Hello all! This update and (hopefully) the other one that (may or may not) come next week, will be the last for a while. Sadly, June is fast approaching, and I am SCREWED for the leaving cert. So the books are about to get a serious beating between now an then. As well as that, pass, fail or annihilate my last test (Chemistry), I am going to Portugal at the end of June, three days after finishing.
Also, I'm considering having a sacrificial burning of every single pen, copy and book (except my beloved poetry book...gotta love 'em, Hopkins and all) that I ever used to get me through those tests. Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that I'm gonna be pretty busy for a while.
Important A.N: The conversation Anna is having with God and the horse is in her native language, which won't be revealed just yet. (I just noticed how weird that is when you read it)
And I know some of the order members I used are dead, or had died by the 7th year, or whatever. I changed it
Its not about whether you get knocked down; its whether you get up - Vince Lombardi
The quaint and cosy living room of the small Dorset cottage was a flurry of movement. Every loud sporadic "pop!" and green flame announced another arrival of a member of The Order of the Phoenix. The chatter and muttering amongst the several members gathered immediately silenced when Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody led Albus Dumbledore over to the tragic scene discovered by him and his team minutes earlier.
Lying on a worn sheepskin rug were Philip and Caterine Hunter.
Their cold lifeless bodies were drastically out of place, a chilling and disturbing contrast with the comforting warmth of the country cottage. Surrounding them on the rustic orange walls were dozens of photos; the stationary occupants gazing out at those in the room with bright, smiling faces, oblivious to the horror that had occured in front of them.
Albus Dumbledore sighed sadly, thinking about how the two youngest occupants of those photo's had been robbed of any reason to smile, for a very long time.
A fact that was upsetting as it was, only to be made worse by the fact that the other two ocupants would never have the chance to smile again. At least, not beyond the frozen moments captured on film.
Philip Hunter, with his large hand frozen and clamped around that of his wife's, would never again take a photo of the three most important things in his life. Caterine Hunter would never hold her daughters in her arms again, while the three of them held still and waited for the flash of the camera.
A stone's throw away from her other hand, the wand of Caterine Hunter lay in two pieces, it's silver unicorn hair spilling onto the scratched and dented, worn wooden floor.
"No more than twenty hours ago is what I'd guess, Albus. Almost two hours after her patronus found me back at the Ministry. Given the circumstances, I can't imagine it being a quick kill. See there, in her left hand; that's hawthorn splinters. The woman snapped her own wand." Alastor Moody's gruff voice held a suspicious edge to it, his eyes glaring at the broken wand on the floor beneath them.
"Given the circumstances?" Charlie Weasley tore his sorrow filled gaze from the bodies on the floor, his question breaking apart some tension for some of the members. At least this was a question they could answer.
"Apparently, it wasn't much of an inconvenience for Caterine Dolohov's family, when she all but disappeared off the face of the earth after marrying a muggle by the name of Philip Clarke." Tonks spoke up from Mad Eye's other side, her voice hard but tinged with sympathy.
"Are you saying that this woman is- was, Antonin Dolohov's sister?" The incredulity of Charlie Weasley's voice was mimicked in the faces of the others who were trying to find a likeness between the angelic woman that beamed at the from the photographs on he walls, and the dark and twisted creature that constantly scowled at them from 'wanted' posters.
"Hard to believe it isn't it? Luckily enough for Caterine, her brother was already locked up behind bars when she escaped the family to marry Philip. Her father died years ago, when she and her brother were only children. Her mother is suffering from some form of dementia for the past decade or so...apparently she has herself convinced that her only daughter is long dead." Emmeline Vance spoke from across the room.
The woman was a valuable asset to the Order. Just as Mundungus Fletcher kept them up to speed on the comings and goings of of the wizarding underworld, Emmeline managed to keep the Order informed on any relevant or interesting information that was flowing through the gossip mills of the upper class wizarding society. However, Emmeline's information, though not as frequent, usually turned out to be far more accurate, if less useful, then Mundungus'.
"Ok, so Caterine and Philip disappear for a while, change their name and move to the back of beyond to train horses and raise their two daughters." Tonks began pacing slowly around the room, her eyes roving over every insignificant object in the house.
Moody was watching his protégé intently, his keen eyes focused on her, encouraging her to figure out as much as she could on her own. The room held their breaths, waiting for the clumsy but surprisingly intelligent young woman to get them started.
"They own their own horse stables, and judging by the appointments book on the counter by the...telephone- thing...they're by no means quiet. Booked up for days on end with lessons and excursions; countless numbers of muggles in contact with them everyday...which would explain the strictly muggle lifestyle. Non moving photo's on the walls, stationary furniture and appliances; plus the lights and that flashing box in the corner obviously means the house has...oh, what's that word Arthur?" Tonks began clicking her fingers, frustratingly trying to remember all the muggle terms.
"Electricity." Arthur stated proudly, like he had been waiting for the question since he first arrived.
"Yes, that's the one...which means that magic isn't used on a daily basis, because it would interrupt the muggle...things! So, the question is, after sixteen years of being cut off from the wizarding society, how and why did her scum of the earth brother find her?" Tonks went silent, her eyes furrowed and thoughtful. She turned to face Mad Eye, seeking her mentor's guidance for something she couldn't comprehend.
"I know the obvious answer is because she married a muggle, but it doesn't feel right? Their murder doesn't come with the usual message of bloody massacre the Death Eaters reserve for 'blood traitors'. I mean, why didn't they publicise it? Why was there no Dark Mark sent up? Where are the blatant signs of torture? Most likely, there was a lot of suffering involved in it, but...look at them." Calling everyone's attention to the still bodies on the floor, Tonks succeeded in getting her point across.
If not for their deathly pallor's and rigid stillness, Caterine and Philip looked as if they could be sleeping...
"What I'd like to know is why she felt it necessary to snap her own wand?" Hestia Jones voice held the same fear that the others silently felt...what could have possibly driven this witch to destroy her only chance of survival? To snap one's own wand was the equivalent of cutting off your own arm.
"As much as I'd like to know all this, I think we'd best remind ourselves that there are two babes lost in the woods out there. And without our help, they might not survive much longer." Mad Eye's voice became the one that they all latched onto, to pull themselves out of their despairing stupor.
"Which is why it is imperative that we start working immediately. Arthur, I trust you have gotten in touch with all those necessary?" Dumbledore's voice instantly quieted the hushed chatter of the room. Everyone stood eagerly awaiting him to instruct them.
"Yes, I was just talking to Remus before you arrived. Bill had just dropped off at Hogwarts, and Remus was going to get Sirius before making their way here...I don't know what's keeping them?" A flicker of concern passed through Dumbledore's bright blue eyes, and just as quickly disappeared again.
"I'm sure they will be here soon. First of all, Emmeline, I need you to get in contact with Amelia Bones. As head of Magical Law Enforcement, she may be able to keep the situation under wraps until we find the girls, and get them to safety." With a swift nod and the swish of her robes, Emmeline departed with a loud pop.
"Alastor, while you and your team continue the search for the girls, know that we are all at your disposal should you require any assistance." Mad Eye grunted and turned to walk towards the four Auror's standing at the back of the room, followed by Tonks. Although none of them were 'official' members, they were hand-picked by Mad Eye himself as part of his team, and always went out of their way to cover the order when things went south. They could be trusted.
"The rest of us need to get moving through the house. Search for phonebooks, letters, photo's that contain a recurring face, possibly a close family friend or relative of Philip Hunter or Philip Clarke." Dumbledore moved towards the rest of the Order members. Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle and Sturgis Podmore broke away to begin searching the drawers of the large, pine cabinet in the corner of the room.
"What in Merlin's name is that?" Moments later, the open diary in Hestia Jones' hands was forgotten and dropped to the floor, when her shocked gaze fell on the soot covered form stumbling out of the tiny, metal grate and into the living room of the late Mr and Mrs Hunter.
"That was disgusting." Anna somehow managed to splutter out between the fluent string of curses she was coughing out.
Turning around to stare at the green flames erupting behind her, Anna squeezed her eyes shut in preparation for a sneeze that forced her to cover her face with soot covered hands. When Remus Lupin followed Sirius Black out from the grate, Anna abruptly stopped smudging the black dust into her pores, and glared at the pair of wizards in front of her.
"How the fuck did you escape the fireplace spotless, but I look like I had to wrestle my way out of a bit of rough and tumble in a mine shaft?" Anna's forest green eyes glared vividly at the two grown men, her fiery eyes blazing from behind the mask of black war paint on her face.
"I take it that the Floo system is not your favourite means of travel Anna?" Dumbledore stared at Anna, excited to hear the argument she used to twist the arm of Remus Lupin, and get him to bring her. Some how, Dumbledore had the feeling that Sirius arm would require less of a twist, and more of a gentle poke.
A sly smile spread across her face when she turned to stare at Dumbledore.
"It narrowly beats a four day trek across the desert; by camel." Still dusting soot off her shoulders, Anna ignored the curious looks she was receiving, in favour of staring at the photos on the walls around her. Her smile instantly disappeared.
After scanning them for several minutes, she placed both hands on either side of a home-made, wooden framed photo, and lifted it down from the mantel piece. Staring at it for a few minutes, she opened the back of it and removed the picture of two young girls. Both with identical sky blue twinkling eyes and ethereal, wispy blonde hair; the twin daughters of the former Caterine Dolohov smiled out at her with mischievous grins.
Between the girls, held on either side by two different, pale and delicate hands, was a vibrant blue rosette style ribbon, three silken streamers flowing below it.
"Fourteenth of July '97." Anna read the printed red date off the back of what was presumably the most recent photo of the two girls.
Snapping her head up once more, Anna's face was full of determination and purpose. She strode over to Dumbledore with a swift pace, but upon drawing nearer to the wizard, her body was taken over by tension. It seemed that Anna could sense the chilled, lingering presence that Death had left in the warm, Summer air.
With careful steps, her gaze dropped to the floor as she waited to encounter the heartbreaking image that awaited her, hidden behind the circular pine dinner table.
Her face remained passive, not a teary eye or quivering lip in sight. Instead, she became hard and raw.
"What do you know so far?" Her low voice held a deadly authority in it, shocking many in the room.
"We know that sometime last night, Caterine and Philip Hunter were murdered by Death Eaters. We know that they're children were not here when it happened, which leaves us to assume that they are waiting somewhere for our help. We know that Caterine Hunter's dying wish, and most likely that of her husbands, was for us to protect those most precious to her. We intend to do so." Listening to the gentle tone of Dumbledore's voice, Anna's intense gaze sucked the noise out of the room, so that even Mad Eye's usual grunting was silenced.
"Good. Where have we not searched yet?" With a last look at the husband and wife beside her, Anna gripped the photo in her hand tighter and made her way around Dumbledore to march through the large arc in the wall that led into the family kitchen.
The team of six Auror's were gathered around the freestanding island in the middle of the white tiled floor.
"What's this talk about 'we' missy?" Alastor Moody's harsh eyes bored into Anna's, but she met his gaze dead on, startled only for a moment by the large magical eye he had trained on her.
"This 'talk' means that I'm here to help, whether you like it or not. So unless you want to waste more time that those girls don't have, I suggest you direct that scowl towards something, or someone else." Anna dismissed the fuming Auror beside her, ignored the shocked faces around her, and decided to pay attention to the smirking woman across the table with the bright pink hair.
"I have to say Anna; I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be nursing a sore head in some dark and quiet corner of Hogwarts."
"I'm afraid there's no rest for the wicked Tonks." Never finding it hard to conjure up a convincing grin or smirk, Anna returned Tonks wink.
"Dumbledore, you can't be serious. I'm on a mission to find two young girls; I don't have time to babysit a third one...and a muggle at that. A crowd of Death Eaters could burst in any minute, not to mention the fact that we can only hold the rest of the Ministry off for so long." Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus had made their way over to help prevent the brewing storm take hold between Anna and Mad Eye.
"Alastor, I assure you that Anna is capable of taking care of herself, should things get out of hand. Anna, at the first sign of Ministry involvement, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. I fear there would be no good outcome, should Rufus learn of your presence outside of Hogwarts." Seemingly satisfied that the matter had been settled, Dumbledore turned away from Mad Eye.
With no care in the world for the idiot Minister, Anna kept her mouth shut about the fact that she had no intention of returning anywhere without those two girls.
"Now, Sirius, would you mind calling for Kreacher? I believe that we could use the services of Mundungus Fletcher." Barely containing his growl, Sirius walked back towards the fireplace, grabbed some Floo powder from inside his robes, and stuck his head through the grate.
"Strange..."Anna muttered under her breath, before turning to Mad Eye.
"Whatever problem you have, drop it, we have work to do. What do you know about the girls?" Anna surprisingly kept her short temper well controlled, and under her strong green eyed gaze, Mad Eye finally seemed to acquiesce to her request.
"Their nine years old, were sent 'away' by their mother last night. Pale blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, not much shorter than-"
"Stop. What do you know about them, the girls?" Anna's interruption of the Auror was not received well.
"What do you mean, what do we know about them? We know that they're both out hiding somewhere, and I know that you're wasting my time." He banged his fist on the table, and the marble island shuddered.
"Ok, I'll break it down for you. Have you gone to the neighbours yet?" Anna's patience was wearing thin, growing more obvious by the sound her foot was making, as she tapped the sole of her flip flop off the ground.
"There is none. We're in the middle of nowhere, miles from any town or village." One of the men around the table pointed to their own location on a map.
It took all Anna's will power not to snap or roar at the man across the table, while her hand quivered by her side, desperate the pinch the bridge of her nose. Instead she took a deep breath and looked up at them all.
"People will run for days when they have something to run from, especially children. No matter what sort of horror is chasing them, the first place they'll run to is wherever they feel safest, like a family friend or an aunt's house. Someone needs to start rooting through the address book. Find the closest houses to this one written in, within reasonable distance, and start checking in on them." Not waiting to see if any of them moved, Anna looked down at the map in front of her, glaring at its useless blankness.
They didn't know enough about the girls to guess how they would react.
Sighing in frustration, she pushed herself back from the table and looked at the photo once more. An idea started forming in the back of her mind when she stared at the blue ribbon again.
"I'll be back in a few minutes." Anna muttered under her breath, leaving the table of Auror's who began discussing tactics again.
Lifting her eyes from the photo, she hurried out of the kitchen and back into the cosy living room. With her back turned, Anna didn't notice Sirius pull back out from the fireplace as he turned to Remus, Charlie, Arthur and Dumbledore. "Where's she rushing off to?" Anna barely heard Sirius question over the sound of her rushing footsteps as she flew up the stairs.
In the largest bedroom, at the end of the hall, were two twin beds placed on opposite sides of the room.
Sunlight beamed in through the large window, the great yellow orb in sky illuminating the entire room as it began its descent. It lit up the pale yellow colour of the bedroom walls, barely visible beneath the posters of the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys...and horses.
Dozens of posters littered the walls of every kind of horse imaginable. From a black Arabian show horse jumping a high fence, to a palomino leaping through green fields.
Numerous shelves were nailed to the walls, each of them holding at least five gold and silver trophies, tons of rosette ribbons of every colour stuck to these shelves, their streaming ribbons flowing beneath.
And making its way across the bedroom, from one bedpost to another, was a border of photos.
Starting from the bed on the left side of the room, this photo was of the twins when they could have been no more than four years old. Standing in front of a white stone wall, on either side of them were two wooden gates, one painted fire red, the other a deep purple. They were holding hands, wearing identical pink leggings, polka dot jumpers and mischievous smiles.
The next photo in the sequence was much the same, except that now the girls had grown a bit, both wearing bright denim skirts and sparkly pink shoes, they stuck their tongues out at the camera. The red stall door to the left remained open, a trail of hay following the twin that stood beside it.
The series of photos went on, each photo containing the little twins, their growing height measured by the vividly painted gates on either side of them. There were twelve of them all together, and it was on the final one that Anna started to focus on the photo's features.
Two blonde haired twins, almost fey like in their appearance, stood once more in front of the white washed wall. Wearing riding boots and jodhpurs, black helmets were held in place under their arms. From behind the red and purple stall doors, two horses reached their long faces out, leaning into the pale hands that were held at their cheeks.
Looking between them, Anna watched the entwined hands of the girls, their smiling faces filling the room with a light that the sun's rays could never compare to.
"Gotcha." Anna whispered. She pulled the photo off the wall and held it in her grasp, a few inches from her face. Staring at the white washed wall, she committed every crack and dent to her memory.
With a broad smile spreading across her face, Anna disappeared into the fabric of space. She left nothing behind save a shimmering gateway of air, a falling photograph, and the unanswered call from a husky voiced male.
When she hit the hard concrete pavement, Anna was still smiling.
Wriggling her toes, she was glad to feel every lump and groove in the uneven floor beneath her. The thin leather sole of her sandals may as well have been tissue paper, for all the support and protection they offered. Not that Anna was complaining...she hated wearing shoes.
Unfortunately, it wasn't socially acceptable (or remotely hygienic) to walk around in one's bare feet. So, she decided that if she was going to do something she hated doing; she was going to do it better than everybody else. Hence the reason why shoes were a great source of inner conflict for Anna. She'd much rather walk around bare foot, and feel the soft grass and warm sand beneath her. However, once you made a habit of admiring the Jimmy Choo's you put on, it's hard to imagine ever taking them off.
After scraping the tip of her big toe off a jagged stone, she quickly became disenchanted with her choice of footwear, and pulled herself back to reality. More out of habit than anything else, she turned on the spot, and scanned the surrounding area for any shadows that didn't belong.
She found the descending sun bathing the Hunters' lands in a warm orange glow. The sunlight washed over the rich grass, touching the tip of every green blade, until its rays were blocked by the tall pine trees that shot suddenly into the sky.
The Hunters' stables were sitting directly across from a large pine tree forest, seperated by the wooden horse fence, and fifteen feet of grass. From where Anna stood, she could see a well trod dirt path, marking a frequently used trek from the closed door of the stables towards the edge of the forest, and continuing on beyond the reach of the suns light. Like the entrance into a secret woodland garden, a space had been cleared in the forest four trees wide, so that two large horses could trot comfortably along, side by side. A winding path made its way past the overgrown forest floor until it reached a bend, and disappeared from view behind the large trees and undergrowth. It would be the perfect start to an adventure...
'But not today's adventure.' Anna stopped herself from taking any more unconscious steps towards the tall trees. There would be time to explore the unknown later. Right now, she had more important things to follow through than her thirst for adventure.
Leaning her elbows ontop of the wooden fence, Anna allowed her longing gaze to travel up the length of the tall trees, and silently admired their needle like tips. Against the fiery backdrop of the setting sun, she almost expected them to catch fire from the orange and pink hues that shot through the darkening blue sky.
In a slight state of panic, Anna realised that dusk was quickly approaching. In less than one hour, darkness would descend. Knowing how it felt to be scared and alone when your only nine years old, Anna began to worry. She remembered only too well how much worse everything seemed in the dark.
She struggled to keep the memories and feelings of her own past at bay, but with the drastic similarities of the situation, she was finding it extremely hard to keep her voice steady, when she sought out the heavens.
'Please, if you help me find them, I promise that I will do everything in my power, to make sure they don't end up like me.' Anna felt no guilt or embarrassment on calling on God for help. She was a firm believer in the phrase 'desperate time's call for desperate measures'.
It also may have had something to do with the fact that, in her eyes, God owed her...big style.
She would never dream of calling on Him to help her with her own problems. Not since He abandoned her to deal with her problems alone twelve years ago, on the one night of her life when she had needed Him the most...
After making it through the horrors and vicious trials of the hardest and most devastating night of her life, alone, Anna no longer wanted, nor did she desire any help from God. She was brutally alone in this world, and had accepted the fact...she revelled in it, and found a great freedom in not relying on God (or anyone) for help.
At least not for herself...
When it came to the two young orphaned girls, she knew the many paths that would lie down before them when they learned of their parents deaths.
Almost twelve years ago, the same paths had been laid down for her. She knew that if someone had been around to take care of her, she probably wouldn't be still battling down the vicious and blood stricken path of vengeance. It was a never ending search, fuelled by grief, anger and most of all disappointment. It was the path that she was determined to steer the two girls away from, at all costs. She would make sure they did not make her mistakes...
Five minutes had passed, and Anna still stood in the exact same place, glaring expectantly up at the sky with a raised brow. Tapping her foot, she waited impatiently for God to get a move on.
Jerked from her irritation by a loud disgruntled snort, she abruptly turned her gaze back towards the stables. Locating the source of the sound, a beam settled across Anna's face, and she wasted no time in directing it back towards the heavens, along with a smug 'Thank you.'
Unlike most people who asked God for help (in situations that are entirlely solvable with a bit of their own effort), Anna tended to wait around for a few minutes after. Most people are too busy worrying about the problem at hand, that they don't even notice when their prayers are answered! Anna, of course, was not most people, and would have quite happily waited in the same spot through rain, hail and snow, until she got an answer.
Slowly, and cautiously, she made her way over to the Hunters' barn-like stables. Holding her hands up in front of her, she took slow, deliberate steps, coming to a halt under the gaze of a highly suspicious black horse. From its place behind the painted red gate, the horses warning gaze held her in place.
Warily considering Anna's presence, the heavy bulk of the ebony Irish Hunter filled the frame of Anna's sole view of the stable's interior. With its neck held high in the air, and calculating eyes set on her, Anna had the feeling that the horse was attempting to intimidate her.
The black mare grew more agitated when she drew closer to it.
"Settle, my friend." Gently she reached forward to pat the beautiful mare on the snout, and smiled when the horse was instantly soothed as her words washed over it.
"Do not be afraid, I have come to help." Stamping its hoof on the floor, like the judge bangs his gavel, the black mare deemed that Anna was not a threat. It held steady, and leaned in towards Anna's outstretched hand, nuzzling its snout into her palm.
Anna leaned forward, resting her forehead against the horses face, and gently scratched the mare behind her pointed ears, allowing her scent to wash over the powerful animal.
"Where are the girls?" Anna's question was answered with a rush of warm air against her chest; the black mare snorting her reply. The stables guardian moved back inside, away from the gate, and began chewing on the hay scattered across the barn floor.
Gracefully hopping over the high gate, Anna gave the horse a reassuring pat on the neck, and hopped another small gate, to land in the main stables. Quickly surveying the surrounding area, she did her best to make as much noise as possible whilst moving around, announcing her presence to whoever was hiding in there.
She counted the sixteen full horse pens that wound around the sides of the stables, all of their occupants seemingly already bored of her presence as they moved back to their hay. An upper level acted as a roof over the horse's individual pens, a walkway running around the entire circumference of the barn. From what she could see, it was storage area for equipment and hay. Long strings of the yellow dried grass hung over the sides, falling down onto the main stable floor and silencing most of Anna's footsteps.
Among the soft rustling of her feet over the stable surface, she could hear hushed whispering above her. The tightness of her stomach loosened, her heart beating in relief that it was her ears the anxious whispering had fallen on, instead of someone else's.
At the far side of the stable, a shiny metal ladder was cemented into the concrete floor, providing a sturdy means to reach the upper level of the barn. She quickly made her way over and climbed up the ladder, wanting to put an end to any fear her presence probably inspired in the girls. Putting on her most gentle smile just before she reached the top of the ladder, she slowly walked along the wide ledge of wooden planks that provided the second floor.
Anna could hear the rustling the two young girls were making against the hay strewn floor. Without seeing them, she knew that they were behind the fourth a bale of hay from the left. 'Smart girls.' She thought, taking in their choice of hiding place. From their position of halfway along the wide wooden walk way, they had a perfect view of the floor below them.
"Hello? Girls, are you up here?" Anna called out loudly, giving them the option to control the situation. She wanted them to think of her as the person who looked for them, not as the person who found them cowering behind a pile of hay.
She halted in her place and waited, casting her eyes left and right, taking note of every entrance and escape route. On the other side of the upper level, a few feet from the girls hiding place was a window. There was no glass or sheet covering it, just an empty window frame.
"W-who are you?" A shaky voice of questioning was her answer. Taking it as a good sign, Anna took another step forward answered. "My name is Anna."
"Did our mother send you?" A shakier, higher pitched voice called out this time.
"Your mother sent a friend of mine a message last night, asking them to take care of you. I offered to help." Anna continued walking towards them. She could see two little blonde heads peeking over the tip of the bale, and fought with herself to keep her gentle smile intact.
The sight of the two trembling children, terrified out of their wits, shook her to the core.
"Is it ok if I sit down here?" After making her way around to where the girls were, she stood by the edge of the walkway, leaving a wide space between them and her. They were identical to the photo she had seen them in, with fey like pale skin, long wispy blonde hair and big, bright eyes.
Both sets of shining blue eyes stared at her with a timid suspicion.
"How did our mother send a message?" The twin on the right, with the less shaky, deeper voice asked Anna.
"She sent a horse." At the blank look on the girls' faces, Anna attempted to elaborate. "Not an actual horse, just one of those...oh, what are they called?"
"A patronus?" Coming to Anna's rescue, less suspicious girl answered.
"Yes, I think that was what he said. I'm sorry; I don't really know much about magic." Still smiling kindly at them, she sat down in a meditative position and put her hands on her knees, carefull not to make any sudden movements.
"Are you a squib?" Not having the faintest idea what a squib was, Anna filed it away to ask Dumbledore about it later. The sympathetic edge to the girl's voice made her curious about it.
"No, I'm like your dad. Well not entirely like him. I have my own sort of...magic, you could say." Anna's stomach clenched when she brought up their father. That wasn't a conversation she wanted to have right now.
"How do you know about magic then, if you're a muggle?" Smiling at the girl's unwillingness to accept anything immediately, she ignored the use of the word 'muggle'. It didn't sound like an insult coming from her.
"My friend is a wizard. He's the headmaster of a school. Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" Taking in the shine that filled the girls eyes, Anna couldn't help but be caught up in their amazement.
"You know Albus Dumbledore?" Without realising it, both twins were leaning closer to Anna now. Apparently, she wasn't a huge threat to them anymore now that she was friends with Dumbledore.
Well, rather an aquaintance. Anna didn't really have many friends.
"Yes. He's up at your house right now, along with some people from the Ministry of Magic. Everyone's very worried about you two." Anna moved slightly closer to them, away from the edge of the walkway.
"How come you're not with them?" The suspicion was gone from the voices of the two girls now, and instead was replaced by curiosity. It was amazing what wonders could come from being associated with someone like Dumbledore.
Keeping silent for a few moments, Anna decided that it was best to tell them the truth (or some form of it).
"When I was about the same age as you, I had to run and hide somewhere too, because I was...different. So I went to my favourite place." She wasn't lying to the girls...she was just omitting information. She would have liked to have gone to her favourite place, but it was being raided...and burned to the ground.
"Where I hid wasn't anywhere near as cool as here. I saw some of your horse riding trophies and medals in your house. You two must be really good." At the mention of the word 'horse' both girls' faces lit up.
'Thank you Jesus.' Now, all she had to do was keep them talking about that for a while, until they trusted her enough to go with her. The conversation about her parents needed to wait until they were in safe surroundings.
"Do you have your own horses?" Both girls shuffled over to sit beside Anna, who turned around to face the stables with them.
"You see the chestnut mare, with the white stripe on her face? That's my one. Her names Ginger. And the grey one in the pen beside her, that's Baloo. That's Fina's one." The little nymph on Anna's left was directing her gaze towards two relatively small horses, no more than fifteen hands high.
"Fina, that's a pretty name." Anna turned to the twin on her right, who was smiling shyly at her.
"It's short for Agrafina. But everybody call's me Fina." Anna laughed when Agrafina rolled her eyes.
"And what does everybody call you?" She was still laughing, turning to the other twin.
"Thea. It's short for Amathea."
Anna was still smiling at the girls, when the sudden sounds of snorting and restless pacing caught her attention. Discovering the source to be none other than the black Irish Hunter, she stared at the stable guardian, and tried to figure out what was wrong.
She almost missed it- the shadow that didn't belong.
Staring out the only open entrance into the stables, she saw the distorted shadow of a human form fall across the grass. They must have been a fair size, for their shadow to reach so far.
Gripping the two girls by the arms, Anna began pulling them back away from the ledge of the walkway. Just as their backs hit the wall behind them, the huge figure of a man jumped over the gate. "Anna, their coming for us." Agrafina's hand gripped Anna's shoulder tightly, her voice shaking just as much as her hand.
Anna turned to stare at the girl, her petrified blue eyes brimming with tears.
"Who Fina? Who's coming for you?" Anna kept her voice low, pushing the girls behind her outstretched arms.
"The bad people that mummy told us about. Last night, when we were feeding the horses, she sent her patronus to us. She told us to hide, and not come back to the house. She said there were bad people there, and that we had to hide from them until she could send someone to come for us." The terror in the young girl's voice was making it almost impossible for her to keep her voice down.
"Oh girlies...I know you're in here. There's no reason to hide. We're going to have some fun." A sneering voice rumbled through the stables. The hairs on the back of Anna's neck rose at the greasy tone of the voice, and the message it implied.
Down below, strolling through the stables with a wicked smirk on his face was the largest man Anna had ever seen. (Excepting Hagrid, but he was half-giant; so he didn't count.)
The hay on the floor did nothing to soften his heavy footsteps, and she could still hear the excited panting of his breath above the horses anxious pacing. Anna's stomach already felt sick, after hearing the man talk about 'fun'. She could only imagine what the beast below was thinking of doing. If it was possible, the sight of him made her even more nauseous.
Shaggy, matted grey hair grew from almost every inch on his body. Behind his chapped and what was bound to be disease ridden mouth, were pointed brown teeth. The sores on the side of his lips were cracking from the smile on his face, and she wasn't sure if she had just imagined the puss leaking from them, or if he really was that disgusting.
Dangerous as the man looked; it was his squinted black eyes that frightened Anna the most. There was a manic, excited gleam in them. Their black emptiness startled her, and scared her at the same time. Whether or not he was the one who murdered Fina and Thea's parents, Anna knew that this man definitely should not be allowed to roam free.
At least not without some form of muzzle.
"Girls, how far away is your house from here?" Anna half turned her back to the man, who couldn't see them from where he lurked below. Her voice was a harsh whisper, and pulled both girls to a startled attention.
"Not far, over the hill behind the stables. About five minutes." Their grip on her hands tightenend.
"Is there a way out from up here?"
"Y-yes. There's a ladder outside that window there." Amathea pointed over to the open window frame Anna had noticed earlier. An idea was slowly forming in her head. She felt slightly guilty at the possibility that she might get some satisfaction from it.
"Ok. When I tell you to, the both of you are going to go over to that window, as quiet as mice, and climb down. When you get down, I want you to start running, as fast as you can, to your house. When you get there, ask for Dumbledore. Tell him that Anna said to come quickly, and lead him back here." Both girls were trembling uncontrollably. They were white as sheets, and Anna only hoped that the adrenalin rush would last long enough for them to make it.
At the sound of sniffing, Anna turned to stare at the man below her in confusion. A loud sigh escaped from him, and he closed his eyes. They dazed smile on his face made him look as if he were high.
"Don't be so scared girls. I won't bite." A villainous laughter burst forth from him, and all the horses began stomping and whimpering in their stalls.
"Now, go. Keep going, and don't turn back, no matter what you see or hear." Anna all but pushed them towards the window, glancing over at the man below every few seconds as she watched Fina climb out the window first.
He started chuckling to himself again, and Anna wouldn't have believed it was possible for his lecherous smile to get bigger, if she hadn't witnessed it herself.
"You want to play hide and seek do you? Well run along then, before I catch up." Amathea threw a terrified gaze over her shoulder, as she began her descent down the ladder.
"Don't look back." Anna whispered, and crawled away from the ladder.
When she had backed far enough away, she rose from her crouched position and looked down at the man below her. Fighting with her lips that were trying to curl in disgust, she forced them and her limbs to tremble just as the man's black gaze caught hers.
"Who are you?" Anna wanted to cringe at the pleading tone her voice had adopted. Instead, she focused on coming across as a helpless, vulnerable and frightened young girl. Needless to say, she found it extremely hard. It took every bit of self control she had (which wasn't a lot), to ignore her natural instincts to leap down and knock the sneer off his face.
"Well isn't this a tasty surprise. You're not who I was searching for sweetheart...a bit too old for my usual tastes. But for a sweet little thing like you...I think I'll make an exception." The brute began licking his chapped lips, a dangerous new gleam brightening his eyes. "Why don't you come down?"
"I don't want to." Anna kept moving, trying to keep his focus on her. She stood beside the ledge, halfway between both sides of the walkway.
"If you come down now, I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to have a little fun." Tempting as it was to go down smash his face into the concrete floor, she knew she needed to draw this out as long as possible.
"Do you really want to make me come up there?" His voice was annoyed, yet when he took a step towards the ladder Anna noticed his panting began to quicken. The hunt excited him.
"No! I'll come down, just stay where you are." Watching the leer that broke across his face, Anna couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy towards the man.
He really had no idea what sort of predator he had just called upon.
Keeping up the frigthened expression, Anna never broke her gaze from his. Her body had long ago tired of the trembling limbs act, and she shimmied backwards down the steel ladder quickly, unwilling to turn her back on him.
"Now, that's better. Why don't you come over and let me get a good look at you." His voice was rumbling in his chest, the vibration of it pushing the horses into a frenzied state.
In a brief moment of wondering, Anna noticed that where there had been sixteen horses earlier, there were now twelve.
'Girls, what are you doing?' She couldn't help but worry about them, until a foul stench wafted over to her.
While she was taking slow tentative steps forward, the brute was stalking ever closer to her. The smell of sweat, dirt, and the metallic tang of blood hung in the air. Looking closer at him, she could see tiny red droplets hanging from the whiskers on his face.
"What's wrong pretty? Don't you want to play?" He was so near that Anna could see the crumbling pieces of dirt that clung to his hair. His taunting laugh grated against her skin, and a muscle in her jaw twitched.
'Fuck this.' Her patience made an executive decision, and decided that it couldn't take anymore. After contemplating for a second, Anna reached out for the heavy shovel that rested against the empty horse stall beside her. When he started laughing, Anna gripped her weapon tighter.
Before his eyes could register what was happening, she swung the shovel through the air. A loud burst of laughter escaped her when she heard the sickening crack the metal made against his jaw. He was thrown backwards, and a gut wrenching growl ripped from his throat. When he looked up at her with black, soulless eyes, he wore a twisted grin of anger.
"Oh, is that not the 'fun' that you had in mind?" Anna laughed again, and lunged towards him with the shovel still raised.
She knew she wasn't using fair tactics, seeing as she had a weapon and he didn't. With her impressive speed and skill, she would easily out match his brute force. Long ago, she had learned that everyone's greatest strength, was also their greatest weakness.
The moment he gripped the shovel though, all thoughts of fairness bolted. He snapped the metal head off it with a mere flick of his wrist.
'Oh shit.' Okay, so evidently he was a lot stronger than she had assumed.
"You're gonna regret that darlin'." The rough leer in his voice intensified when he got mad, and Anna had to fight the urge to drop the smile on her face.
"Oh, sweetheart. You really do not know what sort of mess you've just walked yourself into, do you?" Gripping the considerably lighter wooden stick again, Anna ducked out of the way just in time before the brute lunged over her head.
'How the fuck is that thing so fast!' She had been counting on the size of the man to be his weakness. Big, strong heavy brutes are held back by their weight...but this one apparently wasn't.
Landing with more grace than should be possible, he lunged at her again with animal like reflexes. He swung at her again, and again, and again, until Anna found herself panting along side him.
She slowly found herself being forced into a dangerous defensive stance, too busy preparing for her opponents next move to make a hit herself. With a heart stopping realisation, she found out that after years of fighting pathetic Paladins and gun toting gangsters, her once elite fighting skills had gotten rusty.
With the wooden stick slipping in her sweating palms, whilest fighting off bone crushing thump after sharp clawed scrape, Anna finally admitted that her wreckless lifestyle was catching up on her; just in time for her opponent to land a deadly hit to her stomach.
When Anna was sent flying across the stables to collide spectacularly against a wooden pen, she let out a cry.
Lying on the floor, clutching her battered stomach and trying to ignore the sharp pain in her lower ribs, Anna concentrated on the significance of that cry. Juding by her opponents stance, bent over on his knee's and panting from exertion, he hadn't noticed what Anna had.
It wasn't a cry of pain, or hurt, or fear. It was a cry of frustration.
Clenching her teeth, and grunting out in sharp breaths, she managed to push herself off the floor. Much to his surprise, she was not near finished. Kicking the broken stick away from her, Anna drew herselp up to her full height and ignored her protesting muscles. Like all skills, she just needed a bit of practice.
"Lets get back the basics then." This time, when his body flew towards her, Anna threw the beast back with one of her infamous round house kicks. As long as she kept fighting, her adrenalin would keep pumping. Because right now, that was all that was getting her by the excruciating pain of her broken rib.
A.N: Choosing people's names is a big thing for me, and I always try to have it symbolise them in some way. Anna's will be revealed within the next three chapters, the significance is being subtly hinted at now.
Antonin is a French form of Anthony, (or so I've been informed). Catherine comes from Greek origin and it means 'pure'. I thought Caterine fit better with Antonin.
Philip = Horse lover. Hence owning the stables.
Agrafina (Greek) = Born feet first. (I don't know exactly how that relates to horses, but that's what I was given)
Amathea I think is some form of Russian name, but don't quote me on it. It's along the same meaning of Agrafina. Basically, most of the family have horse relating names.
Also, for people who may be getting annoyed at the whole lack of Sirius-ness, he features heavily in the next chapter...and every one after that. As always, if you have any question's, feel free to ask away. P.S reviews are greatly appreciated. X