Chapter 21 – Old Friends Recognize Relations

Christmas Eve came with a surprise for Lupin and Remus. They were just about to go down to dinner in the Great Hall when the Gryffindor Common room portrait hole opened and in walked Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Remus and Lupin asked at the same time.

"Since you aren't home for Christmas this year we thought we would come and say hi," said Lupin's dad.

"That goes for me too," said Sirius Black. Lupin and Remus looked suspicious.

"Alright we had to see Dumbledore about something," Sirius confessed. The boys nodded.

"So are you staying for dinner we were just about to go down?" Lupin asked.

"Yeah that was the plan," Sirius replied. Anna who was sitting in the armchair watching the interaction away from everyone got up as they went down to dinner. She sat down next to Remus and opposite Sirius and the older Remus. Anna sat watching them talk when Remus Lupin said, "You haven't introduced us to your friend." "Oh sorry, this is Anna, she just transferred here," Lupin said and Anna shook Sirius' hand and then Remus who held her gaze for a moment then let go and asked. "Where were you before you came here, Anna?"

"Durmstrang," she said.

"How come you speak English so well?"

"She was born in Australia," Lupin chipped in.

"And then I moved around Europe really," she said.

"Have you ever been to America?" he asked.

"No, never went there,"

"You were born in Australia?" he asked.

"Yeah I lived there for six years," she said feeling slightly uneasy, but she wasn't sure why. However all he did was nod and ask his son how Quidditch was going. Lupin and Remus then launched into an explanation of Anna's performance at their first match. They continued to praise Anna right until dinner had been cleared away. Anna wished they would stop she didn't think her cheeks could take much more burning. Remus Lupin kept an eye on Anna throughout dinner, and he kept springing questions on her. "Where are your parents?" was the last question he asked.

"My mum is dead and my dad is away," she said the feeling that he knew something was growing even more pronounced.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said.

"No, not many people do," she replied starting him out. Green eyes locked with blue, a contest of wills. She broke her connection, she couldn't do that what if he realized she had the same eyes as her father. Remus and Sirius stayed a while after dinner talking to there sons, Anna felt like an intruder on the family so she resigned herself to the arm chair in the corner. The night before she had gone to the library and taken the book, Magical Spirits and Souls and the Legend beyond. She opened it to the first page and started to read. It started off as an introduction and wasn't very helpful. She flicked through until something caught her eye.

Spirits and Souls in Wizards are different to Muggles; this is because of the magic in Wizards. When Wizards die they have the choice to stay behind. Muggles do not have this choice. Magic connects the soul to the earth where magic is drawn from. Because of this the soul can be a free spirit if the body is destroyed, although this is very uncommon and almost never happens. The body has to be almost inhuman to have it destroyed enough for the soul to go into the world. The soul is very venerable and cannot function with out a body, therefore when the soul is extracted from the body it will try to find another body to posses. If it can not find another body it will be lost very quickly into the world. Since the soul is a physical being it can caught. No one as of yet has been known to capture the soul there is no spell or potion to capture it, as it is so powerful.

Anna thought for a moment, no spell or potion? Well that's because no one has made any yet had they. If Voldemort could make a spell to bring his body back someone could make a spell to capture and destroy his soul.

"What are you reading?" Asked a voice from behind her. Anna snapped the book shut and looked up putting her hand over the title.

"Nothing, just a bit of extra reading," she said to Remus Lupin who was now looking at the book and sitting down opposite her.

"Magical Spirits and Souls and the Legend? Why would you want to read that?"

"I just thought it might be interesting," she shrugged.

"Oh right… you remind me of someone you know," he said pointedly.

"Really who," Anna said her heart beating fast, could he know? Did she say something?

"Just an old friend. You look so much like them. But don't worry no one else can figure it out I tend to look beyond people, I could tell there was something about you that you weren't telling anyone. Don't worry I am not going to say anything it's not my place to, your secret is safe with me." He said quietly.

"I'm not… I'm not who you think I am. I'm not." She said quite panicked now. Remus nodded and smiled.

"Of course your not,"

"I'm not I don't look like my father,"

"I never said you looked like your father."

"Who then?"

"Your grandmother."

"No I don't I never knew either of my grandmothers," she said stupidly.

"You don't need to have known anyone to look like them," he winked and got up.

He and Sirius left shortly after that, they said there goodbyes and Anna was surprised when she received a hug from the two adults as well. She was still unsettled by what Remus had said.