Author's Note: For readers of "In The World Around Us" there will be a chapter soon, but I wanted to post this. I hope some of you will give my other writing a try. Thanks to anyone who does read and review. MNF

This is the beginning of the sequel to "Retrain". In that story we meet Anwen Hodgson, who we soon learn is actually Anwen Parker of the thought lost Noble and Most Ancient House of Parker, which dated back to the rule of Edward IV. Fee and Monty adopt her when her magic is too strong for her to live with her Muggle parents and she grows up as James Potter's 'younger sister', their birthdays only 3 weeks apart.

She and Sirius were Hogwarts sweethearts and he's a different person because she's in his life. The four Marauders are the same, and the main girls are Anwen, Lily and Eva Waterwing, a part-siren who was in Ravenclaw at school. She is an on-again-off-again girlfriend for Remus. When the first story ended, there was a join Wedding Breakfast for Anwen and Sirius and James and Lily. We are now a year later.

The Blacks are headed by Arcturus, but after his wife, Melania, is killed he withdraws from everything. Orion and Pollux have attacked Walburga and she's now withdrawn from all reality. She lives with Arcturus, Dorea and Charlus and Fee had gone over to take care of her friend.

The young adults are struggling with burgeoning careers and being in the Order of the Phoenix and are not blindly loyal to Dumbledore, as Monty wasn't. They are far more likely to raise questions and stand up for what they believe.

Chapter 1:

Not A Day for Guests

30 August 1979

Sirius saw her as he crested the hill. He'd had no doubt where she was today and if it wasn't that HE was insisting he speak with her, Sirius wouldn't have disturbed her. It was a difficult day for them all, but somehow Anwen was taking it the hardest. Sirius sat on the ground and wrapped himself around his wife, his arms across her midriff and shoulders, his legs overlapping hers. He wished he could take some of her pain into himself, so she'd suffer less.

"How are you faring, luv?" he asked, already knowing the answer but was interested in hearing her attempt to fib to him.

"Fine, I suppose. I just can't believe it's a year, you know?" she said, not sounding at all fine. A tear dropped onto his forearm, and he didn't even have the wherewithal to call her out.

"It's hard to believe it's been that long, and then it also only feels like a day or two since I saw them," he answered. The death of Fleamont and Euphemia Potter had been sudden and quick and had caught the younger generation off guard. They had been buried in the family plot next to the forest, but James and Anwen always came to the pondside when they wanted to commune with their parents.

Euphemia had caught the Dragon Pox virus from young Robbie Macmillan at the wedding reception and had quickly given it to Fleamont. The young adults had all been inoculated, so none were sick, but given how old James and Anwen's parents were, their vaccines had worn off and they succumbed quickly. One day they were celebrating the weddings of both their children, two weeks later their children were burying them.

"I just can't believe I'll never speak with them again," Anwen whispered. "They'll never celebrate our anniversaries with us, never meet their grandchildren –"

"Anwen, are you up the duff?" Sirius crudely asked. She snorted her laughter at his asking her the way he did.

"No, dear, the potion Lily makes for the three of us every month is working just fine." She patted his arm in mock comfort. While they wanted children, they didn't want children at nineteen. Lily was brewing the contraceptive potion for herself, Anwen, and Eva in Monty's old potions lab. She was continuing to work on her mastery with memories Monty had given her and with Professor Slughorn helping critique her more difficult brews. She believed she'd be ready to take her International Standard examination in another six months. She also was working in development of new potions for the Potters newly expanded potions business. Most of her work had been done in antidotes, healing potions and ones that could be used in defence, such as the newest creation that created a noxious green gas.

Eva and Anwen had completed their training to be Healers, although Eva was still working on her Mental Healers coursework. Anwen continued to work on the paediatric ward while Eva went where there was need within St Mungos. Remus was thriving at Uni, studying history. He was generally immersed in several books at once and finding the Potter library a boon for his studies. The couple had moved out of their family bungalows and into the main house with the others when Fee and Monty had died. Eva's mother still lived on the property and dined with them nightly but enjoyed having her quiet most of the time. There were times Anwen and Lily joked it was like being back in Gryffindor tower.

James and Sirius had both completed their DMLE training and were now among the ranks of those on the front lines of the war with Voldemort and Death Eaters. James was snatched up as an Auror – his analytical mind was in demand within the department - while Sirius was a Hit Wizard, his speed and unpredictability in the types of spells he used kept perpetrators on their toes. The two were often paired on missions, however, as they sensed each other's movement and magic. Alastor Moody had trained them both and along with Frank and Alice Longbottom, the four were responsible for many of the arrests made in the last six months.

"Win, luv, I don't want to upset you, but Dumbledore is here to see you," Sirius said softly.

"Can't you make an excuse for me?"

"Sweetheart, he said it's urgent."

"Fine, but don't leave me."

"Never going to happen," Sirius said as he untangled himself, stood and offered his wife a hand up. He couldn't help noticing how different she looked in only a year. The roundness had left her face, and she looked far different from the girl he had fallen for. Anwen had always been slight, but she was thinner now too. Worst though, the sparkle from her green-yellow eyes was diminished. She'd seen too much at her job, and he knew some of the choices she was forced to make weighed on her.

They made their way back to the house slowly. He could have Disapparated with her, or summoned their brooms from the shed, but Sirius realized Anwen needed time to put her mask up. Things had been tensed between all the friends and Albus since they'd begun questioning why some people within his Order of the Phoenix knew a few things, other had different bits of information, but no one knew the whole story save him. It had bothered Monty before his death and now it annoyed the remainder of the Potter family immensely. His relationship had soured with Anwen to the greatest degree.

The pair entered through the rear glass doors, walked through the dining room to the front parlour and saw Albus sitting across from James and Lily with Remus lounging against the fireplace. Eva was working today. Quietly, Anwen called for their young elf, Peng, to come and requested tea. When the elf popped back a moment later, Lily began preparing everyone's cup. Anwen and Sirius sat on the loveseat nearest the fireplace.

"Albus, if you've come to pay your respects, I thank you, but I am in no condition to play hostess today," Anwen said softly although her words could not be mistaken as anything but a polite 'please leave'.

"I do appreciate the gravity of the day," he said in response, "but I must speak to you regarding what happened while you were in A and E at St Mungos yesterday." James and Sirius both made noises of disgust while Anwen put her left hand on her forehead. Remus moved to stand behind her, a comforting hand on her shoulder while Sirius took her hand. "I am concerned by your actions."

"Which actions would those be? My treatment of a twelve-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted by a Death Eater or my treatment of her six-year-old sister who had been put under the Cruciatus Curse?"

"Anwen, you know that isn't what I'm concerned about," Albus so politely replied.

"Well, I sure as hell am!" Anwen bit back. "Those girls' lives were upended because some sick bastards thought they were nothing because they're not purebloods. Children are never to be adults' playthings!"

"Anwen, you removed a man's arm yesterday," Albus said more firmly.

"Correction, I Banished the wand arm of one of the men who attacked the two girls I was trying to physically heal. I have no doubt that had I not taken the actions I did, both the girls and I would have been dead. Now he's going to stand trial and the older of the girls will be a witness against him, able to detail his depravity." Anwen sounded bitter as she spoke, and it took only Albus by surprise. There had been six attacks on the hospital this year, and other Healers had been taken by Death Eaters and then found days or weeks later discarded in the countryside. Working in the A and E was of a particular danger.

Anwen had come home from work the previous day and broken down into sobs in her brother's arms, as Sirius was testifying at a trial of a minor dealer in 'dark spell detection' items. Lily plied Anwen with a Calming Draught so she could finally tell them what had happened. When her story was finished, Lily took her to run a bath and then give her a Dreamless Sleep. James had been tasked with telling Sirius. He wanted her to quit working, but he knew she never would. Anwen saw her work as the part she could play in fighting back against Voldemort.

"Anwen, you must control the amount of magic you use behind your spells," Albus admonished her. "I see you're not using your bracelets –"

"Those were created for me when I was a child and could not measure out my magic. I am an adult and I know exactly how much magic to use in a spell. If I didn't my patients would bleed out before I could heal them. As for the spell I used, it would have been easy enough to just kill him, but I wanted Elias Jugson to pay for his crimes. Cantankerous Nott was with him, but he'd disappeared again. If I'd had time, I would have incapacitated that man as well."

"You're using deadly force, Anwen."

"No, I am not! I am using reasonable force against someone who would not hesitate to kill my patient. They are children, Albus, one of them a student at your school. Of course, she won't be taking the train in a few days, she'll still be in hospital." Anwen glared at him, and it was Albus who looked away first.

"I simply feel that I must speak to you, not that your parents are gone," he said defiantly.

"Then you have spoken to me. My parents would be proud of the actions I took on behalf of those little girls. Thank you for coming, now if you'll excuse me, today has been difficult for me and I have a headache." Anwen rose and left the room, their tea untouched. Albus watched where she had been for a long moment.

"Perhaps you can reign her in, James, or speak with Sirius about how easily she resorts to more lethal spells or –"

"Albus, my sister is a damn powerful witch and I wish she was fighting by my side. Every spell she casts, she does so with the knowledge of what can go right and go wrong. Lives hang on her ability to cast spells correctly. Personally, I'm impressed she didn't kill that creep and I will not make her feel any worse than she's already feeling. Now, may I show you to the door?"

"Fine, fine," he said, putting down his untouched tea on the side table. "Will you all be at the meeting tomorrow night? It will be the last time we can meet at Hogwarts, and I'm not sure where we will meet in the future –"

"I told you we can use the barn on the far side of the property. I've adjusted the wards, and no one lives close to there. The property isn't being worked right now, so there isn't a risk to any civilians. It will suit our needs just fine."

"Thank you, James." Albus said as they reached the door.

"Don't thank me, it was Anwen's idea. We will see you tomorrow night." James opened it, walked Albus out to the gate, and then watched the headmaster slip through the wards and disappear.

Inside Anwen and Sirius were lying down on their bed in their suite of rooms. They were on the third floor, at the opposite side of the manor house from James and Lily and a floor above. Remus and Eva were on the fourth floor, in what was supposed to be James and Lily's apartment, if their parents had lived. Instead, James was in the Head of House rooms.

"I'm sorry he bothered you," Sirius said gently as he held his wife and ran his fingers through her hair. It had always settled her, even when she was a girl.

"Sirius, he always bothers me. He has us in this round robin of catching Death Eaters and then giving them another chance, which is proven to be a bad idea when they commit another crime. Then they finally disappear from the public eye, and we can't find them. No one in the family has seen Bellatrix in at least six months, but her handiwork is found nearly weekly. We have an entire floor of patients who have been under the Cruciatus too long and there is nothing we can do for them. I have no doubt it's Bella's handiwork; she's always loved that spell. Remember that fox?"

"How can I not," Sirius answered. "I think she was twelve when she caught it and put it under the curse. The howling the poor creature made before Andi broke its neck was something you don't forget."

"I also remember how casting that spell affected Andi," Anwen said with deep sadness. "I don't like hurting people, like I did with Jugson yesterday, but I wouldn't not let those girls be hurt further."

A knock was heard at the door and Sirius called for whomever it was to enter.

"He's gone," James said, knowing they'd all know who 'he' was. "We're having an Order meeting tomorrow night, last one up at the school. Then we'll be in the south barn."

"Make sure that you two and Alastor have done all the spell work you've planned. I don't want anyone being tracked to the land, even if it's on the far side of the property. The last thing we need is anyone in the forests the night of the full moon," Anwen said strictly. Her brother and husband knew how tense she was, and the Order was not her favourite use of time.

"We know, Win," James said. "When is the full moon?"

"September sixth," Anwen said. "If someone follows and then spends the time in the forest … you know he'll never forgive himself."

"Anwen, we know," Sirius said softly. "You don't have to protect all of us."

"Don't I? I fell like protecting people is what my life has become since Dad died. He was so good at it. Has anyone seen Peter in the last few weeks? He wasn't at work when I was in the Ministry a few days ago. He's at the Pet Registry Office, the lamest office in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures Department. They're only open eight to four, so …"

"He'd been bit by a snake and was at hospital getting an anti-venom. This is why you're supposed to take your pets in cages, not just in little hands," James said in a mocking mimic of McGonagall. "He's okay, but he needed to take a few days off while the bite healed completely."

"No, Peter is never okay," Sirius said. "He's a ball of anxiety and misfiring spells."

"Sirius, be nice," James retorted.

"James, would you have been friends with him if he hadn't been in our room? Look Pete is a nice guy, kind of, but he stares at our wives like they're meat and he's starving. It's weird and it makes me uncomfortable. I'm the only one allowed to stare at Anwen."

"It's always only been you," Anwen said softly. "James, Peter is odd and you're too kind."

"Yeah, yeah," James said, sitting down hard on the edge of the bed, making Anwen bounce a bit. "But he is our friend. I was thinking about asking him to move in."

"Please, no," Anwen pleaded. "He's…James you know how I feel about him. Put him in Remus's old cottage if you want, but please don't move him into the house." James looked at his sister and nodded. Lily had the same response when he'd suggested it to her.

"Fine, I'll find him a cottage near the main house, but not the Lupin's place. Remus likes that his father's things are inside and it's quiet," James relented. Lyall Lupin had been killed by the parapet falling on him when Bellatrix blew it up on an attack on the Potter compound. Like everyone else, save James, Fee and Monty just added him to their family. For the hundredth time that day, Anwen wished their parents were still with them.