Chapter 10

Anya woke up in the Hospital Wing several hours later. It had been too much, learning her family was dead. She'd lost complete control and someone had sedated her. Through the haze of the sedative, Anya's memories of Dumbledore's office returned to her.

She remembered screaming, crying, and hitting James as he tried to calm her, or restrain her. Anya had felt as if she was falling apart. Her entire family, at least the only one she'd known, couldn't be gone. Not so soon after her grandmother, not in one night. But, of course, she had made everything worse. She hadn't only lost control of her emotions but also her powers. With a jolt of panic, she remembered items exploding and the flames of candles growing to unnatural heights. It was beyond anything a normal witch or wizard could do in an emotional fit. James would have questions; she hadn't been exactly honest about her abilities with him.

She forced her eyes opening, fighting the urge to stay asleep, and was immediately blinded by sunlight. Squinting, she pushed herself so she could lean against the frame of the bed. She could make out a figure sitting next to her bed but couldn't quite see how it was. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Anya was surprised to find Harry sitting next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

Still groggy, Anya couldn't quite make out his tone but wouldn't say he sounded too concerned. He was probably suspicious of her after her outburst — not that she could blame him. And, if she was honest, she was a little suspicious of his presence. "Not great, honestly. What are you doing here?"

"Dad asked me to sit with you until you woke up. He had to go back to work," Harry clarified in response to her confused expression. "He told me more of what happened so I could tell you, but I also think he was worried."

Anya dropped her defenses at his words, realizing he was trying to be a good son — and maybe a good brother.

"Thanks," she muttered, feeling uncomfortable. "So, um, what did he want me to know?"

Harry hesitated. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked, studying her carefully. "Madam Pomfrey won't appreciate you setting the Hospital Wing on fire."

He'd been trying for levity, as hinted at by his weak smile, but hadn't pulled it off. Anya looked down, blushing in embarrassment. "I won't. I won't lose control again."

He still looked unsure. Anya knew he had no reason to trust her, but she had a right to know what had happened to her family. Plus, she'd rather find out this way than from the Prophet or her classmates.

"Harry, please."

He nodded, determination settling in his features. "Well, Lilith — your mother — was killed in Azkaban but she wasn't involved in the breakout," he started, unable to look at her directly as he spoke. "They found the word 'traitor' burnt into the door of her cell…."

He trailed off, letting Anya process his words. She couldn't really, not now anyway. There was still more to hear. Forcing her tears back, she motioned for him to continue.

"They're still investigating but Dad's theory is the escaped prisoners went there to find something. He doesn't know if they did, but they killed your aunt and uncle and set fire to the house." Harry sounded almost apologetic. James probably should have asked a professor to tell her all of this or come back later. It was a lot to ask of Harry.

"They weren't alone," she said, her voice breaking. "What about Tully, our house elf? Or their dog Jasper?"

"He didn't tell me," Harry said. Upon seeing how upset this made her, he quickly added, "But I'll write Dad right away and ask him."

"Thank you," Anya whispered, wiping away a tear. She was embarrassed, as anyone is when they cry in front of someone. Harry looked away, trying to mitigate some of the awkwardness.

"So… what happened in Dumbledore's office?"

"I, er, lost control," Anya said, her tone turning defensive. "That happens sometimes with witches and wizards."

He didn't buy it. His expression growing more skeptical of as she spoke. Bluntly, he asked, "Are you sure it had nothing to do with the experiments Lilith did on you?"

Anya sat there, stunned for a moment. She had admitted as much to James, but she thought he had kept it to himself. Giving up the façade, she demanded, "How did you find out?"

A look of triumphant passed across Harry's face, but was quickly replaced with a more neutral expression. "I didn't, but Dumbledore and Dad were hinting as much after you 'lost control,' as you put it."

"Great," she snapped. "Now you and Dumbledore know."

"It's not like either of us are going to run to the Prophet to tell the world."

He was trying to make her feel better, and he knew a little more about what it was like to be a victim of He-Who-Must-Be-Named's war. Anya still felt like a freak on display, though. She knew it didn't really matter if he knew. Dumbledore knowing was a bit more concerning. Would he let her stay in school? Worse, would he suspect she had had help handling her new powers? Anya did not want Cedric to be exposed because of her carelessness. He didn't deserve that.

"I know you're not running to the Prophet but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone at all, including your friends. I'm still working out what was done to me exactly and I would like to continue to do so without whispers or whatever. You know how things can get around here."

He nodded, "I promise. Dad also swore me to secrecy about what happens, if that helps you feel any better."

Anya shrugged. It didn't make her feel worse, so she supposed that was good. She slumped back against the metal headboard, wondering where Madam Pomfrey was. Anya had not spent much time in the Hospital Wing. Unlike Harry, she and her friends didn't go on as many wild and ill-advised adventures. Cedric had been in a few times for Quidditch injuries, nothing too serious, but Anya didn't play. She hoped she wouldn't have to be here long. She felt fine even though the outburst had depleted her energy. She would need to feed soon, and she couldn't do that until Madam Pomfrey cleared her.

Harry kept her company while they waited. It was a stilted conversation at first. Harry stuck to safe topics like school but couldn't fight his curiosity long. He wanted to know more about her powers and if she remembered any of the experiments. Figuring it was silly to lie or keep any more secrets, she answered his questions as fully as she could. However, she did omit Cedric's role in her training and knowledge gathering efforts. She asked a little about Lily; mainly questions Anya had after from reading her journal. Harry did his best to answer, but a lot was speculation from what he had heard about her over the years.

They talked for a half an hour before Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. Anya was announced healthy and free to go after five minutes of being thoroughly checked over. However, she gave Anya a stern warning to relax and get a hearty dinner. Given that dinner was still several hours away, Anya would have to find a snack to hold her over in the meantime. If she was lucky, she would run into Amethyst back in her dormitory. She always had a secret stash of food in her trunk or night table.

Harry walked back with her. He seemed to want to make sure she was actually all right and not in danger of passing out. Anya knew she was fine. Her passing out had more to do with being emotionally overwhelmed and losing control of her powers.

"I'm fine if there's something you need to go do," she said, as they walked down the stairwell to the main floor. She figured they should separate before they reached the dungeons. Anya wasn't in the mood for any confrontations between Harry and her housemates.

"I was thinking that we'd get you food, actually."

"How? It's still three hours until dinner?"

"You'll see," Harry said with a smug smile.

She followed him down to the dungeon level, where they veered right instead of left toward the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. He stopped in front of a large painting of a bowl of fruit, reached out and tickled the pear. Anya watched with some amazement as the pear formed into a handle. Silently, she followed him through the passageway and into the very busy Hogwarts kitchen. Anya almost stepped backward into the passageway as four house elves ran past her, carrying a heavy tray of raw chicken. As the house elves realized they had visitors, they were cheerfully greeted and offered limitless amounts of food.

"How did you know about this?" Anya asked, taking a lemon pastry from a nearby tray.

"Fred and George told me. I couldn't tell you how they found out though," Harry explained, helping himself to a fruit tart. "If you're not careful, you'll leave here with five pounds of food."

Anya could easily see how that could happen. She had barely finished her pastry when another house elf was in front of her, offering her a sandwich. She took it, fully realizing how hungry she was, and said a quiet thanks to the house elf. With a pang, she was reminded of Tully. If the house elf hadn't made it, she hoped Tully hadn't suffered.

She shook her head, forcing the thoughts away, and turned her attention to Harry. Despite being in the same year and him being Harry Potter, Anya had never spent much time thinking about him, even after finding out they were siblings. They were in different houses, had different friend groups, and different interests. Plus, she was an ordinary student and he was the Boy Who Lived. They'd never even been partnered together in class. But even if their paths had crossed, Anya didn't think she would have noticed their similarities. They shared the same dark hair and green eyes, though her hair was mercifully tamable and she didn't need glasses. Anya thought their facial structure was similar, too. She wondered if anyone else had or would have noticed their similarities sooner if they had been in the same house or ever stood next to each other.

"Hey, are you all right?" Harry asked, noticing her distracted demeanor.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah, just thinking. Thanks," she said, waving the sandwich in front of her. "I was hungrier than I thought."

"Sure." Harry didn't look like he quite believed here but wasn't going to push her.

"Anyway, I should probably get going. Let my friends know that I'm alive."

"Do you need me to walk with you?"

"No, I think I can manage to make it down the corridor."

"Ok. Well, er, if you ever want to talk about anything…," he offered, trailing off awkwardly.

Anya smiled, his concern endearing. "Thanks, maybe you can tell me a little more about our parents sometime."

"Yeah, sure."

She waved good-bye, thanking the house elves for the food as she left. Once she was in the corridor alone, she felt a resurgence of grief. Talking with Harry had been a good distraction, but she couldn't avoid what had happened forever. Anya turned left and walked past the staircase toward the Slytherin common room, not sure if she wanted to find her friends or empty dormitory.

Getting to her dormitory turned out to be more of a challenge than anticipated. The common room was packed full of, seemingly, every Slytherin. The sound was deafening. Groups of four or five students were huddled together, pouring over a newspaper and discussing its contents. Some of her housemates sounded concerned as she maneuvered her way through the crowd. Other conversations had a more ambivalent tone. The most chilling, those from Malfoy's lot, sounded excited.

Anya made her way to the stairs relatively unnoticed; most people were too preoccupied with their discussions to pay attention to her. The dormitory was unexpectedly empty. Anya briefly wondered where her friends might be but wasn't worried. It wasn't as if anyone was in danger inside of Hogwarts. When she reached her bed, she was surprised to find the late edition of the Prophet open to the story of the breakout. As she inspected it closer, her attention was drawn to a breakout box. The top half was a list were names of the escapees and their crimes. The bottom half was a list of deaths or disappearances reported since the breakout. Anya was surprised to see about ten names on the list, including Lionel and Gabriella Croft, Amethyst's uncle and aunt.

Anya was surprised. She hadn't been aware of the Crofts having any kind of connection to the Death Eaters or hearing them speak out against them. In fact, she couldn't think of any reason they would go after the Croft family. She needed to find Amethyst and Kat.

Folding the newspapers into quarters, Anya tried to figure out where they might be. Both of her friends abhorred the library and it was too cold for Kat to agree to spend any serious length of time outside or in the owlery. It was possible they were in an empty classroom, though which one and on which level she couldn't even begin to guess. Deciding standing in the empty dormitory was pointless, she walked toward the door but paused as she passed Amethyst's bed.

Amethyst was a bit of a slob and always had a pile of artwork, notes, clothes, and books scattered on her night table or bed and her trunk was rarely closed all the way due to something sticking out of it. But now the night table and bed were completely bare, and the trunk was missing. With a sinking feeling, she resumed walking toward the door where she practically collided with Kat.

"Where have you been?" Kat demanded, pushing her way inside the dormitory.

"The Hospital Wing. Madam Promfrey just let me out," Anya said, omitting her excursion to the kitchen. Kat was looking both hostile and close to tears; Anya's time with Harry would not go over well at the moment. "I saw the article with the names. What happened? Where's Amethyst?"

Kat shook her head, unable to speak as tears slowly fell down her face. Anya's heartbeat quickened with dread.

"Kat, what happened to Amethyst? Was she hurt?" she demanded unable to keep her panic in check.

"N-no," Kat finally sobbed. "Her parents pulled her out."

Anya was stunned. "Why? She's not in danger here. Hogwarts is safe."

Kat took a few deep breaths, calming down enough to speak but with tears still flowing freely. "Her parents think they're all in danger. They're pretty sure her aunt and uncle were targeted for their pro-muggle sentiments. The Croft family has always been considered blood traitors, but I guess they've been more vocal recently. They're going into hiding."

Anya sat on Amethyst's now abandoned bed, taking in the news. Part of her couldn't believe Amethyst's parents had panicked so quickly. The breakout was still fresh; everything would be under control in a few days, surely. The other part of her, however, remembered how the Ministry had never found Sirius Black. And this time it wasn't one person breaking out of the most guarded wizarding prison, it was at least a dozen escapees who had killed several people in their first night of freedom.

"Has she already gone then?" Anya asked, her voice just above a whisper.

Sniffling, Kat came to sit beside her. "Yes," she said, her voice breaking. "She wanted to say good-bye, but her parents insisted they leave as soon as possible. They couldn't wait."

Anya nodded. She was hurt, especially since she had no idea when she would see her friend again, but she understood. She wondered how many other students would be pulled out of school. Several of the names on the missing or killed list shared surnames with Hogwarts students. Kat hadn't had family on the list, but would her overcautious father pull her out next? Anya didn't think she could be at Hogwarts with both of them gone.

After a few minutes of them sitting in a sad silence, Kat asked, "How are you by the way?"

"Fine, I guess," Anya said, shrugging. "I didn't react well when Dumbledore and James told me about my aunt and uncle."

"I'm sorry about them. It isn't fair."

Anya shrugged again. "None of this is fair. At least I didn't have to read about it in the newspaper."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea," Anya sighed. "James has full guardianship now. I won't let him take me out of school though. I still believe I'm safer here for the time being. I doubt anyone comes after me specifically anyway."

Kat hesitated. "Your story has been in the paper a lot and they killed your mother in the escape. They might come for you."

Anya knew she was right but didn't want to acknowledge it. She couldn't; there were too many other feelings to process and fear couldn't be one of them right now. She would figure it out later.

"Maybe, but I'll be all right," she said with a bitter tone.

"Why do you say that?"

"They've taken away my family. I'm not going to hide or cower if they come for me. If they make that mistake, I'll destroy them."

AN: So sorry about the long wait between updates! I honestly meant to write more in December but failed miserably. Also this chapter was hard to write but needed to be included. I've started school (again) and a new job so my free time is limited, but I'm NOT abandoning this story. It will be updated but probably not "regularly." I appreciate everyone's patience and feedback. Thank you and leave a review if you liked it/have questions. I usually respond pretty quickly.