Chapter 7: Anna

Lily and Artemys were slowly carrying the young girl up the stairs and into the hospital wing. They found that James and Sirius were already there, standing next to Remus's limp body. James walked over to the door and took the young girl to a hospital bed in the far right corner. Sirius, Artemys, and Lily were standing over Remus, while James went to notify Madam Pomfrey of the new arrival.

"So," said Sirius quietly, "do you think they'll be o.k?"

"Maybe," said Artemys, "because that girl didn't get hurt or anything. But why did Remus try to hurt her?"

"Yeah...why? I know Remus, and he'd never hurt anyone. What's up?" said Lily. Sirius gave them an uneasy look. Lily grew impatient. "Spill it, Black!"

"O.k, o.k. But you have to swear not to tell anyone!" Lily and Artemys nodded. Sirius took a deep breath and spoke.

"That girl is one of his ex's. Or, as far as I know, one of his ex's. Her name is Anna. She used to go here. Also, he turns into a blood thirsty werewolf once a month. Me, James, and Peter are illegal Animagi. My favorite color is pink. James's is green and red. Remus's is blue. Peter's is yellow. I am a Virgo. Also, when I was three-"

"Sirius, we didn't need your life story. We need to know why he attacked Anna." said Artemys angrily.

"Chill, Myssi. I need to tell the whole story. Anyway, so we learned that Remus was a werewolf in our third year. He didn't tell anyone because he was afraid of what others might think. Anna found out on her own. She saw Madam Pomfrey sneak him off to the Shreiking Shack. She confronted him on it and he denied it, of course. but then she told him that she didn't care what others thought and she would love him forever, no matter what. She had such a fierce dedication to him that she told Dumbledore she wanted to enroll. He said,"The more the merrier," and he gave her the forms. Mr. and Mrs. Beante caught wind of it and came to Hogwarts to take their daughter home. She refused to leave, and she actually held on to Remus so they wouldn't take her. Somehow, they pried her off and took her home. And, she made a big scene. People teased him about it for days, but he didn't care. He cried himself to sleep, and I think he still does. I felt so bad for him that it wasn't even funny. Anyway, that's what happened. Satisfied?"

"Not really, Sirius. All that stuff was interesting and all, but you still didn't answer my question. Why did he attack Anna?" said Artemys. Sirius rolled his eyes and spoke.

"Love, do you know anything about werewolves? They attack humans. When a werewolf transforms, it looses all sense of who he is. Remus would've atacked me or James too if we got in his way."

The girls sat in shock. By the end of the story, Lily was in tears and Artemys had a look of disbelief on her face. Poor Remus, thought Lily. Sirius looked at both of them, and as he did, he heard Anna stirring.

"Well, Muzzer, I must tell you zat I will be leaving France forever. I love 'im and zere is nothing zat you can do about eet! Goodbye!" Anna sat bolt upright in her bed and shook her long blonde hair out of her eyes. She looked around and said, "Where am I? What is zis place? Oh, wait. I've seen zis room before.. zis is 'Ogwarts!" She turned her head and saw Sirius and the others standing over Remus's body. Anna leapt out of bed and ran towards them.

As soon as she arrived, she scooped Remus up in her arms and cried, "Zis is all my fault! All my fault! I should 'ave known better zan to see him on ze day of ze full moon! Eet's all my fault!" Anna sobbed harder than ever with Remus in her arms.

" 'E might be dead and eet will be all my fault! 'Ow can I face 'is muzzer knowing zat it is my fault?" Sirius patted her shoulder and tried to console her. Just then, James returned with Professor Dumbledore. He looked from Remus to Sirius to a sobbing Anna to Lily.

"What has happened here, Miss Evans?" asked Dumbledore.

"Ummm, we found this girl on Hogwarts grounds and Remus laying outside of the Whomping Willow. They were unconsious." said Lily quickly. Dumbledore eyed her suspiciously and said, "Well, I'll study this matter further. I'll need to see Mr. Lupin and Miss-?"

"Beante," Anna said quietly, "Anna Beante."

"I'll see you and Mr. Lupin in my office tomorrow. 10 am sharp. Good evening to you all." And with that, Dumbledore departed, leaving the others alone with Anna and Remus.

"So, did Poppy tell you what was wrong with Remus?" asked James. They shook their heads. James decided to stare at the floor. He couldn't believe that Anna came when she knew that tonight was the full moon. He thought to himself for a minute, and just as he was about to speak, Professor McGonagall ran in, looking terribly out of breath.

McGonagall's hair was falling out of it's neatly done knot and she was grasping her chest. Everyone in the room turned to stare. She looked up and spoke.

"Mr. Potter, I must speak with you." James looked at her in surprise and moved towards her. Sirius began to follow.

"Privately, Mr. Black." said McGonagall. Sirius grinned and said, "That's never stopped me before. Oh come on! I thought you loved me!" Sirius began to fake cry asMcGonagall gave a rare smile and spoke once more.

"That'll do, Mr. Black, that'll do." Sirius pouted and walked back to Remus. James looked at her and spoke.

"Look, I know for a fact that Sirius clogged up all the toilets in the girl's bathroom-not me." McGonagall shook her head and said, "Mr. Potter, stop. I know full well that Mr. Black is responsible. I just wanted to tell you that, well, since your father has passed on, you inherit his membership for the Order of the Phoenix."

James froze in shock. The Order? Him? What was he going to do? How was he going to tell his friends? Or, more importantly, how was he supposed to tell Lily...

"Also, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office. I will inform your friends on your whereabouts. Good day." Professor McGonagall took off down the hallway towards the teachers lounge, and soon James took off for Dumbledore.

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he didn't know why...

A/N- The author has been grounded. I'm not even supposed to be on right now, but whatever. Happy Holidays and plz review.