"I should've made bets! I could've squeezed at least 50 galleons out of both of you." Adelaide smirked as the boys sulked, grumbling at their defeat. "Yeah well, Krum caught the snitch at least." Draco growled under his breath.
Lucius sternly walked up to the three, "Use the Floo and head back home now." his body language was hurried and tense. Simultaneously, Perseus and Adelaide grabbed their wrists, their Dark Mark burning terribly as it squirmed. Lucius' eyes grew wide and he hissed, "Stop grabbing them, now. People will see."
"Take them to the Floo now." he growled at Draco who nodded, looking concerned at his friends who seemed to be overwhelmed in immense pain. As they hurried towards the Floo Network, a loud crash noise sounded behind them, causing them to turn around as they walked forward and as they did, they quite literally ran into the Weasleys. Addie toppled into George, Perseus into Fred, and Draco ran into Perseus from the abrupt stop.
"Oi, watch the hands Burke" George grumbled in surprise, low enough for only her to hear. She grimaced, restraining the urge to grab her arm, and looked up to Fred and Perseus. Fred's face turned bright red realizing the circumstance he was in.
Draco sneered, "What on earth are you two clumsy gits doing standing in the middle of the walkway. MOVE!" shoving a space between the two twins. Perseus glared up at the two, shoulder checking George and walking after Draco. Adelaide smirked at the two, shooting a wink at George. She jumped up to shoulder check Fred playfully and George let out a handsome chuckle.
I've missed your laugh
She relayed to his mind, turning around to see if he received the message. His face showed a mixture of confusion and amazement as he mouthed, "How are you doing that?"
Magic
She, being the last one to get into the fireplace, waved goodbye to the twins before throwing her powder down, "Malfoy Manor"
As she stepped out from the fireplace she saw Lucius and her Father looming over Perseus who was quickly throwing on a dark black robe and grabbing a silver skull mask.
"What's going on?" Adelaide paused in confusion as to why they were playing dress up in the middle of the kitchen.
"We're going to be heading back to Ireland, some unfinished business." Her father crooned, a mischievous look in his eye.
Her heart dropped like a ball of lead, George. "Oh..well am I coming too, or?"
Her father brushed her off, "No, of course not, this is for the big boys. Right Perseus?" he laughed, slapping him hard on the back of the shoulder causing him to let out a groan. Philip strutted in, wearing the same thing with the mask in hand, "Really Father? Bit dramatic don't you think." he scoffed.
"Now boy, don't you," her father began to stomp towards him. Adelaide quickly stood between the two, "He's only joking father. Aren't you all in a time crunch?" she held her breath, praying he didn't sense the fear that was slowly beating out of her chest.
He sniffed forcefully stepping back and going outside. Philip grabbed her arm and whipped her around, "Don't ever do that again, do you understand me? I don't need you to protect me." he seethed. She nodded quietly and he let go, leaving the Manor. Lucius waited for Perseus to fully robe up before they, too, left outside. She heard four loud cracks at them disapparating and with that she searched out for George's mind,
George, listen to me. You need to leave now, get your family and go.
She prayed that her message reached him, she wasn't very good at long distance legilimency, but the last few tries during her training she managed to successfully.
Mrs. Malfoy walked down the steps and into the kitchen, putting a kettle on the stove with a wave of her wand. "How was the match dear?" she inquired flying two mugs out from her cabinet.
"It was splendid Mrs. Malfoy! I predicted Ireland was going to win, mostly because the boys were so hell bent on Bulgaria." she laughed, tenderly grabbing her forearm that was still throbbing.
Narcissa laughed lightly and reached out her hand, motioning for Adelaide's arm. "I have a salve for it, I know it must hurt." she whispered. She could hear the sadness in her voice as she looked down at the Dark Mark.
She would never speak out against her husband or her dearest friends, but she was appalled that they would subject their sweet daughter to this form of torture. They should've at the very least kept it for Perseus and Philip, but not poor Adelaide who she watched growing up to be as gentle as a butterfly and was now clearly a broken, sad little girl. Narcissa did anything and everything she could to keep Draco away from Lucius and his gang of thugs.
As Narcissa gently applied the cooling salve to her arm she whispered, "They were wrong to do this to you, you're just too young." barely loud enough for Adelaide to hear. Adelaide looked into Narcissa's eyes, feeling an overwhelming crash of sadness go over her. She began to tremble as she hugged Mrs. Malfoy and softly cried. Mrs. Burke wasn't exactly the motherly type, so for the most part Mrs. Malfoy was the closest thing Adelaide had to a real mother figure. Narcissa softly stroked Adelaide's hair, "Shh, shh it's alright. You'll be alright." As soon as the water began to boil, Adelaide withdrew from her hug and sniffed. She poured the cup of tea and the two drank in silence.
---
The Weasley's tent was lively as they celebrated Ireland's win. Fred, George, and Ginny decided to tease Ron over his obsession over Victor Krum. George paused slightly as he heard Adelaide's voice whisper, George, listen to me. You need to leave now, get your family and go.
Before he could fully process it, a loud crash sounded outside following a loud, blood curdling scream.
"The Irish seem to be getting their pride on!" Fred cheered at the commotion that was going on outside the tent. Their father rushed in with an urgent expression, "It's not the Irish. We need to leave now."
The group made their way outside to see fire sweeping across the field and as they all frantically looked around seeing the pure chaos surrounding them. George looked over the crowd and saw a group of cloaked figures wearing silver masks, they were throwing out blazes of fire in all directions, causing people to panic.
"Fred and George! Ginny is your responsibility. Everyone head to the Portkey and stick together!"
Fred and George quickly grabbed Ginny and began running towards the clearing where the Portkey was. It took a few minutes to fully register that Adelaide had just warned him of this happening as if she knew it would happen. How did she know this was about to happen?
The twins and Ginny had finally made it to the Portkey, along with Ron and Hermione. Harry was no where to be found. They all nervously looked around, "I swear he was right behind me!" Ron whined, his eyes filling with worry.
The commotion slowed down and the group of cloaked figures had left in a column of black smoke, leaving the field in smoldering ruins. George saw one cloaked figure stay behind as he walked towards the center of the field. The man took his mask off and flicked his wand into the air yelling, "Morsmordre!"
A bright green light shot up into the air and a chill went down everyone's spine as they saw the Dark Mark flash across the sky. Hermione and Ron had already took off running towards the field to find Harry. George leaned in further, squinting at the man who had conjured up the horrible image and his stomach dropped.
Fred, seeing his brother turn ghostly pale, grabbed his shoulder, "What's wrong Georgie?" Without breaking his glare at the man, George mumbled, "It can't be. That's impossible."
Philip, upon hearing Hermione and Ron calling for Harry, put his mask on and disapparated from the spot.
"It was Philip" George whispered. Fred's expression dropped quickly, "I thought he was in Azkaban though." George looked at his twin with a grim expression, "Well, clearly he's not anymore."
Once the Ministry workers began questioning Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the incidents, George kept a great distance as to not gain attention from the men who were asking questions. For some odd reason, he didn't want to divulge the fact that he had seen Philip Burke. He was pretty sure, but not sure enough to cause a great fuss of them checking his cell in Azkaban and starting a wild goose chase that could put Adelaide in danger. The twins tried to make the situation lighter by heading back to the Portkey and joking around with Ginny.
The thought of Adelaide's urgent whisper echoed and replayed in George's mind. He had so many questions for her and was anxious for their return to Hogwarts.