Anya stopped dead in her tracks in front of an open classroom. She was on
her way to the Great Hall for lunch but she couldn't resist eavesdropping
on the voices coming from the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom.
"I shall have to confiscate these." said a girly voice which was unmistakably Umbridge.
"You can't! We haven't done anything wrong." argued an unfamiliar male voice.
"Oh I can't, can't I?" Umbridge answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You don't seem to realize, Mr. Weasley, there's hardly anything I can't do in this school. And I say that carrying a supply of.these around is wrong!"
Anya rolled her eyes in revulsion. Umbridge would never dream of speaking to her that way, or to Draco Malfoy and some of the other students, simply because of their influential families. No doubt she doesn't think that the family of the poor kid she's bullying is that prominent.
Anya wished there was something she could do. Her forehead wrinkled in a frown. Maybe there is something she can do!
She rapped her knuckles on the open door and steeped inside. Umbridge frowned at the intrusion but smiled brightly when she saw whom it was. The kid Umbridge was scolding didn't turn out to be a kid after all. He was a seventh year Gryffindor and he was looking at Anya blankly. There was two of him too.
Anya realized who they were, the Weasley twins, superb beaters, they were.
"Proffesor Umbridge." Anya began, looking around the room frantically. "I left.that in class this morning." She pointed to a small box sitting on her table. She assumed it was what she was about to confiscate from the Weasley twins.
"Oh," Umbridge said looking disappointed. "Is it yours? I saw Mr. Weasley holding it and he refused to hand it over when I asked for it."
"They were probably planning to return it to me." Anya said walking up to her table. "May I take it now?"
"Of course, you may, dear." said Umbridge with a smile. "And, Tatiana, while we're not in class, you may call me Auntie Delores."
Anya forced a smile at Umbridge and turned to leave. She caught the eye of the Weasley twins who were looking at her with suspicious expressions. She lingered outside the door for a while to listen to them.
"Hem, hem. Well then," Umbridge began, "ten points from Gryffindor because you didn't tell me sooner." It sounded as if they were about to argue but decided against it. Anya knew they were about to leave so she ran around the corner to distance herself from Umbridge's classroom. The Weasley twins walked right pass her their heads bent and deep in conversation.
"Hey," Anya called after them. "Aren't you going to get this back?"
They twirled around so fast to face her. For a few seconds they just stared at her, and then they turned to each other. One of them looked back at Anya, openly suspicious.
"Here, take it." When they still didn't make a move, Anya walked up to them with the box in her outstretched arms.
One of them took it from her skeptically. "Why did you.do what you just did?"
Anya shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance. "Because whatever that is, Umbridge never would have confiscated it if she knew it was mine."
"You mean Auntie Delores don't you?" the other twin bit back.
Anya gave them a disgusted look, which made the twins laugh.
"Thanks for what you did, back there." One of them said, finally smiling at her.
"It's nothing." Anya assured them, she was about to turn away when.
"I'm George by the way. George Weasley. This is Fred." They shook Anya's hand gratefully. Whatever was in the box, it must've been important to them.
"I'm Anya." she said with a friendly smile. "I know your sister Ginny and your brother Ron was introduced to me once."
Fred must've sensed her curiosity about the box because he opened it for Anya to see. Inside was an assortment of delicious looking sweets. Anya's stomach churned, she was suddenly feeling so hungry.
"I'd offer you one for what you did but you wouldn't want them." Fred told her, grinning. Anya was about to argue, she was sure she'd want one of those candies.
"They're not ordinary candies. They're for our joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Whezzes. This here is a Ton Tongue Toffee." George added.
"Oh, then I'm glad I didn't try to nick one." Anya admitted smiling. All three of them started walking to the Great Hall together.
"Tell you what," said Fred when they got to the entrance. "When we have our shop set up, we'll give you a discount, whatever you want."
"Thanks," Anya said, flashing him a sincere smile. "I will hold you to that." With that, they walked their separate ways, the twins, to the Gryffindor table and Anya, to the Slytherins.
Anya buried her face in her book, trying to drown out the voices of the people around her. Why did I ever agree to this? Anya thought miserably. Draco cornered her when she was sitting alone in the common room, reading. He asked her to come to the Quidditch field with him. Anya was already thinking of an excuse in her head when she realized that Draco could only take so much rejection before he writes to Anya's father to inform him that Anya was too busy to spend time with him but not with Luna. Anya already declined to eat with him during mealtimes, take walks around the school and study together, lots of times. At leas they will not be alone in the Quidditch field. Aside from Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy appears to be joining them along with the whole Slytherin Quidditch team. And so, with great difficulty, Anya joined them, bringing her book with her. At first she thought they were just going to be sitting on the stands to enjoy the cool September winds. She never would've agreed to come if she knew they were going to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch team, practice. As much as she would've enjoyed seeing Harry Potter in action, being with a particular gang of Slytherin he happens to detest, puts Anya in a bad light. She gritted her teeth furiously as she listened to the other Slytherins who shouted insults at the Gryffindors. Anya wanted so much to tell them to shut the hell up. The thing is, they weren't a bunch of fourth years. Most of them were sixth and seventh years who also happened to be as big as gorillas. And then there's Draco, who'd rat her out to her father. Anya had begged her father so much to let her go back to Hogwarts; she won't let Draco ruin it for her.
"I'll be going back." she muttered to Draco, who was sitting beside her.
He glanced back at her with a worried frown. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, I just can't stand the people here." Anya answered.
Draco smirked in understanding and glanced at the Gryffindors hovering above. Anya didn't bother to correct him that they were not the people she can't stand.
"Goyle, go with her!" he barked.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Anya snapped, momentarily losing control. Draco raised a single eyebrow at her in silent reprimand. "I mean, no thank you, I can find my way back fine." she amended. Anya almost ran to get away from them before Draco changes his mind and walk her back himself. She muttered angrily during the long walk back. Now, she was beginning to get a glimpse of what the other houses must think of Slytherins. They were the biggest pricks alive! She has never been in the receiving end of their wickedness, being a Slytherin herself. But now she understood why the fourth year Ravenclaw girls in Herbology were snotty to her for no apparent reason. With people like Draco, Letitia and many others giving Slytherins a bad name, who could blame them? Admittedly, even Paulina and Ingrid, who were her closest friends, were no angels. Now that she thought about it, neither was she.
"Oi, Anya!" someone called from behind.
She was sure it wasn't Draco, Crabbe or Goyle so she turned around with out fear. She waved her hand and smiled at Fred and George. They were helping their chaser whose nose was bleeding like crazy. She slowed down so she could walk with them.
"Those mates of yours are such scum!" Fred told her angrily.
Anya opened her mouth to argue that they weren't her mates, but she quickly bit her lip and gave up.
"How can you stand being in the same house as them?" George added, almost accusingly.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm also a Slytherin." Anya said. "We're only horrible to those from other houses, never to each other." She suddenly remembered how Letitia treats her. "Except for some."
"How come you're not like them, then?" asked Fred.
Anya smiled a pleased smile and pulled out a hanky from her pocket. "Here, you look like you could use this." She handed her hanky to the chaser she knows goes by the name of Katie Spinnet, to mop up her bleeding nose. The sleeve of her robe, which she was using, was already soaked in blood.
Katie glanced at Fred and George apprehensively, and only when they nodded at her did she take the hanky from Anya and mumbled her thanks.
"Better yet, I can plug it up." Anya pulled out her wand from her cardigan pocket. "It's a simple spell but it will only stop the bleeding for about five minutes, just enough time to get to the hospital wing without losing all your blood."
Katie jumped back in fright. "Are you crazy! I'm not going to allow a Slytherin to curse my nose off just like that!"
Anya's brow furrowed, she genuinely looked and felt hurt at her accusation. She calmly pocketed her wand without another word. After what Draco and his company did to them during their practice, why in the world would she trust her?
George gripped Katie's shoulders. "She's cool, Katie. Just try her will you, while you still have blood to lose."
Katie looked at George for a while, making sure he was serious. She wrung Anya's hanky, now also dripping with her blood. "Okay then, what's the spell you're telling us?" she told Anya softly.
Anya got her wand out again and muttered the incantation, pointing the tip of her wand to the tip of Katie's bloody nose. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
Katie smiled gratefully. "Thanks!" she gushed, sounding genuinely surprised.
Fred and George winked at her and then to each other glad that they were right to trust Anya. When they got to the entrance they all said their goodbyes as Anya walked back to her dormitory while they went to the hospital wing.
"I shall have to confiscate these." said a girly voice which was unmistakably Umbridge.
"You can't! We haven't done anything wrong." argued an unfamiliar male voice.
"Oh I can't, can't I?" Umbridge answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You don't seem to realize, Mr. Weasley, there's hardly anything I can't do in this school. And I say that carrying a supply of.these around is wrong!"
Anya rolled her eyes in revulsion. Umbridge would never dream of speaking to her that way, or to Draco Malfoy and some of the other students, simply because of their influential families. No doubt she doesn't think that the family of the poor kid she's bullying is that prominent.
Anya wished there was something she could do. Her forehead wrinkled in a frown. Maybe there is something she can do!
She rapped her knuckles on the open door and steeped inside. Umbridge frowned at the intrusion but smiled brightly when she saw whom it was. The kid Umbridge was scolding didn't turn out to be a kid after all. He was a seventh year Gryffindor and he was looking at Anya blankly. There was two of him too.
Anya realized who they were, the Weasley twins, superb beaters, they were.
"Proffesor Umbridge." Anya began, looking around the room frantically. "I left.that in class this morning." She pointed to a small box sitting on her table. She assumed it was what she was about to confiscate from the Weasley twins.
"Oh," Umbridge said looking disappointed. "Is it yours? I saw Mr. Weasley holding it and he refused to hand it over when I asked for it."
"They were probably planning to return it to me." Anya said walking up to her table. "May I take it now?"
"Of course, you may, dear." said Umbridge with a smile. "And, Tatiana, while we're not in class, you may call me Auntie Delores."
Anya forced a smile at Umbridge and turned to leave. She caught the eye of the Weasley twins who were looking at her with suspicious expressions. She lingered outside the door for a while to listen to them.
"Hem, hem. Well then," Umbridge began, "ten points from Gryffindor because you didn't tell me sooner." It sounded as if they were about to argue but decided against it. Anya knew they were about to leave so she ran around the corner to distance herself from Umbridge's classroom. The Weasley twins walked right pass her their heads bent and deep in conversation.
"Hey," Anya called after them. "Aren't you going to get this back?"
They twirled around so fast to face her. For a few seconds they just stared at her, and then they turned to each other. One of them looked back at Anya, openly suspicious.
"Here, take it." When they still didn't make a move, Anya walked up to them with the box in her outstretched arms.
One of them took it from her skeptically. "Why did you.do what you just did?"
Anya shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance. "Because whatever that is, Umbridge never would have confiscated it if she knew it was mine."
"You mean Auntie Delores don't you?" the other twin bit back.
Anya gave them a disgusted look, which made the twins laugh.
"Thanks for what you did, back there." One of them said, finally smiling at her.
"It's nothing." Anya assured them, she was about to turn away when.
"I'm George by the way. George Weasley. This is Fred." They shook Anya's hand gratefully. Whatever was in the box, it must've been important to them.
"I'm Anya." she said with a friendly smile. "I know your sister Ginny and your brother Ron was introduced to me once."
Fred must've sensed her curiosity about the box because he opened it for Anya to see. Inside was an assortment of delicious looking sweets. Anya's stomach churned, she was suddenly feeling so hungry.
"I'd offer you one for what you did but you wouldn't want them." Fred told her, grinning. Anya was about to argue, she was sure she'd want one of those candies.
"They're not ordinary candies. They're for our joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Whezzes. This here is a Ton Tongue Toffee." George added.
"Oh, then I'm glad I didn't try to nick one." Anya admitted smiling. All three of them started walking to the Great Hall together.
"Tell you what," said Fred when they got to the entrance. "When we have our shop set up, we'll give you a discount, whatever you want."
"Thanks," Anya said, flashing him a sincere smile. "I will hold you to that." With that, they walked their separate ways, the twins, to the Gryffindor table and Anya, to the Slytherins.
Anya buried her face in her book, trying to drown out the voices of the people around her. Why did I ever agree to this? Anya thought miserably. Draco cornered her when she was sitting alone in the common room, reading. He asked her to come to the Quidditch field with him. Anya was already thinking of an excuse in her head when she realized that Draco could only take so much rejection before he writes to Anya's father to inform him that Anya was too busy to spend time with him but not with Luna. Anya already declined to eat with him during mealtimes, take walks around the school and study together, lots of times. At leas they will not be alone in the Quidditch field. Aside from Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy appears to be joining them along with the whole Slytherin Quidditch team. And so, with great difficulty, Anya joined them, bringing her book with her. At first she thought they were just going to be sitting on the stands to enjoy the cool September winds. She never would've agreed to come if she knew they were going to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch team, practice. As much as she would've enjoyed seeing Harry Potter in action, being with a particular gang of Slytherin he happens to detest, puts Anya in a bad light. She gritted her teeth furiously as she listened to the other Slytherins who shouted insults at the Gryffindors. Anya wanted so much to tell them to shut the hell up. The thing is, they weren't a bunch of fourth years. Most of them were sixth and seventh years who also happened to be as big as gorillas. And then there's Draco, who'd rat her out to her father. Anya had begged her father so much to let her go back to Hogwarts; she won't let Draco ruin it for her.
"I'll be going back." she muttered to Draco, who was sitting beside her.
He glanced back at her with a worried frown. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, I just can't stand the people here." Anya answered.
Draco smirked in understanding and glanced at the Gryffindors hovering above. Anya didn't bother to correct him that they were not the people she can't stand.
"Goyle, go with her!" he barked.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Anya snapped, momentarily losing control. Draco raised a single eyebrow at her in silent reprimand. "I mean, no thank you, I can find my way back fine." she amended. Anya almost ran to get away from them before Draco changes his mind and walk her back himself. She muttered angrily during the long walk back. Now, she was beginning to get a glimpse of what the other houses must think of Slytherins. They were the biggest pricks alive! She has never been in the receiving end of their wickedness, being a Slytherin herself. But now she understood why the fourth year Ravenclaw girls in Herbology were snotty to her for no apparent reason. With people like Draco, Letitia and many others giving Slytherins a bad name, who could blame them? Admittedly, even Paulina and Ingrid, who were her closest friends, were no angels. Now that she thought about it, neither was she.
"Oi, Anya!" someone called from behind.
She was sure it wasn't Draco, Crabbe or Goyle so she turned around with out fear. She waved her hand and smiled at Fred and George. They were helping their chaser whose nose was bleeding like crazy. She slowed down so she could walk with them.
"Those mates of yours are such scum!" Fred told her angrily.
Anya opened her mouth to argue that they weren't her mates, but she quickly bit her lip and gave up.
"How can you stand being in the same house as them?" George added, almost accusingly.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm also a Slytherin." Anya said. "We're only horrible to those from other houses, never to each other." She suddenly remembered how Letitia treats her. "Except for some."
"How come you're not like them, then?" asked Fred.
Anya smiled a pleased smile and pulled out a hanky from her pocket. "Here, you look like you could use this." She handed her hanky to the chaser she knows goes by the name of Katie Spinnet, to mop up her bleeding nose. The sleeve of her robe, which she was using, was already soaked in blood.
Katie glanced at Fred and George apprehensively, and only when they nodded at her did she take the hanky from Anya and mumbled her thanks.
"Better yet, I can plug it up." Anya pulled out her wand from her cardigan pocket. "It's a simple spell but it will only stop the bleeding for about five minutes, just enough time to get to the hospital wing without losing all your blood."
Katie jumped back in fright. "Are you crazy! I'm not going to allow a Slytherin to curse my nose off just like that!"
Anya's brow furrowed, she genuinely looked and felt hurt at her accusation. She calmly pocketed her wand without another word. After what Draco and his company did to them during their practice, why in the world would she trust her?
George gripped Katie's shoulders. "She's cool, Katie. Just try her will you, while you still have blood to lose."
Katie looked at George for a while, making sure he was serious. She wrung Anya's hanky, now also dripping with her blood. "Okay then, what's the spell you're telling us?" she told Anya softly.
Anya got her wand out again and muttered the incantation, pointing the tip of her wand to the tip of Katie's bloody nose. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
Katie smiled gratefully. "Thanks!" she gushed, sounding genuinely surprised.
Fred and George winked at her and then to each other glad that they were right to trust Anya. When they got to the entrance they all said their goodbyes as Anya walked back to her dormitory while they went to the hospital wing.