The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 9

The task involving dragons had finally come, and Anna was sitting in the stands with Ron. Hermione had gone to wish Harry luck, and Fred and George were busy getting people to place bets. Despite the fact that Ron insisted that he was still mad at Harry, he still came to watch the task, which meant that not all hope was lost. Anna  bit her lip nervously, silently praying that Harry wouldn't get hurt, or that he would at least make it out without getting swallowed whole.

Finally Hermione joined them. "Don't be surprised by Rita's article in The Daily Prophet when she says that Harry and I are an item."
"Oh Godric." Anna groaned as she shook her head. "I swear, that woman is the devil."

The task began, and Anna immediately recognized the dragons from her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Viktor went up against a Chinese Fireball, Fleur fought a Welsh Green, and Cedric managed to defeat a Swedish Short-Snout. Thankfully he had come away with just a few burns. Then finally came Harry, fighting a Hungarian Horntail. Anna had held her breath nearly the whole time, and it was a miracle that she didn't pass out from lack of oxygen. Like Cedric, he ha a few burns, but nothing that wouldn't heal. As soon as the task was over, Anna went to visit the two of them in the hospital wing.
"Well, that's something that I never want to witness ever again." Anna said to them. They had been placed in beds that were right next to each other, so Anna was able to talk to both of them.
Cedric laughed lightly. "Oh come on. We came out of it all right."
"Narrowly."
"You worry too much." Harry added, and Anna rolled her eyes. "Someone has to do it, since you two are too careless to do it yourselves."
They both objected that they were anything but careless, but Anna merely shook her head. "You're boys, you're careless by nature."
"Meanie." Harry said with a pout, causing Anna to giggle. "We both know that if it were me out there, I would have come out of it without a single scratch."
"Cockiness doesn't suit you," Cedric muttered, and Anna laughed. "You know it's true. Girls are just naturally better than boys. I mean, Fleur came out of it without a mark on her."
"She probably seduced it with her Veela charms." Harry grumbled, and Anna smirked at him."Jealous much brother?"
"I'm not jealous." Harry responded hotly.
"Oh yeah, you're so convincing."

Cedric laughed as he watched the two bicker back and forth. "I can see now how you two are related. You're both stubborn as hell."
"Don't you just hate it?" Anna replied sarcastically, and Cedric laughed even more. "Oh yeah, it's terrible."
"I can see now why so many people thought that you two were together." Harry teased, and Anna glared at him. "That was a very embarrassing time for me, and it's forbidden to talk about it."
"Oh come on." Now Cedric was teasing her as well. "Dating me wouldn't be that terrible."
"Yes it would. I wouldn't want fangirls following us everywhere that we went, threatening me if I were to ever break your heart."
"They'd murder you." Harry agreed. "Not to mention that Fred would kill him."
"Fred's lucky that I didn't kill Angelina when they were together. Although in her defense, the person that really started everythng was Wood."
"That was very entertaining to watch when you yelled at him on the train." Cedric reminisced with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure that everyone remembers that."

They talked for maybe another hour when Madame Pomfrey told them that they could leave, which was a good thing, because Gryffindor was going to be having a party in their common room that evening, and Harry was the guest of honor. Anna and Harry parted ways with Cedric, since Hufflepuff was having a party of their own. Anna went up to her dorm to get ready with Hermione. She wore a mint green top, a black skirt, an small diamond studded earrings. Hermione helped with her hair and makeup. Fred gawked at her as he saw her coming down the stairs.
"Anna...bloody hell, you look beautiful."
Anna blushed darkly at the compliment. "Is it too much?"
"No, it's absolutely perfect." He took her hand and kissed her on the cheek. "Georgie and I were about to go and get snacks for everyone. Want to join us?"
"Sure,if he doesn't mind."
"Hey Georgie!" Fred called across the room, where George was talking with Angelina. "Mind if Anna comes with us to grab the food?"
"We can always use an extra set of hands." George responded, and off they went.

Fred held Anna's hand as the trio walked down the darkening hallways, being careful to not run into Filch or Mrs. Norris. They stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit, and Fred tickled the pear. The door swung open, and all of the house elves stopped what they were doing and looked at the trio. Eagerly they started to fill their arms with different kinds of foods, and Anna thanked the elves profusely.

"Anything for Miss Potter." Dobby answered, and Anna smiled as she placed a kiss on the elf's head before leaving with the twins. Everyone cheered when they saw the food arrive, and they helped to unladen their arms, and the food was passed around. One of the older Gryffindors was even able to sneak in some Fire Whiskey, which Anna made sure to steer clear of, much to Hermione's relief.
"At least there's one Potter that has some sense." She nodded to Harry, who had drank at least two shots worth of it and was now giggling like crazy. He held up the golden egg that he had taken from the dragon, and everyon cheered.
"Shall I open it?" He asked, and they all cheered even louder. He twisted the egg open, and a shriek pierced the air, making everyone cover their ears until Harry had closed the egg again.

"Well that certainly didn't work out like he had expected." Anna commented dryly, and Hermione nodded in agreement. "There must be some way to get it to stop shrieking."
"I'm sure that he'll figure it out eventually."

"Oh Annnnnna...." Fred called out as he drunkenly staggered over to her, lazily wrapping an arm around her and placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Anna scowled as she pushed him off of her. "Just how much did you have to drink Weasley?'
"Only a little." He giggled as he hiccuped, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.
"Come dance with me baby." Fred whined to Anna, who shook her head, trying not to laugh at his drunken state. "The only thing that you're going to be doing is going to bed."
"Good idea!" He said happily. "We can go to bed and have some fuuuuun."
"Weasley, I wouldn't even do that sort of thing with you even if you weren't drunk." She waved for George to come over. "Please take your drunk and extremely flirty brother to bed."
"Come on loverboy." George laughed as he took his brother away from Anna and up the stairs, Fred complaining the entire time.
"Boys." Anna muttered. "And they wonder why we think that we're smarter than they are."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "I'm surprised that you didn't slap him."
"Trust me, I was really close." Anna yawned. "Sleep sounds like a good idea, I think that I'm going to get some shuteye."
"That sounds perfect, I think that I'll join you."

The two girls went up the stairs, and when they entered  their dorm, Anna quickly got her pajamas on, almost immediately falling asleep.