starstruck || hannah abbott

11 || twenty-four

Encounters with Hannah were brief after Anastasia had properly returned her necklace to her. Susan Bones seemed to have taken up a constant vigilance to protect Hannah at all costs. Anastasia was slightly put off by this behavior because Susan Bones never seemed to demonstrate such extreme prejudices against any of the other Slytherin students. Anastasia had some hunch that Susan was aware of her attraction to Hannah which scared her. Though despite Susan's bitchiness, Anastasia continued to smile at Hannah and would sometimes make small conversations with her before or after Charms. Nothing much ever transpired, though Ana always felt waves of happiness after those talks.

Things were changing in the school as well. Something to do with Harry Potter and Dumbledore went down one night while everyone was asleep and the Minister Of Magic himself tried to detain Dumbledore. Rumor had it that Dumbledore had simply vanished from his office in front of Cornelius Fudge and several Ministry officials. Anastasia did not think such a thing was possible as Apparation was forbidden within and around Hogwarts' grounds.

To top things off, though, Professor Umbridge had taken command of the school. As Anastasia and her friends would walk through the hallways, Umbridge's recorded voice would recite all the 'Educational Decrees' that she was forcing upon the student body. One that stood out to Anastasia was Educational Decree Twenty-Four. This stated: "All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge). No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled."

Yet Umbridge turned right around and formed what was known as the 'Inquisitorial Squad' which consisted entirely of Slytherins out to make sure all the decrees were being studiously upheld. Though it offered extra credit, it was headed by Argus Filch who Anastasia detested so she refused to join.

Her friends joined much to her disapproval but Draco Malfoy was determined to be part of anything that Gryffindors would not join. Namely, he was out to get his long-time nemesis, Harry Potter, which Anastasia was almost convinced was Draco's love interest. Never had she seen him pay so much attention to one specific boy in all her years at Hogwarts. Day one until now it was Potter this and Potter that to the point Anastasia swore Draco might actually be in love with the Chosen One. Perhaps it was her bias, but Pansy never seemed to be enough to entrap Draco's attention solely on her.

"–cancelled? My father will hear about this," Draco was ranting that night in the Common Room. He was upset about this decree and did not want Quidditch to be disbanded.

"Even though we hate her, she somewhat favors us, Malfoy, relax," Blaise said idly.

"I wonder what Potter thinks about all of this," Draco wondered aloud to know one in particular but Anastasia took note.

The next morning though, Professor Umbridge informed Slytherin House that they were permitted to keep their Quidditch team much to Draco's delight. Though she did not tell them, technically every House got to keep their team as long as the players behaved. This was paramount as a match was fast approaching between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Anastasia hoped secretly that Hannah was going even if she was not able to sit near her.

As the day of the match drew closer, Anastasia decided she would ask Hannah about the game. Ana saw Hannah walking to Charms with Susan Bones the day before the match. Perhaps she would have to wait until they were both seated.

Sure enough, Anastasia was able to find out Hannah was attending with Susan and someone named Ernie. Thankfully, Susan had a voice that travelled when she was not paying attention which sadly relieved Anastasia of having to actually make a conversation with the Hufflepuff.

That Friday passed quite slowly especially with Christmas break approaching too. All Anastasia wanted to do was to go down to the Quidditch pitch and cheer on her team. She was also excited that there was a possibility she would run into Hannah, too.

Before long, her final class, Transfiguration, ended and Anastasia was following Theodore down to get good seats. They chose a spot a few rows back from the front. Anastasia craned her neck to get a glimpse of the Hufflepuff section. Her brown eyes caught some unmistakably bright blonde hair next to an unnaturally tall boy with mousy brown hair. Anastasia recognized him as one of the gossipers from earlier that year and decided this must be Ernie. She also saw Susan Bones but who cared about her.

Ana lost sight of her crush when the teams surged out into the air in flashes of green and red. Madam Hooch sounded the whistle and the game began. It was an eventful match as the Slytherins had a song planned in order to distract the Gryffindor Keeper, Ronald Weasley.

The song was titled "Weasley Is Our King" and the lyrics went something like:

"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley was born in a bin.
He always lets the Quaffle in.
Weasley will make sure we win.
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He always lets the Quaffle in.
Weasley is our King."

Slytherin ended up losing as the Gryffindors used the song to their advantage and claimed that Ron was indeed kingly. Anastasia found it an offensive song but kept her mouth shut. How ironic that the song did not help the Slytherins become victorious.