Chapter 6: Injuries and Marks

"Ha! I actually beat you for once!" cheered Fred, as his Queen viciously destroyed Kaylee's King.

"Good for you," Kaylee mumbled distractedly.

Ginny had just gotten back from walking with George, and Kaylee noticed she had arrived alone. Ginny didn't seem to want to make eye contact, as she strode over to one of the empty armchairs and hid her face behind Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"Where's George?" Fred asked his sister.

"Dunno. Probably talking to some friends from school. Met a few people out there," replied Ginny from behind her book.

"Excellent. Maybe he's showing Lee our new Snackboxes," said Fred, and he hurried out of the tent in search of his brother.

"So…." began Kaylee.

Ginny remained silent.

"SO….." Kaylee started again, this time louder.

"What's that, Kaylee? Did you say something?" asked Ginny politely.

Kaylee sighed.

"It didn't go well then did it?" Kaylee asked in a small voice.

Ginny put her book down.

"Actually, you owe me. It seems he didn't realize he had feelings for you until I informed him," she said smugly.

"He…..what?" Kaylee seemed to be having a very hard time finding words.

"Yes, I asked him when he was going to get around to asking you out, and it just sort of dawned on him that he fancies you."

Kaylee just gaped at her. After several moments of stunned silence, she was able to gasp out, "He told you that?"

Ginny's face slightly fell.

"Well, no. But he as good as told me. You should have seen his face," she said quickly. "Looked like he was just realizing the sky was blue."

"What did he say? Give me some details here!" Kaylee asked enthusiastically.

"Well at first he was confused. He didn't understand what I was talking about. But then I explained how I know he fancies you, and it was like he finally realized it himself. Then….ah…well, he got a bit suspicious," the red head finished tentatively.

"Suspicious how?" asked Kaylee.

"Well he wanted to know why I was even asking him about all this….and I may have told him that I was tired of you both acting so weird around each other," Ginny said, her face going pink.

"You what?!" Kaylee almost shouted.

"Its alright! He doesn't know! I left before I could do anymore damage!"

"But he suspects….Ugh it's going to be so much harder now to pretend when he's around," Kaylee groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things awkward. I was just trying to help," said Ginny apologetically.

"Its alright. I'm not mad at you," Kaylee said softly.

"Who knows? Maybe I did help. Now he knows he feels something for you, he could act on it!" she urged.

"He didn't actually tell you that he does, er, fancy me," Kaylee said.

"He didn't have to."

Kaylee was still unsure. George did not speak or even look at Kaylee when he returned. The afternoon wore on, and soon it became nearly dusk. Everyone returned to the camp, and Mr. Weasley finally said it was time to depart to see the World Cup. Excitement hung in the air so thick, Kaylee could almost taste it. They followed a small path in the wood that led them to the Quidditch Stadium. It was the largest Quidditch field Kaylee had ever seen. They took a set of stairs all the way to the top, and they were all very much out of breath by the time they entered the top box.

Kaylee sat in between Fred and Hermione, trying to give George his space. All afternoon, he had had a confused and troubled look on his face whenever she got too close to him. However, Ludo Bagman began introducing the Team Mascots, and all thoughts of her personal love life (or lack thereof) were quickly driven from her mind.

Kaylee became enthralled with the match. It was the best game of Quidditch she had ever seen. The players were like nothing she had ever seen at Hogwarts, and they performed moves that Kaylee was sure Madam Hooch wouldn't have allowed. Krum was absolutely incredible, and when he caught the Snitch yet Ireland won, Kaylee stood up screaming along with everyone else. Hermione hugged her, then Fred, then even George. Everyone was euphoric as they watched Cornelius Fudge give Ireland's Captain the World Cup. Fred and George quickly went up to Ludo Bagman at the end of the awarding ceremony to receive their winnings.

"I'll pay you later this week, if that's alright boys. Got to get my own winnings from a few other patrons first," Kaylee heard Bagman say to them. Fred and George let him leave reluctantly.

That night they all celebrated Ireland's victory. They stayed up well into the night discussing the match and even reenacting some of the moves the players performed. George acted completely normal towards Kaylee, much to her relief. Only when Ginny fell asleep at the table with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, did Mr. Weasley announce that it was time for bed.

Kaylee went into the girl's tent, and changed into her pajamas. She could never sleep in long pants, so she donned her sleep shorts, and a thin tank top. She crawled into her bed, yawning. Feeling she was incredibly lucky to have just seen the World Cup with her best friends, she fell asleep with a smile still settled upon on her face.

Kaylee was woken up a few hours later by the sounds of screaming. It took her a minute to remember where she was, and that screaming should not have been a part of the scenery. Suddenly she heard Mr. Weasley's voice from the tent entrance.

"Ginny! Hermione! Kaylee! Get up quickly and put some clothes on! We have to get out of here!" he called in a panicked voice, before disappearing into the other tent.

"What's going on?" mumbled Ginny.

Kaylee sprang out of bed and slid her shoes on. She ran to the tent's entrance and peered out into the night. Several tents were on fire, and people were running around screaming. In the distance, Kaylee could make out a group of masked figures marching and suspending what looked like the campsite manager and his family in midair.

Kaylee rushed back inside the tent and pried Ginny out of bed.

"Come on! We have to move! There are people out there torturing Muggles!" Kaylee called.

That got the other two girls moving. They threw on some shoes and rushed outside. Everyone else was already gathered outside, most wearing their pajamas. Bill, Charlie, and Percy rushed toward the masked group and the Ministry Officials near them.

"We're going to help the Ministry! Get into the woods! Stick together! Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility! I'll come and fetch you after we've sorted this out," Mr. Weasley called to them all before following his eldest sons.

They all started towards the woods. They were running as fast as they could go, while navigating the sea of panicked people and burning tents. They had just entered the woods, when the screaming got louder and the group of cloaked wizards seemed to be getting nearer.

"This way!" said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and steering her deeper into the wood. George and Kaylee followed.

They had been walking only a few moments when Kaylee realized they had lost Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"Must have lost them when we got into the wood. We'll meet back up with them at the tent," George said, reassuringly.

"Who were those people in the masks?" asked Ginny in a shaky voice.

"No idea. Bunch of nutters, probably. Imagine doing that kind of thing with nearly the entire Ministry on site," said Fred.

They were far into the wood now, and it was getting very difficult to see. Fred and George both pulled out their wands and muttered "Lumos."

"I left my wand back in the tent," Kaylee groaned.

"Its ok. Just stick close," George said, guiding her with his wand light. They stopped when they reached a small clearing.

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked.

"Just sit here I reckon, until everything gets settled out there," said Fred as he sat down on a fallen tree. They all sat down around him.

"Those were Muggles they were suspending," Kaylee said quietly.

"Why would anyone do that?" asked Ginny in horror.

"I can only think of one type of person who would do something like that for fun…" Kaylee began. "The people who followed You-Know-Who."

"But they're all dead or in Azkaban, right?" asked Ginny, tremulously.

"Not all of them. Some of them managed to escape prison, by pretending to have been forced to do You-Know-Who's bidding," said Kaylee darkly.

"Why would You-Know-Who's followers show up at the World Cup where they know there will be hundreds of Ministry wizards?" asked George.

"Probably thought it would be a great message to the Ministry. Show them that a lot of them are still at large, and they can still get away with doing foul things like that," Kaylee supplied.

"I hope the Ministry catches them. Maybe they'll catch Lucius Malfoy. I bet you anything he's one of those masked gits," said Fred angrily.

They all sat in silence. A breeze blew through the trees, and Kaylee shivered. She wished she had grabbed a jacket before they left.

"Kaylee, where are your clothes?" George asked suddenly.

"I'm wearing my pajamas, same as you. We didn't have time to change," Kaylee explained.

"No, you're wearing your underwear, not your pajamas," George said slowly, staring at her body with wide eyes.

"This is what I wear to bed. I didn't expect to be running around the woods at three in the morning," Kaylee said irritably.

She crossed her arms over her chest, thinking she'd sleep in a bra from now on after this experience. Silence fell among them again. After 15 more minutes, the screaming had seemed to stop, and it was much quieter.

"I think we can try and head back to camp now," Fred said.

They all began walking back the way they came. Kaylee followed last, trying to hide her barely clothed body from the twins. Unfortunately, she didn't have much wand light in the back, and her foot found a root sticking up out of the ground. Kaylee fell hard, twisting her ankle on the way.

"AHHH! DAMNIT!" Kaylee roared, clutching her ankle.

"What happened?!" George asked urgently, bending down beside her.

"Bloody tree root caught my foot! Twisted my ankle," Kaylee said through clenched teeth. Pain was shooting from her foot to her leg.

"Looks like you sprained it, maybe fractured it," said Fred, inspecting it by wand light.

"Can you put any weight on it?" asked George.

"I can try."

George helped her to her good foot, and she brushed off some dirt from her bare legs. She put an arm around George's neck, and tried to put some pressure on her swollen ankle.

"NOPE. NOPE. OW DAMMIT OW!" Kaylee cursed.

"Here take this," George demanded thrusting his lit wand into Kaylee's hand. Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms and began carrying her bridal style.

"Oy!" exclaimed Kaylee.

"We'll get back faster if I carry you. Dad can mend your ankle once we're there," George explained.

"Well, thanks," Kaylee said softly.

"Don't mention it."

They all continued walking again, Kaylee holding George's wand out so he could see where he was going.

"This is starting to become a habit for you. I think this is the second time today you've had to carry me," Kaylee joked somewhat awkwardly.

"I make an excellent mule don't I?" George joked.

"If you're saying that you are a great arse….well I can't argue with you on that," Kaylee said laughing.

"Now now, Osmund. I have a great arse. There's a difference," he said smiling down at her. She laughed, then winced as pain shot through her ankle again.

"Still hurts?" asked George sympathetically.

"Nah. I'll be fine."

"You're a terrible liar, you know. You always look away when you're lying." George said quietly.

"Do not." Kaylee said, looking away.

"You just did it again."

"Focus on walking." she told him shortly.

George remained silent through the rest of their walk back to camp. He couldn't help but notice his heart was hammering in his chest and his stomach was doing backflips as he carried Kaylee in his arms. His nose was filled with her scent, intoxicating him. It didn't help that she was barely clothed. He could feel the smoothness of her pale legs in his hands, and he found it hard to focus on much else. George looked down at the girl in his arms and had a violent urge to reach down and kiss her.

"Watch where you're going, George. You nearly hit that tree," Kaylee reprimanded.

"Right. Sorry," George focused on getting back on the path they were following through the wood.

Finally, they made it out and reached their camp. Luckily, it hadn't been damaged by fire. They entered the boy's tent, and saw no one had arrived yet. George carefully set Kaylee down on an armchair.

"Where could they be?" asked Fred, to no one in particular.

Suddenly, several screams tore through the air. Fred and George rushed outside to see what was going on. They came back into the tent a moment later, with identical looks of confusion on their faces.

"What is it?" asked Kaylee, clutching her, now blue and black ankle.

"I dunno. Some sort of skull thing appeared over the woods," Fred said in a confused voice.

"It looks like a skull with a snake for a tongue," George explained.

"The Dark Mark…" Kaylee said in a quiet voice. All the air seemed to have left her lungs.

"You know what it is?" asked George.

"It's the same mark that was over our house when my father was killed," Kaylee said quietly.

"Who conjured it?" asked Ginny, her eyes wide with shock. Kaylee never talked about her dead father.

"The same people who killed him. The Death Eaters. You-Know-Who's followers," Kaylee explained. "They killed him because he was a Muggle. They didn't like that my mother worked in the Ministry, but was married to a Muggle. I was only 2 when it happened. I don't remember much of it, but Mum said the Death Eaters always cast that mark after they've killed."

The three Weasleys all stared at her with wide eyes and pale faces.

"I'm so sorry. I never knew…" Ginny began quietly.

Silence fell among them. Several long minutes later, Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived. Bill was bleeding steadily from his left arm, Percy had a bloody nose, and Charlie's shirt had a large tear in the front.

"What's going on? What happened?" asked Fred at once.

"We were trying to capture the Death Eaters and get those Muggles down, when the Dark Mark appeared in the sky. They took one look at it, and Apparated before we could get any of them," said Bill, who seized a bed sheet and held it to his arm to stop the bleeding.

"Are the Muggles okay?" asked Ginny quickly.

"Yeah we got them down in time. They're having their memories modified right now," Bill told her reassuringly.

"Where are Ron, Harry, and Hermione?" asked Percy.

"We lost them when we got into the wood," explained Fred.

"What happened to you?" asked Charlie, coming over and inspecting Kaylee's swollen ankle.

"I got in a slight disagreement with a Troll," replied Kaylee weakly.

"She tripped over a tree root," George said rolling his eyes.

"Ah. I can fix this. I might not be good with cuts, but I can mend bones pretty easily," said Charlie, pulling out his wand.

He pressed the tip of his wand softly onto Kaylee's swollen ankle and muttered "Tarsius Emendo." Instantly the pain disappeared and the ankle returned to its proper size and color.

"Thanks, Charlie," breathed Kaylee in a relieved voice.

"No problem," he replied. He walked over to the entrance to the tent and stood waiting for the rest of their party.

"Where's Dad?" George asked Bill.

"He and a couple of other Ministry Officials Apparated to the spot under the Mark, to catch whoever conjured it."

"Who do you think cast it? Not You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked in a scared voice.

"Of course not. Probably another one of those gits we were trying to capture," Bill said soothingly.

"Dad!" Charlie's voice sounded from the tent's entrance. "What's going on? Fred, George, Kaylee, and Ginny got back okay, but the others –"

"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, entering the tent. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed.

"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

"No," Mr. Weasley said dejectedly. "We found Barty Crouch's house elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."

"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley quickly explained how the house elf had been found by Ministry Officials with a wand near her hand, after the Mark was conjured. No one else had been nearby, but Harry, Ron and Hermione were sure that the voice they heard conjuring the mark did not belong to a house elf.

"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" Percy said indignantly. He went on for a few moments about how embarrassing it could have been for Mr. Crouch to have such a disobedient elf when Hermione interrupted him.

"She didn't do anything! She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione seemed very defensive for the elf.

Hermione and Percy got in a debate about Mr. Crouch's elf. Their argument was cut short when Ron asked, "Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was? It wasn't hurting anyone. Why is it such a big deal?"

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

"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked. It was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."

"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean…it's just a shape in the sky. Why scream and panic?"

"Think about it Ron," Kaylee said. "Every time You-Know-Who or the Death Eaters killed someone, they put that mark in the sky. It was everyone's worst fear, coming home and seeing that over their house. Mum said when it appeared over our house, she knew exactly what it meant, and it nearly tore her heart out…"

"Ah, yes. Your father…," Mr. Weasley began quietly. "I'm so sorry Kaylee."

"I'm just glad no one was killed tonight," Kaylee said.

"Why did they conjure it tonight, if they didn't kill anyone?" asked Ron.

"I don't think it was the Death Eaters who conjured that mark. As soon as it appeared in the sky, the Death Eaters Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them." Bill supplied.

"But why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" asked Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"

"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "Those Death Eaters must have worked really hard to keep out of Azkaban. When You-Know-Who lost power they must have told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. They denied that they had ever been involved with You-Know-Who when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives. I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"

"So, whoever conjured the Dark Mark…" said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters or to scare them away?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley tiredly. "But I'll tell you this. It was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now… Listen it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours of sleep and try and get an early Portkey out of here."

Kaylee returned to the girl's tent with Hermione and Ginny, a million thoughts swirling around in her head.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked her with concern.

"I'll be fine, really," Kaylee told her, seeing the worry on her face.

They all got into bed, and it took a very long time for Kaylee to fall into an uneven sleep.