"Hey, Ginny. How's it going?" Anna asked as Ginny joined Anna and the twins on the couch. Anna was studying while the twins were working out some problems with a product equation.
"Pretty good. Have you guys spoken to Harry lately?" she asked, sitting between Anna and Fred.
Anna glanced worriedly at the twins before looking at the younger redhead. "Um, not about anything important for a few days." Anna answered. "Why?"
"Well,…" Ginny trailed off, glancing around to ensure no one was listening to them. "He wants to talk to Sirius. With Umbridge intercepting and reading everyone's mail, he doesn't feel comfortable writing to him, but he says he really needs to talk to Sirius about something."
"Can't really blame him, considering what the old toad did to our Mum's Easter egg." George muttered grouchily. Molly, as she did every year, sent them a package of chocolate eggs with Fizzing Whizbees inside. However, when they got the package, it was a box wrapped in brown paper, which had clearly been unwrapped and carelessly rewrapped. In red ink the words, 'Inspected and passed by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor' were written across it.
"So, how's he going to talk to my dad?" Anna asked, both curious and worried. She had a feeling Harry wanted to ask Sirius about the memory he'd seen with Snape. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about it, and she could only imagine how much it was bothering Harry.
"Well, that's why I wanted to talk to you guys." Ginny admitted. "I figured maybe you could help him."
Fred and George instantly exchanged conniving smirks.
"We have just the idea." they chorused.
"Care to share?" Anna asked curiously.
"Sure. We'll tell you when we tell Harry." Fred assured her, making her pout.
"Why can't you tell me now?"
"That'll spoil the surprise." George answered instead.
XXX
They didn't see Harry until later that evening. They found him in the common room with Hermione and Ron, reading some pamphlets about all the different careers for the fifth years. Fred walked right up behind Harry and spoke right by his ear, "Hey." Harry turned around as Fred, Anna, and George joined them at the table. "Ginny's had a word with us about you." Fred informed him, stretching out his legs on the tabletop, which caused several booklets to fall on the floor. "She says you need to talk to Sirius?"
"What?" Hermione asked sharply, freezing as she'd been stretching across the table to reach a new booklet.
"Yeah…" Harry agreed casually, "yeah, I thought I'd like-"
"Don't be so ridiculous." Hermione told him, looking at him in shock. "With Umbridge groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls?"
"Well, we think we can find a way around that." George told them, stretching and smiling at them. "It's a simple matter of causing a diversion. Now, you might have noticed that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front during Easter holidays?"
"What was the point, we asked ourselves, of disrupting leisure time?" Fred continued. "No point at all, we answered ourselves. And of course, we'd have messed up people's studying too, which would have the very last thing we'd want to do."
He gave Hermione a smug nod, and she looked taken aback by his thoughtfulness. Anna rolled her eyes. The twins had been too busy setting up their shop and restocking their products to really pull any good pranks.
"But it's business as usual from tomorrow." Fred continued quickly. "And if we're going to be causing a bit of an uproar, why not do it so that Harry can have his chat with Sirius?"
"Yes, but still," Hermione pushed on, "even if you do cause a diversion, how is Harry's supposed to talk to him?"
"Umbridge's office." Harry answered quietly.
"Are-you-insane?" Hermione asked barely above a whisper.
Ron glanced between the two warily.
"I don't think so." Harry answered, giving a shrug. Anna fought a grin, because Hermione's question was obviously rhetorical.
"And how are you going to get in there in the first place?" Hermione asked doubtfully.
"Sirius's knife."
"Excuse me?"
"What knife?" Anna asked over Hermione.
Harry glanced sheepishly at Anna before explaining, "Christmas before last Sirius gave me a knife that'll open any lock. So even if she's bewitched the door so Alohamora won't work, which I bet she has-"
"What do you think about this?" Hermione demanded, turning to Ron, who looked alarmed at being dragged into the conversation.
"I dunno. If Harry wants to do it, it's up to him, isn't it?"
"Spoken like a true friend and Weasley." Fred told his little brother, smacking Ron on the back so hard he lurched forward slightly.
Anna looked at Fred and George. "So, then you two won't mind if I decide I want to go with Harry?" she asked lightly.
Both twins stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Okay." George told her.
"Did you want to ask Sirius something?" Fred asked curiously, tilting his head a bit.
Anna met Harry's eyes and knew he understood. She wanted the same thing Harry did. She wanted to hear her father's account of Snape's memory. "Kinda." she admitted, looking back at the twins.
Fred nodded. "Right, then." he turned back to the group at a whole. "We're thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridor-Harry, we'll set it off in the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office-I reckon we should be able to guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?" he said, glancing at George.
"Easy." George agreed.
"What sort of diversion is it?" Ron asked curiously.
"You'll see, little bro." Fred assured him as he, Anna, and George stood up again. "At least, you will if you trot along to Gregory the Smarmy's corridor round about five o'clock tomorrow."
Anna turned to Harry before she followed the twins. "I'll meet you by Umbridge's office around five o'clock, then?"
Harry grinned slightly. "Yeah. See you there."
Anna followed Fred and George up to their dormitory and flopped down on Fred's bed, her legs hanging over the side and arms spread out.
"So, is there anything we need to do for tomorrow?" she asked, turning her head to look at them.
"Nah, we've already got everything done for that." George answered, waving his wand and causing several possessions to fly into his trunk. "But we could get a few Skiving Snackboxes done tonight."
Fred sat down on the edge of his bed, his hip brushing Anna's, and waved his wand to make his own possessions fly into his trunk. Anna's brows furrowed curiously as she glanced between him and George.
"You both just made all your property pack itself into your trunks." she noted slowly. "Something you want to tell me?"
Fred and George exchanged a look for a brief moment before George excused himself to the loo. When the door clicked shut, Fred laid back on the bed next to Anna, both of them staring up at the ceiling.
"You're leaving tomorrow, then." It was a statement, not a question, but Fred confirmed it anyway.
"Yeah. We didn't decide for sure until earlier today, though, when we decided to distract everyone for Harry. And you." he added as an afterthought, since Anna would be joining Harry.
Anna nodded, folding her hands together on her stomach. "I won't see you guys…for a couple months." she murmured quietly. "I mean, that's not long, and we'll probably write…"
"Exactly." Fred nodded once assuredly. "And I'll be the first person to greet you on the platform when you get off the Hogwarts Express." he added, lifting his arm and slipping it under her head. She smiled, scooting into his side and resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm almost disappointed I'll miss all our hard work play out tomorrow." she murmured thoughtfully.
"Well, it's your decision. What did you want to talk to your dad about?" Fred asked curiously.
Anna looked down at where her hand was rested on Fred's chest, feeling the faint thump-thump of his heartbeat under the soft fabric of his button-down. "Just, um,…something Harry mentioned. I'd rather not talk about it until I hear my dad's side, but…who knows? I might end up needing to talk to someone about whatever he says. We'll see how it goes, first."
Fred nodded, lifting his head so he could kiss the crown of her head before lowering it back against the bed. "Well, I won't push you. But if you do need someone to talk to, you know I'm always there for you. Heck, we could meet in Hogsmeade, maybe sneak off to the Shrieking Shack for some privacy, if you want to get anything off your chest."
Anna smiled, peaking up at him. "Maybe."
Fred raised his head, about to lean down for a kiss when the door opened again. George glanced between them, a smirk slowly pulling at the corners of his lips.
"Good, you told her." George stated, hurrying over and leaping onto the bed. Anna and Fred laughed when the bed bounced wildly under them. When it calmed back down, George scooted around and laid his head on Anna's stomach.
"Hi, George." Anna told him, smiling at him in amusement before letting her head fall back against the bed. She pulled her hand out from under his back where he laid on it and patted his forehead. "Don't worry, George. I'll miss you, too." she told him teasingly, though she was being honest.
George turned his head and gave her a wide, cheesy smile. "I know. How could you not miss the better, more handsome twin?"
All three of them chuckled. Fred reached over and flicked George on the forehead. "Keep telling yourself that, mate."
Anna tilted her head to lean it on Fred's shoulder again. Her eyes lowered a bit and she caught George's eye again when he turned to look at her, his head still on her stomach.
"I'll miss you, too, Anna."
XXX
Monday went by relatively normal. Anna went to Herbology and Charms, the twins joining her in their classes though they paid little attention as they put in any final touches to their plans.
Anna spent nearly every second of her time with the twins on Monday, knowing she could study and do her homework another day. 5:00 seemed to take forever to arrive, and yet it arrived much too soon.
About 4:50, Anna gave George a tight hug before Fred pulled her aside for a private moment.
"I'll write as soon as I get a chance." he assured her, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "And I'll see you soon."
"I know." Anna smiled softly. "It won't be too long."
Fred pulled her close and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I love you." he breathed into her hair.
Anna returned the embrace, her hands fisting the back of his school robes. "I love you, too."
Fred pulled his head away enough to press a firm kiss over Anna's lips, which she returned eagerly. It could very well be two months before she could kiss him again, and the thought made her hand move to thread through his short hair.
Anna wasn't sure how long they kissed. All she knew was that her lungs burned from lack of air, and they were interrupted by someone coughing loudly nearby. Pulling away, they both glanced sheepishly at George, who grinned at them.
"I hate to break up your little goodbye snog, but you really need to get going if you're going to meet Harry in time."
"Right." Anna sighed, running a hand through her hair. She wasn't surprised when her fingers were briefly caught in knots given Fred's hand had just been buried in the strands moments before. She turned to look up at Fred again. "Bye." she breathed.
"Bye." Fred gave her one more hug before they pulled away and Anna hurried off down the corridor, not giving her mind the chance to take in the meaning of their exchange. She knew if she thought too much about the goodbye, she'd get emotional, even if she would see them again soon.
She soon found herself in the corridor leading to Umridge's office. She glanced around casually before approaching a suit of armor, as agreed beforehand.
"Harry?" she whispered almost silently.
"Here." Harry whispered, peaking out of a space from under his Invisibility Cloak. Anna glanced around one more time to ensure no one was around before approaching him. He pulled the Cloak over both of them before they crept carefully along the corridor to Umbridge's door.
Anna watched over Harry's shoulder as he inserted the blade of his knife into the crack between the door and it's frame. He then moved it carefully up and down before pulling it back out. A small click was heard before the door swung open. Harry and Anna hurried into the office and Anna closed the door behind them before Harry pulled the Cloak off them.
"I'm going to have to ask Dad where he got that knife." Anna murmured, partially joking.
Harry chuckled quietly as he hurried over to the fireplace. Anna joined him just as he grabbed a pinch of Floo powder. They both crouched down in front of the fire, stuck their heads into the fireplace, and he tossed the powder onto the pile of log. Green flames erupted from the logs.
"Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!" Harry exclaimed.
Anna had traveled by Floo before, but never like this. It felt very strange. Her knees were still firmly planted on the cold floor of Umbridge's office, but her head felt like it was spinning through the air across the country to Grimmauld Place. Anna felt very dizzy and her throat burned with the sensation of being sick. And then, it suddenly stopped and Anna opened her eyes to see the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. At the long, wooden table sat a man staring intently down at a piece of parchment.
"Sirius?" Harry asked.
The man jumped in shock and looked around at them, revealing Remus's tired face.
"Harry?" he exclaimed, looking between them in complete shock. "Anna! What are you-what's happened, is everything alright?"
Anna glanced at Harry, leaving it up to him to answer. "Yeah. I just wondered-I mean, we just fancied a-a chat with Sirius."
"I'll get him." Remus told them as he stood up, still looking puzzled. "He just went upstairs to look for Kreacher, he seems to be hiding in the attic again."
"Why isn't he at home?" Anna found herself asking before she could stop herself.
"He keeps me company on the nights I'm stuck here, and Molly's watching Aslan for the day while your mother's at work." Remus explained briefly as he hurried from the kitchen. They waited for a few moments, and Anna shifted her knees slightly in an attempt to alleviate the ache forming in her joints.
"Are your knees starting to kill you?" she found herself asking quietly.
"A bit." Harry admitted with a wry grin.
A moment later, Remus returned with Sirius on his heels.
"What is it?" Sirius asked worriedly, shoving his long hair from his face as he knelt in front of the fire. Remus did the same, making them about eyelevel with Harry and Anna. "Is everything alright? Do you need any help?"
"No," Harry admitted, "it's nothing like that…I just wanted to talk…about my dad…"
The two men exchanged a very shocked glance, but Harry plunged into the story of the memory he'd seen, probably because they had a limited amount of time.
When he was finished, Anna wasn't surprised to see that neither man spoke for a moment. Finally, Remus spoke in a quiet voice, "I wouldn't like you to judge your father on what you saw there, Harry. He was only fifteen-"
"I'm fifteen!" Harry argued angrily.
"Look, Harry," Sirius spoke calmly, "James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, you can understand that, can't you? I think James was everything Snape wanted to be-he was popular, he was good at Quidditch, good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts and James-whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry-always hated the Dark Arts."
"Yeah, but he just attacked Snape for no good reason," Harry argued, "just because-well, just because you said you were bored." he finished, his tone changing to a guilty one.
"I'm not proud of it." Sirius explained quickly.
Remus glanced at Sirius before speaking. "Look, Harry, what you've got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did-everyone thought they were the height of cool-if they sometimes got a bit carried away-"
"If we were sometimes arrogant little berks, you mean." Sirius interrupted.
Remus smiled.
"He kept messing up his hair." Harry pushed on in a pained voice. Anna glanced over at him, mildly confused as to what the issue was with that.
Sirius and Remus laughed.
"I'd forgotten he used to do that." Sirius commented, his tone one of affection.
"Was he playing with the Snitch?" Remus asked eagerly. Anna couldn't remember seeing Remus so excited about something.
"Yeah." Harry answered, causing the two men to grin reminiscently. "Well,…I thought he was a bit of an idiot." Harry admitted, causing Anna to snort back a laugh.
"Of course he was a bit of an idiot!" Sirius agreed bracingly. "We were all idiots! Well-not Moony so much." he admitted fairly, looking at his best friend, who shook his head.
"Did I ever tell you to lay off Snape?" Remus asked rhetorically, "Did I ever have the guts to tell you I thought you were out of order?"
"Yeah, well, you made us feel ashamed of ourselves sometimes…" Sirius said slowly, "That was something…"
"And," Harry pressed on, "he kept looking over at the girls by the lake, hoping they were watching him!"
"Oh, well, he always made a fool of himself whenever Lily was around." Sirius admitted with a shrug. "He couldn't stop himself showing off whenever he got near her."
"How come she married him?" Harry asked, sounding desperate and miserable. "She hated him!"
"Nah, she didn't." Sirius waved him off.
"She started going out with him in seventh year." Remus explained.
"Once James had deflated his head a bit." Sirius added.
"And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it." Remus continued.
"Even Snape?" Harry checked doubtfully.
"Well," Remus started slowly, and Anna got the sense he was trying to find a way of answering without making his friend look like a total arse, "Snape was a special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James, so you couldn't really expect James to take that lying down, could you?"
"And my mum was okay with that?"
"She didn't know too much about it, to tell you the truth." Sirius admitted. "I mean, James didn't take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?"
Sirius frowned, glancing between Harry and Anna for a moment. Anna guessed her and Harry still looking troubled.
"Look," he started, "your father was the best friend I ever had, and he was a good person. That's why I made him, and Lily, Anna's godparents. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it. I'm guessing Fred and George have done similar things from what Molly's mentioned." he added with a glance at Anna.
She grimaced guiltily. "Well, now that you mention it…" she trailed off with a glance at Harry. He gave a small, amused grin. "A while back they did, sorta, shove someone into a vanishing cabinet…but he had it coming!" she added hurriedly, her eyes going back to Remus and Sirius. They both smirked knowingly at her.
"Yeah, okay." Harry sighed heavily, getting the subject back on track. "I just never thought I'd feel sorry for Snape."
"Now you mention it," Remus spoke up, frowning slightly as his brows came together, "how did Snape react when he found you'd seen all this?"
"He told me he'd never teach me Occlumency again," Harry admitted, shrugging indifferently, "like that's a big disappoint-"
"He WHAT?" Sirius shouted, causing both Harry and Anna to jump in surprise. Anna accidentally smacked the top of her head into the fireplace.
"Are you serious, Harry?" Remus asked quickly. "He's stopped giving you lessons?"
"Yeah." Harry answered, sounding surprised by their reactions. "But it's okay, I don't care, it's a bit of a relief to tell you the-"
"I'm coming up there to have a word with Snape!" Sirius shouted, starting to stand up. Remus grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back to the ground.
"If anyone's going to tell Snape it will be me!" Remus said firmly, mildly surprising Anna. "But Harry, first of all, you're to go back to Snape and tell him that on no account is he to stop giving you lessons-when Dumbledore hears-"
"I can't tell him that, he'd kill me!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "You didn't see him when we got out of the Pensieve-"
"Harry, there is nothing so important as you learning Occlumency!" Remus told him sternly. "Do you understand me? Nothing!"
"Okay, okay." Harry agreed, slightly agitated. "I'll…I'll try and say something to him…But it won't be…"
Harry went quiet, and Anna thought she knew why. She could hear the distant sound of footsteps. Her brows furrowed worriedly and she turned her head slightly to see if she could hear it better.
"Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?" Harry asked.
"No." Sirius answered, glancing over his shoulder. "It must be somebody on your end…"
Anna's breath caught in her throat and she glanced over at Harry. His expression one of fear.
"We'd better go!" he told them hastily. Anna followed his lead and pulled her head out of the fire. Anna had to clench her eyes shut, feeling as if her head was spinning before the sensation stopped. She blinked her eyes open and looked around, finding herself kneeling next to Harry in front of Umbridge's fireplace. She glanced around before hearing someone's voice.
"Quickly, quickly!" a familiar, wheezy voice muttered, quickly approaching the door to the office. "Ah, she's left it open…"
Harry grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over both himself and Anna as Filch burst into the room. A shiver ran down Anna's spine at the absolute delight on his face. That couldn't mean anything good. He was muttering feverishly to himself as he hurried to Umbridge's desk, searching through the papers in one of the drawers.
"Approval for Whipping…Approval for Whipping…I can do it at last…They've had it coming to them for years…"
He finally pulled out a piece of parchment, kissed it, and then waddled out of the room with surprising speed, holding the parchment clutched to his chest.
"No…" Anna breathed, fear gripping her chest at the thought of who Filch was planning on whipping. She leapt to her feet, but Harry grabbed her arm.
"Stay under the Cloak." he hissed, hurrying from the room at her side so they both remained hidden under the Cloak. He yanked the office door open and they both hurried after Filch.
When they were one landing down, Harry took off the Cloak and shoved it inside his bag, probably figuring they were a safe distance. Anna bolted down the stairs, hearing Harry racing along behind her. She headed for the entrance hall, where she could hear shouting and a loud commotion. When she hurried down the marble staircase, she found what appeared to be most of the school crammed into the hall.
Students were standing in a large ring all around the walls. Some were covered in something that looked like Stinksap. Teachers and ghosts were sprinkled among the students, and several members of the Inquisitorial Squad were looking pleased with themselves, which couldn't be good. Peeves was floating above the crowd and looking down at the two people that Anna's eyes had fixed on almost immediately.
Fred and George were standing in the very center of the crowd. They were both looking proud, arrogant even, and defiant as they stared up at Umbridge. Only Anna could see that they were tense and on edge underneath their confidence, probably because this wasn't how their grand escape was supposed to go.
"So!" Umbridge's triumphant voice sounded over the entrance hall from where she stood just a few stairs in front of Anna and Harry, looking down at the twins. "So…you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
"Pretty amusing, yeah." Fred answered casually, looking back at her without a hint of fear in his stance or expression.
Filch elbowed his way to Umbridge's side. "I've got the form, Headmistress." he told her hoarsely, waving the parchment he'd grabbed from her office. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting…Oh, let me do it now…"
Anna's wide eyes met Fred's from over Umbridge's shoulder as she responded, but he gave her a very small, reassuring smile.
"Very good, Argus." Umbridge told Filch. "You two," she continued to Fred and George, "are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?" Fred answered. "I don't think we are." With that, he turned to look at his twin. "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself." George answered lightly as if saying it for the first time. Of course, he might have been, since this wasn't really the way their escape was supposed to go.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Fred asked.
"Definitely." George answered.
A smile tugged at the corners of Anna's mouth as they both raised their wands and shouted in perfect unison, "Accio Brooms!"
There was a crash in the distance and Anna and Harry ducked just in time for Fred and George's brooms to zoom over their heads from where they'd been chained up in Umbridge's office. The two brooms zoomed to the twins' side, stopping sharply in front of them, a chain and iron peg still dangling from one of them.
"We won't be seeing you." Fred told Umbridge as he mounted his broom.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch." George added, mounting his own broom.
Fred looked around at the crowd, which was watching silently.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley-Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Our new premises!" he declared loudly.
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat." George added, pointing up at Umbridge on the stairs.
"STOP THEM!" Umbridge shrieked. But as the Inquisitorial Squad rushed forward, Fred and George kicked off, shooting about fifteen feet into the air. The iron peg swinging below George's broom almost smacked a Slytherin in the head.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves." Fred ordered to the poltergeist bobbing in front of them.
Anna actually laughed when Peeves took off his hat and saluted the twins. All the tension left Anna's shoulders as she realized they would get away.
Fred and George swept around to the loud applause and cheers of the students below. Anna cheered and whistled as they flew out the open front doors of the castle, flying off into a beautiful sunset. A perfect ending to Fred and George's Hogwarts careers.
XXX
Second chapter of the week! Please review to let me know what you thought!