Belladonna 11

Hogsmeade

31 October 1992

Hogsmeade was great! Ana had been there once or twice before with Sev, but it was one thing to be there under adult supervision, it was another thing to be there on a specially permitted weekend with all your friends, and yet quite another thing to be there with all your friends on your birthday.

Ana and the girls went by all the major shops. They stopped by Honeydukes, where Ana decided to try a few other sweets besides just licorice, before Sadie dragged them all to Gladrags. Flora took them to Dominic's Music Sop, and Hestia wanted to go to Scrivenshaft's Quills. Then the three of them dragged their feet to Spintwitches Sporting Needs because Ana claimed she needed a new pair of chaser gloves. Together they all agreed to check out Zonko's Joke Shop, where Ana found a rather pleasant surprise.

Intsa-Change

Add a drop of this too any consumable

Liquid to instantly change the color of your

Nemesis's' (or your best friend's) hair!

"Hey, Hes!" Ana called, holding a bottle of Insta-Change. "We ought to add this to Edgecombe's morning tea."

Hestia took the bottle and read it over. Marietta Edgecombe, the same Marietta that Ana resisted hexing during her first year, had become something of a nuisance for Ana and the girls. They shared a number of classes together, including Divination which Ana was taking with Hestia. Marietta used any chance she could get to "critique" Ana and the girls in some form or fashion, to which they responded in kind.

"Oh, yes please," Hestia said. "But which color should we go with?"

"Well I think she'd hate the green the most."

"But how do we get it to her?" Flora asked.

"We can work that bit out. It shouldn't be too complicated," Ana said confidently.

"What's this? Someone planning to pull a little prank?"

Ana grinned as the sound of Fred's voice met her ears, and her heart gave a little flutter.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" Flora said with a scowl.

"I should think that obvious, Flora," Hestia said, rolling her eyes.

"You all go on and purchase this; I'll handle them," Ana suggested. Flora turned her scowl on Ana then. "I'm more than capable of handling a couple of Gryffindors, Flora."

Flora's scowl deepened, clearly she didn't like being told what to do. Still, she and Hestia turned to leave. "Sadie! Where are you? Let's get out of here!"

Only after Flora and Hestia had left did Ana turn to face Fred and his brother. As usual, Lee was with them too.

"Handle us?" George asked.

"Well, you certainly can't handle me."

Lee snorted at George's expense.

"So, who's the target?" Fred asked curiously.

"Just this Ravenclaw girl who's a total tart."

"And what's the plan?"

"Well… The simplest one would be to do it in Divination. She sits just below us, and a simple levitation and notice-me-not charm would allow for easy delivery."

"What about Professor Trelawney?" Lee asked.

"She's blind as a bat even with her 'inner-eye.'"

"She's got a point there," George said.

"Of course I do."

"Of course she does." Fred and Ana said at the same time. Then they both smiled while Lee and George rolled their eyes.

"The only downside to that plan, however," Ana continued, "is that Flora and Sadie won't be there, and I'd hate to rob them of the opportunity to see something so…delightful."

"How thoughtful of you," George said.

"So, Plan B then?" Fred asked.

"Plan B… Well, the Great Hall at dinner time would provide optimum exposure…"

"I like where this is going…"

"The trick will be the delivery."

"Agreed. You may be good, but you're a beginner, and even you'd have difficulty getting that across the whole hall unnoticed."

"Is that doubt I hear?"

"Not in you, I assure you. But you'll have a whole table full of Professors to get by and not all of them will be as blind as Trelawney."

"So… I break into the kitchens."

"Now we're talking."

"Yeah… I just have to find them first and find a way in, which can't be that hard if you lot figured it out."

All three of them hissed and groaned as though being hit. Ana grinned.

"I suspect they'll be somewhere beneath the Great Hall itself, so I'm already half-way there."

"How do you figure that?" George asked.

"It's logic, something you Gryffindors clearly lack."

Fred laughed.

"You know she meant you too, right?" Lee asked.

"And that just sort of proves my point," Ana said.

"You'll still have to find a way in."

"Not a problem. But here's a question for the three of you: What happens if you use more than one color and add a semi-permanent hold to it to make it last longer?"

"That's an interesting idea, and I'm keen to know the answer," George said.

"Well, Georgie, let's test it and see," said Fred. "We have a candidate right here."

Ana smiled until Fred turned his eyes towards her. She knew what he was thinking.

"What? No. You can't."

Ana took a step back and wrapped a hand around her braid as though that would somehow protect it.

"'Can't' she says. Why can't, Georgie?"

"No," Ana said again, taking yet another step away. "No, not me, not my… My hair's actually one of the things I really love about myself."

Ana continued to step back, while they continued to slowly encircle her.

"Apart from my intellect of course," she added. "And my all around potions mastery…my superior Quidditch skills…"

"I still haven't heard a reason yet. Have you, Lee?"

"No, Freddie, I haven't."

"You can't," Ana said more firmly, suddenly hitting a shelf so she could go no further. She stood tall. "You can't, because it's my birthday."

"No it isn't. Is it?" Fred asked.

"It is, actually. So…I get a free pass."

"Say's who?" Lee asked.

"Say's me, and that' all that really matters."

"Rubbish," George said, moving to step forward again, but Fred stopped him.

"It's alright, Georgie. It won't be her birthday next week when we pummel her in Quidditch."

"Ah. But you'll have to catch me first…Freddie." Ana eyed the sugar quill in Fred's hand. Then she slowly wrapped her hand around his, held it there for a second, and then pulled the quill form his grasp.

"It's my birthday," she said as his eyebrows rose. She popped the quill in her mouth before he could take it back. "Thanks."

She grabbed a few more colors of Insta-Change, before walking off.

"Hey, Ana!" Fred called after her. "Try tickling the pear!"

Ana was confused until Lee's exclamation of "Fred!" And Ana knew, somehow, that Fred had just told her how to get into the kitchens; she just had to make sense of it.

The girls were waiting for Ana just outside the shop. Flora's scowl was still in place.

"Where did you get that?" Sadie asked, as they began walking.

"I nicked it off of Fred."

"Eww. What if he had that in his mouth, Ana?" Flora asked.

"So what if did?"

"You are so disgusting sometimes, Ana," Hestia said.

"Why? Because he's a Gryffindor?"

"And a Weasley to boot," said Flora.

"He doesn't have cooties, Flora! We're not five years old anymore; come off it!"

"It's sickening to watch you flirt with him, and don't think we haven't seen."

"So what if I do? It's just a little harmless flirting. Just because no boy wants to flirt with you, don't spoil it for the rest of us!"

"Ana!"

"Flora, don't!"

"Come on, girls. Please don't fight. You're best friends," Sadie said as she and Hestia tried to calm Ana and Flora down. It took another minute or two of standing in the cold, staring each other down, for Ana and Flora to come around.

"I…I'm sorry, Flora," Ana apologized. "That was a bit…"

"Wicked of you?"

Ana gave a slight smirk. "A little, yeah. But it goes without saying, Flora. Everyone knows you're the pretty twin."

"Hey!"

"This is true," Flora agreed.

"Flora!"

"Calm down, Hes. You're the smart one," Ana added.

"I… I can live with that."

"Good. So, are we all friends again?" Sadie asked.

"Come on, Flora; I'll let you put the Insta-Change in Edgecombe's tea," Ana offered.

"Alright, but we still have to figure out how to do it."

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"And that's why you're the diabolical one," Hestia said with a laugh.

"Hang on! Then what am I?"

"Sadie, you're the gentle one."

Sadie accepted her role with a casual shrug.

"So, what's the plan, Ana?"

Ana grinned before they stepped into the Three Broomsticks, where she shared the plan that Fred had helped her devise over four mugs of butterbeer. Then they all made their way back to the castle in hopes of pulling it off successfully.

That night the attendees of the Halloween Feast were treated to a lovely surprise as various students, including Marietta, had a sudden case of changing hair colors. It was when the gray hairs of Professor Sprout suddenly turned a lovely shade of garden green to match the plants she so dearly loved, however, that the hall truly erupted into chaos, and Fred and George were led away to rapturous applause.

"Ana! You didn't!" Hestia whispered.

"No; it wasn't me. I swear," Ana defended.

"Sadie, you sly devil," Flora said, noticing the smirk on her friend's face.

"Who's the gentle one now?" Sadie asked, before giving way to her own laughter.

But their elation was overturned that evening when a cryptic message appeared on one of the castle walls…written in blood.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.