– Chapter Ten –
The Calm after a Storm
Charis wasn't lying when she said she was going to wake them early. It was still dark when she shook Romi and Draco awake. Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius were already up, both of whom looked exhausted. Romi and Draco packed themselves up and went outside.
Uncle Lucius stored the tent with a wave of his wand and then tucking it away, he held an arm out to Draco. Draco glanced at Romi and then took his dad's arm.
"Come on, Romi," Charis said, putting out her arm. "We're not going to wait for a Portkey this time.
"What about Dad?" Romi asked, glancing at her mum.
"He'll come home when he can," Charis replied swiftly and seconds later they disappeared with a faint pop.
The Malfoy Manor looked exactly like it did the day that they left, though Romi felt very different. They trudged up the walk, all of them exhausted. On the front porch was Romi's black cat, lounging asleep as though waiting for them.
Zhi uncurled and meowed loudly as they reached her. Romi bent over and picked her up, throwing her over her shoulders as they entered the house. Zhi continued to meow loudly through the front foyer.
"I think it's best if you two run up to bed for another couple of hours," Charis said finally. "I'll get you for lunch."
Romi and Draco nodded too exhausted to argue with her and they disappeared up to their beds.
Romi made it to her room and dumped her cat on her bed. Zhi protested slightly, before carefully curling up on Romi's pillow. Romi was tired enough that she wanted nothing more than to just flop right into bed and sleep the rest of the day. But instead she went to her desk and quickly wrote a letter to Ginny, Neville and Luna ensuring them that she was fine and enquiring about them.
Romi hadn't seen Luna at all at the Quidditch World Cup, though she knew that Luna had been there. Romi wanted to see it in writing that Luna was alright, and maybe they'd be able to get together before the summer ended.
Neville's letter was longer, because she wanted to explain what had happened, and for some reason she wanted to put in that encounter with the curly haired woman she'd seen as a Hawk. But she couldn't figure out how to put it into writing and make it meaningful, and ended up leaving it out.
She hoped Ginny would get back to her soon about Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Romi trusted that they were all right.
Romi scurried up to the attic immediately and sent out her letters. Ten minutes later she managed to crash into her bed where she slept for the rest of the morning.
It was a bright day when Romi woke again around noon. Rubbing her eyes, she forced herself to get out of bed and make it downstairs again. Romi's mother and Aunt Narcissa were sitting in the parlour, both looking very exhausted.
"Hello, Romi," Charis said, looking up to see her daughter walk in. "How did you sleep?"
"Fine," Romi muttered in response. "Any breakfast?"
"There's some lunch on the counter," Aunt Narcissa replied.
Romi went into the kitchen, got herself some lunch and then returned into the parlour. She sat down at the table and then looked back to her mother. She was resting her eyes, the newspaper spread over her knees. Romi craned her neck and saw the headline splashed across the front page.
SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP.
A large black and white photograph of the Dark Mark was glittering above a lengthy article. Romi was too far away to read it completely and hoped that she might be able to snag the newspaper later.
"Is dad home?" Romi asked. It seemed weird to her that she hadn't seen her father since he left at the bottom of the World Cup stadium. Charis opened her eyes and glanced at her daughter.
"No," she replied, "He'll probably be in the office most of the week."
"Does he sleep there?" Romi asked, thinking that there was a time like this that had happened six years ago where her father needed to be in the office every waking hour.
"No," Charis said with a laugh, "he'll come home when he can." Charis folded up the paper and put in on the couch beside her. "I think I'm going to have a nap," she said. Romi guessed that Charis hadn't slept yet, or perhaps at all since the night before. "I'll come back to help with dinner," she added to Aunt Narcissa.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Charis," Aunt Narcissa said swiftly, "I'll come get you when it's ready. Go have some sleep."
Charis smiled in an exhausted sort of way and left the parlour. Aunt Narcissa got to her feet and smiled at her niece.
"Any plans for today?" she asked Romi.
"No," Romi replied, getting up, "I think I'll just go and sit outside and read or something."
Aunt Narcissa nodded and turned her back. Swiftly Romi grabbed the newspaper and headed outside towards the hammock. It was warm outside, with a hint of a thunderstorm coming. Romi felt very sleepy as she made her way to hammock, she took a deep breath and tried to make herself stay awake.
She settled herself down and then looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet.
SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP
It seemed a great night for the Irish Supporters as they made their way back towards the campgrounds on the night of August 22nd, ready to celebrate their team's magnificent victory on the pitch. Ireland won with an astonishing one hundred and seventy to one hundred and sixty. Such ecstatic feelings were not lost among the crowd and thousands of witches and wizards returned to their campgrounds under the assumption that their Ministry of Magic had taken the fullest precautions to ensure their safety while they celebrated.
But the good cheer and warm feelings were not to last and the Ministry's blatant ability to not protect its citizens was shown in its fullest extent. Around one thirty in the morning, in the campsite labelled 298 a tragedy of astronomical proportions occurred.
Several Dark Wizards ran unchecked amongst the innocent celebrators.
Such a display has not been seen since the days of the war and the Ministry was clearly not prepared to handle such an incident. The weary Ministry wizards did very little as the group of Dark Wizards flooded the campground.
A captured Muggle family was thrown into the air, such an act made possible by the extreme lax of security that flooded the campgrounds, all the while the Ministry failed to act on this first sign of Dark Arts.
But if this wasn't enough, the Ministry blunders resulted in the utmost alarming event. Several minutes after the appearance of the Dark Wizards and the incident of 'Muggle-baiting', the Dark Mark was cast into the sky, by an unknown sorcerer, from the woods near the campground, which hundreds of people had taken shelter in.
Chaos reigned for the next half an hour, with very little done by the Ministry of Magic. While the Muggles were rescued and their memories wiped, the Dark Wizards heading this dreaded confrontation were allowed to escape. And several minutes later it became clear that the Ministry's failure to do anything resulted in the culprits still not being apprehended.
If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed.
A Ministry official emerged sometime after the appearance of the Dark Mark, alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to squash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.
Such a complete lax in dignity and ability to handle the situation the Ministry of Magic has never seen such a national disgrace of this overwhelming magnitude.
Attempts to contact any Ministry official have been met with steadfast silence, which could only be interpreted as an admission of guilt, attempting to buy precious time to compose themselves. But as we already know, such overwhelming silence made by our government in the hour of our need can never be undermined when and if the Ministry chooses to address this dreadful situation.
We here at the Daily Prophet hope with the rest of the nation's proud witches and wizards that the Ministry's grave mistakes will soon be rectified by someone who is capable of handling such an atrocity.
Romi finished reading the article and glanced back up to the top, trying to figure out who had written this story. Rita Skeeter's name was plastered at the top beside a grinning picture of a woman with tight blonde curls, horned rimmed glasses, and a smile with way too many teeth.
Romi sighed, flipped through the rest of the paper to see if there was anything else. There were several other small articles written about the events at the World Cup, but none were as devastating as Rita Skeeter's.
She was happy to see that her father's name never came up, and Romi wondered for a moment if that was why her mother was reading the paper too. Romi thought for a couple of seconds and realised that perhaps her mother was looking for anything that might show the Malfoy's name.
Romi didn't really want to think about it, but she was certain that her Uncle had been in that crowd also. Romi sighed and dropped the paper to the ground beside the hammock and looked up straight into the blue sky thinking about what she had just read.
Several minutes later, Romi noticed that there seemed to be a pack of owls moving in her direction. Surprised, a few seconds later, four letters were dropped into her lap while three of the owls returned to the Malfoy Manor attic and the fourth disappeared into the sky again.
Romi looked at the letters, and saw that three of them were from Ginny, Neville and Luna and the fourth was her Hogwarts letter.
She quickly ripped opened Ginny's letter first and unfolded the two pieces of parchment.
Dear Romi
I'm glad to hear that you're all right! I let my family know as they were asking about you. I'm going to get this out of the way first; everyone here is all right. Dad found Harry, Ron and Hermione in the forest and they are not worse for wear. Now, here comes the bit about what happened to them in the forest.
Hermione told me about it this morning when the boys went out to play Quidditch.
After Harry, Ron and Hermione left Malfoy in the woods, they kept going farther in to get as far away from the campground as possible. Some minutes later they discovered that Harry's wand was missing. There was little they could do about it, as the wand could be anywhere, and they agreed that they would look for it the minute they were able.
Hermione said that they met Bagman in the forest, who looked like he had no idea what was happening with the riot. She continued to say that they saw a house-elf named Winky, belonging to Mr. Crouch, fighting her way through the forest though it appeared that she was being bound magically to something, and she couldn't move very fast.
I think Hermione only added that last part so that she could spent the next twenty minutes ranting about the treatment that house-elves get and how it's like slavery but they are brainwashed so the house-elves don't know their enslaved.
I'll leave out that speech, it's not very important, and Hermione was so heatedly angry, I'm not really sure half of what she said.
So Ron, Hermione and Harry finally found a clearing to sit and wait out the riot. And everything was going fine without any interruptions. Then they heard someone, a man, yell out an incantation and suddenly the Dark Mark was rising in the sky.
Hermione knew what it was, obviously, and she tried to get the boys out of there fast, but apparently not fast enough. The Ministry workers appeared seconds later, nearly Stunned the lot of them, but Dad managed to get there before that.
Here's where it get strange.
Several of the Ministry workers believed that neither Ron, Harry nor Hermione could conjure the Dark Mark, so they searched the woods there, and they found two things – Harry's wand and Winky the house-elf!
I have no idea how that had happened, but it seemed that Harry's wand was the one that produced the Dark Mark. He, of course, would not do that, and as I said, he'd lost his wand earlier.
It's a mystery how it all happened. Sadly, though, it appeared that Winky had some sort of involvement with the whole thing, though she had been utterly terrified with all the wizards there, and Mr. Crouch released her from his service.
Here, Hermione went on again for another half an hour about the treatment of house-elves, so I can imagine it wasn't a very pretty sight when Winky was dismissed.
Thankfully, Dad managed to extract himself, Harry, Ron and Hermione and bring them back to the tent. We got home just about dawn, and your letter was there waiting for me.
I was going to write back immediately, but then Hermione started on this whole thing and I thought you'd want to know it.
I'm hoping we can talk again soon, because with your dreams about that fire, and this happening at the Quidditch World Cup, I have a bad feeling about that they might be connected. I'm not sure yet, because my theory of your fire dreams don't quite match.
I don't want to write my theory it in a letter, I would much rather talk to you, Neville and Luna in person. Maybe we can flush it out or even better abandon the theory all together.
Let me know if you have time to meet up before the end of the summer. If you can't I'll see on the train and we'll chat there.
Love
Ginny
Romi read the letter again and got a feeling of dread as she did. She was definitely glad that Harry, Ron and Hermione were all right, but this theory that Ginny had made her worry. What theory could she have formed that she now wanted to abandon. How bad could that be that she hoped she was completely wrong?
Romi debated for a moment, reread the letter and then decided there was nothing more she could think of about it, so opened Luna's next.
Dear Romi
I am pleased to tell you that my father and I are all right. We were not harmed in the riot at the Quidditch World Cup. We were set up in the second campground and so slept through the entire thing and did not even hear about it until this morning.
I'm glad to hear that you are not harmed and that your person is safe. I do think it's a bit strange that your campground caught fire after so many dreams of nothing but burning flames. It is possible that a fire demon is haunting you; if that is the case, hurriedly apply burn cream mixed with salt, ashes from a fire and water blessed by a religious pastor (it does not matter the religion) to every window or door in your house.
That should, at least, rid you of your fire demon.
I do not think I will be able to see you this summer, unless you have not got your supplies from Diagon Alley. I will be there on Thursday the 25th, and I would like to meet up if you are going to be there.
There is always the whole year ahead of us if timing does not work out before school starts. I trust that Astaroth is still confined in his rowan disk? I think it would be prudent to bring him with you; it would be best to know immediately if ever he managed to break the seal.
Please write me back about the 25th, and I will hopefully see you soon.
All the best
Your Friend
Luna
Romi tucked Luna's letter with Ginny's, glad that Luna was still her bizarre, weird, safe self. She would have to write Luna back when she managed to get out of the hammock again, as Romi believed that they would be at Diagon Alley the same day. It would be a good time to talk to Neville and Ginny if they hadn't got their books yet.
Romi picked up Neville's letter next. She looked at the hurried address on the front and immediately thought that, for sure, Neville had written this in a panicked frenzy about the whole situation at the World Cup. It was a good thing he hadn't been there, Romi thought, that whole in the middle of the night thing probably wouldn't have helped his nerves.
She finally decided that she'd better read it as not, and so ripped the envelope and pulled out the sheet of parchment. She had been right, the handwriting was Neville's worst, and it took her a little while to decipher what it said.
Romi
Can you say with absolute certainty that it wasn't You-Know-Who that put up the Dark Mark!? I mean, absolute certainty! Everyone's says he's dead, but really? What if he's alive and just biding his time until he could actually do something nasty! I mean, what happened at the Quidditch World Cup was nasty, of course, but I mean really nasty?
I'm glad you're alright, though, why on earth would you go flying around a war zone with hundreds of Dark Wizards on the loose?! They could have mistaken you for just a big bird and shot you down or something.
I think we should try and talk about this as soon as possible! Write me back and tell me if you can hang out again before the end of the summer!
Neville
"What are you doing?" said a voice beside Romi causing her to jump. But it was only Draco, who leaned against the hammock looking at her.
"Reading my letters," answered Romi, folding them up so Draco couldn't read over her shoulder.
"Letters? As in more than one?" Draco asked. "I just got the school one."
"Yeah," Romi replied, holding that unopened one up. "Haven't got there yet. They were letters from Ginny, Neville and Luna."
"What about?" asked Draco curiously.
"Take a wild guess," Romi muttered. Draco didn't ask again, perhaps knowing exactly what Romi had been talking about with her friends.
Romi opened her school letter and read it through quickly. It said the normal stuff culminating in meeting the Hogwarts Express at the normal time on the first of September.
Romi unfolded her book list to take a look at them. She would only require two new books this term;
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk
The Official Apprentice Healership Guidebook, Level 1 by Dr. Latish Scapula
The third book on the list was The Dark Forces; A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble and Romi had had that book since her first year.
"So you're actually starting your Healership this year?" Draco asked, reading her book list over her shoulder.
"Yup," Romi replied. "Just part-time, or whatever. Just in my spare period."
"Well, good luck with that," answered Draco.
There was one final item on the supply list that wasn't a book.
"Every student is required to have dress robes this year?" Romi read out loud. "Why would we need dress robes?" she asked, looking at Draco. He was smiling broadly.
"For the thing that you wouldn't let me tell you," answered Draco. "You'll figure it out soon enough – unless you want me to tell you!"
"No, I don't," said Romi, quickly in case Draco just happened to blurt it out. "Don't say anything."
"Alright, fine," Draco replied.
Romi made sure to write Neville, Ginny and Luna back, confirming that she was going to be in Diagon Alley on the 25th, if anyone was going to be there. She also tried to sooth Neville's fears in her letter.
There was little more that she could do and spent the day trying to stay awake in the warm summer sun so that she might be able to sleep at night.
Her father actually came home for dinner that night, which she was pretty surprised about. He looked utterly exhausted, large bags under his bloodshot eyes, and just about too tired to move in any direction.
Charis only asked him a couple of questions before letting him eat in peace. Instead of going to bed the minute he was finished, he got up and explained that he had to go back to the office for a couple of hours.
It was complete mayhem there after the Rita Skeeter article had come out and they needed all hands on deck. Charis nodded and didn't make any fuss about it, and Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa said nothing at all. They seemed to be incredibly secretive about the whole World Cup affair and never said anything about it.
Romi slept soundly that night and in the morning saw that both Neville and Ginny had already got their new books and supplies and so wouldn't be able to meet up with her and Luna.
Slightly disappointed but reassured that she would see them on the train, Romi spent the day catching up on some last minute homework.
The next morning they left just after lunch, just Aunt Narcissa, Charis, Draco and Romi. Hector was still stuck at the office, and Uncle Lucius apparently had business to do in London and left a lot early than the rest of them.
It was a cheerful visit to the Leaky Cauldron where they passed through into Diagon Alley in the back.
They went to Flourish and Blotts first, to get their new books, and Romi walked all the way down the street with her nose in her Healership textbook reading every detail in.
Romi nearly forgot to keep a look out for Luna when someone called her name. Romi turned and smiled, seeing Luna running up, her long curly blonde hair streaming out behind her. A tall man, with a little bit of a dazed look, followed her.
"Hey, Luna!" Romi said, happy to see her friend. Romi closed the textbook and gave Luna a hug. "How was your summer so far?"
"Excellent," Luna said, pleased. "We spent three weeks down at the Lake country before coming back for the World Cup."
At this point, Luna's father walked up to them, and Romi remembered that she was standing with her mum, Aunt and cousin.
"Oh, Mum," Romi said, turning to Charis. "This is my friend, Luna."
Luna beamed at being introduced as Romi's friend.
"Luna, this is my mum, Charis, my Aunt Narcissa, and Draco you know," Romi concluded.
"Yes," Luna said, turning her big bright eyes on Draco, "We've met."
Romi glanced at Draco and he looked slightly embarrassed and looked away from Luna's gaze.
"This is my father," Luna said, turning to the man that walking beside her.
"Xenophalus Lovegood," he said, holding out his hand for Charis. "Pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," Charis replied, taking his hand. Aunt Narcissa just nodded to him, and Xenophalus didn't seem to mind the cold stare from Romi's Aunt.
"Where are you all headed off too?" Luna asked Romi.
"Oh," Romi replied, "I wasn't really paying attention…" she glanced at her mother.
"We're off to get your dress robes," Charis said with a smile. "Would you care to join us?" she added, looking to Luna and her father.
"How fortuitous," said Xenophalus, "we were headed that way ourselves."
They walked down the street together in a group, Charis talking with Xenophalus in a mildly interested sort of way. Draco walked with his mother, leaving Romi time to talk with Luna.
"Did you figure out if it was a fire demon?" Luna asked quietly. Romi had to think for a moment what Luna was talking about.
"Oh," she said finally remembering, "no, I don't think it was."
"Oh, too bad," Luna replied, "That would have been a nice easy fix."
"Yes," Romi agreed. "Ginny has some theory, but she wanted to talk to all of us together."
"Oh, well I'm sure that'll solve a lot of questions," Luna replied. "Do you know why we need dress robes this year for school?"
Romi shook her head. "Draco says he knows, that something's happening this year at school, but I don't know what it is. I told him not to spoil it."
"Perhaps it could be just something as fancy as a dinner and a dance?" Luna offered.
"When has that ever happened at Hogwarts?" Romi said with a little laugh.
They made it to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and filed inside. They weren't the only ones clearly shopping for dress robes this year. There were quite a few students with their parents sifting through the robes.
Romi and Luna had a great deal of fun, pulling out dress robes of all shapes, sizes and colours. Some were very heavy looking, some could have been worn in the fifteenth century, and others were nineteen fifties' sundresses.
Luna pulled out one that looked very similar to a large furry box with no sense of human shape whatsoever, which they laughed heartily at it.
Draco didn't seem to be having as good of a time as Romi and Luna. His mother was dragging him through the racks while Aunt Narcissa looked for some robes she liked best. He was trying to bear it the best that he could, but when Romi caught his eye he gave an audible huff and rolled his eyes.
Half an hour later, Luna found a very pretty pale yellow dress, with little ruffles all over the skirt. Charis, who was standing nearby with Xenophalus, insisted that Luna try it on. She did and everyone agreed that that was her dress.
Satisfied, and smiling brightly, Luna continued to help Romi look for one. It was another ten minutes before Luna said;
"Oh, this one," called Luna, and she pulled a dress off the rack, holding it out to Romi.
It was a beautiful colour to begin with. It looked like the colour of a mountain river during the spring thaw. The fabric shone every time you moved it, like it was a running river itself. The dress was one shouldered, with a form fitting bodice and a full skirt.
"It's beautiful," Romi said, feeling the fabric. "I think I would feel completely out of place in it though."
"Try it on, Romi," Charis said, smiling broadly. "You might find you like it."
Romi paused and then agreed to their wishes, and went to change. The dress was a perfect fit, not too long or too short, and not too tight or too loose.
Romi showed her mother, Xenophalus Lovegood and Luna the result and they were ecstatic about it. Draco wasn't around to ask, and she kinda felt a bit like making him wait to see it until the event that they had to wear them arrived.
She changed back and ten minutes later they were all walking out of the store with their dress robes.
Xenophalus Lovegood took a look at his watch, which was a funny collection of all sorts of wiggly hands with moons around the edges of it.
"Oh, would you look at the time!" he exclaimed. "Luna, my dear, we must be off! It was such a great pleasure to meet you all!"
Goodbyes were exchanged and Luna disappeared off with her father, promising to find Romi on the train to school.
They spent another hour in Diagon Alley window shopping and then finally the four of them returned to the Leaky Cauldron and back home again.
Romi felt that the summer was finally winding down. The last couple of days were nothing but warm, sleepy afternoons, playing chess with Draco and going last minute flying.
On Wednesday night, their last day of summer before they left for school, Romi found herself on her knees in her bedroom, her half full truck open in front of her and she tried to pack everything that she would need into neatly.
Draco was sprawled on his back on her bed, reading the newspaper. Romi got up, getting her anatomy textbook, and then returned to her trunk. Only, when she'd got there, Zhi had curled herself neatly into the middle of the trunk, getting black fur everywhere.
"Oh, come on, Zhi," Romi said, putting her textbook aside and hauling the protesting cat out of her suitcase. "You don't ride in there."
Zhi meowed at her, flicking her tail back and forth, and then jumped up onto the bed, and settled on Draco's stomach.
"Do you want to hear Phoebe Capello's predictions for this year at school?" Draco asked, not looking up from the paper.
"Not really," Romi replied, "but I have a feeling you're going to read them to me anyways."
Draco looked to her with a smile, "oh, come on, she was right about the World Cup. Moran scored a lot of times, Krum got the snitch even though he didn't win, and Lynch got hurt – twice."
"And a small little campfire got out of control?" Romi said, looking up at him. He paused for a long moment and then sighed.
"I'm not saying that she's correct one hundred percent of the time," he replied, "but she's fun to read. And, you know, there was a fire when we were there."
"Hmm," Romi replied, dumping the rest of her books into her trunk. "I seem to remember that was set deliberately by wizards. Not a campfire getting out of control."
Draco didn't reply for a long moment, just watched her.
"Okay, fine," said Romi, finally. "What are her predictions for this school year?"
Draco smiled and started to read.
This coming school year for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is beyond a doubt going to be the most exciting yet! A multitude of tasks will have to be overcome for a happy ending this year.
The smartest, bravest, most faithful and the strongest must unite to conquer everything that is set before them.
Four people this year will become the love of everyone, everywhere, and we'll be cheering them on until the end, whether we will know it or not.
There is some dangers coming ahead, facing powers that have not been seen for nearly an age, and our unlikely heroes will have to take risks and chances that they never thought they would see themselves doing. Overall this year looks to be one full of amazement for students and parents alike.
As always, we wish all students for a healthy, happy school year and encourage them to do their best, especially those writing their OWLs and NEWTs, this year will be particularly difficult for a lot of studiers out there.
Draco paused and looked up to Romi.
"I really don't see why you like her," Romi replied. "Her writing isn't even that good. And what was all that about? It's like the vaguest prediction I ever heard. Aren't they supposed to be specific or something?"
"They are never supposed to be specific," Draco answered. "Then they wouldn't apply to everyone, which is the idea. Everyone wants to know what the future is."
"It's constantly changing, that's what it is," Romi said, shuffling over to her bed, still on her knees. She pulled the paper out of Draco's hands, smiling. "Anyways," she said. "I have a vague idea of what I'd like to be doing in the immediate future."
"Oh, really," Draco said smiling, shifting closer to her. "And what might that be?"
"Something that doesn't require talking," Romi said leaning over to kiss him.