Outside their tent, pandemonium seemed to have erupted. The air was filled with thundering screams and franting cries, increasing in intensity with every passing second. A frenzy of people sprinted in all directions, their urgent steps trampling over anyone who was in their path. Ben squinted his eyes, in a failed attempt to make out what they were running away from. He was curious about the cause of such a chaos, but he was aware that waiting to find out wasn't an option.

"Let's go!" shouted Delilah, and they all set off in the direction everyone was running towards.

Ben gripped tightly his sister's hand as they sprinted away. Terrified screams and relentless panicking enveloped them. In the middle of the chaos, tents went up in flames, casting an eerie glow on the chaos. Spells crackled through the air, adding to the surreal atmosphere. Ben had an awful sensation regarding simply following the crowd as they ran away from whatever was happening.

"Let's go to the woods!" he yelled. "Follow me!"

They separated themselves from the herd of terrified people, and they ran as swiftly as possible into the forest. There were many other people, including mostly adults, in there as well, which made Ben's worry decrease significantly.

It was getting darker and darker with every single step they took into the woods; and Ben could barely see who was around him. The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.

There was a thud right behind Ben, which nearly caused him to have a heart attack, followed by a female moaning out in pain.

"Shit!"

"Are you okay, Delilah?" he heard Thomas ask his cousin.

"Yeah," she replied, sounding quite far away. "I bumped into a branch."

"Where are you?" asked Alycia, from beside Ben.

"Here."

"Where's here."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," complained Thomas. "Lumos."

The light coming from the boy's wand illuminated his cousin sitting on the ground, with a red and painful-looking mark in the middle of her face. The branch she had walked into was right in front of her.

Delilah opened her mouth to speak as she got up, but her voice was muffled out by a blast like a bomb sounding from the campsite, followed by a flash of green light that momentarily lit the trees around them.

"What's happening?" asked Delilah, trembling.

"I don't know," answered Thomas. "But I've got my guesses. Let's keep going, come on."

They continued walking up the path, until Ben heard some young voices in front of them. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he could tell someone was speaking in French, and the others in English. If he wasn't mistaken, they seemed to be four girls, and two boys, judging by their silhouettes.

"Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue..." was saying a girl.

"Who?" asked a voice. A voice that sounded oddly similar to Ron Weasley's.

"Madame Maxime?" she repeated. "Vous ne parlais pas Français?"

"What's she saying?"

"I wish Ben was with us, he speaks French," he heard another voice. It was Harry's voice, undeniably. Ben's heartbeat raised, and he immediately walked up to them.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here," he said, and watched happily as Harry's smile grew bigger.

"Ben!"

In front of Harry, Ron and Hermione, was a group of three blonde girls who were looking at them, their faces full of confusion and fear. He turned to them, and cleared his throat. "Bonjour... Uh... Je peux parler Français."

"Ah, super!" a curly-haired girl exclaimed, her lips curving into a smile. "Tu es de Beauxbatons?"

"Non, je suis de Hogwarts, mais je suis à moitié français," he replied. "Avez-vous besoin de quelque chose?"

"Nous étions ici avec Madame Maxine, notre directrice," explained another girl, younger-looking than the other. "Mais nous l'avons perdue dans la foule, et nous ne la trouvons nulle part. Est-ce que tu sais où elle se trouve?"

"Non, je suis vraiment désolée, mais je ne la connais même pas. En tout cas, n'allez pas le chercher dans les tentes. Ne prenez pas de risque. Cachez-vous tous dans la forêt, et quand ce qui se passe sera terminé, vous pourrez aller la chercher en toute sécurité."

The girl nodded at him in understanding. "D'accord, merci beaucoup pour ton aide. Bonne chance, au revoir."

They all smiled kindly at him, and walked away as soon as he returned the gesture.

"I didn't know you could speak French," commented Ron. "Why can you?"

"Because my father is French," he replied.

Ron's icy blue eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

"Since... he was born, I assume."

"What a stupid question to ask, Ron," Hermione scolded the redhead, and took a step forward to hug Ben. "Hi, Ben. We missed you so much, are you okay?"

"Yes, we all are," he reassured, and Hermione smiled at him, pulling away. He looked at Harry, and wondered if it'd be odd if he went to hug him. He had hugged him and Ron before, but that year they'd be turning fifteen, and he wasn't sure if boys still hugged when they got older. Father never hugged his friends, he only shook their hands.

He didn't have time to do that, either, since Thomas spoke up, breaking the momentary silence. "Does any of you know what's happening?"

"Voldemort's followers," replied Harry, dryly. Everyone flinched at the mention of his name.

"What?" exclaimed Ben. "Why? Why tonight? How'd you know?"

"We saw them," he answered. "They're after Muggles. Malfoy told us."

"You've been with Malfoy?" asked Ben, frowning.

Harry nodded. "We walked into him before. He even threatened Hermione."

"That stupid son of a bi-" he began, but Alycia let out a strangled gasp, interrupting the swear word. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Harry chuckled. Ben looked at him. Even in the darkness of the night, his eyes were sparkling brighter than any of the many stars glowing in the sky above them. He couldn't see him entirely, because the only light illuminating him came from Hermione and Delilah's wands, but he could tell he had grown during the months they had been apart. His hair was longer, and looked softer and fluffier than ever.

"Right, Ben?" he heard Thomas say, but it was as though he was speaking from miles away. Instead, Harry was right in front of him, and his eyes were fixed on his own, and he simply couldn't find the strength to look away. "Ben!"

"Yes?" he answered lazily. So Alycia stood on tiptoe and clapped her hand right next to her brother's ear, who turned around with a start. "What?"

"Thomas was telling your friends what happened, and that his parents are nowhere to be found."

"Oh, yeah, it's true."

"Well, we lost Ginny, Fred and George, too," added Ron worriedly. "We should go ahead to find them."

"Sure," said Delilah, and spun around. "Where were we going?"

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Which path were we following?"

"I think it was that one," Thomas nodded to their right. Hermione and Delilah pointed their wands in that direction at the same time, illuminating a smallers trail between bigger trees.

So they all went on with their journey walking across that path. Hermione joined Alycia and Delilah, who soon started chatting, while Ron and Harry walked beside the boys. At first, they were all silent, until the redhead and Thomas began talking about Krum and the match.

Ben had expected Harry to join their conversation, since he, himself, was a Quidditch player. But, surprisingly, he didn't. He remained silent, walking very closely to Ben, who was wishing he could come up with a subject to talk about, since he really wanted to speak to him.

He glanced over at Harry, who instantly looked away, in a failed attempt to make it look as though he wasn't already looking at him. Ben noticed a strange tingling sensation on his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked him, almost whispering.

"Yes, why?" was his response.

"I don't know, I was just wondering."

"Oh, okay," he said. His voice had changed slightly throughout the summer. It was... deeper, and a bit raspy. It sounded good, it made Ben want Harry to keep talking and talking, so he could keep listening to it. "I'm okay, just worried. I didn't get to tell you this, but I had... a dream? I don't think we should talk about this out here. I'll tell you tomorrow, if we see each other?"

"I hope we do."

"So do I."

Ben smiled, and Harry did, too. And, for an instant, it felt as though they were all just a group of friends going for a night walk at midnight, in the middle of a summer camp. As though they weren't running into a forest to hide from a bunch of Death Eaters. As though he wasn't in danger not only because of Voldemort's followers, but because he was walking side-by-side with Harry Potter, who he wasn't supposed to be friends with anymore.

What if they came across Malfoy, again? He had promised to keep his secret, but what if he was there along with his parents? If Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy saw Ben and Alycia hanging out with Harry, Ron and Hermione, they'd both be in undeniable trouble. But he then realised that it was probably impossible. The reason why they were hiding in the woods was because there was a Death Eater attack going on. And Ben was absolutely sure Draco's parents were part of them.

All of a sudden, realisation hit him, and he involuntarily stopped walking.

"What's wrong, Ben?"

He inmediately resumed the walk, not wanting to cause any drama. "What if..." he began, whispering. However, he couldn't speak up about his worries, since quick but heavy footsteps were heard nearby, causing them to stop walking and look around in silence.

Ben slowly and silently approached Alycia, to be able to protect her if he needed to. For a couple of seconds, nothing was happening. They all remained still and soundless, eyes wide open, and wands drawn tightly.

The sound of footsteps was heard again, though they weren't as heavy as before. The person causing them had probably heard them, too, and had decided to be cautious. It was followed by the noise of a bush moving and, all of a sudden, a dark figure emerged from the darkness. Ben immediately pushed Alycia behind him, and he lifted up his wand towards the silhouette.

The light coming from Hermione and Delilah's allowed them to distinguish the mask. Ben breathed in, sharply, as he realised it was oddly similar to the ones Death Eaters. It was one of them. The person standing right in front of them was, in fact, a Death Eater.

Ben didn't have a clue of what to do next. Should he attack him or her? It really seemed to be a woman behind the mask, and she wasn't very intimidating, at least regarding her body. Even though the Death Eaters wore long, wide black robes, you could tell that she wasn't very muscular.

She was observing Harry, very attentively and in an eerie silence, and Ben didn't like that in the slightest. Alycia shifted in her place behind her brother, causing the Death Eater to instantly spin around to face them, pointing her wand at them, and she let out a gasp.

"Ben?"

Ben's eyes widened in surprise. "Audrey?" he frowned. "What?"

"What are you two doing here?" she demanded to know, her voice suddenly trembling slightly.

The boy took a while to answer. He couldn't take in the fact that Audrey, his older sister, the girl who had promised to help Alycia and him escape, who had defied her parents because of love, and who had been gone for the last two months of summer, was the same person standing in front of them, as a Death Eater.

"We... We're here to watch the match."

Even though there was a mask covering her face, Ben could imagine his sister was pursing her lips.

"I should have expected you would be here with your little blood-traitor friends," she said, looking at Ben's companions.

Ben's eyes narrowed as he clenched his jaw. "I should have expected you'd be here with your lovely terrorist friends."

"Does Mother know you're here with Potter and company?"

"I didn't come here with them," he retorted angrily, taking a step forward. "Does Steve know you're here?"

"That's none of your business," she spat.

"Right, but it is Steve's business."

Another bomb-sounding blast went off from the camp. It sounded much, much louder than the last one. That's what made him realise they had accidentally been approaching the camp, and that was probably the reason they had come across a Dea- Audrey.

"Who's Steve?" wondered Hermione.

"Shut up, mudblood," snapped Audrey, sounding furious.

"Don't call her that!" roared Ron, his eyes glowing with such rage he almost looked scary.

Before Audrey had the chance to say something else, or to even attack any of them, Ben spoke up. "Merlin, Audrey, I really can't believe you've done this.'

"What?"

"I can't believe you've actually turned into this... I thought you'd changed. I I was so dumb, so stupid for trusting you."

"Shut up, Benjamin."

"I thought you wanted to do the right thing. You said you wanted to protect Alycia and I. You told me you would protect us once you got out of Hogwarts. You promised me you would!"

"Stop," she demanded, though the shakiness on her voice was clear.

Ben took advantage of that. He knew what Audrey was expecting him to say. He knew how afraid she was of hearing him say it. He knew perfectly well how much it would hurt her if he did. Just like she was also totally aware of how much her betrayal would hurt him.

"No, I'm not going to stop! You're a traitor, Audrey, I really hope you know that!" he exclaimed, angrily, trying to cause as much pain as possible with his words. "And I hope you remember it every single day of your life, because you're a liar. The only person you care about is you. You never gave a shit about us, or Steve."

"Shut up!" she bellowed, pointing her wand right at her brother's face. Alycia let out a muffled cry. "Or I will fucking kill all of you right now! Starting with you."

Ben smirked at her, angry tears threatening to fall from his eyes, and took another step forward, standing so close to Audrey that her wand came into contact with his neck. He felt a strong grip on his left wrist, and turned around to see Harry, looking terrified.

"Ben..." he whispered.

"She won't do it," he said, and Harry slowly let go of Ben's wrist, leaving a tingling sensation on his skin.

"Oh, yes I will," she retorted. "You have no idea what I'm capable of, Benjamin."

"You're right," he admitted, turning back to her. "I don't know you any more. You've changed, you're one of them, now. You're a Death Eater. I bet you can't wait to hurt me, can you? I bet Mother and Father are so proud of you now that you've become exactly like them."

"I'm not like them," she stated through gritted teeth, her wand shaking.

"Yes, you are."

It wasn't Ben who had spoken, but Alycia. Her usually sweet and youthful voice had turned momentarily ruthless, and much more mature-sounding.

There was silence after that. A long, tense silence that was broken by the sound of Audrey's cloak moving as she put her wand down, and by her whisper. "Go."

Ben took a step back, joining Harry.

"Go away, right now," repeated Audrey, her voice sounding clearer and more serene. "Hide in the forest until it's all over."

And, with that, she slowly disappeared back into the darkness of the forest. They all stood motionless, and without saying a word, until Ben began to walk with big strong strides up another path, and his friends followed him.

"Ben..." called Thomas.

"We have to find somewhere to hide, I'm getting tired of walking."

"Me too," added Alycia.

"Look!" exclaimed Ron, pointing to a small sandy path that led to a big and dark clearing. "Let's go there."

They all hurried up the path, and stopped at the 'entrance'. Thomas, Ron, Ben and the girls sat down on the ground, taking some seconds to catch their breath. But Harry was still going deeper and deeper into the dark.

"Harry?" called Hermione, between gasps.

The boy didn't hear her, so Ben stood up and walked up to him. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I think I... heard someone," he whispered.

"Someone?" he repeated, receiving a nod from his friend. "Did you recognise the..."

A deep voice coming from the darkness in front of them interrupted Ben's question.

"Morsmordre!"

All of a sudden, an emerald burst of light was shot up into the night sky, and it exploded with a blast, materializing into an enormous skull, with a hissing snake coming from its mouth.

The world slowed down for a second as Ben recognised what that symbol meant. It was the Dark Mark. It wasn't the first time the boy had seen it, of course, but seeing it up there was... It was impossible to use a word to describe what he was feeling. There was a terrible sensation on his chest. He knew perfectly well what kind of people had that symbol carved into their skin, and he knew what happened when someone casted that spell. Awful things were about to occur.

"Let's go, Harry," he breathed out, looking over at Harry.

"What is it?" he asked, looking shocked. "What does that mean, Ben?"

"It doesn't matter," he replied, panicking. "Please!"

"Ben!" shouted Thomas from behind them. "It's the Mark!"

"I know, let's get out of here!" he pulled Harry's arm, and they ran up to the others. He grabbed Alycia's hand to help her. But before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them

"Careful!" cried out Harry. "Duck!"

Ben pulled Alycia down with him, keeping her close enough to be able to protect her with his body if it was necessary.

"Stupedy!"

Bright red lights were shot from the Ministry wizards' wands, and hit the air causing a loud bang. "Wait!" yelled out an old voice. "That's my son! Put your wands down!"

The Aurors obeyed, lowering their wands immediately. Ben looked up to see Mr. Weasley running up to them, looking terrified. "Ron! Harry- Hermione!" he called, and his eyes widened as he saw Ben with them, too. "Ben!"

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice. It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. They all got to their feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was contorted with rage.

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

"We didn't do that!" shouted Harry.

"We didn't do anything!" added Ron, furiously.

"Do not lie!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, and his eyes widened as they stopped on Alycia and Ben. "It was you two, right?"

"Of course not!" yelled Ben.

"You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a woman in a long woolen dressing gown. "They're just kids. And that little girl doesn't even look old enough to attend Hogwarts."

"But he does, and we all know whose son he is."

"That doesn't matter," said Mr. Weasley, looking angry. "He has been my son's friend for years, and we know what he's like. He would never do such a thing."

Ben looked at the man, silently saying thank you. Mr. Weasley gave him a sweet, warm smile.

"Where did the Mark come from?" he asked quickly.

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

The group of Aurors immediately spread out and took off into the darkness, with their wands pointed in front of them cautiously. The woman who had defended Alycia before turned to the kids. "People are gathered in the stadium, it's completely safe to go now."

"Alright," they nodded, and she joined the rest of the aurors.

"Go find your siblings," Mr. Weasley instructed Ron. "Mr. and Mrs. Stonem are there, too, they were searching for you, Thomas."

"Thank Merlin."

Mr. Weasley turned to Ben and Alycia. "Do you know if your parents are here?"

"No," she replied. "We're here with the Stonems."

"Uh... I- I think they are... here," he confessed, trying to let Mr. Weasley know what he meant through his look. He could tell the man had understood it by how his eyes had widened.

"Oh... Okay," he muttered. "Don't worry, go find the Stonems with your friends. You'll be safe."

A/N: this chapter was a bit intense hehe, i hope you liked it ;)