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"Heh, yeh I guess you can say dat, got some business for Dumbledore." He responded and gave them each a mug. He sat down on his handmade stool.

Anissa sipped from the mug and smiled, it tasted alright for tea. It was comforting and warm in her stomach. Ollie stayed on Hagrid as Anissa sipped the tea. Anissa seemed bothered by something. Hagrid was her friend she could tell anything to, she didn't want to talk about earlier. But Hagrid was good at comforting a bit. "Somethin wrong Nissa?" Hagrid asked her.

She put the mug down and nodded "earlier a Slytherin called me a Mudblood. If Analia hadn't stepped in I probably would've hexed him." She wiped her eyes.

"Nissa, listen ter me. Names don't define who yeh are, okay? So whoever this Slytherin is, he's just trying ter get ya down" he held out his hand and she smiled and put hers in his big hands "alright?"

Anissa nodded and smiled, his words meant a lot to her and she wiped her tears away "that's Hagrid?" She said and hugged him.

"Aw come on now, don't be getting me soft ya hear?" He chuckled and checked the time "I gotta head out you two, yer free to stay here if you wish." He stood up.

Analia sat calmly and quietly with her back straightened and both her hands folded around the delightfully warm mug. She watched them and smiled at them. Business for Dumbledore? Well, she was a bit curious even if it wasn´t very unusual. He was the Groundskeeper after all and he had run errands for Dumbledore many times before.

It tugged at her heart again, when she saw tears in Anissa´s eyes, because of that stupid Slytherin earlier. Analia placed a comforting hand on Anissa´s shoulder and listened to Hagrid. He was very good at comforting people and listening. He always knew what to say, such a kind soul. "Hagrid´s right. And I have to be honest: even I had to restrain myself to not hex him," she chuckled and hoped it would make her feel a bit better. She looked up at Hagrid as he was leaving and nodded. "Be seeing you! I´ll take care of your pumpkins for you!" She smiled widely and then glanced at the clock. "Oh! I should really be getting back. I have a lot to prepare for!" She finished her tea and stood up, ready to walk back to the castle.

"Bye Hagrid!" Anissa waved at him and he waved back. Oliver hopped off Hagrid and onto the ground, running after them. Anissa stopped and picked him up "come on then Ollie" she said and put him on her shoulder as she walked along side Analia. She couldn't help but be slightly curious as to what Hagrid needed to do. But she sought best to stay out of Dumbledore's business. She hummed softly with a smile. The words from her friends helped a lot in comforting her, she was glad to have Analia as a friend now.

Evelyn was wearing some earrings that enhanced her hearing, they wouldn't have allowed her to hear what was going on in Hagrid's hut but she 'overheard' the conversations of some of the students around them. They were emeralds that matched her green eyes well. One of the groups of students had some Slytherins that were talking about a prank that was being planned for someone. The witch had a whimsical expression on her face as she turned a page in her book, but really she was trying to pick up on some details.

" . . . heard he's angry that she called him out about being rejected . . . "

" . . . plans on surprising her with a nasty hex in the Great Hall at dinner . . . "

She gasped when she heard Darius' name mixed in, and she knew the target had to be Anissa. Cursing under her breath, she wondered how she might try to prevent it without revealing that she had eavesdropping earrings. An idea came to her whenever she saw Anissa and Analia walking in her general direction. She hopped up from the chair, Vanishing it and putting her book in her bag. Though the assistant professor looked pleasantly surprised as she veered in her path to walk with the girls.

"I'm glad to see that you two are getting along," she remarked with a smile. She slid her hand into a pocket, fingers closing over the handle of her wand. She spoke a spell that would act as a barrier, casting it over Anissa and Analia as well for good measure. Evelyn whispered the required word, "Protego," as she looked around and pretended to admire the grounds, so the invocation could be kept unobtrusive. "I heard a couple of Slytherins talking earlier about how Darius intends to hex you, a prank of some sort, in the Great Hall. I heard them in the maze and by the time I could try and get to them they were gone," she fabricated things a bit to cover for the fact she owned something that was potentially prohibited.

Analia walked with Anissa towards the castle. Ollie sat on Anissa´s shoulder and Nour was walking beside Analia, his tail up happily and his ears perked for mice that ran by. It didn´t take long before they were at the entrance and they saw Ms. Johnstone walk over and say hello. Analia greeted her and smiled at her, when she said she was glad to see them getting along. "We worked things out," Analia replied and glanced at Anissa for a moment, happy to be friends. Analia thought there was something odd about Ms. Johnstone right now, but didn´t say anything and didn´t notice that she cast a spell on them to protect them.

Analia looked up in surprise, when Ms. Johnstone said that she´d heard someone talking about how Darius wished to hex them. Surely he wouldn´t dare? It was not only wrong and illegal, but dangerous as well! "Surely he doesn´t think that he can get away with it?" Analia sounded a tad surprised and you could easily see how outrageous she found it. At first there was shock in her face and murder in her eyes, but then there was a sort of cold and dark calm over her. Darius clearly did not know who exactly he was up against...

Anissa smiled when she saw Ms. Johnstone again "hello" she said with a bright smile before it vanished when she mentioned the kids she heard and what they said. She looked over at Analia and smiled again when she looked at her, not noticing the spell that was cast upon them either. Oliver noticed and he stayed silent. She looked at the assistant and then at Analia "you must let me deal with this on my own, I don't want you to get mixed up in this and I don't want you to get hurt. Please let me do this on my own? Both of you?" She asked and looked at the assistant.

There was fear in her eyes as she looked at them, but it was fear for both of them and their safety. She could handle a hex or two, it wasn't a big deal. But knowing Darius it was probably deadly. She didn't care, she didn't want her friends to get hurt because of her.

Evelyn paused and considered, looking between the two women as if she was wondering how much resolve they had. She had not expected Anissa to say that she wanted to handle it on her own, but she did appreciate the aura of grim calm that had come over Analia. These young ladies had more fortitude than she'd suspected. "I've cast a protective charm over the two of you, but I can watch from afar and see how you handle things. I didn't get to find out the nature of this hex he plans on pulling off. It might be a bit convoluted, so he can try to get away with it. He might be planning on embarrassing you, trying to pull it off in such a public place."

She walked and talked with them for a time before she went on ahead to monitor the students in the Great Hall. Part of her duties were to act as something of a deterrence for students that might act up in the Great Hall or other public areas. The sight of an adult often served to make students think twice before getting into a fight, using a spell or engaging in some prank.

The Great Hall seemed the same as ever, and Darius was nowhere in sight. He couldn't even be spotted sitting at his usual spot at the Slytherin table, gossiping and jeering passer by as he often did. It would happen as Anissa drew closer to the Gryffindor table. A first year Slytherin student who had been walking by and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible pulled something from his pocket and threw it at Anissa. The thing he threw looked like a sphere made out of light, whenever it was thrown a voice sounded from it. The voice was garbled, it was hard to tell whose it was. It wasn't so garbled that the spell it spoke couldn't be heard to those nearby. "Nasum sardinus!" The orb flew right toward Anissa.

Anissa smiled as she met Sanza and got her caught up on everything going on. She was completely unaware of the Slytherin walking by her and she covered her ears with her hands and screamed when the orb flew toward her, but evaporated when the protective charm stopped it and saved her.

She started to cry out of fear, but she kept her stance tall. The Slytherin was no where to be seen, and she began to tremble.

Dumbledore rushed over to make sure she was alright and she nodded and looked at him. He looked around and went over to speak to Snape. "One of your Slytherins did this, whoever did it just made their house lose fifty points." Dumbledore said and dismissed everyone.

Analia was outraged that Darius would dare try anything, yet at the same time she wasn´t surprised. It seemed her presence only deterred him temporarily and he was just planning his next move. Apparently he wasn´t scared of losing house points, considering Analia also had the ability to take them should it be justified, which it would if he tried to hurt them or cast a spell on them.

She was calmed a bit, and surprised, to learn that Ms. Johnstone had cast a spell on them. She should´ve realized or expected as much. She was a clever witch and acted fast, which Analia appreciated. Sometimes she forgot that she was a student due to her job as a prefect and her responsibilities. The O.W.L´s and amount of homework, however, reminded her of that fact. "Thank you, Ms. Johnstone," she replied. She stopped for a moment to gaze at Anissa, when she tried to order them to not get involved. "I am sorry, Anissa, but I am already involved and... I have a responsibility," Analia said with a concerned look on her face, and sighed. "But I´ll try not to intervene unless necessary," she added.
Then they walked and talked with Ms. Johnstone as they went to the Great Hall, where the prank would end up taking place. She felt calm knowing that they were protected, although she was sure she could´ve handled it herself. Probably would´ve conjured up a shield or something as well.

Analia was walking behind Anissa as she caught up with Sanza and walked to the Gryffindor table. Analia started heading to the Ravenclaw table, when the attack hit and an orb of some kind came flying towards Anissa. Analia shouted, but could not manage to interfere, but luckily the orb evaporated, when it hit the invisible shield that had been put around Anissa. The Slytherin that had done it managed to get away. Analia was not surprised that Darius had gotten someone else to do it. Coward. Sneaky bastard. But she´d have a talk with him later. Dumbledore himself interfered and he was furious. Analia couldn´t help but smile, when she overheard him say that whoever did it would lose housepoints. Snape didn´t seem pleased, and Analia figured he would have to question and scold every Slytherin. Analia watched only for a moment, when Dumbledore dismissed them, and hurried over to see if Anissa was okay.

Anissa hated being here now, which was surprising considering she lived here. She looked up at Analia and just cried. She felt awful that she was now a target, she didn't know what to do about it.

((Short, sorry, got stuff going on))

Evelyn had spoken with Dumbledore, and she always felt awed in his presence. The aura of power that came off him was something rare indeed. She was close enough to hear the spell, it sounded like a hex to make sardines come out of someone's nose. It was sure to be a very uncomfortable and embarrassing spell if it landed. The young woman held her breath for just a moment before the orb evaporated. She had to admit, that it was a clever bit of magic. Somehow he'd encased and frozen a spell, and then given it to someone else so they could take the fall.

The professors were sweeping through the students, asking for descriptions of the student that had done it. So far all the witnesses were stating he was a shorter boy, with black hair. No one had caught on to anything more distinctive than that. Evelyn was telling Dumbledore what she had seen, with Snape listening close by. She found Snape to be more intimidating than Dumbledore for some reason. Perhaps because he was less approachable.

Many Slytherins moaned and jeered when they heard about losing house points, though a look from Dumbledore and Snape silenced them immediately. Evelyn noticed some of them whispering, and making tiny nods toward Darius. Would Darius' fellow Slytherins flush him out, or perhaps carry out their own form of vengeance? She would have to try and look into that later. Evelyn approached Anissa, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You stood tall and proud, aside from being a bit startled. I wonder what Darius bribed that kid with to throw that at you. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough." Her gaze moved toward Analia, and she nodded toward the resentful Slytherins. "Looks like he might have more than angry professors to deal with. How many of them might have known of his intentions?"

((Not a problem, know how it is! ^.^))

((We get it, don´t worry ))

Analia patted her back and hated seeing Anissa like this. Seeing anyone like this. And she felt bad for Anissa, considering how awful she must be feeling, especially since she lived here. Ms. Johnstone came over after talking to Headmaster Dumbledore, and put a comforting hand on Anissa´s shoulder, while saying words of comfort to cheer her up. "I doubt Darius would have told everyone considering how fast rumors spread here. I mean, you literally overheard people talking about it! I´m guessing he probably bragged about it to some of his closer friends. But considering how many points their house is going to lose, I think he will have made himself some enemies," she suggested. She then turned Anissa towards her and looked at her. "What do you say we get you out of here?"

Anissa honestly looked like someone, who didn´t want to be anywhere near here right now. She looked like she needed to be some place that wasn´t here. "We could go to Myrtle´s bathroom? No one comes there except us. Or maybe Hagrid´s. Just lead the way," Analia said softly and kindly.

Anissa just shook her head "I just want to curl up in a ball and cry by myself" she said and started heading towards the Gryffindor common room. Tears streamed down her face, she hated it here. No one wanted her there. Oliver seemed to be crying too as he held onto her. Anissa grabbed him gently and hugged him as she sniffled, running up the stairs to the girls dormitories. She ran to her bed, her long ginger curls following her as she plopped down onto it and cried, holding onto Oliver a bit tight but he didn't do anything about it.

Why did things have to be so hard for her? That's when Dumbledore knocked on the door, but she didn't know it was him until she said "come in" and he walked in. Seeing as how she was made him make a pained face, he understood what she felt although he was not a Muggle-born wizard, he could understand how she must feel.

Anissa didn't look at him as she just curled into a ball on her side and continued to sniffle, he let out a breath and walked over to her, sitting down on the open area in front of her on the bed. "You know, when I was boy I snuck in here once, when there were no girls of course. I wanted to see if the sunrise looked the same on the boys side, and to my surprise, it was entirely different. It seemed brighter and more joyful over here.

Although I could never see the sunrise on this side again because I lost points and the whole Gryffindor house was angry with me the whole year about it, I still think about that morning." He smiled and looked down at her.

Anissa sniffled but looked at him as he spoke and smiled softly as he did. His voice was so comforting to her. "I know things seem hard now, Anissa. But....it will get better, you'll see. I will try to keep you safe, just as I promised your parents when they gave you to me. I understand things might seem hopeless, but there's something about you Anissa that I can't figure out.

Perhaps it's your kind heart, or your loyalty to your friends. Or perhaps it's the very bravery you still have to this day when you were out in Gryffindor house. One thing I have figured out though, is that you don't give up." He said.

Anissa just sort of snorted "like when? Like when I didn't fight to have my parents keep me and love me as their daughter?"

"No. Like when you rescued Oliver from his abandoned family who left him, or when you protected Sanza from a werewolf in your second year, or when you stood up to Darius earlier. That's not just bravery Anissa, it's also courage, and strength. Whatever goes on up her" he tapped her temple "doesn't mean it controls what goes on in here" he pointed to heart "okay?"

He was right, he was always right, of course he was. She sat up and smiled and nodded and wiped her eyes. He nodded with a happy smile and they shared a hug and he stood up. She stood up as well "come on, I believe your friends might be waiting for you outside." He patted her shoulder and walked out.

Anissa sniffled again as her esteem and motivation raised. She picked up Oliver "thanks baby boy for being there" she said and kissed his leaves and he blushed with a shy smile. She nodded and put him on her shoulder and walked out.

Evelyn scratched her chin, thoughtful. "Rumors and juicy gossip spreads quickly. She did not interfere as Anissa chose to spend some time to herself. "Sometimes a person just needs to sort things out on their own. She'll be alright," Evelyn reassured Analia. "You know more about the goings on here than I do, I am sure he couldn't resist bragging to a couple of people and word spread like wildfire from there. Things are going to get complicated for him, but I can't say I feel sorry for him," she shook her head.

"I think there is a trip to Hogsmeade coming up this weekend, we could try to go shopping and find something for Analia. Or perhaps something for her bowtruckle, she seems to derive quite a lot of comfort from him." The witch could spot a few Slyhterins that were putting their heads together and speaking in quiet voices. Some of them were on the Quidditch team, she knew. "Do you know what she likes?"

Analia let Anissa leave, because she clearly needed it. Analia sighed. Ms. Evelyn Johnstone´s reassurance helped. But while they talked Analia couldn´t stop looking after Anissa even a long time after she´d already disappeared out the doors and couldn´t be seen anymore.

She listened though, and after a moment of gathering herself and her focus, she finally turned to Ms. Johnstone again. "I usually keep my head cold and am not one to easily give in to bad emotions or thoughts, but... I can´t say I feel sorry for him either," she replied with a nod, her face cold and devoid of affection thinking about Darius. She then smiled at Ms. Johnstone, when she came up with the idea, and Analia nodded. But the smile faded quickly again. She looked down. "I´ve only just befriended her today, so I don´t know much about what she likes, but..." she trailed off, "...there´s something else," she said with a serious expression. "I´m concerned," she continued and looked over at the slytherins huddled in secrecy. "If Darius didn´t get her this time, he might try again later."

They would have to devise some sort of plan to keep her safe. Either take her with them or... or use another protective spell or charm. But it was all quite frustrating. Anissa couldn´t live her life in a protective bubble and they couldn´t always be there to protect her. Analia was certain that he would try again. It wasn´t at all a question of if he would try, but when...

Anissa went down back to the Great Hall. She looked around for Analia but she gave up when she didn't look very hard to find her. Maybe Analia changed her mind about being her friend. Anissa decided to go clear her head at the lake since it was her favorite place.

Analia had not changed her mind about Anissa. She was happy to have a friend like her, and she had a responsibility to her. Not just as a friend, but as a prefect and older student. She´d been talking to Ms. Johnstone, voicing her concerns about Anissa´s safety and what Darius could be plotting as revenge. She wondered how the other Slytherins felt about Darius´ actions. Some of them may have reveled in such an evil scheme, but he did lose Slytherin quite the amount of housepoints.

Analia saw how a big amount of emeralds (that represented Slytherins house points) were sucked up again, leaving less house-points. They were falling behind. Darius actions may very well cost Slytherin the house-cup. Some Slytherins might hold that against him, but who knew? Analia decided it was time to go find Anissa. It didn´t take her too long as someone mentioned they saw her walking towards the Great Lake. She´d apparently been looking for her.

The ravenclaw student made her way to the lake. She didn´t know what she would say to her. She felt like a failure. None of what she´d said earlier had seemed to help very much. She saw her and went over to her and gently tapped her shoulder. "Anissa?" Her voice was curious, but soft and caring. The voice of a concerned friend.

Evelyn's brow furrowed with worry, she looked at Analia as she spoke her concerns of something else. "He might try something even more outlandish next time, strangely enough such people are often angry whenever these things go badly for them. He should likely worry about some of his classmates," she said, looking over the Slytherins discreetly. "I'd love it if the two of you came by my office sometime, and we could try and figure out how to prevent him from succeeding. If he does plot something, we could try to get proof. Or we could come up with some amulet with a protective charm," the young woman suggested.

"I'm available most afternoons and evenings after class, I do help with some remedial lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays but otherwise the two of you are welcome to drop by for tea. The office is a corridor over from where the Charms lessons are held, there's a picture of a cat out front, you can't miss it," she wanted to offer support to the two of them, knowing that Darius might be wanting to gain some kind of revenge on Anissa, he might blame her for the loss of points for the house of Slytherin. She bid farewell to Analia and went to go and see to her duties.

The witch kept an eye out for groups of Slytherins that might be gossiping as she went about the school and walked from one class to another. She thought she might be able to listen for useful tidbits. Being able to spy on Darius himself would be even better, but she knew that Darius might know of her friendship with Anissa and refuse to talk around her.

Anissa was lost in thought as Oliver hopped onto Analia's shoulder and sat down. When she heard the voice, her heart swelled. No one had ever spoken to her like that before and so she started to cry as she turn to face her "I'm sorry" she said, remembering the words her and Dumbledore shared "I'm such a cry baby" she said and wiped her eyes "I've never had a friend like you Analia, besides Sanza, but after today I think she doesn't want to be my friend anymore because then she'd be a target too" she said and wiped her eyes again. "I'm sorry if I've caused such a burden on you. I know you're busy with school and being a Prefect for your house and everything" she said and looked away.

Analia was surprised and felt her heart break slightly, when she saw Anissa´s tears stream down her face. She listened to what she said, the shook her head and stepped closed. "Don´t say that, Anissa," Analia replied and wiped away her tears. "There´s nothing wrong with having feelings. It doesn´t make you a cry-baby," she said and sighed. "I´m sure she still wants to be your friend if you just talked to her? At least don´t jump to conclusions. And you are definitely not a burden," she insisted and hugged her.

"I can handle it, don´t you worry about me. And Darius? There are hundreds of people like him. Always someone looking to cause misery, but you know what? There aren´t hundreds like you. There is no one like you," Analia said to Anissa to cheer her up. But she did mean it. She hadn´t known her for long, but she considered herself a pretty good judge of character. "Sit with me," she said with a smile and sat down.

"I spoke to Ms. Johnstone before I came looking for you. We think he might try something stupid again. Ms. Johnstone said she´d love if we came by her office sometime. We´re thinking maybe we could do something about it. It obviously cannot be allowed to continue, but we don´t have any proof of what he´s doing. And personally, I don´t want him to hurt anyone else or you again," she said and awaited a response. She looked out at the lake as she thought, while drawing out her notebook to sketch some ideas, brainstorm about what to do.

((That´s alright, don´t worry about it ))