Mountain Fold (Oliver Wood)

Chapter Twenty

The fire crackled happily in the fireplace as though mocking the miserable students that surrounded it. With exam study in front of them, a comfy pillow behind them and a heavy heart inside them, they worked through their misery, grateful they had others to suffer with them through this hardship.

Anna, Zinnia, and Darian sat with Tonks as they did their best to find the motivation to study for their upcoming exams. They had been doing their best and were hard at work until Darian finally decided that he had had enough and changed the topic with the first thing he could think of; quidditch.

"So... how do you think Hufflepuff are gonna do against Ravenclaw?"

"Darian that match is two months away," Anna sighed, pushing her work away from her.

"Yeah I know, but Ravenclaw lost against Slytherin so maybe we have a chance."

"I don't know that much about quidditch, so I wouldn't have a clue."

"I've tried to teach you about it before Anna."

"Maybe you just don't explain it in a very interesting way," Anna smirked.

Darian huffed and opened his month to retort but Tonks quickly interrupted, "I'm sure Hufflepuff will do just fine, we can bring Bazza and Merlin along as good luck."

The paper badger and small bird looked at Tonks as she said their names, but both quickly lost interest, Bazza going back sleep on Zinnia's lap and Merlin was having fun playing with Darian's hair.

"Yeah true, there's no way we're gonna lose against Slytherin," Darian said confidently, "so Anna... what did your parents say about you getting another detention?"

"You know I haven't gotten a letter yet, it's probably gonna come tonight," Anna grumbled.

"I can't wait to read it."

"You're not allowed to read it anymore. You've lost your letter reading privileges."

"Why?!"

"For being annoying."

"Will you two stop arguing for one minute!" Zinnia groaned at them.

They instantly fell silent, not wanting to face the wrath of Zinnia. The fearful silence was interrupted by a tapping on the window, they all looked over to see a familiar tawny owl.

"Emeric!" Anna jumped up to let the family owl in.

"If that letter's from your parents then I'm a seer," Darian mumbled.

"Professor Trelawny would be delighted," Zinnia snorted as Anna read her letter.

She let out a sigh of relief when she reached the end of the letter and looked up to see everyone staring at her in anticipation.

"You don't seem like someone who just got grounded, is it even from your parents?" Darian asked in confusion.

"Yes, it's from my parents and they didn't ground me," Anna confirmed as she tossed the letter to her friends to read.

"So I haven't lost my letter reading privileges," Darian said smugly.

"Don't push your luck buddy."

Her friends read though the letter quickly and were a little shocked when they were finished.

"Wow... I expected your parents to be at least a little critical of what you did," Zinnia admitted.

"They were probably just in shock, we all were. Our sweet little Anna punched someone, its so out of character," Tonks teased.

"Yeah and I don't want to have to do it again Tonks," Anna grumbled.

"Your parents were probably just happy that you had some sort of social interaction... even if it was a bit violent," Darian teased Anna as well.

"Oi! I talk to people," Anna protested.

"Do you though?" Darian grinned.

"Well I'm not gonna talk to you two anymore. Zinnia my only friend now. A true Hufflepuff, who values kindness."

"Aww, thanks Anna," Zinnia grinned.

"Class will be very boring if you have no one to talk to," Darian smirked.

"I'll take Bazza with me."

"That'll look completely normal."

"Why are you two arguing so much tonight?" Zinnia asked.

"It's their way of procrastinating, they don't want to study for exams," Tonks explained.

"Tooooonks," Darian and Anna whined together.

"We were just starting to forget about them," Darian groaned, "I give up, I'm going to bed."

"Good night Darian," Zinnia and Tonks chirped.

Darian looked at Anna expectantly who just ignored him, but he could tell that she was fighting back a smile, "come on Anna, you can't not talk to meeeeee," he engulfed her in a hug and she finally started to smile.

"Fine. Good night, you idiot," Anna said with a small smile.

"Nighty night everyone," Darian grinned as he looked at Tonks, caused Anna and Zinnia to smile knowingly, before he made his way off to bed.

"Are you guys feeling sleepy? Cause I'm up for a bit more study," Zinnia asked them, Anna and Tonks quickly shook their heads.

"Please no more studying," Anna begged.

"Yeah, we worked hard today, it's important to remember to take a break. I'm not feeling that sleepy though, if you guys want to stay up," Tonks suggested, which they both agreed to.

They chatted for a while about Hogsmeade visits and their classes before Zinnia started to look a little sheepish.

"Hey... have you noticed how Darian seems to be hanging out with other people more?" Zinnia asked hesitantly.

Anna thought about it for a bit before she realised that Zinnia was right, she just hadn't really noticed since they still spent a lot of their time together in class, but outside of class Anna hadn't seen Darian as often.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"It's not as unusual as you think, you know, for friends to drift apart," Tonks told them sympathetically.

"You think Darian doesn't want to be friends with us anymore?" Zinnia asked sadly.

"No! No, of course not. That's not what I meant. I just mean that Darian might start hanging out with other people. You'll still be friends even if you don't see each other as much."

Zinnia looked a little happier at that, Anna scolded herself for not realising how Zinnia was feeling sooner.

"And you never know, Darian might drift back towards you to, it happens all the time."