Metanoia (n.): the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self or way of life

Chapter Thirty-Five – Metanoia

Monday night, after their first Quidditch practice, Ankaa trailed into the Common Room after Draco. She swiped her hands on her uniform, ignoring Draco's glare when she got mud all over the front. Mumbling something about washing the uniform later, Ankaa trudged up the stairs.

Practice had been an absolute disaster. Ankaa had been banking on practicing Quidditch at home over the summer, but of course recent events had rendered that absolutely out of the realm of possibility. Her throws were ever so slightly off, at least enough that Bletchley caught them. Ankaa also missed a few passes from Montague, which angered him but he refrained from shouting at her in the middle of the practice. That being said, she wasn't the worst of players, of course. She just wasn't as good as she knew she could be, and that irked her most. As her best friend Draco had wasted no time in pointing it out to her.

In fact, he continued commenting on her abilities as a chaser as the duo walked the halls later that night for their Prefect duty.

"Your spin was atrocious," He said, raising a haughty brow, "I've seen you do that move a thousand times, how could you have messed it up?"

Ankaa did not grace him with a response. He wasn't really asking her a question anyway. He did that when he was ranting; Draco always posed questions, and the moment someone tried to answer he would get mad and continue ranting. Therefore, Ankaa did not even bother opening her mouth. Instead, she ran her fingers along the wall as she walked beside him.

"I told you to practice too, didn't I?" Draco shook his head, "You're going to need to practice more often now. Try and see if you can get some time in later, I can cover your duties as Prefect. We can't lose to Gryffindor for our first match."

No, they couldn't. Ankaa could only imagine how smug Angelina Johnson would be if she won. It made Ankaa's stomach drop. She could only imagine what would happen if Gryffindor won. The team would celebrate, and Angelina and Fred would most likely celebrate…

Stop, Ankaa shook her head. The image she had conjured up alone was disgusting. Ankaa had been unfortunate enough to see them sharing a few pecks in the hallway, and every time she saw them standing close to one another she could feel her lips pulling into a snarl.

"I can practice with you, if you like," Draco offered. "I'm sure Blaise wouldn't mind either."

"I don't need to be babysat."

"Then pull yourself together," Draco retorted just as quickly. "You've been slacking—don't think I haven't noticed. I know you've been through a lot, Ankaa, but you need to pull yourself together."

Ankaa eye twitched at his statement.

As Draco continued to lecture her, unaware that she had completely stopped listening to him, Ankaa turned her stare to the sleeping portraits they passed in the hallway. A part of her wanted to jump on him and throttle him for telling her to 'pull herself together'. Another part of Ankaa, the more dominant part at the time being, had simply resigned herself to the fact that no matter what she said or did, no one would really pay attention.

Offhandedly, Ankaa wondered when things had gotten so bad. When had she let things get so bad that she simply refused to speak? Ankaa could recall a time when she was the most outspoken and downright terrifying Slytherin in the group.

"… but it's time now," Draco was saying, "we're back from the summer and you've had enough time to relax."

"Relax?" Ankaa repeated after him curiously. She stopped walking and turned her incredulous stare onto him, glaring at him menacingly. "You think I've been relaxing over the summer?" She muttered in disbelief, "You think after losing my brother I was relaxing?"

"That's not what I meant." Draco looked as if he was caught off guard. He probably hadn't expected her to say anything at all, given that she had let him get used to ranting. But now, she had had enough.

"No, please, by all means—tell me what you meant." Ankaa took a threatening step closer to him. "And while you're at it, please tell me what you meant when you said I need to pull myself together. Because for you, it obviously seems like the easiest thing to do."

Draco sighed in frustration. He didn't say anything. Ankaa knew he probably was aware of the fact that if he spoke, Ankaa would have pulled out her wand and cursed him then and there.

"I'm just trying to help."

"I don't want or need your help, Malfoy." Draco bristled at the use of his last name, but Ankaa continued, undeterred, "Keep your nose out of my business. You want a chaser for the team, you'll get it. Until then, stay away from me and stop trying to dictate how I grieve, do you understand? You've never felt loss like I have, and I hope for your sake you never do."

Ankaa didn't wait to see his reaction. She pushed past him roughly and turned down the hall to head towards the Astronomy Tower. She was happy that Draco didn't follow after her, for she knew that she would have wasted no time in drawing out her wand. Best friend or not, Draco would not have backed down from a duel.

"Oi!" She spotted two students at the end of the hall and glared at them. "Get to your dorms before I start handing out detentions!"

Ankaa ignored their glares as they turned and headed back. Normally she did not take away points so quickly during her rounds. Ankaa liked to mess with them first, occasionally letting them go without consequences if they were amusing enough. Unfortunately for the two Hufflepuff students today, she needed an outlet for her anger. And they happened to be in the perfect place, at the wrong time.

Needless to say, those two students were not the last to get points taken from their houses for wandering around after curfew. Almost everyone she ran into got a verbal lashing. When she finally reached the Astronomy Tower, Ankaa had calmed down slightly. Of course, she hadn't calmed down entirely, but just enough that the sight of Fred Weasley sitting by the wall and working on the designs for one of his latest inventions didn't bother her nearly as much as it should have.

Ankaa rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

She wanted to be alone, especially given the fact that she could feel herself tearing up. Of all the people she could have run into, she definitely did not want it to be Fred, not when she was in a mood like that. Sadly, her newfound sense of morality, when combined with her subdued anger, told her that she could handle being in his presence for a few minutes at the very least.

Ankaa cleared her throat to announce her presence, noting with a small sense of satisfaction that Fred jumped in surprise. At the sight of her, however, he relaxed and gave her a smile.

"You're out after hours, you know," Ankaa said, taking a seat next to him, "I could give you detention. I've been itching to do that all day."

Fred snorted. "You wouldn't do that to me."

"Try me."

Fred just gave her a half smile. Ankaa noticed that there was something different about his smile, and him in general. He seemed more carefree, a lot more relaxed. It unnerved her a bit because now it seemed like he was paying more attention to her. While she would have loved to be the centre of his attention, it seemed to Ankaa that Fred was staring right into her.

"Why are you smiling?"

Smiling wider, Fred said, "I always smile around you."

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her legs in front of her. She wiggled her toes for a few moments, enjoying the comfortable silence between the two. She glanced over at his work when she noticed he was scribbling furiously.

"What's that?"

Fred was biting his lip in concentration. With a small sigh, he gave up on his work and turned to her. "Nothing," he said, "George and I were working on some new stuff. I was sketching a rough design."

"Without him?" Ankaa inquired. "I've never seen you work on these things separately."

"We don't," Fred conceded, nodding. "But it's only a rough design and I don't think we'll end up using it. And anyway, George is already asleep. I was working in the common room, but I wanted to get away for a while."

Ankaa raised a brow. "And you decided to come to the Astronomy Tower? In the middle of the night? Where you could run into Umbridge?"

"I never said I was smart."

Ankaa laughed, "No, you didn't. I was dumb for assuming that you were."

Giving her a cheeky smile, Fred said, "Well you know what they say about assuming."

Shoving his shoulder lightly, Ankaa warned, "Careful now, Weasley, I'm a Prefect who can take away points."

Fred rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile. "That threat won't work on me at all," He said, "You've been using it for far too long."

Fred watched with a keen eye as she shook her head with a fond smile. Ankaa reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. Fred was aware that he was staring, but he could not bring himself to look away. Her long lashes were curled around her grey eyes in a way he had never noticed before.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked quietly, reaching up to run her fingers over her cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

Fred smirked, "Yeah." He reached forward and wiped at her cheek. There was nothing on her cheek, but he needed a reason to touch her. Fred was sure even she could tell there was something different about him, but Ankaa was far too confused to ask. Besides, he quite liked being the reason she flushed a bright red, the same way she was doing right now.

"Great," Ankaa mumbled, pulling away. She scrubbed at her cheek, saying, "I walked around handing out detentions."

Fred laughed. "I doubt people noticed," he said, "It's probably too dark."

Ankaa only frowned. "You noticed."

"That's because I'm me," said Fred smugly, "I'm very observant, people just don't get to witness it."

Ankaa nodded absentmindedly. Fred noticed she was wringing her hands together, and she leaned back on the wall with an almost silent sigh.

"Everything okay?"

Ankaa looked up at him, turning her head slightly to face him. He was gazing at her intently and all traces of humour had vanished from his face, and instead were replaced by an air of seriousness that told her she could not lie to him.

"No," whispered Ankaa, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around her knees. "I got into a fight with Malfoy." She expected Fred to say something, to dismiss the fact because it was only natural for people to fight with Malfoy. However, when she turned to him, he was staring in concern and nodded for her to continue. Reluctantly, she supplied, "He told me to pull myself together, and that I should be a better Chaser now that I had a summer to relax. I know he meant well, but… I don't know, I just snapped."

"It's understandable," said Fred softly, staring at the moonlight that touched the tips of his feet. "You just lost your brother. You saw him die, and you're under stress with You-Know-Who's return, it makes sense for you to be on edge."

"It's not that," Ankaa shook her head, "I'm not edge. I've just stopped caring."

Fred was silent again. Reaching over, he gave her hand a squeeze. "I—I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through, Ankaa," He admitted, staring into her grey eyes when she finally looked back at him. "When the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and I thought I had lost Ginny, the pain and sadness I felt then, after not hearing from her for a few hours—I can't even put that feeling into words. You… I think you know by now Ceph's not coming back, and I can't imagine what you might be feeling."

"No, you can't." Ankaa conceded, "But at least you don't pretend to."

"Draco's trying to help, in his own way." Fred shrugged, "Normally I wouldn't bother coming to his defence, but where you're concerned, I don't mind pointing out that the little ferret may not be as bad."

Fred smiled widely when Ankaa let out a little laugh.

"You're a much better person that you give yourself credit for, Ankaa," he said after a few moments of gazing at her, "you've just lost your way—which is nothing new, we all get lost sometimes—but you're not alone in this. I'll be with you, through it all, whenever you need me."

Fred swallowed uncomfortably when she stared at him intently. Finally, after twenty seconds of silence, he was rewarded with a small smile. Ankaa's hand grasped his own and gave it a small squeeze in return, and Fred felt a warmth spark inside him. Looking down at their hands, Fred slowly entwined their fingers together.

"Angelina and I broke up," admitted Fred in a quiet voice, running his thumb across the front of her hand.

Ankaa's eyes snapped away from their entwined hands to Fred's face. She was glad he wasn't looking at her because she was sure her expression was one of utter shock (and she doubted that looked good). Slowly, Fred's eyes moved away from their joined hands to Ankaa's face. He gave her a serene smile and continued holding her hand.

"I…I'm so sorry," said Ankaa, "I didn't know."

"That's alright," Fred shrugged nonchalantly. Looking around the deserted Astronomy tower, he chuckled lowly. Turning back to her, he said, "I'm glad. I never planned it to end that way, but I'm glad it's over."

Ankaa cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Why did you end it?" At Fred's shrug, she elaborated, "I mean, you two seemed like you were happy."

"She made me choose," Fred's hand tightened ever so slightly around hers, "between you or her. And I realized that no matter how hard I tried to make it work with her, Angelina and I just weren't meant to be."

Fred stepped away from Angelina after he had made his decision. For the first time in a long while, he felt that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"So you've made your decision then?" Angelina had asked, gazing at him hopefully.

"Yeah," Fred nodded, still looking at Angelina. He knew she probably figured out what his decision had been, especially when her eyes started to fill up with tears. With a guilty sigh, Fred said, "I'm sorry Angelina. There's someone out there for you, but I just don't think it's me."

Angelina stepped away from him when he tried to comfort her. Shaking her head, she asked him bitterly, "Why her?"

Why her indeed, Fred had wondered a long time ago. Why had he become friends with her? How had their friendship lasted? Was it because she was Sirius' daughter, and that she was forced to hang around him because of his family. No—it was because she was an honest girl. Yes, she was brash and abrasive and sometimes needed to be reminded that other people had things called feelings, but she was true to herself. She was interesting. She was quick-witted and sharp. Ankaa was everything he wasn't, and they complimented each other so well that Fred felt letting her go because of his pride because he wasn't ready to accept how quickly he had become besotted by her, would be a grave mistake.

"You said she was afraid," Fred muttered as an afterthought, "but I don't agree. Whether she admits it or not, she keeps her distance because it's how she can protect us—protect us all, even Ron, who she doesn't even seem to like as much. And someone who's willing to stay away from the person they like, for the sake of protecting them, isn't someone who's afraid."

There was another moment of silence, in which Ankaa stared at Fred disbelievingly, and he stared right back with a small, sad smile. She should have been happy; happy that Fred had finally chosen her, that he wanted this as much as she did, but she also knew that she wasn't ready. She could barely hold herself together, she couldn't find the energy to do her work, which meant she couldn't put in energy for a relationship—even if it was Fred Weasley.

"I know." Fred gave her a sad smile, "I know you're not ready for a relationship just yet, and I didn't come here to tell you this so that we could get together. I just wanted you to know that I'm here, and I will be here, waiting until whenever you're ready."

Fred was completely turned towards her now, holding both her hands in his own. Ankaa had never seen this expression on his face, one of complete devotion, complete trust, even when he was with Angelina. She knew he wasn't lying, that she wasn't just some rebound he felt like he could entrap after his relationship with Angelina.

Ankaa did not want to mess this up. She liked Fred too much for that. If she got into a relationship with him now, as crazy as she was, it was most likely going to be doomed.

"I need time," Ankaa said, pulling her hands out of his hands gently. She stood up, and so did Fred. Fred towered over her, staring at her with an intensity that made her gulp slightly.

Fred just smiled, as if he was dealing with a small child. "I know," He repeated, "I can wait. I'd wait forever if it meant I at least had a shot at being with you."

With that, he stepped forward and reached for her. Ankaa stood frozen as his fingertips ghosted over her cheeks, and he leaned forward to press a gentle kiss against her cheek, at which point Ankaa closed her eyes.

Smiling, Fred pulled away. Gathering his things, he gave her a salute, "See you around, sweetcheeks."

As he walked to the door, he turned back one last time, long enough to have a feeling of pure satisfaction wash over him.

He had finally managed to render Ankaa Rhyther absolutely speechless.

Tuesday morning Ankaa woke up feeling, for the first time in a while, happy. She lay awake for a few minutes, hearing her roommates bustling about and talking softly about what they were going to do today. Pansy seemed a bit taken aback by Ankaa's unusually good mood in the morning, seeing as the other girl didn't scowl or frown at her as much.

Even Angelina Johnson's glares towards Ankaa during breakfast did not impact her. She spotted Fred and George at the Gryffindor table as well, sitting with Angelina and their friends from their year. But, Ankaa noticed, there was quite some distance between Angelina and Fred.

From their table, George spotted her first and gave her a conspiratorial wink with a wide smile. Ankaa could hear George laughing all the way over from the Slytherin table. He nudged Fred, who at first seemed mildly irritated at being interrupted in his conversation with Lee, but upon spotting her, Fred gave a wide smile. Ankaa could see the tips of his ears turning red.

"Hem, hem."

Ankaa turned back to their table, where Professor Umbridge was standing in front of their group. She noticed that beside her, Draco and Blaise had tensed up, but continued to give the Professor cordial smiles. Ankaa smiled too when she noticed Umbridge was looking right at her with her bulging toad eyes.

"Can I help you, Professor?" Ankaa asked, raising a brow but giving her a smile still.

"Not at the moment, Miss Rhyther," said the devil-in-disguise. "I just wanted to speak with you about your behaviour in my class the first week, as I'm sure you remember. I know it's been quite a while since then, but it's been brought to my attention that you were not reprimanded for it."

"My behaviour?" Brought to her attention by who? Why was she bringing this up weeks later?

"Running out of class without my permission is against the rules, Miss Rhyther," Umbridge smiled sweetly.

Draco cleared his throat. In a serious tone, he said, "Professor, I'm sure you understand the circumstances in which Ankaa left—"

"Of course," Umbridge's eyes turned back from Draco to Ankaa, who was clutching her knees under the table so she did not hex the witch in the middle of the Great Hall. "But I do think Miss. Rhyther overreacted a bit. After all, there was no need to take Mister Potter's lies to heart."

Meeting the 'Professor' eyes, Ankaa said sharply, "I think we both know what really happened to my brother, Professor, and who was responsible."

Umbridge's smile was strained. She looked around at the people who were listening in, who were looking between Ankaa and Umbridge to see who would back down first. Ankaa would never have said that to a Professor, but Umbridge was worse than the scum under her shoe. And to have this scum insult the memory of her brother was intolerable.

"A week's detention should do it, I think, Miss Rhyther." Said Umbridge, giving her a sweet smile once more. And with that, the old toad turned and waddled down to the Staff Table where she would, no doubt, try her best to terrorize other teachers.

Around her, Ankaa's friends were silent and stared at Umbridge's retreating back with identical incredulous stares. Finally, they all turned back to Ankaa, who was nonchalantly scooping cereal into her bowl and adding milk.

"What did you just do?" Blaise spoke first.

"She insulted Ceph," mumbled Ankaa, shovelling more food in her mouth, "I wasn't going to let her get away with it."

There was silence from her friends before Draco snorted a loud laugh.

"The look on her face," he chuckled, "She certainly didn't expect that."

Everyone else smiled, recalling how Umbridge's face looked as if it was trying to imitate a cherry. Once the laughter died down, Pansy remarked how Ankaa should be more careful.

"She obviously has it in for you," Pansy said, moving her bangs out of her eyes, "I'm just saying you should be careful."

Ankaa nodded.

"I've been thinking," Draco glared at Ankaa before she could interrupt him, "that we should start practicing real Defense Against the Dark Arts because Umbridge obviously isn't going to teach us anything."

Ankaa and the others regarded him silently, weighing their options.

"Where?"

"An empty classroom?"

"No," Ankaa shook her head. Quickly and quietly, she explained, "We can't do it outside. First of all, I doubt the four of us are the only people fed up with her teaching. Second, going out in big groups is going to attract a lot of attention, and we'll be caught."

"What do you suggest then?" Pansy asked, raising a brow.

"The Common Room," Ankaa shrugged as if it was the simplest choice. At their disbelieving looks, she elaborated, "Think about it—she's not going to come into our dorms to check in on us because she'll never suspect mutiny from an entire house. Besides, the way things are heading, she's obviously going to have her sights set on Potter."

"Yeah," agreed Draco softly, "Today's hiccup aside, we really need to be on Umbridge's good side. That way, we can keep her away from the Common Room and keep her focused on Potty. Ankaa, I don't care what you have to do, grovel if you must, but your week-long detention ends today."

"Aye, aye, captain!" the other three chorused.

With a devious smirk, Draco said, "We've got a rebellion to plan."

The weekend trip to Hogwarts was highly anticipated, especially among the Slytherin students. All of those who had brought their permission slips, and were old enough to go, were scrambling about. Ankaa and Draco had started spreading the word that they were thinking of forming their own DADA group. Seeing as the idea was tentative, Draco had proposed meeting with some of the older sixth and seventh-year students to get them to join first.

"If we've got them on board," Draco said as he stepped into the Three Broomsticks, "then we'll get everyone else. They'll have some tips and tricks, and the rest we can fill in ourselves. It's got to be better than Umbridge anyway."

Ankaa pointed to one of the booths in the corner, where their Slytherin housemates had gathered already and were waiting for Draco and Ankaa to join them. Cassius Warrington spotted them first, nodding his head in greeting and moving over to make room for them.

Around the booth, nursing their Butterbeers, were Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Yurika Haneda, and Zubeida Khan. Ankaa supposed Warrington and Montague were easy enough to convince, seeing as she and Draco were on the Quidditch team with them. Haneda and Khan, on the other hand, were complete wild cards. However, Ankaa was sure that Slytherin house's hatred for Umbridge was enough to convince them to ally together.

Khan was eyeing Ankaa and Draco up carefully, and Haneda seemed disinterested. But both girls had shown up at least, which Ankaa supposed was a small victory. All they needed to do was convince them.

"So what's this I hear about teaching ourselves?" Khan spoke first, raising a dark brow. Everyone at the table turned to look at Ankaa and Draco.

Seeing as Draco was too busy with his butterbeer, Ankaa decided to enlighten them. She told them about how Umbridge definitely wasn't going to teach them anything on the syllabus, and they would all fail their exams.

"I mean, it's okay for us," Draco shrugged, "We're only doing our OWLs. this year, if anything we can as the Ministry for a re-examination next year. You lot on the other hand…"

Montague did not seem fazed. "How can you be sure she won't teach us anything? We're only a month and a half into the school year."

"And how much have you learned so far?" Haneda asked sarcastically. "They're right, the old hag wont be teaching us anything. She's too busy handing out detentions and bullying Gryffindors. We're going to have to teach ourselves."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Warrington.

"We were thinking of practicing in the Common Room," supplied Ankaa, "That way we can keep inside, there's less chance of her finding us wandering the halls in a big group."

"When you say we…" Montague trailed off.

"We mean all of Slytherin house," said Draco, looking to each of the upper years to see their reactions. "From the first years to the seventh."

"Everyone that's here," Ankaa gestured around the table, "is going to be in charge. There's two of us here each from year five to seven, and we're the best in our years."

"And how are we going to keep up with our studies?" Montague asked, crossing his arms, "And Quidditch? You're the one that needs help with that, Rhyther."

"You don't need to worry about me, Montague," Ankaa retorted sharply, "I'll find time to practice. Are you in or out?"

Khan was the first to say yes. "Anything to help get on Umbridge's nerves is good with me," she said with a smile, holding up her butterbeer.

Warrington and Haneda agreed after. The only one left was—

"Montague," Draco raised a brow, "You know she won't teach you anything. It's the safest way to practice. Besides, she won't even suspect us—she's too busy with Potter."

Ankaa nodded. "Come on, Graham," she said, "When have you ever shied away from an opportunity to assert your dominance over younger kids?"

Montague gave her a scathing look. Beside him, Khan placed a hand on his arm. Sighing, Montague said, "We're going to need books on theory, then."

Ankaa smiled widely, "We can all share, for now; if some of the younger kids are advanced enough we can share our books with them. And I know a place if we need to get more advanced theory books."

"And who's going to be on the lookout?" Haneda asked.

"We can ask one of the houselves form the kitchens," Draco said, and others nodded. "That or some of the portraits."

"I think a house-elf will be better," said Montague, already starting to sound like he was ready to take charge of the meeting. "They won't be able to tell Umbridge anything if we forbid them to. When do we start this?"

"Tomorrow," said Draco, "We need to start as soon as possible so we can figure out where everyone is and how much help they need."

"Draco and I were thinking that our priority would be the upper years—so year five and up—because they're going to be tested," said Ankaa. "As for the younger ones, we'll find out who the best in their years are and have them report to us. That way we can be in charge, and the divisions mean we don't have to do all of the work. Sound good?"

"Meet tomorrow in the Common Room at ten o'clock," said Draco.

With that, everyone dispersed. Before he left, Montague made sure to remind Ankaa to practice before their next practice, muttering something about how he 'never should have let a girl on the team'. Ankaa flipped him off before turning back to Draco, who was already in planning mode.

Ankaa decided it was time for her to head up to the castle so that she could start catching up on the homework she had fallen behind on because of Dumbrige's detention. As she parted from Draco, she stuffed her hands inside her pocket and flinched as her scarred hand made contact with the material of her jacket.

Scowling, she repositioned her hand and continued on her way. Ankaa spotted her favourite redhead twins a few paces ahead of her, heading down the path along with Lee Jordan while carrying a large package from Zonkos each.

"Need some help?" Ankaa asked, reaching out just as Lee almost slipped on a patch of ice.

"Ah! Our knight in shining armour!" George smiled widely, "We were just about to scream like the whole damsel in distress."

"Of course," Ankaa smiled, reaching over to take one of the bags from him.

"You're not staying in Hogsmeade?" asked Fred, "The trip only just started."

"I could ask you lot the same thing," mumbled Ankaa, too distracted by the snow on the ground to properly pay attention to him. "Where are you headed?"

"The Hog's Head," the trio said in unison.

"You should come," said George enthusiastically, "Hermione wanted Harry to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts, seeing as Umbridge can't."

Ankaa stopped walking just as they reached the door. The windows of the Hog's Head were too dirty for her to see inside, but judging by the amount of noise coming from the 'bar', she assumed it was full of Hogwarts students who wanted to learn proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, much like the Slytherin students she had departed from earlier.

"I think I'll just leave," Ankaa said, looking up at Fred and George as Lee had already walked through the door after bidding her a nod of farewell.

"Why?" They asked in unison.

"Don't you want to learn?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, or you could teach, couldn't you?" supplied George, "You've got the trace off you, you've been practicing. I reckon you're pretty great by now." Fred nodded with his brother.

Ankaa smiled at them. "If I walk inside, none of those people will want to work with you," she said softly.

Fred and George seemed confused for a moment before realization dawned on them. Frowning, George said:

"Sometimes I forget you're a Slytherin."

Ankaa smiled at him. Fred passed off one of the bags in his arm to George, telling him to go ahead and that he would join him shortly. George gave her a sly smile, and waggled his brows, before heading inside after complaining about 'not getting enough attention anymore'.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" asked Fred, "Harry'll be there, he can vouch for you."

"No, that's alright," said Ankaa softly, passing him the bag she had been holding. "Maybe another time."

This was hardly an appropriate setting to tell him what she had been up to. And Ankaa did not want to keep him away from whatever their meeting was about. Of course, she thought it was a stupid idea, but seeing as Harry and his gaggle of Gryffindors hadn't done something stupid, she didn't want to say anything to Fred. Besides, this was the first time they had had a chance to talk since Monday night, and she didn't want to waste it arguing with him.

Unfortunately for her, Fred didn't seem to think so.

"What happened to your hand?" Without waiting for a response, he shuffled the bags so that he was holding them in one arm, while his other hand was gently grasping her right hand and turning it over to see the scars.

"Oh, this," Ankaa waved her other hand dismissively, "Umbridge gave me a detention on Tuesday."

"This looks like it's been happening for more than a day…'I must respect my Professors?' What did you say to her?"

Ankaa shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Nothing much. Might've insinuated that Harry was right about You-Know-Who's return all along. She didn't seem to like it much." Ankaa pulled her hand away. "It's alright," Ankaa smiled up at him ruefully, "At least now we sort of match."

Fred was irritated, Ankaa could tell, but he gave her a half smile as if he was exasperated by her change of topic but he liked the direction they were taking.

"Normal couples match their shirts," Fred raised a brow, "Or if they're feeling adventurous, maybe a tattoo as the muggles call it."

"Ah but," Ankaa smirked as she started to back away slowly, "We're not a couple."

"Not yet," Fred smirked without skipping a beat.

Ankaa tried to hide her blushing cheeks by spinning around. She could hear Fred laughing behind her, but she did not turn around. He probably already knew she was blushing. And of course, Fred Weasley wouldn't be Fred Weasley if he didn't flirt with her one last time.

"See you later, sunshine!"

Ankaa turned to glare at him half-heartedly, which, although it seemed like a great idea at the time, only made him laugh harder because now he could see her blush for sure.

Stupid Fred Weasley, Ankaa thought with a smile as she headed back up to the castle.

Notes;

Review? Hmm?