Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter or anything associated in JK Rowling's books. I just write about them. Annabelle is mine, as in Lace. I shall continue to wish that I owned the Marauders, but will remain sad that I do not.

A/N: Thanks to those of you who are still reading! Comments, please! I hope you enjoy.

News from Home

Lace was awoken at three in the morning in the middle of November. Professor McGonagall was standing over her in a dressing gown and a very worried look on her face. "Laceteel, you must come with me. This is very urgent." Lace quickly got out of bed and followed her down the stairs, through the common room, and to the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office. "Chocolate frog. Now hurry, up the stairs." She wasted no time knocking; she pushed the door open and ushered Lace in. Closing the door behind her, McGonagall retreated back down the stairs.

"Lace, dear," Dumbledore turned from his gaze out the window; his usual twinkle gone from his eyes. "We must hurry. There's been an attack. Your parent's home was attacked tonight." He walked to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. "I need to go by the ministry before we go home." He quickly explained to her how to use the floo network and they were off.

Annabelle awoke the next morning, with no sign of Lace. Her bed was a mess and she had not appeared to have gotten dressed before she left. Annabelle quickly changed and ran down to the common room. On Saturdays, they always woke up early and went to breakfast to plan the rest of their day. When she reached the common room, she spotted James and Remus sitting by the fire working on homework. "Have either of you seen Lace?" She asked as she sat next to James. "She wasn't in bed when I woke up."

"No. Maybe she went ahead to breakfast. How about we take a break from this and go see." James said as he stuffed his quill and parchment back in his bag.

"I'm with you on this. Twenty inches was really unnecessary. I can't believe McG got that mad over a tiny little prank." Remus said as they walked to the portrait hole.

"What did you do?" Annabelle asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Gave Snivelly a nice pair of whiskers in class yesterday, but we wouldn't say who it was exactly so she gave all three of us twenty inches on the importance of proper spell work." James sighed as they reached the Great Hall. "But completely worth it."

The group sat down at the table with no sign of Lace. On the table beside them, someone left open a copy of the Daily Prophet. The article staring them back in the face was not pretty.

Death Eaters Spotted in Little Haggletown

After taking the last few weeks to lay low, the followers of the Dark Lord attacked a muggle town in central London. Seventeen muggles were murdered, along with four wizards. No one is yet aware of the reason of the attack or even if there is a reason at all anymore. "This was a completely unforeseen event. We had no idea that the Death Eaters were planning any form of an attack." A ministry insider said. No relation has been formed between the wizards killed and the muggles attacked. Three of the wizards were in fact ministry officials trying to gain control of the situation. (Continued, pg 3)

"Look at this. There's been an attack on muggles." Annabelle picked up the paper to show the boys. "This is horrible."

"I guess they really don't need a reason to attack anymore. My dad was telling mum just before we left for the train station that the ministry was becoming more and more worried about not having any idea what was coming next. No one can read what he is thinking." James said as he opened the Prophet to read the rest of the story.

Remus and Annabelle resumed eating in silence, except for the forks scrapping their plates. Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall swung open loudly and Sirius came running in followed by Peter, who was struggling to keep up. "Did you guys hear?" He said as he sat in the seat by James, panting slightly. "The attack…in Little Haggletown?" He finished taking a sip of Annabelle's untouched Pumpkin Juice.

"Yea." Everyone muttered as James handed him the paper.

"No. It's not in there." He threw the paper down. "I overheard Nearly Headless Nick telling the Bloody Baron and some of the other ghosts. The witch that died – " Sirius quickly said, only to be cut off by Annabelle.

"Dumbledore's daughter." Annabelle gasped as she grabbed the paper off the table.

"How did you know that?" Sirius looked exasperated that she had stolen his thunder.

"Nothing." She said distractedly as she quickly got up and ran out the Great Hall. Before the boys could ask what that was about, Remus jumped up and ran out behind her. Neither slowed down until they reached the portrait hole out of breath.

"I need a password if the two of you expect to get in." The Fat Lady abused as the two stood doubled over gasping for breath.

"Scallabreath." A low voice behind them said. Both turned to see Annabelle standing behind them with tears streaming down her face. "Excuse me." She said as she pushed past them through the hole and up to the girls' dorm. She was still wearing her pajamas and the legs were black with dirt. Not too far behind her, James, Sirius, and Peter were walking toward them. Annabelle quickly followed her in.

"What's that all about?" Sirius asked as they sat by the fireplace.

"Guess we'll have to wait to find out, won't we? We've got to get to the pitch for practice." James stood and looked at Sirius. "Marcel'll kill us if we're late." The two boys ran off to the portrait hole as Remus and Peter pull out their transfiguration essays. Just as they reached the hole, it swung open and in stepped Dumbledore. "'Scuse us, Professor." James said stopping in his tracks. "We were really sorry to hear…" He trailed off as Dumbledore held out his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Shouldn't you two be on your way to practice?" He asked with a half smile, looking out the window.

"Yes, sir." James replied as they walked out the hole.

Dumbledore approached the now vacant chair by the fireplace and sat. Peter nervously pretended to be occupied with his essay, but it quickly became too much for him. He jumped up and ran off to the dormitory. "I see, I still make poor Mr. Pettigrew nervous after all this time." Dumbledore stated to Remus. Then, leaning forward in his seat, "I understand, you are aware of our little secret. Laceteel really appreciates your…hmm…indiscretion, should I say?"

"Its really not my place to talk about it, Professor." Remus told him quickly.

Lace came running down the stairs hugging a book close to her chest. "Here it is, Grandfather." She handed it too him. "Can I go, then?" Tears were still streaming down her face as she looked at him.

"Yes, thank you dear. Did you not want to come back with me?" Dumbledore stood and tucked the book in his robes. "I'll send for you when I return." He slowly walked out the portrait hole and back to his office.

Annabelle stood at the foot of the stairs watching Lace stand looking at the portrait hole. Lace didn't know how long she had stood there, but became aware the common room was beginning to fill with people. She glanced back at Annabelle and said, "I'm going for a walk."

Lace didn't know where she was going, but her feet carried her to the tree by the lake. She sat with her back on the tree, hidden from anyone looking out. She sat outside through lunch with all different emotions running through her. She still had not realized that she would never see her parents again. Part of her blamed herself. Part blamed her grandfather for not protecting them. Deep down, she resented her mother for taking the risk she had taken so many years before against Dumbledore's wishes. If they hadn't lived their lives in such a place. If they had been around other people like them. The tears were streaming down her face with more urgency now. Her breathing hitched and she heard someone walking around the tree. Frantically, she wiped at her face, but never took her gaze from the lake.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Sirius asked standing over her. She shook her head and he sat. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask if you want to talk about it. I always thought that was so fake. Besides, I know you prefer when I talk about myself, and it has been awhile since we talked about my good looks." He grinned and nudged her with his shoulder. She broke out in a wide smile and let out a giggle. "See. It feels better to laugh. Doesn't it?"

"Is it always going to feel like this?" She asked looking into his face as he looked over the lake with the dark clouds rolling in.

"I don't think it ever goes away, but it should get easier. Remus' mum died a few years ago. She'd been sick for a long time. He still has his days, but I think as long as we're there for him and he lets us be there nothing's impossible to get through." Sirius said as thunder rolled in the background. Looking at her, he continued, "We're all here for you, too. It'll be easier to push everyone and everything away, but you can't do that. Your grandfather wanted me to give you this." He pulled a note from the pocket of his robe and stood. "Don't push away the only family you have left, Shoelace." Lace watched him retreat back to the castle as rain slowly began to pour.

She continued to sit there, immune to the rain. As darkness set in, she could no longer ignore her rumbling in her stomach. She hurried into the castle to put on dry robes and get to the Great Hall.

A/N: Please don't forget to comment and let me know how you feel about it. Make suggestions if you have any!

Coming up: It's starting to feel like Christmas.