Angelina demanded another practice the following Monday, and it went even worse than the one on Valentine's Day. Ginny wasn't that bad, but Ron was still struggling to save goals when people were watching him, and the Beaters' aim could use a lot of improvement. Angelina was frustrated to the point of tears by the time she decided practice was over.
Anna took a quick shower to get all the mud off her skin and out of her hair. After dinner, she joined the twins in the common room. They found Harry and Hermione sitting by the fire and joined them.
"Ron and Ginny not here?" Fred asked, glancing around as he pulled a chair up next to the younger two. When Harry shook his head, Fred continued, "Good. We were watching their practice. They're going to be slaughtered." he looked at Anna, who was scowling at him. "No offence, you're still a great Chaser, but the team's rubbish without us."
Anna sighed, unable to argue.
"Come on, Ginny's not bad." George argued fairly, sitting between Fred and Anna. "Actually, I dunno how she got so good, seeing how we never let her play with us…"
"She's been breaking into your broom shed in the garden since the age of six and taking each of your brooms out in turn when you weren't looking." Hermione announced from behind her teetering pile of Ancient Rune books. Anna smirked slightly. Ginny had told Anna and Hermione that one summer night while they were in 12 Grimmauld Place. They'd stayed up late and eaten junk food, having a sort of girls night, and Ginny had spilled her little secret to the two girls. Anna got a kick out of it.
"Oh." George paused, looking impressed. "Well-that'd explain it."
"Has Ron saved a goal yet?" Hermione asked, peaking over the top of her book.
"He's pretty good at it,…as long as no one's watching him." Anna admitted.
Fred rolled his eyes. "So all we have to do is ask the crowd to turn their backs and talk among themselves every time the Quaffle goes up his end on Saturday."
Fred got up from his chair and moved about restlessly, coming to a stop by the window. He stared out over the grounds, which were dark and shadowed under the night sky. "You know, Quidditch was about the only thing in this place worth staying for."
Hermione looked up sharply, glaring at him like a scolding teacher. " You've got exams coming!" she reminded him, sounding eerily like Molly Weasley.
"Told you already, we're not fussed about NEWTs. The Snackboxes are ready to roll, we found out how to get rid of those boils, just a couple drops of murtlap essence sorts them, Lee put us onto it…"
George yawned loudly and looked past his twin at the cloudy sky with a miserable expression. "I dunno if I even want to watch this match. If Zacharias Smith beats us I might have to kill myself."
"Kill him, more like." Fred countered firmly, sending his twin a slight glare.
"That's the trouble with Quidditch," Hermione murmured distractedly, focusing more on her rune translations. "it creates all this bad feeling and tension between the Houses."
Anna ducked her head to hide her amused smile when the boys turned to Hermione with looks of disgust and disbelief. When Hermione looked up and saw their expressions, she snapped impatiently, "Well, it does! It's only a game, isn't it?"
"Hermione," Harry shook his head, "you're good on feelings and stuff, but you just don't understand about Quidditch."
"Maybe not," she agreed darkly, " but at least my happiness doesn't depend on Ron's goalkeeping ability."
Anna chuckled quietly while Hermione gathered her things and went up to her dormitory. Harry and the twins watched her go with looks of disbelief.
"There's something seriously wrong with that girl." George muttered, shaking his head. Anna could tell he was mostly teasing. Sort of.
Fred shook his head, turning to stare out the window again. Anna stood up from her seat and approached him, sitting on the windowsill to look up at him.
"So," she said quietly, "Quidditch was the only thing worth staying for, huh?" she asked lightly, making her eyes go wide and innocent.
Fred blinked before looking down at her. He narrowed his eyes at her, but smirked slightly. "Don't…even…go there." he told her slowly, stepping forward so he towered over her, her knees touching his. "Don't do that whole 'girl' thing. You know I'm going to miss you when George and I leave."
"I know." she smiled softly. "I'm going to miss you guys, too."
"Both of us, huh?" Fred asked with a smirk.
"Of course." she answered instantly. Then, she smiled sweetly. "But I suppose I might miss you just a tiny bit more." she added, holding her thumb and pointer finger close together.
Fred chuckled, shaking his head and crossing his arms. After a few moments, he lifted his head to look down at her thoughtfully. "You know, I just realized something. Basically since summer we've seen each other nearly every day. We spent the summer together, then came to school, then we spent Christmas holidays together, and came back to school. We haven't really been separated since the end of the last school year, and that was only about a week before we joined you in Grimmauld Place." He paused, seeming to let that sink in before he met Anna's eyes. "Geeze. I'm really going to miss you."
Anna laughed. "I guess I hadn't thought of that. How will we ever survive without each other when you leave?" she asked dramatically, unable to keep herself from laughing.
Fred laughed. "I don't know. Write each other every week, or you could visit our shop on Hogsmeade weekends. Just go to Hogsmeade and Apparate to Diagon Alley."
Anna tilted her head thoughtfully. "Is that even allowed?"
"Since when has that stopped us?" Fred asked incredulously, still chuckling.
"Good point. I'll keep that in mind." Anna nodded.
"Worse case scenario, we go a few months without seeing each other. We'll be fine." Fred assured her, the joking gone from his tone and expression.
"I know. We're not one of those disgusting couples that need to see each other every hour." Anna agreed, wrinkling her nose up in disgust.
"Ugh. Those couples are gross!" Fred agreed teasingly.
"I think, more than anything, I'm going to miss my best friends and pranking partners. But I'll still have friends around. And Lee will help me prank people."
"Exactly. You'll be just fine." Fred agreed, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss.
XXX
Anna landed heavily and dismounted her broom. She instantly approached Ginny and wrapped her free arm around the younger girl in a tight hug. It wasn't really a celebratory hug, but it was Anna's way of congratulating her while they both commiserated.
"You did great, Gin." Anna told her as the redhead hugged her back, the Golden Snitch clutched tightly in one fist.
Gryffindor had just lost their match against Hufflepuff, and it was probably the worst match Anna could remember playing in. It only lasted about 20 minutes, and Anna wasn't sure what the worst part of the match was. Ron's 14th failed save, Sloper hitting Angelina in the mouth with his bat when he missed the Bludger, or Kirke shrieking and falling backward off his broom when Smith flew toward him with the Quaffle.
Thankfully, Gryffindor only lost by 10 points because Ginny caught the Snitch, bringing the score to 240 to 230.
With their arms still wrapped around each other's shoulders, Anna and Ginny followed the rest of their team off the field, trying to ignore the Slytherins singing that stupid song "Weasley is our King".
"Look, just let me resign." Ron begged Angelina when they entered the changing room. "I'm sure you could find a better Keeper, no problem. No one could be worse than me."
"No, Ron, you're not resigning." Angelina snapped, whirling around to stare him down. "I'm not losing anymore members of my team. You've got it in you, we've all seen it. You just need to work on your confidence."
"She's right, Ron." Anna added quietly, trying to speak more personally to the tall redhead instead of yelling at him in front of the whole team. "We've all seen you. You can make some pretty spectacular saves, you just need to stop letting those Slytherins get to you."
Ron sighed, turning away to change out of his uniform.
When Anna finished changing, she followed Katie and Ginny from the room to find Fred and George waiting outside.
"Nice catch, Gin." George told her, throwing his arm over his little sister's shoulders.
"Yeah, Ginny, you were great." Katie agreed, smiling sadly. "You caught it right from under the other Seeker's nose, too."
"If only we'd made a couple more goals." Anna sighed sadly, her hands in her pockets. She stared down at her feet as they walked toward the castle. "I can't believe I missed that easy shot at the beginning. If I'd only made that one goal, we could've tied."
"Come on," Fred wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side while they walked, "you can't blame yourself."
"Well, I'm not blaming Ron." Anna hissed quietly in case Ron was within hearing range. "He's blaming himself enough for the whole school."
"Well, he did miss pretty much every goal. If he'd only saved a couple…"
"Just leave him alone." Anna begged when George trailed off.
Everyone gathered in the common room and the twins passed out bottles of butterbeer they'd snitched from Honeydukes. Anna, Fred, and George joined Harry and Ginny on the couch later that evening after working on a new joke product. They all kept glancing at Ron, who was hunched over in the far corner staring at the bottle of butterbeer in his hand.
"I haven't got the heart to take the mickey out of him, even." Fred commented as they all sat with Harry and Ginny. He was looking over at his little brother. "Mind you…when he missed the fourteenth…" He mimicked Ron's fourteenth fail by waving his arms like the doggy paddle, which was, unfortunately, an accurate demonstration. "Well, I'll save it for parties, eh?"
Anna sighed, glancing over at Ron again. "I wish we could help him…but there's not much you can do when it's a mental problem. Not like that." she snapped at the twins, smacking them both on the shoulder when she saw their expressions. "He's not mental, he just has confidence problems. He could be a great Keeper if it weren't for that."
The night gradually wound down and everyone went their separate ways to sleep, hoping tomorrow would be better.
XXX
Sunday was fairly uneventful and Anna spent it catching up on homework. But Monday came before some were ready. But before classes even started for the day, breakfast proved the day would be fairly eventful.
Anna was sitting next to Fred and across from George and Lee, eating eggs and drinking pumpkin juice. She didn't think much of the post arriving until she realized several owls had landed just down the table from her…in front of Harry. Several people down the Gryffindor table were leaning forward to get a good look at the multiple owls jockeying to give their letter to Harry first.
Hermione looked excited, reaching in among the bundles of feathers and pulling one out. She insisted Harry open that one first.
Anna tried getting a good look at what Harry took from the owl. All she could see, however, was what looked like a magazine.
"It's good, isn't it?" Luna suddenly appeared, having wandered over from the Ravenclaw table. Anna had to scoot over when Luna squeezed onto the bench between Fred and Ron, causing Fred to scoot into Anna. "It came out yesterday, I asked Dad to send you a free copy. I expect all these are letters from readers." she added, gesturing to the owls still waiting for Harry to take their letters.
"That's what I thought." Hermione agreed eagerly. "Harry, d'you mind if we-?"
"Help yourself." Harry told her in a puzzled tone.
Ron and Hermione instantly started ripping open the different letters.
"This one's from a bloke who thinks you're off your rocker." Ron announced.
The one Hermione read was similar, but one that Harry read was from a woman who said she believed him.
Fred must've been eager to join in, because he quickly grabbed a letter and read it quickly. "This one's in two minds." he announced, still skimming. "Says you don't come across as a mad person, but he really doesn't want to believe You-Know-Who's back so he doesn't know what to think now…Blimey, what a waste of parchment…"
"Here's another one you've convinced, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed while Anna took another letter from a small, brown owl that was nearest to her.
"This one thinks you're barking." she admitted with a grimace, not reading some of the harsher language the person wrote.
"But this one says you've got her converted," Ron said, reading another, "and she now thinks you're a real hero-she's put in a photograph too-wow-"
"What is going on here?" a familiar, disgustingly-sweet voice asked from behind them. Harry looked up while Anna and Fred looked over their shoulders. Professor Umbridge was standing behind Fred and Luna, her toad's eyes scanning the letters scattering the table. There were also several students from every table watching the exchange, the Great Hall quieter than normal.
"Why have you got all these letters, Mr. Potter?" she asked slowly.
"Is that a crime now?" Fred asked loudly, not even sparing Umbridge another glance, "Getting mail?"
"Be careful, Mr. Weasley, or I shall have to put you in detention." Umbridge warned him. "Well, Mr. Potter?"
Harry hesitated. Anna glared up at Umbridge, both for her threat to Fred, and her nosiness, though the older woman didn't notice.
"People have written to me because I gave an interview." he finally admitted. "About what happened to me last June."
"An interview?" Umbridge repeated, her voice going higher and shriller than normal. "What do you mean?"
"I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered them." Harry answered with a slight attitude. "Here-" With that, he threw what Anna finally realized was a magazine named The Quibbler. Umbridge caught it and stared down at the cover, her normally-pale face turning a reddish-purple.
"When did you do this?' she asked in a trembling voice, her eyes not leaving the cover.
"Last Hogsmeade weekend."
She finally looked up at him, and Anna kept her eyes on the toad-like woman. She looked ready to explode. Her face was growing darker and the magazine was trembling in her hands.
"There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, Mr. Potter." she whispered, "How you dare…how you could…" she stuttered, finally pausing to take a deep breath. "I have tried again and again to teach you not to tell lies. The message, apparently, has still not sunk in. Fifty points from Gryffindor and another week's worth of detentions."
"What?!" Anna snapped before she could stop herself. Everyone's eyes moved to stare at her, including the pink toad's.
"Is there a problem, Ms. Black?" Umbridge asked, her eyes daring Anna to continue.
"Yes, there is!" Anna snapped. "You have no grounds to punish Harry. He wasn't even on school grounds when he did that interview, you can't control what he does all the time."
Umbridge narrowed her eyes at Anna for a moment before she spoke. "I think you'll be joining me for detention tonight at 8:00, Ms. Black. We'll have to teach you a lesson, as well."
"No-"
Anna grabbed Fred's shoulder, giving it a squeeze to silently tell him to be quiet. Umbridge glared around at them all before stomping back up to the staff table.
"You didn't have to do that, Anna." Harry told her quietly. "You know what she does to people during her detentions."
Anna sighed, running a hand through her hair and pushing her plate away. "Well, it's not like I can take it back. And I wouldn't want to." she admitted honestly, looking around at the others. "What I said was true. Logically, she had no right to give you that punishment, yet she did it anyway."
"Yeah, but now you've got detention." Harry countered guiltily.
"Don't feel bad. Maybe I should've kept quiet, but I'm sick of that woman. It's not like you can control when I do or don't speak."
"Merlin." George finally spoke, causing everyone to turn to him. He met Fred's eye. "We're losing our touch, Freddie. Little Anna got a detention with the toad before we did."
Everyone laughed, though Anna noticed the smile didn't completely reach Fred's eyes.
Even though The Quibbler wasn't that popular, everyone was talking about the interview Harry gave. It was all over the school before lunch. And that night, Fred and George put an Enlargement Charm on the front cover of The Quibbler and hung it on the wall in the Gryffindor common room. Harry's face on the cover gazed out at the occupants and frequently said things like "The Ministry are morons" or "Eat dung, Umbridge".
Anna sighed, slouching on the common room couch and glancing over at a clock on the wall. She probably should have worked on her Transfiguration essay, but she had a feeling her hands would be sore after her detention; no sense in them being sore beforehand, too.
Fred plopped down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. Anna turned and looked up at him, noting that once again he looked troubled by something.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Fred glanced down at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Anna shrugged. "You're upset about something."
Fred sighed, dropping his head back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling. "Alright, you got me. I just hate that you got a detention without me. I mean, normally detentions aren't a big deal. If anything, George and I think of them as a badge of honor or something. But knowing what that hag does to kids in her detentions, and just knowing you're going to have to endure that in less than half an hour…I wish I'd spoken up this morning."
"Fred, I didn't want you to speak up this morning." Anna told him, her voice quiet and gentle as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't want you to be hurt any more than you want me to be hurt. And besides, I'll only have the one. I'm more worried about Harry. He's got a whole week's worth. That's bound to be much, much worse."
"I suppose." he sighed, turning to kiss the top of Anna's head. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
Anna sat with Fred for about fifteen minutes before she had to go. She made the long walk down to the second floor and approached the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Anna glanced at a nearby clock and waited a couple minutes. She didn't want to enter the room until she absolutely had to. So, when the clock struck 8:00 on the nose, she lifted her fist and knocked on the door.
"Come in." a sugary voice called from inside. Taking a deep breath, Anna opened the door and entered.
She actually paused for a full second before fully stepping over the threshold and closing the door. She'd been in this office a few times when Remus was a teacher. Back then it was filled with books and usually had some interesting creature in the corner. But now the first thing that popped into Anna's mind was…'Pink'.
The walls were pink and there were frilly curtains. The most disturbing part was the wall of decorated plates, each with a kitten wearing a bow. Even though she loved animals, Anna found it unsettling to see all the kittens staring at her with their unblinking, yellow eyes.
"Hem hem."
Anna jumped and looked straight ahead. Umbridge was reclined at her own desk while Harry was hunched over at a students' desk, his back to Anna.
"Ms. Black. You're right on time." Umbridge said to Anna before turning to Harry. "Well, Mr. Potter, I suppose we'll cut tonight short, but you'll be staying a bit longer tomorrow night to make up for it."
Harry nodded once and stood up. Anna saw that his jaw was clenched and he was holding his hand near his stomach. She glanced over him carefully as he made to move past her, focusing mostly on his right hand. She could see a glimpse of blood dripping down his fingers, and the edge of his robe sleeve was a dark red, probably from the blood.
He met her eyes and gave her a forced, tight-lipped smile to let her know he was fine. She returned it before he passed her and closed the door with a resounding CLICK.
Anna straightened her back, pulling her shoulders back and holding her head high as her eyes traveled to Umbridge, who was watching her with a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Have a seat, Ms. Black." Umbridge suggested. She waved her wand, making the bloodstained parchment vanish from the desk Harry had been sitting at. Anna swallowed before sitting stiffly at the seat, her eyes finding the quill. Maybe her mind was tainted by the knowledge of what that quill would do, but it looked evil. It was long and black, the tip cruelly sharp.
"Now, I want you to write 'I must not talk back' repeatedly for the next hour." Umbridge told her, waving her surprisingly-short wand and sending a piece of parchment fluttering to a stop on Anna's desktop.
"May I ask why I can't use my own quill?" Anna asked, barely keeping sarcasm out of her tone.
"No." Umbridge answered with a giggle. "Now, you may begin."
Anna refrained from sighing as she gingerly picked up the black quill with the tips of her fingers. She held it with the tip to the parchment for a moment, her hand flexing around the quill, before she began writing.
She forced herself not to wince as she felt a burning, slicing pain on the back of her hand. Her eyes stayed fixed as she wrote 'I must not talk back' in crimson letters. When she wrote the sentence the third time she finally couldn't stop herself from looking at the back of her hand. As she finished the last word, she saw the words in open, red cuts on the back of her hand. However, as she watched, the words healed over, leaving the skin smooth but red and irritated with a few drops of blood that had escaped before the wounds healed.
Taking a deep, silent breath, Anna braced herself before starting her next line.
It was one of the longest hours Anna could remember enduring. She wasn't sure how many times she wrote that horrid sentence. Definitely more than 200. She tried her best not to give Umbridge the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, but it was difficult, especially near the end. Anna's hand quickly grew raw and tender, causing her to wince more and bite her lip to hold back whimpers when new marks were sliced into her increasingly-tender skin. By the end of the hour, it was hard to see the writing because the blood from the quill blended with the blood dripping from her hand.
Finally, Umbridge said, "You may stop."
Anna refrained from sighing in relief and throwing the quill down. Instead, she carefully set the quill on the desk above the parchment and leaned as far back into her seat as she could.
"Now, Ms. Black, have you learned your lesson?" Umbridge asked in her falsely-sweet voice.
Anna didn't answer, keeping her eyes fixed on her desktop. She knew speaking her mind would only end in her getting more detentions.
"Of course, considering your upbringing, I don't doubt I'll be seeing you in here again." Umbridge continued, not waiting for a response. "I certainly hope your brother is better behaved when he comes to Hogwarts."
Anna's eyes flashed up, glaring coldly at the horrible old woman in front of her. "Leave my brother out of this." she whispered coldly.
"Watch your tone, Ms. Black." Umbridge reminded her sweetly. "I wouldn't mind keeping you another hour. I'd be happy to get you a fresh sheet of parchment for more lines."
Anna bit her tongue, instinctively letting her eyes drop to the desktop. They found and focused on a drop of blood on the wood surface.
"Good. Now, you may go."
Anna stood up and forced herself not to run from the room. She kept her composure until she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her, and taking a few steps. Then, her eyes fell closed as she took a deep, shaky breath. Her hand lifted to her chest and she held it there, cradling it with her other hand.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Anna started the slow walk back to the Gryffindor common room, her hand still cradled to her chest. She barely made it a few feet before movement out of the corner of her eye made her jump. Her head snapped to the side, but she instantly relaxed when she saw Fred stepping out of the shadows of a suit of armor.
"You okay?" he asked gently, approaching her where she stopped walking.
Anna swallowed, looking down as he faced her. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Anna." he whispered. "Please. Let me see."
Sighing, Anna let him gently take both her hands in his. He looked down at both of them, but released her left hand when his eyes landed on her right. He cradled that one in both of his, holding it up so he could see it.
There was drying blood smudged over her hand and the words 'I must not talk back' in pale, scarred lettering.
Fred took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment to compose himself. Then, he lowered their hands, keeping hers gently in one of his so he could lead her down the corridor.
"So," he finally spoke after a few minutes of silent walking, "how bad was it?"
"Not that bad." Anna answered quickly. She could tell by his voice he was afraid to hear her answer.
Fred turned and looked knowingly at her. "Nice try."
Anna sighed in defeat, her shoulders slouching slightly. "Okay…I was prepared for it,…at first. I mean, I knew what would happen, but…after a while the back of my hand was really sore. And the more it was cut into the more it hurt. So it got harder and harder not to show that I was in pain."
Fred took another deep breath. He carefully lifted Anna's hand, being mindful of not touching the back of her hand, and brought it to his lips to kiss a part of her hand that wasn't red. He didn't apologize, because there was no point, but he still hated seeing her in pain.
After a few more minutes of walking, Anna realized they weren't quite heading for the common room. "Um, where are we going?"
Fred smiled slightly at her. "You'll see."
Anna eyed him curiously, but remained silent as they continued. Finally, they arrived at a familiar tapestry. Fred pushed the tapestry aside to reveal a familiar alcove. The place Anna had told the twins about Flint raping her. He stepped back and waved his arm with a flourish.
"After you, m'lady."
Anna giggled, ducking down to crawl into the small space. It was just tall enough for a first year to stand up straight, and wide enough for five full-grown people to sit snuggly together. At the back of the space, Anna found a bowl of yellow liquid and two mugs of hot cocoa.
Anna turned and sat back against the back wall, watching Fred move to sit next to her.
"So, what's all this?" she asked curiously.
"What does it look like?" Fred asked rhetorically, placing the bowl on his lap and gently taking Anna's hand in his. Then, he carefully lowered her hand into the cool liquid, being mindful to keep his own hand out of it. Anna sighed in relief, resting her head against the stone wall behind her.
"That murtlap works wonders." she murmured quietly, her eyes still closed. The pain was receding already.
"Don't forget your hot cocoa." Fred reminded her lightly.
Anna chuckled, lifting her head and looking at him. "Leave it to you." she mumbled lightly, passing one mug to Fred before picking up the other and taking a sip. "Aah. That's just what I needed."
"I figured." Fred nodded, taking a sip of his. "So, did the old toad have anything to say?"
Anna swallowed another sip before answering. "Nothing important until the end. She asked if I'd learned my lesson. When I didn't respond, she said she wouldn't be surprised if she had me in detention again 'considering my upbringing'. And then,…she dragged my brother into it."
Fred looked worriedly over at her. "How? What'd she say?"
"Just that she hopes my brother is better behaved when he comes to Hogwarts."
Fred thought for a moment. "I didn't think she knew about your brother. She said something about your dad being the last male descendant of the Black line."
Anna thought about it, too. "Well,…my mum works at the Ministry. Maybe someone told Umbridge."
"Probably. Anyway, did you say anything when she brought up Aslan?"
Anna grimaced guiltily. "I just told her to leave my brother out of it, but…my tone might have been a bit…disrespectful?" she ended it like a question, unsure what word to use. "Of course, she threatened to keep me an extra hour if I didn't watch it, so I kept quiet until I left the room."
Fred nodded silently. Anna watched him for a moment, noting that he looked lost in thought.
"What are thinking about?" she finally asked.
"Just that…I mean, George and I still aren't sure about when we're leaving, but…I'm almost scared to leave you here. Hogwarts used to be one of the safest places I could think of, but…" Fred trailed off, his eyes drifting down to where Anna's hand was still submerged in the bowl.
"Fred," Anna sighed, scooting closer to lean her head on his shoulder, "you don't have to worry about me, okay? It's not like I'll be completely alone when you leave. I'll have Katie, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Lee, Ron, and the whole Quidditch team and the D.A….The only problem is that I'll miss you and George. Other than that, I'll be just fine." she assured him.
Fred smiled, leaning his cheek on her head.