The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 23

The end of year exams approached, and Anna constantly found herself studying in the library, her mind becoming crammed with information such as the first charm ever created, when the last Goblin War was, important witches and wizards in history, and she had to review everything that they had covered in Transfiguration. Her brain felt like it might implode from all of the information that she was trying to cram in. Thankfully she had Nancy to help her with Transfiguration, and Hermione helped her with all of her other classes. If it hadn't been for those two, then Anna would have most definitely failed.

When Hermione found out that Anna was helping another ghost, however, she wasn't quite as helpful on that matter.
"You're already helping over a dozen!" Hermione exclaimed. "On top of all of your studies, there's no way that you're going to be able to do all of it and still stay sane!"
"It's not like I could tell Savannah no!" Anna retorted. "You didn't see the look on her face. I couldn't tell her no and live with the guilt."
"I could have." Hermione muttered under her breath, but Anna didn't seem to hear her, or if she did, she didn't answer her.
"Besides, this one is easy." Anna insisted. "Edward told me who it was that killed him. All that I have to do is get inside his family's manor and get his pocketwatch."
"A manor that's probably warded with a whole bunch of spells!" Hermione cried out in exasperation, causing a whole bunch of students in the library to look their way. A few (namely Ravenclaws), gave them glares as though telling them to be quiet. Hermione flushed as she lowered her voice.
"Anna, I'm just trying to be sensible about this. You can't help every ghost that comes your way asking for help."
Anna sighed softly. "I know that I can't Mione, but that doesn't mean that I can't try. Look, I appreciate how you're looking out for me, but I have to do this, I couldn't just ignore this and not have a guilty conscience."
Hermione sighed softly. "Anna, I just, I don't want you getting hurt. If Edward really was killed by his father, a possible Death Eater, then he's a very dangerous man. You should alert the authorities."
Anna rolled her eyes. "Right, because they're going to listen to a thirteen year old who says that ghosts come to her in her dreams and she helps them move on to the afterlife. It sounds ridiculous when I say it, and I'm the one experiencing it."
Anna started to pack up all of her things. "Look, I'll catch up with you at dinner okay?"
Hermione watched Anna walk away. "Please be careful Annie." She whispered.

A week and a half went by, and the full moon quickly approached. Usually the week before the full moon, Anna didn't go to classes, as she would become very irritable and could get angry at the slightest thing. The few people that didn't know that she was a werewolf just assumed that it was her time of the month. When it was nearing the time of her transformation, Anna went looking for Remus so that they could transform together, but she wasn't able to find him anywhere, so she started making her way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest by herself.
Anna took out a vial of Wolfsbane from her pocket, and she quickly downed it.
"I'm never going to get used to the taste of that." Anna muttered as she slipped the now empty vial into her pocket. She groaned at the now familiar feeling of her body stretching and transforming. She looked around, and her gaze wandered over to the Whomping Willow, and she spotted a group of people. She recognized Hermione, Harry and Ron immediately, as well as Remus. There was a short man that she didn't recognize, and what seemed to be an unconcious Snape hovering in the air. She saw another man that was also unfamiliar. She stared at Remus. Didn't he know that tonight was the full moon? Why was he around other people? Had he possibly forgotten? Then...Anna watched in horror as he started to transform. One of the men turned into a big black dog. An Animagi....was that Sirius Black?
She started running towards them, and she jumped in front of Harry just as Remus was about to pounce on him. She snarled and bared her teeth at Remus, warning him to back off. Sirius seemed surprised to see another werewolf, but nonetheless, he appreciated the help in keeping the kids safe. The short man that she had seen was now no longer around, but Anna didn't have time to worry about that. Right now all that mattered to her was keeping her brother and friends safe.
Remus must have realized that he was outnumbered, because he ran off. Sirius ran after him, and Anna looked at Harry, and she nodded towards the castle, as though telling him to go where it was safe. He and Hermione helped Ron towards the castle. Ron was obviously injured. Come morning Anna would definitely be asking them what had happened.
She contemplated going after Remus and Sirius, but with Remus' current state, it would be potentially dangerous, especially since Remus didn't seem to have taken his Wolfsbane that night.
Anna took off for the Forbidden Forest, catching a couple of squirrels to stave off her hunger until the morning. She saw a Centaur or two, and they merely nodded at her,they were used to seeing her in here at this point. Anna laid down, curling up into a ball as she prepared to wait the night out.

When Anna awoke the next morning, back in her human form, it took her a moment to remember what had happened the night before. When the memories finally returned to her, she jumped up, immediately regretting it and clutching at her pounding head.
"Bloody hell." She mumbled as she slowly made her way to the castle. Like Remus, she also had a pair of charmed clothes, so she wasn't walking around the halls in tattered rags.
Ron was in a bed in the hospital wing, confirming Anna's suspicions that he had gotten hurt the night before.
Madam Pomfrey closed the curtains around Anna's bed so that they would have a bit of privacy.
She casted a silencing charm as well. After learning of how Draco had overheard them talking, she now casted a silencing charm every time so that they wouldn't have any more unfortunate incidents like that.
"How did your transformation go dear?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she tended to various cuts and scrapes on Anna's body.
"Same as always." Anna responded. "Madame Pomfrey, how did Ron get hurt? What happened?"
"He broke his leg." The matron explained, but she wouldn't go into detail of exactly how he broke it, and Anna knew better than to press her about it.

Anna was released the next day, and Hermione and Harry quickly found her.
"Have we got a story to tell you." Harry said as he grabbed Anna's hand and dragged her to the common room. It was empty, as everyone was enjoying the sunny day, something that Anna had been planning on doing herself before Harry had kidnapped her.
"Harry slow down!" Anna said as she nearly tripped while trying to keep up with him as they basically ran up the stairs. "I would rather no go back to the hospital wing with a broken neck."
"Sorry." harry said as he slowed down, but not by much. When they were finally in the common room, he sat her down on the couch and told he what they had done the night before, of how Sirius Black had been wrongfully accused of killing their parents (Anna always had a gut feeling that Sirius was innocent, but Harry looked so thrilled by this new revelation that she decided to keep quiet), of how Scabbers, Ron's rat was actually Peter Pettigrew, the person who had given their parents up to Voldemort, and of how he and Hermione used a Time Turner to go back in time and save Sirius and Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Anna was glad that they had managed to save him, she didn't know what she would have done if Lucius had succeeded in getting Buckbeak killed. She probably would have hexed his son. Granted, it was only a matter of time before she hexed him anyways.
"Was that you last night" Harry asked once he had finished. "Who jumped in front of me?"
Anna nodded. "Yeah, I saw you guys from a distance, and saw Remus transform."
"You really saved my neck."
Anna rolled her eyes playfully. "It's not like I was going to let Remus maul you, even though you constantly annoy me to no end and probably would have deserved it."
"Hey!"
Hermione and Anna both started laughing at the pout that Harry had on his face.
Anna then stood up. "I'll see you guys later, I'm going to go and find Cedric and tell him goodbye."
The Hogwarts Express would be arriving the next day to take all of the students home for the holidays.
Anna found Cedric on the Quidditch Pitch, having one last flying session before summer break.
"Oi, Superman!" Anna waved at him, and he touched down, his hair a mess from the wind rushing through it.
"Superman?" Cedric said with a laugh, and Anna shrugged her shoulders. "It's a muggle thing. Remind me to explain it to you sometime. I just thought I would say goodbye before we board the train tomorrow."
"You'll write to me won't you?"
"Cedric don't be stupid. Of course I'll write to you." Anna lightly shoved him and he pretended to stumble.
Anna rolled her eyes at him. "You big baby. I didn't push you that hard."
"You know how sensitive I am." Cedric said, and Anna scoffed at his whining tone. "Honestly, how the hell am I even friends with you?"
"Because of my dashing good looks and sparkling personality." Cedric retorted, and Anna burst into laughter.
"I think that you've let your little fanclub get into your head."
"We all know that it was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Unfortunately." Anna mumbled good-naturedly, and now it was Cedric's turn to roll his eyes. "Shut up, you love me."
"How I do, I have no idea."
Cedric laughed and he flung an arm around her as they walked back to the castle.
Anna wrinkled her nose as she shoved his arm away. "Gross, you stink to high heaven. Go and take a shower and get yourself cleaned up."
"Yes ma'am." Ceric pretended to salute before sauntering off towards the showers.
"Idiot." Anna giggled before walking off, unaware that by this time next summer, things would be very different.