Mountain Fold (Oliver Wood)

Chapter Seventeen

Anna watched the fire flicker and burn. She was by her favourite spot near the fire and while she was enjoying the warmth, it wasn't doing much to take the boredom away. Both of her friends were busy which left her all by herself, on Valentine's Day.

Currently it was midday, Anna had finished her morning class and had a break before she had to head to another class later. Zinnia was with Alicia, even though she still denied that they were together, Anna didn't want to feel like a third wheel, so she let them be. Darian was spending his spare time playing matchmaker, he was having fun trying to set his friend up with people and Anna had no desire to help, mostly because she didn't want Darian to try to set her up with someone. He had good intentions, but Anna and Zinnia had learnt to avoid Darian on Valentine's Day.

Of course, this all lead to Anna sitting by herself by the fire. Alone. She was debating whether she should study, bake, or wander aimlessly around the castle, for some reason the last option appealed to her most.

She got up from her cosy spot by the fire, something that was never easy for her, and went to make her way to the Common Room entrance. Her casual walk was interrupted by a fast-moving blur of colour. Anna was knocked to the floor, she looked up to see a very concerned Tonks looking down at her, who also looked a little surprised that out of the both of them, Anna had been the one to fall over, despite Tonks being known for clumsiness.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay Anna?"

"I'm fine," she reassures as Tonks helps her up. Anna wouldn't say that her and Tonks were friends, but they were friendly towards each other, Tonks had tripped over many of Anna's paper creations and also Zinnia's shoes which she kept but the Common Room entrance, despite them being well out of the way, Tonks still found a way to trip over them once or twice.

Tonks was closer with Darian, since Darian had so many friends. Some days it felt like he knew everyone in the school, but it was probably because Anna and Zinnia knew so few people. But Tonks had taken a liking to Anna when she learnt how similar they were, both with mothers in Slytherin that weren't on good terms with their family.

But they were quite different, Tonks was outgoing and known for being charismatic while Anna was definitely not. But they still got along well, although Anna had been nervous around Tonks at first now she enjoyed listening to the Metamorphmagus chatter away.

"Are all your friends busy too?" Tonks asked her, and Anna nodded. Tonks looked at her for a few seconds before her face lit up with an idea.

"We can hang out, I have a great idea of what to do, you'll love it," Tonks dragged Anna along before she had a chance to protest.

As much as Anna liked Tonks she was not happy when she was dragged outside into the cold, Tonks either didn't mind or didn't notice the cold temperature. Anna couldn't bring herself to protest when she saw how excited Tonks looked.

The lake was in front of her before she could even register where they were going, it was frozen solid and glistened in the sun. It was beautiful, and she understood why Tonks had shown her, or at least she thought she understood. But apparently the scenery wasn't what drew Tonks to this place.

"Let's slide around on the lake," suggested Tonks and Anna was at a loss for words for a moment.

"You want to go ON the lake? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Of course not, I do it all the time at winter," Tonks brushed off her concerns. She seemed oblivious to how worried Anna was as she pulled her onto the lake. It was very slippery, which was a problem for Tonks who sometimes had problems staying upright on dryland. It didn't take long before she fell over, dragging Anna down with her.

They lay on the icy floor in silence for a few seconds before Tonks burst out laughing and Anna grinned widely. The rest of the day include many tumbled, although one of them tumbled over more than the other. After a while Anna stopped noticing the cold and stopped worrying about being on the frozen lake, she started having fun. Tonks had a way with people where she could make people instantly feel at ease, she knew how to make Anna feel more comfortable and calm enough to enjoy herself.

After they'd had enough of sliding around and falling over they made their way over to the shore and looked out over the frozen lake, chatting to each other.

"Are N.E.W.T.s really as bad as everyone says?" Anna asked.

"To be honest, they're probably worse," Tonks answered glumly.

"That's not very reassuring."

"Well they're not impossible. As long as you try your best you'll do fine," Tonks tried to reassure her.

"That is a little more reassuring. But it still doesn't seem like we've got much to look forward too."

"You'd be surprised," Tonks said mysteriously.

"What's that meant to mean?" Anna asked curiously.

"You're a worth Hufflepuff, perhaps you will be chosen," Tonks said.

"Wait what?" Anna sounded alarmed.

"You have class soon, lets head back to the castle," Tonks told her and quickly got up, starting to speed walk back to the castle.

"Wait! Tonks tell me what you meant! Slow down! Tonks! What did you mean?"