The lamps that had lit the path to the stadium had long since been extinguished, leaving the forest in total darkness. Still, the group pushed on, George's hand still firmly grasping Oriane's arm. And she was immensely grateful for him dragging her along. Her legs felt too heavy to run properly, and she couldn't tell if it was from her exhaustion or from the anxiety gripping her chest.

"C'mon," George urged.

And so she did. She forced her legs to move, despite how much they protested. She kept telling herself that she was not going to be the reason they got caught by a band of Death Eaters.

Things were a terrible mess. Screaming echoed everywhere around them, and they were narrowly dodging the trees they were sprinting past. A part of her wanted to stop and help some lost child they ran by, but she couldn't. All she could do was run, and she told herself she'd continue to do so until her legs gave out.

"Wait!" she heard a voice shout from in front of them.

It was Ginny, and she was violently tugging on Fred's arm, trying to get them to stop. Once Oriane and George caught up, the four of them came to a complete stop in the middle of the woods. Several other bodies continued to fly at them as more and more people fled deeper into the woods.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, eyes anxiously darting around them.

"Where's Ron?" she asked, looking behind them.

All four children turned back towards the campsite. A strong bright light illuminated parts of the forest as the fires only grew. Children screamed around them as parents carried them through the woods, and people could be heard shouting for their loved ones. Yet, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

Then Oriane found her mind wandering to Cedric. She hadn't seen him at all when they had originally started running. Had he joined the others? Or had he and his father run off before the others were even made aware of the situation? Even worse, was he on his own? Too much was going on, too many loved ones separated from one another, hardly having the time to ensure their safety when trying to run for their lives.

"They were right behind us!" George shouted, exasperated.

"We have to go back for them," Oriane said, pulling against George's grip.

This only made him hold onto her even stronger. "What are you doing? We can't fight against those wizards! Leave that to the Ministry!"

"They're Death Eaters! They're going after Muggles!" she cried. "We might be safe from their wrath, but Hermione isn't!"

Even in the dim lighting it was easy to make out how the color drained from their faces. There was an internal battle both of the twins seemed to be having, and Oriane could read it on their faces. Save each other? Their younger sister? Or go back and hope to find the others before the Death Eaters do.

"You saw what they were doing to that family. Please, we have to go back," Oriane pleaded.

The twins shared a stern look with each other. It was odd to see them acting so serious. Even back at the campsite they had taken initiative to save her and Ginny by pulling them along with the others. Despite being well known to be pranksters, Oriane sometimes forgot just what house they had been sorted into.

"Wands out," Fred ordered, revealing his own. "We'll go back for them. But the moment we run into trouble, we turn back. We're not going to be much use to them if we get hurt."

George nodded, and Oriane took out her wand, which she had shoved into the pocket of Cedric's jacket. She had never used any offensive, or really much defensive magic, in her entire life. Most of what she had been taught was in her previous year by Remus, but that had mostly been against dark creatures, not wizards and life or death situations.

"Stay behind us!" George said, shoving Oriane behind him.

The two boys led the way with the two girls close behind them; four children stumbling through a dark forest attempting to find their friends and family. Oriane had never felt more terrified in her entire life. Even following after Harry and Hermione under the Whomping Willow was better than what she was doing then. But she couldn't afford to be scared. She was the one who told them to go back, she couldn't be having second thoughts.

"Ron!" Ginny shouted. "Ron!"

"Harry! Hermione!" Fred joined her. "Come on…"

"We're getting too close to the edge of the trees," George said, slowing his pace. "If we keep going forward, we'll run right back into those wizards."

Fred grumbled as he turned back to face the forest. "Bloody hell. We must've missed them. They're probably twice as deep into the forest by now."

"If no one else caught them first," Ginny squeaked.

"No one caught them," George assured her. "They're smart. They survived Sirius Black, they're going to survive this."

All four of them stood there for a moment, their breaths coming fast. Oriane couldn't believe they had lost the others, especially after Mr. Weasley had told them to stay together. Of course, it wasn't like they could have done much to prevent it. Strangers were colliding into one another like crazy attempting to flee into the dark. Still, with everything going on, she knew they needed to find them, and fast.

"Stupefy!"

Oriane felt a pair of hands push her to the ground with a violent thud, causing her wand to fly out of her hands. She brought her hands forward in an attempt to break her fall, sending her palms into the sharp wood rocks and moist dirt below her. Ginny let out a scream, and as Oriane turned to look behind her, she caught the tail end of George falling backwards, where he lay motionless on the ground.

Feet stomped in front of her as Fred threw himself in front of Oriane and Ginny. Wincing, Oriane turned her attention to what Fred was focused on, where she was met with two masked Death Eaters.

They had all been gathered in one big group before. One of the scariest things about them was their sheer size in number. However, those two seemed to gain a bit of confidence and traveled out on their own. Easy to feel like a stronger fighter when you were thrashing around four children.

Even if she did know any offensive magic, Oriane had lost her wand. George was unconscious (or at least she hoped), and Ginny was even younger than she was, and too busy crying over George. All they had was Fred, who stood guarding them with his wand pointed at the two wizards.

"How cute," one of the men sneered. "The blood traitors are sticking together."

Fred adjusted his grip, feet still unmoving as he protected the three behind him. His eyes were dangerous, on fire; too much confidence for someone with his capability. Oriane began to push herself up from the ground, hands gently patting the area around her as she attempted to find her wand amongst the sticks around her.

"If you turn back now, I might just let you off easy," Fred bluffed.

Finally her fingers brushed the familiar carved handle of her wand, something she had memorized even by touch. The Death Eaters didn't seem the least bit intimidated by the young boy in front of her. Even though their masks covered their faces she could just imagine the terrible twisted grins behind them.

"Nice try, boy. You should have run!"

All Oriane could do was cover her face as she waited for the horror that would come next. Both wizards flicked their wands in Fred's direction, and the boy refused to move. There was nothing that either of them could do to stop it.

"Protego!"

It never came. Whatever spells the Death Eaters casted at Fred never hit. When Oriane looked up to see what had happened, she was met with yet more figures standing in front of them. She instantly recognized Charlie and Percy Weasley, who stood with their wands raised, having easily deflected the spells that had been aimed for them.

A hand gripped her shoulder, and she nearly slammed her elbow into the face of the man next to her until she made out the glinting earrings that belonged to Bill Weasley.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

She nodded, and he helped her to her feet.

The Death Eaters lowered their wands, slightly intimidated by the adults that had joined to protect them. Still, refusing to turn away a good fight, the spells came flying at them once more with Charlie and Percy defending them in the front lines. So many words were being shouted, unfamiliar spells casted, yet nothing was getting through to them.

"Fred, grab George!" Bill exclaimed as he began to lead the two girls away from the fight.

"Diffindo!"

A sharp hiss escaped from between Bill's teeth as he grabbed his arm. Even in the darkness Oriane could make out the blood reflecting the fires of the campsite behind them. Despite his wound, Bill still pushed on, taking care to get Oriane and his siblings to safety behind a thick trunked tree.

"What happened?" Bill asked as Fred laid George's unconscious body back on the ground.

"He got stunned," Fred panted.

"Bill, your arm," Ginny said with a shaky voice.

He only grinned. "Don't worry about it. We'll fix it up later." His attention then turned towards his unconscious brother. Pointing his wand at him, he muttered a quick "Rennervate!"

Instantly, George began to stir. His hair and clothes were a mess from being dragged around in the woods. Eyes glassy, he looked up at everyone around him.

"Bloody hell, Bill your arm!" he exclaimed.

"Remind me again, why don't you?"

"Nap's over, Georgie," Fred said, yanking his brother to his feet.

Carefully, Oriane peered over the tree they hid behind. Charlie and Percy continued to fight the Death Eaters. She could make out the vague shape of Charlie's ripped collar, and Percy's face had become bloodied as his nose gushed down the front of his shirt. Yet the Death Eaters seemed slightly deterred. The two boys were a bit more to handle than they originally thought.

A bright green glow erupted in the sky above them. It was bright enough to cut through the thick foliage of the trees covering them. Everyone stopped their fighting, Death Eaters included, to look up at the sky. It was impossible to make out what the glow was from, but whatever it was seemed to terrify the Death Eaters.

One by one, they began to apparate elsewhere. Popping similar to firecrackers flooded the forest as the dark wizards retreated elsewhere. Soon, all that remained in their small corner of the woods was Oriane and the Weasleys, with not a single Death Eater in sight.

"Charlie's ugly mug must've scared them away," Fred jeered as the group walked out from behind the tree.

No one had any time to laugh before Percy stomped his way up to the twins, blood continuing to gush from his nose. He jabbed his fingers in their direction, eyes narrow and sharp as knives.

"What happened to run into the forest? Why are you all still so close to camp? You could've gotten hurt!" he shouted before gesturing to Bill. "We all got hurt trying to protect you! Why didn't you listen?"

"Calm down, Perce," Charlie said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We got separated from the others, we were going back to get them," Ginny defended.

"None of you have the skills to deal with anything like this!" Percy continued to shout.

"It was my fault!"

All arguing stopped. Oriane stood off to the side, eyes casted down to the ground as she did her best to keep herself from crying. The others could only look at her, waiting for her to explain herself.

"I was the one that convinced them to go back," she continued, finally looking up to face them. "You saw what they did to those Muggles. I was terrified for Hermione's sake. It's my fault. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me."

She awaited their wrath, and she told herself she deserved it. Every name they would call her, every maliciously spoken syllable; all of it. But it never came. Instead, she only got a soft squeeze on her shoulder.

"No one blames you for any of this. Going after them is something I would've done, too," Charlie assured her. "We should go get cleaned up."

And it was that easy. He held no hatred in his eyes, or any frustration. Despite it all, he even smiled at her before leading the group out of the forest. For a moment, all Oriane could do was stand there, completely stunned. After everything that had happened to them, after endangering everyone else, how? How could he not hate her?

Things in the forest had grown eerily quiet after the Death Eaters vanished. Though, perhaps it was better that way. A few children screamed, but there was no longer the anxious shouting of parents attempting to find their family, or pained grunts as people trampled over one another to get away. Yet there was this weird buzz, similar to when everyone had been chatting in the stadium before the game, but it was more tense. So ridgid it made the hairs on the back of Oriane's neck stand on end.

And when they finally broke through the treeline they finally saw what everyone was buzzing about. The thing that made the Death Eaters flee from the fight.

Up in the sky was a large apparition of a skull that seemed to be made of green smoke and starlight. The skull's mouth dropped wide open where a snake slithered out of its maw, slowly slithering around up into the sky. It illuminated the entire campsite and forest in a sickening green glow.

Charlie and Bill stopped in their tracks as they stared up at the symbol. They looked at one another, panicked.

"I thought they were just pretending to be Death Eaters," Bill breathed, still clutching his bleeding arm. "But the Mark…"

Everyone stood, motionless, unable to tear their eyes away from the mark of death.

Unlike many many other attendants, Oriane and the Weasley siblings were happy to find that their tents had not been set ablaze. Everything was just as they had left it for the most part, and they had quickly made themselves at home as best as they could with their injuries.

Fred and Ginny sat with George on the sofa, attempting to get him to lay down. Though he had managed to get around just fine after being woken from his stupor, they were still convinced something was wrong with his head (which where George Weasley was concerned wasn't an outlandish idea). Percy had several wads of tissues shoved up both his nostrils, making him look like a maimed walrus as he did his best to slow the bleeding.

But Oriane was drawn to perhaps the most dire of all the injuries sustained that night. Bill's arm continued to bleed profusely, even as he sat at the small kitchen table. He had torn a bedsheet off of one of the mattresses and used that to put pressure on the wound. Charlie was sitting next to him, fussing over how he was treating himself.

"You've gotta tie something above your arm, pressure enough isn't going to stop it. Trust me, I've seen it before. One of my buddies back in Romania got slashed real good by a Ukrainian Ironbelly. You'll bleed out before we get you to a healer," the brother said, his hands warily hovering above his arm. "Not unless you want me to use a mending charm on it," he added with a chuckle.

"What're you trying to do? Deform me for life?" Bill asked.

"Well, I figured you couldn't look much worse than you already do, mate."

Oriane quickly seemed to perk up some at their conversation. She straightened herself out, eyes lingering on Bill's arm. "I'll be right back!" she exclaimed suddenly, dashing out of the tent.

All eyes turned to her just in time to watch the flaps of the tent wave as she left. A groan came from Percy as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is she always running off like that? I swear she never made this much trouble back in Hogwarts," the boy complained, his voice nasally from the tissues shoved up in his nostrils.

But she wasn't even gone for a full thirty seconds before she was dashing back into the tent, this time with her backpack in her hands. She set it on the kitchen table in front of Bill and Charlie where it landed with a soft thud. She began to sift through her items, moving mostly clothes out of her way.

Eventually she pulled out a small vial that held a clear liquid. Sighing, Oriane then moved over to Bill. She looked down at his arm, grimacing at the blood that had quickly soaked through the white bedsheets. His face had already begun to turn ghostly from the amount of blood he had lost. It was a feeling Oriane remembered all too well.

"Can I see your arm?" she asked as she began to unscrew the vial.

Carefully, Bill unwrapped his arm. Coagulated blood stuck to his skin in thick clumps, and the fabric made a wet sticking sound as he pried it from his body with a wince. With the wound fully exposed, Oriane twisted her vial open and pulled the dropper out.

"This might sting a little," she warned him.

Using the dropper, Oriane poured some of the potion onto the laceration. It spanned all the way up his forearm, similar to the wounds she had obtained a few months prior. Bill hissed as soft green vapors rose up from his arm. In an instant, his arm had been transformed from a bleeding mess, to a smaller cut that appeared as if it was already two weeks along the healing process.

"Essence of Dittany," Charlie said in awe.

Oriane nodded. "My aunt's a healer. Made sure I came prepared with various first aid items before coming here. Suppose she didn't want me to bleed out like I almost did last year."

Having done all that she could for Bill, she sealed her vial before haphazardly tossing it back into her bag. He looked over his healing arm. A large scab had formed, pulling his skin taut, but the bleeding had stopped, and it had already shrunk in size. It didn't help bring the color back in his skin, but it did put a slight smile on his face.

"Brilliant," he breathed.

"You ought to eat something, and lay down if you're feeling light headed at all. You've lost a lot of blood," she instructed as she took one of the empty seats at the table.

She hadn't even sat down for a full minute before several figures started to flood through the tent's entrance. Several sighs of relief sounded as the rest of their party joined back together as Mr. Weasley led Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cedric into the tent.

They all looked remarkably better off than Oriane and the others did. Though she had managed to help Bill with his arm, Percy's nose was still bleeding, and he had changed tissues three times by that point. Charlie's shirt was nearly shredded to scraps, and Ginny and Fred still forced George to lay on the sofa, not allowing him to sit up.

The realization made her stomach sink. They had been fine all along. Hermione, and the boys… She had made the others run and turn back trying to save them, and they had been unharmed the whole time. George being stunned, Bill's arm, Percy's nose… if she hadn't asked them to turn back…

"Ori!" Cedric exclaimed, weaving through the others to get to her side.

Just like the others, he was remarkably unharmed through the whole ordeal. The only thing that was off about him was his terrible bedhead, which seemed to be a common issue for Cedric Diggory. Yet despite him shouting her name, he hardly received a response from the girl at all.

"Don't worry, Diggory," George muttered just out of earshot, "the rest of us are just fine, too."

"Did you get them, Dad?" Bill questioned, attempting to clean the excess blood off of his arm. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

"Can someone just tell me what that skull thing is already?" Ron spoke up, peeved. "You all keep talking about it like it's some big deal. Why was everyone acting so scared of it, anyway? It wasn't hurting anyone!"

"I told you Ron, it's You-Know-Who's symbol!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," Mr. Weasley added.

"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean, it's still only a shape in the sky."

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Mr. Weasley. "The terror it inspired; you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside. . . ." Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear. The very worst."

Their conversation was cut off by a sudden loud bang. Oriane had stood from her seat, knocking her chair over onto the wooden floor in the process. All eyes landed on her as she stood for a moment in a jacket that was too big for her, and inky hair that had been knotted from that night's excursions. A girl who looked like she was on the edge and ready to jump.

"I'm sorry… I…" she said with a shaky voice.

But she didn't finish. She stood there for only a few more seconds before she suddenly moved forward. Within an instant she had fled out of the tent, leaving her backpack, along with everyone else, far behind her.

"Ori!" Cedric called.

"There she goes!" Percy said, exasperated. "Running off again! How many times does she expect someone to come in and save her?"

"Perce," Charlie warned, his voice low.

"I imagine it's all a bit much for her, isn't it? Especially with what happened to her family in France-" Ron started, only to be quickly cut off by an elbow to his side from Hermione.

But it was too late. His comment quickly caught the attention of everyone else in the tent; especially Cedric.

"What do you mean?" he asked, picking up the chair Oriane had knocked over.

"Uhm…" Ron uttered. His eyes looked around the room, anxious. Eventually he turned to Hermione, silently begging her to help him get out of the hole he dug for himself.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned to face the others. "It was in the paper the other day. She had extended family living in Paris who were murdered on Saturday. She's been a bit… upset about it."

"What?" Cedric breathed.

"Bloody hell," Charlie muttered.

"I'm imagining the events of tonight didn't help her any, either," Bill added solemnly.

The tent fell silent for only a few seconds. And in those few seconds, it was clear that Cedric Diggory had come to some sort of mental conclusion. Without another word, he followed in Oriane's footsteps, ducking as he exited the tent. And the silence ensued, the others not bothering to stop him.

"He just needs to man up and snog her already," Fred whispered, which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Ginny.

"Listen," Mr. Weasley spoke up, "it's getting late, and if your mother hears what happened she'll be worried sick. Get a few more hours of sleep and we'll try and get an early Portkey home tomorrow." He paused for a moment, turning to look at the exit. "In the meantime, I'll go after those two."

And for the second time that night, the group settled in for sleep. Fatigue weighed heavy on all of them as they laid on their beds, still rubbing at wounds or breathing in the strong scent of iron and smoke. For the second time that night, they tried to sleep, but for the first time in their lives, they prayed they would survive long enough to see morning.