McGonagall returned around dawn to tell them Sirius Black had escaped once again, and Annabelle had to work to keep the relief off her face.
Signs of tighter security were evident all across the castle as soon as they left their common rooms that morning. Sir Cadogan had been fired and the Fat Lady, who'd been restored, had returned on the condition she be protected. This is why there were now a bunch of security trolls pacing the corridor in front of her.
Aside from that, Filch was boarding up everything from cracks to mouse holes and Flitwick was teaching the front doors to recognize a picture of Sirius Black.
Ron became a celebrity the second he left the common room that morning, and he loved telling anyone who asked what happened. And a couple days later, Neville received a Howler from his Grandma.
Meanwhile, Anna was mostly alone. The twins refused to speak with her. And she quickly learned that sitting with her normal group of friends lead to the twins either ignoring her existence or going silent and making things awkward with everyone. So, she'd decided to stay away from her friends for the most part so as not to cause any drama. Plus, after a couple days to get used to the pain, Anna realized she was also angry at the twins. After all, they made her tell them the truth and swore they had her back, but they seemed to so easily turn their backs on her. Of course, she tried to reason that, to everyone else, it looked like Sirius Black was about to stab Ron. She could understand them being scared for their little brother.
Anna sat alone in most of her classes and ate her meals in the kitchens. The only friend that she really talked to was Hermione, seeing as they were both in the same boat, so to speak.
"So, what's going on with you and the twins?" Hermione asked quietly as they sat in the library, working on Buckbeak's case.
Anna chewed her lip, not raising her eyes from the book she was reading.
"We just…had an argument. They didn't agree with something I said." Anna admitted slowly.
Hermione peaked over the top of the book she was reading. "You three haven't really fought before, huh?"
Anna thought for a moment on that. "No, not really. We've argued, sure, but it's usually in good fun. They're the kind of people who…forgive pretty easily. They just…go with the flow, most of the time. So, no, we've never had a fight like this before." she admitted in a whisper, hoping Hermione couldn't hear that her voice was thick with tears.
They were silent for a few minutes, and Anna assumed the conversation was over. Until Hermione spoke again.
"I'm sure you'll work it out."
Anna peaked over at her, giving her an appreciative smile. "And I'm sure you, Ron, and Harry will work things out, too."
Since there was a couple years age gap between Hermione and Anna, their schedules were different enough that Anna was alone during most of the day. Her friends weren't around, so she often walked the corridors by herself. This left her open to 'attacks'.
It wasn't horrible. No one hexed her like in first year. But people pushed her around, tripped her, shoved her, whispered about her, insulted her. It got to the point that only a few days after her father broke into the castle, she'd walk with her shoulders hunched and pressed against the walls, cowering when someone came too close.
She hated it.
Anna left Care of Magical Creatures on Wednesday a bit later than her class, having to reassure Hagrid that Buckbeak's trial, which was the coming Friday, would go well. On the inside, though, she was terrified that it wouldn't. After all, she stood by her theory that Lucius Malfoy pulled strings on her own trial, why wouldn't he do the same against the hippogriff that attacked his son?
After she finally left the class, she went to the kitchens to ask the house elves for some dinner. When she finished eating, she went up to her dormitory in the hopes of getting some quiet alone time to do some OWL revision.
Unfortunately, Anna opened the door to her dormitory to hear whispers suddenly fall silent. Angelina and Alicia were sitting on Ang's bed and staring at Anna. She barely paused before approaching her own bed and plopping her things down. She pulled off her school robes and kicked off her shoes, leaving her in her uniform and skirt. She flopped down on her bed and grabbed her Charms book off the top of her trunk.
"Hey, Anna?" Angelina called quietly.
"Mhm?" Anna mumbled, staring down at her book.
"Why've you been avoiding us?" Alicia asked hesitantly.
"I haven't been avoiding you." Anna answered.
"Bullocks!" Ang snapped, standing up and approaching Anna's bed. "You sit alone in class and you don't come to meals. We haven't spoken to you all week! And whenever we ask the twins, they clam up. Did you guys get into a fight?"
"What happens between me and the twins doesn't always need to be everyone else's business." Anna told her curtly, finally looking up from her book. "If they don't want to tell you, I guess you don't need to know."
Angelina glared down at her. "We do if it effects the rest of us. You don't-"
"'Effects the rest of you'?" Anna repeated dryly. "Oh, yeah, you guys are one person short in your group. How dreadful! I'm such a horrible person, hanging around by myself all the time, letting myself get pushed around and kicked and hit. Maybe I should just go back to hanging out with all of you and see how awkward I can make it with the twins giving me the silent treatment. Let's see how quickly I can split the whole group up, or find out if anyone would stick with me when the twins ditch me. Sounds like a plan." she ranted sarcastically.
"That's why you're doing this?" Alicia asked, "You're avoiding everyone because you're afraid that you'll either split us all up, or no one will want to side with you?"
Anna glared down at her book and shrugged. It was a fair thought, she defended herself silently. After all, Katie was really the only friend she'd made on her own. The others only started hanging out with Anna because they were friends with the twins, or they were on the Quidditch team together.
"What could've been so bad that you and the twins are avoiding each other to this extent?" Angelina asked, now looking concerned instead of angered, "Have you not been eating? We never see you in the Great Hall."
"I eat in the kitchens." Anna mumbled, fingering the corner of the page she had open. "And really, if the twins don't want to tell you guys what we fought about, I'm not about to talk about it."
"I really think the three of you should just talk this out. I mean, the twins still joke and laugh, but I can tell something's different. They really miss you." Alicia told her quietly.
Anna found it impossible to swallow and suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"Um, I think I'm going to go for a walk before curfew." she mumbled, standing up, slipping her shoes on, and quickly leaving the room, though she grabbed her favorite journal, quill, and inkwell as she went. She hurried down the stairs and paused, glancing around the room.
Fred and George were talking with Lee in the corner, and she quickly looked away from them. Her eyes found Harry and Ron sitting on the couch with a couple boys from their year. Seeing Harry, an idea popped into her head.
Pulling herself together, she quickly approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look over his shoulder at her. Leaning down, she spoke quietly so only him and possibly Ron could hear her.
"I get it if you say 'no', but could I use the map for a bit?"
Harry eyed her curiously, and Ron looked very suspicious.
"What for?" Harry whispered almost silently.
Anna thought for a very brief moment before grinning. "Do you really want to know?" she asked teasingly.
Harry smiled slightly before saying, "Sure. I just need to get it from my room. One minute." He got up and hurried up the stairs while Anna waited anxiously in the common room.
"What are you really planning to do with it?" Ron asked her, still looking very suspicious.
Anna narrowed her eyes slightly down at him. "What-are you afraid I'll let another murderer in the castle?" she asked sarcastically.
"So you admit you did do it."
"I did nothing of the sort." Anna snapped at him, glaring down at him.
Before he could retaliate, Harry returned from down the stairs, holding a familiar, worn bit of parchment. He passed it to Anna before sitting down.
"Thanks, Harry. I'll get it back to you as soon as I can. Definitely no later than tomorrow if you're not down here when I come back."
"Sure, no problem. This was our deal." Harry assured her.
"Alright, thanks again. See you later." she told him with a smile as she turned to leave the common room. She could see the twins watching her from the corner of her eye, but she refused to look at them. She couldn't.
Climbing out of the portrait hole, Anna hurried down the corridor and out of sight before activating the map with her wand. She looked it over to check her way was clear before moving into the nearest empty classroom.
She conjured a couple pillows and sat in the corner of the room, lighting her wand to read the map over. She wasn't really looking for anything. More than anything, she just wanted to be alone. She wanted something to take her mind off everything else. Off OWLs, and Buckbeak, and her dad, and Fred and George.
Her eyes scanned the map distractedly, following random corridors and glancing at empty classrooms. She missed doing this. Just to see who was out and about this late. It was somewhat calming.
Quick movement caught Anna's attention and she looked to where it was. It took her a second to find whatever it was, but her eyes landed on a rapidly-moving name. She stared at it blankly for a few moments before her eyes went wide.
'Peter Pettigrew'.
Anna's mouth fell open as she watched the person walk along a corridor. She couldn't understand what she was seeing. Pettigrew was her father's friend in school. He was the Potters' real Secret Keeper. He was dead!
She didn't realize she'd shifted on her pillows, sitting up straight to get closer to the map. The little dot labeled 'Peter Pettigrew' was still walking along the corridor, but he was approaching a corner, and Anna saw Professor Snape walking in the conjoining corridor toward the same corner. She held her breath as they got closer to each other. She was expecting them to practically run into each other and stop; some kind of sign of a conversation or confrontation. Something.
But that didn't happen.
Pettigrew walked right past Snape, neither one stopping or even slowing down. It was as if they didn't see each other.
"What the-?" Anna breathed into the empty room. She kept her eyes fixed on Pettigrew's name, leaning closer to the point her nose was inches from the parchment. He was approaching another corner and Anna waited for him to turn again, wondering where he was going. But he didn't turn the corner. He ran straight ahead toward the wall…and disappeared!
Anna's brow lowered, her eyes frantically scanning the map all around the area the name disappeared from. She didn't understand. He'd ran straight at the wall and vanished! That's not possible!
She stared blankly at the map for several minutes before deactivating the map and folding it back up. Looking around, her eyes landed on her journal. Reaching over, she grabbed her journal, quill, and inkwell before flipping it open to the same page she'd written so many notes on her father's case.
She found the corner where she'd written down Pettigrew being the Secret Keeper. Underneath that she wrote, 'Saw Peter Pettigrew on Marauders' Map. Disappeared when he ran into a wall'.
She couldn't help staring down at that phrase for several minutes, unsure what this could possibly mean.
XXX
The following Friday, Anna woke up around 6:30 in the morning, got dressed, and headed down to the kitchens for a meager breakfast of toast and tea. She felt sick and unable to focus, her hands shaking with nerves. Today was the day Hagrid was in London with Buckbeak for the trial. She probably wouldn't hear anything until Saturday, but she felt so helpless. Obviously, she'd done everything she could, as did Hermione. But she just wished there was a way to ensure Buckbeak's safety.
She didn't have any classes until Defense Against the Dark Arts before dinner, so she hung out in the library. After all, she had a couple essays from Charms and Transfiguration, about a hundred pages to read for Herbology, and some revision for Potions class. She worked through lunch and finally, about forty-five minutes before her class, she couldn't force her brain to focus anymore. So, she slowly made her way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
It was empty when she arrived, so she sat in the very front desk by the wall, the same desk she'd sat in during her only other Defense class that week.
She couldn't bring herself to be productive, she couldn't focus on anything specific, so Anna just sat there and stared blankly at the wall. She was like that when Professor Lupin entered the room about twenty minutes before class started.
Remus Lupin paused in the doorway of his classroom, seeing Annabelle Black sitting alone at the front of the room.
"Belle?"
Anna jumped and looked over her shoulder as Lupin approached the front of the room. He placed his briefcase on the teacher's desk as he looked at her.
"What are you doing here so early? Class isn't for another twenty minutes."
Anna shrugged. "Had nothing better to do. I couldn't make myself do more homework."
"How much homework have you done today?" he asked curiously, leaning back against the side of his desk so he could look at her.
Anna thought back before answering, "I finished two essays, read about a hundred pages, and did revision for Potions. And add all that to the fact I couldn't hardly focus because I know Hagrid and Buckbeak are on their way to London for Buckbeak's trial."
Lupin nodded. "That's right, I forgot that was today. So, you know Buckbeak, then?"
Anna was surprised. "I haven't told you that story?"
Lupin looked amused. "No, I think I'd remember a story about a hippogriff."
"Oh, well first year I had some issues with bullying and one night I got upset, so I kinda ran out to the broom shed, stole a broom, and flew off into the darkness. Unfortunately, it was storming so I got blown into the Dark Forest, where I crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. Apparently, Buckbeak found me and went to get help. I probably would've died out there from the cold and rain."
"So, now you're returning the favor, so to speak." Lupin deduced.
"Yeah pretty much."
"Well, Buckbeak's pretty lucky to have you on his side."
Anna smiled slightly. "I guess."
"You going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Lupin asked curiously.
Anna grimaced. She'd been trying not to think about the Hogsmeade weekend, which had been announced earlier in the week. With her best friends not speaking to her, a Hogsmeade trip just didn't sound like fun.
"Um…I don't think so. I mean, I'll probably be too anxious to leave the castle. I really want to hear back from Hagrid about how their trial goes." she answered.
Lupin eyed her knowingly for a moment. "Understandable. And you're sure it has nothing to do with the twins not speaking to you?"
Anna ducked her head for a moment before looking up at him from under her lashes, "You noticed?"
"Kinda hard not to." he shrugged, "I think McGonagall noticed, too. So, are you going to tell me what's going on there?"
Anna thought about it for a moment. If anyone were to understand the whole story, it'd be Lupin. After all, if he really was Moony from the Marauders' Map, he'd be able to explain her seeing Pettigrew on the map. But after how the twins lashed out at her, she was hesitant to tell anyone else.
"They just didn't like something I said. It's really not that big of a deal." Anna told him casually.
"They don't seem like the kind of people to get that angry about something that's not that big of a deal."
"Well,…I'm sure it'll get worked out eventually."
"Have you tried talking to them since this…argument happened?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Anna thought for a moment. "I don't know, I guess I'm just scared. Maybe they won't want to be my friends anymore."
"I somehow doubt that, given everything you three have been through together. They don't seem like the type to walk away from a friend just because of a disagreement."
Anna nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know. Thanks."
"No problem." Lupin smiled. They couldn't really continue talking as students started arriving, so Lupin went back to his desk to begin organizing for the day's lesson.
XXX
On Saturday morning, Anna watched a majority of Hogwarts leave the castle for Hogsmeade. She saw Malfoy with his goons, Ron appeared to be going alone, and the twins were going with Lee, Alicia, Katie, and Angelina.
'Yeah,' Anna thought to herself, 'staying behind is definitely for the best'.
She made her way back up to Gryffindor Tower slowly, giving the Fat Lady the password before stepping into the common room. She found Hermione in her usual corner, reading an enormous book as usual. Slowly making her way up to her dormitory, Anna grabbed all of her own homework before heading back down to sit at the same table.
"You didn't go to Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked when Anna sat across from her.
"Nah. Going alone isn't exactly fun. What about you?" Anna asked, cracking open her Arithmancy book, by far her worst subject.
"Same." Hermione gave her a small, shaky smile. She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing in a whisper, "I'm worried Harry's going to use that map to sneak into Hogsmeade again."
Anna paused. Her and Hermione had discussed the map before, since Harry had told her and Ron who gave it to him. It was one of the things the two girls didn't exactly agree on.
"Well,…I mean, it's not like he's in any real danger in Hogsmeade. There're too many people. The worst that'll happen is he'll get in trouble, and that's really more his problem, don't you think?"
Hermione sighed, pulling parchment toward her to most likely start another essay. "I suppose you're right. But still, I worry. He has a way of…attracting dangerous attention wherever he goes."
Anna smirked. "Sounds about right. So, what are you working on?"
"Right now I'm writing an essay for Muggle Studies."
Anna paused in flipping through her own book, but not for the obvious reason. She had already asked Hermione long ago why, as a Muggleborn, she bothered taking Muggle Studies. She paused this time because she vaguely remembered how the third year schedule worked. Her Arithmancy class, a class Anna knew Hermione was also taking, since the book was sitting out in front of her, was during the same time as Muggle Studies, which the twins had taken in third year.
"Hermione? How're you taking all these classes? Doesn't Arithmancy take place during the same time as Muggle Studies?"
Hermione stiffened, but didn't look up from her essay. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not as if I can be in two places at once."
Anna eyed her suspiciously for a moment before dropping the subject and moving on to her homework.
They worked in companionable silence, occasionally breaking it to ask a quick question about their homework in case the other might know it. After a couple hours there was a quick tapping on the window right next to them. They both jumped slightly at the interruption, seeing a Brown Owl sitting on the sill. Anna stood up and pushed the window open, letting a cool breeze and the owl into the common room.
To Anna and Hermione's surprise, the owl merely dropped the letter on their table and swoop right back out the window.
They stared at the letter for a moment, both completely frozen. It was a small, folded up piece of parchment with both their names scribbled across it in blotchy writing. The parchment looked damp.
Anna swallowed thickly, her stomach churning with nerves. "I know that handwriting. It's from Hagrid."
"Do you want to open it? Or should I?" Hermione asked quietly, looking at the letter as if it were about to jump out and bite her.
Anna shook her head, her hands trembling. "I can't…" she whispered.
Hermione nodded and slowly reached for the letter. She unfolded it carefully and looked at the writing for a moment. She had to squint for a moment before taking a deep breath and reading it out loud.
"'Dear Anna and Hermione,
"We lost. I'm al-allowed to bring…him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the…help you both gave us.
"Hagrid'".
Hermione's voice had been shaking from the second sentence, and Anna was shaking even more. Hermione put the letter back down on the table, and Anna saw that some words were so smudged, probably from Hagrid's tears, that they were near impossible to read. That was probably why Hermione stumbled over a few of the words.
"This can't be happening." Anna whispered, unable to comprehend what she just heard. Sure, she hadn't exactly been hopeful, but the thought of Buckbeak being executed…
"There…there has to be something we can do. There'll be an appeal. There has to be one. Maybe we could do something. There has to be something we haven't tried." Hermione mumbled, trying to think of something.
"We don't stand a chance." Anna mumbled, shaking her head numbly. "Malfoy did something. No one on that Committee would dare go against him. And it's not as if Malfoy's never threatened or bribed people before."
"What do you mean? Well, I know he probably threatened the Committee. But you're talking about something specific." Hermione noted, pulling her things into a small pile. She was clearly unable to focus on homework at a time like this.
"Aside from the fact he threatened to curse the families of the school governors last year so they'd get rid of Dumbledore? Well, obviously I've got no evidence, but I'm fairly sure he did something to rig my trial against Flint."
Hermione's eyes went wide. "Seriously? Is there anyway you could have a retrial?"
"Nah. Once the Wizengamot makes their decision, I'm pretty sure it can't be changed. And anyway, I'm finally starting to move past the Flint thing. I'd rather not have to relive it all over again."
They sat in silence for several minutes before Hermione stood up and grabbed the letter. "I'm going to go wait for Harry and Ron. Tell them what's happened."
Anna barely nodded as she left the common room. She felt cold. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Anna rested her heels on the edge of her seat, hugging her knees.
She was sitting like that when Hermione returned with Ron and Harry.
"Harry and Ron are going to help us with Hagrid's appeal."
Anna sighed, dragging both her hands down her face. "I wouldn't even know where to start. We've found and mentioned nearly everything that could possibly work in Buckbeak's favor. In a normal, fair case that would've been enough. I just…I almost wish I could set him free."
"Anna!" Hermione hissed, looking appalled.
"Obviously, I can't." Anna rolled her eyes. "They'd blame Hagrid and send him to Azkaban. After what he went through there last year…I just couldn't do that to him."
Hermione's eyes softened.
Harry and Ron started a conversation about what they could maybe look into that might make a difference. Anna made a few comments, but for the most part she stared blankly ahead. Her mind kept going back to all the memories she had of Buckbeak.
Meeting him for the first time, and how terrified she was when he approached her instead of the gentler hippogriff Charlie had suggested. Her blurry memory of Buckbeak finding her in the Dark Forest. His soft feathers against her cheek when she hugged him. Sitting in the grass and leaning back against his flank as she did homework.
Anna didn't realize tears had fallen from her eyes until one hit her hand. Blinking, she reached up and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the common room. It was fuller than before, clearly people had returned from Hogsmeade. Her eyes caught sight of familiar ginger hair and she realized Fred and George were both staring at her.
Blinking, Anna quickly turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Harry, catching up on the conversation they were having. If she was going to try and save Buckbeak, she couldn't let herself focus on her fight with the twins. She had no idea where to even begin on that topic.
XXX
Over the next couple days, Ron had taken over the responsibility of Buckbeak's appeal so Hermione and Anna had less to worry about. Anna was seriously thinking Hermione was cracking. She apparently slapped Malfoy in the face after their Care of Magical Creatures class, and the same day she stormed out of Divination. Ron and Harry thoroughly enjoyed it all.
Anna was still studying for OWLs and frequently had Quidditch practice. Wood reminded them at least a couple times a day that Slytherin was ahead by 200 points, which meant they had to win the match by more than 200 points to win the Cup.
Practices went rather well, but there was a clear tension between Anna and the twins. It didn't necessarily effect the practice, but Anna had a few close calls with Bludgers due to the lack of Beaters backing her up. Oliver flat at told Anna that she needed 'to settle this silly disagreement with the Weasley twins'.
Outside of practices, there was mounting tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin. There were several small scuffles in the corridors, and Wood insisted Harry be accompanied everywhere in case Slytherin tried to put their Seeker out of commission before the match.
Unfortunately, Anna didn't receive the same protection.
It was a couple weeks after Buckbeak's trial. Anna was walking down the corridor alone after eating her dinner in the Great Hall with Hermione, Ron, and Harry, who'd been rather kind to her given everything that'd happened.
"Hey, Black!"
Anna stiffened, but didn't stop. She knew that voice. She hated that voice. She feared that voice.
A hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, bringing her face-to-face with Marcus Flint. He was flanked by a couple Slytherins, the only one Anna recognized was Graham Montague.
Anna shoved his hand off her and took a few steps back.
"Where's your little bodyguards?" Flint taunted her. "I've noticed your little Weasels haven't been around lately. Did you have a falling out?" he asked her in a baby voice while his friends laughed.
"Leave me alone, Flint. McGonagall already warned you. She'll have you thrown out of Hogwarts before you can blink if you bother me." Anna warned him, surprised her voice wasn't shaking.
"Ah. But McGonagall is nowhere to be found." Flint pointed out, gesturing to the empty corridor with his arms spread out. "There's no one here to save you this time."
Anna backed into the wall, reaching for her wand in her pocket.
"Expelliarmus!" one of the Slytherins shouted, and Anna's wand flew from her hand.
"Leave me alone!" Anna shouted loudly, hoping someone nearby would hear her.
Flint rushed forward and slammed her into the wall, her head flying back and smacking into the bricks. His hand covered her mouth, muffling her attempt at screaming. She brought her fists up and tried smacking every part of skin she could reach, but the other Slytherins grabbed her wrists and held them still, their grips tight enough Anna was sure they'd leave bruises.
Memories flashed before Anna's eyes and panic set in. She tried fighting harder, flailing her limbs as much as possible and managed to lift her leg and kick Flint in the shin. He cursed and pulled one of his hands back, prepared to strike her. Anna managed to yank one of her hands free and grabbed Flint's wrist, using all her strength to try and keep him from hitting her.
Flint merely yanked his hand from her grasp and brought it back in an open-handed slap across her face. The forced sent Anna's head smacking into the wall, her legs shook, and she couldn't keep herself up anymore. One person holding her wrist and Flint gripping her face over her mouth were the only things keeping her from crumpling to the ground.
"Now, why don't you just relax and I can give you a repeat performance of last time we were-"
"Hey!"
Flint and his friends looked down the corridor, but Anna couldn't turn her head. A couple of the Slytherins looked nervous, but Flint was scowling.
"Let her go, Flint! Or I'll hex off a body part you're extremely attached to."
Anna was convinced she had a serious head injury. She was hallucinating. It couldn't be who it sounded like.
But it did the job. Flint and the other Slytherins released her and backed away, letting her slide down the wall into a ball on the floor. She was shaking, trying to smother the memories Flint dragged back up. Her knees were bent up and her arms curled tightly into her chest. Her wand was tossed back to her, landing with a light thud on the ground next to her.
She kept her eyes downcast, watching as three pairs of feet backed away, turned, and left while two more pairs of feet slowly approached her. When a hand reached out, Anna flinched and curled into an even tighter ball, but the hand merely picked up her wand and slowly held it out to her.
"Anna, we're not going to hurt you." a familiar voice told her in a gentle, sad voice.
Hesitantly, Anna looked up to find Fred and George crouched in front of her, Fred holding her wand out toward her.
Shaking from head to toe, Anna reached her hand out to take her wand from Fred, her hand shaking so much it took her a second to grab the wand.
"Thanks." she whispered as she pulled away, "You can leave now. I'm fine."
"Anna…" George moved forward and Anna instantly flinched.
"We aren't going to hurt you, Anna, please." Fred implored.
"We're sorry for how we've been treating you. We were prats and you didn't deserve it." George added desperately.
"We were…we were scared after what happened with Ron and we took it out on you. You didn't deserve it and we are so, so sorry."
Anna sniffed, not realizing a single tear had slipped down her cheek. "Really?" she whispered, peaking up at them nervously. Seeing the actual fear in her eyes, Fred leaned forward and gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her forward into his chest. She sniffed and trembled, but snuggled closer into his chest, feeling completely safe for the first time in a while.
"We're sorry, Anna." George repeated, shifting and sitting next to his twin. "I know we've said that, but really…we were horrible to you. You should've hexed us or pranked us or something. We would've deserved it."
"And I'm really sorry about what I said to you that night. About how you grew up alone, and…how you were helping your father so you could get what you never had. That was a horrible thing for me to say and I regretted it as soon as I said it." Fred told her guiltily.
Anna really wanted to say it was fine; after all, while those words hurt, they were nothing compared to her being completely alone for the past few weeks.
"It really hurt." she finally whispered, turning her head to rest the side of it against Fred's chest so she could sort of see George. "But being pretty much alone for the past few weeks was worse. While you were all flanking Harry so no one attacked him, I was being pushed around and hit. I swear, this time with Flint, I really tried to fight back!" she insisted suddenly, looking up at Fred and then over at George.
Fred's arms tightened around her and held her to his chest.
"We know, Anna. We know." he whispered into her hair. "And we've got your back from now on. If anyone so much as looks at you funny, they'll get a Dungbomb in their pants."
Anna laughed, turning her face into Fred's chest again.
"And if Flint tries anything funny during the match, he'll get a Bludger to the face." George assured her.
"Maybe it'll straighten his teeth out." Fred added thoughtfully, earning a couple more laughs from Anna and George.
"Hey. How about some cookies and hot chocolate or something?" George suggested, standing up, "I think we're long overdue for a trip to the kitchens."
"Speak for yourself." Anna smiled as she stood up, allowing Fred to do the same. "I've been eating nearly every meal in the kitchens for the past few weeks."
The twins suddenly frowned and Anna mentally kicked herself.
"Um, forget I said anything." she said quickly, shifting her shoulder bag back onto her shoulder. "I was fine, really. It's not that big of a deal."
The twins nodded, but they still looked guilty.
"Well, at least you won't be eating alone." Fred stated firmly, leading the way down the corridor in the direction that would take them to the kitchens.
XXX
The next couple weeks were much better than the few weeks before. Anna and the twins were back to normal, well, their version of normal. They had a quick conversation about Anna still believing her father was innocent. Fred and George were still doubtful, but told her that if she found solid evidence they'd have her back. She thanked them, but she doubted she'd tell them about anything new. She simply couldn't risk repeating their falling out. So, she decided she'd keep everything she found to herself.
Of course, Anna also took George's advice and pranked them both to get back at them. She managed to create a type of trick wand that was charmed with a Levitation Charm and Tickling Charm, so when she switched Fred's wand with it and he gave it a wave, he was suddenly floating in the air and being tickled ferociously. With George, she put an Inflating Charm on the ink in his inkwell, not the actual inkwell, and the ink Inflated until it exploded ink all over him. And of course, it was special ink that stained him for a solid 24 hours.
With all that out of the way, they were able to move past their fight and leave it in the past.
With the twins being her friends again, it took a huge weight off her shoulders, but she was still drowning in her workload. She forced herself to push her dad's issues to the back of her list, and with Ron and Harry helping with Buckbeak's case, she didn't have to work as hard on that. However, Quidditch practices increased in frequency and intensity, and teachers were handing out assignments as if their students had nothing better to do. Add in that Anna was doing OWL revision to prepare for the end of the year, and she was still under a crazy workload. But her friends made it better. Being the laid-back procrastinators that they are, the twins refused to let Anna work more than necessary. She had to spend at least a couple hours a day with them, that didn't include meals, and she wasn't allowed to worry about anything during those times.
With so much of her time taken up, and the fact that she wasn't allowed to leave the castle without supervision, Anna didn't get to spend a lot of time with Buckbeak and Hagrid. So, whenever she had time after Care of Magical Creatures she stayed after class to sit in the pumpkin patch where Buckbeak was tied up, curled up with him while she worked on some kind of homework. Then, she'd walk up to the castle with Hagrid for dinner.
She was doing just that one Wednesday evening, curled up against Buckbeak's side as he laid in the pumpkin patch. She was trying to do her Arithmancy revision, but she wasn't getting very far.
"Ugh." she groaned, letting her head fall back with a dull thump against Buckbeak's back. "There's no way I'm going to get this Arithmancy OWL. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life, but I know it won't involve this rubbish." she told Buckbeak, who merely opened one eye to look at her before closing it again.
She went back to her book, trying to decipher the different numbers and how in the bleeding hell they were supposed to help predict the future. Her 'pillow' shifted and she looked over to see that Buckbeak had lifted his head. He was staring into the trees nearby.
"What's up, Buckbeak?" she asked curiously, looking over into the trees to see if she could find what he was looking at. A few moments later, she heard a twig snap. A few moments later a bush rustled. She tensed and shifted against the hippogriff, wondering if it was something dangerous, but then Buckbeak laid his head back down. It was clearly something he didn't consider dangerous.
Anna kept her eyes fixed on some nearby bushes that had moved and a second later something peaked out. It started out as a black nose, which moved closer until a fluffy head with pointed ears peaked out.
Anna's mouth fell open as a big, black dog stepped out of the bushes, staring right at her with piercing, gray eyes. She knew that dog. It was the same dog as the one in the photo she got for Christmas. She didn't know if she should be scared or not.
Finally swallowing her nerves, Anna glanced over her shoulder at the window to Hagrid's hut. He wasn't peaking out at her, so for now the coast was clear. Turning back to the dog, she found he hadn't moved. He was still staring at her.
"Padfoot?" she called quietly. His keen ears heard her and perked up, his head lifting just a bit as he stared at her. Taking another risk, she spoke again. "Dad?"
His tail began wagging, a slight whimper leaving his throat and Anna couldn't help it when the corner of her lips tugged up into a slight smile. He acted like a puppy.
"You're really my dad?" she asked quietly. She'd never seen a dog nod it's head before, but that's exactly what he did. She glanced over her shoulder again to ensure Hagrid wasn't watching her talk to a stray dog. She didn't have much time, and this was her one chance to get some questions answered for sure.
Turning back to her dad, he was laying on his stomach, his ears flat to his head and tail wagging slowly.
"You're really innocent?" she asked quietly. He nodded his head quickly, almost frantically. "So, you didn't betray the Potters." He growled and shook his head in a 'no' answer. "Okay,…was it Pettigrew? Mum said he was the real Secret Keeper. Was he the one who betrayed them to Voldemort?" Sirius snarled again, his lips pulling back to reveal yellow, sharp fangs as he nodded is head.
"Alright. Two more questions. The last question is kinda random, but I just need to know this to know I'm not crazy…" Her dad continued staring at her, waiting for her to ask her question, "Is Pettigrew still alive?" He nodded. "And is he a rat Animagus?" If a dog could look surprised, Sirius looked just like that as he quickly nodded his head again.
A loud bang made Anna jump and look over her shoulder. Hagrid had opened his back door.
"Yeh ready to get back to the castle, Anna?" he asked.
"Um," Anna turned back to the forest to find her dad had disappeared, but that was fine. She found out what she wanted to. "Yeah, I'm ready." she called to Hagrid, packing her things away so they could return to the castle.
XXX
I know it seems extensive that Anna and the twins took about three weeks to make up, but it's not too farfetched, and it fit with my timeline. Anna has trust issues and is obviously afraid of losing her friends. And the twins are very proud, bordering on arrogant. Having to admit they're wrong and apologize could be a blow to their ego, in a sense.