Sunday morning, Anna spent most of the day with the twins, working on some more of their joke product ideas. She noticed Harry seemed to have disappeared most of the day, though Hermione had taken a stack of toast to him for breakfast.

When Monday rolled around again, they unfortunately had to go back to classes. Anna went on ahead of the boys to Defense Against the Dark Arts, since they were being scolded by McGonagall for pranking some Ravenclaws. Of course, she had no clue Anna had been the one to plan the prank out.

"Excuse me?"

Anna jumped and looked over her shoulder when she heard the deep, strangely-accented voice speak nearby. She had to look up a bit at the boy who had stopped just behind her. Well, boy wasn't the right word. He was at least seventeen and pretty broad-shouldered under his red Durmstrang robes. He was tanned with sharp cheekbones, thick eyebrows, dark eyes, and black hair that was slicked back.

"Um, yes?"

"I vos vondering if you could tell me vhere your Herbology classes are held?" he asked, holding a small sheet of parchment. "That is my first class." he explained.

"Oh, um, that would be in one of the greenhouses." she started, leading him to a window across the corridor. "You see those long buildings across the grounds?" she asked, pointing out the window. "Those are the greenhouses. I'm guessing you'll be in greenhouse three, four, or five for your lesson. Just head out the front door and follow that path. If you're not sure which greenhouse you're in, ask Professor Sprout. You should be just fine." she told him with a small smile.

"Thank you." he said, dipping his head slightly. "My name is Oscar Markov. May I ask vhat your name is?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Annabelle Black." she answered, taking his hand. Instead of shaking it, like she expected him to, he turned it slightly and lifted it to his lips, placing a small kiss to the back of her hand. Anna instantly blushed.

"It vas lovely to meet you, Annabelle. I hope to see you soon." he told her.

"I, um, you too. Have a good day." she stuttered, giving him a small smile before walking toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She forced herself to walk a casual pace and not run. She wasn't sure what to think of what just happened. She'd never been treated that way, especially by a guy. And she wasn't sure if she liked it or not yet.

XXX

It was clear that most of Hogwarts didn't like Harry much at the moment. They were all angry about him getting into the tournament and made it clear they would support Cedric over Harry. Just the first couple days of the week, most conversation among Hogwarts students was about Harry and Cedric. Anna also noticed Ron was avoiding Harry.

Anna sat down across from Harry for dinner on Tuesday evening.

"How's it going?" she asked casually as she began serving herself food.

"Oh, wonderful." Harry answered sarcastically. "I just love how everyone thinks I'm some attention hog that managed to put his name into the goblet. Gryffindors are calling me a hero, and everyone else is mocking me and telling me I'm not the real champion, as if that's supposed to bug me."

Anna gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't let them get to you, Harry. Just focus on getting through the tasks. Who cares what everyone thinks?"

"We don't." the twins chorused, sitting down on either side of Anna. "What are you two talking about?"

"The tournament." Anna answered, resting her chin on her hand. "No one talks about anything else around here."

"I disagree."

"We talk about all kinds of things." Fred, and then George, told her. Harry grinned and Anna shook her head in amusement.

"Oh, I got a letter from Sirius this morning." Harry told Anna.

"Already?" Anna asked. "I knew he was worried, but he just spoke to you a few days ago."

"Well, he wanted to tell me a few things he didn't get the chance to with everyone around." he leaned forward on his elbows to get closer and spoke quietly, "Did you know Karkaroff, the Durmstrang Headmaster, was a Death Eater?"

"What?" Anna, Fred, and George all asked in unison, leaning forward as well and staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"Why would Dumbledore allow him to be here? And why is he teaching a whole school?" Anna demanded quietly.

"Maybe that's why he hired Moody for this year." Fred noted quietly.

"And that does explain how Moody and Karkaroff were acting towards each other Saturday night." Harry pointed out. "And remember that issue at Moody's the night before we got here?" Anna nodded. "Sirius thinks it's possible that someone may have attacked Moody to make sure he couldn't come to Hogwarts this year."

"It may fit with the rest of his theory." Anna admitted.

"And he mentioned we should be careful with Crouch. He's definitely not a Dark wizard, but he's obsessed with putting them behind bars. He was the one that gave the order to send Sirius to Azkaban without a trial." he added darkly.

"What?" Anna snapped. "It's that jerk's fault I grew up without a father? Well, that does explain how my dad acted at the Quidditch World Cup whenever Crouch was around. It was like he was trying to glare holes into the man's head. Makes sense, now."

"Yeah, well Sirius didn't give many details in the letter, but apparently Crouch was set to be Minister back near the end of the war. I guess he started going a bit overboard with his obsession to put Death Eaters behind bars, and a lot of people supported those ideas. Gave Aurors permission to kill instead of capture and use Unforgivable Curses and all that. But then I guess Crouch's son was caught among some Death Eaters."

"His son?" Anna breathed, her eyes going wide again. "Did he try and get him off? Is that why he didn't become Minister?"

"Guess not." Harry shook his head. "Sirius said Crouch wouldn't let anything tarnish his reputation, so he gave his son a trial and sent him to Azkaban. Guess he died about a year later."

"Hm. I almost want to say I feel sorry for them, but-"

"Excuse me? Annabelle?"

Anna's head jerked back and over her shoulder in surprise. Oscar Markov, the Durmstrang student she'd helped the day before, was standing there in his red school robes.

"Oh. Hi." she smiled politely at him.

"I did not get to see you again yesterday. I just vanted to say thank you for helping me yesterday." he told her.

"Oh, it was no problem." Anna told him with a smile. "Did you find your other classes okay?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you. Anyway, I hope you have a good night." he told her, smiling once more before heading toward the Slytherin table.

"You too." she called after him before turning back around. She glanced around to see Harry, Fred, and George staring at her. "What?"

"Who the bloody hell was that?" Fred demanded.

"Um, a Durmstrang-"

"That much was obvious." George cut in, resting one elbow on the table and turning to face her. "But how does he know you, and how do you know him?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I was going to explain that when you interrupted me. He needed help finding the greenhouses yesterday so I gave him directions."

"And he knows your name?" Fred asked, sounding either disgusted or angry, it was hard to tell.

"Yeah." Anna answered as if that were obvious. "He introduced himself after I told him how to find the greenhouses."

"So what's his name?" George asked.

"Oscar. What is with the third degree?" she demanded.

"Are you going to support Durmstrang now over Harry?" Fred asked, his tone bordering on being accusatory.

Anna gaped at him, her eyes narrowed angrily. "Did you seriously just ask me that?"

"Alright, guys, calm down." George spoke up, leaning closer to Anna to wave his hands between her and Fred. "Fred, you know Anna would never side with Durmstrang over Harry. That's completely absurd."

"Thank you." Anna spoke up, still glaring at Fred.

"But Anna, maybe you should just…be careful with that guy?" George suggested uncertainly.

"What are you talking about?" Anna asked, turning to look at him in confusion.

"I just…I don't know. Something about that guy feels off." George admitted. "And he's a Durmstrang. You never know what they're being taught down there. So just…please be careful?"

Anna sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Please, Anna?" Fred asked quietly. "We don't know that guy. Just stay away from him."

Anna narrowed her eyes at him. "You are not in any position to tell me what to do, Fredrick Gideon Weasley. Not after that comment about me siding with Durmstrang."

"Okay, okay…I'm sorry I said that. I really am. I know you're siding with Harry, that's obvious. I just don't trust that guy. Please, just be careful."

Anna sighed, her glare melting off her face. "Alright, fine. I think you're both being ridiculous, but I'll stay away from him, if I can. I'm not going to be rude to him, because he's done nothing to warrant that, but I'll avoid him if I can."

"Thank you." the twins chorused with big grins. They leaned in and pecked each of Anna's cheeks at the same time.

"Yuck." she muttered sarcastically, wiping both her cheeks off with her hands.

Harry laughed at them as Hermione joined them for dinner.

XXX

The next day, Anna left her History of Magic class and headed toward the common room. However, she passed the hospital wing just as Hermione was leaving it.

"Hermione?" Anna looked at her in shock. The younger girl's eyes were red and her face was blotchy with dried tears. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing." Hermione waved her off, wiping at her cheeks even though it didn't do much good. When Anna continued to stare her down, she admitted, "Well,…there was a bit of an incident outside the Potions classroom today."

"Like what?" Anna asked warily as they walked.

"Have you seen any new badges people have been wearing?" Hermione asked dryly.

"Oh, you mean those stupid 'Support Cedric' badges?" Anna asked, her nose wrinkled with dislike. She'd seen several people already, mostly Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, wearing badges that read:

'Support CEDRIC DIGGORY-

The REAL Hogwarts Champion!'

And when they push it, it would change to say 'POTTER STINKS'. It was disgusting and immature, in Anna's opinion.

"Yeah, those. Well, all the Slytherins in our Potions class were wearing them. And, well, long story short, Harry and Malfoy got into an argument, they drew wands, but their spells ricocheted. Harry's spell hit Goyle in the face, but Malfoy's hit me."

"Are you okay? What happened? What did it do?" Anna asked worriedly, tilting her head as they walked to double-check Hermione's face for any damage she may have missed.

"I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey fixed me up. But, um, the spell made my front teeth start growing. But that wasn't the worst of it." she admitted quietly, crossing her arms over her stomach as if protecting herself.

"What else could've happened?" Anna asked worriedly.

"Snape showed up."

"Oh, I can tell this is going to get ugly." Anna groaned.

"Yes. He asked what happened, and Malfoy told him-"

"Of course."

"Yep. So Snape told Goyle to go to the hospital wing. He's still in there right now. Ron forced me to show Snape my teeth, I'd been covering my face and he pulled my hands away to show them. Everyone was laughing at me. And Snape-well…Snape said he saw no difference." she finished, her voice thick and eyes glistening.

"Oh, Hermione." Anna scooted closer and wrapped her arm around the younger girl's shoulders, giving her a side hug. "That's not true, you know it's not. Snape's a foul, evil jerk. Don't pay any attention to what he says."

"I know." Hermione mumbled. "It was just humiliating, is all. In front of all the Slytherins and everything. They got a kick out of it."

"I'd like to get a kick out of them." Anna muttered, making Hermione crack a smile. "Don't worry, Hermione. I'll rally the twins and we'll get some payback for you. Snape won't know what hit him."

Hermione looked sideways at her, her expression a mixture of worry and curiosity. "I don't want you to get in trouble. Snape hates you enough as it is."

"That doesn't give him the right to treat you like he did." Anna stated firmly, looking her in the eye. Then, Anna's eyes narrowed. "You look different…"

Hermione blushed and gave a small, mildly sly smile. "Well, Madam Pomfrey had to shrink my teeth, and…well, I've been wanting to magically fix my teeth for a while, they have always been on the big side, after all. So, while she was shrinking them…I just let her carry on a bit longer than she needed to."

Anna smirked, shaking her head. "Well, look at you, being all sneaky, Granger. Well, either way, before and after that, you look nice."

Hermione blushed. "Thanks."

They reached the portrait hole at that moment, gave the password, and climbed into the common room. Hermione instantly went over to Harry, while Anna hurried over to the twins and Lee sitting in the corner.

"Alright, I've got a new target." she told them, plopping her things down on the table. "Snape is going down."

All three of them grinned deviously. "Ooh, excellent." Fred cackled, rubbing his hands together.

"What'd he do this time?" George asked curiously.

Anna quickly rehashed what Hermione had told her, and was pleased to see that Fred, George, and Lee all looked righteously angered by what the Potions Professor did to the younger girl.

"Alright, he's got to pay." Fred agreed firmly, to which the other two nodded. "Got any ideas?"

Anna smirked, which the other three quickly mirrored. "I may have a thought or two."

XXX

Anna hadn't found out until later that night about Harry leaving Potions early for some Wand weighing ceremony, another part of the Triwizard Tournament, during which Rita Skeeter forced him into an interview in a broom cupboard. But, soon, Skeeter's article was published for the whole wizarding world to see. She basically painted Harry out to be some kind of tragic hero that still cried himself to sleep over his parents and had a romantic relationship with Hermione. Anna, after seeing it and glancing over it, quickly asked him how much was true. Harry firmly told her that there wasn't a single fact in that article, she even got his age wrong!

Unfortunately, it seemed not everyone had the same open mind as Anna. Most people believed the article and tormented both Harry and Hermione about it.

"Hey, Harry, three questions for you." Anna stated abruptly as she sat next to him at lunch Thursday. "When's your next Potions class? Can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak? And where does Malfoy sit in your Potions class?"

"Um," Harry looked at her in bewilderment for a moment. "Well, I've got Double Potions Friday. Sure. And in the front to the left side. Why?"

"You'll see." Anna winked at him. "Just pass me your Cloak Friday morning."

The next morning, Anna met up with Harry in the entrance hall after breakfast. He passed her his Invisibility Cloak and she stuffed it into her shoulder bag, under her books.

"Do I want to know what you're up to?" he asked her cautiously, though he was fighting a grin.

"The less you know the better, I'm afraid." she told him with a smirk before hurrying off for Transfiguration. As that was the only class her and the twins had that day, they spent the rest of the morning perfecting their plans for Snape. Finally, the time for the fourth years' double Potions class arrived.

Fred waited inside one of the other dungeons, as all three of them couldn't fit under the Invisibility Cloak. So, George and Anna hid under the cloak and crept down the corridor until they found the Potions classroom. They entered silently, being sure to breathe as quietly as possible. Snape had apparently just set the class to work on a new potion, because they were all gathering ingredients.

Anna and George waited until the students were all sitting down again before moving stealthily into the room.

Malfoy's platinum blonde hair stood out like a beacon at the front of the classroom. Sticking close to the wall, Anna lead George, both still under the Invisibility Cloak, up the room toward his desk. They nearly got whacked by Millicent Bulstrode's enormous hand, but managed to side-step it. Finally, they reached the front desk and rounded it to stand closer to the front of the classroom.

Now, they just had to wait. As the class went about their potion brewing, Snape slowly prowled down the rows, sneering over peoples' shoulders and making rude comments about their potions.

Anna looked over her shoulder at George and barely breathed, "Ready?"

George smirked and nodded, holding his wand up.

A few moments later, Snape finally started making his way up the row toward Malfoy's desk. Anna gently elbowed George and he raised his wand. Very carefully, he poked the very tip of his wand out from between the ends of the Invisibility Cloak, so nothing was between his wand and his target.

Snape was only a desk away from Malfoy, who was starting to pour the next ingredient into his cauldron, when George performed a Nonverbal spell.

Just as Snape reached Malfoy's desk, the potion inside the cauldron expanded, and then exploded over the two of them.

Anna covered her mouth firmly with her hand and she could feel George shaking with silent laughter behind her.

Both Malfoy and Snape were covered in a yellowish slimy-looking potion. Malfoy's mouth was hanging open and he was staring at it in disgust and horror. Snape's eyes were closed for a moment before he opened them and stared down at Malfoy, his face slowly turning red with anger.

The majority of the class burst out laughing, most of the Slytherins either looking horrified or smothering their own laughter.

"We should go." George whispered into Anna's ear. She nodded, still covering her mouth, and began leading him back the way they'd come. The only difference was they stopped at the table Harry and Hermione were sitting at.

"You're welcome." Anna whispered between Harry and Hermione's shoulders. Hermione jumped slightly, but she was still giggling, and Harry glanced over his shoulder with a huge, laughing grin.

With their mission complete, Anna and George hurried out of the classroom and only took off the Cloak when they reached the dungeon Fred was waiting in. When he saw them, he stepped out of the room and grinned expectantly between them.

"Well?" he asked, "How'd it go?"

"Brilliantly."

XXX

"You going to Hogsmeade?" Anna asked curiously as she served herself some scrambled eggs at breakfast. It was the Saturday before the first task, and the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

"Yeah, but I'm going under the Cloak." Harry answered dully. "For once, I'd like to go out and not be stared at like a freak or laughed at."

"Understandable. So, you're just going with Hermione, I'm guessing?"

Harry gave her a look. "Considering Ron's not exactly speaking to me? What do you think?"

"Hey, don't bite my head off. I'm one of the few people that believes you." Anna told him, putting her hands up to show she meant no harm.

Harry sighed. "Sorry. Just sick of it."

"Understandable."

"Hello, Annabelle."

Anna looked over her shoulder to see Oscar and a couple other Durmstrang boys. She smiled at him.

"Hi, Oscar. How are you doing?" she asked politely.

"I am very vell, thank you. Are you going into the…Hogsmeade village?" he asked curiously, pausing next to her. His friends paused, as well.

"Yeah, I'm heading down there with my friends."

"Ah. So I suppose it vould be foolish of me to hope you vould give me a tour, eh?" Oscar grinned charmingly.

"Um, yeah, unfortunately. My friends and I have been making plans for Hogsmeade for the past month or so. Sorry. But I'm sure you'll be fine without a tour guide. They've got enough signs down there a blind man could find where he was going." she joked, before realizing how stupid that sentence sounded.

But Oscar chuckled. "Of course. Vell, I vish you a good day, Annabelle. It vas lovely to see you again."

"Yeah, you too." Anna waved goodbye. She waited a few moments for them to walk away before turning back around and smacking her palm to her forehead. "Idiot." she muttered to herself.

"Are you referring to that comment about a blind man being able to see all the signs?" Harry asked with a small smirk.

"Shut up." Anna grumbled, her face bright red in embarrassment.

Harry was looking to one side, toward where Oscar and his friends were sitting at the Slytherin table. "Didn't the twins ask you to stay away from that guy?"

Anna glared lightly at him. "The twins don't control me. Oscar's a nice guy, and it's not like I'm going to date him. We just exchanged pleasantries. What's wrong with that?"

Harry shrugged and dropped the subject, taking another bite of his toast.

After breakfast, Anna met up with Fred, George, and Lee so they could head down to Hogsmeade together. They were about halfway down the path when someone called after them.

"Fred! George! Hey, wait up!"

They paused and looked over their shoulders to see Ron jogging back and forth between other students. He slowed down and matched their pace when he reached them.

"Fancy seeing you here, little brother." Fred commented dryly.

"What's the matter? All your other friends blow you off?" George teased.

Ever since Harry's name came out of the goblet, Ron had been spending much more time with the twins and their friends. Anna wasn't too thrilled with him, since he was blowing off his best friend, but she kept her nose out of it and just dealt with his company. Of course, that meant they couldn't discuss Bagman whenever he was around. They kept their joke shop talk to a minimum, but it wasn't as if they were keeping that a secret.

And with Ron ignoring Harry, Anna had been doing her part to help him with ideas for the first task. Since they didn't know anything about what the task involved, Anna was just advising Harry to study up on basic defensive spells.

"Shut up." Ron grumbled. "Anyway, what are you guys doing at Hogsmeade? What shops are you going to?"

"Zonko's, for one." George answered.

"Probably Honeydukes." Anna added.

"And then to The Three Broomsticks for some warm butterbeers." Fred finished with a satisfied smile.

"Great." Ron grinned, apparently assuming he would be joining them. Of course, Anna wasn't really mean enough to tell him to get lost.

They stopped in Zonko's first, and Fred and George hurried off to speak with the owner and ask him some business questions. Lee stocked up on fireworks and things while Anna looked around for things she might want to stock up on.

Ron was walking along the isles with her, but when she glanced at him she noticed he was watching the twins with a small frown.

"What are they asking him about?" he finally asked.

Anna glanced over her shoulder at the twins, who were talking animatedly with Mr. Zonko, who was listening intently with a smile. He'd always been encouraging toward their endeavors and had been helping them in any way he could since they first approached him with their plans.

"Just…joke shop stuff." Anna answered vaguely, giving a shrug and picking up a Nose-Biting Teacup. Her old one was getting a bit chipped.

"Are they really serious about opening a joke shop?" Ron asked.

Anna looked up at him. "What's wrong with it? I mean, it's something they're passionate about. And they're good at it. Why's it such a bad idea?"

Ron shrugged. "Didn't say it was a bad idea…I just didn't know they were that serious about it. I thought it was just a temporary thing."

Anna hummed and moved on to the next row. She didn't want to get dragged into a family matter.

The twins spent another ten minutes talking to Zonko before they bought a few things and they all left the shop.

"He was just giving us advice on pricing our products. Said not to price it too high, 'cause people may not want to pay that much, but we need to price it high enough we make a profit based on the cost and time spent making each product, too." Fred was telling Anna and Lee as the group headed down the street toward Honeydukes.

"Makes sense." Anna nodded slowly. "So, for the Ton-Tongue Toffees…I suppose it depends on whether we sell them individually. We could make them about…12 Sickles a pound or so?"

"Something like that." George nodded thoughtfully. "But we also need to take into account the amount of time spent making them and stuff. Maybe closer to 14 or 15 Sickles. And for the Canary Creams…maybe Eight Sickles?"

"We can figure out an exact price when we get back to the castle." Fred decided, holding the door to Honeydukes open so everyone could walk in ahead of him.

They spent about ten minutes there, each buying some sweets before they headed to The Three Broomsticks, where they sat at a table.

They continued talking about joke shop stuff, as well as homework and all kinds of random topics. After a while, Anna looked over and noticed Professor Moody and Hagrid standing next to a table. Shifting her head an inch to the side, Anna saw Hermione sitting alone at the table. A moment later, Moody and Hagrid left.

"I'll be right back." Anna told the table, interrupting their conversation before she stood up with her bag and butterbeer. She crossed the crowded pub and approached the table Hermione was sitting at.

"Hey." she greeted, moving to sit across from the younger girl. However, when she made to sit on the booth, she suddenly found herself lopsided, one side of her butt sitting higher than the other. "Whoa-" She toppled a bit and scooted over so her whole bum was firmly level on the booth. She paused for a moment while Hermione stared at her with wide eyes. "Um,…so, hi Hermione. I'm assuming I just sat on…an invisible person."

Hermione pursed her lips to keep from laughing, lifting a hand to cover her mouth.

"Yeah. Hi." Harry's voice was quiet near Anna's right side, and he sounded like he was amused, as well. "Thanks for not crushing me."

"Are you calling me fat?" Anna joked, a smile tugging at her lips. She kept her eyes on Hermione so as not to look crazy, as if she were talking to an imaginary friend.

"'Course not. Running around after the twins keeps you in shape." Harry joked quietly.

"You have no idea." Anna laughed, shaking her head. "So, anyway, what did Moody and Hagrid want?"

"Hagrid wants me to visit him at midnight tonight." Harry explained. "Wouldn't explain why."

"Hm. Sounds suspicious. But then again, it's Hagrid. He's not a threat to you." Anna admitted.

"Some of his 'pets' might be." Hermione pointed out warningly.

Anna grimaced. "Good luck, Harry. Tell me how that goes."

XXX

The next morning, Anna had a bit of a lie in, seeing as it was Sunday and she had no plans. However, as soon as she reached the bottom step of the girls' stairs, she was swarmed by redheads.

"Anna, what took you so long?" Fred demanded.

"Come on, we gotta go!" George exclaimed, grabbing her hand and dragging her across the common room with Ginny on their heels.

"Wait-what? What are you talking about? I didn't know we had any plans!" Anna told them, completely confused. What was going on?

"We've got a surprise." Ginny told her, jogging at Anna's side.

"Is it a Weasley surprise?" Anna asked, looking at all three of the Weasleys.

"That's a perfect way to describe it." Ginny told her with a smirk that rivaled the twins'.

Anna followed the three siblings out of the castle and across the Hogwarts grounds, George still dragging her along behind him.

When they walked past where the Durmstrang ship was docked in the lake, Anna caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a group of older boys preparing to go for a run. They were all wearing shorts and were shirtless, stretching out to prepare for their run. Among them, Anna caught sight of Oscar Markov. He looked up from where he'd been touching his toes and caught her eyes. He smiled and waved at her. Blushing, Anna smiled and waved in return.

"Who's that?" Ginny asked curiously as they continued past the ship.

"Oh, just a Durmstrang student I met a couple weeks back." Anna admitted.

"Who you aren't talking to, right?" Fred checked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

Anna blushed and looked at her feet, stuffing her hands into her jean pockets. "Well,…"

"Anna!" Fred and George snapped, turning their heads to glare at her.

"Oh, come on. We just said good morning a couple times. It's not like we're flirting or planning a date or something. Why are you guys getting all bent out of shape?" she whined.

"Is he cute?" Ginny asked curiously.

The twins glared again, but they kept their mouths shut, seeming just as curious about Anna's answer.

Feeling very uncomfortable, Anna shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. "Well-I, um…I don't know. Maybe he's attractive, but…I don't know, he's not my type." she stuttered.

"And what is your type?" Ginny asked deviously, smirking as her eyes glanced pointedly to the two boys walking a few steps ahead of them.

Remembering their discussion on the walk to the Quidditch World Cup, Anna glared at the younger redhead while her cheeks turned a color similar to Ginny's hair. "I don't have one." she answered through gritted teeth. "You know, you'd get along with my cousin." she added more clearly. Her cousin, Tonks, frequently brought up the topic of boys.

"So you don't think Diggory is attractive, like all the other girls on our Quidditch team?" Fred asked suspiciously.

Anna shrugged. "I mean, I don't hate him like you two. He seems somewhat nice, but he kinda gets on my nerves. And I don't see what the big hype is in regards to his looks. He's not that good-looking." Anna really wanted to change the subject, and then she noticed they were heading into the forest. "Um, where are we going?" she asked suspiciously, no longer thinking about their embarrassing conversation.

"Oh, our surprise is in here." George told her with a smirk, also appearing to forget about their conversation.

"Now I'm really scared." she muttered, only partially joking.

They walked a small distance through the trees. Then, Anna heard some strange noises. Growling, several voices…was that a roar?

Nervous, Anna continued walking after the twins, Ginny at her side.

Finally, they rounded a small group of trees and Anna's mouth fell open. There were a few large cages, giant dragons kept inside. Most of the dragons appeared to be sleeping or at ease, but one was pacing angrily in it's cage, snorting black smoke from it's nostrils.

"What…" Anna breathed in amazement. "Are we allowed to be here?" she whispered, grabbing Fred's arm and pulling him to a stop.

"Well, we're not supposed to get too close to the dragons, but we've got special permission to visit once in a while." he explained with a smirk.

"Why-" Anna cut off when she looked straight ahead. A small group of men, probably dragon trainers, were gathered around talking near the grumpy dragon's cage. One of them stood out to her. His skin almost looked as tan as his companions, but she noticed that was just due to his thousands of freckles. He also had familiar red hair that messily swept the top of his shoulders.

"Is that-?" Anna stepped forward, watching the redhead.

Then, one of the dragon trainers seemed to notice the four kids. He smacked the redhead's shoulder and nodded toward them. The redheaded man turned to look over his shoulder, a smile stretching across his cheeks.

Anna didn't realize a smile had stretched over her own face as she walked past Fred, George, and Ginny.

Charlie said something to his fellow dragon trainers before turning and heading toward Anna and his younger siblings.

"What are you doing here?" Anna practically squealed with excitement when they reached each other. She jumped into Charlie's arms and threw her own around his neck. He squeezed her in a tight, familiar hug, lifting her feet off the ground. He only responded when he let her feet hit the ground again.

"That should be at least somewhat obvious." he told her, sweeping his hand around to gesture to the set up behind him.

The smile slipped from Anna's face as her eyes moved back to the dragons.

"You mean,…for the tournament?" she asked worriedly, her voice quiet.

"Yeah, the first task." Charlie admitted, not smiling quite as wide before he hugged Ginny again.

"What is it? Do they have to fight dragons?" Anna asked worriedly.

"We're not completely sure. All we know is they asked us for nesting females. One for each champion." Charlie answered.

"But,…what do they…Do you know about Harry?" she finally asked, her eyes dragging from the giant, fire-breathing creatures to Charlie.

"Oh yeah." Charlie nodded, his brows in his hairline. "Yep, heard about it from the Daily Prophet, some Ministry guy who came down to the sanctuary to tell us they needed four dragons instead of the original three, he told us the whole story, and Mum wrote to me. So, yeah I've heard all about it."

"Harry's only fourteen." Anna mumbled. "How's he supposed to get past a nesting mother dragon?" she asked desperately.

Charlie shrugged. "Unfortunately, I can't exactly offer him much help."

Anna nodded in understanding, running her hand through her hair. "So,…when did you three find out about this?" she asked curiously, looking around at the other three Weasley kids.

"McGonagall got us Friday evening." Ginny answered. "She swore us to secrecy and brought us down here to see Charlie."

"What about Ron?" Anna asked in confusion, her brows furrowed together.

"Yeah, she brought him, too." Fred nodded.

"And he hasn't told Harry?" Anna asked in disbelief. "I mean, I know you guys were sworn to secrecy, and he's not happy with Harry, but is he so upset he's practically throwing Harry to an angry dragon?"

Charlie shrugged, his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not sure about the whole story on that front. And I don't know what the champions have to do, exactly. But it's gotta be crazy if it involves nesting dragons. These dragons are extremely agitated at the moment, waking up in a new place with their eggs." he admitted, glancing over his shoulder at the cages. "Especially that Hungarian Horntail there. The one pacing in her cage. I pity whichever champion has to deal with her."

The pacing dragon, the Hungarian Horntail, had black scales and yellow eyes and looked like a lizard. It had bronze horns and spikes along it's tail that looked like a lethal weapon.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Anna asked curiously, waving her hand toward the dragons.

"Well, the only people who are supposed to know are the people who set it up, you know, the Ministry and maybe Dumbledore. But I think the word got out just a little bit. Hagrid came by around midnight last night, had that Beauxbatons headmistress with him. I was a bit unsure about that, personally don't think he should've brought her along. She probably ran straight to her champion."

Anna nodded, a light bulb going off in her head. If Hagrid was here around midnight, maybe he was showing this to Harry. So maybe Harry did know what the first task was. She'd have to check with him. If he didn't know, she'd tell him herself.

"What kinds of dragons are there?" Anna asked curiously.

"Well, there's the Hungarian Horntail," Charlie pointed at the pacing dragon, "over there's the Common Welsh Green, back there's a Swedish Short-Snout, and finally there's the Chinese Fireball."

Anna nodded again, taking a deep breath as her eyes moved from one dragon to the next.

"So, anyway. Enough about that. I've got a good hour at the moment to relax. How about we hang out by the lake for a bit?" Charlie suggested with his old grin.

Anna and the other Weasley kids exchanged huge smiles before agreeing and spending the better part of the next hour splashing together in the shallows of the lake.