Before to long Mr. Weasley was yelling at the girls to wake up and make a run for it. When the sounds of the campsite hit the girls they started to panic, screams and yells could be heard and it was a far cry from the cheers and joyous laughs that sent them to sleep. Mr. Weasley entrusted Ginny with the twins and told them all to stay together, George held on tight to Ginny and strangely enough Fred gripped her hand too as they headed for the woods. Out of the corner of her vision Elizabeth saw something that shocked and scared her. People flying thru the sky in their nightclothes, and there were masked people making it happen. It wasn't until she felt a sharp tug on her arm that she snapped out of it and ran with the others.
It didn't take long for the large group to separate once they got into the woods where everyone else had fled for cover. Elizabeth looked behind her and didn't see Hermione or the boys at all; she stopped suddenly causing Fred to feel as though his arm was ripped out of its socket. His cry of pain caused the others in their now small group to stop abruptly and turn around, fear written all over their faces. Ginny's already pale completion had gotten lighter and a layer of sweat covered her face and body causing her thin summer pjs to cling to her body. George was the first to ask, "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"
"The others, we've lost the others. Where are they? I turned around and they weren't there." Elizabeth who had prided herself until this moment on never showing how scared she was must have looked as scared as Ginny for Fred wrapped her into a bear hug.
"They can't be far off,you just realized they weren't here, but they did follow us in to the forest, so they will be safe. We'll find them when it's all over I promise."
His hug and his words did little to comfort her but she did feel safe knowing she wasn't alone and was among friends. Voices echoed throughout the woods and it was hard to tell if they had been followed by the chaos but they soon found a place that seemed safe enough to sit and rest. From their little hidey-hole they managed to keep calm as several of the Weasley's friends stopped by to chat and keep themselves distracted from the chaos and destruction back at the campgrounds. Elizabeth got introduced to them all and whilst she made an effort to keep up with the conversations happening around her, her mind was elsewhere hoping that the missing trio would find them soon.
Word quickly spread that it was now safe to leave the woods and with this news the four of them moved out from their little nook to hear Bill calling for them. Once they were all gathered under his watchful eye, they made their way back to the tents. Elizabeth was shocked when they finally left the safety of the woods and entered what had once been campgrounds, For now the area looked like a natural disaster had struck, tents had been knocked down and torn apart as people had made a rather hasty exist towards the woods. They reached their own spot in the now disaster zone to find the trio sitting down upon seeing each other, the two Granger girls hugged. Then it seemed to turn into story time or more like history 101. Between Mr. Weasley and the older members of the group, they explained to those who were too young to understand or born during the last war just what had happened out there tonight.
With those thoughts running through everyone's heads Mr. Weasley sent them all to bed for a few hours, before they would head back to The Burrow and Mrs. Weasley. When the girls got back into their tent they decided to ditch the bunks and sleep on the floor next to each other, no one said it was to feel safer but they all knew that they would sleep better knowing they could reach out and touch another person if they needed too.
Elizabeth knew from the whispers she had heard in the woods, the information that had just been given to them and the fear that was written on every face in the campgrounds that Wizarding England was going back to a time when fear had plagued that nation and the Dark Lord was in power. She didn't know how she knew but she did and her only hope was that this time England didn't lose so much in the fight too rid the world of such evil.
After what felt like no sleep at all Mr. Weasley woke them all up and used magic to pack the tent up. They hurriedly made their way back to where the Portkey's lay, after a quick conversation with the wizard in charge they joined a queue and eventually got one back to a spot near home. Their short walk from their drop off zone was a quiet affair as everyone was too tired and hungry to think of anything to say. As The Burrow came in to view, a cry echoed down the lane.
"Oh, thank goodness, thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley had obviously been waiting for them to come home, now rushed to her husband, "I've been so worried."
After releasing her husband from a desperate hug she looked around the group of children standing in front of her red puffy eyes. "you're alive. . . . Oh boys. ."
Surprising everyone one she grab the twins and held them tight, causing them to bash their heads together.
Before too long everyone was crammed into the tiny kitchen, Hermione had made Mrs Weasley a strong cup of tea, that Mr Weasley insisted on putting some Firewhisky in. They were all listening intently to Mr Weasley reading the article that a Rita Skeeter had written. After they had heard the medias point of view on the evening's events Mr Weasley and Percy decided to go to the Ministry to assist in the clean up. Elizabeth quickly noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione drifted up away from the others stating they needed to unpack before the boys all headed out to play Quidditch, Ginny went up to sleep, Hermione said she would but Elizabeth knew that she was going up to read or gossip with the younger girl for a while. She grabbed a blanket and curled up on the couch with a good book to help calm her beating heart that didn't seem to want to slow down after the events of the last few days.
Over the next week Mr. Weasley and Percy were not home all that much as both would head to the office early and return home late. Elizabeth continued to learn more about Wizarding England between what was written in the Daily Prophet and what she heard from the adults around her through out the last week of holidays. She also learnt more about the Weasley's, they were still a mystery to her but she was learning more and more and was glad Hermione was able to get her an invite to The Burrow for the rest of the summer.
Elizabeth seemed to notice that the twins kept working hard on what she thought would be forms for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Mrs. Weasley suspected it as well. But as always the twins played it off as a joke and swore black and blue they had left their summer homework late. The last day of the holidays was colder then normal and miserable rain pounded down on the windows and caused the residents of The Burrow to start grating on each other's nerves to a point. It didn't help that Mr. Weasley come home late again and Hermione and Percy could be heard through throughout the house to be arguing about House Elves rights, which thankfully Mrs. Weasley put a stop to it quickly. "I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley.
The girls went upstairs to check their things again; Hermione was still fuming about the lack of rights for House Elves, Ginny was trying to talk over her by telling Elizabeth all about the welcome feast yet again when finally Elizabeth snapped at her cousin. "For crying out loud Hermione, would you just quit it already. I mean in all seriousness have you ever even heard of House Elves before this summer? " Without waiting for Hermione to reply she powered on "No, you haven't, now please before you go off about something you know little about learn, listen. We're muggleborns there is so much we are still learning about this world, so why not shut up and take a step back, learn from those who may actually know more then you."
Ginny couldn't look at the older girls, both of them were stubborn she could see that and neither was going to apologies for what was said or done. Checking that they had each packed what was needed for the following school year, Ginny finally spoke, "Why do you both have formal dresses? I don't have any." The older girls glanced at each other before seeing their formal dresses hanging out of their trunks. "Well they were on our school lists, must be having a formal event this year." Hermione answered in a hushed tone. Ginny seemed to nod at this response but the other girls could see she was wondering why she didn't need these items and why the older girls did.
Nonetheless ten minutes later all three girls had finalized their packing and were ready to go to bed. A knock on the door not long after this from Mr. Weasley informing them it was time for lights out sent the girls into darkness and a hush feel over the room until one by one each girl fell asleep dreaming of what the new school year would bring.