AN: It's finally back to Hogwarts, about damn time. Looking back, I feel that the summer chapters might have been a bit too slow on the pacing, but there were plot points I had to put in before Year Five. Do let me know how it was on the pacing/plot layout.

I think more importantly, I've been a bit too slow on my uploads, oof.

Chapter 32 - Back to Hogwarts

"Children, hurry up. Any more delays and we'll miss the train. Yes Ginny? Oh, that's right! Your- Merlin's sake Fred, what did I say-"

The sound of Ron casually slamming his trunk shut finally provided a distraction from Mrs Weasley's familiar pre-Hogwarts Express monologue. A sound that had been filling Harry's ears from downstairs for the past two hours.

"Finally packed?" he asked Ron, sitting on top of his own packed trunk.

"Yes," Ron sighed. "Finally found my Prefect badge. Fred and George placed it in Kreacher's 'den'."

"The horror," Harry snorted.

"I would feel sorry for Percy having to deal with those twats in the past if it wasn't for the fact that he's a prat of the highest degree."

"And whose socks are these!?" Mrs Weasley's cry rose from downstairs once more.

Ron took a breath and began heaving his trunk out of their room.

"Come on, the sooner we get down, the sooner mom has one less reason to go shouting."

Harry fell in place behind him, carefully making their way down the stairs. It was the first of September and it was back to Hogwarts. The mood in the house was very much mixed. Sirius slowly grew into one of his surly moods, something that was caused by the impending departure of company, not that Harry could fault him. Ron for once seemed excited to go to Hogwarts, being appointed as Prefect had certainty helped in the change of tone. Hermione was... Hermione, very excited.

And Mrs Weasley was... Mrs Weasley.

"FRED! GEORGE! I'll give the both of you five more minutes to get down here!"

Harry could not help feeling excited himself. Ever since moving to Grimmauld Place, he suddenly found himself lacking in one company that he had quickly grown to miss. Anne. Grabbing his wand holster as he thought of his sister, Harry gave himself a bitter grimace. She was just here for one more year and she would leave.

Harry bit the insides of his cheek in weary frustration, he had one known her for one year and actually only got to spend days dispersed over months with her. And she was already going to leave?

If anything, it spurred him further to convince her to stay and spend as much time with her as possible.

"Mrs Weasley, we do have to go soon, right?"

"Of course, Harry dear," said Mrs Weasley. "If only those twins would hurry up. FRED! GEORGE! Oh Sirius! For heaven's sake!"

Harry turned and grinned as he saw Snuffles patiently waiting at the door. When the Weasleys twins had finally shown themselves, Mrs Weasley unceremoniously dragged them by their ears out of the house and onto the street where the two Muggle taxis she had bravely called for were waiting.

Reaching King's Cross Station, Harry barked out in laughter as Sirius - in the form of Snuffles - began running about, chasing birds and fetching random junk. Making their way to Platform Nine Three Quarters, Harry watched as Mrs Weasley began fussing over her children. Moody and Tonks, who have graciously accompanied them, immediately split from the group in opposite directions, taking up positions behind pillars and blending in amongst the crowd. Harry admired them, being an Auror had become a dream of his.

From the side, Snuffles nudged his side, drawing his attention. Harry turned and watched as the great black dog looked at a direction, whining in a sad noise.

Harry humoured his godfather and looked, just in time to see a similar looking set of emerald eyes staring back at him. His sister gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement before boarding the Hogwarts Express. As if that was a cue, Snuffles pushed Harry towards one of the doors of the Hogwarts Express, giving him a bark.

"Alright Snuffles, I'm not going to lose her anytime soon. You take care of yourself now."

Catching Ron and Hermione's eyes, he gave a jerk of his head but his two friends gave him a sheepish look.

"Sorry Harry," said Hermione apologetically. "But Prefects need to be at the front for a briefing with the Head Boy and Girl."

"Oh," said Harry. "Then I'd best go then."

"Find us some good seats, mate," Ron hollered as Harry began boarding the train. "Hermione and I are just gonna be stuck listening to some prat drone on and on about some tosh- ow, Hermione!"

Snickering at his friends' exchange, Harry began hastily making his way down the compartments in the direction of Anne. It took some time, including walking in on at least three separate snogging sessions, but Harry finally found the compartment Anne was in.

Pulling the open door open without warning - which had been the cause of him walking into those snogging sessions, he really ought to stop doing that - he was finally greeted with the sight of his sister. She was leaning against the window, reading a book, one of those old Muggle classic novels.

"Harry," Anya greeted casually with a nod, pocketing an empty vial that still bore hints of orange liquid.

"Anne," Harry broke into a wide smile, pulling his sister into a hug. "You look... great. How are you?"

"Fine," she shrugged, but Harry could just pick out the slightest twitch of her lips. "How about you?"

"Good as well," Harry replied, sitting down beside her and finally inspecting his sister up close for the first time in a while. She looked fine, but her eyes were a little weary. Harry sighed internally, praying to Merlin that he would not have to worry about any potential bouts of insomnia.

"Where did you go?" Anya asked nonchalantly, reverting back to reading her book.

"I can't say it," Harry muttered.

"A good enough indicator that you were somewhere safe," Anya nodded.

"Well-"

Harry's words were cut off by several firm knocks on the compartment door. He looked at Anya who tilted her head in a manner of saying 'why not?'.

"Come in," Harry called out to the unknown.

The door slid open, revealing an Auror with two members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol behind him. The Auror's eyes surveyed the room cautiously before finally landing at the twins.

"Don't worry, lad, girl," he grunted, stepping into the compartment. "Just a routine check. Have any of you seen any suspicious activities or items?"

The twins looked at each other before turning to face the Auror, both shaking their heads mutely. The Auror raised his wand and muttered a spell, Harry felt a whooshing sensation ripple from head to toe.

"Clear on my end," said the Auror. "Yours?"

One of the MLEP personnel stepped forward, holding what Harry recognised as a dark detector in his hand. The man waved the probe about the room before nodding.

"Clear for me too."

The men began to leave but Harry called out to them. He never faced this level of security before in the past four years on the Hogwarts Express.

"Sirs, is there anything going on?"

The Auror turned back to face Harry, eyes roving over him. A look of surprise washed over the Auror as his eyes landed on the famous scar, a moment later and the Auror settled back into the grim demeanor he had been showing.

"Nothing of your concern, Mr Potter."

Watching the three men leave, Harry turned to Anya. "Weird, they looked like they were looking for something."

"Most likely," Anya nodded.

"What do you think they're looking for?"

"Whatever law enforcement people look for, criminals, witnesses and illegal goods."

Before Harry could speak, the compartment door slid open once more, revealing Ginny dragging a shy Neville behind her.

"Harry! There you are! We were looking for you, what made... you..."

Ginny's voice trailed off as she finally noticed Anya's presence. Harry saw her eyes widen in recognition as the red head took in his sister's appearance.

"Hello," Ginny nodded with a hint of nervousness. "We aren't intruding, are we?"

"Not at all, come in," Harry gestured to the open seats.

Neville looked like he would rather be anywhere else but Ginny simply dragged him into the compartment. The two of them settled down, Ginny casting curious glances at Anya while Neville looked at anywhere else but the lone Slytherin.

"You must be Anya Seryy," Ginny finally said, dispelling the awkward atmosphere as she held out her hand. "Ginny Weasley, fourth-year Gryffindor."

"A pleasure," Anya nodded, giving the red head a firm shake.

Ginny opened her mouth, but suddenly realised Neville's presence. She promptly turned to stare at Harry, flicking her eyes to Neville who was squirming in his seat. Harry remembered that Ginny was there in the Hospital Wing when Anya's identity was revealed and was now asking permission to speak about that topic.

Not that it was going to happen with Neville nearby. Harry simply shook his head and Ginny gave a nod of understanding. Suddenly, all eyes turned to the odd one out, Neville. The loud billowing of steam and the rattle of the train track signalled the start of the Hogwarts Express. It also made the silence more pronounced.

"I'm nobody, really," Neville muttered, sweating under at increased attention.

Feeling sorry for him, Harry spoke out. "That's Neville Longbottom, he's in our year, Gryffindor too."

Anya gave a nod, but Harry did not miss the miniscule look of exasperation at what was probably an unnecessary introduction, Snape had probably made Neville infamous among their year.

"Besides that," Ginny burst out. "Did you notice the Aurors on board the Hogwarts Express? One of them checked me and Neville as we passed by."

"Yeah, they entered our room a few moments ago," said Harry.

"Gran said that something happened at Diagon Alley," Neville spoke up. "An incident of some sort, riled up the Aurors it seems."

"Seryy, do you happen to know anything?" Ginny asked bravely.

"If it involves Aurors publicly roaming around, we'll know sooner or later when the news goes around," Anya said idly.

Another set of knocking on the compartment door cut through the conversation. Harry pulled the door open, expecting Ron and Hermione, but another sight greeted him.

"Well, this place appears to be crowded."

It was a girl with smooth dark brown hair with a face Harry might go as far as to say cherubic. She looked younger than them, and from her height Harry pegged her as a third-year. Harry searched his memories for a name to go with the face. Greengrass. The younger one. He had frequently seen her hanging around with Anne.

"Anything I could do for you?" Harry asked neutrally. Gryffindors disliked Slytherins on principle, but if she was close to Anne, he would make an exception.

"Just looking for Anya," the girl replied, eyes flickering to said person and then back to Harry. "But... I see that she's busy."

"You can go on, Astoria," said Anya, Harry turned and was surprised to see his sister smiling. "I'll find you later to catch up."

"It's alright," said Harry, if Anne stayed because Greengrass did, he would adapt. "You can join us."

"Me?" Astoria laughed, shaking her head. "No, I'd rather not Potter."

"Why's that?" Harry asked suspiciously, mentally preparing for a bigoted spiel against Blood Traitors.

"A compartment sits six, four of you are already seated," Astoria replied. "And I'm not about to deny Weasley and Granger seats."

The response caught Harry off guard. She did have a point, although everyone could theoretically just squeeze. Also, did the girl actually account for Ron and Hermione?

Then again, this girl was Slytherin and unlike trolls like Crabbe and Goyle, she actually seemed capable of being cunning.

"Anya, I'll be at the second last compartment from the back."

"Give me a few hours and we'll catch up," Anya nodded, giving the girl a small wave.

The door closed and silence ensued, nobody really knowing what topic to bring up. Well, Neville seemed content with the silence, as was Anne.

"So, what have you been doing since?" Harry asked, breaking the silence. He could feel Ginny and Neville's shooting him curious looks.

"Nothing much," Anya shrugged. "Loitering around London I guess, new country, new sights."

Harry felt his heart skipping a beat. She had been in London all this time as well? If he had known that, he would have ploughed his brain for methods to sneak out of Grimmauld Place and meet up.

"You visited Diagon Alley often?" Ginny asked, trying to bring up more topics to speak, the tension was killing her. "Did you try Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream?"

"No, Muggle London actually."

"Oh," Ginny deflated at the flat response.

"Harry, what to see what I got over the summer?" Neville asked, chipping in his part in trying to make conversation.

The cactus-like plant that Neville brought out only ended up as a slimy, stinky mess. To add insult to injury, it was the moment Cho Chang walked in before stammering a hasty excuse when she saw the mess. Harry cringed, not his greatest moment. A Scourgify from Ginny cleared said mess and Harry watched as all eyes went to Anya, checking her reaction.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Neville muttered, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to sink into his seat and disappear.

Anya stared at them before letting out an amused snort, turning back to her book.

"Any interesting places?" Harry asked.

"Let's see..." Anya tilted her head in thought. "Well, a friend of mine insisted I tried a pie and mash place in East End."

"Pie and mash?"

"Yes Harry, pie and mash."

Another bout of silence took over, Harry wanted to say more but all the stares from Ginny and Neville felt intruding. He was quite sure Anne would never open up with others around.

They had bought snacks off the trolley that passed by. Cauldron Cakes and Chocolate Frogs lay scattered on the table by the time the compartment doors opened again, revealing Ron and Hermione.

"Give me some space, Harry," Ron groaned as he took a seat. "Doing rounds down the train is a bigger pain in the arse that you can imagine. I swear, the second-years are the worst and- Hermione, why are you just standing there?"

Hermione silently acknowledged the question by taking her seat, but she kept her eyes on the lone Slytherin. Ron furrowed his brows as he tried to trace Hermione's line of sight before finally noticing Anya.

"Blimey, when were you here?" Ron sputtered.

"The whole time," Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I didn't ask your opinion," Ron muttered defensively. "So... alright there, Seryy?"

"Yes."

Ron winced slightly at the flat answer, but he took another attempt.

"Much better than Harry here," said Ron. "He had to go for a hearing in front of the Wizengamot."

Harry shot a look at Ron. He would give him credit for the effort, it was an interesting way to play wingman but Harry highly doubted that Anne would ever be forced into the concerned sibling role.

"Since he's still here, I guess he got off then," said Anya, never taking her eyes off her book.

"Yeah, you're right," Ron said lamely.

Harry winced as he felt something crush his foot, he glanced down at his feet and found the culprit. Looking back up, he shot a look at said culprit, Hermione. Hermione matched his look, glaring at him and mouthing the words 'talk to her' in an aggressive fashion.

Gaping at her, Harry gave a slight shrug that said 'what do you mean?'. After all, that was exactly what he tried to do at the start. Another heel hit his feet, Harry grimaced. He should have expected that.

"Have you seen the other Prefects in our year?" Hermione asked.

"Sorry," said Anya, standing up from her seat. "But it's a little too crowded here."

She shimmied past Harry and Ron before exiting the compartment without a backwards glance.

Harry stared blankly as Ron nudged him.

"Come on Harry, go after her."

"What?"

"Go."

"But..."

"Hermione, Harry's not going."

Hermione leaned forward to face Harry. "Harry James Potter, get your arse out of here and go talk to her."

"Alright, alright," Harry relented, leaving his seat to follow his sister. As he left he could hear Neville asking the rest.

"Are they together?"

He could then hear Ron choking on his own saliva.

Shaking his head at the awkwardness of it, Harry jogged down the corridors in the direction of Anya. Finally he came across her at the doors of the train, the door was open and the rushing wind tossed her hair wildly. Anya was seated at the steps of the train door, her legs dangling over nothing aside from the speeding track beneath.

"That's dangerous," Harry said immediately, coming up behind her in case he needed to grab her if she fell.

Anya gave a soft chuckle as she continued to stare at the faraway countryside. Harry grimaced, she looked at ease, as though it was not the first time she dangled her legs off a speeding train. Either that, or she was really brave. Not the first he wished she was in Gryffindor.

"Why'd you leave?" Harry asked.

"I assumed you wanted to speak to me without all the others," she turned back to give a small grin.

She had stood up and left for him. Harry heaved a breath of joyous disbelief at her words, before proceeding to hug her.

"Thanks," he muttered into her hair.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"How about everything?" Harry gave a cheeky grin.

Anya cocked her head sideways and gave a smile, much to Harry's delight. "Sure, why not."

He spent the next hour describing - though the Fidelius Charm prevented him from saying the name - his time in Grimmauld Place, the discussions regarding Voldemort and how his hearing went. Anne gave him every single ounce of attention. Although she never said a single word, Harry could tell she was listening. She smiled softly when he described Sirius talking about her fondly, she gave a slight frown when Harry talked about his hearing and she had a small quirk in her eyebrows when he described about the arduous task of cleaning up Grimmauld Place.

Regardless of how minute and unnoticeable her expressions would sometimes be, his heart warmed at each human display that cemented her as his sister. Harry would not lie, he missed this. Just lying around, and talking with Anne. It made them - well, him - feel like who he was supposed to be, a teenager. And the moments when Anne opened up and spoke, no matter how little she would truly speak about herself, eased the pang in his heart.

Harry did not press her if she had anything about her own summer to share. He merely asked once and when she gave an evasive answer, he took the hint, she would open up more once they got more comfortable. Until then, Harry would do his best to trust her and hope that the feeling was mutual.

"Do you remember when I talked about Lupin?" Harry asked, now deciding to breach a sensitive subject.

"One of our father's friends, yes."

"Can he... you know? Know about you?"

Silence. Harry cringed inwardly.

"He's practically like Sirius," Harry offered.

"I have to meet Astoria," Anya stood up. "I'll let you know later."

Harry could only watch as Anya opened the door to another carriage before disappearing from sight. He sighed, hoping she would take his words into consideration.

XXXXX

"So, what did Potter want with you?" Astoria asked as Anya entered the compartment. The younger girl was currently reading the latest piece of the Daily Prophet.

"Nothing much, just wanted to chat," Anya shrugged.

"Didn't realize you were that close with him," Astoria said curiously. "I thought he's only close to Weasley and Granger. For the Boy-Who-Lived, he sure has a small circle of friends."

"Introverted, I guess," Anya shrugged, taking a seat opposite Astoria and drawing her wand.

A swift flick and the door was magically locked, a jab ensured there were no eavesdroppers.

"It's out on the Daily Prophet already?" Anya looked at the cover of the papers.

"Express Edition," Astoria nodded in confirmation. "Daphne picked it up before we boarded."

"I'll have to thank you I guess," said Anya.

The man appeared, just like Astoria said, that girl was always too sharp. His face was just like in the photos of the file Aleks passed her and she could not detect any magic that could have propped up a false face, the guesswork was solid.

"I said I was in on this, didn't I?" Astoria rolled her eyes. "Just feels... weird, I didn't do it per say, but..."

A deep breath, same as always. Methodically, calmly, emotionlessly, she lined up the crosshair. The white lines drew taut.

"You basically helped to kill him."

Astoria nodded mutely.

A soft kickback of the recoil from her rifle and the man fell, the door behind him was painted red. She could see cries of panic from the crowd.

Anya looked at her junior in brief silence before saying. "It should always feel weird, that's what someone once told me."

"But do you feel weird?" Astoria asked.

"Can't say I do."

They always fall, regardless of who they are, how powerful they are. Everyone dies, one way or another, nothing new.

"So what comes after that?" Astoria asked. "What was the purpose of killing him?"

"Officially, I don't know," said Anya. "I'm not exactly high on the totem pole."

"Unofficially?"

"Unofficially," Anya continued. "My guess is that it's to nip a problem in the bud. Someone's trying to sink their claws in the British Aurors, and nothing sends a message like an assassination."

"Do we know who that someone is?"

"No."

"Just great," Astoria sighed, crossing her arms and sinking into her seat. "I'll have to do my own research then."

"Don't go too far."

"I'm a cautious person."

"Sure."

"So, what now?"

"I wouldn't know. Like I said, I'm low on the totem pole."

"Yeah, sure," Astoria snorted. "Your uncle's the Russian Head of Auror Forensics, you only need to ask him, don't you?"

"He's cranky sometimes," Anya shrugged. "But like I've said before, I'll let you know if I need your help."

"Fine," Astoria sighed. "Let's talk about something else."

They steered the conversation away from wetworks and into the studies for the coming year. Astoria, already choosing Runes and Muggle Studies, peppered Anya with questions in order to get an advantage in class. When the sun had long set, Anya bade her farewell, heading back to her compartment.