The crowd reached them, thousands of people making a mad dash for the forest. Their group huddled behind a cusp of trees to avoid the stampede. It became clear why they were fleeing in this direction as through the crowd they could make out flashing spellfire edging closer to the tree line.
"Harry, run," Sirius ordered. He took a step toward the fighting, but Harry grabbed hold of his shirt.
"What? No! I can't leave you!"
"I can't let you get hurt. I can't let any of these people get hurt. I'll buy you all more time to run. Please, Harry."
Hermione tugged on Harry's wrist and gave him a begging look.
"Okay. Be careful," Harry demanded.
"Bill, Charlie. Go with them," Arthur ordered, moving beside Sirius. "Find somewhere to apparate or hide. Quickly now, stay together and stay safe!"
They took off in a run towards the fighting, disappearing within the crowd.
"C'mon, now," Bill urged. The crowd was easing up, as everyone was in a mad scramble rushing in every direction and they were able to push into the horde, running off to the side away from the main force of people.
For a few minutes they sprinted through the trees, the sounds of the terror and fighting grew more and more faint. Luna tripped over a slippery patch of muddy earth, and Harry's adrenaline rush could no longer keep his exhaustion from slowing his pace. They continued moving at a more moderate speed. After several minutes, they were alone and the faint screams faded into a suffocating silence.
"A lot of people are dead, aren't they?" Hermione whispered.
"Yes," Bill answered. "It shouldn't be as bad as it looked, I mean fuck I hope not. But almost everyone had their wand, even if they can't apparate, they can vanish parts of the stadium and make their way outside. They'll be able to heal and help each other."
"How did we get out of the stadium, Harry? What sort of magic did you use?" Charlie asked.
"Um, it's kind of a secret," Harry admitted.
"It doesn't matter, I reckon. It worked, didn't it?" Ron said in a firm tone. Bill and Charlie shared a look. Harry shrugged innocently.
"Right, sorry. No big deal, thanks for pulling us out of there," Charlie agreed. They focused on hiking through a hilly portion of land, thick with thorny bushes and tripping hazards. Harry had no idea where they were, what direction they were heading, or how long they had been running, although the sunset shifted into darkness as Bill and Charlie led them confidently through the trees.
"Is dad gonna be alright?" Ginny said, sniffling.
"He knows what he's doing," Fred assured her.
"And Sirius was an auror. He'll make sure dad is safe," George added.
"But - but - he said that the mark of - of You-Know-Who - what if he's here?"
"Oh no, Ginny. No, don't worry. He's gone. It's some of his followers, but not You-Know-Who, I promise." Bill said.
"And if it was, I still think Sirius could kick his ass," Harry chimed in.
"Exactly. Everything will be fine as long as we stay calm." Charlie said.
"I'm going to check the wards," Bill decided. "I think we should be far enough." He began to wave his arm in a complex pattern. "We can't apparate yet, but the jinx is weak enough this far out that I should be able to punch through -" The air around them shimmered with red haze. "Perfect, it wasn't a very strong jinx. I - "
He was interrupted by the sudden presence of a thick black swirl of ash and smoke spiraling into the center of the group. As it touched the ground, it solidified into a cloaked figure in a bone mask who waved their wand at them in a mockery of a polite greeting.
"Excuse me, couldn't help but notice you trying to take down my spell. Very rude!" They said, and without preamble fired off a volley of spells.
Everyone returned fire, ranging from a tripping jinx from Ginny to a cutting curse aimed at the throat from Harry. Despite battling against a large group, the Death Eater held their ground, twisting their wand into a fast, wordless pattern of spells that allowed them to keep a shield up while sending attack after attack at them. Their attention was focused on the older Weasleys; whatever shield the Death Eater was using was able to withstand the barrage of spells being thrown at them, but the younger children still had to dodge a nasty poisoning jinx fired their way.
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