Chasing Love

Chapter Fifty - Real Family

After only a couple of hours sleep, Mr Weasley came and woke the three girls. He used magic to pack up the tents, and the eleven of them left the campsite, as quickly as they could, as they passed Mr Roberts at the door of his cottage, he had a strange, dazed look about him, waving them off saying, "Merry Christmas."

Eliza turned to look at him, "He'll be all right." Mr Weasley told them as they made their way across the moor, "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while and that was a big thing they had to make him forget."

As they approached the spot where the portkeys were, they were lots of urgent voices. There was a lot of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, all shouting how they wanted to be away from the campsite as soon as they could. Mr Weasley talked quickly with Basil and then they joined the queue and were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had actually rose. They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and then up the lane toward the Burrow in early light, no one spoke - all were too tired and were longingly thinking about the breakfast that was awaiting them. As soon as they went around the corner and they saw the Burrow, a cry was heard from in front of them. 

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"Mrs Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front garden, ran towards them, she was still wearing her slippers, her face was pale with worry, and she was clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried." She flung her arms around Mr Weasley, the newspaper falling to the ground, Eliza looked over and saw the headline, SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, underneath was a black and white photograph of the Dark Mark above the trees. "You're all right,"Mrs Weasley stared at them all, her eyes red, "You're alive.  Oh boys." And to everyone's surprise, she grabbed Fred and George and pulled them both into a tight hug, so tight their heads hit each other. 

"Ouch! Mum, you're strangling us."

"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said as she began to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough OW.L.s? Oh Fred, George."

"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay," Mr Weasley told her soothingly as he managed to peel her off the twins and take her back to the house. "Bill," he whispered, "Pick up that paper, I want to see what it says." They all crammed into the tiny kitchen, Hermione made Mrs Weasley a cup of strong tea, which Mr Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogdens OId Firewhiskey, and Bill passed his father the newspaper. Mr Weasley read the front page quickly while Percy looked over his shoulder. "I knew it. Ministry blunders. . . culprits not apprehended, lax security,  Dark wizards running unchecked, national disgrace. Who wrote this? Ah of course, Rita Skeeter."

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" Percy said furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans -"

"Do us a favour, Perce," Bill said as he yawned, "And shut up."

"I'm mentioned," Mr Weasley said, his eyes widened from behind his glasses.

"Where?" Mrs Weasley choked on her cup of tea and whiskey. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"

"Not by name. Listen to this: 'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but reflising to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.' Oh really," Mr Weasley sighed as he gave the newspaper to Percy. "Nobody was hurt. What was I supposed to say? Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods, well, there certainly will be rumors now she's printed that. Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."