"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling, " Mr. Weasley implores Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.

 "Don't worry, Dad, " Fred says gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated. " I smile as I sleepily walk away. Hermione behind me.

 "Do you want hot chocolate?" Bill asks.

  "I'll just fall asleep," I admit, "too much energy was used cheering."

"Well goodnight," Bill says.

"Night guys!" I call out. 

"Night!" The say as I leave for where the girls were sleeping. I curl up in my bed. Finally getting a chance to actually sleep.

*****

  "Get up! Get up!" Mr. Weasley yells, "come on girls! Now get dressed!" I groan and wipe my eyes. Pulling on pajama pants and a coat, then my shoes, finally shoving my wand in my pocket. As we run out with him I see the boys frantically looking around at the screaming figures around us.  One of the dark figures tossing a small muggle boy around in the air.

   "Thats sick," Ron says, "That is really sick..."

 "We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouts over all the noise, rolling up his sleeves. "You lot--get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!" He leads his own sons towards the crowd with the mass of ministrey wizards.

"C'mon, " Fred says he grabs Ginny's hand and he pulls her towards the woods. The rest of us follow closely behind. As we get to the trees the loud screams and cries echo around me. I felt a wave a nausea hit me as people push and shove around us.

  "AAAh!" I hear Ron scream. I look around for them. The bright lantrens from earlier no longer shining.

  "What happened?" Hermione asks anxiously, "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid--lumos!" A bright light shines from her wand and I move towards them. Ron was laying on the ground.

  "Tripped over a tree root, " he says angrily, he stands up slowly and huffs.

 "Well, with feet that size, hard not to, " I hear an oh so familiar voice say. We turn to see the great Draco Malfoy. He was leaning against the tree and was surprisingly calm. Although upon seeing me a wave of uneasiness could be seen from him.

 "Fuck off Malfoy," Ron scoffs. 

 "Hey! No!" I scold.

"Yeah language, Weasley, " Draco says his grey eyes glittering, "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?" He was referring to Hermione. But right as his words left his mouth a blast erupts from the camps shaking the ground around us.

 "What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asks angrily. 

 "Granger, they're after Muggles, "Draco says,  "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around... They're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh. "

"Hermione's a witch, " Harry snarls.

 "Have it your own way, Potter, " Draco says grinning maliciously, "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" Ron shouts.

"Guys!" I scream, "now is not the time!" The screams get louder around us as more explosions go off.

"Never mind, Ron, " Hermione says quickly restraining Ron from murdering the blond. Draco chuckles slightly.

"Scare easily, don't they?" he says lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to--trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where're your parents?" Harry says, getting more and more pissed off, "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

"Its not fair to assume that," I tell Harry.

"Exactly, Well... Even if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?" Draco sneers.

"Oh come on, " Hermione says with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger, " sneers Draco.

 "Come on, " Hermione repeats.

"I'll catch up," I tell them, "go on." Hermione nods and pulls them away leaving me and the blonde. I pull him into a quick hug and sigh. "I was worried."

"They're death eaters," He says, "they won't touch me."

"Still," I tell him, "they go after anyone who isn't them. They're truly evil. It just worries me."

"I'll be fine," He says, "if anyone needs to be you. With you running around with that Mudblo- muggle born."

"I'm tough I'l be fine," I assure him. I kiss his check and back away. "I better catch up. But please be careful."

"I will," He assures me. I nod and wave. Then I turn and run down the way Harry and the others had went. I catch up to see them with Ludo Bagman. 

 "Damn them!" he says, looking super distracted, and without another word, he disapparated. 

"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" Hermione asks, frowning.

 "He was a great Beater, though, " Ron says.

"Yeah but you're brothers and I rival him," I admit, "but who knows..."

"The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them," Ron says as he fiddles with his Krum figure, "think you could do that?"

  "Hell yeah," I say sarcasticlly, "but seriously I wish I could."

"I hope the others are okay, " Hermione says the surroundings much quieter 

"They'll be fine, " Ron  says. 

"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy, " Harry says,"He's always said he'd like to get something on him."

"That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right, " Ron says.

"I really hope Lucius isn't involved," I say.

 "Those poor Muggles, though, " Hermione  says nervously, "What if they can't get them down?"

"They will, " Ron reassures her, "They'll find a way. "

"Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight!"Hermione exclaims, "I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? Do you think they've been drinking, or aret hey just--" I turn quickly behind me as I hear soft footsteps behind us.

 "Hello?" Harry calls. Nothing. Harry gets us and looks around the tree, "Who's there?" 

"MORSMORDRE!" Someone screams loudly. Then a green mark storms through the sky. Something familiar about it.

"What the--?" gasps Ron as he sprang to his feet again.

"Who's there?" Harry calls again. 

"Harry, come on, move!" Hermione says tugging him away. I was frozen staring at the mark. The familiar green tainting the sky just like it had that day.

 "What's the matter?" Harry asks, startled to see her face so white and terrified. 

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione says, pulling him as hard as she could. "You-Know-Who's sign!"

"Voldemort's--" Harry mumbles. Hermione grabs my hand and pulls me with them.

"Harry, come on!" Hermione yells. We start across the but before we could get far enough Harry pulls away

, "DUCK!" He screams as he pulls us to the ground. 

"STUPEFY!" echos around out. The sky around us flashing.

"Stop!" yells a loud voice, "STOP! That's my son!" The screaming and throwing of spells stops and Harry moves first.  "Ron--Harry, Hermione- Y/n- are you all right?"

"Out of the way, Arthur, " a cold voice cuts in.It was Mr. Crouch. As we all stand more wizards close in on us. "Which of you did it? His sharp eyes darting between us. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?" They thought we did it?! In the moment everything in my being bubbles up.

"We didn't do that!" Harry says., gesturing up at the skull. 

"We didn't do anything!" Ron says. I hold up a finger as to respond and hunch over letting lose the bubbling over content of my stomach. 

"Y/n," Hermione mumbles as she rubs my back.

"What did you want to attack us for?" Ron asks.

"Do not lie, sir!" Mr. Crouch shouts at us, "and stand up!" He was demanding me stop. I wipe my mouth and stand looking across the official wizards. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," some witch whispers, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to."

"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" Mr. Weasley asks quickly.

 "Over there, " Hermione says shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees... They shouted words--an incantation--"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" says Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, Missy--"

"We're too late, " a witch says  "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so, " Mr. Diggory says, "Our Stunners went right through those trees... There's a good chance we got them... "

"Amos, be careful!" a few of the wizards warn as Mr. Diggory squares his shoulders, raises his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watches him vanish with her hands over her mouth. A few seconds later,  Mr. Diggory shouts. "Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's--but--blimey.."

 "You've got someone?" shouts Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?" Mr. Diggory reappears with Winky's small figure in his arm. 

"This--cannot--be, " he says jerkily. "No--"

"No point, Mr. Crouch, " Mr. Diggory calls after him. "There's no one else there." Mr. Crouch searches anyways. "Bit embarrassing. Barty Crouch's house-elf... I mean to say..."

"Come off it, Amos, "  Mr. Weasley says quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand. "

"Yeah, " says Mr. Diggory, "and she had a wand. "

"What?" Mr. Weasley asks. 

"Here, look. " Mr. Diggory holds up a wand and shows 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 non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand. As the scene unfolds Ludo Bagman apprates into the group. Looking confused.

"The Dark Mark!" he pants, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues.  "Who did it? Did you get them? Barry! What's going on?" Mr. Crouch returns with empty hands. I "Where have you been, Barty? Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too--gulping gargoyles! What happened to her?"

"I have been busy, Ludo, " Mr. Crouch says,  "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why--?" Bagman asks, "No! Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"

"And she had one, " Mr. Diggory says, "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself.... Ennervate!" Winky stirs slightly then opens her large brown eyes.  "Elf!" Mr. Diggory says sternly, "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures! 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 gasps, "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barks Mr. Diggory, holding up the wand.

"Hey--that's mine!" Harry says.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Diggory says as everyone looks at him.

"That's my wand!" Harry says,  "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it?" repeats Mr. Diggory in disbelief, "Is this a confession? You threw it aside afteryou conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" Mr. Weasley says angrily practically radiating off of him. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er--of course not, " mumbles Mr. Diggory. "Sorry... Carried away.."

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

"So," says Mr. Diggory, "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky squeals with tears running down her face, "I is... I is... I is just picking it up, sir! i is not making the Dark Mark, sir, i is not knowing how!"

"It wasn't her!" Hermione says, "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper! It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"

"No, " Harry says, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf. "

"Yeah, it was a human voice, " Ron says. 

"It was a loud deep grown men's voice," I tell them, "and elf couldn't project their voice like that."

"Well, we'll soon see, " Mr. Diggory growls, "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?" He takes his wand and points it at Harry's"Prior Incantato!" A ghost of the spell for the dark mark appears in front of us.  "Deletrius!" 

"It can't be," I mumble.

"So, " Mr. Diggory says triumphantly.

 "I is not doing it!" she squeals,  "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"

"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr. Diggory roars, "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

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

"Perhaps, Amos is suggesting, "  Mr. Crouch says, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Mr. Crouch... Not... Not at all.," Mr. Diggory says.

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barks Mr. Crouch, "Harry Potter--and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

"Of course--everyone knows--" mutters Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted. 

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouts. 

"Mr. Crouch, I--I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory mutters again.

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

"She--she might've picked it up anywhere--" 

"Precisely, Amos, " Mr. Weasley says, "She might have picked it up anywhere... Winky? Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?

"I--I is finding it... Finding it there, sir... " she whispers, "there... In the trees, sir."

"You see, Amos?" Mr. Weasley says, "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."

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

"I is seeing no one, sir... No one.. " Winky says.

"Amos, " says Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her. You may rest assured that she will be punished, " 

 "M-m-master... " Winky stammers, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please... " He looks harshly at the poor elf. Zero pity in his eyes.

"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible, " he says slowly. "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 that she disobeyed me. This means clothes. "

"No!" shrieks Winky, "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"

"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch,"Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"

"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me, " he says coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have house for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation." Winky sobbing loudly as her master scoffs.

 "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can--if Harry could have it back, please--" Mr. Weasley says, Mr. Diggory hands Harry his wand. "Come on, you four... Hermione!" We follow him out of the clearing finally this night could end.

"What's going to happen to Winky?" Hermione asks once we were far enough ahead.

"I don't know, " Mr. Weasley says. 

"The way they were treating her!" Hermione says furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time... And Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was--it was like she wasn't even human!"

"Well, she's not, " Ron says. 

"That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way--" Hermione rants.

"Hermione, I agree with you, " said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"

"We lost them in the dark, " Ron says, "Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?"

"I'll explain everything back at the tent, " Mr. Weasley says tensely. 

"That mark shows real evil," I hiss, "death eaters. They have no concern for anyone or thing but themselves.... Lets get to the tent." A large crowd stood at the edge of the woods all asking questions. My eyes glazed over as I stare at the green hanging over us. I look down to see the mess of the older 3 Weasley boys. Ripped shirts, bruised, and bloody. "I'm going to bed." Mr. Weasley looks at me with worry in his eyes. He could see the affect of the mark. All I could focus on was how the manor glowed green. How scarlet rivers ran down the hall. "Night."