A.J RYAN IN THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Chapter 30 - Marauder's Map

Fred had had enough. He and George had watched A.J leave dinner early for the last few weeks without saying anything.

"Marauder's Map?" George had read his mind at dinner.

Fred nodded.

They both left the Great Hall after asking Harry to borrow the map.

They summoned it from Harry's trunk, to avoid going through his belongings, and sat on his bed to read it.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." George chanted, tapping the parchment with his wand.

Most people were in the Great Hall for dinner, so it only took a minute to locate her dot on the map.

On the edge of the Forbidden Forest was a small label Alexis-June Ryan.

They entered the grounds through the large oak front doors. George had stopped a small distance back, while Fred watched himself on the map slowly getting closer to her. He stopped abruptly unable to go any further and cursed.

A.J had turned to the noise. Outside the perimeter of her enchantments, less than ten feet away, was Fred. His wand was lit over a piece of parchment in his hand.

She slowly walked closer to him as he begun to call out; "I know you're there; I'm not going away." He said rather forcefully.

A.J was now only a foot from him and could see clearly the map in his hand. She stared at his determined face. He kept looking absently around, unable to see exactly where she was. When he looked down to the map again he smiled. A.J's dot was right on top of his.

"Hey Love." He said quietly smirking.

She sighed and took his hand to lead him into the boundaries of the enchantments.

She sat down by the Forest. She had managed to avoid screaming and attacking the trees the last few nights. She redirected her energy into reading.

Fred sat beside her. "Going to tell me what this is about?" He asked quietly.

"No."

He sighed. "But this is where you've been coming lately?"

"Yes."

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly.

She turned her head towards him thoughtfully.

"You know that's cheating right." She nodded at the map on the ground in front of them.

"So are all your charms around you. You really know how to hide." He said admiringly.

It was suddenly very quiet, and when Fred looked to her, he saw the tears falling down her cheeks.

"Hey Lexi." He said gently, reaching for her.

She jumped away at his touch, as if suddenly, she remembered he was there. She wiped at her tears, and quickly stood up.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine." She gushed when she reached her feet.

***A.J P.O.V***

I sat bolt upright in bed as the bell to signal the end of fourth period rang. I pressed a finger to my lips, I felt warmth from where I'd dreamt Fred had been holding me.

I was still gathering my books from my dorm room on the seventh floor. Which meant arriving to Potions – in the dungeons - on time was going to be a rush.

Then when I heard the groaning sound of the staircase moving outside the door, I sighed. There would be a boy at the bottom of it that I would have to tell off for trying to enter the girl's dormitories. Now I really would be late. I stepped out of the doorway with my book bag and saw the staircase was now a slide. I sat down and slid to the bottom.

I was greeted by Fred offering me his hand. I let him help me up.

"Did you do that to the stairs?" I asked sternly.

"Yep. Thought it would get your attention." He said unabashed.

I looked around, there were a few sixth and seven years in the common room.

I had heard them snickering when the staircase first turned into a slide, but their attention had gone back to what they were doing. I made sure we couldn't be heard.

"Don't you have Potions?" He asked.

"How'd you know I wasn't there already?" I asked rhetorically.

"Well I've been sitting there." He pointed to the chair closet to the portrait hole. "You went up, but never came down." He shrugged at the simple logic.

"Yes, I have Potions. I have to go, now I'm definitely going to be late." I went to step past him.

"Can we talk after then?"

"Yeah maybe." I said in a rush to get away.

His face dropped.

I stopped walking and turned back to face him.

"Hey." I called quietly, and he turned to look at me. "I've got to get to class, after I detour past Umbridge's classroom. At dinner I'm going over things with Simon. Then I've got a meeting with another Professor, I don't know how long that'll go for. Unless you're still up at one in the morning, I just haven't got the time sorry."

I rushed out the portrait hole. Invisible to everyone I ran flat out down to the second floor.

Harry had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Umbridge. While there was still a lot of whispering about the escaped Death Eaters, and Harry's story, no one was openly bothering him. He didn't look troubled. I was already going to be late for my own class, so I waited here until the second bell sounded for the start of fifth lesson. Once Umbridge had closed the door behind the entering fifth years, I sprinted off down to the Dungeons.

Most teachers would cut the Head Boy and Girl some slack because of the extra duties we had, but I knew better than to expect it from Professor Snape.

"Nice of you to join us Miss Ryan. Detention, tomorrow evening, for your tardiness." He sneered.

I sat at my usual desk and set up my things as quick as I could. As a way of catching me up on what I had missed, Professor Snape just gestured to the blackboard without meeting my eyes.

When he walked around at the end of the double lesson, he had nothing bad to say about my work. Instead he took it out on Simon.