By the time 4 pm had rolled around they had finally finished preparations for the funeral that was to be held in two days time. Though Tabbitha had tried to have it the following day it was advised to give it some time so that anyone who wished to attend would be able to make the necessary arrangement to do so.

Walking out of the funeral building Tabbitha and Minerva parted ways with promises of her returning for said occasion. When she finally left Tabbitha decided that now was an appropriate time to pop on over to her old home. Apparating there was quick and painless for her as she had side longed with others before. Now with her feet firmly on the ground in the foyer she looked around the large house. If she was just a random person popping in she would not have been able to tell that something dark had happened in this once happy home the night before.

"Tilly," she called, as she made her way up the grand staircase soon followed by a pop in front of her at the top.

"Yes, miss," inquired the little house elf.

"Would you mind gathering my first year school supplies using this list and sending it to the Potters? Cross off anything we already have so that I know what to get Anna before school," she said, handing over Anna's school supplies list upon stepping off of the last step.

"Yes, miss, does miss need anything else before Tilly goes?"

"No, Tilly, thank you." And with that the elf popped away to where they'd taken to storing all of Tabbitha's leftover school supplies and books from the last 6 years. Even though they did have money, and her mother had intended to buy brand new things for Anna's first year, Tabbitha thought it wise to hold off on spending any actual money till she knew their financial situation. With their mother dead and their father in Azkaban it was likely that any assets that their mother had to her name would go to the girls, but that their father had would either be frozen or go to them. She was more inclined to believe that the former would be the case, at least until she was able to obtain a proper lawyer to gather said assets. For as it stood, Anna was officially in her care till further notice.

Walking down the hall towards her room she waited to hear her little sister running up the down the hall giggling with their dad chasing her, but that didn't happen. Instead the hall was silent and dark, except for the light coming through a window down at the end. Once at her room she found that she'd forgotten to close it when leaving that night. With a slight push of her hand it slowly creaked open to reveal the bed unmade, but other than that, it was spotless. Taking a deep breath she set about packing the rest of her clothes in a trunk not unlike her school trunk, having already prepared that weeks in advance for the coming school year. Half way through the process there was a pop down stairs. Someone had apparated into her home without her knowledge.

Dropping what she was doing, which left a shirt on the side of the trunk, she crept silently to the still closed door to her room leaving the other side open. With her back against the door she listened closely as the footsteps grew closer and closer until they were right at her door. At that moment she leaped out from hiding wand pointed at the intruder ready for a fight.

"Woah, slow down there, it's just me," said Remus, on the other side of the door.

Relaxing her shoulders she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped back to let him in before lightly punching him in the arm, "don't ever sneak up on me like that again, Lupin."

"Sorry, didn't mean to. Guess I should have said something," he said, with an apologetic grin as he rubbed his arm where she had hit him.

Turning back to her work she called over her shoulder going back to what she was doing, "how did you know to find me here? I assume James or Sirius told you what happened."

"Sirius said he figured you'd be here. He should be by shortly to help out. Said he had something to do at home first." When she shot him an odd look he added, "ah, that's right you didn't know. He got his own flat at the beginning of summer. Said he didn't want to keep imposing on the Potter's like that." At that her heart sank realizing she was doing just that and vowed silently to find her and Anna a place the following summer as he continued, "they tried to convince him otherwise. He would hear nothing of it. Oh, I've never seen this before." When she looked over he was holding up a particularly daring little black dress that her mom had insisted on buying her to make up for the horrible news she'd received her first night home.

"Give me that," she said, snatching it out the air and shoving into her trunk all the while he just chuckled. Closing it she realized how thankful she was that she'd packed her underwear and lingerie before he'd got there. Her mother had been all about making sure her daughters felt beautiful.

Another pop sounded from the living room followed by a familiar voice, "honey, I'm home." Looking to Remus with a 'you're kidding me right' look he just shrugged his shoulders before calling back.

"We're upstairs in Tabby-cat's room." Followed by loud footsteps running up the stairs taking two at time. Before long the boy with long black hair and mischievous gray eyes popped into the room.

Looking between the two he grinned, "what'd I miss?" To which she just rolled her eyes and turned away going over her mental list of things she wanted and could do without for now. She'd leave Tilly in charge of the estate till they were done with school.

"We just finished packing for miss Tabby here, though, she hasn't told me what we're doing next." Somehow his words triggered her memory of why she had initially come home. Dropping to her knees she went to her stomach as the boys watched her curiously.

"Oi, watchu doing down there," asked Sirius, tilting his head a bit. A moment later she popped out from under the bed with a present as she sat up. "Aw, you shouldn't have."

"Smack him for me," she said to Remus, adding, "this isn't for you Black."

"Back to last names, Tabby cat? You wound me," he said, hand over his heart still sporting that grin even as Remus smacked him upside his head. To which she just rolled her eyes.

"No, this is for Anna. Today's her birthday and I'd almost forgotten that this was here," she said, now looking at the box as memories of making the contents of it with her mother almost a month prior flooded back in.

"Isn't it your birthday as well," asked Remus, snapping her back to reality as she wiped away the few tears that had managed to fall.

"Hush, don't remind me. After all, this is her big day. She's eleven years old and convinced she'll be Hufflepuff with me, though, I disagree," she said as she beamed a smile at them before standing up to put the present in her regular trunk.

"Oh, and what house do you think she'll be in? Hmmm," said Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest cocking one brow.

Walking past the boys to her door she said over shoulder, "Gryffindor, of course. Now come help me pack her things so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

And with that the three friends packed up Anna's room before heading back to the Potter's with everything in tow. When they got there Mrs. Potter let them know that the others had just sat down for dinner. Peter had shown up in the time that they had been gone and Anna was once again sat between James and Lily asking them all sorts of things about Hogwarts. Standing in the doorway of the dining room she felt a soft squeeze on her shoulder as Remus passed her to sit down, immediately asking for someone to pass him the mashed potatoes as they had already doled out the roast for everyone.

"When dinner's over, can I talk to you," asked Sirius, from beside her.

"Sure, what's up," she asked, to which he just shook his head.

"After dinner." He then sat down in front of James with Remus in front of Lily and Peter to Remus' left leaving the seat between Sirius and Remus open. Sitting down she pushed thoughts of the last few days and the next few out of her mind simply taking a moment to enjoy this lull of peace in her life. Unsure of what the future held for her and Anna, and of what Sirius wanted to talk about.