The blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes of a certain Hufflepuff greeted me. "Hey Anne!" I said. I shook the excess water off my hand, into the wash basin. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to this nice restaurant, to get a haircut." She said sarcastically, and washed her hand. I laughed. "Do you come here often?" I asked.

"Not really. I live in this town. So when we have food from outside, we eat from here. You?"

"I wanted to get out of the house. So I dragged the other's too." I said, and held the door open for her, as we stepped out.

I went to her table, and talked with her for a bit, until the food arrived, and I went back to the others. Everyone enjoyed their dinner. And everyone seemed to enjoy the pizza. We all headed out later, for a pit stop for ice cream.

"What flavors would you like?" I asked, as we scanned the menu board. "And also, can someone please pitch in too? I don't have enough." I said. Hermione and Harry being the only ones with muggle money, pitched in some.

I went to the counter, where a chirpy young lady was sitting. "Hi. I would like one cookies and crème, one mint, 3 chocolate and one strawberry ice cream please." I said to her. The lady handed in our ice cream, and we walked back to the Burrow; licking our ice cream.

-------

The next day, we would be leaving for Hogwarts. Hermione and I started packing our trunks in the morning. Whereas the others kept it for the evening or night. We were finishing up our work, and the sun was due to set in an hour or two.

As always, Sirius gave me some money. He knew that I had none. Now that Voldemort is back, I was restricted from going to the Café. I was walking around the burrow, helping Molly with some things. There was a knock on the door. I opened it there, and Annalise was standing there. She had a smile on her face, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail; a few strands of hair framed her face. She was wearing a winter coat. "Anne. What are you doing here?"

"Are you allowed to come?" she asked.

I remembered what she was referring to. A few days back, she had asked me if I could come with her to watch the sunset, from the hill near her house. I asked Molly, but she had refused, saying that it was dangerous, since Voldemort might be after me, for the secret of the future.

"Nope. Molly won't budge." I said.

"What if we go without her knowing?"

"I don't think that is a good idea." I replied.

"Why? The sunset will only take an hour or so. We'll be back before she notices."

"Because only me and Ginny are here. Of course she'll notice." I said.

"Stop being a scaredy cat." She said teasingly.

I gave her a look, that I hoped said: You better go back Anne.

But I guess she did not understand, because she dragged me by the hand outside.

"Annalise Elizabeth May! Just leave me! Why can't we another time?" I asked.

"There isn't another time. My parents are moving to Russia. My uncle lives there and my dad is going to work with him. Since I spend almost my whole year in Hogwarts, it was fine with me too. I don't know when next time is. You're the one who said You-Know-Who's back. What if there is not next year?"

I nodded silently. "K. We'll go. But we have to return fast. And let me wear a coat. It's freezing." We both entered her parent's car. In the front sat Mr. and Mrs. May. We both sat in the back seat, along with Annalise's 9 year old brother Sam.

We reached the hill, and Mr. May started setting up the tent. Mrs. May was fussing over how Sam had got himself dirty.

---

The sunset was beautiful. The sky turned pink, and so did the clouds. They looked even more fluffy, and the red sun started to descend. The stars soon started appearing, and we sat there. Annalise knew a lot about the stars, and she started telling me about them. The rest of the family was had gone to the nearby lake, to keep cool, and see someone who they knew.

We didn't notice the time passing by.

Realisation came over me, and I checked my watch. The small twinkling of the stars, allowed me to see the time. I came here at 4, and now it was 6. "Anne. I think I'm late." I said, and started to get up. "How do you go back? My parents won't be back in an hour. They went to meet one of dad's close friends."

"I have to go. How far if I walk?"

"An hour maybe?"

"I guess if I run fast enough..."

"Wait! I have an idea."

---

And that is how I was in the front passenger seat, with Annalise at the wheel. I strapped on the seat belt, while Annalise put on hers.

"I have bad feeling about this. Have you done this before?" I asked her.

"Yes. In my brother's video game."

"It's not the same Anne. I thought you're a Hufflepuff. What happened?" I joked.

"We are not dainty fairy princesses. A badger can attack you know? And besides, what happened to your Gryffindor braveness?"

"It went nowhere. Please be careful. I want to live."

"Do you trust me? She asked.

The question made me pause. I did trust her. Maybe a lot. "I would not allow a stranger, who has never driven before, to drive me home." I smiled.

She got the message and happily started the car. "Hold on." She said.

We may have broken the law, and a couple of road rules, including speeding. But I made it home. I got out the car. Before I closed the door, I said "Please be safe Anne." She nodded.

I opened the door, and slowly got in. Leaning on to the door, to close without a sound. But there was Ginny, standing there with her hands crossed. I gave her an awkward smile. "Molly still here?" I asked.

"Mum went back. I told her that I would wait for you."

"Oh I'm gonna be in big trouble."

"That's if she knows you were gone."

"What?"

"She doesn't know that you went out the home."

"I went out for 2 hours, and she did not notice?" I asked confused. Did she really not care.

"She noticed 10 minutes after you were gone. I saw you heading out. I told her that you were in the washroom."

"For two hours?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yup! Told that your stomach was upset from the food yesterday."

"Thanks. Though I'm not sure about the excuse."

We both flooed back to Grimmauld Place. The floo was in the kitchen, and when we arrived there was only Molly and the twins. She was scolding them for some prank. "Welcome back dear. You're stomach feeling better? I made some tea. Helps." She said.

My face turned a bit pink. "Thanks Molly." I headed out the kitchen, with my tea. The twins followed. "I didn't actually get my stomach upset." I said, maybe because it was kind of embarrassing.

"What actually happened?" they asked.

I told them the whole thing that happened. Fred and George were the ones to whom I told everything.

"You sneaked out?" they asked.

"Yes I did. Hopefully Anne reached back to the hills safe."

"Of course she will. She's a badass Badger." Said George.

"A badass badger for sure." I repeated.