Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly

“I told you Bulgaria would lose!” George laughed in Ron’s face as we walked back to the tents. Ron just huffed and walked ahead of the twins with Harry and Hermione.

“What a baby,” I joked with a giggle. Bill chuckled next to me and grabbed my hand as we walked with Ginny.

“He’s just got his knickers in a twist because he thought Krum was invincible…” Ginny muttered with a roll of the eyes. I laughed again and listened to the twins singing, not well
might I add, along to an Irish victory song that many others were singing around the camp.

We’d spent all day at the tournament, cheering on our teams and visiting with old friends.
“Alright everybody, we’re leaving bright and early tomorrow, so get some sleep,” Arthur said as we all piled into the tent. I felt myself involuntarily yawn at the thought of sleep and Bill laughed a bit as he watched me.

“Tired?” he asked, leading me to one of the couches. Everybody else was celebrating, Fred still shouting for Ireland’s victory.

I nodded my head a bit as I sat next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder to get comfortable. “I am, but…” I trailed off, just looking at Harry and Hermione laughing at the twins.

“What about my butt? I know it’s nice and all…” he joked lowly, throwing me into a fit of giggles.

“Hardly, you pervert. I’m not going to dirty talk with your younger siblings here,” I whispered. Bill just rolled his eyes and placed a kiss on my forehead as we turned our attention to the group.

We’d all just begun to settle down a little bit later when we heard a lot of noise coming from outside the tent. I assumed it was just more people partying, all the Irish fans staying up all night. However, when I saw Arthur quickly leave his room and storm to the door of the tent, I knew something sounded off if he’d bothered to get out of bed.

Moments later, Arthur rushed back inside and closed the tent behind him. “Man, those Irish really know how to party,” Ron laughed. Arthur’s face did not soften, though.

“It’s not the Irish. Everybody! We need to leave, NOW! Run as far into the forest as possible and stay hidden!” Arthur yelled. All of our faces read a shocked expression as we scrambled to get up. “Bill, take care of Ginny!” Arthur called as we all started shouting again. Bill and I stood up, but he didn’t dare let go of my hand. He had a death grip upon it as we ran to the girls’ room to grab Ginny. She was just getting out of bed and running toward us.

“Bill, what’s going on?” she asked in a hurried tone. She was throwing on her jacket as we left the tent. The scene unfolding in front of my eyes was terrifying. There was fire in the distance, and a thick smoke filled the air around us. Bill pulled me closer to him and began to maneuver the three of us through the crowd.

It was getting hard to keep a hold on his hand, so at one point I had to let go. I could still see Bill. He had his arm wrapped protectively around Ginny as he looked over his shoulder for me. I sent him a reassuring look as I ran after the two, but as time passed, more and more people were trying to escape. I lost my sight of the two redheads and began to panic. I knew the forest was ahead of me and that Bill and Ginny were heading that way, so I continued to run in that direction.

The campsite was beginning to clear as I saw the edge of the forest. People were apparating away from the site, and I was thankful that I could easily run without bumping into people. When I reached the forest, I looked behind me to see total destruction and chaos at large. The noise was dying down a bit, but I could hear faint screams and crashes in the distance.

I slowed my pace a bit and began to jog, keeping my eyes out for a familiar face. There were a lot of people taking refuge in the forest, many looking for lost members of their party as well. I sighed as time drug on and I couldn’t seem to find anybody.

I wasn’t scared that I was alone, because I knew I could always apparated back to the burrow. I was more anxious to see that everybody else was okay. I needed to know that Bill was safe, along with Ginny. I sighed, coming to a stop for a moment as I leaned against the tree. I needed to catch my breath. It was almost morning, I realized, as I looked up at the sky. It had taken a while to get out of the mess. The night that had once been black and star-filled was now a light blue. The stars were fading, just as the moon’s crescent shape was giving off a dim glow.

I began my search again, heading deeper into the woods. The farther I got the less people I saw. I’d been walking for a while when I decided to turn around and see if they’d decided to stay near the forest entrance.

It was virtually morning by then. My stomach was grumbling, my feet were sore, and my head ached from the exhaustion of running. There were few left waiting in the forest and I saw nobody as I loomed over the hill of the campsite. I decided to return to the Burrow in hopes that everybody else was already there.

---

With a loud snap, the Burrow came into view. The sun was shining, making the August morning already unbearably hot. I breathed out slowly, finding that I was more tired than I believed to be. I began to walk across the grass slowly toward the house when the door burst open.

“Where in Merlin’s name have you been?!” Bill shouted at me angrily, striding across the lawn quickly. When he reached me, he embraced me in a tight hug and cradled my head against his chest.

“Liana! You’re back!” I heard one of the twins call as the family rushed outside. I couldn’t see past Bill, though. My mind was clouded and my knees were weak. I didn’t realize how afraid I really had been, and as I stood there in Bill’s arms, I knew that he was just as anxious as I was. I sighed and closed my eyes as I leaned against him.

“Bill, let’s take her inside, shall we? It’s been a long night,” Arthur said softly to my right. I could tell that he was just as exasperated as the both of us. The group headed back into the house and Bill finally let go of me, reaching for both of my hands and resting his forehead against mine as we stood there.

My eyes locked with his and I saw something I’d never seen in Bill before: fear.
“Bill, I’m alright, really,” I said quietly. He sighed and brought one of his hands up to my cheek, leaning down to give me a kiss.

“I don’t know what you were thinking,” he said as he looked down at me. I began to walk toward the house, just wanting to go to sleep.

“I was thinking of keeping everybody safe. I didn’t know that I was the last one there. I looked for the group and when I was too exhausted, I came back here in hopes that you’d all be here.”

“Liana, you scared me half to death. I should have never let you go,” Bill stated. His voice was on edge, like he was truly scared. I stopped walking just before we reached the door and turned around to look at him.

His hair was unkempt, an unruly mess that seemed to have been clawed at throughout the night. There were bags under his eyes and a light scruff lining his jaw. He hadn’t slept.

“Bill, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll always come back to you,” I replied quietly, reaching up to touch his cheek.

“Bird, I will always worry about you,” he said with a small smile, narrowing his eyes at me. I smiled in return.

“I’m very flattered that you’d be that afraid,” I giggled, standing on my toes to give him a kiss.

“Oi, you two! Stop snogging! Mum’s made breakfast!” Ron shouted out of the window next to us. My stomach grumbled, as if on cue, and Bill shook his head in disbelief, leading me into the house that I’d begun to feel more and more a part of.