The Flower and the Badger

Year 2: Chapter 1

Anna Potter was pacing around in Ron Weasley's room. It was nearing the end of summer and she hadn't heard from her brother Harry since the beginning of the holidays, and she was starting to get worried about him.  Ron hadn't heard from him either. "Maybe he's forgotten about us."
Anna had spent the summer going back and forth between the Weasleys and the Grangers, her adoptive parents. The Grangers had adopted Anna over the summer after hearing how horribly her Aunt and Uncle had been treating her. There were only a few weeks left until school started, and Anna was spending the remainder of it with Ron and his family. Molly had doted on her, making sure that Anna had plenty to eat, giving her seconds and sometimes even thirds. Anna was surprised she hadn't gained more weight than she already had.
Anna looked at Ron, who was cleaning up the game of wizards chess that they had just finished. Ron, of course, had creamed her. He was a whiz at chess.
"You know that he wouldn't forget about us." Anna said as she paced, her shoulder length ginger hair tied up in a loose ponytail.
"What other explanation is there?" Ron demanded and Anna groaned in exasperation. "I don't know! Maybe the Dursleys aren't letting him send or receive any mail." Anna sighed as she sat on his bed, fiddling with her thumbs. Suddenly Fred and George popped their heads in. "Why the long faces?"
Anna and Ron explained how they hadn't heard from Harry in ages.
"Why don't we go and get him then?" Fred asked, and Anna shook her head. "The Dursleys won't let him back into the wizarding world until they absolutely have to."
"So we get him at night then." George stated this like it was obvious. "Get him while the Dursleys are all sleeping."
"How would we even get there?" Anna asked, and the twins exchanged knowing smirks. "Leave that to us."
Anna rolled her eyes. Somehow that worried her even more.

Anna busied herself for the rest of the day, wondering what the twins were planning, and how much trouble it would get them into if they were to get caught. Night fell, and one by one the Weasleys went to bed. Ginny was first, followed by Percy, and then Molly and Arthur.
Around midnight Anna snuck out of the room that she was sharing with Ginny and crept downstairs to the kitchen where she met up with Ron and the twins.
"Follow us." Fred said, and the twins led the two younger ones out to the garage, where there was a light blue Ford Anglia.
"Are we driving then?" Anna asked, and George laughed lightly. "Not exactly. Just get in and you'll find out soon enough."
Shaking her head, Anna climbed into the backseat. Fred sat next to her, and George and Fred sat in front. They pulled out, and it wasn't until they were at the end of the driveway that Anna realized they were no longer on the ground. The car was flying.
"Bloody hell!" Anna gasped, and Fred sniggered. "Bet you weren't expecting that, were you Annie?"
Anna blushed darkly as she lightly shoved him. "Oh shut up."
They flew into the dark night, and Anna looked at all of the stars and their constellations. It was partly cloudy, but the stars still twinkled brilliantly.
"Enjoying the view?" Fred teased, and Anna nodded. "Yeah, it's beautiful."
Fred sighed softly. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am. The Dursleys could be doing any number of things to Harry."
"Harry's a tough bloke, he'll make it through."
"I know that." Anna sighed. "But I can't help but feel like maybe I should have stayed with him."
"You're kidding." Fred's eyes widened slightly. "Anna, they were terrible to you, much more so than it seems like they were to Harry."
"But Fred-"
"You need to stop talking like that," Fred said sternly, and George and Ron bit back their laughs at the lecture that Anna was getting. "Anna, even if you had stayed, you wouldn't have been able to help him. You would have just gotten hurt in the process."
"I guess." Anna mumbled, and Fred placed a hand on her back. "Try not to blame yourself, alright?"
Anna nodded, and Fred wrapped her in a hug.
"Much as I hate to interrupt this mushy, gushy moment," George said, a small smirk on his face, "but we're almost there, and I need Anna to show us where to go."
Anna blushed again, deeper this time as she showed them the right house. She frowned as she saw bars on Harry's window.
"That's new." She muttered as they pulled up to the window. A minute later Harry's head appeared in the window. He seemed bleary-eyed, as though he had been sleeping. He slid the window open. "Anna!" He exclaimed as his hands gripped the metal bars. "What are you doing here?"
"Busting you out." Anna grinned as she gestured to the Weasleys gathered in the car with her. "And I've brought some backup along with me."
Fred, George, and Ron all waved to Harry. "You alright mate?" Fred asked, and Harry nodded. "I'm better now that you're here."
"Get your trunk and things together." Said George. "We're getting you out of here."
"I can't." Harry answered. "My school stuff is locked in the downstairs cupboard, I'm lucky they even let me keep Hedwig up here."
"Leave that to us!" Fred and George said simultaneously. Even after spending the summer with the Weasleys, and a whole school year before that, how the twins managed to do that still creeped Anna out.
Somehow they managed to get the bars off of Harry's window without making too much of a racket. Fred, George, and Anna climbed into Harry's room, while Ron stayed in the Anglia.
"Harry, you get into the car with Ron." Anna directed. She kept her voice low so as not to wake the sleeping Dursleys. "Take Hedwig with you. Fred, George and I will get your things from downstairs. Harry nodded as he took Hedwig's cage and climbed into the car, placing Hedwig in the backseat.
Anna slowly opened Harry's bedroom door. Or rather, she tried to. Naturally Uncle Vernon had locked it. She watched as Fred took out a lockpick and started to work on the door.
"You know how to pick locks?" Anna  asked, and George grinned.  "It's a rather Muggle skill, but a useful one."
The lock was picked seconds later, and they ventured out to the dark hallway.
"Be careful on the last step." Anna whispered. "It creaks."
They skipped the bottom step entirely, hopping down from the second to last step. It was George that picked the next lock, and they went into the cupboard.
Fred and George grabed Harry's trunk and they were carrying it up the stairs went Uncle Vernon came out of the kitchen, a cookie in his hand. His gaze met Anna's.
"YOU!!" He snarled.
"RUN!" Anna shouted to the twins, and they quickened their pace. Anna was almost to the top of the stairs when Uncle Vernon grabbed her ankle and she fell, smacking her forehead on the step.
"Keep going!" She shouted to Fred and George, who had turned around to make sure that she was alright.
Anna kicked her foot, catching Uncle Vernon in the nose. She scrambled up the steps and ran after Fred and George, who were in the process of shoving Harry's trunk in the back of the Anglia. Fred helped Anna get into the car, and the twins jumped inside just as Uncle Vernon burst into the room.
"See you next summer!" Harry called out, waving to Uncle Vernon as the car shot off.
Fred frowned as he inspected Anna's forehead. "That's a good sized lump on your head."
"I'm alright." Anna insisted. She yawned a bit, and Fred chuckled softly. "Get some sleep, I'll wake you when we get home."
Anna nodded and she laid her head on his shoulder, quickly falling asleep.