The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

75. Impact of Fear

Althea wasn't sure that anything could have made this worse. She was so preoccupied, she did not notice as Ellis jerked, glancing back quickly before averting his gaze, all laughter snapping from his eyes. Chancing a glance back, Althea saw that Lucius Malfoy, a tall, pale man with white-blond hair, was walking in with his son Draco and who she could only assume was his wife. Unfortunately for her, they sat in the three empty seats just behind Althea with Draco sitting just behind her. Praying he didn't recognize her, Althea kept facing forward, resolutely forcing herself to not move much and to not turn her head.

"Ah, Fudge," Lucius said cordially, shaking the Minister's hand. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" Lucius replied. "Now, let me see...you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

Althea bit her lip, wondering if she would be so lucky as to not be noticed. She stayed seated as the rest of the party, apart from Ellis, stood to face the Malfoys.

Softly, Lucius remarked, "Good lord, Arthur. What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

"Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur," Fudge said in such an unbothered tone that Althea was convinced he had not heard Lucius' comment. "He's here as my guest."

"How - how nice," Mr Weasley said in a strained voice.

After several tense moments, Althea heard them sit down, allowing for her party to do the same. Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat forward, leaning on her knees to watch.

.

Althea had expected to sleep well after the match was over. It had been a late night, but as she lay down to sleep and listened to the gentle breathing of Hermione and Ginny in their bunks, she could not shut off her brain. The horrible feeling she had eluded to when speaking to Hermione the previous day was knawing at her, the feeling that something had to go wrong soon. She lay awake for nearly an hour before she began to get sleepy. At long last, she began to drift off, her mind beginning to space out before a sudden sound caused her to jolt awake.

A shout sounded from somewhere far away, quickly followed by the swelling roar of running feet. Screams reached her ears next. Seized by a sudden terror, Althea jumped to her feet, rushing out of the tent to look. It was a bright night, alight with campfires and the blazing stars above them, but silhouetted against the stars, she saw four figures. She instantly recognized them as the family of the campsite manager they had met earlier that day.

Below them, she saw several cackling figures, all dressed in black cloaks with masks. Sounds like gunshots reached her ears as the group moved across the campsite, coming closer and closer, flattening tents as they went. Althea had gone terribly pale, but she did not lose her head even for a moment.

"Mr Weasley!" she shouted, rushing into the boy's tent.

"What is it?" he mumbled, not even opening his eyes.

"Wake up!" she cried, shaking him. "There's something out there!"

Instantly, he was on his feet.

"Go and wake the girls," he ordered, his voice suddenly harsh as he rushed over to his sons, Ellis, and Harry, some of whom had already begun to rise at the sound of Althea's yells.

.

"Bill, I need to go," Ellis said quickly, looking paler than Bill had ever seen him.

"Ellis, what's going on?" Bill asked.

"I can't-" Ellis began before he forced out, "I need to go. Give them hell. Please."

.

Althea instantly dashed out of the tent, rushing back into the girl's tent. Both Ginny and Hermione were still asleep.

"Ginny! Hermione!" she shouted. "Get up!"

When they had finally awoken, she grabbed a coat and pulled them out, glancing fearfully over at the hovering figures. Her stomach lurched as she saw one of the figures, a woman, turned upside down, causing her nightdress to fall and reveal her undergarments as the littlest child began spinning like a top. Her eyes burned.

"Come on!" Harry called after her, taking her hand and pulling her after the rest of the children into the woods.

Althea finally took her eyes off the horrid scene and followed. When he was sure she was following, Harry let go. In the chaos, they ran through the dark, being pushed and pulled on all sides. Then, Althea was knocked to the side, off the trail, and down into a large pile of leaves.

Scrambling to her feet, she broke into a run again, shouting, "Harry? Hermione! Ron!"

There was no answer. Deciding she could find them later, Althea kept moving, holding her wand tightly. There was no way the Ministry would fault anyone for using magic at a time like this. She kept moving until at long last she was no longer being pushed or shoved anymore. She suddenly began wishing she had just stayed home, away from the World Cup and all that had come with it. If she had stayed, she would be safely asleep in bed, not worrying about potentially dying.

The word had slipped into her thoughts before she had really processed it. Dying. No, she decided, she would not die. Breaking into a run again, she made her way along the path, searching desperately for a familiar face, even someone not in her group. Everyone she saw, however, was either a foreigner who didn't speak her language or someone she did not recognize.

She kept up a fast pace until, as she was walking, a figure bumped into her. Hard. She stumbled, falling to the ground so hard her head began to throb. As she blinked, however, she suddenly caught sight of a bright green light in the air. It was in the shape of a skull with a snake slithering out of it.

Scrambling back, she let out a scream as several other people did the same. Covering her mouth with her hand, she backed into a tree, staring at the symbol with utter terror.

"Thea!" a voice shouted.

Looking over, she instantly caught sight of Ginny, Fred, and George.

"There you are," she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and rushing over to them.

"Where are the others?" Fred asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Althea said breathlessly, her gaze finding the Mark again. "I was knocked off the path and then I couldn't find anyone."

"Come on, let's go see if things have settled back at camp," George suggested.

When they neared the edge, it was to see that the camp had gone, if not silent, at least much quieter. The dark figures had gone, making it much easier to slip into the tent. Charlie, Bill, and Percy were inside, Bill holding a bloodied sheet to his arm.

"Oh, Merlin, let me help you," Althea said instantly, rushing forward and taking away the sheet to examine the damage.

"Her mum's a Healer," Ginny said at Bill's questioning look as she quickly wrapped his arm back up and dashed to the sink.

"Ah," he said with a nod.

By the time Althea had washed the cut, Mr Weasley had returned with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Thea!" Ron cried. "There you are. What-"

"Did you get them, Dad?" Bill asked sharply, looking up at him and ignoring Ron. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

Althea too paused what she was doing.

"No," Mr Weasley said wearily. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."