If You've Got the Nerve

After the match, I was filled with giddy excitement, but exhausted at the same time. Bill was carrying me on his back as we all made our way back to camp.

“And you said Krum would get kicked off his broomstick!” Fred was bouncing gleefully next to Bill, George on the other side. They were both hyped up on the fact that they had won their crazy bet on the match.

“Well he did take a Bludger to the face."

“Bet you enjoyed that, did you?” I shivered slightly at the thought of all the blood. I shook my head rigorously. Bill let out a low laugh.

“Your bet was bloody brilliant.” I commented after a moment’s silence. The grin on the twins’ faces grew even wider.

“Common sense,” George said with a wave of his hand though I could tell he was proud of the call they had made. “The Irish have a better team overall, but no one can beat Krum.” I only gave a vague nod, my eyes drooping.

But all the weariness vanished from my body when we made our way past the Irish campsites. There was loud singing and more than a few green light displays dancing between the stars in forms of shamrocks and broomsticks. I watched, transfixed, as a cluster of glowing green shamrocks spun around us, weaving between our bodies before spinning with a whistle and exploding above us into a glittering cloud. “They know how to celebrate…” I murmured, turning my head so I could continue watching even as we passed. Though we were never out of earshot.

None of us wanted to go to bed by the time we had arrived at the campsite. Bill had set me down in the boys’ tent with everyone else and I was currently picking at the green light specks scattered in my long hair which was already matted from sweat. I would shake my head and watch the specks fall and disappear before they hit any solid surface.

Mr. Weasley handed out mugs of steaming hot chocolate and we all discussed the game. I sat back in my chair, clutching my warm drink only adding my opinion every once in a while.

When Hermione, Ginny, and I were finally escorted to our own tent, even the hot chocolate wasn’t helping stimulate me. I literally crawled to my bed, much to Ginny’s amusement. I placed a finger on my lips and shushed her. She only smiled at my delirious actions then clambered up to her bed.

It only seemed I had gotten seconds of sleep before I was woken roughly by someone shaking me by the shoulder. “Whossat?” I muttered into my pillow.

“Nox, get up. Get up, now!” I peeked from my hiding place. My eyes focused on Hermione’s pale face. Suddenly, my hearing focused in on the background sound which now felt like the predominant horror music. There were loud bangs, but they were nowhere near as musical as the bangs emitted from Irish lightshows. And the screaming. The blood chilling, ear scratching, horrible screaming. I again hid my face in my pillow by pure instinct. Hermione seemed to realize that I was hiding from what was outside, because she shook me again but with a gentle touch, “Nox, come on. We have to get out of here. Don’t bother grabbing your things,” she added as I moved to do just that. I shifted my footing and instead reached for just my wand.

“Hermione, what’s going on? Where is everyone?”

“Grabbing their wands and running. Which is exactly what we should be doing. We need to stick together so let’s go.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the tent.

I froze at the sight that blasted me. There was a terrifying group of masked figures with their wands held proudly over their heads. I recognized the chill inducing masks at once. “Death Eaters…” I breathed in a shaky squeak. I watched, just as transfixed by the horror as I had been with the funny, glittering lights the Irish had cast. I recognized the Muggles immediately. They were screeching with confusion and horror contorting their faces. And pain.

“Come on,” I felt a hand seize mine and another go over my eyes as I was dragged away. A few minutes later, when the screams had been muffled, but only slightly, the hand over my eyes was removed.

“You can let go,” I muttered in a stronger voice than I predicted was possible. The person who had been holding my hand only tightened their grip. It was either Fred or George, I couldn’t tell in the pitch black. I was pulled along through a jostling crowd.

“Fred! We’ve lost the others!”

“Who?” the figure leading me asked in a worried tone.

“Harry, Ron, and Hermione.” George responded quickly.

“They’ll be able to handle themselves. We’ve got to get Ginny and Nox out of here at the very least.” Fred suddenly quickened his pace.

My heart gave a jolt as I felt his grip on me slipping. Both of our hands were slick with sweat from being in such close proximity to so many people. “Fred!” I strangled out the second I felt his grasp slip from mine completely. I just caught a glance of his scared face turning back to search for me before I was pushed backwards by scrambling mothers and furious fathers.

I was pushed left and right before finally being shoved into a mess of low bushes. I tumbled backwards, the tiny branches scratching me mercilessly. My head made rough contact with the stick covered ground. A groan escaped my lips. “Mum?” there came no response. Of course there would be no response. She was far from where I lay in my confused state. Probably sipping tea with dad by the fire and awaiting an excited owl from me telling them all about the World Cup.

I stared up at the sky for awhile all the while hoping that this was a nightmare. When my head was somewhat clear and the echoes of panicking witches and wizards was a bit sharper, I pulled myself from the ground and moved slowly in the first direction that was available.

“Fred?” I called hoarsely. My throat ached and my voice echoed scratchily against the empty trees. “George? Ginny?” No answer. Fear was clawing at my chest. What if the Death Eaters came this far? What if they decided to join together in a nice hunt for girls and boys in the woods?

An itch attacked my throat as I called out for Harry and I almost choked on my coughs. I wiped away the water from my eyes as the coughs ceased and moved on through the woods silently.

Things had died down by the time I collapsed on the ground to take a rest. My wand had long before been drawn just in case someone threatening did appear. I had only taken a few gulps of sweet air when the flash came and the screams erupted from all around me. My head shot up until I stared at the sky that was marked with a green constellation.

A great skull glared down at me while a threatening serpent slid from its mouth and entwined around the natural stars. I gulped in more air in a much more panicked state. Then the fire came.

A crude representation of a cup swam transparently across my vision. Thick blue and white flames poured from it, spilling like spiraling water until it almost became solid and I could barely see the dreaded mark through its flickering body. They swam around in twists and turns like the gnarled roots and branches of the Womping Willow before exploding in a burst that brought realistic heat through my body and the only sound that I could hear was a deep, rumbling, furious roar that brought fanged teeth and horned heads to my mind. Then it was gone as if it had never been there in the first place.

I felt like I myself had been a victim of the Wronkski Feint with as many aches as my body suddenly produced. I felt bleary and unable to comprehend what was surrounding me. My throat felt ripped apart as if I had been screaming nonstop for hours though I don't remember screaming at all.

I don’t know how long it was before I heard her voice, but it made me start to my feet in a ready-to-run position.

“Dear me, dear me. Dear, here, come here. What is it in your eyes? No, don’t look to the skies. You will only be attacked with the constant night fears. Come here,” I stared amazingly at the young woman. At first I thought I had imagined her until her cold touch wrapped around my upper arm. “Let us move. Come now, back to the tents; or what be left of them.” I moved in a daze beside her.

Her short raven hair fell in knots and tangles about her tanned face. You would think with such a tan complexion that her touch would be warm and even gentle like the sun that had surely kissed her, but my skin was beginning to go numb from her freezing hand.

“Here, here be the end of the trees. They have gone. Left to no one knows where. To their holes, I suspect. The slithering vermin of death. Go now. Not safe, these woods.” She left before I could register what I was staring at.

A few fires still burned like death bringing lights around the once beautifully diverse sight. Many tents still stood, but others lay broken on the ground. I turned my head to see the woman again, but she was nowhere in sight.

Spotting familiar red hair, I stumbled towards the two tents. They were thankfully still standing proudly amongst the rubble. Charlie was standing anxiously outside of the boys’ tent. The second his eyes landed on mine, I was wrapped in a crushing embrace. “You’re okay! Thank Merlin. The others haven’t returned yet. We’re getting worried.” I stared blankly at him.

“They’re not back? Any of them?”

“Well, I mean, Bill and Percy are inside. But the others aren’t here. Dad went to find them as soon as he spotted the Dark Mark in the sky – are you okay?” I nodded after shaking my head slightly to clear it of the fog that still clouded me.

“Charlie, who’s come back?” Bill ducked his head out of the tent to see what was going on. He spotted me and completely exited the tent. Charlie stepped aside so that his brother could wrap me in a hug that was slightly less suffocating than the first one I’d received. I guessed it was because of his injured arm that I had spotted. It was practically pouring blood.

“At least you’re safe.” He sounded grim. I ducked into the tent after the two choosing to collapse on a cushiony chair instead of enduring the horrible wait outside that Charlie had returned to. Bill had taken to holding an old bed sheet against his wound while Percy was trying to fix a bleeding nose.

I couldn’t manage a full sleep, but I was somewhere in between when someone pulled me roughly from the chair and wrapped their arms around me in a death grip.

“I thought you were dead,” I’d never heard Fred’s voice like that. He sounded like he’d been crying.

“I’m not dead.” I stated plainly, hoping he couldn’t feel my own tears that were soon staining his shirt.

“We lost you in the crowd. I thought for sure one of them would snatch you. George said you could handle yourself, but Ginny was scared too which didn’t help one bit.” He barely released me from his grip and made sure to keep his arm around me as the rest of the group filed in. George and Ginny looked just as relieved to see me, but neither moved to interrupt Fred’s protective behavior.

It was easy enough for us both to fit in the chair I’d been resting in earlier. The whole tent had fallen silent except for the whispered conversation that Bill and George were having. Soon enough, there was another disturbance and the others entered the tent.

I finally felt relief wash over me like I had subconsciously been waiting for the moment that they all returned unharmed. Though they all looked shaken, I imagined that they would make it through the rest of the night. Especially with the Death Eaters gone.

I faded slowly into a half sleep again that was slightly deeper than before. I only heard Fred speak up once in the conversation that ensued.

It wasn’t until Mr. Weasley was sending everyone to bed that I really started to fall asleep. Just before I completely nodded off, I felt someone kiss the side of my head and whisper something in my ear that I was too far off the catch.