Chapter 11 – Nightmares Ignite a First Love

The first Quidditch match was drawing closer and closer and Anna was getting more and more nervous. This would be her first game ever. Why did her first game have to be in front of her father? The night before the match she sat in the common room her father had given her the night off. She, Lupin, Sirius, James, Remus, Kayle and Nicky were sitting near the fire not speaking. Everyone jumped when Remus suddenly stood up and told them all to go to bed.

Anna went up to her room and got changed got into bed laid there for a very long time long after Nicky and Alison had gone to sleep she lay there awake. Worrying, how was she going to do? Would Harry think she was any good? She was desperate to make him proud. She was dreading letting the Slytherin seeker catch the snitch before her, what would her friends think? Would they hate her if she didn't catch it? She didn't want to lose her new and only friends. It was at least 2:30am when she fell into an uneasy sleep. Anna was walking beside a woman with long blond curly hair and chocolate brown eyes, who was holding her hand and smiling at her.

"What do want for dinner?" the woman asked.

"I dunno what does dad want?" Anna asked.

"He wants you to choose for once," said the woman grinning at Anna. "Why don't you go and look down that isle and chose something for dinner and I'll meet you there in five minutes."

"Ok mum," Anna said walking off. Katie smiled watching the back of her 10 year old daughters curly head bounce off down the isle, Katie turned back to picking out milk and butter. After a few minutes Anna came back clutching spaghetti and a jar of cheese sauce, her mother wasn't where she was supposed to be. She started looking down the isles to find her. Anna saw an empty cart by the butter and saw it was theirs but her mother was no where to be seen. She put the spaghetti down and went out of the store into the bright sunlight of Milan's Italian sky. She didn't know where she was going but it seemed like she wasn't in control but it felt like the right way. She turned down a side alley and peered in the window of a dark unused building. What she saw made her gasp. Her mother was tied to a chair with a middle aged woman with dark cold eyes, walking around her. Anna could just make out what they were saying.

"When I saw you in there I knew you were the one people said Harry was to have rumored to have married. No one knew for sure because no one has seen either of you, ever." Her mother didn't say anything just glared at the woman. "So what's your name?" Still nothing. "Fine I have ways of getting things out of people… Crucio!" Katie screamed in pain. Anna screamed, the woman didn't hear her over Katie's screaming.

"Ready to talk yet?" Katie still said nothing. "Ah maybe a little more pain then."


After what seemed like an age, Anna still stood unable to move watching this horrible woman torture her mother relentlessly, without getting bored of the screaming. Part of Anna wanted to break down the door and hurt that woman just as she was hurting her mother, the other part wanted to run and not stop or look back. "I am getting tired of this, I guess there is no reason for me to keep you around if you won't tell me your name or where Harry is, you see he knows where my master is and I want to find my master," as she said this a mad glint came into her eyes. Katie spoke for the first time, something about her voice brought Anna back to her senses.

"I won't tell you anything, tell Harry I'm sorry, that I love him," she said more to herself than the woman. Anna knew she was talking to her, Anna felt her mother knew she was there. Anna was about to turn around and run when she saw the fatal raise of the woman's wand.

"Avada Kedavra," the woman said before Anna could turn around, she saw her mother's body fall limp. Anna ran as she had never run before crying, gasping for breath, screaming.

She woke up shaking tears coming down her face. She looked over at the alarm clock it was 6:30am, she knew she would never get back to sleep so she got up and went down to the common room. She sat in the armchair closet to the fire, this was the first time since the summer she had had that dream. She realized with a jolt how close she had come to being found out. If it hadn't been for her mother's love and self sacrifice to her and Harry they would have been found and killed and the world would have been plunged into darkness. Anna shuddered at the thought. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end… she wasn't alone. "What are you doing up at this time," a voice from behind her said making her jump and pull out her wand. "Hey, hey, don't point that thing at me I'm not going to hurt you," said Lupin holding up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry," Anna muttered putting her wand back inside her robes.

"So what are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Anna said she wasn't going to tell him the real reason she was up.

"I couldn't sleep, I never do before games," he said. He was telling her about his insecurities he must be comfortable around her, she thought.

"Well if you fly as well as you do in practice in games then we have nothing to worry about," Anna said encouragingly.

"Yeah I hope so." He said vaguely. "So why are you up so early?" He asked, there was something in his voice that sounded like concern. Anna was about to say she was nervous about the match as well but she couldn't.

"I was having a nightmare about my mum… when she died," don't say that, she thought. She didn't know why but she didn't feel she could lie to Lupin anymore.

"Oh… well that makes my dream about being eaten by broomstick seem rather trivial, doesn't it," Lupin said trying to make light of the situation.

"Just a bit."

"How long ago did your mum… you know… go?"

"5 years, we were living in Milan. I can never go back there." Stop talking.

"I'm sorry, I know if my mum or dad died probably wouldn't be sitting here 5 years later talking about it."

"Yeah well my parents lived kind of dangerous lives, well my dad does now anyway," she said. Please stop talking. She didn't know why she was telling Lupin this it just felt right like she could trust him.

"Really, what did they do?" Lupin asked, Anna knew she couldn't answer that and she had expected him to ask.

"I don't know what they did it was secret," Anna said. She knew this answer would avoid awkward questions. She finally got control over what she was saying. Lupin sat and looked at her as if trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. After a few minutes he seemed to have come to the conclusion she wasn't lying and decided they should go down for breakfast as it was 7:30am already.

As they were eating (or pushing the food around her plate in Anna's case) and talking keeping there minds anywhere but on the game the rest of the team came and sat around them.
Soon they were walking out to the pitch examining the conditions, and getting changed into their Quidditch robes.

Harry woke up the morning of the Quidditch match, he felt he was going to be playing again
he was so nervous and excited. He got up and went down to breakfast; he sat next to Ron who was going to be refereeing the match.

"How do you think the new seeker is going to do?" He asked Harry as Harry sat down.

"I reckon she will do brilliantly," Harry said with such conviction that Ron stared at him.

"Good morning," a voice said next to Harry said.

"Morning Ginny," Ron said.

"Morning," Harry said not looking at her.

"Harry how do you think the new seeker is going to do?" Ginny asked.

"We were just discussing that, Harry says she's going to be brilliant," Ron said before Harry could even open his mouth.

"Really, why do you think that?" Ginny asked. Harry looked over at her his eye caught a glimpse of her engagement ring and answered.

"I just have a feeling she will," he said shortly. He looked up at Anna and saw her sitting with the team listening intently to something Remus was saying. He noticed she wasn't eating anything either.

When it was time for the match to start Harry walked out with Hermione, Ginny, Sean and Neville and took seats in the stands. They watched as the teams came out and took off to Ron's whistle. Ron, Harry had recently found out had played for his favorite team the Chudley Cannons for a while then became and Auror before coming back to Hogwarts to be with Hermione. He was immediately hired by Dumbledore when Madam Hooch retired.

The two teams, Gryffindor and Slytherin took flight and flew around as Ron released the 4 balls.

Anna soared up into the air feeling a little better, her nerves leaving slightly and circled the pitch, looking for a glint of gold. She saw the other balls flying around and the team fall into the plays they had been practicing. She could feel the Slytherin seeker following her, as she turned he blocked her off. She tried to turn the other way and he blocked her again. He grinned evilly at her.

Then she saw it over his shoulder on the other side of the pitch. She faked right and dived and speed off toward the other end of the pitch. Her eye fixed on the snitch, she took her hand off her broom and felt her finger tips close over the snitch. Before the Slytherin player realized she had dived she had won the game for Gryffindor. No one realized what happened it had happened so fast. Anna slowed and stopped in the air holding the struggling snitch in her hand. Suddenly 6 bodies collided with her.

"We won," shouted Nicky and Kayle.

"That was amazing, it must be a record," cheered James and Sirius.

"I can't believe it you are amazing," Remus and Lupin roared.

Anna couldn't believe she had won the game for them, the game had been going for one minute and 30 seconds before she caught it. She amazed herself. As she looked up to the stands she saw her fathers shocked face, turn then to glee and she saw him hug everyone next to him.

"I knew she could do it," Harry was shouting. He hugged Hermione, Ginny, Neville then Sean the latter two looked quite scared when he hugged them. "I told you, ha, ha, I told you."