Hello people! First chapter in the new year! Really excited about this! And well, two days ago was the day when Alan Rickman passed away. RIP, Professor Snape. This chapter is dedicated to you...

And also, please comment!

***~~WIWATTD~~***

Disclaimer-Harry Potter is a franchise owned by J. . I do not, in any way, own the characters, places, movies, books, etc….. The Ocs, however, are my characters. There are families whose surname is Maurya, but I'm not using any of them as a character. So all Oc characters and NAMES would be my own creation. Any character resembling any person living or dead is entirely a coincidence.

CHAPTER XII

It was almost noon when they entered the Great Hall for lunch. By that time, the whole school was well into gossiping about them. The girls ignored the sudden silence as they went and sat down on the Slytherin table this time. The table turned silent for a few moments as everyone stared at the girls before they turned to Mallory.

Mallory had a shocked expression on his face, which turned into a hot rage. He just couldn't believe that some little fifth-year girl had dared break his rule and bring an outsider to his table.

"Smith. Remind me to have a conversation with that kid Maurya when we're back in the common room," Mallory murmured, still giving death glares to Anusha as he spoke to the boy beside him.

"Yes, your grace," Smith answered promptly.

The other Slytherins observed the Maurya twins as well. They didn't react as Seamus had, but they instead quelled their desire to raise the issue behind the walls of the Slytherin common room. Instead, they simply sat in silence, watching them carefully, curious enough for Anusha to look at them and raise her eyebrow at them, which made them go back to their lunch.

The Fifth year Slytherins looked at Anya closely, more curious than incensed with a Gryffindor in their midst.

"Hi, Anya," Daphne murmured softly, nodding to the Gryffindor with a smile.

"Hello, Daphne," Anya said, nodding back to her and the other Slytherins beside her.

Daphne and Tracy nodded back and went back to their lunch respectively. Pansy stared at her with an unreadable expression for a few moments, before looking away with pursed lips. Anya raised her eyebrows at her as she shared a look with Anusha, who simply shook her head. Anya shrugged and went back to her lunch.

After a few minutes, Blaise entered the hall and came to their table and sat down beside Draco, right in front of Anusha.

"Hey Draco," the handsome Italian greeted him with a smirk as he sat down.

"Blaise," Draco murmured glancing at his friend, "Where were you all this time?"

"Well," Blaise said, his smirk deepening as he took a sip of water, "I had this… odd encounter with one of the Slytherin girls in the fourth year. Adler, I think. She… wanted something from me."

The twins looked up at the Italian with raised eyebrows at his implication.

Draco smirked at him.

"Oh. Did she get what she wanted?"

"You can say that," Blaise said, looking smug as he looked up at him. Draco snorted and shook his head at his friend.

Blaise unfolded the napkin on his lap and looked up to see Anusha concentrating on her sandwich quietly. Surprisingly, her twin sat right beside her. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced sideways to the rest of the Slytherins sitting. The girls were getting quite a bit of attention from them as they whispered and murmured to each other. He even saw some of them glaring at Anusha fiercely. He sighed and shook his head at them, before turning back to the twins and putting on a charming smirk that usually made girls blush.

"Well good afternoon, Heiress Maurya!" Blaise said charmingly, smirking at her. The girls looked up for a second in surprise, before Anusha composed herself and nodded at him.

"Heir Zabini," Anusha murmured back to him in greeting, before gesturing to her twin, who looked at their interaction curiously.

"This is my twin sister, Anya Maurya," Anusha murmured, gesturing between them, "Anya, this is Heir Blaise Zabini. He's in our year."

"Oh yeah, I noticed," Anya murmured back, reaching out to shake his hand with a polite smile. Smirking back, he shook it with a nod.

"A pleasure meeting you, Heiress."

"You too, Heir Zabini," Anya said, pulling her hand back picking up her glass of pumpkin juice to take a sip. There was a moment of silence as they concentrated on their respective lunch.

"So, how are you settling in here, Heiresses?" Draco asked curiously, looking up from his lunch. The twins and Blaise and the other fifth years looked up from their plates to stare at Draco for a moment. The twins glanced beside them to see almost the whole row of Slytherins whispering and murmuring and staring at them.

"Sis, I can bet that my Housemates must be glaring at me right now."

"Yup. After what happened this morning, I can bet you that they wouldn't stop doing that any time soon."

"Yes, we are. It's great here. Although, I'd rather not have people staring and glaring at me unnecessarily just because I'm having lunch with my twin," Anusha said, a bit loudly, looking at the other Slytherins sitting around her with a piercing expression. They immediately turned back to their own lunch, some of them having a mortified expression on their faces.

Blaise chuckled quietly as he looked back at Anusha.

"I must say, you have the knack of unnerving people with just one look."

Anusha smirked slightly.

"So people say. Is it that creepy?"

"No. In fact, I think that it's good, having an attitude that keeps people at a distance."

"Hmm. We don't have this kind of attitude all the time. Just, we like to let them think that they can't walk all over us just because we're polite to them."

The others hummed as they nodded to the twins' explanation quietly.

"Can I ask you two something?" Pansy asked, quietly for a change. The girls looked up at the girl.

"Yes?"

"We've never heard about your father. I mean, we've been told that he's a businessman who's traveling a lot and that he's from a Royale 15 family."

"Yeah, he is from a Royale 15 family."

"Then why all the secrecy?"

The girls looked around them to find the entire fifth year staring at them, waiting for an answer. They then exchanged a look with one another and nodded to one another.

"Our parents had their reasons," Anya spoke up.

"We never questioned them, you know. We just figured that they liked their relationship private," Anusha continued.

"And, well, our mother's death hurt him quite a bit a bit. So, he was determined not to settle back in the house we grew up. Our Ma's death changed him."

"He visited us regularly, but it was hard for him to cope with her loss," Anya finished.

The others nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry about your mother," Daphne murmured. The girls nodded at her with a subdued smile.

"It's okay. It was five years ago," Anusha said, before diverting all of her attention to the rest of her lunch. The others fell silent as well, not wanting to say anything else.

The rest of the lunch passed on silently, with everyone speaking amongst each other quietly.

After lunch ended, they stood up and walked off to the dungeons with the others for Double Potions. The girls walked on with the trio, with the Slytherins behind them, scattered in the crowd as they climbed down the staircase to the dungeons.

The dungeons were filled with the murmurings of the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. The girls stood with the trio and Daphne and Tracy in a corner near the door, talking about their home when Parvati and Lavender walked over to them. Seamus grabbed Parvati's hand to stop her.

"Patil, that's a slimy snake, for fuck's sake!"

Parvati looked at him with anger.

"I don't need your permission to talk to someone! Leave my hand or I'll break the fucking thing! And you know what happened the last time someone did that right?"

Seamus' face paled and he left her hand quickly and backed off. Parvati took a deep breath to calm herself.

The two girls then approached the Maurya twins, hesitant as they saw Daphne and Tracy standing with them.

"What are they doing with her?"

"Lavender, it's alright. They aren't going to bite. Keep calm," Parvati whispered to her friend before walking over to her housemate, all but ignoring the two Slytherins standing with her twin.

"Hey Anya," Parvati said, smiling at her.

"Hey, Parvati! This is my twin, Anusha Maurya. Anusha, this is Parvati Patil, Padma's twin sister, and another fifth-year prefect," Anya said, gesturing to the Gryffindor.

Anusha shook hands with her.

"Hello. Nice meeting you," Parvati said, smiling brightly at her.

"Yes, nice meeting you too. Congratulations on your cousin's wedding. I'm sorry that we couldn't attend it. We knew your cousin Riya since she was first babysitting us back at home," Anusha said, smiling at her. Parvati smiled back, before gesturing to the blonde beside her.

"And this is Lavender Brown."

Anusha nodded to the blonde haired girl, who thrust her hand forward in hesitation.

"H-hello," She said, shaking hands with her, pulling it back quickly. Anusha looking at her with slight confusion.

"Are you quite alright?" The Slytherin asked curiously. The blonde nodded quickly.

"Yes, I'm fine!"

Just then, the Potion class door opened with a bang and out stepped their Papa, with flowing black robes, his black cloak sweeping the stone floors, his glare silencing the crowd in a second. The twins exchanged a brief look.

"Wow," Anusha said to her through their connection.

"Yeah, right? I thought that Harry and the others were exaggerating about him, but the tales are true," Anya murmured back.

"In, now!"

The students went to the class without a word.

The potions classroom was a huge circular class, where the walls were made of cold, hard stone with wooden long benches and sitting stools. Half of the wall at the front was covered with shelves full of slimy, disgusting, and smelly potions ingredients. The classroom gave the girls the creeps. Now they understood.

"Gee, no wonder he's called the vampire of Hogwarts by the younger students…" Anya said sarcastically through their connection. Anusha smirked slightly, before pulling her twin to the front bench and sat down quickly. Hermione paired up with Neville, Harry and Ron paired up together behind them and Daphne and Tracy sat behind the girls. Draco was sitting with Pansy, Blaise with Theo and Parvati sat with Lavender a few benches behind. Seamus glared at Anusha and Anya from his bench, which was quite far from them. Anusha rolled her eyes at him and looked away, giving him a clear message.

While each Professor had their own ways of making the students listen to them, their Papa didn't do anything. His presence in the class was enough for everyone to listen to him. And he didn't raise his voice at all here. Just like he had done in the common room yesterday, Anusha noted.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I think I should remind you that you are going to sit for your O.W.L.s next June. Now, this examination will show how much you've learned in these five years about magical potions. Moronic as half of you are, I expect at least an 'acceptable' from you. Lest you face my… Displeasure." He looked at Neville and he gulped.

"I only expect the best of you to study in my N.E. classes. Only students getting outstanding in potions will continue my class in the sixth year. So some of us will certainly be saying goodbye." He gave Harry a pointed look, but he stared back with an almost emotionless expression. The only sign that he had heard him was the slight clenching of the jaw as he stiffened in slight anger.

"But, we still have a year for that. Right now, instead of focusing on farewells, I expect you to concentrate on your O. and pass them with a high score. Today we will be making a Potion that is often asked in both the theory and the practical: Draught of Peace. Now, this potion could only be brewed correctly by someone is adept at measuring and adding the ingredients correctly and at the right order.

And be aware, that if you make even a single mistake, then the consequences would be very drastic. You may even render the dosed into a permanent sleep. This is an extremely important Potion and some of the ingredients are very important and hence would be given in only the exact amount as is required in the Potion. You waste a single ingredient, you get a zero this class. The instructions to brew are on the board, the ingredients are in the cupboard, you have an hour and a half. Begin."

The class was almost dead silent as everyone set themselves on their tasks. The girls shared a silent look with one another and nodded, their tasks clear to them. Anusha went to the cupboard stores to get the ingredients, while Anya prepared the cauldron and the instruments for the Potion. As she waited for her twin to get the ingredients, she chanced a look around the class. Everyone was doing their own work. Draco read on from his Potions book, all the while doing his best to ignore Pansy, who had a tongue inside his ear, quite literally. His whole body was stiff, tensed and his face was twisted in disgust as she practically pressed herself to him. Anya felt pity for him. She had heard of his betrothal with her from her twin and truly felt sorry for him.

I would be equally uncomfortable in that kind of situation… Thank Merlin Papa and Ma didn't put either of us in that situation, else our lives would've been very different right now…

She turned her attention in front to where Neville was sitting. His hands were practically shaking with fear as he turned the pages of his book. His eyes were constantly darting from the pages to the tall, fearsome presence in front of him that stared at him with a cold, expressionless face. His breathing increased as he desperately tried to read and remember all the information that was in the book. She frowned as she looked up to her Papa, who went on glaring at him.

What is he doing?! Is he actually ignoring the fact that Neville has anxiety issues? He has him as a boggart, for Merlin's sake!

"Sis?" Anusha's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her twin, who raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

"What's up? Are you alright?"

Anya nodded, reigning her anger for now.

"Good. Let's begin. You remember this potion?"

Anya smirked at her.

"Obviously," Anya said, imitating her father, "I remember. He taught us this when we were 13."

"Let's begin then."

Anya nodded and worked on getting the water at the right temperature. When everything was set, they began cutting and adding ingredients in the water, making sure to give the correct amount of stirs and make it in time. The potion was supposed to take an hour and a half to make, so if they messed it up, they'd know.

Time flew by as they worked quietly, every one of them, even Ron and Harry, though Harry kept squinting at the board and Ron cut the roots in irregular sizes. Neville avoided the Potions Master's gaze as he worked with Hermione to get the Potion right.

When the time was almost over, their father took a walk around the class examining the potions. He passed Hermione and Neville's potion, which had a silvery mist rising from it. He ignored the Potion and snapped his eyes to Neville, who shivered at the cold look directed at him.

"Longbottom, since you didn't blow up the cauldron or ruin the Potion for once," He sneered, "perhaps you could grace us with your intelligence and tell us the ingredients used for the Potion?" He asked in a low voice.

Anya didn't like the sound of his voice, and from the stiff countenance of her twin beside her, she didn't like his tone either. But neither of them commented on that, for now.

Neville stuttered and stammered under the Potions Professor's harsh gaze. His face went red as he tried answering the question.

"Snap out of it boy! Or are you that moronic to actually not answer that question?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer the question, but one look from the Professor snapped her mouth shut.

"One word from you Granger and I'll deduct twenty points from Gryffindor," He snapped, glaring at her.

The girls could hear snickers from behind them and they turned to see Draco and the others laughing quietly to themselves. Blaise, Theo and Daphne, and Tracy were the only ones to stand quietly. They looked ahead again, feeling angrier than before.

"Ignore them," Daphne murmured to them, "They're just idiots."

"How can P-Professor Snape act like this? He can see that Neville's anxious!" Anya hissed at her. Anusha shushed at her.

"Anya, not now," Anusha hissed at her twin, "His behavior is unfair, but we can pick that up after the class."

They turned their attention back to him. Anya clamped down on her anger as she looked on at the scene.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Longbottom, for your inane chatter," He murmured softly. Neville hung his head in shame. Hermione patted his shoulder reassuringly and whispered to him as the Potions Master made his way to the girls' table.

Now, all eyes were on the girls, slightly expectant to see their reactions to the Professor. He stared at them with a cold, expressionless face. Anya stared back at her Professor with the same cold expression that he was giving her. Anusha glanced at her sister and back to her father, who held her gaze with the same expression she was giving him.

"Ms. Maurya," He said slowly, in his low drawl, turning to look at Anusha, "Since you and your sister are one of few rare students in this band of utter dunderheads who have attempted to get the Potion correctly, then you may at least be able to get full for this practical. But, your practical skills aren't the only thing that is tested in your O. . So, answer me this- if you've indeed been taught this potion before and if you're actually worth all the knowledge that your progress reports seem to show," He said in a condescending tone, much to Anusha's shock and slight anger, who appeared slightly insulted by his tone, "Then you might answer this. Which other potions use Powdered Porcupine quills and Powdered Unicorn Horns as one of their main ingredients?"

"No other Potions use these two ingredients, Professor. The ingredients are used in this particular potion only," Anusha answered promptly.

The Potions Master looked at her for a few moments, before giving a single nod.

"Ten points to Slytherin, Ms. Maurya, for giving an answer to the point," He said. Anusha bowed her head for a moment, before looking up again. She could hear her Housemates whispering to themselves, while the Gryffindors muttered angrily to themselves.

"But," He spoke up again, making her look up at him, "do remember to elaborate the next time. That answer is not nearly enough to get you full marks in the theory exam," He spoke softly. Anusha nodded.

"Slimy Snake!" Finnegan said, looking at her hatefully. Anusha looked back at him with a confused expression.

Why? Because I answered a question correctly, that's why?! What the fuck kind of reaction is that?!

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Finnegan, for talking in class!" The Potions master snapped.

Finnegan snapped his mouth shut immediately at that, silently fuming.

"Good one, Finnegan!" Lavender muttered to herself.

"Ms. Maurya," he then addressed Anya, who gave him a blank expression.

"Since your Housemates are stupid enough to cost house points that nearly sent Gryffindor to negatives, I think you, of all people, might be able to answer two of my questions. And, if you answer them correctly, then maybe I'll give back at least half the points that I took from those two dunderheads."

Anya gave a single nod. Two sets of identical eyes met each other with a cool expression.

"First. The syrup of Hellbore is rarely used in Potion-Making. Only three Potions require the use of Syrup of Hellebore. One of them is the Draught of Peace. Name two other Potions that use the Syrup of Hellebore, if you have the ability to remember them."

Anya nodded and started counting out, "The two other Potions are- The Volubilis Potion and Potion no. 86."

"Potion no. 86?"

"It is more of an experimental mixture containing The Syrup of Hellebore and Powdered Moonstone. It is a highly poisonous mixture." She answered promptly.

"Give me a description of Volubilis Potion."

Anya stiffened slightly. Anusha's eyebrows raised to her hairline.

"Oh, Merlin. He still remembers that mock test he took of us two years ago," Anya muttered to her twin through their connection, while Anusha laughed nervously.

"Well, now we know he was being serious about what he had said. He made us write that potion about ten times before he left," Anusha said, reminiscing about the incident.

On the outside, however, the girls didn't react at all.

"Volubilis Potion is a potion that alters the drinker's voice. It will also restore their voice if they have lost it, and thus will end the effects of the Silencing Charm. The main ingredients of the potion are- Honey-water, Mint sprigs, Stewed Mandrake, and Syrup of Hellebore.

"To brew this potion, we must heat the initial mix of ingredients until it turns red, then green. Next, we'll add Honey-water until the liquid turns pink. The brew has to be heated again, this time until it turns orange. When mint sprigs are added, the potion turns into a shade of green. The potion has to be heated once more until it turns blue. Then, more mint sprigs are to be added. By this time the potion should be have turned pink again. Stewed Mandrake is to be added next, at which point the potion turns orange. A small amount of Syrup of Hellebore should be added next, turning the potion blue. To finish the brew, one has to heat the potion until its red and heat it some more until it turns a pleasant yellow. Once finished, the potion should release some sparks."

The Slytherin head stared at her for a few moments, before he nodded at her.

"Well, you're certainly not like your housemates," He remarked, "That would do well enough for your theory. Although, you need to brush up the answer a bit more. Nevertheless, Fifteen Points to Gryffindor," He spoke up. Anya nodded.

The whole class stared at their Potions Professor with a shocked expression. It was one of the Rarest cases that their Potions Professor awarded points to one of the Gryffindors. And that too, fifteen Points! All they needed were five more points to get back to the level they had been in before Double-Potions.

He noticed the stares and gave them all a withering look that made them look away quickly. After that, the class went back to normal.

He went to Harry and Ron's table and sneered down at the nearly messed up potion, which was giving out cement colored mist. He looked up in his eyes with a distasteful expression.

"Potter, you do know how to read, don't you?" He asked him. Harry clenched his jaw and glared a bit at the Potions professor.

Can't he stop treating me like this?!

"Yessir."

"Excellent. Humor me, please. I want to know what the fifth point is," He said, leaning casually against their workbench. Harry glared at the professor's back and looked at the board. His eyes squinted as he tried reading the instructions. Anusha noticed him straining his eyes to read and frowned.

Wow, even with his glasses he has to squint at the board… He needs to have his eyes checked…

Harry somehow read the instruction with difficulty and realized his mistake. He didn't add the syrup of Hellbore. His face heated a little in embarrassment.

"I would've thought that you would acquire some brains since it's your fifth year. But, alas, it seems I've overestimated you."

Harry clenched his fists, almost ready to lash out, but barely keeping himself in control as he remembered what Anusha taught him.

Remember Harry, there would be times when you would be tempted to say things in anger, but control yourself, please… that anger is temporary and would serve nothing but push you away from the others, and trust me, you don't need that…

"Remember this, Potter, if you can't remember anything else. You need an O in O. if you wish to continue with Potions. I accept only those students who score an O in Potions. Though I'd have a better time not having you in my class. Unfortunately, all major professions require at least an O or an E in Potions to get through. Those professions include Aurors, Unspeakables, Healers, curse breaking, and the like," He said, in the same low, silky voice that sent shivers down everyone's spine.

"For those who would be choosing the aforementioned careers, make up your minds quickly. Or you'll be forced to choose something that is not what you're after."

He then vanished the potion and said, "Zero for this Potion, Potter, and Weasley. Meet me after class." And stalked off.

He continued his rounds of the class and told them to submit their respective Potions and clean up their desks. Everyone got to work, pouring their Potions in their respective flasks and cleaning up the mess. Soon enough, the class was over.

"There will be a quiz on this class next time. I expect you to at least pass in this test," He murmured, before dismissing them promptly.

The girls picked up their bags and walked towards their classes when Seamus brushed past them, his shoulder hitting Anusha's.

"Slimy Snake!" He muttered to her, glaring at her hatefully, before walking out. Anusha rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"Okay, now that's getting old," Anusha murmured to her twin, who nodded in agreement. She looked to her side to see Neville having a distraught expression and Hermione trying to encourage him.

She and Anusha looked back to see Harry and Ron held back by their father. He looked to them and nodded at them subtly. They nodded back quickly, before walking out of the class with their peers.

Severus watched his girls walk out of the class and sighed to himself.

Finally, it's over… they were good enough, although they need to work through their answers, at least they knew more than these dunderheads… And they've done well to remember the Volubilis Potion… they'll encounter it in the future again…

Soon enough, the class was empty and only Severus and the boys remained. Severus spelled the door shut with a flick of his wrist. And locked it.

The two Fifth year Gryffindors flinched at the sound of the bang and looked at him with barely concealed dread as they thought of the huge dent their hourglass would have by the end of this. And this was after Anya earned back the points that Seamus and Neville lost all on her own.

Oh, Merlin… Anya's going to be pissed… both boys thought simultaneously.

Severus, meanwhile, stared at the boys standing in front of him for a few long moments. He sighed after a while.

"Now, let's make it quick, shall we? I have no interest in seeing you two in my office for longer than necessary and judging by your expressions, you don't want to be here either."

The boys nodded quickly.

"Do you both know what was wrong with your Potion, Gentlemen?" He asked.

Harry nodded.

"Yes, sir. We forgot to add the syrup of Hellbore in the Potion. That is why we failed to make the potion properly," Harry answered, resisting the urge to face-palm. How could he forget something as simple as this?

"Quite astute, Mr. Potter. I have absolutely no idea how Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley or my daughters spend their free time around you dunderheads. Despite being two-thirds of the 'Golden Trio' you both have not had an ounce of concentration or focus. Even you Potter, after the lessons Anusha gave you. You both will report to me this evening at seven to make the potion again. Don't. Be. Late."

The boys nodded, expecting him to take away the points again.

Severus sighed and shook his head at the two of them.

These two will be the death of me…

"For just this once, I'm not taking points from Gryffindor." They snapped their heads to look at him with their jaws hanging open.

No house points taken? What's wrong with Snape?

"I'm not about to take away the points that my daughter earned because you two can't focus and concentrate enough to make a decent potion. So, I'm leaving you two for just this once. However, if you repeat this mistake, I'll be awarding you no marks, and you'll be in detention for the rest of the term. During Quidditch tryouts and practices," he finished, smirking slightly at the shocked expressions of both the Gryffindors. They somehow composed themselves and nodded quickly.

"Good. Dismissed."

They all but ran out of his class. As the door banged shut behind them, he sighed tiredly.

Oh, Merlin… this is the first day of classes… I feel like fleeing this twice-damned place… ugh, why did I ever to do this?!

Anusha sighed as she leaned back against her chair in the library, staring back at the parchment in relief. It was her Transfiguration assignment, which was due on Monday. The parchment was one and a half foot long, describing in detail the importance of the four branches of Transfiguration- Transformation, Untransfiguration, Vanishment, and conjuring.

She took a few minutes to cross-check to see if everything was fine. When it was, she rolled up her parchment and kept it in her book bag.

Finally, it's over…

Their first week at Hogwarts passed quite quickly, and it was just as hectic as they had been told it would be. The professors had their own versions of 'O.W.L.S' year speech made up for them, which was all really similar, just a few corrections in between. All of them went on and on about how their own subject was important and how difficult it was going to be for them all, especially for those who were weak in that particular subject. They were warned that they would be piling up homework at them from day one. And they delivered, actually delivered. By Wednesday, they had five different assignments to complete and that was excluding the assignments that they would get from the other professors. And on top of that, the professors loved taking class tests on their past knowledge. So, it was revising the past material, plus completing the assignments, plus studying this year's material as well. Apart from that, all they did was sleep, wake up, and worked on their basic needs for the day. And it was becoming slightly stricter with the new DADA professor, Delores Umbridge.

Thinking about the professor made Anusha clench her teeth tightly. To say that she was bad was an understatement. She was the most incompetent Professor and woman Anusha had ever met. As it was, she had no expectations from the Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic. She had heard her Nana and Raman mama discussing her one time during dinner a few years ago. Her racist attitude and belittling everyone who wasn't a pureblood had made her a distasteful person in the girls' eyes. That made her a hypocrite as well since she herself was a half-blood. Plus, their seniors had complained on and on about how incompetent and useless she was, how she made them read the most basic of materials that even first years could handle and how irritating her 'hem hem' and high-pitched giggle had been. So, they had been prepared.

She didn't disappoint them. She was just as their seniors had described. Clad in pink, she literally resembled a toad with her large face, bulging baby blue eyes, and puckered lips.

She had entered the class by saying, 'Good Afternoon, Class!' in a simpering, high-pitched tone that made them feel like five-year-old kids on the first day of kindergarten. Then, she told them to put their wands away and take out their parchment and quills.

Anusha would always remember the neat, cursive handwriting on the board, saying 'Defense against the Dark Arts: A return to the basic principles'. She began by saying that their studies had been so 'fragmented' because of the 'incompetent' teachers they had until now. She remembered Harry's angry emerald green eyes and she knew. Remus had been one of those 'incompetent' Professors. But fortunately, he remained silent and closed his eyes to take a few deep breaths to reign in his anger. When he opened his eyes, the traces of anger were gone from his face. He looked at the woman, totally disinterested in her chatter. She had refrained from smirking at him. She was happy that he had learned to control himself and not immediately react and create a huge scene.

*"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She had then made them write down the 'course aims' which took a few minutes. Then she made them take out their book, 'Defensive Magical Theory' by Wilbert Slinkhard and made them read the page five of it.

And thus, began the most tedious fifteen minutes Anusha had ever experienced in her life. Even her time-out sessions set by her and Anya's parents seemed more interesting than this. She had never thought that a book could ever bore her. But she was wrong. This particular book made her bewildered. She exchanged a look with her twin, who seemed just as bewildered with the book as she was.

"What the hell is this?!"

"I know! This is fucking outrageous!"

They had looked to the side and found the most surprising sight. Hermione had not even opened her copy of the book. Instead, she had her hand raised high as she looked at Umbridge with determination. It was slightly shocking to see Hermione not even acknowledge the book in front of her. They watched on as Hermione continued to keep her hand raised, while Umbridge, the old toad, seemed to ignore her resolutely, before finally letting Hermione speak. What occurred next was the most intense battle between Umbridge and the students of the fifth year.

Hermione began by saying that she had a query about the Course aims and then proceeded to say that she didn't read anything there about defensive spells. Umbridge answered by saying that they didn't require defensive spells.

The girls shared looks with each other, too shocked and angered to say anything, as Ron exclaimed about not using magic in DADA. They had shared his sentiments unequivocally.

Hermione then raised concerns about not being able to see the point of the course, which was dismissed by Umbridge just as quickly by stating that she's not a qualified ministry educational expert and therefore not qualified to see the point of any course and again rambled on about how the ministry had approved of a secure course where they would learn spells in a safe, risk-free manner.

Then, one by one, the students, especially the Gryffindors, had raised their hands to ask their questions, and Umbridge had answered them effortlessly. The girls had their hands raised quite steadfastly, till Umbridge had finally called out to Anya.

Anya had stood up and asked, "Why the sudden restriction of defensive spells, professor?"

"They're not restricted, Miss. Maurya-"

"Really? It is quite clear that you don't want to teach the spells that are ought to be known when you undergo Auror training."

"Like I told Ms. Patil Ms. Maurya, as long as you are thorough with the theory, you'll be fine."

"But how is a theory going to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry had exclaimed, finally losing that control that he had kept on his temper all day. Anusha had wanted to face-palm at Harry's idiocy.

"There's nothing out there, Mr. Potter," Umbridge had voiced softly, smiling the creepy smile that made her hairs stand on end.

"Who would want to attack children like yourselves?" She asked, looking at them as though they were ignorant five-year-old kids.

"Oh I don't know," Harry said, in a mock thoughtful voice, "Maybe Lord Voldemort."

The whole class had reacted quite dramatically. Some girls let out little screams and gasps, while some boys looked at Harry disbelievingly. She, along with her twin and Hermione had stared at Harry tiredly.

Oh Harry, why did you even…?

But it was done. Umbridge had got what she wanted. She wanted to provoke him, and she did. Harry had made sure of it. She had stared at Harry with a satisfied smile on her face. She took ten points from Gryffindor and set out to claim that they were given the wrong information about a 'certain dark lord'. Harry interrupted her. In the middle of her 'explanation' and claimed he was alive. She warned him to not make things worse for himself, but he didn't listen and interrupted her again. This time, she handed him detention for Wednesday evening with a triumphant smirk and continued with her lecture. She told them to report to her when anyone said anything about 'dark lords'. She ended her speech and sent them back to reading page five.

But Harry stood up angrily. They had all hissed at him to sit down, but he had ignored them and said, "So you think Cedric Diggory dropped dead on his own accord, did he?"

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident, Mr. Potter,"

"It was murder. Voldemort killed him and you know it."

Anusha turned her head to stare at the woman, who looked as though she was ready to eat him alive. But instead, she plastered her fake smile back and called him to her table. Harry was sent out of the class with a note to Professor McGonagall.

Anusha shook her head as she thought of Harry again. He had almost stopped speaking to everyone after attending the detention with Umbridge. They had tried to make him open up about the detention, but he didn't say a word. They pestered him for a while, but even Hermione and Ron stopped trying and shook their heads at the others who asked again and again.

Anusha had asked Hermione what had happened, but she had just said, "He made us promise not to tell anyone, Anusha. Not even Dumbledore. Not even you."

"But was it that bad?"

"It was horrible, Anusha. Really, really horrible."

That was all she knew about Harry's detention with Umbridge. Until a third year student, a girl from Ravenclaw had attended Umbridge's detention as well. Daphne, Tracy, and Anusha had found her in the corridor, her eyes red and botched with tears as she sobbed quietly.

Anusha sighed as she remembered the incident. She had hesitatingly reached out to the girl, who had looked at her with hesitant fear as she sat beside her. But the fear vanished in a few moments as Anusha had gently inquired what had happened. Tears had appeared in her eyes again as she removed her right hand from inside her robe.

All three of them had gasped as they saw the words carved on her wrist. It was spidery handwriting, carved on her wrist, which said something Anusha would never forget in her life.

"I mustn't question my betters."

The words were literally etched on her wrist and looked as though they were written over, again and again till the words were a wound in her wrist. The edges were an angry red from the swelling.

All three of them had started consoling the poor girl as they sat there, horrified.

"What's going on here?" McGonagall's voice made them snap their heads to her. She had stood there with a severe face until she saw the carving on the girl's wrist.

"My word, Ms. Thompson!" She exclaimed, kneeling down to inspect the wound. In the presence of the Transfiguration Professor, the girl started sobbing again. The first few minutes went into consoling her and calming her.

McGonagall had then asked gently about what had happened.

The girl was finally calm enough to explain what had happened.

"As soon as I entered her office, she made me sit down and told me that I was writing lines. She stopped me from taking out my stationary and gave me a 'special quill' with no ink and made me write, 'I mustn't question my betters.' When I asked how many times, she answered 'enough times for it to sink in me."

McGonagall's face had turned red in rage as she looked at the girl with horror and realization.

Anusha went still as though she was suddenly struck.

Harry went through the same thing…

"I was writing when I felt this intense pain in my arm and I looked down to see my writing on my wrist and red ink on my paper. She then came and said that I deserved to be punished for acting like a brat and asking questions to people who are stationed higher than I am."

There was a tense silence as they processed her words before McGonagall took her to the Ravenclaw wing to her head of the house. Flitwick had been mad with rage at seeing one of the students in his care in that state. He had called for one of his prefects, Cho Chang to take her junior back to her dorms. She and Anusha stared at each other curiously as she entered. But she looked away to her Housemate and immediately came to stand beside her took her away, cooing at her softly. They were then sent back to their dorms.

That was on Umbridge's part. On a personal level, the girls had been receiving a lot of dark looks and sneers from some of their seniors and some juniors who felt they had to poke their noses between them. Anya had been the center of many confrontations with her housemates, some senior boys, along with McLaggen and Finnegan, who thought that their threats and forceful actions would somehow stop her from meeting with her twin. But all they got from her was a steely resolve that didn't show any signs of crumbling at all. Also, what they were mostly shocked about was the fact the Golden Trio and the remaining Weasleys and Neville stood with her through it all. Even Parvati, who drew from her own personal experience, defended her from them. Coupled with so many people, plus the fact that their Head of House had interrupted their scene, the boys had backed off.

Anusha wasn't left alone either. She was cornered by Mallory and his gang after the first day of her classes in the common room, where he had a 'chat' with her.

"Heiress. I'm glad I caught you. I hope your first day was adequate."

"Yes, Your Grace. It was," She had answered.

"I spoke to your classmates about you. They had nothing bad to report. You interacted with all professors in an appropriate manner, you interacted with your peers in a similar manner. That is quite impressive. Most of the others fail to do so, and they end up in arguments with Gryffindors and the other three houses."

Anusha had nodded at him warily, knowing what was about to come.

The only complaint I got from all others was that of you and your sister."

Anusha had stared at him coldly.

"And what of my sister, your Grace?"

"It seems that I wasn't clear. I asked you to limit your interactions with her, now that she's a member of another house. A rival house, even. And yet, what I saw today, during Breakfast and Lunch was quite the opposite. You disobeyed my direct order. You brought an outsider to our table."

Anusha had stared at him blankly, blinking at him.

"I understand that you hold some kind of loyalty towards her, but she's of a different family now. You're a Slytherin. We're one family. She's another," He had said, uncaringly.

She had looked at him for a few seconds, before nodding.

"You're right," She had started, "Yes, we're family, Your Grace. The Slytherins. But before we became family, Anya has been my family. We share the same parents. We were conceived together, brought in this world together, grew up together and experienced all things together. We made a promise to our parents that we would stand together and support each other, no matter the circumstances surrounding us. And I intend to keep that promise to her, no matter what. So, I'm sorry, but my promise to my parents, especially my late mother, is far too important for me to break it."

The other Slytherins stared at her, shocked at seeing her defy the King yet again and stared on as she had walked away.

Other than some retaliation, they didn't get any more than they were already facing. Well, they had incompetent teachers as well.

The thought of incompetent teachers made Anusha look beside her to her twin, who wrote furiously on her parchment, running to complete her last assignment as well, which was History of Magic. It was yet another scroll on Goblin wars for them, which was due on Thursday.

Anusha sighed. Anya had been so excited for the double History of Magic class. She remembered how antsy she was getting as she sat down. Her excitement died down as she saw the ghost of Professor Binns enter the class through the front wall. As soon as he started droning about the Goblin wars, she had heard a collective groan from the rest of the class and had felt the energy drain from her twin. She felt sorry for her twin. Anya loved History of Magic and she was planning to take it on for her N.E.W.T.s so that she would be able to take up wizarding law and become a prosecutor. But seeing Binns, it became unlikely for her to take up the subject for higher studies. Anusha felt sorry for her and she understood how she felt about her situation. But they would need some time to raise issues against that.

Fighting back a yawn, Anusha stretched in her chair.

Gods, I'm so tired…

"Hey sis," Anusha said softly, as she packed up all her stuff.

Anya looked up from her assignment at her. Anusha could see she was just as tired as anyone else in the fifth year.

"I'm tired. I'm off to bed. Unless you want me to stay?"

Anya shook her head, wiping her quill and putting it away.

"Oh no. Go and take some rest. I'll be going back as well. Goodnight sis," Anya said, leaning up to kiss her sister's forehead. Anusha kissed her forehead back, before pulling away and walking towards the exit.

"Goodnight," Anusha said nodding to Madam Pince and walking out. That's when she felt the hairs at the back of her neck prickle. She was on alert instantly but didn't show as she continued walking. She led them to the unused classroom nearing the end of the corridor. She turned suddenly and pointed her wand at her stalker, who stared at her with surprised emerald green eyes.

She blinked at him.

"Harry?" She murmured. The boy in question scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hey Anusha," He said, smiling nervously.

"Why are you following me?"

"I uh, I need to talk to you."

Anusha blinked at him again, before pulling him into the classroom. She shut the door behind her and sat down on the table and gestured him to sit beside her.

He hopped on the table, shifting so that they were nearly shoulder to shoulder. She looked at him expectantly as he looked at his lap nervously.

"I wanted to tell you what Umbridge did to me."

"I know."

"Hermione told you?" Harry exclaimed, getting slightly angry.

"No, she didn't Harry. Another student, a Third-year student from Ravenclaw also attend Umbridge's detention."

"What?" He uttered, looking shocked and horrified as he looked at her.

"She did the same thing I assume she did with you. She used blood quills on you."

Harry sighed and looked away, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Yes. She did."

"Harry, why didn't you tell the Headmaster of this?"

"He has a lot on his plate right now, Anusha. And I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I told the headmaster about this. That'll only prove that we're working together or something. I can handle this."

"How exactly? You made sure that she has a huge reason to target you after the incident in the Defense class," Anusha pointed out sharply, making Harry wince. But he composed himself and looked at her angrily.

"Anusha, you don't understand! She was blabbering about things she didn't know anything about!"

Anusha frowned at him.

"Harry, you think I don't know that? I saw that incident in your head, when I was training you!"

"And also, I understand it's not easy keeping yourself quiet during these situations. I know what feel like. I can tell you that it's not easy, being Heiress to one of the oldest families of the world. You can ask Anya as well. She'll tell you the same thing. And its worse when you're an Indian girl as well. Because let me tell you this, many families in India consider girls to be a burden, something to be sold off to other families as broodmares!"

Harry looked at her with shock.

"What?!" He said, looking at her with slight horror. Anusha nodded at him.

"I and Anya, we both are lucky to have been born to our parents. We realized that at an early age. But we were still the subject to many snide remarks by people who thought girls had no business being Head of the families. We had to sit and listen to some of our relatives talk about arranging our marriages to some far off families to our Grandparents!"

"How did you not react to that?" He asked, more curious than offended for her. She chuckled at his question.

"Do you think we didn't want to put them in their places, huh? But we controlled. Because we know that it is of no use picking up arguments with them, especially when we have to work together in the future."

Harry sighed and looked away again. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder reassuringly.

"I know what you're going through, but I ask you to be a little bit cautious, okay? You don't have to turn completely silent Harry; all I'm asking is that you learn when to raise your voice, okay?"

Harry sighed.

"Alright. I'll control myself."

"Okay. Now, what did actually happen in the detention, Harry?"

He looked away from her for a second as his right hand went to cover his left. Anusha saw the movement and reached out to gently uncover his hand and pull it on her lap. She pulled up the sleeve covering his wrist and gasped.

Written on his wrist in his own writing was, "I must not tell lies."

It was the same wound as the girl's- bright red, swollen, and sunk deep in his wrist. She looked up at him with a shocked expression as he sighed and began.

"I went to her office the next evening. She has the most hideous office ever. All painted pink and covered with pictures of cats. She made me sit and write lines. She gave me a quill which was on her desk and made me write 'I must not tell lies'. As I was writing, I felt the intense pain on my hand and when I looked, the words were written on there. In my own handwriting, Anusha. She then stood beside me and asked if I had a problem. When I said nothing, she said, 'Exactly. Because deep down, you know, you deserve to be punished, don't you, Mr. Potter?'

"She made me write with that quill for half an hour before sending me away. Hermione told me to talk to Dumbledore, to anyone, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. So I kept it to myself."

Anusha nodded and looked ahead, both lost in their thoughts.

"You know, every year, whenever I came back to Hogwarts, it always felt like coming home, what with the Dursleys and all. But this year, although I'm home, I feel more alone than I've ever been in my life.

"Hey! Don't say that. You're not alone, Harry. We're standing with you, you know. We'll always stand with you."

"Even your Dad?" Harry asked, smirking impishly. Anusha chuckled.

"Yes! Even him, although he'd be slightly grumpy about it," She said, nodding to herself.

Both of them chuckled to themselves.

"Bottom line is," Anusha spoke up again, "Don't listen to whatever she says. Just stay strong. And control your anger, okay? That's very important, especially now."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Anusha," He said, leaning in and hugging her. She hugged him back and leaned her head against his shoulder as she sighed to herself.

Yep, this is exactly what I needed… a crush on my friend who likes someone else… why me?

So, how was it? Was there any problem with the Potions class, the DADA class, with Anusha's POV, The Detention? Please leave a kudos or comment...

* All sentences marked with an asterisk are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book AND the movie of the same name) which is originally written by J. and the credit to the movie goes Warner Bros. And also, some of the scenes are similar to the Order of the Phoenix, just with a few minor changes to go with the story...

And if I have not marked sentences that are taken up from the books, please do tell me, I'll mark them immediately...

See ya readers!