The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 2

George, who was driving, glanced back at Anna and Fred. Anna was still asleep on Fred's shoulder.
"Someone's gotten rather cozy." George snickered and Fred flushed darkly. "Piss off Georgie."
"Aw, is Freddie embarrassed?"
"And what would I be embarrassed of?"
"The fact that you have a crush on Anna." Harry chimed in, and Fred rolled his eyes as he blushed even darker. "I don't have a crush on Anna."
Anna stirred, and Fred froze until she went still again. "You two better be quiet or you'll wake her."
"And then you'll be dead." Ron whispered. "I accidentally woke her up once, and she just about hexed me."
"Note to self: never interrupt Anna's beauty sleep." George snickered, but Ron looked dead serious. "It's no laughing matter! I'm surprised that she didn't give me a donkey tail or something like that."
"I was damn near close." Anna muttered, and Ron gulped, fearing her wrath. Anna glared at him. "You interrupt my sleep again and I'll turn you into a full donkey and not give you just the tail."
"I told you not to wake her." Ron grumbled to George.
"We're almost home anyways." George answered. Now we just need to sneak Harry and his things inside without waking Mum and Dad."
The car touched the ground, and George pulled it into the garage. They got Harry's trunk out and walked into the yard. Anna gulped nervously when she saw Molly storming towards them.
"Uh-oh." Ron muttered as Molly started yelling.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?! None of you in your beds, not even a note!"
"We had to get Harry Mum!" George protested. "They were starving him and basically keeping him prisoner. Plus his Uncle hurt Anna."
"He what?!" Molly stopped her rampage and inspected the gash on Anna's forehead. "Oh dear...let's get you inside, I've got a salve that'll fix you right up."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley." Anna murmured.
"It's not your fault that you got caught up in the boys shenanigans."
Ron and the twins looked shocked that Anna was escaping punishment.
Wrapping an arm around Anna, Molly led her inside, and had her sit in a chair in the kitchen. Ginny came running down the stairs, but as soon as she saw Harry, she ran right upstairs again.
"She's been like this all summer," Ron muttered to Harry, who nodded in slight confusion.
Anna watched as Molly took a jar out of a cabinet. "Now this might sting a little dear." Molly warned as she opened the jar, and Anna's nose wrinkled at the smell.
Scooping some of the sour smelling stuff onto her fingers, Molly smeared it onto Anna's cut, and Anna hissed sharply.
"There." Molly said with a smile. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it? Now, I'm going to fix you and Harry something to eat, and you two can pop off to bed while Ron and the twins degnome the garden."
She fixed Anna and Harry some pancakes with butter and maple syrup, and thick slices of bacon, which they quickly devoured. Anna could never seem to get enough of Molly's cooking. The pancakes were light and fluffy, and the bacon crispy.
Molly refilled their plates, and the Potter twins had to stop her from doing it a third time, insisting that they had had plenty to eat.
Harry decided to forego sleep and go out and help with the garden instead.
Anna, however, was more than happy to go upstairs and get some sleep. She trudged upstairs, collapsing on her bed and quickly falling asleep.

Anna hadn't seen Adriana all summer, so she had known that it was only a matter of time before they talked again.
"You've had a busy night." Adriana remarked, and Anna chuckled softly. "I guess that you could say that. Haven't seen you in a while."
"I thought that I would give you a little bit of a respite." Adriana responded. "I can imagine that my visits take a toll on you."
"Well thank you for that. I promise I'll try and find out what really happened when I return to school. It's just hard because I can't seem to find anything. All of the books I've read talk about your early history and how you killed everyone in that Druid village."
Adriana frowned. "I never killed anyone, and I must definitely wouldn't kill an entire village of people."
"I believe you." Anna quickly assured her. "But not a lot of people do, and without evidence, they never will. There weren't any eyewitnesses, people only had Merlin's word to go on."
Adriana sighed softly. "Merlin was a very powerful wizard, and had ways of making people see things differently."
"What do you mean?" Anna asked, but Adriana shook her head. "You will find out soon enough."
She started to fade away, leaving Anna more puzzled than ever.