Chapter 20 – Friends Balance the Threat of Reality

Anna went down to breakfast with Lily and Nicky on the morning of the first day of the Christmas holidays. They were both going home but had finished packing unlike the boys so they had accompanied Anna to breakfast.

"I can't believe they left it so long to pack, I mean did they think it would just fly in when they told it to?" Lily exclaimed. She had been ready for the last two days. Anna was going to be on her own again during Christmas, her father was going to Sirius Blacks house. Lily, Jason, Lupin, Remus, Sirius and James were going home as well. The only people staying in Gryffindor were two second year girls and a fourth year boy. Anna ate breakfast and went to the entrance hall to say goodbye to everyone. She had just said goodbye to Sirius and James when she realized she hadn't seen Lupin or Remus. She couldn't see them outside either. They wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye would they? Anna walked back to the common room depressed. She finally had friends and she wouldn't be spending Christmas with any of them. Not even her dad for once. She got back to the common room and sat in an arm chair next to the fire. She took out her homework and started it.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Came a voice from behind her. Anna sat up and grinned.

"Homework since I was planning on spending the Christmas alone," she replied looking up at Lupin and Remus who sat down opposite her. "What are you two still doing here?"

"We aren't going home," Remus replied.

"Why not?"

"We felt bad you had to stay here by yourself and we couldn't decide whose house you should stay at so we decided to stay here with you," Remus said. Anna felt a huge rush of gratitude towards Remus and Lupin. She got up and pulled them both in to a one armed hug. They looked quite shocked by grateful.

"So why are you doing homework now then?"

"I had nothing else to do and I wanted to get it out of the way," Anna replied.

"Ah right ok, well I think we need to put a stop to that right away." Lupin said standing up, Remus followed suit. Anna stayed where she was looking confused.

"I think we should show her what we do at Hogwarts during Christmas," Remus said looking at Lupin.

"Yes I think that would be a good idea," Lupin replied, as they both bent down and picked Anna up who started protesting her indigence. They carried her all the way outside to the lake. Then dropped her on the snow covered ground. She stood up and brushed off the snow when a snow ball hit her right on the head. She snapped her head up glaring. She didn't know who to glare at so decided on both of the boys standing in front of her. She bent down and threw snowballs at both of them. Anna hit Remus in the stomach and Lupin right in the face. Remus started to laugh at Lupin who was not looking happy. At this Lupin threw a snowball at Remus and this started a full out war. It was every man for themselves, or in Anna's case woman.

They walked back inside 2 hours later wet and shivering. Remus shook his hair and sprayed them all with snow, earning an "Oi," from Lupin and a slap from Anna. That evening Anna insisted they all did there homework to get it over and done with. After much grumbling and protests they sat down and started. Anna finished quickly and told them she had to go and look some things up for her homework in the Library. They didn't go with her. Anna entered the Library and started looking for a book that would help her. She looked along the shelves, nothing she saw there was going to help her. After a few more shelves of books she gave up for the evening. As she walked out a book in the restricted section caught her eye, "Magical Sprits and souls and the Legend beyond." That might help her, but she didn't have a note, and the library was going to close in a few minutes. She would come back tomorrow and see if she could persuade Madam Pince to let her use it. Madam Pince would not let her use the book with out a note. Anna thought this was going to have to resort to desperate measures. She found it hard however to find a time to take the invisibility cloak at night because Lupin and Remus often stayed up with her talking, playing Chess, Gobstones or exploding snap into all hours of the night. Not that she minded and she thought that the book wasn't going anywhere.