"Where have you two been, we're about to leave for the game," Milena asked, already knowing the answer.
"Went to go place our bets, of course," George responded, making his way back into the tent.
"Well you two better go get ready, we're leaving in a couple minutes." Milena said.
The twins went to the boys room and returned a few minutes later, their faces covered in green, white and orange paint and big, green hats on their heads. They looked quite content with their new attire as they walked back to Milena who had drawn some stripes of the same colours on her cheeks. The rest of the group was waiting outside of the tent, all in their Ireland merchandise and face paint as well.
"Took you long enough," Ginny teased.
"The boys had to be sure they looked perfect," Milena joked.
"I reckon we look stunning," Fred said as he and George posed dramatically for everyone. Milena rolled her eyes as she laughed and turned back to the rest of the group. They all left together heading for the large stadium where they were sure to have a grand night.
It took them some time before they made it to their seats as they were right at the top of the stadium and after a run-in with the Malfoy's, all Milena wanted was to get to her seats. Out of breath, but excited for the game to start, they made it to their seats, Fred letting Milena go to her seat first and then following behind her. He sat next to her, George on his other side. Soon after Ludo Bagman began the announcements, introducing each team's mascots. All of the boys were fixated on the Veelas who were dancing for the Bulgarian team. Most of them were flexing or shouting things to get the dancers' attention, however Fred didn't seem as into the performance. While his eyes were glued to the women, he wasn't shouting or showing off to them. Ron, however, was right at the edge, flexing his arms and making eyes at the women who didn't notice him.
Once Bagman himself was able to focus again, he introduced Ireland's mascot as well followed by his introduction of the actual teams. Everyone cheered for the Irish team, but Ron seemed like he was going to burst when Viktor Krum flew into the stadium. Everyone was screaming and cheering as the teams flew around the stadium. Ireland was ahead and everyone could see that the seekers had spotted the golden snitch and were both fighting to be the one to catch it first. Milena was tense and didn't seem to notice her tight grasp on Fred's arm as she watched the seekers chase the snitch in suspense.
They flew around and eventually it was Krum who managed to grab the snitch. Bagman announced the end of the game and even with Krum catching the snitch, Ireland managed to win by just ten points. Milena let go of Fred's arm to cheer at the victory of the team and turned to Fred who was also cheering. They locked eyes and a second later, Fred was picking her up to spin her around as they cheered and laughed.
"I guess you can say I was wrong," Milena laughed.
"Why?" Fred asked.
"You won the bet with Bagman, didn't you?" Milena asked back.
"We did, didn't we," he cheered, the realization spreading across his face.
Everyone celebrated with each other as they made their way back to the tent at the campsite. Fred had his arm draped around Milena as they all sang Irish songs on their walk, the two swaying back and forth as they laughed all the way back to the tent. Ron was going on and on about how Krum had caught the snitch so effortlessly
"I think you're in love, Ron." Ginny teased. Ron scoffed at her as he continued, Fred and George teasing him mercilessly. Milena was dancing around Ron with Fred and George as they sang about Ron's love for Krum and laughed together.
The laughter didn't last long when Arthur hurriedly re-entered the tent looking panicked, but trying to keep his cool.
"Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on!" Fred laughed.
"Stop! Stop it," Arthur commanded. "It's not the Irish, we've gotta get out of here, now!"
Milena stopped where she was and immediately found herself looking at Fred with worried eyes. He too was looking at her, she could tell he was worried too, but was trying to hide it. Everyone left the tent to see the chaos surrounding them. People were running and screaming, there were tents that had been set ablaze and people were making a run for the nearby woods. Fred had a hold of Milena's hand and she was holding it back tightly.
"Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility," Arthur stated as he pulled his wand out.
The group made a run for the forest finding themselves quickly getting lost and disoriented in the crowds of panicked people. Fred still had a tight grasp on Milena's hand as they ran, however it didn't take long before she realized that half of their group was missing. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had disappeared somewhere in the crowd and Milena couldn't make out where they had gone in the rush.
"Fred! They're gone!" Milena attempted to shout over the screams. Fred quickly scanned the crowd trying to see if he could get a glimpse of his lost friends.
"Shit," he said to himself.
"I have to go find them," Milena shouted. "Ginny is your responsibility. I'll find the others, just get yourselves out of here."
"Mills, you can't go alone," Fred shouted back. "You could get hurt."
"I'm gonna have to take that risk then," she replied, letting go of Fred's hand and running back into the crowd, pulling out her wand. She heard Fred's voice shout something at her, but she didn't know what he had said. She called out the three missing friend's names as she shoved her way back through the crowd. She was knocked around a few times, but managed to stand her ground as she continued to push through everyone. The crowd began to slowly thin out the further she moved in. She continued to call out for her friends and suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder. She whipped herself around holding her wand out in front of her.
"Hey, hey, it's just me!" Arthur exclaimed, trying to calm her.
"I'm sorry, we lost Harry, Ron and Hermione and I went back out to look for them while the twins got Ginny to safety and-" Milena hurriedly explained before Arthur cut her off.
"Okay, okay," He assured, "Let's go find them and then we'll get back to the others, come on."
He began to walk ahead of her, his wand held out in front of him and his head on a constant swivel looking out for any danger. A loud crack shot out in front of them and a moment later, in the sky was a large mist forming into a skull with a snake leaving its mouth.
"What- What is that...?" Milena asked, staring at the sky.
"That's... the dark mark..." Arthur said in disbelief.
Milena felt her heart drop into her stomach at his words. She gulped as she stared at the symbol she had only ever heard rumours about. They slowly continued to walk through the now mostly empty campsite, looking out for the three lost ones and taking quick glances at the symbol in the sky.
"Stupefy!" Milena heard multiple voices shout. She quickly spun herself to face the voices she had heard to see a group of people surrounding her three lost friends pointing their wands at them.
"Stop! That's my son!" Arthur shouted as he made a run for the group, Milena following closely behind. He forced his way past the people and immediately began to check that his son and his friends were alright.
"Are you alright? I lost you in the crowd, I was worried something had happened to you all!" Milena said, putting a hand on Hermione's shoulder.
"Which of you did it!" A man yelled, sticking his wand in the three young wizard's faces.
"Crouch, you can't possibly think they did this! They're just kids!" Arthur reasoned. Barty Crouch continued to wave his wand in their faces trying to force a confession, but Arthur managed to reason with him enough to get him to stop. Arthur, Milena and the other three soon left to meet back up with the twins and Ginny, who they eventually found hiding in the forest and trying to help a few other lost wizards and witches hide as well.
"Mills!" Fred shouted, jumping up and running towards her. He quickly pulled her into a tight hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel that he was faintly trembling in her arms and she pulled her face away from him still holding onto him.
"Are you okay?" She whispered.
"I'm alright now," He whispered back, "but please, don't ever run off on me like that again, Love."