Disclaimer: I do not own the potter-verse. I make no money from this story, etc, etc.

Chapter Five

That night the owls flew fast and furious.

Daddy—

You won't believe what happened and it's all Draco Malfoy's fault! That boy made me cry! I want to cut out his heart with a spoon!

Much Love,

Anne

Daughter—

I was pleased to hear how eager you were to revenge yourself until I learned that you cried in front of the entire student body of Hogwarts. Such behavior is unacceptable. Furthermore, my sources tell me you have not ceased such despicable behaviors as frolicking and cavorting. Your allowance is suspended as of this moment.

Sincerely&etc,

Daddy

Mr. Malfoy—

You have one chance to rectify the situation between my daughter and your son. I will not have her sniveling in front of the entire school on account of your brat again.

Sincerely&etc,

Lord Voldemort

Draco—

You will apologize to Miss Smith immediately and make every possible amends or I'll make sure a certain person knows to skip our house Christmas Eve.

Love,

PopPop

In his dormitory, Draco looked at the missive from his father in horror. "No, he wouldn't," he gasped, "He wouldn't tell Santa! No!" Draco crumbled to his knees. "I'll be good!" he wailed repeatedly while rocking back and forth.

"Draco, snap out of it!" said Blaise Zabini. When Draco didn't answer, Blaise conjured a bucket of water and splashed Draco with it. Draco looked at Blaise with his mouth gaping. "There is no Santa, you nitwit," snapped Blaise.

At that news, Draco fell apart all over again.

"I give up," said Blaise, throwing the bucket over his shoulder which ricocheted off Crabbe's head and hit Goyle, knocking them both out. "I'm going to the kitchens."

Tuesday morning found Anne sitting at the Hufflepuff table where she belonged, but she was far from happy. She sat picking at her food and staring glumly at the tabletop while Luna sat next to her eating ravenously.

"Saturn is in alignment with Venus tonight and you know what that means," said Luna as she gulped down a goblet of pumpkin juice. "An inter-dimensional hole will be ripped in the fabric of time and space and a plague of horny locusts from Pluto will descend upon our planet and eat everything in sight, down to the last bunny slipper."

Nearby Hufflepuffs eyed Luna warily, but Luna continued without noticing. "After breakfast I'm going to the kitchens to swipe some food and then I'm going to lock myself in the dungeons. Wanna come?"

Despite Luna's never-before-seen exuberance, Anne couldn't find it within herself to dredge up the necessary excitement.

"No, you go ahead, Luna," said Anne drearily. "I wouldn't want to miss Potions. It's the only thing I have to look forward to all day."

"Suit yourself," said Luna as she dumped an entire platter of sausage on her plate.

"Er, hello," said Draco as he sat himself next to Anne.

"What do you want?" she asked glumly.

"Merely the pleasure of your company at the Slytherin table."

"Why?" Anne looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, you know," said Draco, "it's just—uh, we have a lot in common?"

"We do?"

"Yes, we do," asserted Draco with a nod, "a love of furry creatures, for one thing." He gingerly reached out to pet a rabbit sitting on the table, but it bit him. "Ouch!"

Anne rolled her eyes. "Draco, I live with a man who lies for fun."

"See? See?" said Draco waving his hand around and splatting nearby Hufflepuffs with blood from his wound. "So do I! We do have something in common!"

Anne just looked at him. "Draco," she finally said, "You're turning abnormally pale. You ought to go to the infirmary before you faint from loss of blood."

"Yes, you're right," said Draco in a daze, "you're absolutely right. I'll—I'll go right now." He stood clutching his hand and wobbled out of the hall.

Anne turned back to her breakfast. "I hope he doesn't faint on anybody. That could get messy."

Finishing her breakfast, Anne stood up and departed for the potions classroom. When she reached her destination, she paused in front of the classroom door and breathed in deeply. "This is a dream come true," she gushed. "I should savor this moment."

"I would appreciate it if you would do your savoring from your seat."

Anne whirled around to see a man in all black standing before her with a scowl planted on his face.

"In! Now!" he commanded.

Anne grinned at him and scurried in. Professor Snape swept behind her with a flourish and strode to the front of the classroom, taking his place behind the podium. He grinned predatorily.

"Welcome to sixth year potions," he sneered.

Anne sighed happily. "He sneers!" she exclaimed.

Snape threw her a disdainful look, but since Hufflepuffs were beneath his notice, he ignored her and continued.

"You have, by now, mastered the rudimentary skills necessary to brew the most basic of potions. Why you have decided to continue with your potions education is unimportant. Only know this: what you have learned in all of your previous years of schooling combined is not a tenth of what you will learn this year under my tutelage. By Christmas, you could sit the potions NEWT with any seventh year and pass with full marks. Or you will fail miserably."

Professor Snape paused and surveyed his class, all of whom were cowering in fear, except Miss Smith who was grinning happily. Professor Snape immediately discounted her as an anomaly, most likely accounted for by a certain hallucinogenic compound he had discovered missing this morning.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff," he snapped upon reaching this conclusion before continuing as if nothing had happened.

"Open your books to pa—"

An owl flew into the classroom through the only window, which was a small slit at ground level and therefore abutted the ceiling. It landed in front of Miss Smith and she took the letter it offered. Snape's eye twitched dangerously. He stalked to Miss Smith and held his hand out imperiously.

"The letter," he intoned.

"Of course, Professor," chirped Anne merrily.

Snape glowered at her and snapped the parchment open.

"Daughter," he read out loud. "Allow me to congratulate you for causing the Malfoy spawn to bleed and subsequently faint." Snape trailed off as he finished reading the letter to himself. When he finished, he crumpled up the offending parchment in his hand and glared at Miss Smith. He leaned forward to whisper icily in her face.

"So you're the cause of that particular incident," he hissed . "I knew bunnies had nothing to do with it. Why Malfoy would cover up for you, I will never understand." He straightened up and boomed, "Twenty points for disrupting my class, twenty-five for causing another student harm and detention for the remainder of the week." He whirled around and stalked to his desk.

"I won't be able to come to detention, sir," said Anne.

Snape paused. "Why is that?" he asked in deadly tones.

Anne smiled perkily at him. "I already have detention for the rest of the month with my head of house."

"Oh, I'm sure we can arrange something," promised Snape with a glint in his eye.

"I certainly hope so," said Anne, "You're already my favorite teacher!"

"Ten points for lying and another ten for sucking up!"

Anne gasped. "But, sir," she protested, "I couldn't lie about something like that! I'm a horrible liar!"

"That much is obvious," snarled Snape.

Forgetting her protestations, Anne cradled her chin in her hand and dreamily sighed, "Sarcasm."

Deciding that enough class time had already been wasted, Snape merely rolled his eyes and continued with the lesson.