Pure

If I had been dreaming, it was utterly forgotten when I bolted upright in bed at the sound of loud screaming. Sweat clung to me as my heart pounded, but the sound wouldn't stop. Nina and Ingrid stared at me with horrified wide eyes. Suddenly the door swung open with a bang and we all screamed, but Alheid hushed us quickly, her normally cheerful face solemn.

"Come, come on, girls," she implored, reaching to pull Ingrid to her. "We need to go this instant." Nina whimpered as the noise outside grew louder; I didn't have to strain my ears to hear the chaotic sounds of people fleeing and crying. I grabbed my wand and pulled on my robe quickly before following them downstairs.

Benjamin and Theodor stood tall and angry beside their father, while Fritz ran to cling to Alheid as soon as she stepped off the staircase. Elfriede comforted her children, and Ramya and Mother talked in whispers. After I scanned over the living room once more, I realized that Augustus, Sven and Father were missing.

"Vat is going on?" I demanded loudly, my worst fears beating a wide path through my mind. "VERE IZ-" I shouted, but Kristoff quickly covered my mouth.

"Nein, Saden, still zu sein. Er ist nicht in Gefahr," he said hurriedly, his tone dripping with bitterness and anger. "Wir verlassen jetzt und sie werden uns in Ihrem Haus zu sehen. Nun kommen."

I nodded and he strode out of the tent, followed by the rest of the family. I stood in shock for a moment, trying to put all the information together in my head, but I snapped out of it and ran outside. I came to an abrupt halt and stared at the scene before me, terrified.

The only sources of light were small campfires and flashing bursts of white; drunken yells and loud cracking noises filled my ears, along with the panic and desperation pressing in upon me on all sides. Someone bumped into me and sent me sprawing on the ground. I let out a scream as I tried to keep from being trampled by the hoarde of people. Scrambling to my feet, I took off towards the only sane looking place: the woods.

As my breath began hitching in my throat and I felt wetness on my face, I realized I was sobbing. I increased my speed and burst through the opening trees in a sprint only to knock into someone. A loud swear echoed in my ear and a strong pair of hands caught me, holding me upright. I looked up to see who my rescuer was and I gasped as I recognized Draco. He seemed to be taken aback, and he gently let go.

"Saden?" he asked, his eyes boring curiously into mine. "What's wrong?"

I blinked several times in confusion, looking at him incredilously. "What do you mean 'What's wrong?' People are being hurt! Someone is killing people!"

He was shaking his head before I finished, looking at me like I was insane. He spoke almost apathetically, "No, that's merely the muggles being played with. No one is being murdered tonight."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, asking, "How do you know this?"

He raised his eyebrows and asked bluntly, "How do you not know this? Your dad is right along with my father out there, though I doubt they're within ten feet out of each other, or there'd be a duel."

As I tried to process this, it all suddenly clicked together and I tilted with dizzying nausea. The screams suddenly took on a whole new meaning. I gasped, "They're torturing those muggles with Death Eaters?!"

Draco seemed to take my gasp as something entirely different and he nodded, smirking broadly as he said, "Putting them in their place. That filth needs to be gotten rid of."

Silent rage built in my chest as I was struck by the fact Draco was exactly like Father, Lucius, Sven, Augustus and all of the other pure blood maniacs. He was no longer the sweet, innocent boy I grew up with. He was a monster created simply for the furthering of the bigotry.

"What is wrong with you? Torturing anyone or anything is sick!" I spat, glaring at him now. He slowly looked at me, his mouth curling in a sneer.

"I knew Frederick was a fool, but how did he manage to have a blood traitor? I would have thought he would have done away with you the first time you spouted off your little 'belief'," he said with disgust, stepping away from me as if I was contaminated. I swelled from a roar of indignancy and pride, pointing my wand at his chest.

"Shut your mouth about my Father, Malfoy," I growled, not even flinching as he drew his.

"Or what, von Deitrich?" he sneered. I raised my wand, about to cast body binding curse, when my name was called from behind us. We both froze as three people came towards us; I instantly recognized Fred, George, and what appeared to be their little sister. Fred and George immediately had their wands out at Draco, who sneered even more if that was possible.

"Drop it, Malfoy," George ordered sharply, raising him wand higher threateningly. Draco raised his chin defiantly, but seemed to think better about his actions after a moment; he shoved his wand in his pocket and leaned against the tree, his expression twisted in an ugly grimace. Fred stepped over to me, putting his body between mine and Draco's. He stared Draco down, his normal infectious grin replaced with a frown. He looked at me, his eyes intense.

"Did he hurt you, Saden?" Fred asked quietly, and when I shook my head, he exhaled quietly. We turned as Draco gave a derisive laugh.

"Blood traitors do find each other quickly, don't they? Oh well, I hope you don't get kicked out, von Deitrich. The Weasleys don't have room for you in their joke of a house," he taunted. Fred and George made startiling advances towards Draco, but their little sister and I held them back.

"No, you two! You know he'll just run off and tell his father, and who knows what he'd do," she said quickly, casting a look of disgust at Draco. I nodded and squeezed Fred's hand; he looked at me for a moment before squeezing mine back.

"Maybe you can stash away enough galleons to make it through the winter!" Draco jeered, his malicious voice ringing through the forest. Jerking my wand out, I lurched towards him and nearly hit him with a silent stunning spell but Fred twisted me away at the last moment. This only made Draco laugh harder, and it was driving me mad.

"You are just like your vather! Arrogant coward!" I screeched, only slightly satisfied as I watched his pale face flush pink.

"Come on, you guys," Fred muttered, glaring at Draco as we walked away. I gritted my teeth to keep myself from cursing him until his ears fell off.

"Zat bastard," I growled quietly, the rage inside me still swirling quickly within my chest. "He's just like ALL ov zem, zee brainvashed feigling."

Fred stopped and the three of them looked at me for a moment, confused, before he spoke, "Up in the Top Box, it looked like you and your family were best mates with the Malfoys."

I sighed heavily, running my fingers through my air. I muttered, "No. Our families used to be best friends a long time ago, but... they had a falling out after the War."

Now George looked at me with wide eyes, asking, "Your father is Frederick von Deitrich?" I pursed my lips and nodded, looking at my feet.

"But, you don't believe the same way they do?" their sister asked slowly, her eyes curious. I chewed on the inside of my lip, sighing softly.

"No, I don't," I answered quietly, looking at the three of them closely. Fred laughed and squeezed my hand, his brown eyes dancing.

"See, Georgie, I told you she was of the right sort," he said triumphantly and we all began laughing, though mine was perhaps filled with a bit more relief.

"Right you are, Freddie," George said approvingly, before turning to their little sister. "Ginny, this is Saden. We met her earlier today getting firewood."

Ginny smiled at me, and I returned it tenfold, feeling much better about everything. But the cheerfullness disolved when the sky exploded with green smoke. Ginny and I screamed as the stars transfigured themselves into the Dark Mark. My heart was ready to beat out of my chest and I couldn't make a sensible thought. Images of the newspaper clippings of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named flashed through my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny cling to George. I was clenching Fred's hand so tight I thought I was going to break it. Screams echoed throughout the area, but throughout the chaos, I heard: "SADEN!"

Spinning around, I saw Benjamin and Nina bursting through the woods toward us. I ran to him and threw myself into his arms, hugging him tightly. I demanded tensely, "Jeder ist in Ordnung?*"

He nodded vigorously, beginning to pull me as he yelled, "Ja, aber wir dachten, dass wir dich verloren. Komm, wir müssen uns beeilen. Wir verlassen!"

I nodded and began to follow him before I suddenly thought of something. I yelled, "Warten Sie!" I strode quickly over to Fred and threw my arms around him in a hug. He instantly returned it, holding me tight. I pulled back and said, "Write me. Saden von Deitrich, Calw, Germany. Please."

He nodded and smiled, "As soon as possible."

I smiled back and turned to Bejamin and Nina who were impatiently tapping their feet. We all began to run out of the wood, weaving through the crowd of people until I saw our family surrounding a campfire. Mother cried out as she saw me and crushed me to her chest when I was within arms reach.

"JETZT!*" Kristoff roared, and we all spinned into the discomforting blackness.