A matter of force.

Part 16

Hermione's turn.

OooOOooOO

Cho Chang growled as she charged forward. The redhead didn't move from where she was standing as she put up her arm to block a kick aimed at her head.

Cho grunted in mild surprise but thrust out her palm as she pulled her leg back aiming for her opponent's belly. The Slytherin girl shifted a little to the side, wrapped one arm around her strike, and planted her knuckles against the Asian girl's ribcage just between her breast with the other.

"Point." Harry was leaning over with his hands on his knees watching the exchange.

Cho jumped back and put her hands forward as she leaned into a more defensive stance.

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "Well, now it gets interesting."

Harry had a smirk on his face as he stood behind his sister. "What do you know? She really is playing fair." Anna wasn't using the force. It was nothing more than physical training at that point.

Harry's sister ran forward, but spun into a sliding sweep. Cho lifted her foot over it, but the redhead scooped her palm under it. The Asian girl flipped off her hand rather than fall. She hit the ground a little rough and grunted as she staggered to keep her balance for a brief moment.

Anna stood up and dusted her hands off. "No need to fight injured just for practice. If you need a moment..." She had a dark looking smile on her face as she said it.

The Asian girl's eyes went wild. "Shut up!" The other girl was forced to jump back and swat a few fist away. Cho pushed herself forward and tagged her opponent in the gut with her knee.

Anna grunted and staggered back for a few feet. She stopped herself by taking a defensive stance. "I suppose I should be more careful. I can't afford to lose this fight."

Cho smirked back at her. "You're not so tough. Just like I thought."

"Tough is a mentality." The girl brushed her hair away from her face. "I don't care about being tough. I only want to be strong."

George and Cedric were almost clutching each other and watching with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

George looked at Cedric and swallowed. "Well, if Cho wins, she can have you back if she wants."

"What? This is over you! Isn't it?" The Hufflepuff boy looked a bit alarmed.

Melvin laughed. "No way Anna will lose."

Margaret frowned at him. "I'm not so sure. She seems to be taking it easy on her. I can't imagine why."

"Hey. She's winning isn't she?" Pansy looked a bit confused about what was going on. "Why are they fighting again?"

"No, she's down by two now." Harry took the time to glance back and tell her.

"Really? Why?" The girl looked confused.

"She's playing fair." The boy didn't look back, but grinned as both girls gave him small frowns.

Anna growled through the grin on her face as she and Cho circled one another in the center of the ring. The redhead was tender in a few places. She'd taken a shot to her jaw, and four to her chest. The only blow she hadn't felt, was the one the Asian girl had gotten by touching the back of her head with her foot. She'd not been able to move out of the way in time.

"Still having fun?" Cho was glaring at her with a hateful frown on her face.

Anna only grinned back and wiped the back of her chin with her hand. Her new rival had decided to abandon the rules of engagement from the start. She was going all out. Playing fair put her at a disadvantage. "You haven't beaten me yet."

"It won't take long!" Cho charged forward fully confident in her victory.

Anna grabbed her fist and touched her toe against her belly. Her opponent spun around into a back handed strike. The redhead ducked under it and pushed the other girl away with both palms against her belly.

Cho stopped and wiped her hands across her belly with an irritated expression on her face.

"Seems we're even." Anna called the girl towards her with her fingers from her stance. "Shall we finish it?"

Harry gave a small sigh. Both girls shot forward, Cho was intent on attacking all out until the job was done.

Anna had other ideas. She spun around the girl and put her palm into her back. Cho stumbled into the crowd, it parted for her and she turned to look back while wiping her chin with her wrist.

"I hope you don't think me foolish enough to waste so much energy." Anna narrowed her eyes as the girl charged her in an all out sprint. The Asian girl dove into a flying kick aimed straight at her opponent's head. Anna shifted her neck, but caught part of the heel on her cheek. Her brother hadn't missed it, and Cho had another point.

"Even again!" The Ravenclaw student put her fist into the back of the other girl's skull after a skillful landing. Anna wasn't expecting it and lashed out with her leg catching the girl with a light touch on her belly.

Cho snorted and balled up her fists. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Anna was on her feet and in her nose before she could react. "Have you?" The redhead had her finger against the girl's forehead.

Cho was looking at it cross eyed. "What?"

"You just lost. You weren't even counting. Sorry, the time for free shots is over. Hit me again and I'll let the staff deal with you." Anna snorted and rubbed on her jaw for a moment. "I didn't need to cheat to win." She wasn't pleased with the girl at all.

The Asian girl's jaw dropped. Her eyes were angry and she worked her jaw open and closed a few times. "I almost had you."

"So what?" The redhead gave a snort. "Maybe next time, Chang." She turned away and walked through the crowd with no resistance.

Harry gave a small sigh and shook his head with a smirk on his face as he ignored Cho and walked up beside her. "Well, I'm quite proud of you."

Cedric moved up beside her with George gripping his shoulders behind him. She continued to stroll forward with a glare in her eyes and seemed to ignore all of them. Cedric staggered a little to keep up beside her for a moment and tried to avoid getting in her line of sight. "Just to be clear, neither one of us has to date you or anything right?"

"Not that it's a bad thing mind you! We just want to be clear!" George was torn between finding out and going over to see how the other girl was doing.

Anna snorted at the older redhead and turned her angry stare towards him. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Right!" He rushed away looking a bit relieved, but still high strung and uncertain.

"What about me? Am I off the hook as well?" Cedric was shying away from her a little.

She grabbed him by his shirt and almost put his nose to hers. "Hmm...What should I do with you? I suppose I have won after all." She pretended to think about it and enjoyed the wide eyed dumbstruck expression for a moment. "I suppose I can let you go this time. After all, I don't think you'd be all that useful in that regard for several years anyway. I just really don't have the time to deal with it. Oh well." She let him go and rushed over to Margaret and Pansy looking quite proud of herself. Doing that had made her feel a little better.

The boy was confused and somewhat blank. "What? Wait! What does that mean?" He stopped and thought about it. She seemed to have left him be, though he wasn't certain there was a wager to begin with. He glanced back to see Fred walking away with Cho. She was huddled under his arm and looking a little zoned out, she was crying a bit as well.

The rest of the crowd was dispersing, Harry had caught up to Ron and jogged along beside him towards the dorms.

"Are you sure that was all right? We're not going to get in any trouble or anything?" The boy seemed a bit disturbed by what he had seen.

His friend just shrugged. "I don't see why. We got proper permission and everything."

Ron yawned and scratched at his forehead just under the brim if his hat. "Do you think we'll be able to get a bit more sleep? Classes don't start for a bit."

OooOOooOO

Anna was a little annoyed. She was sitting with her two girlfriends and talking with each other in the common room. They were along one of the walls, with a few other students who had decided to stay up. "I was jerking his chain a little...so?"

"Why can't you admit that you like him?" Pansy had her nose almost in her face and narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"I'm not interested in any boyfriend, much less him." The girl turned her nose away and crossed her arms.

Margaret leaned into her shoulder and looked at her fingernails as she spoke. "Well it doesn't look that way to us."

"I was just teasing him a little." Anna sucked in a breath as she realized how that sounded. "Not like that either."

Her friends had almost predatory looking grins on their faces.

"You're turning red." The blond girl teased.

"We're not stupid. We're girls too you know. He is rather nice." Margaret had her chin on her hands and was leaning against the redhead's shoulder.

"Fine. I'm still not dating him." Anna gave a heavy sigh and seemed to relax.

Melvin walked up with his hands in his pockets and a huge grin on his face. "Hey. I hear you won yourself a boyfriend then? I don't think any girl in Hogwarts will go near him now."

Anna's peace cracked and a pair of bloodshot eyes glared at him. "You're not getting any before you graduate. Just to let you know. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you will...fail."

The boy looked confused. "Huh? Hey! That's not a nice thing to say!"

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in Snape's class, missing his sister. He'd yet to screw up one of his potions, but the man would latch onto any mistake made.

"Bat wings are easily over roasted, Potter. The edges of yours are burnt, and it will effect the potency of this...concoction." It was a potion that would settle down an upset stomach. A muggle would just take a few antacid tablets. Snape knew the potion would work, but dipped his finger into the now cool liquid and let it drip off with a disgusted frown on his face. "It's also not thick enough. You added too much Elmwood juice. I'm afraid you've failed this exercise."

The boy who lived wasn't pleased with his grade. The man had praised Draco Malfoy, who appeared to have a talent for roasting things. He could see the man was right though, as Hermione's potion had come out the way it should have.

Ron Weasley's was a light purple in color, and still bubbled despite having been off the flame for more than twenty minutes. The teacher hadn't bothered with more than informing him he'd failed miserably. "I expect a ten page essay on the correct way to prepare this potion the next time I see the both of you."

Harry gave a small sigh. "Yes sir." He knew he wouldn't have done any better if his sister had been around. He glanced over to Pansy and Margaret as the man turned his back away.

It was easy to see they were struggling a bit more without the redhead around to help them. They had both done better than he had and the Professor had given them a remark of 'passable' before leaving them alone. Melvin had ended up slightly better off than Ron, and had been given a two page assignment similar to the two Gryffindor students. Pansy and Margaret had both been ignored beyond a glance into their respective cauldrons.

The boy who lived started gathering his things together as the class ended. A feeling of relief washed over him as he strolled out with the others.

"I can't believe he gave you two ten pages! It would only take two to copy the instructions in the textbook down!" Hermione seemed appalled and sympathetic.

"I'll say." Ron looked horrified with the thought of all the writing he had to do. "I'm not so sure how much use I'll be in the library."

"We won't see him again for a week." Hermione seemed annoyed with the redhead. Harry didn't look to be bothered by his punishment one bit. "It's not fair, the way he treats you. No one else..."

"He hasn't punished me once when I haven't done something wrong. Snape is mean, strict, and enjoys making the three of us miserable. As odd as it sounds, I wouldn't call him unfair beyond reason."

"Are you joking?" Ron was looking at Harry as if he'd grown a second head. Hermione was flushed and just as shocked.

"He wouldn't have given anyone else a ten page report. You did well." The girl seemed a bit put off.

"Maybe. Professor Snape will take any opportunity he can to punish us. He won't do it without a reason from what I've seen though. The best way to deal with him, is to be careful to not screw up in front of him." The boy who lived pushed his glasses up his nose a bit as he put his arm across from Ron's shoulder.

"Harder than it sounds." The redhead seemed to get a bit depressed at the thought of it.

"It's too much! He shouldn't have given you as much as Ron. He screwed his up completely, even with me warning him. Your potion would have worked at least." Hermione was insisting and being a little pushy with the boys.

"What? Are you saying I deserved ten pages?" Ron was horrified and looked a bit angry.

The Potter boy spoke up before she could respond. "Maybe, maybe not. He's not torturing us Hermione. Maybe he is a bit vindictive, but he seems the type who sticks to the rules. I don't think he's done anything that's outside his rights to us. I don't think he will either." Harry was becoming annoyed, he didn't like defending Snape. He didn't think the man was being fair, but he wasn't exactly being unfair either. Harry knew he had messed up, and he'd discovered very quickly that the man would single out any small mistake he made. As much as he hated to admit it, it was the man's job to do just that.

"Sticks to the rules?" Ron's eyes went wide as he clutched his book tighter.

Harry looked at him and nodded. "Probably more than any other teacher in the school."

"Acting like that to children shouldn't be legal." Hermione found herself a little surprised at the Potter boy's attitude. She found herself walking between the two boys again in silence. Neither one had responded to her comment and both were much more relaxed outside the dungeon classroom.

The girl became a little self conscious at her position between the pair. She looked over her shoulder and noticed they were passing by the Transfiguration class room. McGonagall was wiping off her chalkboard as the last remnants of her third year class left her room. "I'm going to ask Professor McGonagall about something. I'll meet with you later."

The two boys looked at her from either side, Harry nodded, Ron shrugged.

"Sure. We'll see you before dinner then?" The red haired boy seemed a little surprised.

"It won't take long. I'll meet you at the dorms." The girl moved out from between them with a flustered look about her.

"Wonder what that was about?" Harry seemed confused. "It's like she got embarrassed about something suddenly."

"I'm not sure. Come on then, you've got a bit before you get with the band don't you? We can get in a bit of something that's not the library. I'm sick of that room."

Harry gave a small chuckle as Ron pulled on his arm to escape the frazzled haired girl while he had the chance. "I suppose so. We can't put it off forever, though, we are running out of books."

Hermione missed the conversation, she was standing beside the door to the head of Gryffindor's class room, waiting for a few stragglers to pass by. She was clutching her potion's book in her arms and trying to look small.

Ron and Harry were nice to her, the two most famous boys in school. She'd come to realize why they stood that way around her over the past few days. She'd almost been shoved aside more than once when a large crowd had swamped the pair. There were times she wished the boys had let it happen to her. To their credit, neither one had allowed it. They seemed to go out of their way to keep her around. It left her feeling a bit like a third wheel, though, she did feel she contributed something. Ron Weasley was the worst studier she'd ever met, he wouldn't crack a book if it was made of glass and belted over his head.

There was something else about it that got to her though. They both seemed to want her around. Ron was insulting and oblivious at times, but he looked out for her as much as Harry did. She was helping them both with their studies, and researching Nicolas Flamel. She'd never hung around with the cool people in school before. She'd fallen into it by accident, and now she found herself wondering if they'd keep her around if she wasn't useful.

McGonagall turned to notice the girl moving into her room. She gave a faint smile and turned her attention towards the girl. "Ah, Miss Granger. May I help you with something?"

The girl blinked and looked a bit put off at how quickly she'd been noticed. She pulled herself together quickly and shook off the feeling she'd gotten while walking with the boys. "Yes, Professor. I was wondering about something I've seen mention of in a few books."

"What would that be?" The woman seemed a bit more interested, but not by much. She dusted off her hands and took a few steps towards the girl.

"What's the ultimate question?" The girl's voice wavered a little, she didn't look comfortable about the subject for some reason. "The big one?"

The woman pursed her lips together. "We don't start teaching about such advanced theory until your sixth year. You've been reading a bit about Magical Physics?"

The girl blushed as she realized the woman sounded a little impressed. "Just a bit. I was studying in the library, and I came across mention of it. I was just wondering what it was. It never says."

The woman gave a small polite chuckle. "It's a bit long winded. No one has yet been able to solve it, though, it has gotten rather long over time. We aren't sure how close to finished, the question even is." She looked serious and a little wary as she spoke. "Do not be alarmed, it is a very complex issue. I'm still a bit in awe of it's complexity. It is an excellent way to keep ones thinking skills sharp, though you should be mindful of dwelling on it too much. There are those who have gone mad, obsessing over it." The girl was still much more interested than she'd been expecting. "If you become the student I think you might quite possibly be, you may be able to grasp the beginnings of this by your third or fourth year of study here at Hogwarts. Classes at Hogwarts will have several lectures devoted to the subject in your fifth and sixth year." She flicked her wrist and waved her wand speaking a few muttered words under her breath. The chalk began scratching out a complex equation on the board. "This is the question, as we understand it."

It started out with "6X9" The rest was a complex web of numbers, letters, brackets, and equal signs. The last thing in the equation was an equal sign at the very bottom corner of the board.

The first year girl cocked her head and stared at it. McGonagall was standing behind the girl watching with her with her fingers on her chin. The girl proceeded to stare at the board, moving her eyes about across it for several minutes.

"As you can see, it's quite complex." The woman put her nose up and looked quite pleased with the girl's interest in a rather reserved way. "I've studied this formula since my third year at Hogwarts, many great wizards spent years of their lives just getting this far."

"It looks a bit like algebra." The girl glanced up at the woman.

"Well, it's an advanced magical formula. It should explain everything about the universe, once it's been answered. I'm afraid neither of us will likely see it in our lifetimes, but wouldn't it be..."

The girl wasn't sure what did it. She was looking it over, and without realizing quite what she was doing, wrote down a single number at the bottom of the equation. "42."

"I've got to see for myself, there's no way she'd know..." The girl went white as a sheet as her eyes settled on a ten in the middle of the mess of brackets. "Wait a minute..."

McGonagall looked amused and strolled over to the girl's shoulder. "There's no need to hurry. It is quite a fascinating subject. I'm surprised you had the nerve to try it at all."

The girl was working her mouth open and closed. "I solved it." She gave the woman a blank expression and pointed at the board. "It's base thirteen. Look." She pointed out a pertinent section of the equation and changed a ten into a thirteen. "It fits now. There's just no way... I don't believe it." The first year girl looked quite shocked and dropped the chalk on the floor as she backed away from the large complex problem.

McGonagall didn't look concerned, but as the girl stood against the front of a desk after running out of room to back away with, her face became more and more a rather blank expression. "What?"

Unbeknownst to the two people standing in the class room, staring at a chalk board, or anyone else for that matter. The Earth had been saved exactly five minutes earlier by the Greatest Band in Rock History, with a bit of help from Ron Weasley.

A large fleet of Vogon ships, scanning the world to be demolished, quickly vanished back into the far reaches of the galaxy. They had discovered a planet with more than 50 of the population carrying towels and left as fast as their engines would allow. After all, it would certainly be less expensive, and less dangerous, to build around such a well prepared population.

None of the children were yet aware, but the popularity of the band, along with Ron Weasley's long winded praises to the Wizarding world of such a fashion statement, had caught on like wildfire. Towels were now a popular fashion statement amongst Muggles as well, as Anna had been sure to bring up how important having a towel could be during their televised concert. They were already getting kickbacks from the re-airing of the concert the world over.

Disaster was averted, but Hermione didn't feel like it. Professor Minerva McGonagall was flat on her back. Her eyes had rolled into the top of her head, and she had hit the ground right in front of the girl.

"Uh oh." The young frazzle haired girl squeaked in fright and looked around. "Professor? Are you all right?"

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in front of Dumbledore. "Huh?"

"Miss Granger told us that you gave her the answer." He cleared his throat and looked down at her through his glasses. It was no more than half an hour later, and the girl was staring at him in confusion.

"What? She figured the question out?" The girl's eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging down. "That's..."

"Pardon?" The old man was looking down at her with more than a bit of surprise.

"You're...not kidding are you?" Anna seemed to realize she wouldn't be sitting in his office if he was. Dumbledore didn't seem the type for that sort of prank. "That's amazing. Was it six by nine then?" She was looking at his expression with a sort of wonder on her face. It was clear she wasn't joking with him.

"Ah, yes." He nodded.

"Wow. I knew she was smart, but figuring out the ultimate question? I suppose the mice will be pleased."

Dumbledore gave a small snort as he jerked a little in surprised confusion. "Mice?"

"Yes. They're studying us. The whole planet is a giant computer designed to calculate the question to the ultimate answer. Not that it matters much. I don't suppose we're of any interest to the rest of the galaxy any longer. Seeing as she's gone and figured it out." The girl gave a small laugh that didn't sound quite normal. "Are you sure?"

"There seems to be no error in her calculations." The old man looked a bit wary and confused. "I admit, it might just take a bit of time."

"No. She's right." Anna nodded, she still hadn't regained all the color in her face. "I didn't help her really. I just gave her the answer. Well, maybe a bit, she figured it out on her own otherwise though. The ultimate question? Really? All I knew was six by nine equals forty-two. I couldn't really explain why, this really is her discovery. Maybe this will help her insecurity? She's been feeling that way a bit of late."

The old man gave a small chuckle. "It seems so."

"Well. I'm not sure what to say to that." The redhead gave him a shrug and a wide eyed open mouthed stare. "I told you it can be a bit strange at times. I just told her to jerk her leg a little. I never though she'd go out and find what the question was really. I was going to save it for a special occasion. You know, drop it on her when she wasn't expecting it, and wouldn't really believe me. It's fun, she's quite excitable."

"I see." Dumbledore gave a thoughtful looking nod. His new batch of students was turning out to be much more than he'd expected.

"Pansy mentioned something about it too her, and she started asking me about it. I used to tease her with it on occasion. She'd get worked up and start going on about 'the answer to what?' and I'd leave it at that. A pity, it was fun for a time." The redhead shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Is that all? I really can't take credit for this one. I could have told you that the answer was forty two, and that the question was 'what is six by nine', but I wouldn't have been able to tell you why. She really figured out out? I knew she was smart and all, but an eleven year old girl, doing that? It gives me a headache just thinking about it. Though, I suppose she'd say the same thing about advanced chromatic and hormonal alchemy, or chemical curse bonding principals." Anna filed the new development under 'things that aren't my fault, and don't really effect me', in her mind.

"Oh, yes. It had almost slipped my mind. I was told to inform you, you'll be receiving a Gold Medal for Ground-Breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference in Cairo. There will be a ceremony in the Great Hall in a few weeks. Ron Wesley will be receiving The Order of Merlin, First Class, along with you."

The girl had her hands folded into her lap and stared at him with a rather blank expression. "Ceremony?"

The old man seemed to realize she didn't seem pleased. "These awards are Great Honors, you have already earned them. I'm afraid you'll have to be still and quiet for a short time for the sake of formalities."

Anna cringed a bit. "Well, it's nice they like me I suppose. I was a little worried I'd get into a bit of trouble over it. I really can't say it wasn't my fault, just that it wasn't intentional. Who decided torturing someone with formality was a good reward anyway?"

"I feel as if I should say something. Forgive me, but I am not certain if you understand the significance of these achievements. I think perhaps it is something time will show you. It is quite the mark on your resume. I imagine you'll have your own chocolate frog card when time allows."

"We were already booked for that actually. We are a record breaking wizarding band, we've done just as well with the muggles. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I do wish awards weren't so damn formal. I'm not much for ball room dancing and frilly dress clothes with too many layers. I also hate uncomfortable shoes." She realized the man looked a little worried. "I'll behave, don't worry. I can put up with it for a little while when I have too, I suppose. I don't want to look like a jerk or anything."

"I suppose that it is enough." The girl tended to make it harder to get more information the longer she spoke with someone. She seemed to enjoy being secretive. "I understand you are doing quite well in Trelawney's class as well."

"I guess." The girl got a rather blank expression on her face and squirmed a bit in her chair.

The old man seemed to find it amusing. "I've not seen you without those cards in your hand since your first class."

The girl gasped and looked down at her right hand. One of the cards fell out onto the floor and she frowned down at it as she picked it up and inspected it. It was a picture of two snakes twisted into an infinity sign eating each other's tails. She'd taken much longer than she'd intended to do it, and found Dumbledore looking over her shoulder at the card.

"What does this card mean?" The old man put his hand on her shoulder.

"Repeat. Something happens more than once. I imagine Hermione will be getting an Order of Merlin as well. It is a rather important discovery after all. You could even say it's 'the' most important discovery." She shrugged and tucked it away into her deck. She kept her eyes locked on it. She'd not put them down unless she needed both hands. She'd taken to fiddling with them, flipping them around her fingers and shuffling them around. It had been a week and a half since she'd put them down to do anything but sleep. "Where did she get these cards?"

The old man looked a bit surprised and a little bemused. "It's not the cards. I'm afraid they are printed in bulk by Flourish and Blotts."

"I don't get it. I never really noticed, but..." She looked up at him with a confused frown on her face. "I've not been more than two feet from this deck since I got it. It's almost like I can't put it down for anything but rock, food, and sleep." The girl seemed to realize she kept them in her pocket for anything but sleep as she put her free hand into the pocket on her robe.

"I think..." He looked up at the ceiling and closed one of his eyes as he tried to remember something. "Ah, yes. I'm afraid I've never had much of a gift for it." He walked over to his desk and rummaged around in one of the drawers. He seemed pleased as he found something and put it down on his desktop. A small cloud of dust rose as the gray covered cardboard package hit the wood. "These are a bit more valuable than those cards. I'm afraid they are only a bit older, a hundred and seventy years or so. They belonged to a Great Aunt of mine, and I have little use for them myself, nor does anyone else I know. You may have them, I've heard that aged cards often enhance the readings a bit. She made me promise to give them to someone who had a gift like hers. I never imagined it was a vision. I'm still not certain of that."

The girl nodded as he handed them to her. "I, uh, thanks?" She wasn't sure what to do, and almost looked afraid to take them.

"Consider it a reward, for braving the formality of a ceremony. I've a feeling you'll be spending a bit of time braving through such events. I also feel it is appropriate, as you had a hand in saving us all. Now, I believe I've taken up enough of your evening."

The girl blushed and nodded as she turned to leave.

Hermione Granger was standing in the hall glaring at her as she walked past the stone gargoyle. The girl had her arms crossed over her chest and didn't look pleased at all. "This is your fault!"

"How do you figure?" The redhead was a bit disoriented and didn't seem to notice herself handing the deck of cards Trelawney had given her to the frazzle haired girl.

Hermione took them and looked confused for a moment. "Stop that! Can't you hold a normal conversation? Why? Why did you..."

"I did squat." The redhead brushed off the other girl and looked a bit shifty eyed.

"You gave me the answer!"

"So? That's been known for billions of years. Figuring out the question, that's what was important here." The redhead gave a small sigh and looked at the back of her nails.

"That's stupid!" Hermione stomped her foot and balled up her fists as she moved closer to the irritating girl. "I can't take credit for this. It's..."

"Not mine. Look, I gave you a hint, and you put it together on your own. You're getting the credit because you deserve it." The redhead gave her an evil looking grin. "Oh, I can't wait! A muggle born wizard girl discovered the truth about the ultimate question! It will drive those Death Eater jerks mad! Isn't it awesome?" She clapped her hands together and looked pleased. "Oh! I'm so proud of you!" The Slytherin girl was almost jumping up and down as she grabbed the Gryffindor girl by the shoulders and shook her a little.

Hermione looked mortified. "What? I'm supposed to talk to some people soon about what I did! How do I explain...I mean, they're all...what do I tell them?"

The redhead shrugged. "Show them what you did? That's pretty much how it works."

The Gryffindor girl wasn't pleased with the sarcasm. She turned her nose up and turned her back to the redhead. "Well, of course, but..."

"That's pretty much it. Really." Anna had cheered up and seemed pleased with her.

"They'll probably tell them I'm wrong." Hermione lost the heat in her voice and hung her head a bit.

"No. You're going to be very famous." The redhead shrugged at her. The frazzle haired girl wasn't even paying attention and was looking at the floor just over the tips of her shoes with her finger on the corner of her mouth. She seemed to be thinking very hard, and was a little wide eyed.

OooOOooOO

It wasn't long before Anna was sitting in the Great Hall with a frown on her face. Her mother's glasses hung around her neck on a strap, she was fingering the corner of one of the lenses with her left hand and looking at what her right hand was doing. She was flipping the deck of tarot cards around her fingers, rolling cards over and onto the back of the pack. It was kind of irritating, as the face card showing in some way represented whoever she happened to focus on. Looking at her brother or Ron would draw a Knight, Snape brought up the two headed Snake, Dumbledore came up with Death. She'd noticed her brother's female friend was still missing. Hermione had yet to return to Gryffindor's table, but McGonagall was absent as well.

The little redhead found herself staring at a card with an owl on the front standing on a large open book. Nevill Longbottom drew a squire hung by his ankle, Pansy drew a minstrel card. Draco Malfoy drew the apprentice card. George and Fred she could do as a pair for some reason, they both came up as the fool. Margaret drew a duchess sitting on a throne with her nose held high, and her brother was a card with an old man peering through a key hole.

"Potter. I asked Gregory Litchen about that class you're taking with him. He clammed up tight, along with everyone else who takes it with you." A slap on her back startled the little redhead just enough to drop a card.

Standing behind her, Clause and Cedric were giving her mischievous looking grins. Both boys had put their hands on her shoulders on either side. "Oh, hello. What are you two up to?" She straightened the deck in her hands a bit gathering the card that had fallen and holding it in her free hand. She wasn't sure which one had spoken to get her attention.

Cedric peered over her shoulder. "Tarot cards? You got them from Trelawney's class?" He could see two naked people holding hands on the visible card.

The girl frowned at him and glanced out of the corner of her eye towards him. "Yeah. I don't know why they bother teaching it as a class. My experience is it's not something you can learn. You've either got it, or you don't."

Clause had his arms folded across his chest and looked quite confident. "I was thinking of taking Divination next year. None of the girls in Slytherin taking the with you will speak of it either. I usually don't have trouble getting them to talk. Then again, most of them don't seem to care much for you."

"What's that card mean?" Cedric pointed at the visible card.

She frowned at it and her eyebrow twitched a little. "It's the lover's card. It means a few different things." She shifted her fingers and found that two cards were stuck together. She felt something grow tight and cold in her chest. She'd only needed to see the corner of the other card to realize it was Death. She put them back into the deck before the boys noticed there was more than one.

"Give us a reading then?" Clause leaned over her other shoulder.

"Maybe another time. I'll be glad when we move onto another subject. All Trelawney's been doing for the past two classes is make everyone give each other readings. I'm a bit sick of doing it I'm afraid." She wrinkled her nose and put the deck down beside her.

"Fair enough." Clause shrugged and moved to a seat next to her.

"She won't give us readings either." Pansy's lips turned down into a half frown as her eyelids grew droopy. She had her fist just below her chin in the table and was watching the scene in a rather blank way.

"I asked her about the class and she says it's boring and stupid." Margaret gave a lazy looking reply and shrugged her shoulders.

"It is, but I'm just not feeling a reading for you guys. Sorry." The redhead didn't look worried about it.

"Feeling?" Cedric looked a bit surprised as he stood behind the girl and shrugged. "You'll do me later then?"

"Whenever you feel up to it." Clause was nodding and looked to agree. He was eying four girls a bit further down the table. He'd seen her classmates in other classes, he was attending with the rest of the third year students. "Cartomancy isn't even included in the divination taught at home. I've heard the professor there thinks it's rubbish. It's got me a bit curious."

The red haired girl blinked and glanced at him. "Really? I'm to understand it originated somewhere in Eastern Europe. I'm not sure I put much stock in it myself."

"You must be joking! You've not been wrong yet!" One of the third year girls in her class had been close enough to hear. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth as she forced her eyes down to the plate in front of her.

Anna looked a bit surprised. "So...you mean you..."

"Yes." The girl was flushed, the other girls from the class weren't next to her, but close enough to have overheard at least the last part. They were looking away with frowns on their faces and red cheeks. "He did what you said he would. Exactly. My foot is bandaged, in case you haven't noticed, and this..." She pointed to a zit on her forehead. "I worried about it for hours, but he never noticed." She didn't sound pleased, but angry and embarrassed. "They won't talk about it, but I've seen you've been right about all of them as well."

The redhead had grown an interesting shade of red herself as she realized just how many people were shifting about around her, glancing at her and looking less than comfortable. "No one else has mentioned it." She turned her nose into the air.

"You get a little personal." The girl gave her a hard stare and snorted before turning away.

Anna kept her nose into the air and growled a bit under her breath. "Fine. I'm not feeling any readings right now though. Maybe later."

OooOOooOO

The knight on the chess board between Harry and Ron squawked at his master from it's place on the board. "It's about time you've gotten a victory." Harry blinked as the pieces moved back to their places as the game ended.

The Potter boy had gone to practice with the band already. They had almost finished when Anna had been called to the Headmaster's office. His guitar was sitting in it's case beside, and a little behind his seat.

"It only took twelve tries." Harry seemed pleased with himself.

Ron didn't look displeased with his loss. "I almost had you."

"Yes, you did." The Potter boy was sitting in the common room. Students were milling about around them. The boys were seated around a small round table in small arm chairs against one of the walls. They were leaning over the arms and watching the board.

Ron lifted a chocolate frog card off the table. One of the corners was tucked under the edge of the board. He flipped it over and looked a bit wide eyed. He'd gotten the shocked look on his face every time he'd looked at it.

"I heard you're the youngest one ever to get one of those." The redhead took his eyes away and shook it off. "You beat us by a nose. The band is booked this summer."

"I still can't believe it." He tossed it faced up on the center of the board and Harry chuckled. The face on the card had a smirk on his face, but his eyes were wide. Ron had crossed his arms to keep them from shaking, he had his hat and whip on. His towel was hanging from his shoulders and pulled tight by his arms. It made his chest look bigger. He'd managed to accidentally look cool. Ron had told him how nervous he'd been, he'd worried through the whole thing. The image was looking around a bit, taking a few steps but never leaving the frame as Ron's image seemed to inspect his surroundings. He looked pleased but a bit embarrassed.

"Actually, I was talking about the Order of Merlin, First Class no less. I hadn't heard about the chocolate frog cards." The Potter boy seemed even more impressed. "I'm surprised you haven't shown me." He was teasing Ron a little, he'd carried it around with him since he'd gotten it.

"Well, I'm played out. Now what?" Ron looked up at his friend. "We've got a bit before she comes back and drags us to the library again I suppose. She's been gone for hours, I heard she was with McGonagall."

"I'm pretty sure we're not going to find it in any of the books we're allowed to read." Harry scrunched his nose up. "I've a feeling this is important enough to risk it. I'm not taking either of you with me. I don't think Hermione will like it, but I don't actually have to move anything to find what we're looking for. It will be easier to get in and out."

"What are you talking about?" Ron looked surprised.

"We'll talk about it later. I want to talk with Hermione about it anyway. We'll have plenty of time later. We won't make it tonight, but tomorrow we'll probably be in the library. I doubt she'll be gone that long." Harry smirked at him and turned to look at Oliver Wood.

"Let me hope." Ron buried his head in his arms on the chair's arm. He looked up as he noticed the older student standing over them.

"Harry. Your sister will have her first match in a few days. We'll get to see her in action." He looked quite serious.

"I'm looking forward to it. I haven't actually seen her fly yet. I've heard she's quite nimble. Well, I saw her take off on the train, but that's it." The young Seeker gave him a reserved grin and scratched the back of his head. "I'm betting it'll be quite a show. Ravenclaw is tough, they beat Hufflepuff pretty bad."

"Slytherin is favored, and everyone knows it. Anna being Seeker isn't exactly a secret." The team captain smirked at Ron. "Just make sure you pay extra attention when we see the match. We won't play them again until next year, but we need to be as ready as we can."

Harry nodded and jerked his thumb towards the dorms. "I'm planning on taping it. I've gotten a camera for it. I'm sure she'll want a copy. It's enchanted, it'll work with any magical display device, and it's got a tracking spell, so it works hands free."

Oliver worked his jaw a little. "Those are expensive." He frowned a bit. "We'll have an advantage over other teams."

Harry blinked in a little jerk of surprise. "I'm a rock star." He shrugged and looked over at Ron. "I already asked McGonagall about it, we've got to make copies for the other teams. I'll have two cameras, one for the Quaffle, one for the Snitch, or my sister. They'll be set up before all the matches. I had to or they wouldn't let me. I promised Uncle Sirius I'd send him copies as well."

"Drat." Oliver looked a bit disappointed, but cheered up after a short moment. "It will still help with practice."

Ron looked quite confident. "I'm sure Harry will beat her."

It was obvious the Potter boy wasn't sure of that. "I'm looking forward to that match more than any of the ones I'm playing this year. I'm not so sure I'm going to want to practice with her this year or not. It might be better to just wait and have it out on the field first." The boy had a huge sunny grin on his face by the time he'd finished speaking. "It'll be great."

"Right. Don't lose focus though. Keep it up Harry, you've been great for moral. I've never had an easier time of practice. If it was any one else, I'd be worried about saying it. I hope we can keep it up if we take a loss then?"

"I'd love to find someone who can beat me." Harry look a bit surprised at the question.

"Are you joking?" Ron looked a bit disgusted and surprised.

"I doubt it." Wood rolled his eyes and threw his hands up a little. It was a comical gesture and he ended by slapping Harry on the shoulder as he turned away.

"Don't worry. I'll be watching my sister, she's likely to steal the spotlight anyway." Harry had a smile on his face as he looked over at Ron.

"So now what?" Ron had put away the chess set while Harry had been talking to Oliver.

"Harry, Ron." Parvati and Lavender walked up side by side in front of the two boys.

Ron flushed a bit and pulled the brim of his hat down a little as he realized the Patil girl was looking at him more than Harry. He squirmed a bit under her gaze. "H-hi."

Harry smiled at them both. Lavender was almost giggling and biting on the end of her thumb as she smiled at the both of them. "Hi."

"Would you mind playing something?" Parvati had turned her attention towards him. She couldn't see Ron's face under the brim of his hat. He'd almost curled into a ball under her gaze. She looked pleased with it.

The mouse haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose a bit and gave Ron a nervous looking glance before turning back to face her. "I suppose so. We were supposed to study with Hermione tonight, but I don't think she's going to be back for a bit."He stood up and grabbed the neck of his guitar. The case had opened itself, and had a small built in amplifier under the neck. "What do you want to hear?" The chord plugged itself into the amplifier and the guitar, and the power chord wrapped around Harry's leg near his ankle.

"Do you have anything new?" Percy had moved up to the back of the group near the twins.

Harry nodded. "Why not? I've got a few of the new ones down already."

"So you wrote this one then?" Lavender hopped in place as her grin went a bit wider. The interest of everyone else had gone up as well, everyone hanging around looked more pleased.

"Yes?" Parvati seemed to like that idea. They had attracted the attention of everyone in the room, and the students moved in as if pulled in by a magnetic field.

"Anna writes everything. She's got upwards of five thousand songs written. She keeps them in notebooks. She's written quite a few symphonies and marches as well. She's talked about getting an orchestra together for it some day. She's already written a lot of music, she used to do it to keep herself busy at home. I used to see her making notes in one of those books all the time when we were little. I didn't know it was music until she started the band. She's got a stack of those notebooks that's about eight feet high. She writes small too." Harry strummed on the strings and coughed a bit as he realized everyone was looking at him with a somewhat stunned expression.

After a few bars of 'More than a feeling' by Boston, most people had lost the stunned slack jawed expressions. The group was pleased with the song and cheered when it ended.

"Play something else, something for us guys!" Fred and George traded the sentence between them. They were standing behind a row of about five first years. The room had become crowded, with about twenty students grouped around Ron and Harry's seat. Parvati and Lavender were standing on either side of the chairs. Harry looked over his shoulder, the Patil girl had her hand on Ron's shoulder and was right next to him. He looked frozen and had his eyes on the girl's fingers without turning his neck.

"Sorry, Ron." The Potter boy felt a pang of sympathy towards his friend and muttered it under his breath. "Something harder then?" He nodded his head once and started playing what sounded sort of like a motor revving. After that, he started playing a fast riff. He slashed his way through Montley Crew's 'Kickstart my heart'.

It was pretty much what the boys had wanted to hear. The girls didn't seem displeased either. "Give us another one then?" An excited looking fourth year girl chimed in over the growing crowd. About ten more students had come down from the dorms since he'd started.

The mouse haired boy sat down on the edge of his chair with his guitar on his lap. "I'm still a bit worn out from practice. I'll do one more." He started plucking out the chords for Led Zeplin's 'Stairway to Heaven'.

The song ended and he looked around the room. It had gotten a bigger reaction than he'd been expecting. He got a loud cheer and found himself swamped with attention. People telling him how awesome he was. Hogwarts was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He turned a bit pink as he found himself surrounded by girls again. "Uh oh."

"Hey. I really liked that one." Ron grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "I almost thought you were playing something for the girls again at first."

"Well, if I keep going my hand will fall off." Harry shook his wrist and flexed his fingers. "Should have picked a shorter one. That's all I know from the new set so far though."

Some of the girls looked a bit disappointed as he said it, a few turned to walk away. All of the younger girls, fourth to first year girls, stayed around him.

Ron seemed to realize he was excluded from the attention. He seemed to flood with relief, until he turned and realized Parvati was still leaning against the edge of the chair next to him. She had her arm across the top of the chair. Ron didn't look far enough to see her face. It was a good thing, because he might have noticed her looking off any girl who seemed like they might be interested in speaking with him.

She put her hand down on his shoulder again and squatted down beside him. "So, how have you been Ron?"

The boy swallowed. "Um, fine. You?" He couldn't turn his head to look at her, and he couldn't hide his face with his hat.

"I'm doing pretty good." He couldn't see the grin creep onto her face.

"Yeah. I um..." Ron managed to turn his head towards her. She was giving him a warm smile. He couldn't think of a reason to escape.

"Ron. I think I just remembered something incredibly important that we need to do upstairs!" Harry had just figured out that two of the girls in the crowd had their shirts unbuttoned far beyond the acceptable limits of the dress code under their robes. They were leaning over him just to his left and right.

"Right! I know what you mean!" Ron agreed, his head whipping around the moment Harry started speaking. "I'm glad you remembered. We shouldn't forget!"

The both of them rushed away and up the stairs to the dorm, almost tripping over each other.

"I wonder what was so important?" Lavender seemed confused as she watched the pair move off with the rest of the crowd. The girls moved away in various states of disappointment.

Parvati was pouting a little. "Rats. He got away."

"Isn't he Anna's boyfriend or something?" Lavender looked up towards the ceiling in a rather vacant way with her finger against her chin.

"No way! She and Cho were fighting over Cedric Diggory, remember? She's just using George as an excuse." Parvati clenched her fist. "He cries like a baby, but he's the bravest person I've ever met. He may not look like much now, but I'm betting he'll be worth having when he's older. Think of it as a future investment. I will have him."

"I'm not so sure I like that look." Lavender stepped back as she watched the grin on her friend's face as she thought about the Weasley boy. She looked wary and nervous. "Come on Parvati, cut it out. You're scaring me."

"Don't worry. It'll work out fine. It doesn't seem like it'll be that hard. Trust me."

Lavender gave a sigh, it was obvious she wasn't convinced. "If you say so."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in the lab with a small frown on her face. One of the walls was nothing but a series of racks, filled with small bottles of ingredients. There were some things the students couldn't handle in the dorms, but any common ingredient used in potions was available. She was looking for something on the ingredients rack. The label was smudged and worn looking. She was having a bit of trouble making out the description of the jar's contents.

The girl squinted her eyes at the partial lettering. "Great." She frowned and stepped back, giving up in the hope of finding 'bat fangs' on one of the more legible jars. The jar in front of her was questionable, and could have been 'rat fangs' at some point. It was another common ingredient she was having a bit of trouble locating. Even touching the label didn't help, the faded word was no more legible with her powers than with her eyes. As she stood up she felt the glasses hit her chest. She'd been wearing them around her neck, but more as a necklace as she'd yet to put them on as more than a curiosity since she'd received them. They had yet to prove themselves anything more than ornamental.

Despite being almost certain it would do little good, she put them onto her face anyway as she stepped up to try and read the label. She gave a small gasp as she found she could read it quite easily. The jar looked back lit somehow and she could see the letters as if someone had shined a dim light yellowish light onto the back of the label. "What the?" She took a few steps back as she looked at the shelf in front of her. Each jar was giving off a light as if each was full of a black light sensitive material. All of them were different colors, some similar to others, but each type of ingredient was a different color.

The girl pulled the glasses off her face and peered at them. "Whoa." She put them back on and started looking up and down the shelves. "Glasses for potions? Interesting." The value of what had been hanging from her neck had jumped beyond sentimental. It didn't take long for her to realize that the colors seemed to shift more into the red spectrum depending on how toxic the ingredient was. There were no bright or completely red jars on the racks, just a few pinkish ones.

She pulled what she needed from the shelf and walked back to her work area. Within a few moments she was working on a potion that would make curly hair straight for a time. It was a small project, she still did a bit of innocent busy work so she could continue to hand things in to Snape. If she was using the lab, she had to be producing something she could turn in.

She'd finished in about fifteen minutes and was peering at the jar in a curious way. Her potion was a swirl of glowing colors. She could see each ingredient color represented in the mixture. Even the small particles of dry ingredient were sparkling like colored glitter inside the jar.

Her face became serious as a small frown formed on her face. She took the glasses off and gripped them in her fingers. She'd have to start using them, and it was obvious talking about them with anyone might be a bad idea. She wasn't sure, but glasses like hers were probably rare. Keeping the secret meant she'd need to start wearing them outside of the lab.

She turned out of the room carrying the jar of finished potion with her. The mess had cleaned itself up around her as she moved away. A quarter of the way down the stairs, the well turned and a mirror was hung on the corner. She stopped and peered at her face in the mirror. The glasses were thin, and looked like reading glasses. She cocked her head a little and pushed them up just over the scar across the bridge of her nose. "I still look good. Bother that." With a small sigh she continued down to the dorms.

OooOOooOO

Next: Anna plays Quidditch, Harry sneaks around, and sees stuff in a big mirror.