In The Moonlight

Chapter Twenty Four-

"You gonna eat that toast mate?"

"Hm?" 

George looked up from his plate and his untouched breakfast to Fred who was eyeing the food hungrily despite already having eaten three bowls of cereal, a bagel and finishing off Lee's crumpets. 

"The toast... d'you want it?"

Sliding the plate across the table he passed it to Fred making a scratching noise as the china dragged along the wood. 

"All yours."

It was now early December and the wind was howling outside, the weather was sleeting and miserable. George, Lee and Fred were sat at the Gryffindor table, but both Anna and Eve's seats were empty; as they had been for several days now.

Resting his chin on his hand, George stared into his mug of tea which he hadn't so much as sipped and was getting cold. 

"So still giving her space then?" Lee asked.

"Mhm... that's what she wanted." The red-head sighed and pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Don't you think it's been long enough? I mean whatever you did couldn't have been that bad." Fred butted in, crumbs falling out his mouth.

"Well clearly it's important to her and I think I should respect her wishes." George replied firmly, leaving Fred and Lee a little startled at his tone. "I just wish it wasn't so damn difficult." He groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Lee chuckled, "You really fancy her ay?"

"Yep." He sighed deeply again.

"Do you recon you lov- Owch!" Lee's question was interrupted by a swift jab in the arm from Fred and he gestured towards the huge entrance way with his mug of tea.

"Looks like we might have company..."

The boys followed Fred's gaze to the thick head of brown curls that were bouncing over towards them. Annabeth was strutting over to the Gryffindor table: her lips painted a bright shade of crimson; her uniform in the usual untidy manor; shirt un-tucked and tie off center; shoes slightly scuffed and a big wet patch over her chest.

"Bloody hell don't you look a state." A sneering voice yelled from across the room ."Where's your little pure-blood friend got to, finally come to her senses and ditched you like I did?"

The twins and Lee turned their head to where the voice had come from. The Slytherin table.

Anna only sighed and rolled her eyes, "Would you mind finding another place to look besides my tits Nate?" She snapped,  "And I think you'll find I ditched you, so you can take your horridiously big ego and shove it up your-".

"Anna?!" 

She jolted her head up at the sound of her name and smiled at the red head who had called her, taking one last glare at Nate and sticking her middle finger up at him.

Taken aback, Nate grumbled something under his breath and glared at the Ravenclaw, watching as she sat down next to Lee.

"Hello lads." Anna poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip as if she hadn't been away at all.

The group glanced at each other, eyebrows raised, hoping one of them would be less confused than the other. They had no such luck.

"Uh...  Alright Anna?"

"Yeah thanks." She shoveled more sugar into her coffee, not even bothering to look up at them.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked.