'A man always has two reasons for doing anything; a good reason, and the real reason.' – J.P. Morgan

…

Anne was frozen in shock in the middle of Diagon Alley. Celine's face was covered in slightly black tears, from her make up running.

"I do not know what came over her! One moment, she was fine and talking, the next; she had this… strange look come upon her face! She pushed me away, and walked down that dark alley, and this strange man grabbed her by the hair and arm and dragged her off." Celine ranted hysterically, wringing her hands together. "What shall we do, Anne?"

Anne was completely clueless. She hadn't ever been confronted with this kind of situation before, unless you count the made-up situations that they used in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

And she couldn't even use magic.

"I-I…" Anne stuttered, feeling hopeless and helpless. "We are going to have to go in there after her."

Celine looked up, shocked. "What about law enforcement? Or your parents? Or somebody to help us?" she demanded through her tears.

"We do not have the time… She could be killed or such by the time that we get back, we are going to have to try to locate and save her." Anne stated quietly, and these were possibly the bravest words Anne had ever said in her lifetime.

Usually, Anne would always demand that adults help her in times of need like this, but when her family was in immediate danger, she felt a strong need to do it herself.

"Can you cast a Disillusionment Charm on both of us? This is going to be dangerous." Anne's voice was a mere whisper, but she was better collected than the hysterical Celine. Her cousin nodded, and shakily removed her wand from her dress pocket.

She tapped, first herself, then Anne on the head with her wand, and they were both gone.

Anne grabbed Celine's hand, also starting to shake. And as they approached the dark Alley, she felt fear envelope her. What was she doing? This was not a job for an under aged witch!

But she knew that turning back now meant that Chantal was in more immediate danger.

Anne bit her lip in the internal battle, but it was won out by this new, courageous instinct inside of Anne. They entered Knockturn Alley unseen.

Celine was sobbing quietly as they moved between the scattered people that appeared, walking down the alley; Anne was terrified of every single one of them. And she almost screamed when one of them brushed her arm accidentally.

Anne wasn't used to being the leader, she was terrified of messing up and letting everybody down.

"I saw him drag her down this way." Celine whispered through her choking sobs.

Suddenly, they heard a shriek of such terror that Anne had never heard in her entire life. They both jumped, and, in the process, knocked over some huge vases in front of a store called 'The Spiny Serpent'.

Luckily, there was only one, rather mad-looking man in the alley at the moment. He was sitting in a small crevice by the shops, rocking back and forth in a half-fetal position, mumbling to himself incoherently.

They tried to pass him quickly, to follow the sound of the shriek.

"I see you, pretty ladies…." He whispered, his unfocused eyes looking up at them as they scurried past.

Celine grasped Anne's hand in a death grip and pulled her more quickly away from the strange man.

"Shut up, bitch!" a loud, man's voice yelled, followed by a feminine shriek of pain.

"What if that is Chantal?" Celine whispered urgently, and Anne started shaking harder. Her rush of courage had almost run out already, and she wanted to go home.

Knockturn Alley was not large at all, it was actually rather condensed. Anne and Celine followed the man's still-yelling voice to a small-looking shop hidden at a dead end.

The door was slightly cracked open, but not enough that Anne or Celine could see inside. Anne and Celine pressed themselves to either side of the door frame, and listened.

"Do ya think that these dozen'll get the money the boss wants?" a gruff voice spoke in broken English. Celine had no idea what he was saying.

"It's a sure thing, man. Especially this pretty one right here." Another male voice said, and his voice was followed by another feminine screech.

"I said, shut up, ya French whore!" the same voice yelled, and the girl was once again shrieking in terror and agony.

The girl was shouting hysterically in French, and Anne was sure that it was Chantal.

Anne looked around, still shaking. They had found Chantal, but how would they get her out?

There was an open skylight on the low roof; Celine could levitate them up there. But after that… what? They couldn't fight these men! They sounded like harden criminals, abducting girls for apparent sale. If Anne and Celine got caught, they'd be next on the market.

Anne reached over and touched Celine's arm, then whispered her suggestion to her. Celine agreed, and quickly levitated both herself and Anne up to the roof.

Anne dropped to her knees and looked down into the room from the skylight. There was a half dozen of men standing in the room, and, as Anne craned her neck to see further into the room, a dozen half-naked women and girls.

"Slave drivers." Celine whispered in horror to Anne, tears falling from her eyes once more. Anne couldn't see her face, but she knew that Celine was anguished. Chantal was on the floor, bloody and sobbing. The men paid no mind.

Anne nodded and gulped in agreement to Celine's notion.

"Ernie, did ya remember to set the Silencin' Charms and the Caterwauling Charms?" the man that had seemingly hurt Chantal said to a one-eyed man.

'Ernie' froze. "Uh, yeah, Ben. Of course." He squawked, he had obviously forgotten to set the charms. That's why it was so easy for Celine and Anne to get so close to the slave drivers' hideout.

If they had set those charms… well, Anne didn't want to think about that.

"I think ya're lyin' to me, Ernie." 'Ben' said, and he slammed his fist down on the small table near to him. "Ya're fuckin' retarded, Ern! What if there's some Aurors outside, huh?" Ben's expression was scary.

"Ya're lucky that we're movin' these bitches out as soon as the sun's down. Or I'd kick yar ass myself."

Anne panicked. That was in fifteen minutes… how would they find a way to get Chantal out of an underground slave driving business in the shadiest part of town… in fifteen minutes?

"Anne…" Celine whispered, moving closer to the edge of the open skylight. "I cannot see Chantal anymore… where is she? What has happened to her!"

She was too close! She would certainly fall in if she got any closer to the edge of the skylight window!

Anne grabbed her arm and pulled her back as she dared to move even closer. As she did so, Celine's foot kicked the glass on the window, and the ancient glass shattered.

"What was that?" Ben roared, and six curses were set up to the skylight. Anne and Celine jumped out of the way as six flashes of bright green light came their way through the broken skylight.

"Celine, run!" Anne whispered urgently, and helped Celine to her feet.

"Find out what that was! Now!" Ben shouted, and three of the six men Apparated to the roof of the crumbling building.

The Disillusionment Charms were wearing off as Anne and Celine ran for cover.

"There they are!" a voice roared as they ran. "Don't let 'em get away!"

Anne had no bravery left; she dove for cover with a hysterical Celine in tow. But as they dove, they hit another skylight that was hidden behind a few large crates. They fell through the glass, and hit the concrete ground of the slave driving business hard.

"Why, hello pretty ladies." Ben's voice purred as Anne tried to get to her feet. She was reminded of the madman in the alleyway. Celine was knocked out cold.

"Thank you for dropping in." he said, grabbing her arm in an iron grip, holding her up as she faded almost into unconsciousness and then back into full awareness.

Anne was hyperventilating in terror. She had been so stupid, they had been caught. And now they would pay the price for her mess up.

She had let everybody down.

Anne closed her eyes and let the tears fall freely.

She was not meant to be a Gryffindor, she didn't deserve it.

"Get your filthy hands off my daughter!" a voice said dangerously.

Anne blacked out.

…..

I hated this chapter so thoroughly.

I really did, I just didn't like it. I've rewritten it like 69 times, and I can't get myself to like it.

But I hope you guys did! I mean, it shows a slightly braver Anne. It was hard, writing her character in such a different environment, such a situation that Anne usually wouldn't ever get herself into.

A slave driving business? In Knockturn? It's possible! Knockturn's so screwed up, anything's possible at this point.

Lemme know what you guys thought of this chapter, even though I think it SUCKS majorly.

And the next chapter will be the second last of Anne's family in England. And Lily is arriving in the chapter after next.

Okay, so don't forget to review! I love them, as you know! And thank you so so so much for reviewing, guys! It means so much to me!

Jess