Disclaimer: Don't own anything. I really can't wait till I get to Harry's 6th year, cos then I can say I own the plot. Sorta...

A/N: ::pops cork of champagne:: 200 reviews!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Christmas is Coming

"Death is the veil which those who live call life; They sleep, and it is lifted."

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

The following weeks crawled by and soon Christmas was looming on the horizon, and Sirius was far from happy about it. Sure, Anna and Remus would be spending Christmas at Grimmauld Place, and while that was a far cry better than pulling a Christmas cracker with a Dementor, Harry, the one person Sirius really wanted to spend Christmas with, had elected to stay with the Weasley's.

"Well, at least you know he's having a proper Christmas and he's not brooding away at Hogwarts," Anna reasoned.

"But he could have had a proper Christmas here!"

"I know, honey," Anna soothed, giving Sirius a warm hug from behind as he gazed desolately at the sheets of snow that had fallen that evening. "Maybe you can write to him; ask him to come by for a bit."

"Yeah, maybe."

Anna leant her chin on Sirius' shoulder. "So what do you want for Christmas?"

"To be free."

She squeezed tighter. "I wish I could give you that."

He chuckled under his breath. "Well, for the moment I think you're enough."

She smiled wryly and moved to stand next to Sirius. "Well aren't you just the sweetheart."

"As always, my dear. So what do you want for Christmas, your two front teeth?"

"No, no. I think someone is already giving me those."

"Oh, ok, well what do you want?"

"Oh my dear Siri," she crooned, wrapping her arms around Sirius and bringing his forehead to hers. "All I want you Christmas is you!"

...&&&...

"So, my dear Moony Lupin, when are you going Christmas shopping?"

Remus took a long sip from his Butterbeer. "Actually, I was thinking of going tomorrow. Did you want me to get some presents for you?"

"Would you?"

Remus gave a crinkly smile. "Of course. We're already getting Harry a joint present; I might as well shop for everyone else while I'm at it. Who am I shopping for?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "Arthur and Molly, Ron, Hermione, Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Dung, Kingsley, Fed and George, Bill and of course... Tonks."

The werewolf didn't even twitch.

"Oh, good job Moony, you're getting better. Been practising by yourself?"

Remus glared. "One more crack, Sirius, and I swear I'll – "

"You'll what Moony, bite me?"

"Put a sock in it."

...&&&...

Late that night, Sirius was taking a midnight stroll down to the kitchens for a drink when he heard the unmistakable, snide voice of Phineas Nigellus drifting down the hall. While Sirius felt a defiant urge to ignore the vile ex-Headmaster, he knew that Phineas was only to be used in dire circumstances and reluctantly made his way towards Harry and Ron's bedroom.

The said ex-Hogwarts Headmaster was in his portrait, leaning lazily against the frame.

"Ah. There you are. I have been asked to inform you that Arthur Weasley has been gravely injured at that his wife, children and Harry Potter will arrive at this godforsaken house shortly."

"What!"

...&&&...

Many hours later, Sirius sat in the lounge room with Anna after having just seen Harry and the Weasley's off to St Mungo's.

"I hope Arthur's okay," Anna said softly as she liberated her hair from the tight braid it was kept in.

"Molly said he's fine," Sirius answered before patting his legs.

She nodded and slowly lay down to rest her head in Sirius's lap. He ran his hands tenderly through her wavy hair.

"Ann, what colour is your hair?"

Anna snorted. "Gee, Sirius, I knew dogs were colour-blind but..."

He laughed. "I am most definitely not colour-blind. It's just sorta... hard to tell what colour it is. It's like... all different colours."

She smiled. "Well, let's just call it brown for the moment, okay?"

Sirius chuckled. "Okay, I think I can handle that."

"How's Harry?"

Sirius sighed. "Not to good. Anna, he – he told me that when they were about to take the Portkey from Hogwarts he thought he was a snake. He said his scar really hurt when he looked at Dumbledore, that he wanted to attack him!"

Anna sat up abruptly. "What did you just say?"

Sirius's brow furrowed. "He told me that he felt like there was a snake inside him. That he wanted to attack Dumbledore."

Anna paled. "We need to tell Albus." She got up from the seat and made towards the door.

"Wait! Anna, wait a moment."

She stopped by the door.

"What's wrong? What does it mean?" Sirius questioned desperately.

"You know what Legilimency is, Sirius?"

He thought for a moment. "Yeah, it's like mind reading, right?"

She gave an exasperated sigh. "The mind isn't a book to be read, Sirius, it's a lot more complicated that that. But yes, that is the main gist of it."

"So what are you saying? Voldemort is reading Harry's mind?"

Anna closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "Something like that, yes, perhaps through his scar. We really need to tell Albus about this."

"But how? I mean, how could he be reading Harry's mind when he's in Hogwarts?"

"I don't know, Sirius. Eye contact is essential in Legilimency and time and space matter... I don't know Sirius, Hogwarts is heavily protected..." she trailed off. "But we need to tell Albus. Now."

...&&&...

The next day Sirius sat beside Anna in a conference with Professor Dumbledore and, much to Sirius's chagrin, Severus Snape.

"So if Harry really does have this connection with Voldemort," Sirius mused, "what can we do about it?"

"Well," Dumbledore began, "when Voldemort discovers this link, and no doubt he has after the other night, he will try to abuse it with Legilimency. I'm afraid the only way to stop this is for Harry to learn Occlumency. Severus, you would be able to teach him?"

Sirius jumped up in his seat. "What?" he cried in indignation "Him teach Harry Occlumency? Is there anyone else? Why can't you do it, Professor?"

"Because," Anna spoke quietly, "if Voldemort really is in Harry's mind, then Albus being in any close proximity to Harry could make the connection even more pronounced. That last thing we want is to give Voldemort a reason to possess Harry." Anna bit her lip. "Albus... I could do it. I could teach Harry."

Sirius, if it were possible, sat up even straighter in his chair. "You're an Occlumens?"

Anna nodded mutely.

"Yes," Dumbledore commented, "Anna is both a skilled Occlumens and Legilimens. She is quite... adept at it. Perhaps even more so than her father."

Anna's eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't call that thing my father, Albus," she snarled. "He's no more my father than you are a Death Eater."

Dumbledore raised his hands in surrender. "Apologies, my dear. I was merely telling Sirius what a brilliant Occlumens and Legilimens you are."

She shrugged noncommittally. "Comes with the whole Empath thing."

Dumbledore chuckled. "No need to be modest, Anna darling. I remember being most amused when Severus came to me, claiming that you had surpassed even his skills. I recall him being quite flustered."

Anna chose to ignore this. "But I could teach Harry, Albus. Merlin knows he'll be extremely uncomfortable having Severus enter his mind. We all know how fantastically they get along."

Severus, Sirius realised, had remained quite silent throughout the discussion, whish baffled Sirius as he presumed Snape would be even more adamant about not teaching Harry than Sirius was.

He drew his attention back to Dumbledore, who was now nodding in agreement. "I won't deny that the thought had entered my mind. But it is too dangerous for you to tutor Harry. Perhaps even more dangerous than if I taught Harry. You would have to be moved to Hogwarts, which is risky in itself, and then, what do you think Voldemort would do if he discovered his daughter, and the one thing he wants most, perhaps even more than Harry Potter, was teaching the boy Occlumency? Sorry, Anna, it's just too dangerous. Besides, your residence at the school would raise suspicious question from Dolores Umbridge that I do not believe I could quench. It is only a matter of time before Fudge moves to place Umbridge as Headmistress."

The old wizard gazed sombrely around the room. "So I'm afraid Severus teaching Harry is the only option."

A/N: Just a quickie this time; I was asked about Sirius's age and I just wanted to clarify that in this chappie. Before I started writing this I went through the arduous task of creating a timeline for myself (this is of course before I discovered the wonderful timelines at the Harry Potter Lexicon). So I made Ann 26 and Siri 38. I've now discovered that he was 36. Sorry about that, wasn't intentional. But now it would just be waaaaay to confusing and hard to change. God am I lazy.