Anastasia stirred at five a.m. the next day as her alarm came on. Ten minutes later she was dragging herself out of bed and into her jeans and shirt to travel in. She placed the Hogwarts information in her bag, locked up her trunk, got Letty (who had returned during the night) in to her cage and bewitched her trunk to get it down stairs.
The trunk landed with a thud at the bottom of other stairs starling her aunt and uncle. They stared at her and shook their heads."Well Anna to the car, well get breakfast somewhere along the line."
"Alright Uncle Brian, I'll put my stuff in the car."
As the sped down the highway Anna pulled out the letters from Professor McGonagall and Hermione.
"She's a Perfect in my house; she's going to be in London two days after we get there and staying there to catch the train. So I was thinking . . . well . . . maybe you guys didn't have to hang around if I would be with people from school." Anastasia asked, purposely avoiding making eye contact.
"Well Anna, you're sixteen now. Its well time we started letting you make decisions for yourself and give you responsibility. As long as we meet Hermione and her parents, or the adult in charge, I see no problem with your proposal." Her Aunt Cecile replied looking at her niece with admiration.
"Thank you, oh thank you thank you so much!" Anastasia nearly shouted. She was beaming. Nothing could ruin this new adventure in her life, no some long lost brother, or an evil wizard. This was going to be the best year of her life! She smiled to her self as she got out of the car at the airport . . . this was a journey she'd been waiting a long time to take.
After she'd gotten herself situated on the airplane Anastasia pulled the Hogwarts information out of her bag. She was fascinated by the castle, grounds, everything about. It was much different from the cold, clean, white building that she used to go to school at. The Village of Hogsmead especially fascinated her; she had never been to a village that was completely magical. Latter she pulled out the supply list and looked at what she would need: robes a new cauldron quills and parchment dress robes school books
Those seemed to be the essentials, all the other stuff she already had
from her years at ASMS. At that moment the flight attendant came around with pillows and blankets and Anastasia gladly took her up on the offer.
"Anna, dear, wake up we're getting ready to land." Her aunt whispered in her ear.
"Mmmm," Anastasia replied lifting her head from the pillow. She stuffed her stuff back into her bag and combed her platinum hair and waited for the landing. It was a rough one, Anastasia was thankful she only had to travel on the ghastly machines once in a blue moon. She stumbled up from her seat and followed her aunt and uncle off of the plane into the very loud terminal. As soon as they found a quiet place and had collected their luggage Brian spoke, "We're taking a cab as far as we can, then its only a short walk and a spell into Diagon Ally. Shall we then?" He asked hailing a cab. The trip to the old dilapidated tavern was uneventful, except for the beginning, where they had to convince the driver to all Letty into the cab also.
They walked to the door of the tavern and her uncle muttered something under his breath and a door opened. They walked in, and in no time had gotten themselves situated in their respective rooms and we're feeling at home.
"Just remember Anastasia, don't mention your last name. It's not relevant right now." Her uncle reminded her as they walked into the ally.
"Well Brian, Anna and I are going to shopping for her school things, why don't you go have a drink and relax?" Cecile suggested.
"Alright then Dear." Brian replied, kissing his wife on the cheek.
"Okay, Anna, lets get going. We have a long day ahead of us."
Hours later the two very tired women walked back into the tavern. Brian held back a laugh. His wife and niece looked like they had defiantly been shopped out, something they swore would never happen.
As Anastasia climbed into bed that night her Aunt came in, wearing a distraught look on her face.
"Is everything okay!?" Anastasia quickly questioned. Hoping her aunts look did not mean that she would have to return to the states.
"Yes dear, but we need to talk. You uncle just receive an urgent owl. We're needed at home very soon. An emergency has come up at work and your uncle and I need to be there. I have spoken to the owner, he assures me that you will be perfectly safe and told me this Hermione of yours will be checking in tomorrow afternoon instead of the next morning. Is this alright with you, us leaving tomorrow morning?"
"I understand completely." Anastasia lied. This was simply another example of her aunt and uncle's understanding of raising children.
"Oh I knew you would dear. I want to give this to you now," Cecile started pulling a gift wrapped box from her purse. "It was something you should have. We will probably not see you tomorrow morning. So I love you dear, as does your uncle. Write if you need us and we'll be back in a flash." She finished engulfing her niece in a hug.
"I love you too, Aunt Cecile, don't worry everything will be fine. Thank you for the gift."
"Your welcome my dear," Cecile said, walking toward the door. "I'm so glad your happy Love. I love you Anna"
"I love you too Cecile." With that her aunt was gone. Anastasia sighed and sat down at the foot of her bed with the package from her aunt. She was astonished to see what was inside. It was a photo book. She flipped through it and her eyes moistened. They were pictures of her and her parents. Tears came to her eyes, even though her parents may have not been the best people they were her parents and she did miss them. As she continued to leaf through the pictures a note fell out.
Anna my dear,
This belongs to you, I was holding on to it until the right time. Obviously that time has come. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Love
Aunt Cecile
P.S. Your brother, Sirius, is not in these pictures. He left home at fifteen before you were born after a fight with you parents. Sorry love.