Chapter 54 – Bad Dates and Bad News

Anna stood in the entrance hall, Eric was late. Obviously he had better things to do today. Anna saw Lupin, Remus, Sirius and Nicky and they all waved, except Lupin, as they passed she waved back feeling left out. She thought she saw Lupin give her a wicked grin but he turned around before she could tell properly.

"Hi Anna," a voice called from behind her. She turned expecting to see Eric but came face to face with Chris from the Quidditch team instead.

"Hey Chris, how are you?"

"I'm alright. Can I talk to you later? Privately?"

"Yeah, sure. What about?"

"I'll tell you later," he said looking nervous, he was talking in a soft voice hoping his friends didn't over hear him.

"Hi, you ready?" Said Eric suddenly appearing next to her.

"I'll talk to you later ok," she said reassuringly to Chris.

"Yeah, let's go," she said trying to smile at Eric. As they walked to Hogsmeade Eric talked to Anna about everything. She realized half way there that all she had to do was nodded and say 'yeah' or 'oh' once in a while and he wouldn't notice she wasn't listening. She wondered if he was going to Hogsmeade with her to make Alison jealous. She couldn't talk, she was doing the same thing for Lupin. When they reached Hogsmeade Eric asked where Anna wanted to go.

"Well it's quite cold out do you want to go and warm up a bit first?"

"Ok, the three Broomsticks it is then," he replied. They went in and Anna sat down, Eric sat opposite her. They sat looking at each other for a moment before Anna stood up and said.

"What do you want?"

"Butterbeer please," he answered. Anna nodded and went toward the bar. As she waited for her Butterbeers she looked around Remus, Sirius, Nicky and Lupin were sitting at a table in a far corner; Lupin was staring directly at her. She felt her insides squirm uncomfortably. She grabbed the drinks and hurried back to the table and sat down with her back to her friends. As they sat drinking their drinks she could feel Lupin's eyes on her all the way until they left to go to Honey Dukes.

They entered the store and started picking out things, as they did Eric asked:

"So you and Romulus Lupin are over right?"

"Who? Oh Lupin. Err… Yeah, why?" She said feeling something drop unpleasantly inside her; she had never said that out loud before.

"Well it's just he couldn't keep his eyes off you today,"

"Oh I didn't even see him in there," Anna lied.

"Are you still friends with him though?"

"Well… yeah… I guess," she said getting more and more uncomfortable.

"Oh… right…," he said looking confused.

"What?"

"Well it's just I certainly wouldn't be friends with someone who blamed me for letting our friend die."

"He never said that," she answered instantly but suddenly uncertain.

"Oh, well that's what I heard."

"There's a big difference between what happened and what people hear."

"Yeah I guess that's true." After that it went remarkably quiet.

Two hours later Anna found herself being bored out of her mind listening to Eric go on about the importance of History of Magic. Apparently his silence was only temporary.

"… It's a very important subject to learn, I mean we need history so we learn from it and don't make the same mistakes again. I mean look what happened in 1439 with the Goblins," at this point Anna's thoughts drifted back to a certain friend. She didn't understand anymore why she wasn't with him. Sitting here listening to Eric talk about Goblins was not her idea of fun. Why did everything have to be so complicated? But she reasoned, it was only complicated because she made it so. Why couldn't she just tell Lupin she wanted him back, if he made it up to her? Hadn't he suffered enough? But what if what Eric had said was true. He wouldn't say that… would he? Suddenly she found Eric looking straight at her obviously waiting for an answer.

"Yeah," she said automatically. He rolled his eyes.

"You don't want to be here do you?" Her eyes said it all. "Just go."

"No it's ok, I don't want to leave you by yourself—"

"I'm a big boy I can look after myself, go. You love him everyone knows it, now go! And what I said before about you letting James die, I heard that from Malfoy and Nott, just to let you know." Anna smiled at Eric for his understanding hugged him and got up. Anna fled the shop and ran down the street looking in every store for the familiar blonde curly hair. She found Lupin, Sirius, Remus and Nicky in Weasley Wizards Wheezes talking to George. She hid behind a shelf intent on sneaking up on them.

"I am not going out with that girl again, no matter how many times she asks," Lupin was saying.

"Yeah but she likes you it's so obvious," George said.

"Doesn't matter if she likes me, I don't like her anymore."

"Can't you give her another chance?" asked George.

"You didn't see what happened?"

"Whatever it was I am sure she didn't mean it," George said.

"How can anyone act that way after what happened, and then this summer how she was acting when she got back, and after he died. I mean come on who does that?"

What's going on? I wasn't that bad was I? Anna thought. She didn't know why he was saying those things. She felt betrayed and couldn't take it anymore; she left the shop tears falling unchecked down her face. She wiped furiously at them as she wandered aimlessly back to school.

"So that's what he really thinks of me is it?" she said to herself. Things had suddenly become much simpler, clearer and so much less complicated. She thought it was just an argument where words were just thrown back and forth last night, apparently she was wrong. She would get over him, simple just like that, she would ignore her feelings toward him and go about her research and forget how she felt. Simple.

Anna sat in the library that evening; she had been avoiding the common room since she got back from Hogsmeade. She was taking refuge in her research. All the research she had been doing lately, however, was futile what she really needed to do was access to Snape's store cupboards. So she really needed to speak to the only person who could grant her access to that.

"Anna," a voice said interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up and remembered Chris Jones wanted to talk to her. He was looking nervous again.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked sensing this wasn't going to be an informal visit.

"Can we go somewhere where there are no people?" Anna nodded and collected her books and put them in her bag. She stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder. They walked silently out the library and into the darkened grounds.

"So what is this all about?"

"I have been watching you ever since I found out who you were," he said this statement caught Anna completely off guard.

"You what?"

"I know that sounds rather odd but I didn't mean it in a stalkerish way," he replied sounding amused. Anna laughed.

"What I mean is well there is no easy way to say this but I am not sure what to say first," he babbled.

"Chris, stop, take a breath," he did as Anna said. "Now start from why you have been watching me in a non-stalker like way."

"Ever since Voldemort came back my dad has been acting oddly. He comes home late; I know he's not sleeping well. He is always annoyed about something and his temper is always boiling at the surface. I noticed this during the holidays and my mum says its nothing but she does admit that he's not himself. She says its work. He's a high ranking official at the ministry of magic."

"Well that could mean anything, I am sure it's nothing,"

"That's what I was hoping for but it's not… he's—he's a Death Eater,"

"How do you know for sure?"

"I followed him one day to one of his business meeting's. He met with some men just outside London and when they got to wherever they were meeting he put on Death Eater robes and Disapparated."

"But—"

"While they were walking I over heard them telling my dad his initiation would be that night. That they were very happy with the information he had given them so far," Chris said his voice becoming more angered as he continued his story.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want have anything to do with my father or the Dark Side, I have seen what you are capable of I know you are going to win this war and I want to help, even if it means turning over my own father."

"Chris, I don't know what to say," Anna replied still in shock.

"Say if I turn my father over you will protect me and end Voldemorts reign."

"I will do everything in my power to protect you and everything possible to end Voldemort."

Chris had been living with this knowledge for a long time it had taken a lot for him to tell anyone. Anna knew how he felt and she knew what she had to do. She and Chris walked up to the Owlery, Anna wrote a short note on a piece of parchment.

Dad,

I need to speak to you in person and Ron.

Anna

"I'll take care of this, just don't tell anyone what you said to me, I will help," Anna said earnestly. As she said this Chris broke down and cried, he had made sure he told his story and now he could share his burden, and Anna was happy to have this knowledge, she was sure this would help a great deal.