Chapter Ten

They had barely landed in Grimmauld Place when Harry felt Severus's arms around him. Harry returned the hug and closed his eyes tightly to stop him from crying.

Kreacher hovered nearby, "I is very glad you is all right."

Lily smiled at him, "Yes, we're OK. Would you mind making up a bed quickly for Hermione? I think we'd all like some sleep."

Kreacher nodded and went up the stairs. Lily handed over Danica to Severus who held her tightly.

"What the hell happened?" Sirius asked, moving over to them.

Lily shook her head, "I'll tell you once we've got the kids in bed."

Harry didn't complain as his godfather led him up the stairs and into bed. In fact, despite the fear and his pounding head, Harry was asleep with in moments of his head hitting the pillow.

Lily was pacing the kitchen when Severus and Sirius returned from putting Harry and Danica to bed. Kreacher was just putting the finishing touches to the guest room where Hermione was already tucked up in the bed.

Severus went over and put his arms around her, if only to get her to stop moving. Lily felt tears pricking at her eyes and slumped onto a stool.

"It was like it was back then." She said, shaking her head, "Only no one even had half a thought that it might happen."

"Nikka's report that came in said it was some sort of prank gone wrong?" Sirius said, forcing a mug of warm milk, with a rather large shot of brandy, into Lily's hands.

Lily shook her head, "No, they were Death Eaters, at least some of them. The same masks, robes everything. Someone sent up the Dark Mark."

Severus flinched, "Are you sure?"

Lily slammed the mug down, "I'm not likely to forget it!" She snapped, before resting her head on her hand, "I'm sorry."

Severus shook his head, "It's OK, I undersatnd." he said, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back soothingly.

Lily felt a wave of exhaustion pass over her, "What did you put in this?" she said looking at the mug.

Severus and Sirius looked guiltily at each other.

"We know how hard it is for you to sleep sometimes." Severus said, supporting some of her weight which suddenly felt a lot more than she was used to.

Lily nodded, she would have said something, a sarcastic comment, but she was grateful as sleep closed in around her eyes and she fell gracefully into Severus's arms.

The next week was difficult. Harry couldn't seem to get the image of the Dark Mark filling the sky out of his head.

Lily had returned a couple of days after the Quidditch World Cup with a lot of shopping bags from Diagon Ally containing all of their new school supplies.

Harry was looking over the books and robes when he just couldn't keep the question in any more.

"When was the last time you saw the Dark Mark?" he blurted out while Lily was putting away a few new Potions ingredients for Severus.

Lily stopped and turned round to face him, "The night James died."

Harry took a deep breath, he'd suspected as much.

"It was over our house, Voldemort was so confident he was going to win he sent it up just after he killed James." Lily said, taking a deep breath, this was difficult, but Harry had a right to know this.

Harry wasn't sure what to say, "When it went up, my head felt like it was on fire."

Lily looked at him slightly confused, "Was it just the shock? You're one of the few your age who knows what it means after all."

Harry shook his head, "No, at least I don't think so. This was real pain, like someone was branding me."

Lily shook her head, "I'm sorry I can't give you an answer to why that would be."

Harry chewed his lip for a second, "Could it be because Voldemort was there?"

"No." Lily said firmly, "I am sure that is not the case. If he's even still alive, he is far too weak to be showing up at something like that."

Harry nodded and turned his attention back to his school things, "Why are these here?" he said pulling out a new set of smart black dress robes, edged in silver and green braid.

Lily smiled, "You'll see. They're on your list."

Harry looked over the letter's contents, "We've never needed dress robes before."

Lily shrugged innocently, "Maybe they've changed things. In my days you needed a summer cloak as well so they do change it every so often."

Harry was sure that his mother knew more than she was saying and was about to question her when Nikka bust into the Dinning room and slammed a paper on the table.

"Have you seen this?" She said, "That bloody Skeeter woman!"

Harry looked over the paper to where Nikka was pointing.

Dear readers,

I should be able to tell you all how amazing the Quidditch World Cup was. I want to write and tell you all the stunning win from Ireland, despite Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker, catching the snitch. Instead, I will be informing you of the chaos that was the Aurors trying to stop this prank-gone-wrong.

As we all know, Captain of the Aurors is one Mr. Rufus Scrimgeour, who has successfully held the position for many years. However, as the events of the Quidditch World Cup suggest, maybe it is time for Mr. Scrimgeour to step down and hand over to someone who would be able to control a simple prank! As many unfortunate people found out, the Aurors called to "help" with the prank did the exact opposite!

I have many points to cover, so I shall start to do so. Firstly, I have been informed that many, too many, Aurors dad been given the evening off! Why would you not have people on standby in case something like this occurred? What if it was more serious than how it turned out? I have been informed that some of the Aurors that had been placed at the World Cup were not fully qualified, and were in fact still students! Students! Placed on duty, if one can call it that, at the biggest sporting event in the wizarding world. One of the many questions buzzing around my head is this; we know how fans can get when a good game has been shown, they have been known to get a bit rowdy, so what were students, trainees, doing on duty and not known, experienced Aurors? What sort of man would willingly put practically children on duty to protect a massive group of wizards and witches, especially when some have been drinking and partying for Ireland's success or washing away defeat with the Bulgarians? I know that the Auror trainees had to go where they were told, and were thrown into a situation where they didn't know which was was up, so who can we hold responsible for this? I will tell you who; both Rufus Scrimgeour and Cornelius Fudge. Can they honestly not train Aurors well enough to be able to control a simple prank gone wrong? What did it look like when it first happened? Was it even a prank at all, like they were saying, or simply a camp fire catching one of the muggle-style tents?

Secondly, when more trained Aurors did arrive, they only made it worse! Several informants have told me that one Jamie Smith, who was in charge of helping people back to their tents, got lost several times and ended up leaving while aiding a young mother and father with their children to help those "more official". Is this what the ministry are training for? A group of people who go where they're told and only help those seen as powerful? There have been several reports of the lines for apperating points getting out of hand, and nothing happening to those who push the queue. Some people even claim the Aurors in charge actually encouraging people to push, claiming "first come, first serve" and saying only a certain amount of people would be allowed to leave the campsite that evening. Another Auror, one Sally Stevens, was seen helping a certain powerful family Apperate without clearing the check points. This is who is supposed to be protecting us, a bunch of useless, mindless people who only help those who are useful to them! No help was given to those who were injured. We still do not have names or numbers of said injured, and no one has any idea if anyone actually died! Goodness knows it would be too hard to actually tell us if something serious had happened.

But, Readers, something serious did happen. The "prank" I have been talking about ended in a horrifically spectacular finale in the forest surrounding the campsites. As people ran for cover, a dark mark was thrown up into the air for all to see. I don't remember the last time I saw one of those marks, but even just thinking about it gives me shivers. I know what you're thinking, how do I know what happened? I have an informant, who shall remain nameless for their safety, inside the ministry who has told me the events of that night. Could this be the start of him returning, or just some one who thought it would be funny to terrorise the entire community there? And what will Scrimgeour and Fudge do about this? What is being done to find the culprit, or do the Aurors think it's better left to someone more competent? What is going to happen *if the Aurors even manage to catch them? Will anything happen? We all know what sort of pranks have gone unnoticed by the Aurors before, serious offences ignored in favour of ease.

My heart and best wishes go out to the muggle family who own the campsite, and to those injured, or worse, by the prank that some silly, disrespectful people decided would be a good laugh. I assure you, it was not. No one is laughing, except maybe the Aurors.

Until next time, my faithful readers,

Rita Skeeter

"A prank? A PRANK?!" Nikka fumed, "People were hurt! And not just by you." she said shooting a grin to Lily.

Lily grinned back and shrugged, "I said sorry. Don't let her get to you Nikka, she really isn't worth it."

Harry nodded.

"She said that we were useless; that the department had let so many people have the day off they had to bring in students which made the situation worse!"

Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "She's not worth it. Think about all the crap she's written about me. Anything to sell a paper."

Nikka nodded, "They found out about Bertha Jorkins as well so are ripping Ludo a new one. Fudge is furious about it all. It wasn't a prank, I can tell them that for nothing."

"I know." Lily said, "But there hasn't been anything since and this year coming up should be really good, get some good press for the Ministry again."

Nikka laughed and gave a sly look to Harry.

"Ok, what is going on?" Harry asked, "You both know something."

Lily and Nikka nodded.

"Yes we do." Lily said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "But we're not telling you. Now go pack your new things."

Harry sighed and grabbed the bag full of stuff and stomped up to his room; it was driving him insane that they wouldn't tell him what was going on. He wasn't a child any more. His scar hadn't stopped hurting since the match either, which wasn't helping his mood.

Harry put his new things away in his case and went to find Hermione. He knocked on the door and went in when called.

Hermione was sitting on her bed with a notebook, Kreacher sitting on the other end looking rather confused.

"Hi Harry, we're nearly done." Hermione smiled.

Harry looked at her confused, "Why are you interrogating our house elf?"

"Missy Hermione was just asking me some questions." Kreacher said, "She is very confused."

Hermione blushed slightly, "I was just worried that all house elves are… unhappy, like Winky was."

Harry nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, "I think it depends on the person. Mum always looked at them as part of the family you see. The Malfoys weren't great to start with but Mum can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be."

Kreacher nodded, "I is happy here. More happy with Lily as my Mistress than ever before. The old Blacks, though I hate to speaks bad of them, didn't treat Kreacher so well. If you will excuse me I must be doing the dishes."

He looked to Hermione for permission to leave which she nodded.

"Ok, I'll see you later. Thank you for talking to me." Hermione smiled.

Kreacher hopped off the bed and left the room, leaving the door open slightly.

"I hope I didn't upset him." Hermione said.

"Why would you have upset him?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged, "I just wanted to make sure he was happy but it kept coming out wrong, I feel like he maybe thought I was accusing you and your folks of not treating him right."

Harry waved his hand, "I wouldn't worry. Kreacher is more forgiving than he pretends to be. I'm not going to pretend that all house elves are treated right but things are changing more and more. There are a few who don't even go on holiday with their families any more which is basically giving them some time off."

"But they don't get paid!" Hermione said, more loudly than she had meant, "They are basically slaves. They have no rights, you saw how Crouch treated poor Winky, she was just scared."

Harry nodded, he wasn't really sure what to say, "You're right but honestly, most don't mind. Kreacher loves it here, Petal and the others love it at the Malfoys' I promise." his mind went back to what his mother had said about Crouch, he wasn't sure that was something to share though so kept quiet, "Uncle Sirius once said that you should judge a man on how he treats those below him, not his equals."

Hermione nodded, "I just wish there was something I could do."

Harry helped her sort her large pile of school books and pack them neatly in her trunk, seeing how well organised everything was made Harry glad his mother wasn't going to check his trunk which had everything thrown in and the lid squeezed shut.

He picked up a large pile of blue satin and asked Hermione if she wanted 'it' packed as well. Hermione laughed at his confused face and took the fabric off him.

"Yes." She said, folding it quickly but perfectly, "It's my ball gown, it was on the list to bring one."

Harry nodded, "Yeah it was on mine to bring dress robes. No idea why but I think my Mum and Nikka know. They just wont say."