Chapter 7
Hogsmeade and Hearings
November 20th, 1993
Hospital Wing
Anna slowly opened her eyes as she winced in pain, Poppy was redressing her wounds and she could faintly hear Minerva talking from behind the curtain in a hushed whisper. "Good morning, dear," Poppy said, when she noticed Anna's eyes were open. "How are you feeling?"
"It still hurts, Poppy." Anna replied, her voice was raspy and hoarse. Her eyes watered as she resisted the urge to cough, it would only make her torso spasm and she'd cry out in pain.
Poppy frowned when she realized Anna was holding her breath, trying to get the cough to subside. "You were badly cursed, Anna. Your body needs to heal the rest of the damage naturally, I've done everything I can to make it easier. Don't fight what your body wants."
"If I don't fight it, it hurts more." Anna said, her voice trying to sound like a whine.
Poppy sighed and moved a fallen strand of blackberry hair from Anna's forehead. "I know, dear, but the less you fight your body, the quicker you will heal."
Anna sighed heavily and winced. "Are the bruises going away?" She asked with her blue eyes full of tears.
Poppy shook her head and Anna suppressed a sob, covering her mouth to muffle the noise. "Those will take a while to heal, but they will eventually go away." Anna wiped her eyes and gave a silent sigh of relief at the news before she began coughing loudly and she cried out in pain as her torso twitched violently. "You need to rest, dear, I'm afraid you can't visit the village this weekend."
Anna nodded slowly as she let out a sigh of defeat. Poppy was right, she was still in far too much pain to even walk. Merlin, it hurt to even talk. "I understand, Poppy. Can I have a vial of Dreamless Sleep?"
"Are you familiar with the Draught?" Poppy asked, raising a brow. Dreamless Sleep was highly addictive to those who misused the Draught.
"Weaver and Holly asked Mum to get me some because I've been having nightmares that are known to cause a stir."
At that, Poppy nodded and left the enclosed curtain space to grab the vial, closing the curtain behind her. After she left, Anna tried her best to focus on Minerva's hushed conversation on the other side of the curtain. Her lupine hearing helped her zone in on the conversation, she felt mildly bad for eavesdropping, but Minerva didn't talk in a hushed voice unless it was important and she didn't want people to learn the information.
"What are we supposed to tell the Ministry, Severus?" Minerva asked, she sounded terrified.
"The truth, Minerva." Severus replied, his tone dark. "The Wizengamot needs to be told that he tried to kill her. He's a danger to everyone at the moment, especially Anna."
"I understand, Severus, but he's only a boy." Minerva said quietly, her tone sounded impatient.
"Boy or not, he tried to kill her, Minerva. He tried to kill them both." Severus snapped quietly, Anna could only imagine his black eyes were blazing in a fury.
Minerva sighed heavily. "I understand your concern, Severus, but I will bring it up to the Ministry myself."
"Can I speak with her, Poppy?" Severus asked as Anna heard another set of footsteps approach the curtain.
"I'm going to give her these to help her rest easy, perhaps when she wakes up, Severus. She's in quite a bit of pain."
"Alright, Poppy. Thank you for taking care of her." Severus said, although he sounded slightly disappointed.
"You aren't the only one who's fond of them both, Severus." Anna could hear Poppy's smile as she spoke and her eyes widened. Poppy had known about Vixen; this whole time, she had known.
She heard Poppy's footsteps approach further and the curtain opened as Poppy stepped through, closing it quickly behind her. "You knew? This whole time?" Anna rasped, eyeing the Mediwitch warily.
Poppy sighed, but she smiled all the same. "Yes, Anna, I knew. Vixen helped me around the Hospital Wing a lot when she attended Hogwarts. One of the brightest and sweetest witches I've ever had the pleasure to meet."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Anna asked, coughing once more before she cried out in pain.
"Take this, dear." She handed Anna a purple vial of Pain Potion, which Anna took without complaint, sighing in silent relief when the pain in torso dulled to a gentle throb. "I never said anything because I wasn't sure if you knew or not."
Anna nodded slowly, smiling softly. "Yes, I knew. She's in my head." Anna's eyes flashed violet as Vixen took over to prove her point.
Poppy smiled at the sight of Vixen's violet eyes. "Thank you for taking care of us, Poppy. We owe you a life debt."
"You still have a job to fulfil, Vixen. I wasn't going to just let you die. Minerva would've Avada'd me had I even thought about that." Poppy said as she took Vixen's hand, Vixen cracked a mischievous grin that made Poppy smile softly.
Poppy handed her the blue vial of Dreamless Sleep and Vixen slowly brought it to her lips before she paused and smiled at Poppy. "I quite enjoyed helping you around here all those years ago. Had I stayed in the 70s longer, I would've become a Mediwitch like my Mum wanted me too, she was one too, worked for St. Mungos. Perhaps I could've been your apprentice." She smiled before she downed the potion and handed the empty vial back to the matron, who watched silently as the little witch was overcome by sleep.
Poppy smiled as she brushed her fingers over the little witch's forehead. "I would've loved that, Vixen." She whispered.
~ A Couple Hours Later ~
Anna slowly opened her eyes and immediately the scent of parchment, grass and chocolate invaded her senses, she sighed happily and turned her head to the side to look at the wizard holding her hand. James. "Hello, love. Did I miss much?"
James looked up and Anna frowned at the sight of dark purple circles beneath his usually soft green eyes, there were dried tear tracks on his cheeks and Anna noticed that his bottom lip was split clean open, but was slowly healing. "I missed you," he replied, making Anna's frown deepen.
"I'm not dead yet, love." She said, reaching over to brush her fingers against his forehead, making him keen at the touch, it made her smile softly. "It'll take much more than that to do me in." She added with a smirk and grinned brightly when James laughed.
Suddenly, she swat him hard upside the head.
"What was that for?!" James yelped as he rubbed the side of his head where she had struck him.
"Care to explain to me why you've been banned from Hogsmeade?" She said sharply and watched as James bowed his head with a slight wince. She knew perfectly well why he was banned, but she wanted to hear his side of the story.
"I beat the shit out of Bloodwell." He said and Anna smirked.
"I'm aware of that," she said cheekily, grinning when James turned his gaze up to momentarily glare at her. "Tell me why."
He sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. "He hurt you, Hopper. Merlin, he could've killed you, I wasn't thinking straight."
"I don't want to hear bloody excuses, Jamie. It's not your job to defend me." She chided, narrowing her blue eyes at him.
James glowered. "I'm getting tired of people telling me that." He mumbled under his breath, but the silence in the Hospital Wing made his comment very much heard.
"I'm not bloody joking, Jamie. It's not your job to take care of me. I got myself into a messy situation, it's not your job to finish my fights for me."
"Of course it's my job, Anna!" He exclaimed, his tone catching her briefly off guard. "You're my witch and Vixen is like a sister to me and if some arsehole decides it's okay to harm you, you best believe I'm going to make them fucking pay. I told you on the train that if he tried anything, even if he tried to fucking hex you, I'd kill him."
"But he's not dead, which means you were interrupted at the very least." Anna pointed out. Merlin, she was having fun messing with him, if she was bedridden due to pain, she'd have her fun in other ways.
James bowed his head. "Snape caught us brawling."
Anna smirked at him. "I'm aware of that as well, Thorn and Pads told me." James scowled at her and she raised a brow at him, her nose twitching. "Don't give me your angry eyes, James Jesse Summers. I'm quite bloody furious with you for taking matters into your own hands."
"I already served detention, Hopper. Can we just act like it never happened?" Anna glared further, her expression plainly said, 'No, we can't.' He bowed his head once more. "Fine, you win."
"Good, now, tell me you won the fucking fight." James stared at her and found the flash of mischief in her eyes that made him grin. There's my witch. He thought.
"Of course, I won the fight, Hopper. So little faith in me." Anna grinned and placed her hand over his tenderly.
November 21st, 1993
Hospital Wing
On the fourth day in the Hospital Wing, Anna was finally able to sit up; however, it would take her another couple days to actually be able to get on her feet. She hoped that she'd be able to walk in time for the hearing, it was that coming Wednesday. She was listening to Weaver and Thomas bicker over a Potions assignment, while Irys and Peter chattered about Astronomy; Holly and Amos were talking about Charms, and Mia and Al were talking about Defense Against the Dark Arts. From what Anna had heard, the entirety of Hogwarts knew about what had happened to the Hufflepuff Hazard, and they were all now avoiding Travis as much as humanely possible.
Clover and Cedric were lightly arguing over a Transfiguration essay and James was trying to engage Anna in a conversation about Care of Magical Creatures, which she happily obliged; with Anna unable to walk, the rest of the Lot took notes for her during their lessons and even a few Professors had come to visit her in the Hospital Wing, namely Severus and Remus, who had asked if Vixen was alright.
Anna was making progress in her healing, however the bruises still hadn't subsided, which made her self-conscious. Madam Pomfrey had strictly forbidden the little witch from casting a Glamour Charm on the bruises so she could keep track of how they were healing and if they'd leave any scars or blemishes. Anna hoped they wouldn't, she already felt ugly with the bruises that marred her flesh. When she had finally been given a mirror to inspect the damage, she had stifled a sob when she was met with the sight of purplish-black across half of her face, down the length of her neck and they vanished beneath the bandages on her torso. The wounds on her torso were healing quite nicely, much to Poppy and Minerva's delight.
When the doors to the Hospital Wing opened to reveal a certain pair of redheaded twins, both grinning identically from ear to ear with their hands hidden behind their backs, Anna smiled. The Weasley Twins approached Anna's bedside. "Hello, my dear, we come—" George began.
"—bearing gifts for the lovely lady." Fred finished with an ear splitting grin. Fred pulled something out from behind his back and the entire Mischiefous Lot laughed at the sight of a lavatory seat. George turned to his twin, pretending to be utterly astonished as he pulled his own lavatory seat from behind his back.
"My dear brother, I am wounded that you chose the same gift as me!" George cried, looking the part of a wounded man.
Fred simply grinned at his twin. "My dear brother, perhaps something a bit more unique would've sufficed."
The Weasley Twins both grinned broadly at the sight and sound of Anna laughing loudly, trying her best not to wince in pain.
"Misters Weasley!" Poppy exclaimed as she rushed towards the noise of Anna laughing. "Another lavatory seat?" She inquired, her brow raised before she chuckled and shook her head, laughing when the Weasley Twins held up the pair of lavatory seats with identical mischievous grins. "Did you sanitize them before you brought them this time?"
"Why, of course, we did—" Fred said, sounding slightly offended.
"—so little faith in us, Madam Pomfrey." George finished, a hand on his heart as though her words had truly wounded him.
They all turned to the sound of Anna laughing, she was laughing quite hard which turned into a fit of coughs. "Merlin, I haven't laughed like that since Weaver hexed Holly's hair green."
"Anna!" Holly exclaimed, glaring at the witch, who simply grinned at her redheaded friend.
"Thank you, boys. The gifts are lovely." Anna said with an ear splitting grin, laughing even more when the Weasley Twins bowed low in praise.
"It was our pleasure—" George began, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.
"—Miss Cloud." Fred said, genuinely smiling at her.
After Poppy left them to their own devices, Anna eyed the Weasley Twins. "Please tell me you sent the dirty one to Bloodwell."
"Anna!" Clover hissed, making Anna grin at her broadly.
"Now, Miss Cloud, what type—" George began, a hand on his heart as he took a seat next to her after James vacated the seat.
"—of wizards would we be, had we not fucked around with him?" Anna laughed loudly as Fred finished with a broad grin of pure mischief, that George mirrored identically.
"We're going to lunch, Hopper." Irys said as she vacated her seat, allowing Fred to take it.
"Alright, Snow. Bring me something, I'm sure Tilly knows already and has made me something, it'll most likely be in the Kitchens so no one accidentally takes it." Anna said, the Lot nodded and left the Hospital Wing. "You two aren't going to lunch?" Anna asked as she looked to the twins.
"We already ate, Anna." George said with a smile, taking her hand within his own.
"Harry and Hermione are worried about you. Ron and Ginny are too." Fred said, taking her other hand.
"Tell them, I'm fine. I'm not dead yet." Anna grinned. "Now, why don't you two tell me the real reason why you came to visit, I'm sure those lavatory seats were just a ploy to not get kicked out of the Hospital Wing." Anna added with a smirk, eyeing the twins.
"You took care of us when we were stuck in hospital cots—" Fred said, frowning slightly.
"—now it's our turn." George finished, running the pad of his thumb over her knuckles as she smiled thoughtfully.
"You don't have to, ya know?" Anna replied, squeezing their hands in silent thanks.
"We want to." The twins said together.
November 24th, 1993
Hospital Wing
"Alright, dear, walk to me." Poppy said as Anna slowly swung her legs over the side of the hospital cot, she gently placed her feet on the cold stone floor, shivering slightly as it woke her up fully. The hearing was today and she needed to walk in order to use the Floo in Minerva's office. Severus and Minerva would be accompanying her to the Ministry of Magic. Anna slowly stood, swaying slightly before she caught her balance on the chair beside her bed and slowly made her way to Poppy, taking careful steps and swaying a bit before she caught Poppy's hand. "Well done, dear!" Poppy exclaimed happily as she gently squeezed Anna's hand. "Go get ready for the hearing." Anna nodded as Poppy passed her off to Weaver and Holly, who would be keeping an eye on Anna until she left for the hearing.
Her torso was fully healed, however, the bruises on her face still hadn't subsided, marring her flesh and made her self-conscious even more than normal now that she had to return to her Common Room where everyone would finally see what Bloodwell had done to her.
"You really did scare us, Hopper." Weaver said as they walked through the fourth floor corridor.
"I promise you, Pads. I'm fine." Anna replied. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm glad to be out of the Hospital Wing." She added with a heavy sigh.
"We're glad you're okay, Hopper." Holly said, taking Anna's hand to give it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm not made of glass, you two, you don't need to treat me as though I am." Anna said softly, her eyes flashing violet as she looked at Holly's hand gently within her own.
Weaver grinned. "We'd never treat you like glass, Hopper." She said, linking her arm with Anna's gently to prevent the witch from swaying.
"We're just worried about you, Hopper." Holly said as she linked her arm with Anna's free arm. Anna laughed loudly.
"Bloodwell is bloody lucky I was bedridden, because Merlin help him, I would've finished what he started." Anna said, her violet eyes flashing dangerously as Vixen cracked her knuckles in their mind in anticipation.
"Pretty sure Moony gave him a run for his Galleons there, Hopper." Weaver laughed loudly.
"Good," Anna replied with a smirk.
Hufflepuff Common Room
Anna, Weaver and Holly entered the Hufflepuff Common Room and immediately, Anna heard the collective gasps of the rest of the Hufflepuffs at the sight of her. Pharah Cooper ran up to her with wide green eyes. "Anna! We'd all heard what happened! Merlin, those bruises look bad!" She exclaimed before she engulfed Anna in a swift, but gentle hug around the middle.
Anna let go of Weaver and Holly to hug Pharah back. "I'm fine, Pharah. Trust me, he looked worse." Pharah looked up at her and smiled.
"Merlin," Anna looked up to find Professor Sprout was present and staring at the bruises on Anna's face and neck with wide eyes.
"I'm fine, Professor." Anna said with a smile as Pharah let her go, returning to a table in the corner with her friends. "I'm just glad to be back."
"I'm glad you're feeling better, dear. Go get ready." Anna nodded and Weaver and Holly led her upstairs to the girls dormitories to get ready for the hearing.
"Everyone really missed you, Hopper." Holly said as she opened the door to their dormitory and allowed Anna to enter first, Weaver followed before Holly closed the door behind them after she entered last. The dormitory was empty, the rest of the girls were most likely in the Great Hall having breakfast before class.
"I miss everyone too, Thorn. It's good to be back." Anna replied with a smile as she bent over to dig in her trunk for the dress she had chosen for the hearing. Her trunk was a disaster. "Merlin, who was in my trunk?" She asked, turning to look at Weaver and Holly.
"We were looking for your fags." Weaver said after a moment and Anna smiled.
"They're in the pouch at the top, Pads." She replied, reaching into the pouch for her fags to prove her point. She tossed the pack to Weaver, who fumbled a bit before she caught it. "Open the window, it'll be too suspicious if we go out once more, especially with your Mum in the Common Room." Weaver nodded and made her way towards the window and opened it, letting in the cool November air.
Holly joined her as Weaver passed her two sticks, which Holly threw one to Anna who caught it with magic; having expected the toss before she grabbed it, put the stick in her mouth and lit the end with her index finger. She continued to rummage in her trunk with the fag hanging from her lips until she found the dress.
It was a modest burgundy dress with black lace trimming at the collar. Anna waved her hand and an ashtray appeared on her four-poster, which she placed her fag in a moment later before she took off her jumper and heard Weaver and Holly gasp. Anna turned to look at them from over her shoulder and she sighed, they were staring at the bruises that marred the flesh of her back. While her torso was fully healed and she was able to finally walk, the bruises that vanished beneath her bandages were now finally visiblw to her friends, since Madam Pomfrey had taken off her bandages the day before.
"We didn't know it was that bad, Hopper." Weaver said, gesturing to the bruises with the hand that held her fag.
"That's not the worse of it, Pads, my front is worse. Poppy said that I had to refrian from wearing a bra until the bruises were fully healed." Anna explained and Holly scoffed, flicking the ash from her fag out the window.
"That's rubbish, Hopper!" She exclaimed before she took a rather angry drag of her cigarette.
"If I want to heal fully, I have too." Anna sighed after she put on her dress. "Can one of you girls zip me?" She asked, pulling her balckberry hair to the side as she watched Weaver put the fag between her lips and approach her from over her shoulder before Weaver zipped the back of Anna's dress. "Thanks, Pads."
Weavdr took the fag from between her lips with two fingers and smiled. "It's no trouble, Hopper."
Anna grabbed her fag from the ashtray after she flicked the ash and took another drag, blowing out the smoke with a relieved sigh. "Merlin, you two have no idea how much I needed a fag while I was stuck in the Hospital Wing." The three shared a laugh before Anna quickly organised her trunk, with Weaver and Holly's help since they had been the ones to make the contents such a mess in the first place.
Ministry of Magic
The rush of green flames errupted in the fireplace as Anna, Minerva and Severus stepped out of the Floo. Anna swallowed the lump in her throat as she took Minerva's hand, Severus was trailing behind them as they walked through the Ministry. Anna gawked at the high ceilings and the large golden statue in the middle of the lobby. She'd never been inside the Ministry of Magic before and she hoped she'd never need to under the circumstances ever again. They made their way to the elevator and Minerva pushed the button to summon the lift.
"Minerva! I wasn't aware that you'd be joining us!" A voice exclaimed from behind them and the three turned to spot Arthur Weasley making his way towards them.
"Hello, Arthur." Minerva smiled. Arthur took her hand and shook it with a smile before he noticed Anna was holding her other hand. He turned to look at Severus, who sneered viciously in the presence of a Weasley before Anna shot him a glare and his sneer dissipated immediately.
"Anna, my dear. I'd heard about your situation, I'm to bring you to Courtroom 10. My dear, are you well enough to use the stairs?" Anna nodded and she smiled at him, it seemed he didn't care about the bruises on Anna's face and he didn't mention them, for which she was grateful. "We'll take the lift to Level 9 and take the stairway to Level 10." Arthur added before the doors to the lift opened. Arthur stepped forward and held the doors to the lift open for everyone to get on before he joined them, the doors closed behind him and he pressed the final button that had the number 9 on it.
Anna expected to go straight down before the lift jolted to the side and Anna was thrown into Severus with a loud yelp at the speed of the lift. She looked up at him and offered an apologetic glance that he smiled at, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her from being thrown around the lift.
The lift didn't stop at any floors before they reached the 9th level. The lift stopped with a lurch and the lift spoke in a woman's cold voice. "Basement Level 9 - Department of Mysteries." They stepped off the lift when the doors opened and Anna grabbed the wall outside the lift, her eyes were a violent shade of turquoise. She was breathing heavily, trying to calm her nerves.
"You alright, Anna?" Arthur asked, kneeling down to look at her and gasping softly when he realized her eyes were turquoise. Anna went to reply, but she held a hand to her mouth as she resisted the urge to vomit. Merlin, she felt nauseous.
"I'm—" she held her breath to keep herself from vomiting. "Fine." She finished slowly. Severus was grinning at her reaction. "It's not funny, Professor." Her eyes flashed violet as she turned to look at him and he simply grinned at her before Minerva shot him a warning glare. Anna slapped a hand to her mouth as she turned green again, she turned her attention back to Arthur. "I really didn't enjoy that, Mr. Weasley."
Arthur chuckled as he fully stood. "You get used to it, dear. Come along, we're nearly there and we don't want to be late."
Hufflepuff Common Room - Fifth Year Girls Dormitories
Anna sat in her four-poster, crying. The Wizengamot had denied punishing Travis for his actions even with the added fact that he had tried to kill her a week earlier in front of no less than 5 students. Minerva and Severus had been properly outraged when the Wizengamot went so far as to accuse Anna of inflicting the bruises on herself. Anna had needed to fight Vixen's temper when this was said; in the end of the hearing, Travis Bloodwell had gotten away with attempted murder, not to mention sexually assaulting her the year prior.
The amount of homework on Anna's four-poster when she had entered her dormitory was overwhelming. She ignored the homework and approached the window, opening it and sitting on the ledge, using her index finger to wandlessly light the fag that hung from her lip as the silent tears ran down her face. She inhaled the tobacco before she flicked the ash out the window and exhaled slowly, allowing the tobacco to calm her nerves that had been building since that morning when Poppy had awoken her.
She had the rest of the day off from her lessons, per Dumbledore's request when he learnt of how the hearing went by an outraged Minerva.
She took another drag of her fag as the events of the passed couple hours replayed in her head.
"How do we know if Miss Cloud hasn't inflicted those bruises on herself?" A pompous Ministry witch had asked, when Anna found her in the crowd in a Wizengamot seat, she resisted the urge to gag, the witch looked an awful lot like a toad and a bright pink cardigan was visible beneath her purple Ministry robes.
This toad faced cunt! Vixen had screeched in her mind and Anna physically grabbed Vixen by the unders of her arms and held her back as the witch screamed obscenities to the toad-faced witch in her mind.
"I beg your pardon!" Minerva screeched as she jumped from her seat in the stands that consisted of Minerva, Severus, Arthur, and Molly Weasley who had come to support Anna. "Your accusations against my daughter are outrageous!"
"Minerva, calm down." Arthur cautioned, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Anna stood from her seat in the middle of the room ignoring the complaints from the Ministry officials and made her way over to the stands, gripping Minerva's hand. "Mum, relax." She said soothingly, rubbing the pad of her thumb over Minerva's knuckles in an effort to calm her.
"You're right, dear. I apologise for my outburst." She said to the Minister, who gave her a curt nod.
Anna turned back to the Wizengamot. "Minister Fudge? May I ask you something?" She asked, looking up at the podium where Cornelius Fudge was looking down at her. He gestured to her seat. "I'll stand for a bit, Minister, my apologies, I've been stuck in the Hospital Wing, I only started walking again earlier this morning. I hope it's no trouble."
"Very well, Miss Cloud." Fudge said and she smiled.
"Now, Minister, I hope you don't think me rude, but why would I ever do this to myself?" She gestured to her face, and she heard Fudge swallow hard with her lupine hearing, his heart beat quickened and she heard it. Alerting her that he'd seen the bruises before. "My apologies, Minister, I noticed that my bruises make you uncomfortable. While I was in the Hospital Wing, I asked Madam Pomfrey if she had any books on the type of spell that causes these bruises. Do you know what I learnt when she handed me the book?" The Wizengamot leaned forward in anticipation at her words and Fudge gestured for her to continue. "Dark magic, that's what caused these bruises."
She paused to cough violently and she took a deep breath when she cried out, holding her hand to her heart for a moment, her other hand held a finger to the Wizengamot. "My apologies, my torso only just fully healed." She continued."Travis Bloodwell tried to kill me, sir. He stopped me in the corridor on my way to the Great Hall and asked me to be lenient with my testimony; when I refused, he attacked me."
"I'm sorry, Miss Cloud, but there isn't enough evidence to convict him of a crime." When Fudge said those words, it cut threw her like a knife. "And since he's still an underage student, we aren't authorized to put him under Legilimency or Veritaserum without the consent of his parents, which they denied."
Anna sighed as she opened her eyes and threw the last of her fag out the window before she lit another one. Her eyes widened when she realised all her time in the Hospital Wing, she hadn't even sent a letter to Sirius to let him know of her prolonged absence. She hoped Crookshanks had been taking care of him while she was in the Hospital Wing. She jumped from the window ledge and quickly opened her trunk, grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill.
Dear Snuffles,
I apologise for my long absence, I'm coming to see you. If that's okay with you. I don't want to be alone right now. Use the back of the parchment to reply.
~ Anna
She ran to the window after she cast a quick Drying Charm on the parchment and made sure her finger came back clean before she set down the letter on the window ledge after she folded it before she put her index and pinky fingers in her mouth that resulted in a shrill whistle while her other hand held her fag.
She had whistled for Luna, her barn owl, who was waiting in the Owlery and flew in through the open window a moment later. "Take this to Sirius, in the cave outside the Forbidden Forest. Wait for his reply and make sure no one sees you either trip." Luna nodded as Anna tied the letter to her leg and she took flight.
Anna flicked the ash from her fag after another drag and finished it while she waited for Luna to return with his reply. When Luna returned, Anna jumped from her four-poster and checked the other side of the parchment.
Dear Anna,
I thought you'd forgotten about me, come see me. We have much to discuss. Dispose of this message.
~ Snuffles
Anna nodded to herself and waved her wand to burn the parchment with a quick "Incendio!" before she grabbed her robe and scarf and made her way to the cave.
When she arrived, Sirius stared at her and the bruises on her face. "What the fuck happened?" He exclaimed and she shot him a quick glare to silence him before they both entered the cave.
She told him everything that had happened, even when Travis had touched her in the first place, and halfway through she had begun crying again. She explained everything that happened at the Ministry when he asked why she was dressed so formal and businesslike. She explained how he was getting away with hurting her.
"I feel so ugly, Sirius. I have a hard time talking to Vixen in a mirror lately because I can't stand to look at myself."
"Fuck, Anna. That's absolute crap." He muttered when she finished speaking before realization clouded his features and he turned to her. "Is Vixen okay?" He asked as he passed her the bottle of Firewhiskey she had given him for his birthday, she stared at it with wide stormy grey eyes full of tears.
It was only a quarter ways empty. She sighed and took it, taking a long swig from the bottle. "She's fine, but she really wants to do him in."
Sirius laughed. "Merlin, I don't blame her. What about you?"
"I just want people to stop taking advantage of me and staring at me like I'm a monster because of these fucking bruises." She said with a sob, taking another long swig from the bottle before she passed it back to him. "Take it back, I'll drink the whole bloody thing if you keep it in my hands. It's your birthday present after all."
"Anna," he began, placing a hand on her shoulder after he removed the bottle from her grasp, placing it on the other side of himself. "Firewhiskey doesn't have any effect on me anymore. I just appreciate the fact that you came to make sure I wasn't alone on my birthday."
"That's what family's for, Sirius." She said, looking at him and he smiled when he noticed her eyes were blue, meaning Anna wholeheartedly considered him as family.
"And as family that means I get to take care of you too, as much as I can at least, being on the run and all." Anna smiled at him and swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe.
"Thanks, Sirius." She said with a sniffle.
"Whatever for?" He asked, raising a brow to her.
"For listening. Everyone else was in class and I didn't know who else to talk too, who wasn't busy. I mean I can't talk to Tilly about this—"
He interrupted her with wide slate grey eyes. "Tilly's at Hogwarts?"
Anna smiled, her eyes flashing violet as Vixen took over to pin him with a playful glare. "I asked her too, before I vanished. I started the loop of how I knew her and got along with her so well. I asked Tilly to make a promise to take care of Anna and her friends."
"When did you ask that of her? What was in it for her?" Sirius asked with a raised brow and a smirk. Vixen laughed.
Suddenly, she frowned and Sirius mirrored her expression. "When Dad died, I promised her I'd take care of you sorry sods until I left." Sirius raised his head in understanding, his frown deepened.
"I miss them, Vix." He whispered.
"Me too, Sirius." She replied, pulling her knees to her chest.
November 27th, 1993
Great Hall
Anna sighed as she picked at her morning bowl of porridge, trying to ignore the stares she was receiving from the rest of the Great Hall. Her bruises had finally begun to heal, but the phase they were healing at the moment made them completely black and the size of it hadn't dissipated. Not even a little bit.
It made her even more self-conscious, thankfully the rest of the Mischiefous Lot were there to glare at those who stared too long and growl at the Slytherins who made fun of her for it. Mostly the Slytherins who had congratulated Travis for getting away with attempted murder, but still reprimanding him because 'the stupid little Mudblood cunt wasn't dead yet', or so she had overheard a few days earlier in the library when she was helping Hermione with Transfiguration.
Hermione had stared at her with wide chocolate eyes, Anna had shrugged and continued to explain to Hermione how to turn a needle into a bird that matched the casters personality. Loudly.
Hermione had stared at her, but had caught on rather quickly as to what Anna was doing when the voices abruptly stopped. Valeria had found them in the Library and at the sight of Hermione glaring at Valeria, Anna explained that the Slytherin witch was her friend. Hermione had calmed down before Valeria sat down and explained what the other Slytherins were saying about Travis; Hermione was outraged and Anna simply rolled her eyes and told Valeria she wasnt surprised.
"Hopper? You hardly touched your food," Irys said, concern lacing her tone. Anna hadn't been eating much at all the passed couple days.
"I'm not that hungry, Snow." She replied with a sigh and pushed away her porridge, but she did consent to drinking her pumpkin juice.
"You need your strength for the next Quidditch match," Weaver chided, pointing an accusing finger at Anna.
"I know, Pads. I promise, I'll eat at dinner." She said with a sigh as she stood from her seat at the Hufflepuff Table and made her way out of the Great Hall, not deaf to the mocking voices and laughs coming from the Slytherin Table. She had half a mind to hex the entire Slytherin Table, but she wasn't in the mood for a detention for hexing her fellow students.
She had no idea where she was going, until she found herself in front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. It had been a while since she had last visited Remus. She knocked on the classroom door and opened it, mildly surprised to find Remus sitting at the desk at the forefront of the class instead of in his office. He looked miffed.
"Anna!" He exclaimed when he looked up from the parchment he was looking at.
"Are you alright, Remus? You look upset about something." She said as she closed the door behind her and approached his desk. She eyed the rolls of parchment and scowled at the title that was visible on one of them.
Werewolves.
"Severus substituted my class of third years the other day while I was ill and assigned the entire class to write essays on the subject." Remus said with a heavy sigh. "Only a few completed the essay, those who didn't complete it were relieved when I said they hadn't needed to complete it."
"Severus did what?!" Anna shrieked and Remus winced at her volume. "Sorry for raising my voice, Remus, but what in Merlin's name was Severus trying to accomplish?!"
"I believe he set the essay so a student who was smart enough to figure out my condition, would out me to everyone."
"Who completed the essay?" Anna asked as she approached further, looking over Remus's shoulder to see if she could recognize any of the penmanship. She recognized one in particular that was longer than the others, with small neat handwriting; it was the one Remus was currenly holding. "I recognize the writing and unnecessary length, that's Hermione." Remus nodded. "She's the brightest witch of her age, Remus. If she figured it out, she hasn't said a word."
"I'm glad she hasn't, she could've outted me to the whole of Hogwarts." Remus said gratefully.
"Hermione idolizes you, Remus. She'd never do that to her favourite Professor." Anna smiled.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Severus entered with a smoking goblet.
"I've brought your potion, Remus." Severus drawled before he noticed Anna scowling at him and he visibly swallowed.
"Thank you, Severus." Remus replied and he turned his gaze up to Anna, who's eyes were a blood red as she scowled at Severus. "There's no need to be angry with him, Anna."
"Oh, I think there's every need to be pissed at him, Remus." Anna said through clenched teeth as she stomped towards Severus and walked passed him, slamming the door shut and flicking her wand towards the door, casting strong Silencing Charms and Protection Wards as to not be disturbed. "Remus, go to your office and cast a two-way Silencing Charm, it's going to get loud in here and I know your hearing is really sensitive this close to the full moon." Remus didn't need to be told twice at the sight of blood red eyes and a sparking mane of blackberry curls, he vanished into his office and when the door closed, Anna felt the magic of strong Silencing Charms glide over the door like armour before she rounded on Severus.
Her eyes burned violet. "You fucking prick! An essay on werewolves?! Do you have any idea how fucking hard Remus worked for this?!"
Severus winced at her volume as he set down the smoking goblet on the counter near the window, just in case. "Vixen, please, listen—" She shifted into a blackberry timber wolf and growled at him. "Oh shit," he muttered as she lunged at him with her jaws ready to strike.
A half an hour later, Remus stepped out of his office when he had taken down the Silencing Charm and all was quiet.The sight he was met with made his jaw drop, his classroom was a disaster and a blackberry furred timber wolf had Severus cornered with his wand drawn on her as she growled at him viciously.
"Severus!" Remus exclaimed, when his eyes fell on the wand trained on the timber wolf.
"Call her off, Remus!" Severus shouted, Remus noticed that Severus was using his non-dominant wand arm, his dominant arm was bleeding and clutched tightly to his chest. "Call her off!"
"Vixen! Knock it off!" Remus shouted.
"That's not Vix, Remus. It's Anna." Severus said, eyeing the blue eyed wolf that had blood red bleeding into her blue eyes. "Her eyes are blue." He added, not taking his eyes off Anna.
"Anna!" Remus shouted. "Come!" Hopper turned to Remus and growled. He growled at her, his eyes flashing gold and she winced when Vixen felt a slight pain in her shoulder in her mind. "That's an order!" She whined, but backed away from Severus backwards. "I wouldn't leave just yet, Severus, you're helping me calm her down. Make her a cup of tea, I'll get her to shift back."
"I don't take kindly to taking orders from you, Lupin." Hopper growled at Severus viciously at his comment. "Fine!" He shouted and walked over to the cabinet to grab the kettle.
"Anna, love. Look at me." Remus said softly as he approached her, he noticed the blood stains on her mouth, now the wounds on Severus's arm made more sense. She must've bit him. Hopper whined low, her blue eyes were still bleeding a blood red in anger. She eyed Severus and looked back to whine at Remus. "It's fine, love. You were only protecting me, you aren't in trouble." He noticed the small gash on her side and he gasped, rounding on Severus. "Severus! You fucking hexed her?!"
"Of course not, Lupin! Vixen did that when she first lunged at me, she hit the desk." He gestured to a desk that had blood on the corner. "She wouldn't let me heal her." She growled at him viciously again. "Sorry, Anna. I didn't think you'd try to kill me."
"Who started it, Severus? Anna or Vixen?" Remus asked and gave a relieved sigh when the witch shifted back into human form before he swallowed hard at the sight of burning violet eyes. Vixen wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I did, fucking prick deserved it." She said, sitting on a desk and took out her wand, lifting her blouse to heal the gash on her side. Remus looked away respectively to offer her some privacy. "Better, Hopper?"
Anna's blue eyes returned, the blood red had dissipated, she nodded and felt over the scar. "Much, thanks Vix." She turned on Severus. "You're lucky I'm not the one who bit you, Severus." She hissed and Severus winced as he tried to pick up the kettle with his dominant arm. "Let me see it," she said and Severus eyed her; she rolled her eyes. "If we were planning on biting you again, I'd still be in my Animagus form, quit being a baby and come here." He approached her and lifted the sleeve of his robes with a wince. "Do you have any Dittany, Remus?" She turned to the werewolf, who nodded and vanished up the stairs to his office before he returned with the bottle, passing it to her a moment later.
Her eyes flashed violet as she silently thanked him. She turned her gaze up to look at Severus. "If you ever and I mean ever pull something like that again, Severus, I'll bite it off. Am I clear?" He nodded as she applied the Dittany to the bite marks on his arm, watching as they faded to leave behind unblemished skin, save for the small scars that she had made on him in their youth. She smirked at Severus as she put the dropper back in the bottle of Dittany, silently thanking Remus when he passed her a cup of tea. "I think you pissed yourself a bit, Sev."
"I did not!" He exclaimed and she beamed at the crimson hue of his face.
Remus snorted into his tea. "You most certainly did, don't worry Severus, I would've too." Vixen smirked at the werewolf.
"Good," she said, her eyes flashed a mixture of violet, and blue.
"You're lucky, I didn't have class this morning, Vix." Remus said and Vixen gasped, turning to look at him with wide violet eyes. He laughed. "I think the students would've been mildly amused." Vixen nearly fell off the desk she was perched on, laughing loudly.
"At which bit? The fact that Sev pissed himself a bit or the timber wolf who looked rabid and mauled a Professor?" Vixen asked cheekily.
"Both," Remus said, smirking into his tea.
"Merlin, Remus John Lupin, I've missed you." Vixen said with a grin.
