Annabelle was very excited to see the Weasleys again in Diagon Alley, especially when the twins told her that Harry had been staying with them for a few weeks and would be with the family when they went to get their school things.

Walking through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley with her mum, Anna found them easily. All the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione Granger were with Hagrid, whose head was a good meter above everyone else. Anna noticed Wren faltered at the sight of Harry among the group. Anna guessed she was thrown by how much the boy looked like his father. Or she felt guilty about being unable to get custody of him.

She didn't get to say hello to Hagrid because he disappeared just as Anna and her mum reached the group. Upon seeing her, the twins instantly gave her a bear hug each, and Ginny hurried over to give her a hug, as well. Lee Jordan showed up a minute later, just as Molly was suggesting they split up to get their individual things and then meet up at Flourish and Blotts in an hour. Anna suspected she just didn't want to deal with the twins while getting Ginny's things, because they would quickly grow bored and a bored pair of Weasley twins was just asking for trouble.

Wren went with Molly, Arthur, and Ginny; Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered off; Percy went off on his own; and Anna went with the twins and Lee. Molly shouted after the twins, "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!"

The twins both rolled their eyes as they hurried off.

"What was that about?" Anna asked curiously, hitching her shoulder bag up a bit higher.

"Well, Harry's never used the Floo before, so he accidentally went a grate too far." Fred started.

"Wound up in Knockturn Alley. We merely asked what it was like,"

"And Mum flipped out."

Anna gave them both a look. "And I can tell she had reason to flip out. How many times have the pair of you snuck off into the Dark Forest?"

The twins didn't answer, but their devious smirks were answer enough.

They made their first stop at Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop so the twins could stock up on Filibuster Fireworks. As they were wandering, the twins filled her and Lee in on the interesting events at the Burrow, which included how they flew their father's car down to rescue Harry. The twins had flown the car several times already, once with Anna on one of her many trips to the Burrow, so they were pretty much experts.

"They put bars on his window?" Anna repeated, her voice making it clear she was both disgusted and angered. "He's a kid, not an animal."

"Yep. So, anyway, we used the car to break them off, but they'd locked all his things in a cupboard under the stairs, so we had to pick the lock the Muggle way,"

"which proves taking Muggle Studies was worth it," George added smugly.

"and then we got all his things into the car. His Uncle nearly caught him, but we made it. And on the way home, Harry told us a rather interesting story about a house elf."

"A house elf?" Lee repeated in confusion.

"Yep." George nodded. "Some house elf named Dobby destroyed Harry's Aunt's dessert, but everyone thinks Harry did it, so he got a warning from the Ministry, and that's why they put the bars on his window in the first place. Apparently, the elf kept going on about how terrible things are going to happen at Hogwarts this year."

"The elf claimed he was trying to protect Harry." Fred added. "But we think maybe his masters sent him to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts."

"Harry admitted the only real enemy he's got that might want him to stay away from Hogwarts is Draco Malfoy."

"I've heard that name…Ron got a bloody nose fighting him at one of the Quidditch matches last year." Anna mentioned, "And now that I think about it…I've heard mum mention that name. Malfoy."

"She's probably talking about Lucius Malfoy." George suggested seriously, picking a firework off the shelf, "Dad thinks he was in You-Know-Who's inner circle back during the war. He kept claiming he didn't really mean all the things he said and did back then, but I think that's a load of rubbish."

Anna nodded slowly. The whole situation was certainly fishy.

"So, anything interesting happen at the Burrow this summer, besides your little rescue mission?" Lee asked as they paid for their fireworks and left the shop.

The twins looked at each other before George spoke. "Actually, now that you mention it…"

Fred picked up, "Percy's been acting odd all summer. He spends nearly all his time in his room, sending letters to someone. I mean, he got 12 OWLs and he didn't even gloat about it!"

Anna's mouth fell open. "You're kidding me. Percy passing up the chance to brag? Oh, lets get ice cream, we've got time to kill." she added as an afterthought when they passed Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. "I'm buying for you two."

The twins tried arguing, but Anna insisted, eventually saying it was a reward for their valiant rescue mission. That shut them up.

Anna and the twins ordered first. Anna got the strawberry and peanut butter flavor with hot fudge and shortbread crumbles. Fred ordered a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of toffee with chocolate chips and whipped cream on top. And George ordered chocolate and raspberry ice cream with hot fudge, chopped nuts, and whipped cream. After Anna paid and they found a table, Lee joined them with a bowl of one scoop of toffee and one of apple crumble with hot caramel and chopped nuts on top.

"Okay, so Percy's acting weird and writing letters to someone." Lee picked up where they left off.

"Maybe he's got a girlfriend." Anna joked.

"Yeah right." the twins chorused with a laugh.

"Percy getting a girlfriend." Fred scoffed. "He wouldn't do anything that would distract him from his pursuit of being made Head Boy."

"Good point." Anna conceded. "So, what's your guys' opinion on our new Dark Arts Professor? I mean, all the books on my list except my Spells book are by Lockhart."

"Yeah, we talked about that at breakfast when we got our lists." Fred agreed with a grimace.

"And it's not just our year, either." George added, leaning forward on his elbows, "Percy, Ron, and Ginny have to get them all, too."

Anna frowned worriedly. "Those books are really expensive." she pointed out hesitantly, not wanting to offend her best friends.

Fred and George nodded. "Yeah. We're getting as much as we can secondhand, or passing it down." George explained quietly, "Though I doubt any of Lockhart's books will be available secondhand."

"I'm thinking me and George will just share ours. I doubt I'll even open any of them, they're ridiculous. I'm telling you, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has to be a witch, that's the only explanation for why she's making us buy all Lockhart's books."

Anna looked sharply at Fred, who she was sitting next to in the booth. She jabbed her elbow into his ribs, causing him to yelp. "I take that as a disgusting insult, Fredrick Weasley." she snapped while George and Lee snorted into their ice cream, "I'm a witch, but I happen to think Lockhart's hair stays that big because of all the hot air in his system. He's completely barmy. Don't lump me in with all the bimbos that worship the ground he walks on."

Fred smirked, Lee and George covering their mouths to quiet their laughter. "So,…people like our mum." he stated with a grin.

Anna's mouth opened, but no words came out for a moment. She certainly didn't want to insult Molly. "Everyone has at least one fault." she finally stated, earning more laughter from the boys.

Fred winked at her. "Nice save, Black." he joked, nudging her with his elbow.

XXX

Anna and the twins separated from Lee, who went to rejoin his mother in buying his school supplies. The closer they got to Flourish and Blotts, the thicker the crowd seemed to get. When they reached the bookstore, a thick line of people was trailing out the front door.

"What the bloody hell is this all about?" George asked, wrinkling his nose at the thought of people willingly entering a bookstore.

Anna poked his ribs until he looked at her and she silently pointed at the upper windows. The twins both looked up, dread filling all three teens. A large banner was hanging in the window that read,

'Gilderoy Lockhart

will be signing copies of his autobiography

'Magical Me'

today 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm'

The twins both groaned loudly in disgust before the three of them shoved their way through the crowd and into the store, where they found the rest of their families. Molly and Wren were saving a place in line, telling the kids to go get all their books and meet them back in line.

Anna was just picking up her Spells book and moving on to start getting all the Lockhart books she needed when a hush fell over the crowd. She stretched up on her tiptoes to try and see over everyone's heads. All she could she was that someone had just been dragged up to stand by Lockhart.

Lockhart started going on some spiel about Harry Potter, and Anna instantly felt bad for the poor boy. She could tell he hated attention, and Lockhart had literally just dragged him into the spotlight, and the Prophet's front page. Then, to Anna's and the twins' horror, Lockhart moved on to announce that he would be going to Hogwarts as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.

"Is Dumbledore completely insane?" George demanded, joining Fred and Anna in front of the Lockhart book display. "Anyone would be better than him! Hell, even another Slytherin would be better."

"Barely." Fred smiled grimly.

"We'll survive. With any luck he won't last past this year, with how Hogwarts goes through Defense Professors." Anna pointed out, heading toward the line. She didn't particularly want to be any closer to Lockhart than she needed to be, so she just passed all her books to her mum to pay for and then went to wait elsewhere in the store. The twins followed her lead.

Quickly, however, her eyes found Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny having a not-so-friendly-looking chat with a pale boy who had platinum blonde hair. Instinctively, Anna headed toward them. She just reached them when Ron dropped his books and lunged for the boy, his face red. Harry and Hermione barely managed to grab his jacket to stop him.

"Ron!" Arthur's voice sounded over the crowd. Anna stepped to the side and wrapped her arm around Ginny as Arthur and the twins struggled through the crowd to reach them. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley." A tall man who looked like an older version of the pale boy, with long, platinum hair stepped up and sneered at Arthur.

"Lucius." Arthur returned tightly. That's when Anna realized who this was. Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime." Lucius remarked before pulling Ginny's battered and worn copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from her cauldron. Anna instinctively tightened her grip around the young girl's shoulders. "Obviously not." Lucius commented as he looked the book over, "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" he sneered.

Anna felt anger burn in her stomach, and noticed Arthur's face turning a very dark red.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." Arthur countered tensely.

"Clearly." Lucius drawled, glancing over Anna's shoulder to where Hermione's parents, both Muggles, were standing. Then his eyes trailed down to meet Anna's eyes. She felt the twins instinctively step closer to her, their arms brushing hers. "Muggles, half-bloods, blood traitors…and I thought your family could sink no lower-"

Arthur snapped at that comment, throwing himself at Lucius Malfoy and knocking him back into a bookshelf. Everyone backed away, the twins pulling Anna and Ginny away as books flew from the shelf and rained down on the two fighting wizards.

"Get him, Dad!" Fred shouted, one hand still on Anna's shoulder.

Molly, who had hurried over with Wren, shouted, "No, Arthur, no!"

An Assistant tried to step in and stop them, but it did little good, it was as if the tiny man was invisible. Then, by some miracle, Hagrid hurried through the door of the shop, pushed through the crowd of people, and managed to pull the men apart by the back of their cloaks. Getting a good look at their faces, Arthur had a cut lip and Malfoy a black eye.

Lucius thrust Ginny's Transfiguration book at her, which surprisingly wasn't anymore damaged than before the fight. "Here, girl, take your book, it's the best your father can give you." With that, Lucius yanked himself free of Hagrid's grip and stalked from the store with Draco on his heels.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur." Hagrid told him, nearly lifting Arthur into the air as he helped him straighten his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter, bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now, let's get outta here."

They regrouped and started heading for the door, though Anna noticed her mum had come up and gripped her shoulder, tightening her hold at Hagrid's words.

When they reached the street outside, Molly's red face clued Anna in to her outburst seconds before it happened. "A fine example to set for your children…brawling in public…what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought-"

"He was pleased." Fred cut in, ignoring Anna's warning look. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report, said it was all publicity-"

Anna jabbed Fred sharply in the ribs to shut him up, as Molly's face was turning near purple now.

"Well, we'd better get going." Wren suggested, wrapping her arm around Anna's shoulders. "I wanted to get some groceries on the way home."

Wren quickly hugged Molly and Arthur goodbye while Anna hugged the twins and Ginny. With that, the families all went their separate ways until they would meet again September 1st.

XXX

Annabelle sat in a train compartment with Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. She kept anxiously peaking out the train window at the large clock hanging on the brick wall. It was 10:56, and the train left at 11:00, but the twins, or any of the Weasleys for that matter, had yet to make an appearance.

"I'm sure they'll get here soon." said Lee positively, "You know how they are. Love to make an entrance." But Anna could see him glancing at the clock, too.

Just then, the compartment door slid open and all their heads snapped up. Fred and George entered and slid the door shut behind them, plopping down on the bench next to Anna. She could see their noses flaring as they nearly panted, suggesting they'd been running.

"Where were you two? We thought the train might leave without you." Anna told them.

"We were running a bit late. Had to keep going back home because we kept forgetting things." Fred admitted with a grin.

"First I forgot my box of Filibuster Fireworks, which you know I can't leave home without." George stated with a smirk.

"Then, I forgot my broom, which would've been a tragedy." Fred added.

"And then Ginny forgot her diary." George finished, rolling his eyes. "It's a miracle we got here on time."

"I'll say." Anna murmured with wide eyes.

They were quickly drawn into a game of Exploding Snap, and bought a few treats off the trolley when it came by. About twenty minutes into the ride, the compartment door slid open and Hermione hesitantly peaked her head inside, Ginny standing right behind her.

"What's up, Granger?" Fred asked.

"Well, we were just wondering if you've seen Harry and Ron." she admitted, "We can't find them anywhere, and Ginny said the last time she saw them was before she got on the platform."

Anna exchanged a glance with the twins.

"Well, they were the last to go through the barrier." George said, "I'm sure they're somewhere around. If you don't find them on the train, you'll probably find them at the feast or something."

Hermione and Ginny both nodded, though they didn't look reassured as they shut the door and continued on.

"It's nice of Hermione to hang out with Ginny." Anna commented lightly as she waited for her turn in the game, "Even though she's older, they're close to the same age."

XXX

Anna followed Katie and the twins to the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Katie, still listening intently to her story about her grandparents visiting over the summer. Fred sat on Anna's other side and George sat next to him, with Lee, Ang, and Alicia sitting across from them. Hermione sat with them, having still not found Harry and Ron.

That's when they heard it. Whispers were flying like crazy as people sat down, a newspaper being passed about the Hall.

According to the brief whispers Anna and the twins overheard, Harry and Ron were in trouble for flying a car to school, were seen by multiple Muggles, and they crashed the car into the Whomping Willow.

Anna turned and stared wide-eyed at the twins.

"Your mum is going to kill them."

Fred suddenly snorted. "Five Sickles she yells at Ron, but not Harry."

George laughed. "You're on."

The whispers only fell silent when the first years entered the Great Hall for Sorting. Anna spotted Ginny walking nervously, and when she caught her eye, she waved to reassure her. Ginny smiled weakly in return.

As usual, the Sorting took forever, and Ginny was one of the last to be sorted, obviously being placed in Gryffindor. Anna and the twins actually stood up and cheered, making her feel much better as she sat with her fellow first years.

The house elves outdid themselves with the feast, as always. But everyone in the Great Hall couldn't help noticing that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley never made it to the feast. This only seemed to confirm everyone's suspicions.

No one saw the pair until well after the feast. Nearly every Gryffindor sat in the common room waiting anxiously for their return. After a while, the portrait swung open and Anna barely caught a glimpse of red hair and black hair before the pair was yanked inside. Hermione Granger climbed in after them as the whole crowd swarmed them.

"Brilliant!" Lee yelled as he, Anna, and the twins pushed their way to the front, "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years-" he exclaimed as people patted Ron and Harry on the backs.

"Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?" the twins demanded as one.

Anna smiled, noticing both young boys had bright red faces and embarrassed smiles. However, they saw something over Anna's shoulder, so they quickly excused themselves on the grounds that they were tired and hurried up the steps to their dormitory. A quick glance at what they'd spotted, Anna saw a very angry Percy Weasley. Running away was probably a smart move on their part. Percy looked ready to explode.