In Many Forms

By the following Tuesday, Anna found there were a lot of eyes on her due to her swim in the lake. Many of the stares were other students, who had either witnessed her plummeting into the lake and being thrown out by the giant squid, or had heard about it. Everywhere she went the barely-hushed whispers followed. A few brave souls even came up and asked her about it. All she could really think to tell them was that the lake was dark and the squid was slimy. That seemed to appease them, and they’d wander back to their friends to spread the word. 

Of course, the most pressing eyes that followed her were that of the professors, though Cedric, Fred, and George were tied for second place. Cedric hardly left her side anymore, which posed a real issue when the twins would try to steal her away. 

“Oy, she’s free to go where she likes, Diggory.” Fred crossed his arms and fixed Cedric with a hard stare. 

“And what makes you think she’d like to go with you?” Cedric spat back. 

Anna rolled her eyes. She took another bite of her breakfast and ignored their squabbling.

The twins, with their friend Lee Jordan in tow, had run up to the Hufflepuff table just a few minutes after Anna and Cedric had sat down and began trying to coax her away from her pancakes. Anna had ignored them in favour of her tea, which was probably why Cedric thought she was reluctant to go with the twins. In truth she wouldn’t mind. Her first class of the day, Transfiguration, wasn’t until 10, so she had a bit of time to spare. 

“Dunno, maybe the fact that we’re friends,” George scoffed. 

“Well we were friends first, so—”

“They always like this?” Lee whispered in her ear as the twins and Cedric carried on bickering. 

Anna rolled her eyes. “This is new actually. Believe it or not, they used to be friendly.” 

“Huh. Well let’s hope they settle it before class.” 

“What’ve you got this morning?”

“Charms at 9. You?” Lee stole a bite off her plate.  

“Transfiguration at 10—wait a minute!” Anna whipped around to face the twins, who were both glaring at Cedric now, though he showed no signs of backing down. “You lot have class at 9, there’s no time for you to go anywhere.” She narrowed her eyes at them. “Were you planning to skive off?” 

Fred rolled his eyes while George at least had the good sense to look sheepish. “There’s something we wanted your help with,” he muttered. 

Anna fixed them with a hard stare. “Go to class. I’ll see you in History of Magic later and I can help you afterwards.” 

“But—” Fred began to argue. 

The morning bell chimed loudly, signalling the start of morning classes. 

Cedric looked a mite too smug as he turned back to his plate. Anna flicked his ear just to even whatever playing field the boys seemed to be constructing between themselves. He rubbed at it with an expression like a kicked puppy. 

“Go,” Anna said to the twins. “I’ll see you later.” 

They turned around and begrudgingly stomped out of the Great Hall. 

“Oy, Lee!” Anna called after him as he got up from the table to follow Fred and George. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her. “See they actually get to classes, won’t you?” 

Lee shrugged, a lopsided grin on his face. “Can’t make any promises.” And with that he turned and jogged after the twins. 

Cedric sighed into his mug of tea. “Dunno know why you hang out with that lot.” 

“Be nice, Ced,” she gently scolded. 

Anna didn’t bring up that she and the twins really became friends when Cedric had been ignoring her, though the thought pulsed uncomfortably at the back of her brain. 

He got up from the table, picking up both of their bags and waiting for Anna to join him. She managed one last bite before all the plates vanished. Standing to follow, Anna grabbed her bag from Cedric, draped the thick strap over her shoulder, and looped her free arm through his. They walked out of the Great Hall and started up one of the many staircases. 

Anna clutched Cedric’s arm a little tighter when their staircase jolted to the left. Her stomach flipped uncomfortably and a cold bead of sweat slid down her spine. She doubted she’d ever grow used to these blasted stairs. 

Once their staircase locked into its new position, Anna and Cedric made their way to the library, so they might sit under the pretence of studying for an hour before heading back down for Transfiguration. She tugged the neck of her sweater up a centimetre higher as they made their way through the school. 

The scales that had sprouted from her skin hadn’t yet gone away, as Anna hoped they would. She’d had to pull out all her sweaters and scarves to hide the strange spattering of scales along the base of her neck. Luckily, autumn was settling firmly over the grounds and the permanent chill in the air gave her an excellent excuse for all the high-necked clothing she’d been sporting lately. 

She worried most that Cedric would see it and drag her back to the hospital wing. She thought it would be hard to hide from Theo and Patricia but they didn’t pay that much attention to her, as it turns out. They were far too occupied bickering with each other to notice Anna climbing into bed with a scarf on. 

Anna didn’t get any studying done in the library. Cedric sat beside her, diligently scribbling on his roll of parchment, writing a Herbology essay that was due the next day. She didn’t have the energy. 

Each time she glanced at her open textbook the words began to swim across the page. She’d thought—hoped—that she would be alright after the scene in the bathroom. And there had been a brief reprieve from the constant clawing feeling inside her, but as each day dragged on, the angry thing inside her grew stronger and she grew weaker. 

“Oy, wake up.” Cedric’s voice called her back to present. 

Anna opened her eyes, not having realised that she’d fallen asleep on top of her Herbology book. 

“Are we late?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes. 

“Not yet, but we’re cutting it close if we don’t leave now. You know how the staircases can be.” 

Yes, Anna knew exactly how the staircases loved to move her off her path, especially when she was in a hurry. And even after spending the better part of two months at Hogwarts, Anna still got turned around in the winding corridors. 

“Alright, let’s go.” She closed her book and shoved it, along with her unused parchment, into her bag. 

Anna slung the bag over her shoulder and quickly yanked up the neck of her sweater. A part of her wanted to pry the scales off with a hot knife—a bigger part of her didn’t want to be in any more pain than she already was. 

Cedric grabbed his bag and Anna’s hand, and the two of them made their way to Transfiguration. They shuffled into the classroom alongside the first year Ravenclaws and took a seat near the back. Anna knew Cedric would have preferred to be in the front, but she didn’t want to be too close under Professor McGonagall’s watchful eye. No doubt the older witch would see something that would land Anna in hospital again. 

“Good morning, class.” McGonagall swept into the room wearing deep green robes and a tall witches hat. 

“Good morning,” a couple dozen sleepy students echoed back. 

“Today we will begin our studies on switching spells. Who can tell me what those are?” 

A few hands lifted into the air, Cedric’s among them. 

“Mister Diggory.” 

“Switching spells can switch the positions of two objects,” he recited a perfect iteration if the textbook entry they’d read for homework. 

“Exactly,” said McGonagall. “And in what cases might such a spell be useful?” 

A couple more hands rose. Professor McGonagall surveyed the room and called on—

“Mister Davies.” 

“Erm,” Roger paled under McGonagall’s watch. 

There was ink smudged on his hands again and he looked nervous. Anna wagered he hadn’t read the chapter they’d been assigned. She couldn’t blame him, seeing as she didn’t read it either, even though she’d wanted to. Exhaustion had hit her like a bludger two sentences in and she hadn’t been able to stop herself falling asleep. 

“You could…erm…switch clothes…if you got them dirty?” 

McGonagall stared at Roger over the tops of her square spectacles. “Though I suspect you’ve pulled that answer out thin air, it is correct. Please remember to complete the reading, Mister Davies.” 

Roger slumped in relief once McGonagall turned away from him. “Yes professor,” he mumbled. 

“In order to perform a proper switching spell, there are a few things one must remember.” McGonagall turned to the blackboard and waved her wand. Neat writing and complicated diagrams appeared on its surface. The class scrambled to get out parchment and copy down the board. 

The remainder of the lecture on switching spells was long but interesting enough to keep Anna’s attention, despite the occasional prickling at her neck. She rubbed at the thick cotton of her turtleneck as she and Cedric left the classroom. She waved to Roger Davies as they parted ways with the Ravenclaws, who were headed to the greenhouses for Herbology while the Hufflepuffs filed down to the first floor for History of Magic.

Anna and Cedric settled into their usual desk just a few moments before Fred and George settled into their typical desk one row ahead. Fred kicked his feet onto the tabletop and leaned back in his chair. 

“Had fun in class this morning?” He said pointedly to Anna while giving Cedric a sideways glare. 

“Yes,” she sighed. “It was riveting. How was Charms?” 

“Dunno,” George answered. “We weren’t there. Mind if we borrow your notes?” 

Anna gaped at him. “You didn’t go? But I told Lee—”

“Lee didn’t want to go either. We had a grand time down at the lake instead. Now about those notes—”

“The lake? What were you doing by the lake—no, never mind, I don’t want to know,” she said when George opened his mouth to answer. “And I don’t have my Charms notes with me today,” she added when Fred opened his mouth to speak. 

“S’alright,” he said with a grin. “Just bring them tonight.” 

"What’s tonight?” Cedric asked suddenly. 

Anna turned to the twins, also curious as to the answer. 

“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you, Diggory.” Fred smirked. 

Cedric narrowed his eyes at Fred and went back to setting out his parchment and quill. Anna didn’t know why he bothered, he always fell asleep in History of Magic. 

“Meet us at the stone bridge tower at 11 o’clock tonight.” George leaned close and whispered to her so Cedric couldn’t hear. 

“The what?” she had no clue where that was. She could barely find the common room. 

George sighed. “First floor corridor near the bridge, the tower looking over the quad.” 

“Oh,” Anna mumbled as if any of that made sense to her. “Alright.” 

Truthfully, she was nervous to be out in the castle past curfew, but she was curious to see what the twins were up to. 

“Take your seats.” Professor Binns floated in through the far wall and settled his ghostly form behind the desk. His spectacles slid slowly down the length of his nose as he began to drone about the Werewolf Code of Conduct. 

It was their second lesson on the matter and Anna hurried to resume writing in the roll of parchment she’d begun last class. As Binns talked and she scribbled, students around her began drifting to sleep. She could hardly blame them. 

Anna stifled a yawn and dipped her quill in the inkwell. Just as she set the quill tip to parchment, a sharp pain gripped her side. She bit down on her inside of her cheek and breathed for a moment. The ache dulled just enough for her to write. But all too soon, it was back. 

It was a desperate scraping of something deep inside her, clawing to escape. The hungry thing writhed and bit at her until Anna was doubled over the desk. Her breathing came ragged, from a throat that ached where she knew those grey scales lay. 

Anna dropped her quill and clutched the table. She screwed her eyes shut and focused on all the things that weren’t hurting her. Parchment that crinkled beneath her cheek, the smell of wet ink, the tickle of the feather quill near her nose, the steady lull of Binns’ voice. With each breath she managed to wrangle the pain into something smaller, something more manageable. 

When Anna sat up and took stock of her surroundings, she realised that nothing had changed. Cedric still slept. Binns still droned on. Her tear-soaked parchment was the only evidence that something was amiss. Anna shoved it to the bottom of her bag and began scribbling on a fresh roll.

Later that night, after taking an overlong nap and nearly missing dinner, Anna found herself in the first floor corridor at 10 minutes past 11pm, searching anxiously for any glimpse of the twins or—heaven forbid—a teacher. She was late and didn't know where on earth the boys were. George had called it the stone bridge tower, he'd said it overlooked the quad, which had made Anna think it would be simple to find. But when she reached the first floor and glanced out over the quad, she realised that there was a tower at each corner. Worse yet, multiple towers boasted stone bridges that connected to other sections of the castle. 

Anna sighed and turned around, figuring since the boys weren't here they must be at one of the other towers. 

"Leaving without us?" A hushed voice called from behind her. 

Anna whirled around to find Fred and George rushing down the corridor towards her. 

"I thought I'd gotten myself lost again," she said to them.

"We're as surprised as you are," Fred chuckled, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from George.

"C’mon, let's go." George grabbed her hand and the three of them rushed up the spiraling tower steps.

Halfway up, Anna stumbled, slamming her knee into the sharp edge of a stone step before George pulled her upright.

"Go ahead of me," he whispered in the dark stairwell.

Anna did as instructed, and was a bit surprised when Fred reached back, offering his hand to steady her. She took it gladly and followed Fred higher into the tower, all the while feeling George just behind her. They climbed for a long time, longer than Anna would have expected by looking at the tower from the outside.

Fred released her hand when they made it to a flat landing. It was darker here, with only a small port window near the ceiling. Anna felt more than saw George crowd onto the small landing behind her.

"Ready?" he whispered near her ear. Her hair stirred with his breath. 

"For what? You two aren't going to lock me up here, right?"

Fred laughed, uncaring that the sound broke the heavy stillness around them. "We're not that bored of you yet."

A loud creak echoed along the stone walls as Fred pushed open the heavy wooden door in front of them, and led their little group into a wide, empty room. Tall windows lined the rounded walls, allowing beams of moonlight to cast patterns on the floor. The stone beneath their feet was pale, much like the rest of the castle, but had flecks of some other kind of rock scattered throughout. The intruding stones glittered under the moonlight that fell over them.

"It's...it's like stars under my feet," Anna mumbled in awe.

“We're here for the real stars, not the fake ones," Fred said. 

Anna hummed in question and tore her eyes from the floor to look at him. She could see him better now that there was some light. She watched him unfurl a large blanket directly under one of the apertures.

"You brought me here to stargaze?" Anna didn’t try to hide her bewilderment. 

"Yeah—" George said as Fred said "Sort of.”

Anna raised a brow at them as Fred began setting up three pillows along the edge of the blanket.

"Truth is we slept through our last Astronomy class and we need to make up the homework," George admitted, and had the good sense to look sheepish. 

Something small in Anna’s chest wilted. "So you brought me here to do your homework?"

"No—"

"Sort of—" the boys said again in unison. 

George glared at his brother. "We've got star charts to do but we figured it'd be more fun with you here. You don't actually have to do any work."

"Unless you want to get a jump on this week's Astronomy homework," Fred tacked on unabashedly.

Anna's shoulders relaxed. "I think I'll just watch for tonight.”

Fred shrugged. “Suit yourself." 

He flopped down on one end of the blanket. A quill clattered out of his pocket and he scrambled to catch it before it could roll clear across the tower. 

"C’mon," George nudged her back. 

They walked to the far end of the tower where Fred was already lounging on the blanket and settled themselves next to him. Anna found herself laying in the middle, with the twins pressed close on either side of her. Truthfully, it was nice. Their warmth contrasted the cool night air sweeping through the window above them and she grew comfortable within minutes.

Laying as they were, with their heads resting close to the wall just beneath the windowpane, Anna found that she could see a wide stretch of the sky, and the many stars that shone there. 

"Why aren't we doing this in the Astronomy tower?" She asked as Fred and George shuffled around and pulled out blank star charts. 

"There's a class there tonight," Fred said. 

Anna hummed in understanding while her full attention remained on the stars above. They were beautiful, far more so than the false stars embedded in the tower floor. She folded her hands across her stomach and just breathed. For the first time in days, nothing hurt. She hoped it would last. 

“Oy, pass me some ink," George whispered next to her ear. Fred reached across her and wordlessly handed his brother the inkwell.

The boys scribbled quietly on their charts, occasionally passing the inkwell back and forth across Anna. She soaked in the gentle peace of the night. There was no pain. There was no screaming in her head. There was only the scratch of quills and crinkle of parchment.

Anna made it back to the Hufflepuff dorms well past midnight. Fred and George had run off a few minutes before midnight, scrambling to make it to their Astronomy class, the ink on their star charts was still wet. Anna had stayed behind, entranced by the wide open sky above. It was only when her insides began to their familiar aching that she rolled up the pillows and blankets, and left the stone bridge tower.

She crawled into bed quietly, so as to not wake Theo and Patricia, though they'd never extend her that same courtesy. Anna closed her eyes and willed her body to relax, but sleep would not come. An ache had started along the back of her neck and seeped through her body until every inch of her throbbed painfully. She did not sleep that night. 

When her roommates woke and began their bickering Anna was still in bed, blankets pulled to her chin, her very bones aching, and her mind exhausted. She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping to get just a moment of rest before the day began. 

"Wake up!" Theo threw a pillow at her. It hit Anna's shoulder and flopped to the floor. "We'll be late for Charms."

It was their first class of three on Wednesdays, and in that moment Anna truly resented the subject, if only for the fact that class began promptly at 9 o’clock. 

Anna waited for the door to shut and counted thirty seconds of blissful silence before throwing off her blankets. Her roommates had gone to breakfast. Anna dragged herself from bed and stumbled to her trunk. She yanked on a sweater, which felt like steel wool on her skin, and wrapped a long yellow and black scarf around her neck. 

The clothing felt wrong on her body—even her body itself felt wrong—but she didn't want another hospital visit so soon. She was sure that if she just waited it out the pain would go away. It had to be just growing pains or something. Maybe she’d be really tall in a couple years. The thought made her smile a bit. 

Anna stood at the bedroom door for a full minute, her head resting on the cool metalwork decorating the wood slabs, before she mustered the strength to pull it open and leave for breakfast. 

The rest of the morning went about as well as she could have expected. Cedric pointed out how tired she looked the moment she sat down at the Hufflepuff table. She brushed it off and slathered jam on her toast. 

Anna was mid-bite when Fred and George plopped down on the bench on either side of her. Fred elbowed Cedric out of the way to make room on her left. Cedric glared at the two of them but went back to reading The Daily Prophet.

"You look worse than us," Fred commented.

"Couldn't sleep," Anna said.

"It should be illegal to schedule midnight Astronomy and 9am Transfiguration." On her right, George yawned and reached over to steal a slice of her toast. Anna slapped his hand but let him take it anyway. 

That was about all the conversation any of them could muster at breakfast. When they left the Great Hall for their respective classes, Cedric shot a cold look at the twins and grabbed Anna's hand, pulling her towards their morning Charms class. 

They were still working on softening charms and Anna had managed to somehow liquefy the rock she'd been practising on, rather than soften it. Professor Flitwick tutted and fixed the rock with a wave of his wand.

The following two classes were no more thrilling. They began a new lesson on Bouncing Bulbs in Herbology, had a quick lunch, and resumed reading a very dull chapter on Gnomes in Defence Against the Dark Arts. When the bell rang at 2, signalling the end of class, Anna nearly cried with relief.

She and Cedric gathered their things and left the classroom. 

"Want to do some homework?" He asked as they climbed through the tunnel into the common room.

"I'm really tired, Ced. I think I need a nap," Anna admitted. "I'll meet you for dinner though?"

“Sure,” he smiled, “go get some sleep."

Anna trudged down the girls’ hall to her bedroom, which was blissfully empty. Theo and Patricia must have gone off somewhere. Anna collapsed in bed and kicked her shoes off. She didn't even bother pulling off her scarf before falling asleep. 

Anna slept through dinner that night and through breakfast the following day. She only woke up when Theo burst into the bedroom in a flurry of robes to retrieve a textbook she'd forgotten.

"Get up!" Theo yelled, throwing a spare shoe at Anna. "You'll miss all our classes at this rate."

Anna peeled back the covers with quivering arms. Cool air rushed against her sweaty forehead. By the time her vision focused enough to take in the room, Theo was gone. A mess of thoughts swirled through her mind.

She had to get to class.

Anna fell out of bed more then she got out of it. Her legs quivered beneath her, threatening to give out. She held tight to the bed post, using it as leverage to stay upright. Anna dug through her trunk for her uniform. The wool skirt and sweater grated her skin. She was moving through the room out of routine more than anything else. Anna grabbed her schoolbag, wiped the sweat off her brow, and headed down the hallway to the common room. 

Voices grew steadily louder as she neared.

"She's still asleep? Why—”

"How should I know why, Cedric? Why don't you ask her yourself?" Theo snapped and stomped away just as Anna dragged herself into the common room.

"Blimey!" Cedric yelled. Anna flinched at the sudden noise. "Where've you been? C’mon we're already late."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs towards Transfiguration. Anna hardly had the strength to breathe, let alone argue with Cedric to slow his pace. A stitch in her side screamed miserably by the time they collapsed in their seats, a split second before Professor McGonagall walked into the room. The sharp pinch was one of many that tormented Anna from the inside out.

Her first class of the day dragged, and not in the way most classes at her old muggle school did. While Cedric listened and took down diligent notes, Anna spent half the class mustering up enough strength to lift her arm and—once again—wipe her sweating brow.

The bell rang, as it always did, five minutes before the start of the next hour, signalling the end of the class period. Anna gathered her things slowly, stoppering her inkwell with quivering fingers and dropping it into her bag, along with her unused quill and parchment. 

Vaguely, her mind registered that someone was speaking close to her ear, but she didn't really hear the words as she struggled out of her seat. Anna didn't make it three steps before her knees gave out and she collapsed on the blissfully cool store floor.

The last thing she heard was a started "Miss Alsaint!"