Disclaimer: I don't own it. Anything you recognise belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Nine: Tea with the Enemy

The highest sacrifice is a broken and contrite heart; the noblest of all ornaments is modesty; and the most beautiful thing a man can do is to forgive a wrong.

-Eleazer of Worms

Sirius awoke to hear a sharp, urgent rapping on the front door. He gently roused Anna from her sleep.

"Anna, there's someone at the door. I'd get it, but seeing as I'm a wanted criminal and all..."

Anna smiled sleepily at him, pushed herself off the bed and headed towards the door. Sirius quickly changed into Padfoot and followed her silently. As she opened the door a strangled cry reached his ears.

"Anna!"

"Oomph!"

Padfoot watched with some amusement as a very anxious Severus Snape hurtled into Anna and pulled her into a bone-breaking hug and immediately started fussing over her.

"Severus, I can't breathe!"

"Oh, Anna, I was so worried! I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner – "

"Severus," Anna interjected calmly, but to no avail.

"– I was meeting with Crabbe and Goyle when it happened, the Headmaster couldn't reach me for hours – "

"Severus, really – "

"– I panicked so much, what if he had hurt you? I'm never leaving you – "

"Severus!"

"– just wait till I get my hands on the Lucius Malfoy."

"THAT'S IT!" Anna whipped out her wand. "Silencio!" The now mute Snape shot her an indignant glare. "Severus, I am fine. Just a bump on the head that's gone now. I forbid you to touch a hair on Lucius Malfoy's head, we both now what would happen then. Now, can I take this charm off or are you going to keep clucking over me like a mother hen?"

Sirius, now in his human form, snickered at seeing Snape so blatantly told off by this young woman. Snape nodded to Anna.

"Finite Incantatem!"

"Thankyou," Snape said bluntly while Anna chuckled, tucking her wand back into her pocket.

"You should've seen your face when I cast that spell at you. Hah! It was priceless, wasn't it Sirius?"

Snape glowered at Sirius, as if daring him to admit that it was indeed something he would never forget. "Child..."

Anna scoffed. "Old man."

"Demon baby," he shot back.

Anna adopted a face of mock outrage. "Prude. Come on, let's have some tea."

They followed Anna out onto the front porch. "Oh, Sirius! The cake!"

"Calm down, it's okay, I took it out of the oven."

"Oh okay. I'll go get some."

She disappeared into the kitchen. There was a pregnant pause, the hostility in the air palpable. "So..." Sirius ventured. "How're your holidays?"

"Fine," Snape shot back curtly. Anna came back with the cake.

"There you go," she said, setting down plates in front of Sirius and Snape. "I'll go and fetch the tea."

"Listen Snape, we're going to have to work together, whether we like it or not. The least we can do is be civil. If not for Dumbledore's sake then for Anna's."

Quick as a flash, Snape was leaning over the table, his hand grasping Sirius' collar painfully tight, leaning in so close they were almost nose to nose. "Listen, Black, you will stay away from Anna. If you so much as touch a hair on her head I will curse you so badly you won't know what hit you."

Sirius angrily pushed Snape away, rising out of his chair. "She's a grown woman, Snivellus, she can take care of herself."

"That may be the case, but I know what you're like with your women. You screw them for a week and then dump them in the trash can. If you hurt her I swear to God I'll – "

"ENOUGH!" Sirius turned to see Anna standing by the doorway, tears of anger prickling in her eyes. "Would the both of you just grow up? You sit there throwing petty insults at each other like ten year-olds! My God, there are more important things in the world than schoolboy grudges! Get over it! How are we supposed to defeat Voldemort when we can't even be good amongst ourselves?"

Anna turned her glare to Sirius. "Yes, Severus was a Death Eater, but he's not now! He isn't now and it's the now that is important. If you can't accept that then maybe you shouldn't be here."

She turned to Snape. "And you! Sure, Sirius was a prick to you in school, sure, he was popular and made everyone hate you, sure, he played a ridiculously stupid joke on you that could've gotten you killed. THAT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO! My God, do you hold grudges! If you both can't get over this stupidity then you can get out of my house. I can't deal with this now!"

She slumped, defeated, in her chair. The tears were now streaming freely down her face. She bent over, hiding her face in her arms on the table. "What if he had have taken me? What if Sirius hadn't been here? It would've been so easy. I would've been back with Him in a second." It was only now that Sirius realised how deeply Malfoy's attack had shaken her. Snape reached out a hand and rubbed soothing circles on her back while Sirius took a hand in his and squeezed it gently. "What if they find me again?"

Sirius and Snape shared a glance, sobered by Anna's break down. "It's going to be alright Anna," Snape said from across the table. "Dumbledore knows the consequences. We're moving you tomorrow. It'll be alright."

She lifted her head from the table and nodded dejectedly. "Okay. I'm going to go and have a lie down." She padded softly into the house.

Sirius looked over the table at Snape and extended a hand. "Truce?"

Snape looked from the hand to Sirius' face. He extended his hand. "Truce."

A/N: Done! Yay, I love it when I finish chapters. Hope you all like this one. I'll probably get quite a few up today, I'm sick at home (damn weather). Oh my, thankyou sooooo much for all the reviews, they were so overwhelming! This story seriously just popped into my head while I was in a mood for writing, I didn't think anyone would actually like it! So yeah, thanks so much for all the reviews, they were fantastic. At the moment I think this story is going to keep going (hopefully) to the end of the war, Harry's seventh year. I'll reach the hurdle of Sirius dying somehow. Hehe. That'll be a challenge. Anyway, thanks so much for reading. I'll get going on the next one.

The Redheaded Duck: Okay, I'm totally new to , what do you mean about anonymous reviews?