The Power of Love
Chapter Ten
Written By Alicia Jennings
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~
"This is all my fault.....if I only hadn't been such a damn fool....." Snape whispered. "Anna...."

"What." It didn't sound like a question.

"I'm...sorry.....I dragged you into this......not on purpose, but all the same..." He turned to the students. "Go to your dorms. Immediately." They didn't move, and Ron drew his wand.

"Go." The crowd drew away, whispering.

Severus knelt by Annie. "Annelise....try and get it off."

Annie tugged and pulled. The ring wouldn't so much as even move. "It won't come off!" she gasped frantically, clawing at her hand. "It won't come off, it won't even budge!"

Hermione, sheet-white, made a small squeak. "DO something, Ron...go get Dumbledore...do Finite Incantatem, Priori Incan -"

"It's dark magic," Snape stated simply. "I can tell. Touch your wand to it......feel that? It may not be as strong for you...Voldemort himself might've charmed this...but how? He'd have to have blood, or hair, or something of....someone must've..." Snape kept muttering to himself, while Annelise just kept staring into space. "Annie....your encounter with Voldemort. You never did get your satchels and things retrieved from your room, did you?"

"N -no...." Annie stuttered. "But...what does that have to d - do with anything? I just want a way that this stupid ring will come off." She tugged at it again, even though she knew the effort was futile. "What'd Voldemort want with my robes and stupid uniforms?"

Snape pointed his wand at the ring. "Finite Incantatem," he murmured. A spidery-like hand appeared, stirring a cauldron. The hand held up a ring, a few indistinguishable words were heard, and the ring was dropped in the cauldron. A puff of steam, or smoke, arose, and when it cleared, all that was left in the cauldron was the ring, no liquid. The hand drew out the ring, and pressed it into another hand.

Malfoy's hand.

"VOLDEMORT enchanted this?" Annie gasped. "Get it off me! He hates me!"

"Annelise, he hates everyone," said Ron, looking at the ring. "Hey, there's initials on this.....P.C.S. Isn't that -"

"Your mother's initials," Snape said softly. "She destroyed the first ring, so another was made, just like it. And.....I forced it on her....with a spell much like this one. But mine was reversible."

"How?"

Snape sighed. "Para could have reversed it by marrying another person. But she didn't know that. And neither did I, until after we were wedded."

"But I am marrying another person," blurted Annelise, not even thinking. "He just asked me. Oh!"

"What?!" exclaimed Ron and Hermione.

"Who?" asked Snape.

"I think that Ron and I need to leave you two be," said Hermione, jerking at her best friend's arm. "Um, it's a father-daughter moment." She dragged Ron backwards. "C'mon, Weasel, let's get OUT OF HERE."

"Stop!" said Snape, holding up a hand. "You will all three stay here and explain. I have a feeling it will take all three."

"But -"

"Father -"

"Professor -"

"No ifs, ands, or buts," cut in Snape. "Into my office NOW."

With sidelong glances at one another, Annie, Ron, and Hermione slowly stepped into Snape's drafty office. It was, like his classroom, a dungeon. Unlike the other teacher's offices, it was very sparsely furnished and few objects adorned the walls, only a photograph. Annie realized that the photo was of her, but was clearly not a wizarding photograph.

"Father...when was that photo taken?" She touched the tarnished frame.

"You and your mother lived as Muggles for a short while. You probably don't remember."

"No." Annie sat down next to Hermione and Ron.

"Now, then." said Snape, sitting at his desk and templing his fingers under his chin. "What's this about someone proposing to you, Annie?"

Annie gripped the arms of the chair until her knuckles turned white. "Well, um, you see, I've been - er...."

"Seeing someone," Ron supplied.

"Yes! Seeing someone. And - er - well, we're really close....and he decided to - er - propose to me."

Snape rolled his eyes. "Anna, I want a NAME."

Hermione, Ron, and Annie all began talking at once.

"You really don't NEED a name..."

"Yeah, they could elope!"

"Um, it really doesn't matter, does it?"

"C'mon, love knows no name -"

"SILENCE!" All three teens immediately became quiet. "I said," seethed Snape, "I want a NAME. Now, Anna."

Annelise glanced at the floor, wishing that it would swallow her up and take her back to Cecelia's neighborhood, Bellemere. Or that Apparition inside the castle would become possible. Or -

"ANNA."

Annie swallowed. "Father, it's Sirius Black."

~

"Er, Sirius, is it just me, or is that shadow moving?" Harry's voice betrayed his nervousness.

"Harry, calm down. It's a tree."

"Oh." Silence hung in the air for a few minutes. Then Harry spoke again.

"Explain to me why we're still here outside Malfoy Manor? Because I don't fancy those evil - looking hedges that look like razor wire."

Sirius shook his head. "Sissy. Just like your dad. We're here because I think there's a Death Eater meeting going on inside right now." He looked about through a pair of binocular - like eyeglasses. "That's strange."

"What?" Harry snatched the eyeglasses away. A blurred object was flying toward Malfoy Manor. "That's -" He and Sirius looked at each other. "Draco Malfoy," they said at the same time.

"What's he doing here?" Harry mused aloud, watching carefully as Malfoy touched down in the front yard and knocked on the door. "He should be in school." Malfoy was let in by a formidable-looking troll.

"Duh, Harry," said Sirius sarcastically. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Surely he's not a Death Eater," Harry gasped. "I mean.....come on! He's not even graduated!"

"It IS his house; he might not be a Death Eater. Whatever the case, it's time to listen in." Sirius drew forth a small speaker, and tapped his wand to it. At first there was a crackle of static, then voices. Harry winced. The voices were chanting -

"Long live Voldemort! Death to Harry Potter! Long live Voldemort! Death to Harry Potter!"

"Guess I'm not popular," muttered Harry. "Captain Obvious again. I know."

Sirius shook his head. "Someone else is speaking now." The speaker crackled.

"My Lord.....we captured a teacher from the Italian school.....Mary DiMaggio." Harry heard Sirius intake a short breath, and a scuffle of footsteps.

"Ahh...Mary DiMaggio. We meet again. I haven't seen you since the Battle of Rowena's Ravine."

"The pleasure to see you isn't mine; I assure you, Riddle."

"You - ah - wouldn't know how to get to Harry Potter, would you? Because I'd like to meet up with him again, maybe even have a cup of tea with him and his friend Anna."

"I know nothing," snapped Mary.

"Well, if you want it that way...Nott! Lead her back to the cell!" More footsteps, then the speaker went dead. Harry adjusted it, and it crackled back to life. Voldemort was speaking again.

"Ah, the youngest of our ranks! What news do you have, young Draco?" Harry's mouth dropped. "That fool, Albus....still alive and strong?"

"Yes, Master, unfortunately."

"Ahh. Good. Then there is still the chance of torture." Something like laughter erupted from the Death Eaters. Voldemort continued. "And what of young Anna?" Sirius went white.

Draco laughed. "It is done. She struggled a bit, yes, and what with Weasley and Granger to fend off.....but that was easy. She shall be my wife soon."

Voldemort gave a cackle. "So history repeats...so history repeats...." Suddenly, the speaker snapped off, and Sirius was hurriedly stuffing all of their magical spy gear into a knapsack.

"We're going to Hogwarts," he said, his face white and his mouth set in a grim line. "Now. It's only a matter of time before Mary cracks; we have to get her out of there. And we have to protect Annie, too."

Harry nodded, picking up his own bags.

~

"SIRIUS POLARIS BLACK?!?!? YOU'RE ENGAGED TO SIRIUS POLARIS BLACK?!?!"

Annie held her chin up and sneered back. "YES I AM! AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

"STOP IT!!" shrieked Hermione. "Can't we discuss this rationally?"

Snape was really seething now. "MISS Granger, DON'T you think you've butted in enough?"

"No, I don't!" snapped Hermione. "NOW LISTEN! Wouldn't you rather Annie marry Sirius than Draco? It's a perfect solution! It'll break the spell!"

"He's a jerk!" snapped Snape.

"He is not!" shouted Annie.

"STOP! Listen to Hermione." Ron stood up. "She's got a point. Annie and Sirius would be happy, and history wouldn't repeat. It'd break the spell! If history repeats, Annie's going to end up dead."

Snape turned pale. He couldn't lose the only thing he had left.

"Father..." Annelise pleaded. "Father, please. Just give your consent. I don't want to end up like Mother. And I want to be here for Gabrielle. She needs me."

At that moment, Sirius and Harry burst into Snape's office, brooms and duffelbags thrown over their shoulders. Sirius skipped all pretense and threw his arms around Annie.

"Sirius.....thank God you're here...." Annie drew away. "Malfoy -"

"I know," Sirius said shortly. "Severus -"

"I know, Black. A blind man could see now." Snape looked uncomfortable.

Annie turned to Snape. "Father, please. Just consent. Before this spell starts taking effect."

Snape looked from the photograph of his young daughter to the young woman which she had become. Beautiful, had a loving fiancee and good friends. And a horrible father. He'd make it up to her...someday...

"Yes. I give my consent. Let us go to Dumbledore now."

Gregory Goyle, who had been standing outside Snape's office, set off at a fast pace.

~



At midnight, a small group of people assembled in the dim Great Hall. The group included Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Annelise Snape, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown and Severus Snape. Dumbledore held a large book, and cleared his throat.

"I wish I were uniting you under better circumstances, and I wish that I could say more than what time allows me to do. Be this as it is, however, we are gathered here today because of a mutual love that shows no bounds. When two people love each other, they overlook faults and differences, and learn not to care what others think. That is what Annelise Marie Cordelia Snape and Sirius Polaris Black (A/N - Talk about some wacked-up names) have chosen to do. Despite their age differences, they have learned to love one another." He turned to Annie. "Do you have a ring for Sirius?"

"I do." Annie held up a gold band.

"A ring is a symbol of never-ending love. A ring has no beginning, or no end. Please place the ring on Sirius' hand."

Annie did so.

"Sirius, do you have a ring for Annelise?"

"I do." Sirius held up a diamond ring.

"Please place it on Annelise's hand." Sirius did. As he placed the ring on her finger, the silver ring which Draco had placed on glowed, and then disappeared, absorbed into the ring Sirius had given her.

"Does anyone oppose this union?" Annie saw Ron give Snape a furtive look.

"Then by the powers vested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I pronounce you husband and wife. Sirius, you may kiss the bride."

And so they did. Catcalls and whistles erupted, and everyone clapped. The new Mr. and Mrs. Sirius Black grinned.

The door to the Great Hall flung open, and the newlyweds and wedding party looked. It was Draco. He had a half-crazed look on his face.

"Oh no," gasped Harry. "Mary -"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

~



It all happened quickly. The curse aimed for Sirius, a green lightening bolt sending off green sparks everywhere. Annie gasped and pushed Sirius out of the way.

But she didn't get out of the way in time. The curse struck her over her heart, and she fell, crumbling into Sirius' arms. Blood seeped down the front of her snow-white robes, staining them crimson. Her face was lifeless and white.

Draco looked at the horror he caused and immediately fled.

"No...." said Sirius softly. "Not again....I can't bear to lose someone else...."

Snape was thinking the same thing as he made way towards his daughter. "Annelise...please...."

But she was gone. Annelise Black was gone because the power of love had caused her to sacrifice her own life for the one she loved.



~

EPILOGUE
-

*In a cemetery between Godric's Hollow and Hogsmeade*

Gabrielle Cartier wept silently. *Why did Sissy have to go? She was gonna take care of me. She promised.* Cecelia Jensen put a comforting arm around her, the other one on Sirius, who also was weeping openly.

Harry was doing his best to say a few words.

"Annelise Black was born Annelise Marie Cordelia Snape seventeen years ago. Upon her mother's death, she moved here to Hogwarts to be with her father, Severus Snape. At Hogwarts she met Sirius Black and made many friends. After being unwillingly engaged to Draco Malfoy, Annelise and Sirius eloped to break off her engagement to Malfoy. She gave her life for Sirius because she loved him so much." He paused. "Remember Annie. Remember what the power of love can do. It can mend hatred...bring families together.....and save all of our lives."

After the eulogy, the weepy crowd left. All but Sirius. He was looking at the headstone.

ANNELISE M.C. BLACK
1980-1997
Loved all and was loved in return.

The headstone didn't explain the half of it. As he walked away from his love's grave, he didn't notice the double headstone next to it.

JAMES AND LILY POTTER

-

"Lily, I just want to tell him it'll be okay."

"He'll accept with time."

"Yeah, Padfoot'll be fine. He always was after any girl left him."

"What girls?"

"Ah, no girls."

"What girls left him? What girls?"

"None."

"Dangit, James, tell me! We have all eternity for you to explain..."

"The girl has a point, James."

"Mary DiMaggio, you're not helping things!"

"I know. And I love it."



-

THE END




Coming Soon -

Waiting for Magic

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After Annie's death, Harry worries that Sirius will never find the will to go on again. But the healing of Sirius' soul comes from a surprising source - a mysterious new professor named Brennah Marisse. Is Annie really shut out of his life?



Author's Note:

Okay, don't kill me - ANNIE IS FAR FROM GONE!!! She returns in "Waiting for Magic", so don't kill me too. Thank you all for reading this.

Cheers -
Alicia Marie Jennings



~This fanfiction is dedicated to the memory of Nathan H. We're all going to miss you, Ken~