Belladonna

Biscuits and Bunnies

Belladonna 16

Biscuits and Bunnies

Ana's anticipated Hogsmeade date never came.

After the holidays, which proved to be rather dull for Ana since the Carrows and Sadie all went home, Ana didn't have any more time with Fred. He didn't ask her to the Valentine's Hogsmeade trip, so she spent the day with Hestia, as they were the only two without dates. Then he didn't make their post-match chat after the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match in February (which Slytherin won of course) because he found himself in detention. By the time the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match came around three weeks later, Sev turned up in the common room just as Ana was about to head down. He came with the announcement that Quidditch had been canceled for the remainder of the season!

There had been another attack on a Muggle-born student, bringing the total to four now. The first had been the Gryffindor boy in November. Then a Hufflepuff was attacked over the Christmas holiday. And now there was a double attack with a Ravenclaw prefect and Hermione Granger. At least now maybe the ridiculous rumor that Potter was the Heir of Slytherin would be put to rest. Everyone knew that Granger was one of his best mates.

The only time that Ana got any sort of recognition from Fred was just before the start of term at the Welcome Back Feast. Ana had spent her holiday pouring over the books Sadie had suggested before leaving, and scouring through the tips and tricks she provided in her letters. Ana's revised paper for McGonagall was not three rolls, but three-and-a-half. Then she provided a lovely demonstration at the feast by transfiguring several objects, including the hat on Dumbledore's head, into little rabbits. Fred grinned and gave her a thumb's up when she transfigured the fork in his hand just as he was about to take a bite.

That was it; nothing more.

Of course, apart from their post-match chats, Ana and Fred didn't really have the opportunity for any other interactions, as they were on different schedules. And thanks to the attacks, the Professors were all in a frenzy. Free time had been disbanded and the Professors were now escorting students to their next class, making it impossible to stop and talk in the corridor. If students weren't in class, then they were either in the library, the Great Hall, or their common rooms.

The Professors weren't the only ones in a frenzy, though, the school Governors were too. In fact, they were so upset that they voted Professor Dumbledore out because they said he couldn't "contain the situation." McGonagall was now the acting Headmistress. Hagrid had been arrested too, and sent to Azkaban, though Ana didn't know why. Rumor had it that he was somehow responsible for the attacks, but Ana didn't believe it. He was far too much of gentle-giant type to harm anyone.

His arrest, however, meant Fang was left alone. So Ana went down to feed him and take care of him as much as she could. She could tell he was rather depressed at Hagrid's departure, but Ana's visits seemed to cheer him up a bit. When Sev caught her trying to sneak back in one night, however, he was livid.

Ana spent a good hour and a half, at least, in his office listening to his tirade. He went on and on about how it was completely irresponsible of her to be sneaking out, and how he surely had trained her better. When he accused her friends of being a bad influence, Ana lost it. She yelled right back at him. Of course, raising her voice and firing back didn't help the situation.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not considering the volume of their raised voices, Ana was rescued from Sev's relentless anger by Professor McGonagall. McGonagall, however, did not have to raise her voice to be heard over the shouting match. At her appearance, both Ana and Sev stopped yelling and merely stared, fuming, at each other. McGonagall sent Ana to wait in the corridor while she spoke to Sev alone. While she was waiting, Ana couldn't stop the angry tears that ran down her cheeks.