"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option." - Mark Twain

Chapter Twenty-Four - The Second Task

"Are you going to tell me why you're here?" Ceph asked, taking a seat in front of her in the kitchens a few days after the Yule Ball. "You haven't been down to the Great Hall in a while."

Ankaa shrugged, "Needed a change of scenery, I suppose. Besides, Hermione told me Dobby was working in the kitchens. You know I've always been fond of him."

"And this has nothing to do with Fred Weasley, I'm guessing?"

"Fred Weasley?" Ankaa pretended to be surprised. "What makes you think it's about him?"

Ceph shrugged nonchalantly, pulling a library book out of his bag and placing it in front of him. "Just the fact that he glances at the door every time someone walks through, and looks thoroughly disappointed to find that it's not you," said Ceph.

"You have no proof of that," Ankaa pointed out. "There's so many other people who don't come to the Great Hall."

"But he's not friends with all of them," Ceph retorted. His eyes locked on hers, and he said, "And he didn't dance with them at the Yule Ball either." At the brief look of surprise that flickered behind Ankaa's eyes, Ceph elaborated, "You didn't seriously think that I wouldn't find out? The Slytherins may not have been there, but some of Flo's friends were."

Ankaa just raised a brow. Ceph saw a muscle in her jaw jump, indicating that she was currently grinding her teeth together. Her hands were probably itching to grab her wand.

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the Second Task," Ceph changed the topic. "I figured the clue out. Or rather, the egg."

"And?"

"It was a song." He showed her the parchment where he had written it down. "I think we're going to be facing the merfolk in the Black Lake. Lucky for us, we've known them for quite a while."

Ankaa nodded absentmindedly as she studied the clue. "What do you reckon they'd take from you?" She asked him as she handed the parchment back.

"No idea," He sighed. "But I'm not too concerned with that. I'm trying to find some spells that I can use for the task, if you'd like to help?"

"Of course," Ankaa nodded immediately. "What have you got so far?"

"I was thinking of using the Bubble-head charm for breathing underwater, but I want to find something that I can use to swim faster. I know I've got an hour, but I'd rather not take the entire time." He gave her a smirk, "Salt water isn't too great for my hair, you know?"

Ankaa laughed. "I'll help you research. Meet you in the library tomorrow, after dinner?"

"Of course," Ceph stood. "Oh and, do me a favour?"

"No."

"Tell Harry about the Egg, will you?" Ceph continued, regardless. "I know he'll wait until the last possible moment and then panic. Besides, we owe him for the dragons."

Ankaa nodded and got up, heading to her next class. On her way, she was joined by Blaise and Draco. Blaise, she had noticed, had been making an effort to keep her surrounded by Slytherins at all times. Ankaa was sure that if Ceph had noticed a change in Fred's behaviour, Blaise would have picked up on it too. And he had made it evident that he wasn't fond of Fred Weasley.

"I don't need your help," Ankaa muttered to him as they all walked to Care of Magical Creatures.

Blaise shrugged carelessly. "Maybe not," He agreed, "But I'm still going to be here."

Ankaa tried to talk to Harry during Care of Magical Creatures, but they had all been separated by Professor Grubby-Plank, who was filling in for Hagrid. The unicorns, according to Grubby-Plank, favoured a lady's touch. Ankaa could have told Granger to pass on the message, but Granger stood on the opposite side, glaring at Parvati Patil.

And so, Ankaa was forced to accompany her friends to the Great Hall so she could tell Potter. The moment she entered the Great Hall, Ankaa had immediately spotted the twins. And they had spotted her. George seemed relieved that she was there, and Fred was smiling at her a bit hesitantly.

She tugged on Blaise's sleeve, indicating that he should come with her. The two split off from their group, heading to where Harry and his friends were sitting, a few paces ahead of Fred and George.

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," Harry was saying as she walked up to him. "Sounds like the sort of thing she'd do, doesn't it? Hide in bushes."

"Potter," Ankaa stood behind him. "Please tell me you've got the clue figured out."

Harry seemed a bit uncomfortable to be put under pressure like that. Ankaa noticed his eyes dart to Hermione, who seemed equally interested in his answer.

"Er—I'm working on it," he lied. "It's coming along."

"Coming along?" Ankaa raised a brow. Staring at him a bit longer, she smirked, "You haven't got it, do you? You don't even know where to start."

Harry sighed, his eye twitching in annoyance. "Are you here to make fun—"

Ankaa looked around once to make sure none of the judges were watching. Moody seemed to be talking to Professor McGonagall, but even then, Ankaa knew his magical eye was probably trained on her. And he could most likely hear her.

She leaned down to Potter's level and whispered, "Stick it under water and then open it. We're even now."

Hermione was shocked that Ankaa would outright tell Harry about the clue, and she looked like she was about to point out that it was, in fact, cheating.

"Later," Ankaa waved and turned to leave. Sadly, George called after her. As much as she needed to ignore Fred, she knew it wasn't fair to George, who really had done nothing wrong, to lose a friend.

"We haven't seen you in a while," He smiled. "Are you alright?"

"Spectacular," Ankaa shrugged.

Before an awkward silence could settle over the group, or before Fred could speak up (because he looked like he was itching to), Blaise wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

Giving the twins an indifferent look, he nodded, "We've got to go."

"Was that really necessary?" Ankaa muttered as they walked away. "Is the arm around the shoulder really necessary?"

"Of course it is," Blaise grinned down at her, pulling her closer. "Weasley's gotta know what he's missing."

"He doesn't even like me," Ankaa retorted, "I doubt he cares."

"Maybe not. But in my experience, shattered hearts have fertile soil. Whatever you plant, will grow." Blaise nodded to himself, looking rather impressed by his poetic skills.

"Your experience?" Ankaa snorted, "The only experience you have is with me, and that didn't work out too well, did it?"

Blaise laughed as they sat on the opposite side of Draco and Pansy, facing away from the Gryffindor table.

"What were you two up to?" Draco asked, looking between the Gryffindor table and Ankaa. "Why did you need to go there?"

Blaise shrugged, "We were just reminding him that the next task is coming up and that this time Ceph would be first."

Draco smirked, "Of course he will. And I'd like to see Potter's face when it happens."

Fred frowned, looking down at the Marauders Map. Ankaa was in the library with her brother, no doubt helping him prepare for the Tournament. He knew he could go down there and talk to her, seeing as it was a public space. But he also knew that talking to her when she was mad was much worse than not talking to her at all. He watched as she was joined by Zabini, and the both of them were reading a book.

"Stop it," George said, taking the Map away from him. "If you're not going to go talk to her, then there's no point in stalking her."

"Stalking!" Fred looked around the common room quickly. The first years that had heard his outburst looked away quickly. Lowering his voice, he turned to his amused twin and snapped, "I am not stalking her!"

George just gave him an unimpressed look, "Do you really keep constant tabs on all of your friends then?"

"It's not stalking," Fred denied, "I just wanted to know where she was so I could go talk to her, patch things up, y'know?"

"Mate," George sighed, "Things like this can't be patched up so easily. Maybe it's best if you two spend time away from each other."

"But she's our friend, George."

"I know that Freddie," George gave him a comforting smile. "And she'll be back. She's just got a lot on her plate, yeah? The Tournament with Ceph, and you…"

Fred frowned. He still felt slightly betrayed that George hadn't told him of Ankaa's feelings for him. If he had, maybe Fred would have reacted in a much gentler manner. Fred was never good with emotions. When he had told George of what he had said, his brother had been rather surprised.

"She should still talk to us," Fred retorted sullenly, frowning down at his Transfiguration work. "She's still talking to her old friends—not too busy for them is she?"

George sighed, placing his quill down. "Do you remember when you first realized you liked Angelina? How you were so overexcited, trying to get her attention all the time, trying to spend every minute with her?"

"I did not—"

"You did," George laughed, "Believe me, you did, mate. You may not have noticed, but she sure did. That day in the kitchens, when you left her to hang out with Angelina… Merlin knows how long she's been fighting these feelings, letting you have your chance with Angelina."

"What does this have to do with—"

"Point is, Fred, that despite you pouring all your time and energy into Angelina, Ankaa was still by your side. But now, I think she doesn't want to see that anymore, especially considering she's told you she fancies you too. If she needs to spend time with her friends to get over this, then I think you should let her."

Fred groaned loudly, repeatedly hitting his head on the textbook in front of him. After few minutes of just staring into space, he snapped out of his trance and stood up. Glancing at the Marauders Map once more, he turned and headed out of the common room.

"Where are you going?" George called after him.

"The library!"

Fred raced down to the library as fast as he could, hoping to catch Ankaa before she left. He knew once he missed her, she'd hole herself up in the Slytherin common room until she had made up her mind to ignore him for the rest of eternity.

He found her, sitting in one of the corners, pouring over a textbook. Her hair had been placed in a loose bun on the top of her head, and some tendrils were framing her face. He noticed she was wearing the sweater his mom had knit for her. Fred looked around for Zabini, but seeing as he wasn't there, Fred decided it was his best chance to talk to Ankaa before the other Slytherin boy sprung up.

"I had no idea you kept that," Fred muttered from behind her, and apologized when she jumped a little. "Sorry, I just—I didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing here?" She got straight to the point. Fred took a deep breath, pulling out one of the chairs and settling down next to her. The moment he did, Ankaa started closing all her books. Fred knew she was getting ready to leave.

"It's a library—"

"An establishment that you and George hardly ever come to," Ankaa retorted with a glare.

Fred cleared his throat, "Okay, that's true. But I just wanted to talk to you."

"How did you even know I was—The Map," Ankaa shook her head.

"I know this must be hard for you," He began softly, "Having your brother in the tournament, and your feelings for me—"

"Don't flatter yourself," Ankaa snapped, turning around to look at him. "My feelings for you aren't on the same level as having my brother compete in a potentially life-threatening Tournament."

"You're mad..." Fred concluded.

"Of course I am," Ankaa stood, "But not at you."

Fred paused. "So why are you ignoring us then?"

"Do you realize how big this is for me, Fred?" Ankaa said softly, "I've never felt this way for anyone before. I'm not mad that I like you, not at all. I'm mad at the fact that I gave you so much power over me, that for a moment when you told me you didn't like me, it broke my heart. So yes, I'm mad. I'm mad that you rejected me, that you humiliated me. But I'm madder at myself for giving you the power to do so."

"But we don't deserve this, George and I," Fred argued. "We don't deserve to be ignored. I thought we were friends."

"I can't be friends with you anymore, Fred." Ankaa sighed. "I don't believe in that crap about being able to be friends with someone you have feelings for, and I'm not willing to compromise, not with this."

"But—"

"Ankaa." The two turned to find Ceph standing by the bookshelves, his arms crossed over his chest, looking on at them impassively. "Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her office." When Ankaa gathered her books to put away, Ceph said, "Leave the books. I'll deal with them."

Fred watched as Ankaa walked away from him without a goodbye. Ceph remained standing there, glaring at Fred. After Ankaa had left, Ceph approached Fred, who maintained his position. Fred and Ceph had usually gotten along, but Fred knew that Ceph wasn't on his side anymore.

"I need you to stay away from her," Ceph commanded softly, "You two are not going to be friends anymore."

Fred crossed his arms as well. "You can't tell her what to do."

"I don't have to," Ceph smiled indulgently. "She said it herself, in case you weren't listening." After a moment, Ceph sighed. "Look, Fred, I'm just trying to look out for my sister. I know you'd do the same thing if you were in my position."

Fred just grumbled something, and Ceph chose to ignore the teenaged toddler.

"And to be fair, it's selfish of you to presume that she'd continue being your friend after what happened between you two," Ceph said as he gathered the books. When he noticed Fred was listening, he continued, "You have a girlfriend. You chose her. You can't honestly have fooled yourself into thinking that Ankaa would stand by and watch as you cozied up to Angeline—"

"Angelina."

"I don't care what her name is," Ceph retorted. "I care about my sister. And if you really care for her, even as a friend, you'd let her be while she sorted this crap out on her own."

"She shouldn't be alone."

"And you think your presence will help her?" Ceph spat, "You're the reason this happened. Ankaa doesn't warm up to people quickly, it's a miracle she even liked you enough to tell you in the first place. I'm not angry at you for rejecting her, Merlin no. I'm glad you aren't leading her on. But I'm angry about the fact that you think you're entitled to have the best of both worlds."

Fred sighed, looking exceptionally tired. "Ceph, she's our friend. I don't like losing friends."

"And she doesn't like losing power," Ceph smiled consolingly, placing a hand on Fred's shoulder. "She's a bit lost right now. She's never liked anyone before, this has never happened to her. She'll come around, I know she will. Just... give her time."

Fred nodded glumly. He could never have imagined that it would have happened like this. He had hoped that she would still be his friend, that they would still have witty banter and heated debates. He liked when she rolled her eyes at every stupid thing he said, especially when he could see her trying to hide a smile.

In the back of his mind, Fred knew Ceph was right. If Fred was in his position, and Ginny went through this ordeal, he would do the exact same thing. Ankaa was an exceptionally guarded person. She was all about self-preservation, and putting herself out on the line was anything but self-preservation. He concluded that it was rather foolish of him to assume that things would smooth over the moment after it had all happened.

"You're right," He told Ceph after a while. "It's for the best."

"Good," Ceph smiled. He piled a tower of books into Fred's arms and said, "Now put away these books, Weasley."

"Done taking bets?" Angelina smiled at Fred when he finally came to stand by her before the beginning of the Second Task. George stood on her other side, with Lee, looking over at the Black Lake excitedly. They were standing with the rest of the champions and their friends, cheering for Harry.

"Yeah," Fred gushed, "We could turn this into a business, George. If only we had Triwizard Tournaments more often."

George snorted.

"Where's your friend?" Lee asked, turning his head to look at the various students gathered around the group. "Rhyther. Shouldn't she be here cheering for her brother?"

Fred glanced around too. Draco and Blaise were standing with Higgs and Pucey, deep in conversation about something. Ceph was with them, looking around worriedly as well. Fred's stomach tightened slightly when he realized even Ankaa's brother did not know where she was.

"She should be," Fred mumbled, craning his head to look over the mass of students. He knew he shouldn't have, especially after the conversation he had with Ceph in the library. But the idea of not having Ankaa around was still new, and admittedly, a bit unsettling to him.

Angelina shrugged, "Maybe she doesn't want to stay down here? She could be on the upper levels, trying to get a better view?"

Unlikely, Fred thought. There was no way she'd leave her brother before any task unless it was directly requested of her. But seeing as the other champions all had their other friends around them, there should have been no reason for her not to be present.

"Welcome to the Second Task!" Dumbledore's voice sounded over the crowd's cheering. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions, a treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake."

"What do you reckon they've taken?" Angelina leaned forward on the railing, looking around excitedly.

Fred shrugged. Much to his annoyance, he was still trying to find Ankaa in the crowd. He watched as Ceph made his way to the edge of the dock, taking in a deep breath. Harry took his spot beside him, quickly shoving something into his mouth.

Ceph glanced down at the boy, who looked like he was about to vomit. His attention turned back to the Lake when he heard Dumbledore begin to wrap up his speech. Wand at the ready, he waited for the sound of the cannon.

When he finally dived into the water, he realized how incredibly cold it was. Wasting no time, Ceph performed the Bubble Head charm and took in a deep breath. He knew the area rather well. If he had deciphered the clue correctly, his treasure should be guarded by the Merfolk. They usually spent a lot of time close to the Slytherin dormitories.

Ceph swam for a few minutes, trying to get his bearings in order. His watch told him he still had ample time. He navigated over the seaweed that housed the Grindylows. Behind him, he saw Fleur enter them, no doubt thinking that her treasure was hidden there. He had planned to ignore her completely, but when he saw her struggling with the Grindylows, he sighed to himself.

As Ceph swam down to where Fleur was floating in the mass of seaweed, tangled and unconscious, he could almost hear Ankaa's voice telling him he was being stupid and wasting time. Ceph immobilized the Grindylows surrounding the other champion. He pulled her away from the seaweeds and gave her a forceful lift, so she could float to the top.

Ceph glanced at his watch. He had already wasted about twenty minutes. He had no idea where Harry and Krum were, whether they had reached their treasures already. All he knew was that he had to finish this task first if he had any hope of winning the Tournament.

Ceph placed his arms on either side of him, his wand by his side, pointing at his feet.

With a slight wave of his wand, he cast a new spell. "Ventus Tria!"

Ceph watched in delight at the ripples his wand caused in the water, and he was propelled through it quickly. He concentrated on holding the spell and using his body to turn and dive at various points.

The Ventus spell, Ankaa had reminded him, created a gust of wind from the caster's wand. Ceph had decided to use it underwater as means of speeding up the process. Ceph kept a keen eye on his surroundings, making sure he did not miss a clue. In another ten minutes, he was close enough to be able to hear the merpeople singing the same melody from the Golden Egg.

Without the Ventus spell, Ceph swam his way through the crowd of merfolk that had gathered in the middle. He was careful to avoid their pitchforks, instead of waving at them the same way he did when he watched them glide past the common room window sometimes. When the merpeople in front of him moved away, Ceph finally saw what his treasure was.

Ankaa looked like she was asleep, in her school robes. There was a small trail of bubbles escaping her mouth, indicating that she was still breathing. Ceph looked around at the other 'treasures'. Ron and Hermione were there too, along with a little girl Ceph knew to be Fleur's sister.

Ceph swam over to his sister, checking her over quickly once. He quickly ducked down and severed the seaweed holding her ankle. Once she was free, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her away, once again waving to the merpeople as he went.

Once again, with the help of the Ventus spell, Ceph was able to make great time. He stayed submerged under water until he reached the same dock he had jumped off of. Finally, with fifteen minutes to spare, Ceph resurfaced with a gasp, pulling Ankaa along with him.

"MERLIN!" She spluttered, blinking rapidly to try and clear the water from her eyes. She looked around at the cheering crowds around her, and then at a beaming Ceph, who was pulling her along as he swam closer to the dock.

Ankaa was pulled out of the water quickly, and Madam Pomfrey was quick to administer various potions and spells to keep her warm.

"That was amazing!" Higgs was shouting, jumping in excitement as Ceph was being examined by Madam Pomfrey. "You were so quick, Ceph!"

"Are you alright?" Ceph asked as he wrapped yet another blanket around Ankaa, who nodded mutely. "Good," He pulled her in for a hug and placed a kiss on her head.

"I thought…" Ankaa trailed off when Ceph looked at her. "Florence…"

"She may be my girlfriend, Ankaa, but you're my sister. You're my greatest treasure."

Ankaa smiled at him, watching as all the Slytherins cheered for him. A few paces behind Ceph stood Fleur Delacour, looking at the water with great concern. She was wrapped up in a towel as well…

"What happened to her?" Ankaa asked, turning around to see Draco and Blaise beside her.

"She fainted apparently," Blaise said. "Couldn't get past the Grindylows. She's disqualified. Ceph saved her and sent her up, but she won't be able to get her treasure… whoever that is."

"Her sister," Draco said. "It'll be her sister."

"The little girl?" Ankaa asked. "But—"

"It's a tough game." Draco shrugged, "She shouldn't have entered if she wasn't ready to lose something."

The remaining fifteen minutes were short lived. Soon enough, Krum resurfaced with Hermione. Ankaa watched his Transfiguration wear off, and his head turned back from the Shark he had been. Both of them were bundled up in towels as well.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly, glancing from the Lake back to Ceph and Ankaa.

Ceph shrugged, "I didn't see him when I was down there." At Hermione's worried look, he consoled her with, "There's still a few minutes!"

And then two figures broke the surface. But neither of them was Harry Potter. Ankaa could tell her brother was getting nervous. He had, after all, decided they needed to look out for Harry. His worry was ill founded however, as Harry literally flew from the Lake and landed on the dock.

"I want the judges over here right now!" Dumbledore called. Ankaa watched intently as the judges argued amongst themselves.

"I swear to Merlin if he get's first place because he flew—" Ankaa began bitterly.

"In first place," Announced Dumbledore, "Is Mr. Rhyther!"

After that, even the fact that Harry had come in second because of his 'moral fibre' wasn't a daunting idea. Ceph wrapped his arm around her shoulder, walking along with her as they all made their way back to the dormitories. Ankaa had elected to keep the blanket, much to Pomfrey's surprise.

"Ceph!" Fred, George and their friends came over to congratulate him, much to Ankaa's annoyance. Regardless, she stood beside her brother and pretended to be interested.

"How'd you finish so fast?" Angelina was gushing. "And what you did for Fleur, that was so nice!"

"Er—thanks," Ceph smiled, slightly awkwardly.

"This is Angelina," Ankaa did not even bother to look at the girl, "Fred's girlfriend." Ankaa was aware that she had said the second part with a bit more bite than usual, but none of the others seemed to pick up on it.

Ceph, however, was not the commonwealth. Almost immediately, his polite smile became strained. He may not have known Angelina personally, but his loyalty to Ankaa meant that he would share her views on people. Especially those that had inadvertently hurt his sister.

"Thank you, Angelina." He gave her a nod. "If you'll excuse me, Ankaa and I must be getting back."

Ceph wrapped his arm around Ankaa and pulled her along. Ankaa waved to George, who gave her an amused smile before she parted. Blaise and Draco walked beside her, while Higgs and Pucey were by Ceph. About halfway to the castle, Florence caught up with them as well.

"Are you alright?" She ran to Ceph, wrapping him up in a hug. Florence checked over Ankaa once as well, making sure she was alright. She looked like she was about to hug the younger Slytherin girl too, but Ceph just smiled and took her hand in his own and pulled her away.

Ankaa frowned, "No matter how many times I see that it just does not get easier."

Blaise snorted. "Imagine how he'd feel about you and Fred." The two were walking a few paces behind the rest of the Slytherins.

"I'm not much for PDA," Ankaa smiled.

"No kidding?" Blaise piped sarcastically, "I had you pinned for a sunshine and rainbows kind of girl."

"A common misconception, I've noticed."

The two shared a smile, walking in comfortable silence. Behind them, they could hear the Gryffindors hooting and hollering as they accompanied Harry back to the castle. Paying them no mind, Blaise and Ankaa kept walking.

"So," Blaise turned to her, looking determined. "What's your plan of attack?"

"Plan of…" Ankaa looked up at him in confusion, "Attack?"

"You know," Blaise made a subtle gesture behind him, where Fred and Angelina were walking arm in arm, laughing about something or the other.

"I didn't think I needed one." Ankaa said, "I was planning on just maintaining my distance."

Blaise gave her an unimpressed look. "Yes, because that worked so well for me," He said, "I kept my distance from you and you started liking some other guy."

Ankaa rolled her eyes. "We're hardly in the same situation."

"Aren't we?" Blaise gave her a rueful smirk, "I like you, you like him, he likes her."

Ankaa frowned. "If you're just here to remind me—"

"I'm here to help." Blaise smiled, taking her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze. "But seeing as you've got no experience with this… or emotions in general, I'll help you out."

"No need to be so blunt."

Blaise continued on as if she had not spoken. "Trust me, Ankaa, it's for your own good. You do everything I tell you to, and in no time, Fred Weasley will be begging to have you back."

A few weeks later, Ankaa was minding her own business in Potions, when Snape decided that the Golden Trio needed to be split up. Rita Skeeter's latest article on Harry's supposed love triangle had caused quite a stir, though it didn't seem that way to Hermione. She seemed a bit more preoccupied with finding out how Skeeter got that information in the first place.

"Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak," Hermione muttered softly to Ankaa, as she ground up some scarab beetles for her Wit-Sharpening Potion.

Ankaa had cast a silencing charm around them so that if someone tried to overhear their conversation, their ears would start ringing. At the same time, the two still had to look like they were not talking to one another. The spell may have blocked their hearing but it did nothing for their eyesight.

"I doubt it," Ankaa commented lightly, stirring her Potion without a care in the world. "Moody would be able to see through it with his magical eye. He'd have her thrown out if she was on school grounds after Dumbledore banned her."

Hermione nodded slightly, furiously throwing her ingredients into the cauldron. She fussed over the next step, taking into account how relaxed Ankaa looked while creating the Potion. Ankaa, when she saw Granger looked at her in confusion, held up her book slightly.

"It's Ceph's old book," She muttered. "He's got all his tips and tricks in there."

Hermione scowled and muttered something along the lines of 'That's cheating' but Ankaa let it slide, knowing that Hermione usually found something wrong with whatever she was doing.

"Moody's been a bit off recently too," Hermione said. "God knows he was never completely sane to start with."

Ankaa snorted lightly. "I would say using the unforgivable curses in class was the biggest hint, but what are you thinking about?"

"After the second task, before Harry came up to Hagrid's hut and he was talking to Crouch..." Hermione glanced around, "Well, he was acting a bit odd. Harry said he was twitchy, finicky."

Ankaa sighed. "That's Alastor Moody. He's like that all the time."

"Not around Crouch," Hermione pointed out, "He has no reason to be, after all. Crouch was no threat, so why was Moody acting so odd?"

Ankaa did not respond. Ankaa had only heard about Mad-Eye Moody a few times from her father, who often complained about having to work with him. Henry's work as an Auror brought him in close contact with Moody, and he sometimes told them stories of his latest shenanigans. Normally, Ankaa would have let his behaviour slide but coupled with Sirius' warning about their DADA teacher, she knew something was off key.

"Look, about what happened at the Yule Ball—" Hermione began, and Ankaa gave an exaggerated sigh. "I just wanted to say thank you."

Ankaa blinked owlishly, taken aback for a moment.

"You thought I'd talk about Fred?" Hermione gave her a sideways smile. "I understand you're a private person, and that it must have taken a lot for you to even open up to me about it in the first place."

"If I remember correctly," Ankaa sassed, "I didn't voluntarily tell you I liked him, you figured it out and started teasing me."

"Whatever the case," Hermione gave her a smile, "I'm not about to overstep. If you wanted to tell me anything else, you would have. I'll respect the fact that you don't want to talk about it. But I just wanted to thank you for staying with me when I was…"

"No problem." Ankaa cleared her throat awkwardly. "You're a friend… I guess."

The two worked quietly after that, almost having finished their Potions. Ankaa quickly labelled a vial before pouring a sample into it and corking it shut. At the end of class, she made her way over to Snape's desk and placed it along with the other student's work.

"Has Padfoot contacted you?" Hermione asked as they were packing up their things.

Ankaa shook her head. "He probably talked to Ceph, he mentioned something about Hogsmeade this Saturday and bringing food?"

Hermione nodded. "We'll see you there then?"

"I guess," Ankaa sighed. Giving Hermione a teasing smile, "Well, I'm off to the kitchens to have some house-elves labour over my food."

Hermione frowned as Ankaa walked away with a laugh. S.P.E.W. was serious stuff.

Notes:

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