"Revenge may not be the answer, but it's a good place to start." – Speaking-in-forked-tongues (tumblr)


Chapter Seven - The Fault in our Maps

The moment Ankaa got warm in her blankets, the door to their dorm was thrown open and one of the Slytherin Prefects was standing in the doorway. She held her wand tightly in her hand, the tip illuminated a bright white. She waved her wand and the blankets flew off the girls.

"Get up!" She commanded. "We've got to go down to the Great Hall. It's an emergency."

Ankaa had not been asleep when the Prefect had rudely thrown them out of their dorms. Despite that fact, she had assumed that people at least had the general manners to respect another person who had worked so hard to get their bed warm. Ripping Ankaa's blankets away and exposing her to the cold, dark world was akin to committing a sin. Sadly though, the Prefect did not seem too bothered by that fact.

Mumbling and scowling, Ankaa got out of her bed. As she made her way out of the dormitory, she looked over the small balcony and noticed that almost everyone was gathered in the common room. Raising an inquisitive brow, Ankaa turned around and went back to her room.

"What are you doing?" Pansy lingered in the doorway. Ankaa could tell she was itching to get going, but her sense of preservation outweighed her curiosity, at least at that moment.

"Go on, I'll be there in a second," Ankaa mumbled. She was crouched in front of her trunk, opening it slowly. She wanted to make sure Pansy was gone when she pulled out the copy of the Map.

Pansy hesitated, "You can do this later, Rhyther. We have to go now."

"Get lost Pansy," Ankaa scowled, turning on her with her wand, "I don't want to hex you."

Pansy glared at her before rolling her eyes and walking away. Ankaa rummaged around her trunk, making note of everything her fingers brushed against. She found extra parchment, old books, and some new clothes. Finally, her fingers brushed against the ever so familiar parchment under her old sweater. Pulling it out quickly, she uttered the magic words.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Ankaa watched completely enthralled as the parchment came to life in her hands. She scoured the map and relaxed when she saw that almost every student was wandering about. Hoards of students and teachers were heading to the Great Hall. Just as she was about to fold the map and put it away, her gaze settled on a most unusual name in the castle.

Sirius Black was wandering around the grounds.

"Mischief Managed," Ankaa mumbled quickly and put the map away. Sirius Black was around the castle. For a brief moment, Ankaa considered whether her copy of the Map was malfunctioning. But then she remembered that Sirius Black had a valid reason to come back to Hogwarts. How did he get past all the security though? Ankaa wondered if the Dementors had caught him yet.

As she raced down to the common room, she was a little relieved to see Draco and Blaise waiting for her. They were beyond irritated, but at least they had waited.

None of them talked during the walk to the Great Hall, and neither did they try to include Ankaa in a lighthearted conversation. They knew how picky she was about her sleep, and they all knew Cepheus had left her in a bad mood.

Ankaa, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about the argument she had had with her brother just hours before. She paid no attention to the conversation her classmates were having. Her mind was preoccupied with what her Map had revealed. She walked a little faster than them, wanting to get to the Great Hall as quickly as possible.

Could it be possible that Black had broken into the castle? What if her map really was malfunctioning? After all, she had only tried the spell a few times. She was a third year that had attempted to copy a rather complicated piece of parchment with a rather complicated spell. Something could have gone wrong. But then, she supposed, the Map cannot think for itself. If the Map was malfunctioning, it would not come up with a name, it would probably just stop working and the dots would stop moving.

As they all entered the Great Hall, Ankaa noticed that all the other students were as confused as the Slytherins were. Well all of them were except the Gryffindorks. Lavender Brown was chattering away in front of a whole band of students, but Ankaa couldn't hear what she was saying over the startled gasps of the students.

Ankaa spotted the Weasley twins talking to some other Gryffindor students. She contemplated whether she should go over there and talk to them, but she was sure with her current mood she would end up insulting them more than before. Besides, Gryffindorks like them probably did not want to associate themselves with a Slytherin like herself.

But she was curious as to whether they had seen Sirius Black on the map as well. She wondered if he had done it before, breaking into Hogwarts, which would explain why he wasn't caught already. Then again, he did go to school here with her mother so he had to have known the school inside out. Pursing her lips, she wondered whether he knew about the secret passageways.

Cepheus had wandered over to where she stood. Ankaa did not speak to him first. She knew he wouldn't talk to her unless she apologized and there was no way Ankaa was apologizing for something that wasn't her fault. Sometimes having a family was a nuisance.

Cedric Diggory, another Hufflepuff from Cepheus' year came by. Cepheus and Cedric were friends, according to what Ankaa had noticed. Cepheus gave Diggory a tense smile.

"Is everything alright?" Diggory asked, looking around the hall, "I've heard some ridiculous things."

Cepheus sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Apparently Sirius Black broke into the school. He tried to get into the Gryffindor dormitory."

Ankaa snorted, "Trying to get to Potter."

Diggory gave her a smile, "Hello Ankaa. How are you?"

"Sleepy," She shrugged, "And you?"

"The same." Diggory turned back to Cepheus, "Do you think he's still lingering around?"

"We're not sure," Cepheus said, "Dumbledore wanted everyone secured before we went looking. We'll probably do rounds."

"Best be careful," Diggory said, "I'm going to go talk to my partner about our patrol schedules. I'll see you around Ceph." Turning to Ankaa, he gave her a smile as well, "You too Ankaa."

Ankaa nodded. She noticed Cepheus was giving her a blank stare, and in an attempt to get away from him she turned quickly and lied, "I'm going to go talk to Malfoy."

As she walked away, she was unaware that Cepheus was keeping an eye on her. Instead of walking over to Draco, she swallowed her pride and walked towards the Weasley twins.

She grabbed Blaise's hand, pulling him along as well. At least that way, if the Weasley twins were furious with her Zabini would be able to hex them before they tried something stupid.

"Hey," She spoke once she was close.

Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, turned around to face the two Slytherins. He examined Ankaa through narrowed eyes and said, "What do you want?"

"Oh relax, I'm not here to steal your Quidditch plays." Ankaa sighed, "I wanted to know why we're all in the Hall." She already knew. She wanted to know from the people who were likely involved. Why else would Black break into Hogwarts if not to get to Gryffindor tower and blow Potter to smithereens as well?

"Sirius Black was in the castle, and he tried to get into the Gryffindor dorms." Fred supplied reluctantly, though he didn't look at Ankaa.

"Is he still here?" she asked.

"I doubt it," commented George.

"He wouldn't stick around." Said Fred.

"Especially not after attacking the portrait so viciously."

"Do they always do that?" Blaise whispered to Ankaa, "Finish each other's thoughts, I mean."

"Yes." Fred, George, Wood and Ankaa all spoke at the same time. An awkward silence settled over them.

Ankaa cleared her throat. "Could I just talk to you two?" Ankaa asked, smiling slightly at the twins. In an effort to make herself appear innocent, she widened her eyes and furrowed her brows. She figured she would need to apologize if she wanted to be friends with them. Ankaa cringed at the thought of trying to become friends with them.

They seemed like they were high maintenance. Not in terms of money of course, for she would have no problem. The Weasley family, in general, seemed like a close-knit family, which meant there would be a lot of emotional toll on her. Besides, Gryffindor-Slytherin friendships hardly ever worked out. The Twins weren't stupid, they would know that she had an ulterior motive. It was a Gryffindor-Slytherin trait... two of the most stubborn houses.

"Who two?"

Ankaa rolled her eyes, "The twins, Wood. Now, unless you've got a twin the world didn't know about, I'd suggest you get going." Wood glared at her and looked to the twins. The twins looked at each other before giving Wood a slight nod. It was a little comical how they thought they needed protection from a girl that barely reached their shoulders.

"You too Zabini," Ankaa commanded, "I'll come and find you." Blaise didn't argue.

Ankaa sighed, trying to show them she was tired. "Look, I wanted to apologize," Ankaa ground her teeth together slightly. Even saying the word was hard for her, but she continued, "I'm sorry for what I said to you that day. It was incredibly rude of me. You're allowed to have an opinion and you just said what you've been conditioned to believe."

She had insulted them even when she was apologizing, but she knew they were not smart enough to catch it. She had indirectly apologized, but not for her behaviour. She had basically told them it was their upbringing that was the fault in their character. Regardless, she waited with baited breath.

The twins examined her through narrowed eyes for a few seconds. Ankaa looked away from them, feeling ridiculous. Her plans never failed. She was so sure the Weasels would jump at a chance to brag about getting an apology from the most notorious Slytherin at Hogwarts.

It seemed she was right, however. After examining her, their faces broke out into identical smiles at the same time.

"Apology accepted," Fred smiled.

"Yeah, we couldn't be angry at a little thing like you for too long." George laughed, ruffling her hair.

Ankaa tensed when he pulled his hand away from her hair. She was ready to pull out her wand, thinking that he was about to hit her. Instead, she gave him a wide (and fake) smile. "Right, well, thanks." Ankaa mumbled, "And good luck with your dormitories, I guess. Hopefully, Black won't be in your bed when you get back."

Fred and George sniggered. "That's a good idea." Fred said, "Maybe we could convince Ron—"

"That Sirius Black is in his bed?" Ankaa supplied, raising an eyebrow. "It's not a bad plan, actually."

"It's a minimal effort prank," George added, turning to face his twin. They both stared at each other for a few moments. Ankaa could tell they were doing that creepy twin thing that they did. They were telepathically communicating about their brother's demise.

"Done." Both of them nodded with a smile.

Ankaa rubbed her eyes tiredly, "Good luck with that." Ankaa noticed Wood was eavesdropping on their conversation, so she turned to him and smiled, "Good luck on your game with Slytherin this Saturday."

"Er—thanks."


"Rhyther!"

Ankaa looked up from her Potions essay to see Flint making his way over to her. As usual, the Slytherin student had a scowl on his face. He was carrying a little scroll in his hand which he threw at her the moment he was close enough. Gingerly, Ankaa held it between her thumb and forefinger and gave Flint a blank stare. "What is this?" she asked.

"It's a note for Wood."

"A love note?" She gave him a sly smile. "Found love on the Quidditch field, have you Flint?"

"Don't be a moron, Rhyther. It's a note from Snape telling him that Slytherin won't be playing him on Saturday." Flint commanded, "Take it to him."

"I'm not your owl." Ankaa threw the scroll back at him with a scowl, "Go do your own work. I don't need Wood trying to kill me."

"He won't."

"Then why don't you go?" Ankaa retorted, raising a brow. Without waiting for his reply, she packed up her things and started heading back to the castle. Ankaa couldn't enjoy one day in the paddock with Storm before some moron came and ruined it for her. She really needed to step up her game when it came to overthrowing the current hierarchical system of Slytherin House.

"I have other things to do," Flint growled.

Ankaa turned to him slowly, her mouth fixed in a slight frown and eyes narrowed, "My time is limited Flint (what a lie), and I am not going to waste it on you. Now, unless you have something that I'd genuinely be interested in doing, bugger off."

As she walked away, Ankaa heard the older student sigh irritatedly. She smirked when she heard him shout, "Wait!"

Flint and Ankaa had reached a rather interesting compromise. In return for delivering his wretched note, Ankaa would get to be a chaser for the Slytherin team next year. Ankaa had tried out for the team last year, and the previous captain Terence Higgs (who also happened to be Cepheus' best friend), had commended her on her ability to handle the Quaffle. The little runt Flint hadn't let her on the team though, because he thought 'girls were useless' apparently.

Finding Oliver Wood in a humungous castle was not that hard, contrary to what people must think. He seemed to spend most of his life in the Gryffindor locker room either trying to plot some new strategies or attempting to drown himself after his team lost their games. When Ankaa walked into the room, he was standing before a dual-sided blackboard. He had his hand under his chin, his gaze fixed steadily on the intricate plays outlined on the board. Ankaa figured she could stand there and memorize his strategies, but she had no one to give them to.

Ankaa wasn't on the team yet, so why bother?

Ankaa cleared her throat to alert the Gryffindor Captain of her presence. Wood jumped, almost punching himself in the face. He did a double take when he saw the Slytherin student standing behind him, in clear view of the board. Ankaa raised a brow as the Gryffindor Captian tried desperately to cover the board with his body, flailing his arms around so that she could not see the board.

Ankaa blinked slowly, taking a few steps forward. Fixing him with her usual 'Are you an idiot' look, she turned the latch on the board and swung it around so the bare side was facing forward. Wood paused and stood up straight again, glaring at the girl.

"You know, for a bloke who spends most his life in this room, I'm surprised you didn't know that the two-way board had a lock on it," Ankaa commented, crossing her arms and observing the Gryffindor.

Wood rolled his eyes, "You surprised me, that's all."

"That's even worse. I thought Keepers were supposed to have lightning fast reflexes."

That seemed to have surprised him. With a glare, he asked her, "What are you doing here?"

Ankaa held out the note for him. She watched as his expression went from curious to furious in a few short seconds. Ankaa took a step back as he began to pace the room.

"Malfoy isn't even injured!" He shouted at her, crumpling the note in his hand.

Ankaa held up my hands in surrender, "I'm just the messenger, bud. No need to shout at me. It was either me or Flint that delivered the news, and I figured if someone remotely good looking delivered it you'd be happy."

Wood wasn't listening to a word she said, which was a shame because that was some great comic relief. Ankaa took the liberty of turning the board back around, which seemed to catch Wood's attention. He jumped over some of the benches and barreled towards her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Nice plays," Ankaa continued on despite his protests, "Did you come up with this yourself?"

Wood just gave her a vicious glare. This time, instead of fumbling with the board, he simply flipped the latch and swung the board around. He kept his hand on the board as if Ankaa would physically fight him to try to get a look at his half-baked strategies again.

Unperturbed by his surly attitude, Ankaa continued, "You know, Pucey is pretty weak on his right side, so I'd suggest you tweak number three a little to make sure someone stands by on his right when he shoots. His aim always goes wide anyway."

Wood's glare turned into a curious look. "Y-You're telling me about their weaknesses?"

Ankaa shrugged, hiking the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder. "It's a weak team this year. Besides, I owe you, or your team, for the way Malfoy fell last year. It was hilarious. I expect you'll be busy now with that—planning for Hufflepuff and all."

That seemed to snap him out of his daze. Soon enough, he had shooed Ankaa out of the room, claiming he had to think about 'how to crush Diggory'. Ankaa had never really interacted with Wood before this, and everyone she had talked to him about only told her how obsessed he was with Quidditch. At first, Ankaa had thought they were all exaggerating. But now, she could see that maybe what they had said was an understatement.

That boy needed to sort out his priorities.


On Friday, spirits were running high. The Gryffindors seemed pissed at the Slytherins (as if that was anything out of the ordinary) for not playing with an injured seeker. Of course, the Slytherins knew nothing was wrong with Draco, but they were not stupid enough to play in the spooky weather that had been around for the past week.

Ankaa was sitting in the back of her DADA class (well, one of her was because the other was in Transfiguration) with Blaise when the door opened and Potter came rushing through.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I—" Potter pausing, only now having realized that Professor Lupin wasn't around to teach today. Professor Snape was looking up at him from the teacher's desk with a blank stare, but his eyes seemed especially malicious. Ankaa watched with rabid fascination as Potter fumbled around, asking about Professor Lupin.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down."

Potter, for some reason, didn't move. Was the idea of a substitute teacher so foreign to him?

"Where's Professor Lupin?" Potter asked, glancing around the room as if Lupin would pop up from a dark corner and cradle the Chosen One in his arms and tell him that he would protect him no matter what.

"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. "I believe I told you to sit down?"

Potter didn't move. He kept asking questions about Lupin's illness when Snape finally took away five more points and threatened to make it fifty if Potter didn't move his butt into his chair. Ankaa rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Professor Snape when Potter finally decided to act like a student and settle into his seat.

"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far—"

"Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows," Granger butted in quickly, "and we're just about to start—"

"Be quiet," Snape said coldly. Ankaa smiled and shook her head. Granger didn't seem to understand the fact that you didn't talk to Snape in class unless he asked you to. Well, Snape never really asked anybody, he just commanded it. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."

True, the Professor seemed like he didn't keep notes on his teaching lessons but Ankaa supposed there was a method to his madness. Ankaa could understand, actually. Everything in her life was in shambles, but Ankaa knew where everything was. For instance, her books were a mess. There were spare parchments and past assignments that had been thrown into her bag and some that had been folded and cast into books she did not even use. The point was, it may seem disorganized to you but Ankaa sure as hell knew where everything is.

"Miss Granger," Snape said in a voice that was deadly calm after she had interrupted him for a third (or three hundredth) time. "I was under the impression that I was taking this class, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page three hundred and ninety-four." Snape glanced around and growled, "All of you! Now!"

With some sullen glances, everyone pulled out their books and turned to the page. It was about werewolves. The class had not begun learning about them, but Ankaa wasn't going to argue with Snape about that. Instead, she started skimming the first paragraph knowing he would ask the class something to test their knowledge.

And lo and behold, he did. He asked about the difference between a true wolf and a werewolf. No one knew the answer (except Granger and Ankaa). Granger's hand shot in the air, and Ankaa continued reading the passage.

"Well, well, well," Said Snape, "I didn't think I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how behind you all are…"

"Please, sir." Ankaa banged her head on her book when Granger spoke out of turn again. She put her hand up as well as Granger continued, "The werewolf differs from the true wolf in many small ways. The snout of a—"

"This is the second time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Have you not yet grasped the concept of speaking only when spoken to? Perhaps you should learn a few things from Miss Rhyther." Said Snape coolly, "Five more points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for being an insufferable know-it-all."

Overall, Ankaa would say the class was an excellent one. Those who knew how to deal with Snape were fine, but those who liked to rebel against authority in the most ludicrous way possible (like Weasley, Potter, Patil and Thomas) were in trouble. Weasley ended up with a detention when he tried to defend Granger's inability to speak when spoken to.

Ultimately though, they were all assigned an essay about spotting and killing werewolves that were to be handed to Snape on Monday. He claimed it was time for someone to take charge and steer the class in the right direction.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Ankaa commented to Zabini as they left the class. "I wonder why we started with werewolves though."


Notes:

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