AN: I know its been like forever since I posted this story, and I do apologize for that. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 2

The Dark Mark

After the game we all headed back to the tent. Fred, George, Harry, and Ron were all singing for Ireland. They were especially happy that Fred and George won the bet against Ludo Bagman. Every single tent we passed had people either celebrating the game or being bummed about their team losing.

"They are so loud," I complained to Hermione and Ginny.

"Yes they are," Hermione agreed with me.

"Well Ireland did just win the Quidditch World Cup." Ginny laughed and she joined in the singing.

I grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her away from the group. I wanted to look through the stands with souvenirs again. We walked through the rows and rows of stands admiring all the objects for sale. While we didn't buy anything, we had a pretty good time just wandering around.

"We should head back," Hermione said, looking at the sky. The sun was disappearing over the trees, making the sky red and orange.

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed not wanting to go back. We made our way back to the tent dodging people and kids on toy broomsticks.

When we finally made it back to the tent, we walked in to find Ginny sleeping on the table, and Mr. Weasley was cleaning chocolate milk from the ground. The boys could be heard chatting from inside their shared room about all the details of the game.

"It's time for bed girls" He said looking up from the mess he was cleaning.

"Alright." I nodded. Hermione and I headed straight for our room.

I climbed to the top bunk and stared at the ceiling. As I layed in bed my thoughts turned to my first year at Hogwarts. I began to feel sad again about the loss of my best friend. I don't know when I fell asleep but it only felt like a minute before I was rudely awakened.

"Hermione - Chloe get up NOW!" I heard a voice say.

"What?" I said groggily sitting up. The sounds of celebrating were replaced with blood curdling screams. I slipped off my bed reaching for some clothes.

"No time Chloe, grab a jacket and get outside." Mr. Weasley said leaving the room. I noticed that he had just put his jeans over his own pajamas.

Quickly I grabbed my jacket and put it on. I threw on my shoes and then ran outside to find everyone gathered waiting for Hermione and me. Everywhere I looked there was chaos. Witches and wizards were screaming and running around. Mr. Weasley was saying something I couldn't hear to Fred and George.

I looked around again, there were a few fires lit and I could see people running towards the forest. Looking behind me I saw a tight group of wizards pointing their wands at the sky. At first I didn't think they had faces, but soon realized that they were wearing hoods and masks. High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small.

The tall male, I realized, was Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The women and two kids must have been his family. I wondered what the motive of the hooded figures was to do something like that. Clearly they were trying to get attention from the Ministry, or perhaps the whole wizarding community.

"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick. . . ."

"C'mon" I heard Fred, or George say. They were holding Ginny's hands as they ran off to the woods. I noticed Mr. Weasley, Charlie, and Percy had run off to help the Ministry. I hoped that they would be safe.

I grabbed Hermione's hand and sprinted towards the woods. I looked behind us to see the crowd around the masked figures was growing ever bigger. I could also see Ministry officials trying to get through the crowd to the figures, casting spells. It looked as though they were being careful to not do anything to make the Roberts family fall.

The lanterns that once lit the way to the stadium were now extinguished. I could hear people crying and yelling anxiously, looking for family or loved ones. Dark figures were running towards the forest; trying desperately to get away. Then I heard Ron yell in pain.

"What's happening?" I heard Hermione say. "This is ridiculous, lumos." Her wand lit up with light as she searched for Ron. The small beam of light found him sprawled on the floor.

"Tripped over a tree root." He complained, getting up.

"Hard not to with those big feet." I whispered to myself.

"Very true, Potter." He said unamused. I turned and found myself facing none other than Draco Malfoy. He was leaning against a tree watching the activities with ease on his face. It was as if he knew nothing bad was going to happen to him.

"What's true?" I heard Ron spit out venomously.

"That with your big feet you were bound to trip over something, if not your own feet." Draco said not looking at Ron.

Ron said something he would never dare say in front of his mother.

"Language Weasley," Draco said, his eyes reflecting the fire behind us. "After all, you wouldn't want her spotted."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, glaring at him.

"You dimwits, they are going after muggles" he laughed. "and if you asked me it would be very entertaining." Just then flashes of green light filled the forest.

"Just drop it." Hermione said, grabbing Harry's hand.

"Keep your bushy head down Granger, they can spot mudbloods easily, you won't be safe when they get here." He sneered glancing over at us. Our eyes met briefly, and I thought I saw a flash of sadness in his eyes

I turned away and grabbed Harry's hand. "Let's go," I said, pulling slightly. Glaring at Malfoy, they turned and followed me deeper into the forest.

We continued following the crowd of people trying our hardest to stick together. Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas were arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly, "Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue —"

"Er — what?" said Ron.

"Oh . . ." The girl who had spoken turned her back on us, and as we walked on we distinctly heard her say, " 'Ogwarts."

"Beauxbatons," muttered Hermione as we hurried past the group.

"Sorry?" said Harry.

"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I read about it in 'An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe.'"

"Oh, yeah right," said Harry, clearly he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione's, and squinting up the path. Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own wand and I did the same. As I pulled my own wand out I heard a groan from next to me.

"I can't believe it, I've lost my wand" Harry said, still searching his pockets hopelessly. I flashed my wand at him so he could see better, but it didn't do much.

"Maybe you dropped it in the tent, or while we were running," Ron said, moving his wand over the floor looking.

"Yeah maybe." Harry said grumpily.

"We should keep going," Hermione said, pulling on my sleeve. She was right of course, and we hurried away.

Slowly the noise died down, and we found ourselves in a secluded part of the forest. We stopped walking, and tried to catch our breaths. My lungs felt like they were on fire with every breath I took. I bent over and put my hands on my knees to try to make it easier to breathe.

"It's kind of scary here" I heard Hermione say as she leaned in closer to me. The place was deserted, it was just a small clearing surrounded by trees that cast shadows at our feet. Slowly we all caught our breath and were able to take in our surroundings completely. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure walking towards us.

"Who's there?" I heard Harry ask, apparently he had seen him too.

"MORSMORDRE!"

"W-" I started when something green erupted into the sky. For a second it looked like just a bunch of green stars, but then people started screaming in the distance again. I took a closer look at the object and realized that the green stars were in the shape of a snake coming out of a skull's mouth.

"What is it?" I asked, staring up at the sky.

"It's the Dark Mark." Hermione whispered, terrified.

"Umm?" I said, still confused. I dropped my gaze from the Mark and turned towards Hermione.

"You-Know-Who's mark!" she exclaimed as looked around frantically.

"You mean Voldemort?" Harry asked, looking around to Hermione.

"Yes, now let's go!" She started reaching for my hand when Harry yelled.

"DUCK!" he pulled us down just in time. About twenty stunning spells flew over our heads barely missing us. We laid there on the ground, hands covering our heads.

"Stop, that's my son!" We heard Mr. Weasley yell. I glanced up to see him running towards us. His face was full of panic.

"Ron - Harry - Hermione - Chloe are you alright?" he asked when he reached us.

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice. It was Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss and one of the people who helped put the World Cup together.. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on us, their wands raised and still pointing at us. Harry got to his feet to face them, and we followed suit. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between us. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull. Ron, Hermione, and I all nodded with agreement.

"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was now pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping — he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to —"

"Where did the Mark come from, you four?" said Mr. Weasley quickly, looking between us.

"Over there," I said pointing to where we saw the figure. I was pretty shaken up, and just wanted to go back to sleep. All the adrenaline I had was gone and my body felt like I was going to collapse any second. "There was someone in the trees, they said some sort of incantation."

"Oh, over there?" Mr. Couch said, turning his popping eyes at me. His face looked like he didn't believe me. "Said an incantation did they? You seem to know a lot about how that Mark is summoned, missy."

None of the other witches or wizards looked as though they believed any of us could summon the Mark. On the contrary, they had turned and pointed their wands in the direction I had pointed to.

"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown. "They would have disapparated by now."

"I don't think so," said a man. When he stepped forward I recognized him as Mr. Diggory. "Our stunners went right through those trees. There's a good chance that we got them."

"Amos, be careful." Some of the witches and wizards said as Mr. Diggory walked towards the trees.

"Yes, we got them!" Mr. Diggory yelled back to the group. "There's someone here, unconscious. It's, but… blimey".

"You got someone?" Mr. Crouch said, incredulously. "Who is it?"

We heard crackling branches and crunching leaves and then footsteps as Mr. Diggory reappeared in the trees, carrying someone in his arms. I took a closer look and was surprised to discover it was Winky, Mr. Crouch's house elf. Mr. Crouch's face turned pale as he stared down at his unconscious house elf.

"This. Cannot. Be." He said stiffly. He glanced at Mr. Diggory before striding off to the place Winky was found.

"There's no point Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there." But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. We could hear him rustling around the leaves as he pushed the bushes around, looking for anyone else to be there.

"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said, grimly as he looked down at the house elf. "Barty Crouch's house elf, I mean to say."

"Come off it Amos." Mr. Weasley said. "You can't seriously think the house elf cast it. The Dark Mark is a wizard sign, it requires a wand."

"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory. "And she had a wand."

"What?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken for a start. No none human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand." Just then, there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman apparated next to Mr. Weasley. He wobbled on the spot and then glanced up at the green skull.

"The Dark Mark." He panted, almost stepping on Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get him Barty? What's going on?"

Mr. Crouch had returned, empty handed. His face was still ghostly white and his hands and mustache were both twitching.

"Where have you been Barty? Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too. Gulping gargoyles," Bagman had just noticed Winky laying at his feet. "What happened to her?"

"I have been busy Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking stiffly. "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned? By you lot you mean? But why?" comprehension dawned finally on Bagmans round shiny face. He looked up at the skull, then down at Winky, then at Mr. Crouch. "No," he said. "Winky conjure up the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how. She'd need a wand for a start."

"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's alright with you Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she has to say for herself." Crouch gave no sign that he heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory took his silence as permission. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky and said, "rennervate."

Wink stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times. Watched by the wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position. She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet and slowly raised her eyes to stare up at his face, and eventually made her way to the sky. She gasped when she saw the green skull and then burst into terrified sobs.

"Elf," said Mr. Diggory. "Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Winky began to rock back and forth. "As you see elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago. And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it. An explanation if you please."

"I-I-I is not doing it, sir." Winky gasped between breaths. "I is not knowing how, sir."

"You were found with a wand in your hand," said Mr. Diggory sharply as he brandished the wand in her face.

"Hey, that's my wand!" Harry cried after he got a good look at the wand. Everyone in the clearing turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, unbelievingly.

"That's my wand." Harry repeated. "I dropped it."

"You dropped it?" asked Mr. Diggory. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, do you really think Harry Potter cast the spell?" Mr. Weasley asked exasperated.

"Uh- of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry, carried away."

"I didn't drop it there anyway," said Harry. "I missed it right after we got into the woods."

"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned back towards Winky. "You found this wand elf. You picked it up and thought you would have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir." Winky squealed as tears ran down the side of her face. "I is- I is just picking it up, sir. I is not making the Dark Mark, sir. I is not knowing how."

"Winky couldn't have cast the spell," Hermione said. "It was the voice of a man, not a house elf." She looked around at Harry, Ron, and me, looking for support. "It didn't sound like Winky, did it?"

"No," Harry, Ron, and I said at the same time.

"Well, we'll soon see." Growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There is a simple way to see the last spell a wand performed elf, did you know that?" Winky shook her head. Mr. Diggory raised his own wand and placed it tip to tip with Harry's. "Prior incantato."

I heard Hermione gasp, terrified, as a giant skull erupted from the point where the two wands met. But it was merely a shadow of the one up in the night sky. It looked as though it was made from thick dark gray smoke, the ghost of a spell.

"Deletrius," said Mr. Diggory and the gray skull disappeared. "So," Mr. Diggory said as he looked down at Winky.

"I is not doing it," cried Winky again. "I is not knowing how. I is a good elf, I isn't using one."

"You have been caught red handed, elf." Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand."

"Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "Think about it. Precious few wizards know how to do that spell. Where would she have learned it?"

"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every world he spoke. "That I routinely teach my servant's how to conjure up the Dark Mark." There was a deeply unpleasant silence, Mr. Diggory looked horrified.

"Mr. Crouch, not at all."

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure the Mark." Barked Mr. Crouch, still glaring at Mr. Diggory. "Harry Potter and myself. I am sure you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

"Of course, everyone knows," muttered Mr. Diggory.

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given over the many years that I despise the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again.

"Mr. Crouch, I never suggested that you had anything to do with it." Mr. Diggory muttered again.

"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me," shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned how to conjure it?"

"She, she might have picked it up anywhere."

"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere. Winky," he said kindly as he turned to the elf. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?" Winky looked nervous and she played with the edges of her tea cozy.

"I-I is finding it, finding it there sir," she whispered. "There in the trees, sir."

"You see Amos, whoever conjured the Mark could've disapparated right after he cast it and left the wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand which could have betrayed them. Wink here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later, and pick it up."

"But then she'd have only been a few feet away from the real culprit." Mr. Diggory said impatiently. "Elf, did you see anyone?"

Winky began to tremble worse than before. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. "I is seeing no one, sir. No one."

"Amos, I am fully aware that in the ordinary course of events you'll want to take Winky to your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her." Mr. Crouch said. It was clear to me that Mr. Diggory didn't think much about Mr. Crouch's suggestion. "You may rest assured that she will be punished."

"M-m-master," Winky stammered as she looked up at Mr. Crouch. "M-master, p-p-please." Mr. Crouch stared back, his face was stone cold and there was no pity in his gaze.

"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not believe possible." Mr. Crouch said. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find she has disobeyed me, this means clothes."

"Master, no!" Winky cried, sobbing harder than before. "Not clothes. Not clothes." She sat at Mr. Crouch's feet, clutching her tea cozy.

"But she was frightened," Hermione burst out angrily. "Your elf is scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people. You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way." Mr. Crouch backed away from Winky as if she were something that was contaminating his shoes.

"I have no use for a house elf that disobeys me," Mr. Crouch said coldly, looking at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master and to her master's reputation." Everyone was silent except for Winky, who's sobs filled the clearing.

"Well, if no one objects, I would like to take my lot back to our tent." Mr. Weasley said after some time. "Amos, that wand has told us all that it can. If Harry could have it back, please." Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't want to give the wand up, but reluctantly he handed it to Harry.

"Come on, you four." Mr. Weasley said softly. I glanced at Hermione, she was still staring at the elf. I had to grab her elbow for her to finally turn away and follow the group back through the woods and to the campsite.

The entire walk back to the tent was filled with Hermione complaining about the way Winky was treated. Ron didn't seem to understand why Hermione felt the way she did. If Winky really was responsible for conjuring the Dark Mark, then I would understand why she dumped by Mr. Crouch. However, I heard the voice and it most definitely was not Winky.

Witches and wizards kept bother Mr. Weasley as we tried to make our way to the tent. They kept asking if it was You-Know-Who, and Mr. Weasley did his best to reassure them. When we reached the tent we found that Fred, George, and Ginny were waiting up for us.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright." Ginny said, embracing Hermione and me. Hugging back I looked at the twins faces, they lacked their normal joking happy faces and were replaced with serious faces.

"Alright everyone, let's get some rest." Mr. Weasley said walking in. "We are catching an early portkey out of here."

Nodding, I headed off to our room and laid down. A lot had happened, and my mind was racing, but my body was exhausted. I passed out when my head hit the soft pillow.

AN: and that's chapter two! Please review because reviews mean more chapters!