The twins finally arrive in front of me and do the funniest thing. They put their hands on their waist and tap their foot against the floor, each taking turns to tsk at me.
"Well, well, Gred…"
"…despicable, I know, Forge…"
"…you spend some time together with a bird…"
"… and the next day she doesn't even…"
"… hold onto the promise she made you."
Cedric and Maria look at then like a tennis match, bewildered looks on their faces, although Cedric's is laced with confusion and Maria with humor.
"Woah, woah, gentlemen. Are you trying to say I break my promises?" I hold my hands up playfully, like a shield. "I'll have you know I never break my end of the deal. We agreed on after breakfast, not before." I smirk at them, folding my arms across my chest.
At this, the twins stop and have a look of ponder on their faces, leaning into one another whispering furiously. Every moment or so they look back at the three of us staring at them. Maria takes this time to turn and look at me, her eyebrow arched asking the question, 'what the heck?'
"I met them last night. I couldn't sleep so I left the dorm for a walk and came across these two. We spent some time together and now we're best buds," I shrug, trying to show how these two didn't really phase me.
Cedric looks at me a little surprised, "You left the dorm? After curfew? On your first day?" As if he knew me for years and thought this was out of character for me. Which it really wasn't.
I smile at him, amusement clear in my eyes, "Yes Cedric, I did indeed leave after curfew. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I've dealt with worse things than a detention or two - " Luckily, before I could finish my sentence, the twins interrupt us.
"Well, we've decided to change it…"
"… so that you'll have lunch with us…"
"… show you the ropes…"
"… as we said…"
"…and you'll get to meet some of our friends."
I chuckle at them, brushing my hair back behind my ear, "Yeah, okay, whatever."
"You hear that, George?"
"She just said 'whatever'! To us!"
"As if we weren't some of the most amazing and entertaining people to be with!"
"Too right you are, Freddie - "
Maria cuts in, rolling her eyes as she shoves them towards their tables, "Ok payasos, you can take her, but I want her back in one piece, you understand? If she comes back with a bruise, estarán Muertos, entienden?"
I arch my own eyebrow as the twins shiver, taking the threat seriously it seems. I could tell the three of them were close already, Maria's casual change from English to Spanish makes that evident, but maybe there was something else there.
Maria stops pushing them after a moment, a smile on her face. Fred takes the chance to grab my hand and practically drag me back to the Gryffindor table. George is following behind at a sedate pace, whistling with his hands in his pockets.
I wave back at Maria before sitting down with the twins, Fred on right and George on my left. I start piling food onto my plate, my stomach letting out a grumble as the smells reach my nose. I guess it was loud enough because the boys look at me with surprise on their face, especially once they see the food on my plate.
"Damn, Ana…
"…got enough food on there to feed Ron…"
"…which is saying something…"
At that I raise an eyebrow, cutting their sentence short.
"Err, rewind George…"
"…righto Fredo…"
"…it's not a bad thing…"
They start fumbling over each other, trying to find the words to coverup their mistake. I laugh instead, waving them off, "It's completely fine. Really. I've got a big appetite because I work out a lot, not because I'm hungry." Thinking for a second, I shrug, "It'd still be okay even if I were just hungry. Nothing wrong in having an appetite, as long as you have manners for it."
They both laugh at that, seeming to know something I don't. Besides the laughter, George relaxes with a smirk on his face and Fred has a blush creeping up his cheeks. It's adorable, really. Taking a sip of my tea, I hum, "So boys, what are you showing me today?"
At that they get serious and pull out a sheet of parchment, on which they have a list scribbled out and in big letters they wrote, "PLACES TO VISIT". I raise an eyebrow, a smile on my lips at how they serious they took today's outing. George slides it in front of me, so that I can look at it, and Fred leans in and starts pointing at the different numbers, "Here at number one, we have the Great Lake. It's a great spot, very calming, the Giant Squid is greatly entertaining. At number two, have the Quidditch pitch, Georgie and I play as beaters for Gryffindor, so we'd figure we'd give you a tour of where you'll be cheering us on." He winks at me as he finishes, a smile wide on his face. I flush a little, deciding instead to poke my tongue out at him as retaliation.
Looking back down at the list, I see further down he has "shortcuts" written down, "Hey Fred, what about this, it says…" At that moment, Ron plops down in front of us, eyes basically closed as he starts piling food onto his plate. Hermione sits next to him, her face in a book and she nibbles on some toast, and Harry sits on the other side of Ron, his head resting on the table, almost asleep.
It's then that I realize that George is in his own conversation with a girl across the table from him, and it looks like he's been immersed in that conversation for a while. How interesting…
All of a sudden, I hear the distinct sound of slurping and loud chewing, and I can't help but turn like they do in horror movies, a slow action as I stare down the culprit – Ron Weasley. He's scarfing down eggs and sausages, bits of toast on the front of his clothes. I'm sure the look of disgust is evident on my face, and it's only confirmed as Fred chuckles quietly to my side. Hermione also seems to have enough of his manners and hits him on the shoulder with her book, "Ronald! Why do you have no manners? You eat just like a starving pig; I've told you so many times."
"Oi, c'mon 'Mione, you're not my mum, lemme eat how I want." His mouth is completely full of food, a little bit flying out as he speaks. Fred starts laughing even hard as my face turns into one of horror. Ron looks at him and says, "Wasso funny?" Not even a moment later he makes eye contact with me, and he chokes on his food, "OI, what's she doing here?" He quickly swallows his food before continuing, "She's Black's kid, isn't she?" Harry wakes up from his dozing position, making eye contact with me, surprise on his face to see me across from him. Fred quickly sobers up and George "pops" back up next to me.
"Oh Ronnie…
"…and so what if she is?"
The twins have their hands on my shoulders, taking stance to defend me, and it seems like Ron can't seem to comprehend it. He splutters a little bit, "W-well that means she's the daughter of a murderer! It's like being friends with Malfoy!"
Hermione hits him with her book again, making him let out another yelp. Harry scowls at him, "Mate, c'mon, she's nothing like Malfoy, and you know that. All Malfoy's ever done is look down his nose at others and Ana has been nothing but nice to us since the moment we met her."
Ron makes to open his mouth again, but this time I'm the one to cut him off. "Look, Ron, you're a nice enough kid, but you need to keep your yap shut, especially on a weekend breakfast where everyone can hear you shrieking." He turns bright red at my comment, trying to open his mouth again, but I hold a finger up to stop him, "You just met me yesterday, did we have a problem yesterday? No. So why should we today? Your brothers don't mind me. It seems like Harry doesn't either, by what he said." I take the fork and wave it towards his napkin and utensils, "Actually, I do have a problem. How about you eat properly? Hearing you chew and seeing food fly out of your mouth is not appetizing, it's like watching a baby eat with their hands." I shudder for dramatic effect, making him flush even more.
At that, a few people around us chuckle, indicating that they were listening to the conversation, which is no surprise. It's also no surprise that they were particularly bad at hiding that. After that I can tell they lost interest and turned back to their personal conversations.
I make eye contact with him again, keeping his stare as I blankly look at him, "If you have questions or concerns about my being, please ask in a private setting. If you have questions about my past, it's none of your concern until you prove you're not driven by emotion."
He visibly gulps but nods his head, looking down at his food and beginning to use his utensils properly. I nod once and look away from, seeing the look of astonishment on Hermione's face, as well as the twins. Somehow the three of them sync up and ask, "How did you do that?!"
Fred and George continue, "Mum's been trying for years…"
"… but Ronniekins never listens to her…"
"… and she's down right terrifying she is…"
Neither one attempts to finish the sentence, the five of them instead all shuddering collectively. I raise an eyebrow and shrug, "Eh, practice. I took care of a lot of younger kids, a lot of them were orphans, so I ended up teaching them manners and how to eat."
"Terrifying…" George stares at me, humor in his eyes.
"Yeah, just a little…" Fred also stares at me, humor in his eyes as well, but with traces of other things in between.
I shake my head at them, "Get back to eating boys, we've got plans to get to!"
They both salute me, "Ma'am yes, ma'am!" I roll my shoulders back, getting a little tense at the joking phrase as it brings back haunting memories of war and Camp. I try to smile at them and then go back to eating my food, keep an eye on the Trio. Hermione eats intermittently, between reading and speaking to the boys, while Ron continues to shovel his face, but at a slower pace. Harry seems almost lost in thought as he eats, still making sure to smile throughout the conversation (when they speak to him directly).
I finish eating my food and turn towards the twins, letting them know that I'd be right back in order to start our plans. George nods, as does Fred, but Fred does so with his lips slightly turned down. I choose to ignore it for the time being, already confused by my interactions with him. I reach across the table and tap Harry's hand gently, making him look at me in confusion. I smile softly, "Do you mind taking a walk with me? I wanted to talk to you."
A/N: A slightly longer chapter. I think I'm starting to get into the rhythm of my own story, haha.
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signed,
oterol
