Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the wonderful world of J.K. Rowling—she just lets me play with her characters. Also as always, anything that does not belong to her belongs to me. Please play nicely with it.
Author's Note: I am so sorry for the delay; school has been murderous this semester. I promise to do better! A special thanks goes out to Liza for her inquiries!!! I'll try to at least get up a chapter per weekend from now on… Summer promises to be better! As for now, we'll see if we can't step up the action a bit.
* * *
Sirius had almost made it to the top of the hill, back to the house where he could bury himself in his room in peace.
It was one thing to let James, Remus, Peter and, yes, even Lily see him this way. Their solemn gazes didn't cause his heart to pang within his chest. But for Ani to see him battered and beaten, her gold eyes horror filled… that was too much to bear.
He stepped onto the porch that hugged the house, desperate for its deep shade and deeper quiet, when suddenly his path was blocked. Ani—How had she made it up to the house so fast? he wondered—stood before him, her eyes like pools of torchlight, the curls of chocolate that cascaded about her face casting feathery shadows over her cheeks.
For a moment he considered brushing past her into the safety of the house, but he didn't have the chance.
"Ani," he began, his voice hoarse, but she reached up and touched a finger to his lips, silencing him without effort. Without a word she slid her arms about his waist, a fluid movement so smooth that he hardly even blinked. Like the day he had first closed his hand around his wand, silver sparks rained down as her skin made contact with his body. There was magic there.
Ani took a step and closed the gap between them and her head, just level with his shoulder, nestled into the hollow at his collarbone, her eyelashes dusting his neck. Against his human will, his arms encircled her, pulling her as close as she could go and still remain in her own body. The porch seemed to rock beneath his feet as Ani held him close. The deep, comfortable warmth of her body broke through the desperate, icy chill that had filled him since he'd left London. This was Heaven. This was home. This was where he was meant to be. He never wanted to leave.
He was about to say so, to open his mouth and speak his heart's wishes. But then, without warning, she spun away—like a dancer—and her face was lit with laughter. "Sirius," she called and she rose up, up, up into the strangely starless sky.
He yeaned for her warmth again and tried to follow, but even as he rose into the ink-stained heavens she stayed just out of his reach, twirling about and about, her eyes the only source of light. Her laughter continued, airy, like a siren's, fading farther and farther away into the abyss. Just a little farther, he urged himself, chasing Ani through the blackness. I can almost touch her hair.
He'd almost, almost, almost enclosed her in his arms, when icy pale hands suddenly claimed her waist.
Rodolphus Lestrange.
Sirius, struck still, strained desperately towards her. He watched, helpless, as Rodolphus turned Ani to face him. He banded one arm tight about her waist and tilted her chin up, capturing her eyes with his own. Rodolphus reached up and twined his fingers through the dragon's tooth necklace that lay over her pulse point. Her name caught somewhere deep in Sirius' throat.
Terror was just dawning on Ani's face as Rodolphus ripped the necklace from her throat, sending her spiraling away into blackness. She didn't even have time to scream.
But Sirius did. He screamed, and screamed, and screamed until he felt his soul would shatter.
Rodolphus turned and suddenly it was no longer the tall, handsome boy that stood before him but a face much more familiar.
Regulus.
"It had to happen sometime, you understand." His brother spoke in a voice that was not his own. It was higher. Colder. "In the end, it will happen to all those you love. Better come to terms with it now. It won't be so much of a surprise in the end."
He'd stopped listening. He'd blocked it out. He'd turned away. All he knew, all he needed, was to reach Ani.
He dove into the starless void. Falling, falling, forever falling. But the farther he fell, the farther his heart sank. She was gone, gone forever, out of his reach… without a kiss, without an embrace, without even a goodbye.
* * *
Three thirty nine.
Ani's sleep had been fitful and sporadic, filled with strange dreams. Something about my necklace, Ani thought. And falling through the sky. And someone calling out to me…
Weary, she propped her head up on one elbow and glanced at the clock. Sure enough, the night had almost ended. Perfect, she groaned inwardly. Who needs sleep?
She glanced around the room with her night-sensitive eyes. Blythe coughed in her sleep and flopped over on the couch-bed. From across the room Ani could see one long, honey-toned leg draped over the edge, out from underneath the blankets. In the bed next to Ani, Lily's ivory face was half obscured by a ripple of red hair that was steadily taking over the pillow. From outside the window, Ani could hear the low call of young owls.
With a grunt and a sigh, she rolled over again. She missed Ghost. Earlier in the evening, she and Rion had borrowed the Reynolds' young brown owl, Caro, to send a letter to their parents and it had taken them ten minutes to get the bird to hold still long enough to tie the money-pouch to her leg. The stupid fickle thing. Ghost would never have been so difficult.
Exhausted and irritable, Ani finally gave up her repeated attempts at slumber and slipped out of her bed. She instinctively grabbed her wand and wound her hair into a knot on the top of her head, shoving the wand through the center. Careful not to wake Lily or Blythe, she wrapped herself in a housecoat and slipped out the door.
A friendly portrait in the upstairs hall of a young, auburn haired wizard with a crooked nose—who seemed somehow familiar, though Ani couldn't place him—told Ani in a low voice that the rose gardens were especially lovely in the moonlight. Her father had always kept a garden in the backyard, and Ani loved roses, so with a wave she set off down the stairs. The sliver of moon riding low in the sky gave little light, so Ani took careful steps as she stepped off the porch and into the grass carpet.
The air was soft and calm and stars twinkled overhead, but Ani couldn't even appreciate the night's beauty. Her mind was somewhere else entirely. Despite all her effort to the contrary, Ani's mind was with Sirius Black.
He'd pulled away from the group and walked back to the house when Ani and Lily had encountered the Marauders' by the pond, but not before Ani had gotten a good, long look at his face. It had haunted her for the rest of the day and, by association, was probably the reason she hadn't been able to sleep. At first she thought he'd gotten into a fight; Sirius had never been known for his even temper, as Lily had pointed out when Ani had voiced her concerns. "But that doesn't make any sense," Ani said aloud, watching a lone bat as it glided past overhead. "James said they'd been together all holiday, and he doesn't have a scratch!"
When the others noticed that Sirius had left, they all followed him up towards the house, and Ani had taken the opportunity to ask James what had happened.
James Potter had never been shy, but when Ani asked him about Sirius, he'd ducked his head and became seemingly engrossed with the blades of grass beneath his feet. He'd muttered something about Sirius falling off a broomstick on the way to London, but when Ani relayed the conversation to Lily, her best friend had frowned. "You don't honestly believe that, do you?" Lily said skeptically. "Sirius can fly better than I can—and if he had fallen, do you honestly think he'd admit it?"
No. He wouldn't have.
As she mused over it, the heady scent of roses caught her attention. The gardens must be just up ahead, Ani thought. She picked up her pace as a low rock wall came into view, a pavilion rising up from the center of the circular garden. Riotous blossoms, still beautiful in the night, spilled over the walls. That portrait was right, she decided, instantly delighted. These flowers are beautiful.
She'd almost reached the garden and was just about to brush through a bush of clinging Compassion roses when a motion among the flowers caught her eye. Ani gasped; someone else was there! She fumbled in her hair for her wand and yanked it out of her bun, her hair falling over her face. Pointing the wand at the intruder, Ani, voice trembling, shouted, "Lumos!"
The light spilled over the other's face, and he squinted at the sudden brightness. "Ani?" he asked.
Relief flooded her body. "Remus," she breathed. Shakily she lowered her wand. "What are you doing here?"
Remus smiled wryly, and lowered his own wand in return. "I might ask you the same thing," he said. He lowered himself onto a stone bench and gestured for Ani to join him. "I was up and got directed here by a rather chatty portrait. What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't at all sleep," Ani told him, tucking one leg under her as she settled down next to him. "Weird nightmares and everything. But I must have run into the same portrait as you."
"I was sleeping just fine, " he told her wryly. "Sirius, on the other hand, kept thrashing and talking in his sleep. Woke me up. James, too, apparently, as he's sleeping in the bathtub now."
"Is he alright? Sirius, I mean."
Her friend shrugged. "Been a bit off since we've gotten to James', actually… I think he got pretty shaken up after that fall off his broom. But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he assured her.
Ani frowned. Remus was sticking with the broom story as well. I know he's lying, she thought, but I'll never be able to prove it.
Diplomatically, Ani changed the subject. "How have you been spending your summer?" Ani asked. She trailed her hand over the blossoms behind the bench, tracing the edges of the petals with her fingertips.
"More of the same," Remus admitted. "Going over books, teaching my little brother some charms. He's little, but he's quick!"
She smiled. "I didn't know you had a brother."
Remus nodded proudly. "Remiel, but we call him Remmy. He's only eight, but I'm trying to get him a head start on some things."
"That's really sweet of you," Ani replied.
Their conversation turned to their families—Remus told Ani more about Remiel and she told him about Lynx and Rion—and Hogwarts and before Ani knew it, the first silver rays of dawn were streaking across the sky. "Wow," she said as she pointed them out to Remus. "It's already morning."
"We should probably head back up to the house," Remus said, standing and stretching, then pulling Ani to her feet. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter are Apparating out to town this morning and I'm willing to bet that she'll check on us before she goes."
She chuckled as they left the stone garden. Remus had yet to let go of her hand, and his warmth was welcome. "She sounds like she's pretty protective," she commented.
The grin Remus gave her was as affectionate as if Mrs. Potter had been his own mother. "She is," he admitted. "But with a son like James, can you blame her?"
"No," Ani laughed. "No I can't."
They trudged up the hill in companionable quiet, hands still clasped. The windows of the house were still dark against the lightening sky, and Ani breathed a sigh of relief. After a night of no sleep, a lecture from Lynx was not something she anticipated.
She was about to make a joke to a similar effect to Remus, but when she glanced up at him, a frown had darkened his features. "What is it?" she asked him.
"There's something in front of the porch," Remus said, pointing.
Sure enough, a huddled shadow lay in the walkway. "Weird," Ani said. "I can't tell what it is."
"Well, let's go look," Remus said.
As they drew closer, Ani's flesh began to creep. The tepid morning air now had a chill in it, and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge. Something was wrong. Dark. She shivered and Remus gave her a sharp look. "Do you feel it too?" he asked.
"Yes," she whispered. "What is it?"
Gripping hands tighter, they slowly approached the shadow in the path. They came within inches of it, and Ani drew in a sudden, horrified gasp.
Caro, the Reynolds' owl, lay with her wings bent and her head lolling. Dark, sticky blood matted her feathers, and the letter tied around her foot—with Ani's handwriting scrawled across it—was shredded.
His face like stone, Remus bent and lifted the lifeless owl from the ground. He turned to face Ani, and his eyes were hard. "She was attacked," he spat, his voice filled with pain for the innocent dead. "And not by an animal. These cuts are too clean."
"You're right," Ani said, her voice hoarse. "But who would do something like this?"
"I don't know," Remus replied. "And I don't want to find out."
* * *
Sirius woke after what seemed ages of unfinished dreams when the sound of rushing feet pounded through the hall.
He sat upright in bed and met James' eyes as he exited the bathroom, a pillow under his arm. "What's going on?" James asked wearily. He threw the pillow back onto the bed where Peter, his mouth lolling open, slept on. "And where's Remus?"
"Don't know," Sirius replied, pushing out of bed. He smoothed the wrinkles out of his silver pyjamas. "I just woke up."
More pounding feet, Sirius and James exchanged looks. "Come on," James ordered, and threw a robe to Sirius. "Let's go see what's going on."
Hastily pulling on their robes and putting on slippers, James and Sirius slipped out of their room, uncertain as to whether the Potters were sleeping or had already left. A light from downstairs illuminated the steps as they padded down them, quiet so as not to draw attention to themselves. The murmuring of voices filled the air and as they reached the bottom of the steps, a tall young man with bright blond curls exited a small drawing room off to the right. One look told Sirius that this was obviously a Hellsing. "You must be the others?" he asked when he saw the two Marauders. "Remus' friends?"
"Is he alright?" James asked, apprehension thick in his voice.
"He's fine," Ani's brother said shortly. "Just a bit shaken up."
Confused now more than ever, Sirius and James crossed to the room where the young man stood and followed him inside.
The sight that greeted him brought a cold pit into Sirius' stomach. Ani, obviously distraught, sat huddled in a chair, a cup of tea forgotten at her side. Her golden eyes were shuttered, haunted, staring unfocused somewhere across the room. Remus and another young man—this one with cascades of hair falling down his back, but the same Hellsing nose—stood over her, their brows knitted with worry, and Sirius' flesh grew cold at the sight of the werewolf's hands. They were spattered with blood.
Is it a full moon? Sirius inwardly panicked, his heart beginning to race. It can't be! What happened? Did Remus attack Ani? A glance at James confirmed that his thoughts were similar. Stunned and heedless to what he did, Sirius strode across the room and knelt before Ani, worried eyes scanning her for claw and bite marks. He reached up and pushed her hair away from her neck, feeling a sliver of relief at the sight of her unmarked flesh. "Ani," he said, his voice shaking. She looked at him, her eyes still blank, and Sirius gently touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
She blinked and seemed to come back to herself. "I'm fine," she said, but as she spoke her hands trembled. Sirius noticed a folded, slashed piece of parchment clenched in her fist. "Really, I am… I just… I can't believe it."
Sirius glanced up at Remus, hoping for an explanation. His friend, who looked ages older than he had the day before, tilted his head to indicate the source of Ani's distress. Mrs. Reynolds, in a pink housedress and her steel colored hair in rollers, held a dead owl in her arms, cradling it like a baby, grief written on her face. Mr. Reynolds knelt before her, inspecting the owl, his face full of harsh lines.
Ani glanced up at Sirius and said, attempting to calm her voice, "Sirius, James, these are my brothers, Rion and Lynx. Lynx, Rion, James and Sirius are in Gryffindor with Remus, Lily and me."
Hands were shaken and Sirius thought it seemed somehow absurd that they were making introductions when Remus still had blood on his hands.
"What were you two doing out in the gardens?" the oldest Hellsing, Lynx, asked Remus and Ani.
"I couldn't sleep, so I went outside," Ani said quietly. She glanced up at Remus. "I saw Remus out in the gardens. We were just talking."
"I left the house at two, and it was almost four by the time Ani got there," Remus explained. "And neither of us saw Caro when we were walking out. But I didn't see or hear anyone else in the yard before we went up there… There was no noise, no broomstick, nothing. I don't understand how it could have happened without us noticing."
"Well, she weren't attacked with a wand," said grey-haired Mr. Reynolds, pushing to his feet. He pressed his wife's arm sorrowfully and, with his own wand, summoned a small, owl-sized box. She stood and gently placed Caro in the box and sat back down, saying nothing. "This were some kind of Muggle weapon."
Ani's eyes narrowed. "But you told Lily that the grounds are Repelled, so Muggles can't get in. And even if they could, who would want to kill an owl?"
Mr. Reynolds nodded grimly. "They are Repelled; we renew 'em every two weeks, just to be safe," he informed Ani. "This were a wizard, sure as I am." He turned to Rion and asked, "About what time did you two send Caro out?"
Rion and Ani exchanged a look. "It was early," Rion said, biting his lip. "Maybe eight or nine last evening, right Ani?"
"Right," Ani said, voice low. "Really early."
"She hasn't been dead that long," Remus spoke up. Everyone in the room turned to look at him as he focused on the box on the table where Caro's body lay. "She was still warm when I picked her up… too warm to have been dead for eight or more hours." He and Ani locked eyes as he said slowly, "That means she was intercepted far away and brought back. Someone wanted you to see this, Ani."
"What all did you say in that letter, Ani?" Lynx asked, putting a hand on his little sister's hair.
For the first time, Ani's eyes began to fill up with tears, and Sirius clenched his fists. "Nothing," she said, a slight tremor to her voice. "We told Mum and Dad that we'd arrived safely, and that some of my friends from school were here. That's all."
The room was silent as one thought weighed heavily on everyone's mind: who would want to stop Ani's letter?
"My guess," Rion finally said, attempting at lightness, "is that this was just some nasty joke. They probably just Banished the owl back to where she came from… that would explain why you didn't hear anyone. No one's fault, especially not yours, Ani."
"Why don't you try to go back and get some sleep," Mrs. Reynolds finally suggested. Her voice was weary. "There's nothing we can do about this now, and in a few hours, I'll have a nice breakfast ready for all of you."
"Good idea, ma'am," Lynx said firmly. He hooked an arm around Ani's shoulders as she stood, Sirius backing out of their way. "Come on up to bed, darling, you're exhausted." He nodded to the lads and the Reynolds and steered his sister out of the room, back up the stairs.
Mrs. Reynolds, seeming more composed, suggested, "Go on back upstairs, my boys. Careful not to wake your parents, aye? There's no reason."
James, who had been unusually quiet, replied, "Sure thing, Mrs. Reynolds." He nudged Sirius and left the room.
His head swimming, and any hope of sleep long gone, Sirius turned and trudged back towards the room. Who would want to scare Ani like that? he asked inwardly, pausing on the first step. And why would they shred a letter of no importance?
Nothing made sense.
Suddenly, a hand landed atop Sirius' own that lay resting on the banister. Surprised, Sirius glanced down and instantly winced. The bloodspots stood out against Remus' tanned fingers like a scream piercing silence.
He turned to look into his friend's face. A sadness that Sirius couldn't place shone out of Remus' eyes. "Sirius," his friend began. "I hope you know that I would never hurt Ani… accidentally or otherwise."
"Remus, I—" Sirius began, but too late. Remus moved past him and wound up the rest of the stairs, lines of weariness and sadness in his back.
* * *
Ani slammed her fork down on her plate and everyone in the room looked up. "It just doesn't make any sense!"
Lily sighed. She'd woken up early to find Ani sitting in an armchair by the wall, staring without seeing out the bright window. Blythe and Lynx had gone to downtown Bath to discuss the finer points of the serving for the convention, since the arena in which the convention was being held didn't have nearly enough house elves to do the job, and so the girls were alone in their room. Mechanically, Ani had told Lily everything, from the garden with Remus to the conversation in the Reynolds' drawing room.
They'd spent the better part of the early morning discussing it, and Lily had thought she'd at least given her friend a little comfort. But Ani had been quiet and withdrawn ever since they'd met Rion and gone down to breakfast, where the Marauders were already seated, grim of face.
She was about to open her mouth to say something when James interrupted. "I think your brother is probably right, Ani," he said, and Lily felt vaguely surprised at the gentleness in his voice. He glanced over at Rion, who sat next on Lily's other side; a flutter rose up in her stomach at the sight of the flecks of green in his hazel eyes, but she pursed her lips and forced it away. "It was probably just someone playing a really terrible joke. You can't beat yourself up about it."
"Can't I?" Ani asked heavily, picking up her fork once more.
"Think about it, James," Remus said. He took a sip from his goblet of pumpkin juice, and Lily was uncannily reminded of their professors wetting their throats before lecture. "Ani and Rion sent that owl out at nine o'clock, at the very latest. We found that bird at five thirty in the morning, just barely dead. How long does it take for a post owl to get from Bath to Salisbury?"
"Probably about that long, maybe an hour or so less," Rion mused. "Especially at night, since they have to hunt."
"Are you saying that someone attacked Caro in Mistford?" Lily asked incredulously.
Remus shrugged. "If not in town then somewhere nearby," he said. He tapped a fork against his goblet, deep in thought. "I could almost tell you exactly when, and probably where, if I gave it a bit more thought." He glanced at Ani and shrugged, helpless. "But I still can't tell you why."
Around a mouthful of bacon, Peter mumbled, "Maybe it's not about you, Ani, maybe it's your parents. It'd make more sense if the owl was killed near your house."
Sirius, who hadn't said anything the entire time, snapped, "I thought we agreed it was just a prank. No one's after Ani or her family. It was just a stupid prank!"
Before she could stop herself, Lily realized she was nodding. "Sirius is right," she said, surprised that the words had come from her own mouth. "It's just a prank. A terrible one, but a prank nonetheless. Some people are just sick, they'll do anything to get a reaction." She turned to Ani and said sternly, "So you need to stop worrying about it."
"You're probably right," Ani muttered, looking back down at her plate. "It's probably nothing."
James and Lily caught eyes across the table. "Do you really think that?" he mouthed, and his eyes were skeptical.
With a shrug, Lily schooled her eyes to her plate. I don't know what to think, she said inwardly, forking a bite of biscuit into her mouth. But Remus is right. The owl must have been just outside of Mistford when she was killed. And that means someone went through the trouble of bringing her back here. Which means someone, for some reason, wanted Ani or the Reynolds to see her.
But Remus' question still remained unanswered.
Why?