a thousand tangles- Why am I worrying about my hair when I'm running from our equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan? Dismissing her thoughts, she concentrated on keeping her feet, terrified of getting trampled in the press of people.
When Renna reached the forest, Mark was no longer with her. After looking around and nervously calling his name, she started walking, going deeper into the forest. people were scattered throughout the forest, talking nervously and looking for friends. She kept walking.
"Ow!" She said as she collided with someone. Rubbing her head, she saw Harry Potter.
"We just keep running into each other, don't we?" She laughed. Harry grinned, his teeth startlingly white in the darkness.
"Hermione, Ron, this is the girl I was telling you about, Rennati Forester. Renna, these are my best friends Ron and Hermione."
"Pleased to meet you," Renna said, shaking their hands. It was too dark to see either of them clearly.
"Does anyone know who those people in masks were?" Ron asked.
"Death Eaters," Hermione said. "They just couldn't resist letting us know they're still there."
"Let's keep moving," Harry said, as something exploded in the campsite behind them.
A drawling voice said, "No matter how far you run, Potter, you can't escape them. They will find you."
"Lumos!" Renna whispered, and her wand tip ignited. In its light she saw a handsome, blond boy leaning against a tree ahead of them with a sneer on his face.
"Who's this, Potty, another mudblood like Granger?"
Renna gasped. Ron started for the boy with a murderous look on his face, and Harry grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him from attacking the boy, but it was Hermione who answered. "No matter how you strive to raise yourself in the eyes of others, Malfoy, language like that will only bring you down farther." She kept walking. Ron, with a last murderous look at the boy, stalked off to join Hermione.
"Friend of yours?" Renna asked Harry dryly.
"Renna, this is Draco Malfoy. Not exactly a friend."
"I could say it's nice to meet you, but since it's not, I won't bother," Renna told the boy, her eyes flashing in anger. "For future reference, both my parents are wizards, but that does not give me the right to act superior to anyone except the people who deliberately degrade themselves in front of me. Present company a perfect example." She walked away, more angry than she had been in a long time. Harry followed her.
"Wow, Renna. I haven't seen anybody take Malfoy down like that. The closest is when Hermione punched him last year."
"I've never been more insulted in my life! Does he do that sort of thing often?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Hermione said, as they caught up to them and kept walking. "Ever since our second year."
They walked in silence for a while.
"Let's stop here," Harry suggested as they reached a clearing. He flopped down on the grass, and Rennati sat next to him.
"Did you see the Wronski Feint Krum pulled on Lynch? Now that was serious flying." Renna had talked about nothing else all evening.
"Yeah. It was incredible." Harry smiled slowly. "I was watching you and your brother, and you're not a bad flyer yourself."
"Well, thanks for that valuable assessment," Renna laughed. "It's good to know that I can fly reasonably well. And you know, that's not fair. I've never seen you fly, so I can't make -ahem- constructive criticism on your flying."
For several minutes they talked about flying and the Quidditch World Cup, but suddenly Harry stopped talking and looked off into the trees. He got to his feet, still staring into the darkness.
"What is it?" Renna asked, but then she heard it too: footsteps. Someone was walking toward them through the trees. Harry shook his head, still trying to see.
"Who's there?" He called. The footsteps stopped, and all four of them could hear harsh breathing. Suddenly a powerful voice shouted,
"MORSMORDRE!"
A large glittering green substance shot into the air from the place their eyes were trying to
penetrate, and rose into the air before shaping a huge skull with a snake slithering out of the mouth. With the feeling as if someone had slugged her in the gut, Renna recognized it.
It was the Dark Mark.
"We have to leave now," she whispered, and then the air around them erupted in screams.
"Come on! We have to leave!" She and a white-faced Hermione grabbed Ron and Harry and started tugging them toward the path.
Harry looked at them, bewildered. "But why? And what is that thing in the sky?"
"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione said. "It's You-Know-Who's sign!"
"Voldemort's- but, what is it doing in the-"
"Harry, come on!" But they had just barely begun to cross the clearing when Renna heard popping noises all around them, and at least twenty wizards Apparated into the clearing.
Without thinking, Renna yelled, "DUCK!" And heard Harry yell the same thing. She grabbed Ron and Hermione and pulled them to the ground next to her.
"STUPEFY!" Roared twenty voices, and Stunning spells shot across the clearing. Raising her head very slightly, Renna saw dozens of spells hitting each other, criss-crossing, shooting off into the trees.
"Well, I think this is about as much excitement as I can take this evening," Renna muttered to Ron, who nodded grimly in agreement.