The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 11: Lockhart's Dueling Club

Ana was absolutely exhausted yet the happiest she had been in the longest time, despite not talking to half of her friends. Calista and Alex were still putting up a united front; every time she got to her dorm at the end of the night, the two girls would immediately stop talking upon her arrival. She knew that she couldn't stay angry forever, but it was too hard to forgive Alex just yet. But every day, Ana longed for the dynamic before Alex made her betrayal.

              Lucian was also keeping his distance for the most part. Not wanting to pick between his sister and one of his best friends meant choosing no one. When they weren't eating meals, the older boy spent his time with Cedric Diggory on the pitch, pounding bludgers his way as the seeker tried dodging them. She never told him, but Ana watched them from the owlery on occasion. Although, she never stayed too long since the stench of bird dung really ruined things.

              Aeron had started tutoring Ana again, given the fact that she almost bombed her exams the last term. Training in Legilimency with Snape left her horribly stunted the year before in the subject, but she and Aeron fell back into their steady rhythm. They found themselves in the library with their flash cards and reviewing all the material Ana missed when she fell asleep. Aeron used to get annoyed when she didn't pay attention in class, but he accepted it now.

              "Alright, so why were people hunting witches? That doesn't make any sense," Ana complained as she flipped through her book, "Muggles killed witches? Pretty bloody rude of them."

              "It's not like wizards and witches always played nice when it came to muggles, Ana," Aeron countered. "I mean, hell, we can't even help from crapping all over muggle born and halfblood folk, much less treat muggles well. If anything, we could learn a thing or two."

              Ana gazed up at the boy, smiling at the explanation he gave her. His pointed face had rounded out since the first time she met him, making his would-have-been sinister appearance far more welcoming and kinder. It matched who he had grown into. Everything from his smile lines and painted green fingertips told her that she never had to worry about the boy he used to be.

              "Hermione!"

              Both Ana and Aeron turned to see Lavender Brown running at full speed into the library; her bushy curly hair bounced with every bustling step she took until she reached Hermione. Ana had never spoken to the girl, but she seemed like a sweet girl, perhaps a bit bumbling and noisy, but perfectly fine. She gripped the arm of the muggleborn girl all while doing her best to straighten out her sweater.

              "Lavender, you can't just yell in the library!"

              Hermione chastised the cheerful girl as she clutched a potions book to her chest, a book Ana could have sworn she's read before.

              "But Lockhart is doing some dueling! Come on, I know you wanna see him," the blonde girl giggled. A reluctant but giddy Hermione stuffed the book in her bag and scurried along with the other Gryffindor.

              Ana and Aeron looked at each other with knowing smirks.

              "Wanna watch this train wreck?" Ana asked him despite already clearing off the table of their flashcards.

              "Oh, absolutely. I'd never pass up the opportunity to see Lockhart get his ass handed to him."

              And handed to him, it was. Within the first few minutes of viewing the duel, Professor Snape had wiped the stage with the DADA professor, making not only her, but countless other students rejoice from the sidelines. Lockhart wobbled around on the stage, his knock off robes practically split at the seams with every spell and hex he was hit with. Even Harry was having a laugh at the boisterous man's downfall, despite if it coming from the hands of his least favorite teacher.