The morning soon approached and we all sleepily were lead to the Portkey then back to the Burrow. Molly had been waiting for us in front of the house and ran towards us. ""Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" She squeals. She looked worried, so much so she was waiting in her pajamas the daily prophet tucked in her hands, "Arthur--I've been so worried--so worried"She quickly hugs Mr. Weasley. "You're all right, " Mrs. Weasley mutters her eyes were red as if she'd been crying, "you're alive... Oh boys.." She hugs the twins tightly. A

"Ouch! Mum--you're strangling us--" They exclaim.

"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley sobs, "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough OW. L. S? Oh Fred... George..  Y/n." She  says pulling me into the hug. "I feel awful. I'm so sorry. I never should of yelled."

"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay, "Mr. Weasley says soothingly, pulling her away from us.  "Bill, pick up that paper, I want to see what it says..." We all move to the house cramming into the kitchen. Percy and Mr. Weasley stare at the paper. "I knew it, " says Mr. Weasley heavily, "Ministry blunders... Culprits not apprehended... Lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... National disgrace... Who wrote this? Ah... Of course... Rita Skeeter. 

""That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" Percy says furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans--"

"Do us a favor, Perce, " Bill says, yawning, "and shut up. "

"I'm with Bill on this," I yawn, "its still too early to hear you thinking you're better than us."

"I'm mentioned, " Mr. Weasley says.

"Where?" Mrs. Weasley asks, choking on her tea, "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"

"Not by name, " Mr. Weasley says, "Listen to this: '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 some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but reflising to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen. ' Oh really, " He hands off the paper to Percy, "Nobodywas hurt. What was I supposed to say? Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods... Well, there certainly will be rumors now she's printed that. Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."

"I'll come with you, Father, " Percy says, "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person." Percy hurries from the kitchen and I look to Ron and then Harry.

"The same Mr. Crouch who didn't know his name?" I ask them.

"Pathetic really," Ron mutters.

"Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?" Molly asks.

"I've got to go, Molly, " Mr. Weasley says, "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off..."

"Mrs. Weasley, " Harry says  suddenly,  "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"

"Hedwig, dear?" says Mrs. Weasley distractedly. "No... No, there hasn't been any post at all." Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I share a look. "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"

"Yeah... Think I will too, " Ron  says,"Hermione? Y/n?"

"Yes, " Hermione says quickly.

"Coming," I say. We head up the stairs into Ron's room.  

"What's up, Harry?" Ron asks. I sit down on one of the numerous beds with Hermione.

"There's something I haven't told you, " Harry says, "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again." Hermione gasps and starts muttering about what it could be.

"Merlins sake," I groan, "you okay at least?"

"Yeah," Harry says. 

"But--he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean--last time your scar kept hurting, he was atHogwarts, wasn't he?" Hermione asks.

"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive, " Harry says, "But I was dreaming about him... Him and Peter--you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill... Someone."

 "It was only a dream, " Ron  says bracingly. "Just a nightmare."

"Yeah, but was it, though?" Harry says as he looks towards the window, "It's weird, isn't it?... My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."

"Don't--say--his--name!" Ron hisses through gritted teeth. 

"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry goes on,   "At the end of last year?"

"Professor Trelawney is a nut," I tell Harry, "don't listen to her."

"You weren't there, " Harry says. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance--a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again... Greater and more terrible than ever before... And he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him... And that night Wormtail escaped."

 "Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?" Hermione asks  "Are you expecting a letter?"

"I told Sirius about my scar, " says Harry, shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer. "

"Good thinking!"  Ron says, "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!"

"Or maybe Sirius doesn't have a clue," I say playing devils advocate, "Hermione should look into this. I'll help."

 "Still, I hoped he'd get back to me quickly, " Harry says. 

"But we don't know where Sirius is... He could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" Hermione reasons, "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days."

"Yeah, I know, " Harry,  says,

 "Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry" Ron says, "Come on--three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play... You can try out the Wronski Feint..."

"Ron, " Hermione says, "Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now... He's worried, and he's tired... We all need to go to bed... "

"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch, " said Harry suddenly. "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt."

*******

  I slid next to Ginny with my book. Everyone had been working on things to keep themselves busy. While I had been distracting my self from reading by spinning the silver bracelet around my wrist. "What are you two up to?" asks Mrs. Weasley sharply. 

"Homework, " Fred says vaguely. 

 "Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday, " Mrs. Weasley says.

 "Yeah, we've left it a bit late, " George says. 

"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" asks Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"

"Now, Mum, " Fred says, looking up at her, "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?" The room filled with laughter at his comment.

 "Oh your father's coming!" Molly says suddenly, looking up at the clock again.  "Coming, Arthur!"

. "Well, the fat's really in the fire now, " Mr. Weasley says as he rejoins us, "Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."

"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks, " says Percy swiftly.

"Stop being a kiss ass," I say covering it with a fake cough.

 "Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky, " Mr. Weasley  says irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."

"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" says Percy hotly. 

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" Hermione  says angrily. 

"Now look here, Hermione!" Percy says harshly. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants--"

"His slave, you mean!" Hermione corrects, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"

"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!"  Mrs. Weasley says , breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you... "

"Come on Mione," I say, "we can hex him later." I link my arm with hers and lead her and Ginny up the stairs into Ginny's room. Our stuff all laid out nice on the beds we were occupying. I pull my school trunk from under the bed and start to pile everything in. I pull a nice dress out and look at Hermione.

"So that was why she was questioning us about dresses," Ginny says.

"Yeah but why do we have dresses?" I ask.

"They were on the supplies list," Hermione informs us, "my mum and I picked one out from a muggle store before I left." She tucks it away carefully and I look at mine. 

"Why do we even need them?" I ask. They two girls shrug. 

"I guess well learn soon enough," Ginny says. I finish packing and then tuck the trunk beneath the bed again. 

 "You still have that bracelet?" Hermione asks. I nod.

"Well yeah," I say, "Draco gave it to me. What else would I do with it?"

"Shove it down the gits throat," Ginny hisses, "sorry?"

"Lets just sleep," I groan.

"I agree," Hermione says.

******

 I get down the stairs as I see Mr. Weasley run from the kitchen.  "Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asks, "What's he been up to now. "

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night, " Mrs. Weasley says.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" George asks, "Isn't he that nutter--" I sit beside him and smirk at his statement.

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody, " says Mrs. Weasley sternly. 

"He's a nutter," I tell George.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" Fred says quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather... "

"Moody was a great wizard in his time, "  Bill says.

 "He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" asks Charlie. 

"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" Fred. says  "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything... "

"Who is Mad-Eye?" Harry asks. 

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry, " said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror--one of the best... A Dark wizard catcher,  Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though... The families of people he caught, mainly... And I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."

"Moody's a nutter plain and simple," I say coldly, "his work made him go mad...."

"Still he was once great," Charlie adds.

"You boys coming with us to King's Cross?" Molly asks her sons.

"Sure," Bill says. Charlie nods. She looks at Percy who sighs.

 "I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment, " he tells us, "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me. "

"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" George says seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."

*******

  We wait for the taxis. All of us holding onto out belongings, "Lunar stop," I hiss at the owl who was attempting to reach Pigwidgeon. This was the beginning of the Taxi mess. Next was the heavy rain caused the Wet Start Fireworks to go off in Fred's trunk. Making the muggle taxi driver freak out and Crookshanks attack all of us. Scratching and clawing everyone. Then good old King's Cross was three times as busy. Making it harder to not bring attention to us running through a wall. But once we got across a breath of relief was shared between us. As we say our goodbye to the older Weasley boys and Molly, Charlie speaks up.

   ""I might be seeing you all sooner than you think, " Charlie says grinning 

    "Why?" Fred asks keenly.

 "You'll see, " Charlie says,  "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it... It's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it, ' after all."

 "Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," Bill says.

 "Why?" George asks  impatiently. 

"You're going to have an interesting year, " Bill says , his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it. "

"A bit of what?" asks Ron as the whistle blows.

"Tell us!" I say, "please?"

"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley, " Hermione says as we climb on board. 

"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley, "Harry says.

 "You're the best Molly!" I squeal as we call out the window.

 "Oh it was my pleasure, dears, " says Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but... Well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with... One thing and another. "

"Mum!" exclaims Ron irritably, "What d'you three know that we don't?"

"You'll find out this evening, I expect, " Mrs. Weasley, says smiling. "It's going to be very exciting mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules--"

"What rules?"  Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and I ask together.

 "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you... Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?" Mrs. Weasley says as the train starts to move

 "Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellows out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"

 "Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts, "  Ron says  grumpily, sitting down next to Harry, as I move by Hermione, "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what-"

"Shh!" Hermione whispers suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to ours. 

"... Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore--the man's such a Mudblood-lover--and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do... " We hear Draco rant. I slam the door shut and look at them.

"Bad friends, bad," I lecture, "leave my boyfriend alone."

"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" Hermione rants angrily. "I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him. "

"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" Harry asks. 

"Yes," Hermione answers sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."

"I think I've heard of it, " Ron says vaguely. "Where is it? What country?"

"Well, nobody knows, do they?" Hermione says, raising her eyebrows. 

"Er--why not?" Harry asks.

"Rivalry and pettiness," I say.

"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets, " Hermione says.

 "Come off it, " Ron says, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts--how are you going to hide a great big castle?"

"But Hogwarts is hidden, "Hermione says, in surprise. "Everyone knows that... Well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway. "

"Just you, then, " Ron says.

"I knew it," I tell him, "so ha!"

"So go on--how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?" He asks.

"It's bewitched, " Hermione says, "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying 'DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE'."

"Which is a pretty lame way of keeping people away," I say.

"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?" Harry asks.

"Maybe, " says Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the WorldCup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable"

"Come again?" The boys asks.

"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?" Hermione says.

"Er... If you say so, " Harry says.

 "But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north, " Hermione says thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms. "

"Ah, think of the possibilities, " Ron says dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident... Shame his mother likes him... "

 "Shame I can't push you off a glacier," I say causing Harry to chuckle, "or at least cut the mullet you've got going on."

 "Weren't you defending Bill's long hair?" He asks.

"Yeah but his hair looks nice," I say, "regardless its your hair... I'm going to go check around. Get us some candy." I hand Ron some gallons and he starts to protest.

"I got it- Its fine-"

"Ron I lived at your house all summer," I tell him, "you can let me pay for this." He sighs and places the change in his pocket. I step from the compartment and shut the door behind me. Then open the one across from ours. I see Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zabini. 

 "Am I interrupting?" I ask. Draco smirks. 

 "I was just telling the boys how father thinks I'm to good for Hogwarts," Draco says. I nod and sit beside him. 

"Oh really?" I ask.

"Drumstrang is what he wanted," He says, "but my mum wasn't having it."

"Think you could pull of that uniform?" I ask him.

"Of course I can," He says, "I can pull of anything." He winks and me and I roll my eyes and lay my head on his shoulder. They had started another discussion about Draco and I would but in but nothing huge. 

"I should get back to my compartment," I say, "but I'll see you. Bye Draco." I softly place my lips against his then back out from the compartment.