The Sun, Moon & Stars

68. The Return To The Burrow

They didn't end up leaving the camp grounds until early the next morning. The kids got a sparse few hours of sleep laying on the grass; whilst Mr Weasley, Charlie and Bill took turns guarding the area.

It was quiet. No laughs, no explosions, no screaming, no crying — it was a silent moor now as the morning mist rose with the sun. If it didn't look like such a war zone, you might have no idea something so terrible happened here at all. It was serene, almost. Similar to that period of time after a thunderstorm where the clouds begin to clear, the sun begins to shine, and a rainbow starts to form.

Walking to another portkey was the only option to get back to the Burrow, and this one was farther than the first. There wasn't a floo network in the middle of a field, there was too many of them to apparate (plus they were underage, exhausted and Ophelia was injured) and flying was out of the question — they didn't have brooms, nor were the individuals not on the Quidditch team very good at it, so that left them with walking.

Lovely.

It was times like this she wished they hadn't completely trashed (and lost) the flying car in second year.

Getting back with a broken foot was no easy feat, but Mr Weasley was able to magic up a splint, which eased the pain somewhat and made it more comfortable as Charlie carried her on his back. Given his tall stature, and the fact he was rather muscular from his training in Romania, she hardly inconvenienced him at all — as he assured her numerous times.

"If it's any consolation, you're much lighter than a baby dragon."

"Charming." Ophelia had snorted back.

Everybody was exhausted though, which made the trip back ten times worse than they could have ever imagined. Going on about three hours of sleep, Hermione and Ginny had to hopelessly cling to one another to simply be able to stand, Harry and Ron did the same, and Fred and George were too tired to make their usual sarcastic remarks — which said a lot. And Mr Weasley and Percy, though undoubtedly just as tired as the rest, managed to keep their heads high and get the job done, which was commendable. The only people that were relatively well-rested were Charlie and Bill, who had been woken up when they got word their assistance was needed.

The journey back to the Burrow gave Mr Weasley time to explain what went down the previous night, which he was yet do do. He explained to everybody what death eaters were, Voldemort's reign and the significance of the Dark Mark (mostly to Ron, Ginny and Harry, the others had knowledge of the topic).

"It's You-Know-Who's symbol. It hasn't been seen in thirteen years." He went on, "Of course people went ballistic, it's almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."

"But I still don't get it...it's just a shape in the sky..." Ron frowned as they kept walking (or they did, Ophelia didn't, mind you).

"You don't understand, Ron. You-Know-Who and his followers cast the dark mark whenever they've killed." He said sharply, "The terror is inspired...you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home, finding the dark mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside."

Silence.

Ophelia practically winced at the words, and she saw Harry tense. Her mind was on Lily and James, whose death's no doubt prompted the last known dark mark to be cast, and then Remus and Sirius — the ones who found it.

"Everybody's worst fear...the very worst..." Mr Weasley murmured.

The rest of the walk wasn't as chipper as it had been after that. The dark mark being back raised questions — it hadn't been seen since the night Harry got the scar, the night Voldemort disappeared. Was it too ambitious to think this could mean him coming back? Was that even possible? She didn't know.