February, while not overly eventful, was interesting. Hermione was released from the hospital wing in the beginning of the month and refused to tell anyone why she'd been in there in the first place.
Valentine's Day came and went, and Annabelle was extremely relieved when it was over. Lockhart had gone over the top, decorating the Great Hall with large, pink flowers with heart-shaped confetti falling from a pale blue ceiling. He also sent out card-carrying cupids. Ginny sent one to Harry, which Malfoy embarrassed her about, and the twins teased Harry that night in the common room, skipping around and singing what the card had sang.
"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
Anna had to admit, Ginny could be rather poetic when she wanted to be. She was just relieved the twins hadn't done anything extremely embarrassing to Anna herself. She half expected them to sing her a sonnet or something in front of one of their classes to make her laugh. Instead, they both kissed her on the cheeks at breakfast and put a pink crown of flowers on her head. Of course, they'd put a charm on the crown so only one of them could remove it, which they refused to do until bedtime. So, she'd had to go around the school all day with the pink flower crown on her head. She didn't mind it, though, because it could've been much worse, and very few people laughed at her.
A few days before Valentine's Day, Anna had sat Alicia, Angelina, and Katie down and told them what Flint had done, because she didn't want to push her luck and have them find out from Flint. She wasn't sure when he'd find out about the trial, but she didn't want him to tell everyone else before she told her friends. They, of course, were very supportive and they all had a sleepover, pushing two beds together and eating chocolate and staying up well into the night. Katie especially refused to leave her side when she could everyday after unless the twins were with her.
A little under a week after Valentine's Day, Anna went down to breakfast, chatting away with the twins about how crazy Wood was becoming about practices. Their conversation continued until the mail came. Anna didn't get anything, and neither did the twins. They started up another conversation about how stupid Snape was when-
"YOU IMBECILE!"
The Great Hall fell silent as every head turned to look toward the Slytherin table, some people even standing up to look.
A small, red envelope was laying out on the table in front of Marcus Flint, and he was staring down at it in shocked horror as a very shrill, female voice screeched from it.
"WE WERE JUST NOTIFIED BY THE MINISTRY THAT YOU'RE BEING CHARGED FOR RAPE! BY SOME ANNABELLE BLACK! NOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FACE THE WHOLE WIZENGAMOT FOR A TRIAL! YOU BETTER HOPE YOU'RE FOUND INNOCENT YOU BRAINLESS TWIT, OR WE'RE CUTTING YOU OFF!"
With that, the Howler burst into flames on the table. For once, the sight of someone receiving a Howler didn't cause any laughter. Not a single snicker filled the silent hall as nearly everyone slowly turned to stare at the Gryffindor table.
Right at Annabelle.
Anna forced her breathing to remain calm as hundreds of eyes burned into her, but the murderous glint in Flint's eyes as he glared at her nearly sent her into a panic attack. Several of the Gryffindors were looking at her with shock, pity, or sympathy, and she assumed several from the other houses looked similar. The Slytherins, on the other hand, either looked angry or smug.
A hand landed on each of her shoulders and she glanced up to see that the twins were still at her sides, glaring around at anyone who dared to say anything.
Anna shifted and whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "I want to leave. Please."
"You don't have to run away. They'll stop staring in a minute." George argued.
"Please." Anna turned and begged, revealing that her eyes were shining with tears that she wasn't sure she could keep in for much longer. George saw this and nodded once.
Together, the three of them stood up and slowly left the Great Hall. The stares followed them until they were in the entrance hall and no one could see them any longer.
A couple tears had escaped down Anna's cheeks and her chest was heaving as she tried to suppress her sobs, and she couldn't breathe properly with her throat closing.
Fred took her hand and lead her to one of the hidden passages behind a tapestry. He pushed the picture aside and lead her inside, followed by George. While George put a Silencing Charm up around the passage, Fred pulled Anna into a tight hug as her throat finally opened, allowing a ragged sob to escape.
"Everyone knows." she cried. "I knew it would happen, but I thought he'd start a rumor. Him getting a Howler about it is so much worse, because everyone knows it's true."
"Shh." Fred whispered into her ear, running his hand over her back in a soothing pattern. "It'll be okay, Anna. Did you see the looks on some people's faces? Most of them felt bad for you-"
"I don't want pity!" she cried. "I can't get past this if everyone pities me!"
"I know, I know." Fred soothed.
"What Fred was getting at, is that if they feel bad for you, they clearly believe you. Most of the school is going to believe you over Flint. And chances are most of them will have your back." George pointed out, resting his hand near the top of her back while Fred continued rubbing her lower back.
Anna sniffled, turning to rest the side of her head on Fred's chest so she could see George. "I hate this." she mumbled.
"I know." they both murmured.
Taking a deep breath, Anna pulled away, lifting both hands to scrub the tears from her eyes and cheeks. When she finally let her hands drop, she looked at Fred's chest.
"I ruined your uniform." she muttered guiltily.
The twins burst out laughing and Anna couldn't help a small twitch of her lips.
"Don't worry, my uniform always looks messy." Fred teased. He pulled his wand out and waved it, and all signs of tearstains and snot vanished from his school robes. "See? All better."
XXX
The next couple months weren't exactly pleasant, but they weren't as horrible as Annabelle expected them to be.
Flint tried causing problems, spreading rumors and pretty much claiming she had 'wanted it'. Very few people believed him, the Slytherins being the only people to back him up and taunt her in the corridors. However, seeing as Anna was always flanked by the twins, the girls, or the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team; there was rarely an opportunity for anyone to actually hurt or threaten her.
Aside from that, Anna had begun studying for finals so she wouldn't be too swamped. She was also jealous of the twins, who hardly ever studied and still managed to get good grades. Usually any bad grades they got were almost on purpose, but they'd sworn her to secrecy when she figured that out. Wouldn't want people thinking they were smart.
The month before Gryffindor's next match, Wood decided to have practices every night. A few times he asked Anna if she was sure she could handle playing, saying Katie could fill in for her if she didn't feel up to it. Anna could tell he was more worried about her not being on top of her game in the match, but she didn't hold it against him much. He was always a bit obsessed about winning to the point of not taking others' wellbeing into consideration. But she insisted she could handle it.
Finally, the morning of Gryffindor's match against Hufflepuff came the second weekend of May. Wood was particularly cheerful, almost to the point of being irritating, as he piled everyone's plates with scrambled eggs.
"Honestly, Oliver, I can't eat this much scrambled eggs on a normal day." Anna complained after his tenth scoop of eggs on her plate.
Fred laughed and scooped some from her plate onto his. "Yeah, Oliver. Feed her too much and she may just roll off her broom."
Anna glared at him, elbowing him in the ribs.
After they ate everyone went to their rooms to gather their brooms.
After changing into their gear, Wood lead the whole team out onto the pitch and they began making warm up loops.
Fred sped up on Anna's left and suddenly flipped up and spun over her head, his hair grazing hers. Anna shook her head at him, laughing when he was flying on her other side. Then, her eyes caught movement below and she saw Professor McGonagall marching across the pitch with a huge, purple megaphone. Anna just pointed her out to the twins when the stern teacher lifted the megaphone to her mouth.
"This match has been cancelled."
Anna and the twins slowed down, looking at each other in bewilderment as their brooms floated on the wind. The packed stadium erupted in boos as Oliver landed and ran toward their Head of House without getting off his broom. Any other day, Anna would've laughed herself silly at the sight of his broom wagging back and forth from between his legs. The rest of the team drifted toward the ground, curious as to what was happening. Oliver appeared to be arguing desperately, but McGonagall paid him no attention.
"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"
Anna dismounted her broom, as did the others. As they made their way back toward the castle, Anna glanced over her shoulder to see McGonagall hurriedly gesturing Harry and Ron after her. A sinking feeling appeared in her gut. Even the most horrible of weather didn't get Quidditch matches cancelled. Something truly, horribly awful must've happened to cause this to happen. And considering McGonagall wanted to talk to Harry and Ron…Anna couldn't help noticing the third, bushy-haired member of their little trio was missing…
XXX
Anna was sitting on the ground, her back against George's knees as he and Fred sat on the couch behind her in the common room. McGonagall was in the middle of explaining that the match had been cancelled due to another attack. This time on Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater.
Their Head of House was reading from a piece of parchment. "All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities." She rolled the parchment up and continued in a more choked voice, which easily said how worried she was. McGonagall never broke, especially in front of students.
"I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."
With that, she turned and climbed back out through the portrait hole. As soon as it swung shut behind her, everyone turned and began talking.
"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff." Lee counted off on his fingers, "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin-why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" Nods and applause met Lee's declaration, the twins even voicing their own support. Anna remained quiet, still mildly in shock.
"Percy's in shock." George's quiet voice made Anna look over her shoulder at him. He was talking to Harry. "That Ravenclaw girl, Penelope Clearwater, she's a prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a prefect."
Anna's eyes drifted to where they were looking. Percy was sitting in a chair behind Lee, looking pale and in shock. Anna had never seen him look so out of sorts. He was always so put together. Glancing around, Anna's eyes landed on the pot of tea and empty mugs that had been brought up for all of them.
Slowly, she rolled onto her knees and poured a cup of tea. She wasn't sure how Percy liked his tea, so she just added a scoop of sugar and stirred before standing up. She could feel the twins watching her as she moved around the chairs and couches.
When she reached Percy's side, she hesitantly laid a hand on his shoulder. He barely jumped and looked slowly up at her. She gave him a small smile and held the cup of tea out for him.
"You look like you could use this." she told him.
He looked at it for a moment, as if in a daze, before lifting his eyes and giving her a small smile. Taking the mug slowly from her hand, he said in a dull version of his usual voice, "Thank you, Annabelle."
"You're welcome." She squeezed his shoulder once before returning to her spot with the twins.
XXX
The next day, everyone woke to horrible news. By order of the school governors, Dumbledore had been removed from the school. This caused a small panic among the students, most believing that without Dumbledore the monster would attack nearly everyday.
Almost as horrible, in Annabelle's opinion, was that Hagrid had been taken to Azkaban, believed to be the one who had released the monster on the students. Anna didn't know how anyone in their right mind could suspect Hagrid of something so horrible. Yes, he had a strange love for scary, dangerous creatures, but he would never put others in harms way.
At lunch that day, Anna was approached by Professor McGonagall. This caused her stomach to drop, thinking it was about the trial against Flint.
"Ms. Black. Before he was taken to Azkaban, Hagrid asked that someone take care of his animals, particularly Fang. He asked if it could be you, specifically."
Anna nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay, I can do that."
"The only problem is that, as you should remember, students aren't allowed to walk around without a teacher. So, you'll need to be escorted when you go down to Hagrid's hut."
"Okay. Of course, Professor. Um, when should we do that?" Anna asked curiously.
"Well, for today, I can take you down there when you've finished eating here. After today, perhaps before breakfast every morning? Say, seven?"
"Sure, that works. Thank you, Professor."
McGonagall gave her a small smile. "You hardly need to thank me for giving you an extra chore, Ms. Black."
Anna shrugged. "I don't see it as a chore, Professor. I just wish no one needed to waste time escorting me."
McGonagall nodded. "Well, when you're finished we'll go down there. And after today, you can meet me in the entrance hall at seven every morning."
XXX
The next couple weeks were rather boring, to be honest. They were escorted to classes in groups by teachers. The common room was overly crowded after six every evening, almost to the point of being claustrophobic. It got to the point that Anna preferred to either hang out in her dormitory with the girls, or with the twins in their dormitory. She was also getting extremely annoyed with Lockhart frequently bashing Hagrid, commenting on how he always knew Hagrid was up to no good. She seriously wanted to hex him.
One night Anna stayed up later than usual. The twins decided to challenge Ron and Harry to a few games of Exploding Snap, since the two had been acting a bit strange lately. Anna watched from the couch while Ginny occupied one of the comfy chairs. She seemed rather subdued and pale, but every time Anna tried to start a conversation it fell flat.
It didn't escape Anna's notice that Harry and Ron were doing horribly at the game. After a while though, she suspected they were doing so on purpose, though she couldn't fathom why. Around midnight, Anna finally decided to go to bed before she fell asleep on the couch.
The next morning, Anna met Professor McGonagall at seven on the dot in the entrance hall and they walked down to Hagrid's hut in companionable silence. It was usually the Head of Gryffindor House who escorted her in the mornings, though a couple times it was Professor Sprout, and once it was Lockhart, which was horrible.
McGonagall stood a good meter back from the door when Anna approached the small hut. She'd learned early on that Fang loved to jump on people. So she let Anna take the brunt of the 'attack', since she didn't mind.
However, when Anna opened the door, there was no giant boarhound jumping on her. She pushed the door further open, her brows furrowed in confusion as she listened. Finally, a quiet whimpering reached her ears. Worried, she followed the sound to Fang's sleeping basket. To her surprise, she found a large lump hidden under Fang's blanket in the basket.
"Fang?" she asked, approaching and kneeling down by the basket. She gently pulled the blanket up to reveal Fang's nose. He was cowering into the basket, continuously whimpering and trembling. "Fang, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, pushing the blanket away more. Fang crawled halfway out of the basket and rested his chin and front paws on Anna's lap. Anna was about to ask him if he missed Hagrid, when her eyes landed on his back.
His coat was covered in little scratches, a few coated in drops of dried blood. They didn't look serious, but Anna had no idea where he could've possibly got them. She was the only one who ever let him out for a walk.
Running her hands over his back, she felt a few little thorns embedded in his short coat. She plucked a few out with her fingers just as the front door creaked.
"Ms. Black? What's taking so long?" Professor McGonagall's voice was both stern and worried.
"Fang's freaked out about something, and he's covered in scratches and thorns." Anna answered. "If it's okay, I'd like to clean up his scratches before I do anything else, Professor." she admitted, looking over her shoulder and giving the older woman a hopeful look.
McGonagall looked down at the pitiful dog halfway in the girl's lap and sighed. "Very well."
Anna quickly grabbed a potion Hagrid kept in his cabinet and dabbed a rag in it. She carefully ran the rag over Fang's scratches while also gently picking all the thorns out with her fingers. It only took about ten minutes, and when she was done she tried to get Fang to come for a quick walk, but he refused to leave the hut, so she just filled his bowl up nice and full before leaving with Professor McGonagall.
For the rest of the day, Anna couldn't help but wonder what happened to Fang. The only way he could've got that many thorns in his coat was if he was in the Dark Forest, but he usually didn't go in there alone, and when he did go in there he didn't usually get that scared. Something didn't add up.
XXX
So, I didn't realize until now that, since FF labeled the Prologue as Chapter 1, my Ch 27 is labeled as 28. So, don't worry, this isn't the last chapter. I have one more chapter, and then the sequel.
