Under the Weasley twins' guidance, Anthony successfully intercepted Miss Davis, who was preparing to return to the castle. She'd almost gotten past, but the Weasley twins expertly pointed out a previously half-open door now completely closed and found expressionless Tracey behind it.
"What were you doing outside tonight, Miss Davis?" Anthony asked.
"I couldn't sleep, Professor Anthony," Tracey said quietly. "I was considering whether to ask Madam Pomfrey for Draught of Living Death."
If the Weasley twins hadn't sworn she'd been outside the castle the whole time ("We got caught trying to avoid her! Uh... Mum's Christmas jumper got left outside. Can't sleep without it."), Anthony might actually believe this explanation. She'd wandered outside the castle for at least two hours. Rather than believe she was considering asking Madam Pomfrey for Draught of Living Death, better to believe she was pondering whether to knit slippers for Aragog.
"Davis," Anthony said warningly. The Weasley twins leaned against the wall leisurely watching the show. They rarely weren't the ones being warned by professors.
Tracey lowered her eyes and changed the subject. "Sorry, Professor. I'll return to my dormitory now."
Anthony asked, "Do you want me to take points this time?"
Tracey pressed her lips together and shook her head. "If you'll forgive me for last time... no, I don't want that, Professor."
Anthony smiled. "Then detention, Miss Davis. Specific time tomorrow—I really need to properly schedule your detention roster. What about you two? Points or detention, Weasleys?"
Fred protested, "Professor, we helped you catch Davis!"
George supported him. "Exactly. It's a deal! You can't go back on your word, Professor!" He ignored Tracey's dissatisfied glance.
"First, gentlemen, I didn't agree," Anthony said. "But you did help me. How about this—only one person gets punished this time. You can play rock-paper-scissors to decide who, then choose points or detention."
"Points," they said without hesitation.
Anthony shook his head. "Five points from Gryffindor. All right, accounts settled. Back to your dormitory, Weasleys."
"Fifty percent off. Not bad," Fred said happily.
George punched his arm. "Right—oh, what's that?" He stared at the back window Filch forgot to close. "Is it, Fred?"
"What?" Anthony looked back but didn't notice anything unusual.
"Yes, meteor," Fred said. He saw it too.
Tracey whipped around toward the window, movement so sharp Anthony looked down at her in surprise. Her eyes filled with anxiety and longing.
Anthony suddenly knew why she'd lingered outside the castle—she was waiting for meteors. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws living in towers might easily see the starry sky, but this girl came from Slytherin, a house legendarily able to greet the Giant Squid through common room windows.
Those Slytherin students leaving Astronomy class did seem to mention "meteor shower" and "tonight." But moonlight was bright then. He hadn't noticed the stars.
"Davis."
Tracey jerked her gaze back as if burned. "Sorry, Professor."
Anthony said seriously, "Davis, remember, today is an exception." He looked down at this young Slytherin. "Come on. Let's go somewhere high."
Joy suddenly burst in Tracey's eyes. She could barely control her upturning mouth corners, like she'd just been assigned to clean a filthy fireplace but discovered Santa's gift. In the few times Anthony had encountered her, this was when she most resembled a twelve-year-old child.
After discovering she was the Ravenclaw reserve Chaser's sister, the Weasley twins became much friendlier.
"I knew the name Davis sounded familiar," they said. "Your brother flies really well." Tracey hesitated and gave them a smile.
Perhaps to make up for catching her, or to continue wandering the school, they volunteered they knew a good place.
Fred quietly told Anthony, "Room of Requirement, Professor. You know it." George left first to—according to them—"tidy the room."
Anthony asked somewhat surprised, "Aren't you afraid of revealing... whatever, business opportunities?"
Fred said quite confidently, "You definitely haven't tested that room, Professor... We've protected our room's entry method very well. If someone can find it, we welcome them to cooperate with us."
When this bizarre professor-student, Gryffindor-Slytherin night-wandering combination arrived, George was holding the door. The room resembled a terrace with gravel and large gray stone slabs paving a path toward several telescopes. The ceiling was high enough to fit another Hogwarts. Above was magic similar to the castle's Great Hall at the opening feast, projecting the entire night sky. Starlight spilled down, illuminating deck chairs on the sand and mountain-like piles of pillows and blankets in the corner. Except for no cold wind, this was exactly like outdoors.
As they entered, a point of light wobbled and fell.
"Oh," Tracey made a small exclamation.
Fred pulled over a deck chair, settled comfortably, and greeted like a host, "Sit, Davis. Please sit, Professor." He made two pillows float toward them.
George commanded a dozen blankets to fly into the air and float lightly down beside everyone's feet. His movements were quite practiced, couldn't help reminding Anthony of those sheets floating above Quidditch stands.
"I remember you should return to your dormitory," Anthony said not very seriously.
Hogwarts' curfew regulations were quite flexible: if students wandered outside dormitories after curfew, naturally it violated school rules; but if he or she was punished with detention for wandering and returned to the common room past curfew, that wasn't against rules. The difference was whether a professor knew.
The Weasley twins obviously knew this too.
Fred said dramatically, "Good God, Professor. Would you forbid us from appreciating the starry sky? On a day like this?"
"You surely don't have the heart, do you, Professor Anthony?" George said in his most innocent tone and tucked himself in with a blanket.
Anthony shook his head and let them stay. He stood by the wall and didn't disturb students watching this cosmic fireworks. Tracey said nothing, sat in the deck chair, and watched meteors occasionally sliding down with awe.
"Mum," she said very quietly.
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