Chapter 45 – Confrontations

"Well?" Cynthia said again, "it's a win-win situation."

"For who?" Anna yelled.

"Well us who do you think it would be for? You?"

Anna wanted her wand to hex them into oblivion. She started to go down to her bag for her wand but stopped as she felt two wand points against her shoulders. She looked up at their faces. She knew there was no way out. Having everyone know what she went through was unbearable it would be the worst thing that could happen, bar being kidnapped again.

"Alright," she said finally and quietly.

"Excellent," Cynthia said. "We'll get the work to you after dinner tonight come meet us in the Library."

Delilah said Alohomora, and the door clicked and opened. A few people wandered in looking slightly confused and sat down not thinking anything of it. When Remus and Lupin walked in they sat next to Anna. The instant they sat down she could tell they knew something was wrong. However, before they could ask Professor Black started the class.

What's wrong, Remus wrote on a piece of parchment and passed to Anna.

Nothing I'm fine.

Is it about what happened?

Yes so stop asking questions.

Have you talked to Lupin yet?

No and I don't plan to.

Why not?

Because I need to deal with a few things on my own before I do ok? Can you live with that? Is that too much to ask!

Ok, ok, just remember we are here if you want to talk about it.

Yeah ok thanks.

The rest of the class went uneventfully until the end of the lesson when Professor Black asked Anna to stay behind. While everyone was leaving she walked up to his desk. He waited until everyone had left then he closed the door with a wave of his wand.

"Anna, is everything alright?"

"What do you mean Professor?"

"Well after this summer I know nothing is going to be the same, and well since your dad's not here I was thinking if you needed someone to talk to… confide in… I'm here. Your dad's like a son to me which makes you my granddaughter, even though my sons are the same age as you. Let's not get into that it's far too confusing," Sirius grinned.

"Thank you Professor, but I'll be fine," Anna said.

"You can call me Sirius when I'm not teaching, actually you can call me Sirius when I am teaching I don't really care either way," he said with a wink. Anna couldn't help but grin. It had been a long time since someone made her grin.

"Thanks," she said again but this time she meant it.

"No problem, now are you sure you're ok?"

"Well not really no, but I need to figure some things out, get my priorities straight, then I will be ok I think," she said.

"Ok well remember I'm a teacher I can give detentions to anyone, including my sons if you want," Sirius added making Anna grin again.

After dinner Anna went to the library to pick up Malfoy and Nott's homework. She sat at a table waiting for them.

"Here you go Potter all our homework we got today. A 10 inch essay on what will happen next week in our lives for Divination. a 2 foot essay on what Aconite is used for in Herbology, and an Ancient Runes Project that's not due until Christmas, you can take your time on that. I think we'll let you off with the Defense homework, though, as it's not exactly hard."

"Oh, thank you, you're so kind," Anna replied sarcastically.

"No need for that," Malfoy replied, smiling smugly,

"Look, if I do all your homework, how are you going to learn anything?"

"I never said we wouldn't look at it after, and watch you do it right."

"So not only do I have to do your homework, I have to do it with you watching me, therefore spending more time with you so you can make me even more miserable?" Anna asked wondering if it was worth it all.

"Yeah, and believe me, I don't like it anymore than you do."

"Then do your own homework," Anna muttered.

"Then we would have to tell the whole school what happened to you, and you wouldn't want that," Malfoy threatened.

"Fine, I get the point, just give me the work," Anna said irritated.

"Dee, get her the books she will need," Malfoy directed her friend. As Nott went off, Cynthia sat down opposite Anna, who was staring daggers at her. Anna took out the Herbology and started thinking where she had heard Aconite used before.

A little while later as she was just finishing up the Herbology essay Malfoy and Nott decided to leave.

"We are going to play some exploding Snap now. I want that essay first thing tomorrow morning." Malfoy informed her, before leaving the library with Nott in tow.

"Anna what are you doing?" came the last voice she wanted to hear at this moment.

"Ruining my life. How about you?" she answered quietly, not looking up at those enchanting blue eyes.

"Why are you writing an essay entitled 'The Uses of Aconite'?

"It doesn't matter I am finished with it now," she replied.

"Anna you have been acting really weird today."

"Humm I wonder why?" She said sarcastically.

"I meant since this morning," Lupin said calmly. Anna was amazed at how he put up with her comments all the time. If she was in his situation she would have given up talking to him by now.

"It's nothing," she said, now looking up, letting her blonde curls that had escaped from her ponytail, fall in front of her eyes.

They sat, just looking at each other, for what seemed like an eternity before Anna realized what she was doing. She looked down, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did.

"Are you ever going to forgive me?"

Anna considered him for a moment. "Can I trust you?"

"Of course," he said. Anna had never seen him look so vulnerable before.

After a pause she said: "Come on let's go for a walk," Anna left all Malfoy and Nott's homework on the table she was working at and walked in front of Lupin to the lake. The whole way there she played the conversation in her head hoping it would go well.

She sat on the grass and he sat beside her, very close. She could still smell the potato soup they had had for dinner on his breath, they were sitting that close. She could also smell his aftershave that she had always loved.

"Lupin I have been thinking about everything the last few weeks. I need to focus on other things and I still haven't completely forgiven you. I needed you when all that happened and I needed you when I got back."

"You wouldn't let anyone near you! How was I supposed to help you if you wouldn't speak to anyone?"

"I wanted you to find someway to get passed my stubbornness and help me."

"I didn't know."

"I know you didn't. It's ok, but that was then. Now since I have started to think about everything I … I think you should – find someone else."

"What?" He asked stunned.

"I can't have a boyfriend right now."

Why not?"

"Well I don't have the time. I want to be by myself for a while I have things to do."

"Like what?"

"Quidditch practice, homework, other things."

"Anna I have all those things."

"I have more than that,"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" Lupin nodded. "I can't tell you, not until I am sure."

"You know what this is? This is you running, running away from problems instead of facing them and dealing with them. You are hiding again, now that everyone knows you are the famous Harry Potter's daughter, you don't like the attention. You want to go back to what it was like before everyone knew instead of standing up and facing the world."

Anna didn't say anything the tears were already streaming down her face. She sat letting everything he had just said seep through her and take its toll.

"Its true… everything you just said… is true. But don't you see why I want it like that? I was Harry Potter's daughter for 5 minutes and I was tortured, they did things to me that no one should ever know about. You have no idea what happened. So don't even try to pretend you do."

With that she got up and ran back inside the castle, ignoring the calls of 'wait' from Lupin who was running after her, forgetting everything in the library and collapsing on her bed.