Anna's POV
"Five more minutes Hermione!" I pleaded, burying my face into my pillow. Last night was literally the only time I've slept without Voldemort's visions torturing me. I guess Voldemort cares if I get a good night's sleep before school...
"No, we're already late!" She exclaimed, and shook me too hard, making me fall onto the floor. I groaned.
"Wow, thanks Hermione, but was that really necessary? I'm accident prone enough already..."
"Sorry..."
"Fine, just forget it, I'm going to get ready, okay?" I said laughing and got changed, put some makeup on, and packed my bag. I sighed sadly before I went downstairs to meet with everyone. I have to admit, I would definitely miss this place, and everyone here, especially my father... I didn't see him around, even though I had looked throughout most of the house.
"Hey, have you seen Sirius?" I asked Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"No, he just left to go somewhere-"
"Wait, so he's gone already? I didn't even get to see him off..." Harry trailed off sadly. I just gave him a sad smile.
"We'll see him sometime, don't worry. Now, are we going with the Order?" I asked, and Ron nodded, leading us into a sitting room with a fireplace, where we used the floo network to go into the station. When we arrived, we walked with the Order to the train, then, I saw a big black dog.
"Sirius, what are you doing here?!" I hissed, and he gave me a cheerful bark.
I just wanted to see you two off, follow me. Oh, and by the way, my code name is Snuffles. I understood him say, and he went towards an abandoned waiting room. I motioned for Harry to come with us, and when we got inside, Sirius turned to his human form.
"You're going to be caught-"
"It's worth it. I just had to see you two off... What's life without a little risk?" he asked with a grin.
"I know, but this isn't a good risk to take, I don't want to see you get caught again-"
"Oh I'll be fine...but anyway, I wanted you two to have these," he said, pulling two papers out of his pocket, and handing one to each of us. They were photographs.
"Is this the original Order of the Phoenix?"
"Yes, it is Anna..." I noticed his eyes were fixated on my beautiful mother. I couldn't help but give a sad smile. Then, I noticed something.
"Are those Neville's parents?"
"Yes, Frank and Alice Longbottom. They suffered a fate worse than death, they were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange... You know, its been fourteen years, and a day doesn't go by that I miss James, Lily, and Leah," he said, and there was a silence as the three of us studied the photographs. Then suddenly, Harry spoke up.
"Sirius, do you think there is going to be a war?" Harry asked, and Sirius nodded sadly.
"Yes...it feels like it did before... Anyway, keep those pictures..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am... I know you two will do fine with defeating Voldemort, I have faith in you," he said with a warm smile. We heard the train whistle outside, indicating that we had to go. Sirius hugged us, and we said goodbye one last time before leaving the room. As we were walking, Harry suddenly stopped and clutched his scar.
"Harry, what's wrong?" I asked quickly, a hand on his shoulder. He quickly snapped out of his trance, and straightened up.
"Didn't you just see Voldemort?"
"What? Where?"
"Right over...you know what, never mind..." he mumbled and started walking again. I decided not to push him into telling me, in fear of him getting angry. So we just walked to the train in silence, and found the compartment Ron and Hermione were in.
The majority of the train ride was just small talk. I hated the awkward tension between all of us, it felt like I was being strangled alive it... I think it was mainly caused by Voldemort's anger he transmits into Harry almost every time someone says something to him. I wasn't mad at Harry at all, it just I didn't want to make him mad, and neither did the others... Finally, the train came to a halt, and we got off. As we were nearing the carriges, Malfoy came over to us with Crabbe and Goyle.
"I'm surprised the Ministry is still letting you walk around free, Potter! You better enjoy it while you can. I suspect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it!" he sneered, and Harry lunged at him. It took both Ron and I to hold him back.
"Draco, stop trying to pick fights!" I growled, still holding Harry back.
"I was only speaking my opinion, your psychotic boyfriend is the on you should be scolding. Why did you choose that freak out of everyone else?"
"Stop. It. Right. Now. Malfoy," I said through gritted teeth, and Harry tried to attack him again, thank Merlin Ron and I had a death grip on him...
"See, he's a complete nutter-"
"JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Harry yelled, and Malfoy, along with his croonies, ran away.
"Harry, you need to calm down!"
"Just shut up Anna! I don't need you to scold me like I'm an insolent child-"
"I'm not scolding you, I'm telling you that you're going to kill someone if you keep-"
"You're overreacting-"
"You either would have maimed or killed Malfoy-"
"Well he deserves it-"
"He's my cousin and I care about him! Now if you don't calm the fuck down, I'm literally going to knock you out!" I yelled, and ended the argument. Yes, I know, this wasn't his fault, but he needed to at least make an effort to block out Voldemort... The three of them just stared at me, and I rolled my eyes. I gritted my teeth, and walked to an empty carriage. I noticed Harry was staring at something, a carriage that pulled off with Cho and her friends... A pang of jealousy made my stomach churn, but I ignored it. I mean, Harry's over Cho, right? I just crossed my arms, and hung my head, not wanting my worried expression to show.
"Are you okay Anna?" Ron whispered, putting an arm around me. I looked up at him, and nodded.
"I'm, just um-"
"Worried he still likes Cho?"
"Ha, how did you know?"
"I just know. Don't worry about her, you're so much better, and Harry loves you more than you even know, even if at times he's an immature git," Ron said with a smirk, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Um, what's that?" Harry asked, and I looked over. I gasped, and walked towards the creature Harry was referring to. It was beautiful in a destroyed way. The creature was quite large, and resembled a horse's skeleton. I petted its muzzle.
"What are you?" I asked it softly.
I'm a threstal, you can only see me if you have seen death. It's quite a shame you and your friend have seen death at such a young age. I understood it say.
"Um, I think they're mental," Ron whispered to Hermione, and she nodded slightly.
"You can see it too?" Harry asked.
"Yes, they can't see it because they haven't seen death. This is a threstal," I explained, and he nodded, showing that he understood.
"I can see them too, don't worry, you're just as sane as I am," a soft, airy voice said. I looked in the carriage, and there was someone there that wasn't there before, and she was reading a magazine called, "The Quibbler" upside down. She slowly put the book on her lap, and gave us a smile. She was really pretty in an odd way. She had long, bleached blonde hair, big light blue eyes, a pale complexion, and a dazed look. I noticed she had an odd assortment of accessories which consisted of radish earrings, a necklace with a single cork, and a beetle ring, in which all contrasted from her Ravenclaw uniform. The others looked at her oddly, but I already liked her. I gave her a warm smile, and sat next to her. The others hesitantly took a seat, and the carriage pulled off.
"Everyone this is Loony-" Hermione stopped herself, while Luna just gave an expectant look. "I mean...Luna Lovegood..." she said, stifling a laugh. I gave Hermione a sharp glare, and she quickly looked away whilst giggling slightly. Harry and Ron couldn't help themselves, and started laughing too.
"Hey Luna, it's great to meet you, sorry about my stupid, immature friends. I'm Anna Black by the way," I said with a small smile, and she returned it.
"It's okay, I'm used to people laughing at me, or making fun of me," she said simply, and they suddenly stopped laughing, instantly feeling bad.
"Erm, we're sorry-"
"Its alright," she said, and there was an awkward silence.
"That's an...interesting necklace..." Hermione said awkwardly, but I knew she was holding back a laugh. Luna gave a smile.
"It's a charm actually...keeps away the nargles..."
"Ah, that's cool. So, you like studying magical creatures?"
"Yeah, I think they're interesting, Anna... You know, I hope they have pudding at the feast," Luna said with a dazed smile, and I nodded quickly, my mouth starting to water. The two of us talked the whole ride while the other three whispered to eachother, probably about Luna...
We finally arrived at the castle, and went to our tables.
"So, what do you guys think about Luna?" I asked with an expectant smile, and they all burst out laughing, my smile faded.
"She's bloody weird!"
"What a freak!"
"What the bloody hell are nargles?!"
"You guys are complete arses!" I exclaimed, and some of the kids looked over at me. I just rolled my eyes, and lowered my voice. "She's so nice. Yeah, she's different, so what? I think she's really cool actually. But all you do is just laugh at her, you immature gits!"
"Hey, it's not our fault she's a weirdo, and we find it funny-"
"Oh shut it Hermione! She is weird, and a hell of a lot more interesting than everyone that we've ever met," I growled, but before I could rant anymore, Dumbledore started talking. Like every year, I just tuned him out, knowing nothing he was saying was that important. But then, someone interrupted, and stood up. It was a short, pudgy lady completely decked out in pink, and had toad-like features. Harry and I exchanged a look.
"Harry, that was the lady from your hearing, wasn't it?" I whispered, and he nodded.
"Wait, Anna, how did you know she was at the hearing?" Hermione asked, and I gave a nervous laugh.
"I, erm, might have snuck out..."
"What?!" she hissed, and I explained to her about how I used a spell to change into McGonagall, and defended Harry during the hearing.
"And it was bloody brilliant!" Harry added when I was done explaining. Hermione just narrowed her eyes.
"No, it was an immature act of defiance!" she growled, and I just rolled my eyes. The lady started talking, I learned that her name was Delores Umbridge, she is our new defense against the dark arts teacher, works for the Ministry, and is a complete and utter arse. After she introduced herself, she started rambling about the Ministry, and guidelines, and that's when I was done listening, her sickly sweet voice gave me the urge to vomit, not even kidding... After about twenty minutes, she finally shut up, and sat down.
"Thank Merlin that's over..." I mumbled, and Hermione gave me a pointed look.
"Did you pay attention to what she said?"
"I don't think anyone did..."
"You've got that right Anna," Harry snickered, and Ron and I joined in.
"What she pretty much said is that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts-"
"And they weren't doing that already?"
"Not as much as they're going to be now..." Hermione said worriedly, and I gave a slight nod, knowing she was right... I had a bad feeling about this lady, and I knew she was going to change the school, definitely not for the better...
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Okay, hey everyone! I'm sorry if that chapter was long and boring... Actually, I've noticed my chapters have been drastically getting longer. Do you like longer, or shorter chapters (tell me in the comments)? Well, that's about it... I promise that the next update will be coming soon, and I would really appreciate it if you could vote, comment, follow (sorry if I can't follow you back, I think I've exceeded the amount of people I can follow...but please still follow me, it would mean a lot!), and just keep reading! Thanks! :)