The Story of Ginny

Chapter 3- The Aftermath

The game was incredible! I've never seen such a fast paced game of quidditch, the players were so quick on their brooms it was nearly impossible to see them. The Bulgarian mascots, the Veela, had quite an effect on the boys and it was really amusing to see them all behave like they'd do anything for them. Except for when Harry nearly tried to jump from the box; that was a bit scary and Hermione and I decided we should keep a close eye on the boys through the match whenever the Veela were out. Fortunately, Harry decided to close his eyes and ears when he saw them again. After the match, the players came into the box to greet the Ministers, Harry and I shared a smile at Ron's look of incredulity when none other than Viktor Krum walked in to shake Cornelius Fudge's hand.

Ireland's victory called for an incredible celebration, the Irish were singing and dancing and drinking late into the night. The partying went on so long that I actually fell asleep in my chair with a pumpkin juice in hand. I dreamed blissful dreams of flying, surrounded by the Irish green as the wind whipped through my hair. I dreamed of my own victory as I heard the crowd set off fireworks in celebration of my goals. I dreamed of the loud- but wait- was it actually a dream? The bangs seemed too real, too close and I felt myself being shaken awake by my dad. As I opened my eyes I could see his magic surrounding him, moving slowly as though filled with dread. He grabbed my wand and thrust it in my hand as he pulled me to my feet and called to the boys, "you need to get back to the portkey, stay together and protect each other. Fred, George, your sister is your responsibility." They both looked as confused as I felt but nodded anyway as Bill and Charlie came into the tent with grave looks on their faces. "They've gotten the muggle family and are playing with them as sport." Bill looked like he was going to be sick at hearing Charlie's words. Dad curtly nodded as he shoved Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and myself out of the tent and toward the portkey yelling after us to not stop until we got there.

Looking around at the scene outside of our tent, I immediately wanted to go back in and hide in the safety of my bed but Fred grabbed my hand as he and George led the rest of us toward the forest where we would hopefully get the portkey.

On our journey, we were thrown around in the crowd and I gripped tighter to my brother's hand, fearing what might happen if I lost them. We heard shouts and saw flashes of magic as we tried our best to stay on our course through the confusion and terror of the people behind us. I heard Harry and Hermione yell as we all fought the crowd doing our best to stay together and get through to the forest. It felt like an hour before we made it through, even though it was probably only a few minutes. Fred and George turned around to survey their charges and exchanged a worried look when they saw we had lost the trio. George pulled me closer to him, shielding me from the cold and the reality of our situation, he and Fred debated whether they should go back in and look for Harry, Hermione, and Ron when we heard a shout from somewhere to our right. We heard a squealing noise and dread filled my heart when I saw a sickly green light spread across the sky. As I peered up from George's protective arms, I saw a symbol that I had only ever seen in Bill and Charlie's old books. The dark mark, his mark, the people torturing the muggles were Death Eaters, You-Know-Who's followers.

The three of us stood, watching the snake in the mark swirl around the skull. Fred and George slowly moved so they were between me and the place we had heard the mark conjured, I gripped my wand tightly and muttered lumos angling it so I could get a better look at our surroundings. I watched as I saw a huddle of figures appear in a clearing near where the mark had been conjured and we heard shouting. I gripped George's hand tightly when I heard Dad's voice, then I heard Harry. They needed our help, we had to get over to them. I slowly moved around the twins and broke into a run when they tried to get me to come back to them. They chased after me as I raced toward my dad and Harry. I had to get there to help, it wasn't Harry. I had to help them convince the others. Harry wouldn't ever support him.