PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

47 || Fire

When they arrived back at the tent after retracing their footsteps through the lantern-lit woods, no one quite felt like sleeping, especially Niall, who hadn't stopped singing since Ireland lifted the Cup. And, due to the loud celebrating of the Irish, sleeping would have been impossible anyway, so Mr Weasley agreed that they could stay awake and converse about the match.

A lively conversation soon melted into dancing, cheering and celebrating as Niall demonstrated some Irish dancing, and, for the third time, the Weasley twins sang their lousy attempts at the Irish national anthem.

Ron was still in awe of Krum, and Katie couldn't blame him. Krum was, without a doubt, a tremendous flyer and spectacular player. While Ron was professing his love for Krum, Niall was doing the same for Troy.

"Kat, you shook Troy's hand!" Niall exclaimed. "I... how did that even happen?"

"I bet she's never going to wash her hands again." Harry said in a teasing manner, grabbing Katie's hand and twirling her around. She chortled and shoved him away, rolling her eyes as her cheeks heat up.

"Oh, shove off!"

Harry laughed loudly.

Outside the tent, distant screams and roars could be heard, as well as the occasional boom that sounded an awful lot like explosions.

"Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on!" Fred said.

At that exact moment, the entrance to the tent whipped open, and Arthur Weasley, who's absence Katie hadn't even noted, rushed inside. His face was pale and ridden with panic.

"It's not the Irish," he said, voice quavering, and rushed to Ginny's side. "We've got to get out of here... now!"

Katie quickly threw a jacket around her shoulders before ducking out of the tent to see the most devastating sight she had ever laid eyes on. Many of the thousands of tents had been lit on fire, the sparks of which were flying twenty feet into the air. By the light of the fire, Katie could see people running away to the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field towards them, something that was emitting odd flashes of violent green light.

A burst of strong light illuminated the scene, and Katie could now clearly see a group of masked wizards, tightly packed and moving together, wands pointing straight upwards, marching swiftly across the field. Katie felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

"Get back to the Portkey, everybody, and stick together!" Mr Weasley shouted. "Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility!"

Mr Weasley whipped out his wand and went to help the Ministry wizards who were flocking to the scene to try and settle the chaos. Fred grabbed Ginny's hand and, along with George, they took off across the camp. Ron, Harry and Hermione quickly followed them, but, try as she might, Katie found that she couldn't move — she was frozen in fear, watching the masked figures grow closer.

On either side of her, someone grabbed Katie's hand, and she looked around to see that it was Chris and Niall.

"We've got you, Kat." Chris said. So, with a boy on either hand, Katie ran, ran as fast as her exhausted leg could carry her. Every so often, a fire would hiss and spark, making Katie shriek, and Niall would squeeze her hand as a manner of comfort.

Her heart thumped violently against her ribcage. Katie thought about Harry, Ron, Hermione — everyone — and just hoped that they were all right. Then her mind drifted to Leo and her parents, who were camping at some spot on the other side of the field. Had they made it out alive?

Pure terror was the only thing that was keeping Katie moving. If it hadn't been for the still audible screams of witches and wizards alike, and the crackling of the roaring fires, the Slytherin's weak legs would have buckled.