Prologue

Ankaa didn't know why she was foolish enough to presume that the dome-like shield around Hogwarts would keep Voldemort out indefinitely. Her stomach twisted itself in knots as she watched the hoards of spells flying towards the shield, one after the other, and the thunderous impact when they finally hit.

"It's still holding up," Fred breathed in awe, grinning over at George and Ankaa.

"Not for long," Ankaa muttered softly, taking note of the orange pockets that had formed in the dome.

Ankaa looked from Fred to George, the two people in her life that she had never thought would be standing with her in this fray. Then again, she did not think she would be this involved either. What child could possibly imagine having to go off to war?

After a particularly thunderous spell impacted the temporary shield around Hogwarts, Ankaa turned to the twins. "Be careful. When all of this comes to an end, I want you two alive, got it?"

George gave her a cheeky smile and a mock salute. He glanced over at his brother, who was staring at Ankaa with pursed lips, and smiled. George motioned the two away, and took a few steps back, looking over the railing to distract himself from hearing Fred's private conversation.

"Be careful."

Fred grinned, "You've said that seven times now."

"Hopefully it sticks," Ankaa said seriously, but her lips quirked up at him nonetheless. "Remember Moody's words alright?"

"Constant Vigilance!" Chorused the two, laughing slightly.

The two glanced over at the shield when a blinding blue flash of light hit the deteriorating shield. They could see one steady stream of light hitting the shield from Voldemort's wand, and slowly but surely, the large orange pockets started to grow bigger.

"Listen, Ankaa," Fred turned to her quickly, "I lo—"

"I know," She gave him a sweet smile, quickly and gently running her fingertips over his cheek. "I know you do, which is why I need you to make sure you'll be alright. I've already lost too much in this war, Fred, and after all that we've been through, I won't be able to survive if I lose you too."

Fred looked like words had fled him. His eyes scanned over her face, over every detail he had come to love in the past two years. He surged forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Fred took a deep breath, sighing at the familiar and comforting scent wafted up his nose. With a gentle kiss on her brow, he released her. Fred watched as she stepped away and gave him another small smile. She walked past George and gave his hand a squeeze as well.

Fred watched her leave, and then turned back to the scene before him.

"You okay, Freddie?" George asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah," Fred breathed, looking away from the brightly lit sky and to his twin.

"Me too," George said, giving him a smile.

And as the shield fell, and the Death Eaters wreaked havoc on his second home, Fred wished that it would all be okay.

But seldom are all your wishes fulfilled.

"But I'm not miserable. I'm just not like them." - Daria - 1x13 - The Misery Chick

Chapter One

King's Cross Station was bustling with people once again. It was that time of year, where hoards of students would walk through with unusual looking luggage. The security officials had all become accustomed to someone little cretin asking them about platform 9 ¾ every year. They all supposed it was some new tradition that the children had begun, and were not bothered by all the questions anymore.

Among all this hustle and bustle were the Rhyther family.

At the head of the trio was Maya Rhyther, looking every bit the Pureblood heiress she was trained to be. Dark black hair was neatly pulled away from her face and perfectly styled in a soft bun. Her clothes were entirely free of wrinkles and not a particle of dust had dared to settle upon her black heels.

Behind her were Cepheus and Ankaa, the siblings. Not as put together as their mother, given their unruly, wayward curly hair, but the siblings exhibited the same grace and elegance that had become the hallmark of pureblood magical families.

"They got Ministry transportation" Cepheus commented idly, staring interestedly at the redhead family (plus Granger and Potter) that were crowded around some cars outside the station.

Ankaa recognized the group almost immediately. The Weasley family, as a whole, were a hard one to miss. Ankaa raised an eyebrow as Potter glanced around the station nervously as if he was expecting someone or something to jump out at him. Despite the fact that Harry Potter was in the same year as her, he and Ankaa had never so much as shared one word. From the first day when he had shunned Draco, Ankaa had maintained a respectable distance.

"He's a good boy, Ankaa, I'm sure," her mother had said that first Christmas when Ankaa had returned home. She had told her mother that Harry Potter was in her year, and Maya had looked incredibly happy at the news. "Maybe you should try and be friends with him? I'm sure you two will get along great!"

Unlikely, Ankaa had thought immediately. Ever since then, she had made an extra effort to ensure that she stayed far, far away. Harry Potter seemed to be a magnet for trouble, and Ankaa wanted absolutely nothing to do with that.

Ankaa watched with a blank stare as the older Weasley walked past the quartet, flashing his Head Boy badge. Cepheus and Ankaa shot each other incredulous looks before turning back to their mother and the Ministry official she was talking with. She was a wispy little witch, the Ministry woman. Ankaa had seen her around on various occasions, thanks to Cepheus using magic at home. Mafalda Hopkirk worked in the Improper Use of Magic Office, and she had become quite acquainted with the Rhyther household when Cepheus and Ankaa had first come to Hogwarts.

"How are you, Miss Rhyther?" Hopkirk gave the girl a polite smile. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with you and your brother breaking rules again."

Cepheus and Ankaa gave her sheepish smiles.

Ankaa bowed her head. "We're both terrible sorry about that Ms. Hopkirk. I assure you it won't happen ever again."

After the whole fiasco about underage magic, Henry and Maya Rhyther had simply opted to place an Undetectable Location Charm on the house. Perhaps an irresponsible move on their part, but Ankaa and Cepheus tended to enjoy the freedom of using magic as they pleased. It had all become second nature to them now, anyway. They had both all become accustomed to just waving their wand and reaping the benefits of having magical abiltiies.

Getting up to fetch a book was medieval.

Hopkirk smiled widely, looking immensely proud. She, no doubt, expected her little 'pep talk' had been the cause of reformed behaviour from the siblings.

"That's good to hear. Though I hear from your father at the Ministry that you two are quite accomplished when it comes to magic," said Hopkirk, looking directly at Ceph.

"We make it a point to work hard at school, Miss. Hopkirk." Cepheus gave her a charming smile, "After all, it's the only time we're allowed to use magic."

Hopkirk nodded. Cepheus and Ankaa dutifully followed their mother and Hopkirk as the quartet headed inside the station. Neither of the siblings bothered paying attention to the conversation between their mother and Hopkirk as they reached the barrier. Hopkirk left to make her way to the Ministry and Maya turned to her children.

"Ready?" She asked with a smile. Cepheus and Ankaa nodded quickly. Cepheus gave his sister a nod, telling her to go ahead first. Ankaa cast one look around to make sure no Muggle was watching, before heading for the barrier and onto the platform.

A few seconds later, Cepheus and her mother had made it onto the platform. The trio saw Narcissa Malfoy a few paces away, with her son, Draco. It was hard to miss those two with their blindingly white hair. Actually, it was Draco that was often found before anyone else. He and his father both shared the pale blond hair. Narcissa, on the other hand, seemed to have toned it down by only bleaching a few sections of her hair to identify herself with the Malfoy family.

The Malfoy and the Rhyther family were as close as families could be. Therefore, it was no surprise that Maya started to walk over to where Narcissa and Draco were standing. A few paces away, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were standing by their parents.

"How are you?" Narcissa asked, hugging Maya. Maya answered too softly for Ankaa to hear. She found it odd how concerned Narcissa appeared. Was leaving for school really that hard? Did Maya miss them that much?

"How was your summer, Malfoy?" Ankaa asked, giving him a nod of acknowledgement. Before he could answer, they were interrupted by a loud racket. Quite a lot of people turned to see the Weasley family lumbering through the barrier. Ankaa was sure Ceph, Draco and she were all scowling at them. The word 'subtle' just wasn't in their dictionary she supposed.

"Have you heard, Weasley's Head Boy?" Ankaa muttered to Draco.

Draco snorted, "Hogwarts is doomed."

Draco wandered over to bid his mom a farewell. Cepheus and Ankaa headed over to their Mother as well.

"Now," Maya turned to Ceph, raising an eyebrow, "Your father and I are expecting you to write to us every week. We want to know what's going on."

Ankaa groaned. Maya looked disappointed, and Cepheus glared. "What? It's been three years, you guys know I'm not good at that!"

Mom sighed and turned to Cepheus, "Do write to me, love. It'll be lonely without you two around. Make sure your sister stays out of trouble." Ankaa rolled her eyes at this. She turned her attention to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley running around the station, trying to find their youngest son, Ronald, and give him his rat.

While her daughter was distracted, Maya whispered to her son, "Keep an eye on her? Try and get her out of her shell a bit, yes?"

"Don't worry mom," Ceph laughed genuinely, wrapping his mother in a bear hug. "I'll make sure she's fine."

As she hugged her son, Maya noticed Ankaa was scowling off in the direction of one of the youngest Weasley boys. Maya watched as Ankaa's eyes narrowed in distaste before she turned away from Ronald and back to her mother.

Maya smiled when Cepheus ruffled his sister's hair. Ankaa scowled viciously and slapped his hand away, trying to tame the curls that had escaped the neat braid she had attempted to make earlier that day. She hit Ceph on the back of the head before ducking out of the way as he tried to retaliate. Cepheus finally stopped trying to hit her when Ankaa hid behind Maya.

While Ankaa attempted to tame her unruly curly hair, she noticed how frazzled her mother looked. Maya had bags under her eyes that were not entirely visible since she had put makeup on. Her posture was not the same. Her shoulders were sagging a bit, something uncharacteristic of a pureblood female.

"Are you alright?" Ankaa asked her, narrowing her eyes. She examined her mother, hoping that something about her would give way, and Ankaa could get some clue as to why her mother was so completely out of it today.

"Yes," Maya answered quickly. After seeing Ankaa's suspicious look, she smiled tightly. "Just worried with the news of Sirius Black's escape."

Cepheus rolled his eyes, "I doubt he'd be stupid enough to come to Hogwarts, Ma. I bet he has more important things to do after thirteen years of living in Azkaban."

"Like paying his taxes," Ankaa sniggered.

Finally, Ceph and Ankaa boarded the train.

Ceph walked ahead his sister. He glanced into a compartment and found his two best friends, Terence Higgs and Adrian Pucey. They were both arguing about something heatedly when the duo walked in. Ankaa had met the two students before, as they liked to visit the Rhyther manor over the summer and play Quidditch.

"How are you, Ankaa?" Higgs asked with a polite smile.

Ankaa gave him a small smile in return, "Good. And you? You weren't around the Manor this summer."

Higgs nodded, "Yeah, mother and father had decided to go to Albania. We had some family business to settle." He gave her a cheeky smile, "Don't worry though; we'll be at Malfoy Manor this Christmas. We'll see you then."

"Not my sister, Higgs." Cepheus glared at him, tuning out of his conversation with Pucey long enough to warn his friend.

Ankaa did not feel like lingering around the compartment to take part in their mindless chatter. Once she noticed Draco walking past, she told Cepheus that she would see him at school and he flicked her ear fondly before telling her to 'skedaddle'.

"Have a nice summer?" asked Parkinson. Unfortunately, Ankaa had walked out of the compartment and right between her and Draco. Ankaa could see a spark of rage in Parkinson's eyes. Parkinson hated being interrupted in her rare time with Draco. And Ankaa loved interrupting any alone time those two had.

"Rather pleasant." Ankaa hummed. She did not give Parkinson much detail. The only reason Parkinson was asking her was because she wanted to start talking about Draco as inconspicuously as possible. Due to the closeness of the Malfoy and Rhyther family, Cepheus and Ankaa always spent about two weeks out of the summer at Malfoy Manner.

Draco continued to glide down the train and Ankaa followed. She could sense Crabbe and Goyle behind them, but that was only because they were the furthest from gliding. It was a sort of unspoken rule amongst the group. Crabbe and Goyle would hang around Draco and do his bidding, and the three of them do their bit to keep an eye on Ankaa. They would report to Cepheus and he would deal with any mischief.

Ankaa wasn't sure who had been the mastermind behind this scheme. She knew it certainly couldn't be Crabbe and Goyle (those two had half a brain cell between the two of them). Draco, while he was a good friend, wasn't too concerned with her safety. In fact, Ankaa was sure he'd love to see her get roughened up a bit, seeing as he was constantly trying to play pranks on her.

As usual, Blaise was already in the cabin, waiting for his Slytherin classmates.

Crabbe and Goyle took their seats by the door and Draco and settled by the window, Blaise on Ankaa's side and Parkinson by Draco's. Ankaa could tell Draco was annoyed that she had left him with Parkinson, but he was a big boy who could handle it. Besides, Ankaa knew he revelled in the attention. It was a Slytherin trait, she assumed. Well, asking for attention was not their thing, but they certainly liked the spotlight when it fell on them naturally. At least, Ankaa did anyway.

Several cabins around them were composed of Slytherin students as well, seeing as they liked to stick together.

"Have an interesting summer?" asked Blaise, turning to Ankaa with a small smile.

"The usual," Ankaa shrugged nonchalantly, pulling her feet up and crossing her legs. Ankaa quickly pulled out one of the new spellbooks she had gotten over the summer, and began scanning the page she had left it.

Blaise nodded, leaning his head back against the seat. He knew by now that Ankaa would hardly entertain useless chatter. She also lacked tact sometimes, which usually cost her. But, Blaise noticed, she was getting better. Besides, everyone knew not to bother her when she was reading.

Draco and Parkinson were talking quietly, and Crabbe and Goyle were kicking each other, probably trying to see who had the slowest reflexes. After a while, Ankaa looked away from her book and leaned her head against the cool glass of the window. The glass did very little to soothe her headache. The term had not even begun yet and she was already tired of people.

The ride progressed without much disturbance. Soon enough, Draco left along with Crabbe and Goyle to do Merlin knows what. Ankaa had just stopped questioning him after their first year. It seemed best to pretend as if you didn't know what he was up to so that you wouldn't inadvertently get caught up in his schemes.

Suddenly, the train lurched.

Ankaa's head was thrown off the glass, and she almost lost her balance. Gripping the side of her seat firmly, she looked around at the others.

"What was that?"

Parkinson shrugged. She got up to check when the train lurched again. She was roughly thrown back towards Blaise and Ankaa. With an irritated sigh, they both pushed her off of themselves and towards her prior spot.

Ankaa looked around. Her heart was beating hard and fast. The Hogwarts Express did not randomly break down in the middle of its route. Ankaa had never heard of such a thing happening. A sense of foreboding filled her, and she gripped her closed copy of Advanced Spells tightly. If need be, Ankaa could have just used this as a weapon to throw at someone before she took them down with a Stunning Spell.

As if the untimely doom of the Hogwarts Express was not enough, the lights went out a few moments later. From across the compartment, Ankaa could hear Parkinson's accelerated breathing. Parkinson sounded as if she was on the verge of a panic attack, which wouldn't seem at all surprising given the circumstances they were all under.

"You don't think this is Black's doing, do you?" Parkinson asked, looking from Ankaa to Blaise. "If he escaped from Azkaban, maybe he can somehow stop the train."

"Don't be stupid, Parkinson," Ankaa snapped. "He's not strong enough to stop the Express on his own."

"Besides, what would he want from a train full of students?" asked Blaise, raising an eyebrow.

"Potter." Parkinson retorted immediately. "It's Potter. It's always Potter."

The train lurched again. Parkinson gasped and gripped her knees tightly. Slowly, everyone's heads turned towards the window. The droplets of rain were starting to freeze. The ice crept down from the upper corner of the window and towards the other side, and the bottle of water in Blaise's hand froze as well. This was more than just a drop in the temperature.

This time, when the train lurched, Parkinson screamed. "What the bloody hell is going on?!"

No one answered her question.

No one even dared to move.

They were all staring wide-eyed at the door where an intimidating figure was gliding past their compartment. It was tall, almost tall enough that its head was touching the roof. Its shredded black robe covered its face, but Ankaa knew that even if she could peek under the hood she wouldn't see a human face staring back at her.

But Ankaa knew exactly what this thing was, and she hoped to Merlin it did not look into their compartment.

It turned his head, glanced into the compartment and Ankaa could feel it looking at her. She grabbed her wand, ready to retaliate in case the Dementor attacked. It was useless really, considering she didn't know how to create a Patronus. At the thought that she might be defenceless in the face of terror, Ankaa felt a chill shoot up her spine.

The Dementor moved its boney, decaying hands to the door, and the door started to slide open. Just as he was about to peek its head into the compartment, a bright light from the further end of the train shot towards it and it was pushed away from the door.

"What was that?" Parkinson exhaled, turning to us with wide eyes once the lights came back on.

"A Dementor," whispered Blaise, equally as frightened as Pansy seemed.

Ankaa clenched her fingers together. She rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them up. She just couldn't get the sight of the Dementor out of her mind, and every time she thought of it, she could feel herself becoming colder and weaker.

"Are you alright?" asked Blaise softly, so that Parkinson would not hear. He knew that Ankaa would not want Parkinson to know she was scared. She did not want anyone to know her weaknesses.

Ankaa gave him a quick nod. She stood up, her jaw clenched and reached for her robes. Ankaa did not need him to think she wanted his help.

"I'll be back." She announced, moving past everyone quickly and into the hallway.

As she walked past the compartments, Ankaa could see many of the students were unsettled. Before she could open the door to Cepheus' compartment, he was standing before her in his robes, his Prefect badge pinned next to the Slytherin emblem. He surveyed his sister once, and when he figured out that she was alright he gave her a worried smile.

"Are you alright?"

Ankaa nodded, "It didn't come into our compartment. I almost thought it was about to."

Cepheus nodded. "Same here," he said as he started walking towards the end of the train. "It seemed like it was going to peek in. I could almost feel it looking at me..." He turned to his sister then and pursed his lips. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ankaa shrugged. "As okay as I've ever been. Just a bit freaked out that it managed to get on the train, but I'll be okay, Ceph, promise."

Reluctantly, Cepheus nodded. "I have the Prefect meeting to go to." He looked into the Prefects carriage, noting that it was almost completely full. "Be careful alright? Don't waste a lot of time here."

Ankaa rolled her eyes with a teasing smile, "Ceph, I hardly think those things will be coming back."

"They got on the train once, who's to say they won't do it again?" Cepheus gave her a stern look. Sometimes her nonchalant attitude really irked him. He knew she was able to protect herself if need be, he had seen it firsthand, but she had never dealt with a Dementor before.

A few compartments down, someone got out and started walking towards the duo. Cepheus stepped aside to let the man through. The man gave them a warm smile before walking a few steps further. He stopped a few steps away and turned to them again, doing a double take.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, giving them a worried look.

"Are you?" Ankaa countered quietly, looking him up and down. He was shabby looking, thin and frail. He looked a little pale, almost sick. His brown hair hung limply around his face. There were dark circles under his brown eyes, making him look even more haggard and tired.

He cracked a smile, "Yes, thank you for asking." Regardless of Ankaa's skeptical look, he continued, "Would you like some chocolate? It'll help calm you down."

"I don't take food from strangers," Ankaa stuffed her hands in her pocket. "Thank you for the offer, Mr..."

"Lupin," He filled in, "Professor Lupin actually, I'll be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Cepheus smiled cordially, "Welcome to Hogwarts, sir. We look forward to your classes."

"Of course, Mister…" Lupin trailed off.

"Rhyther, I'm Cepheus Rhyther and this is my younger sister, Ankaa." Cepheus gestured to Ankaa behind him.

Ankaa gave the Professor a smile. Ankaa had decided that if this man was a Professor, despite his shabby looking clothes, it would be best to remain on his good side and not appear as uninterested and cold as she was before.

Lupin's eyes widened almost comically at Cepheus' introduction. He shook his head slightly before asking hesitantly, "Are you... by any chance related to Maya Archer?"

"She's our mother." Ankaa nodded slowly, "We weren't aware you two knew each other."

Lupin nodded with a small smile. Although his smile was minuscule, Ankaa noticed his eyes had brightened up considerably. "The witch from Illvermorny, yes. We were in the same year when she transferred to Hogwarts."

Cepheus and Ankaa nodded politely. Ankaa could see the wheels turning in Ceph's head. The fond smile on Lupin's face, that had only come about at the thought of their mother, was not lost on either of the siblings.

Cepheus cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Professor, but I've got to head to the Prefect's carriage for the meeting. See you at school, sir, have a nice day."

Ankaa glared at Cepheus but he just gave her a cheeky smile before strutting down the train. Ankaa wanted to pull his curly hair out of his scalp and demand that he did not leave her stranded with an awkward Professor.

As much as she wanted to say something to Lupin, she couldn't. He seemed to have been close to Ankaa's mother, but she doubted she would get into his good books by mentioning that her Mother never talked about him. The two of them were silent for a few seconds during which Ankaa was trying to think of ways to politely excuse herself without blatantly stating that he was being weird and awkward. Fortunately, he seemed to know what she was thinking and excused himself to go talk to the driver.

Just as she walked past Lupin and towards the washrooms at the end of the train, Neville Longbottom ran out of the compartment he was in and barrelled straight towards her. As usual, Longbottom was too afraid to look up and therefore, almost ran into Ankaa.

"You alright?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look like someone set you on fire."

Longbottom glanced at Ankaa, as if she was a dragon, ready to claw his face off. He squeaked something incomprehensible before glancing around frightfully. Ankaa exhaled loudly. How could someone like this be sorted into Gryffindor?

Then again, who was she to judge? Often all the qualities that defined a house weren't exhibited in their members.

"Longbottom, I don't speak mouse." Ankaa shook her head, "If you're going to say something, you're going to have to string together sentences so the rest of the population can understand them."

"S-Sorry." He mumbled, gulping loudly, "I didn't mean to run into you."

"Of course not." Why would Longbottom purposely run into a Slytherin like her? Ankaa leaned to the side slightly and took note of Granger sitting in the compartment Longbottom had run out of. Curiously, her eyes roved over the other passengers. "Everything alright in there?" asked Ankaa, turning her eyes to Longbottom once more.

Ankaa could tell Longbottom was wary of her question. He probably wanted nothing more than to run away from Ankaa and into a compartment where the rest of his friends were (safety in numbers seemed to be Gryffindor's motto). However, Ankaa was a better actor than she had imagined because Longbottom soon deduced that the question was out of concern and answered, "Yeah, we're alright. Harry just fainted though."

"Potter fainted, huh?" Ankaa smirked slightly, looking into the compartment once more. She clicked her tongue before nodding, "Well, I hope he feels better. See you around, Longbottom."

"Um..." Longbottom seemed confused but nodded nonetheless, "See you."

Notes:

Romance will be slow, just FYI. Review!