~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I pace my bedroom in annoyance. I can't believe that I've been paired up with Bellatrix. Stupid Bellabitch.

"Arrrrgggghhhh!" I throw a hex in frustration and give a slight growl when it breaks one of the, few, snake oriented decorations in the room. Throwing my hands up I exit the room and walk to the main hall and take a right. My feet automatically switch to lighter steps so that I cannot be heard, and I pound on Bellatrix's door. It opens suddenly and my eyes narrow.

"What's wrong? Bitsy baby Grimwood can't find her way without me?" Bellatrix asks, using that stupid baby voice of hers.

"I just want to know where your training room is."

"We can't go in the dueling arena today."

"Did I say anything about the dueling arena?" I growl through clenched teeth.

She clicks her tongue, "It's downstairs in the west wing, right side of the hall. Now leave!"

I flip her off and walk away. The marble stairs feel great on my bare feet and the thought that I should have worn shoes crosses my mind for a moment before I ignore it. Following Bellatrix's directions I find myself in a practice area not all that different from the one at Grimwood manor. Granted, things are placed a little different, but most of the equipment is the same. Unfortunately it looks like it hasn't been used in years. My lip curls in disgust and I cast cleaning spells. Once that's taken care of I wrap my hands and walk up to a punching bag. The only problem with a bag is that it can get too repetitive.

"Enough of this. Umbra proeliatorun." A single shade warrior appears and stands in front of me, ready for my command, "Alright, I want you to spar with me. Understand?"

The warrior nods once and takes up position. I do the same and take in a breath before starting the session. Practice goes so much better when I have someone, or in this case something, to practice against. In my mind are the events of today and how screwed I am to be forced to work with Bellabitch. The only thing that would have been worse would have been forced with Tessa. Luckily they want the two houses to work together and learn from each other. The only chance of that happening is between Rowan and Regulus. I give another punch before feinting and giving a good kick to the shade warrior's chest, causing it to disappear with the "kill" hit. Clapping sounds and I spin around in surprise.

"Well done," Lord Black says, "Good form and good precision."

I bow, "Thank you Lord Black."

"Stand. Now, why are you on your own? Where is Bellatrix?" he asks. His eyes are cold and seem to have an underlying anger to them.

"In her room," I tell him, "She wanted to be left alone."

His eyebrow raises, "Is that so? We cannot have that can we?"

I'm too stunned by how much the patriarch looks like Sirius, or the other way around rather, that I can only nod in response. The expressions and especially the eyes are what seem to bare the closest resemblance. He flicks his wand at the ceiling and waits. I feel as though I should talk to him or something, but just keep quiet and watch him and the door at the same time. The door opens and Bellatrix walks in looking slightly miffed, but also like she's worried.

"Yes Uncle Orion?" She asks.

"Why aren't you with Annalisa practicing?" Lord Black asks.

"I-I was working on some things in my room. I thought she would be fine to work on her own," Bellatrix responds.

"Interesting. And yet you could be here trying to learn from Annalisa about hand to hand combat. She's one of the better fighters that I have seen," Orion states.

"Why is Sirius allowed to leave Tessa and return to his room?" Bellatrix asks.

Orion raises his eyebrows, "Where did he leave her?"

"In the Oak Courtyard."

"Well you should know that she'll have to figure out her own way back to the rooms. I agree with what Sirius did, for once."

Bellatrix's eyes widen and her mouth gapes open. Closing it quickly and regaining her composure she nods and turns to me.

"Alright pipsqueak what are we going to do?"

I raise an eyebrow, "You want to work out with me?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because you're going to hate it," I smirk, "Quickly change clothing and come back."

While Bellatrix is changing I work on my hand to hand some more with another specter. By the time I have that one "killed" Bellatrix is watching me from the sidelines. She has on a pair of shorts and a tank top. I nod once and motion for her to come over.

"Alright, first thing we're going to do is run laps. Which would you prefer, in this room or outside?" I ask. "Running? Why do we need to run?"

"It builds endurance."

"What if I don't want to?"

I shrug, "It's your choice, but if you want to be able to last longer than your opponent in a duel then you might as well run and have the endurance. Plus if you're ever overpowered then you need to be able to run away."

"Running away sounds rather cowardly from a Gryffindor."

"It takes more courage to run away than to stubbornly fight a losing battle." I raise an eyebrow, "But if you know more about fighting then so be it. Do what you want." With that I start to jog around the area. After about three laps she joins me, muttering under her breath the entire time. After she's run a couple of laps she's getting breathy and a lap later she's totally out of breath. She slows down to a walk and I roll my eyes. I keep jogging and manage to run right around so that I'm behind her. Pulling out my wand I mutter a hex and she jumps from the electrical shock.

Bellatrix spins around, "What was that for?"

"Come on, run." I zap her again. She starts to walk toward me as if she's going to stop me, but I summon her wand and zap her again, "Run."

"You're going to get it," Bellatrix growls.

I roll my eyes, "Uh-huh. Please come up with something a little more original. Now move!"

She finally starts to run and I grin. This thing just might be fun.

"Bellatrix! Stop acting like an idiot and actually help me!" I yell at her from the other end of the arena. I duck as another spell comes flying at me, "Oi! I'd like to keep my eyebrows where they're at thanks!"

A round of barking laughter tells me who sent the hex and leads me to the realization that the spell was off the mark on purpose. Sirius never misses his target unless he means to. And if he means to miss….

Standing up I take off running toward the wall of the arena. Get away, get far, far away! When I hear Bella's laughter I stop mid run and look at her. I hate her, but I also know that I couldn't live with myself if she ended up dead or seriously injured. After all, you can't kill someone who is already dead now can you? Huffing in annoyance at the time that this is going to take I grab her arm and pull her along with me.

"What are you doing Grimwood?" She snarls.

I growl at her, "Helping you out. Now do as I say or I'll leave you to whatever spell Sirius is going to use!"

She rolls her eyes, "As if. Sirius won't try to do anything that widespread. He doesn't have the stomach for it, and he doesn't have the magical power for it either. Now if you don't let go of me, I will curse you myself!"

I snarl and take off at a run, feeling energy of the area being pulled toward the other side of the arena. I'm dodging around the debris that has already accumulated and reach the edge of the arena, where there's a spell that wards the magic from affecting the onlookers. Standing by the ward I summon a couple of bits of debris and arrange it in front of me, use a piece of cement for a bit of transfiguration into a large cement wall.

That's when there's almost a pause in the battle. In that pause the silence stretches out and seeps into the very stone in which our spells had been hitting. Finally the silence is broken with an echoing boom. I quickly put up a shield charm and anchor my feet. Sure enough a moment later and there's a blast that wrecks havoc on everything. The stone and cement that I had placed in front of me ends up broken into dust, and my shield barely holds, pushing me back about five feet from the impact. When the commotion stops I peek out from behind the stone and start laughing.

Bellatrix and Tessa, caught in the crossfire of the spell are both on a small platform, dressed like ballerinas, wearing a neon pink and neon orange outfit respectively. Bellatrix is standing on point with her hands above her head. Sparkles glint in the light and there are ribbons in her hair. Tessa is in a pirouette, also with sparkles, but she has flowers weaved into her hair. The piece de résistance is that their hair and skin have been colored pastel blue and lavender.

I walk up to Bellatrix and grin, knowing that the spell is keeping her in position and that she can't reach her wand, which is lying on the floor in front of her, "I warned you. When it comes to Sirius, expect everything and you'll never be surprised."

I look across the arena and grin at Sirius, who is walking toward the dividing line, hands in his pocket and a smirk on his face. He summons Bellatrix's wand and places it in one of his wrist holsters.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"Not bad. Where did you learn it?" I ask.

He laughs, "I made it. It's just a mix of some spells and what not. How'd you avoid it?"

I point to my mock shelter, "A whole bunch of cement blockades and a really strong shield charm."

"So," Sirius says, "We won't be let out of here until one of us beats the other."

I nod, swallowing, and trying to ignore the fight instinct that's rising up. This is Sirius, one of my best friends and one of the few people who understands what's going on with me. He's one of the few people who I can talk to about anything. Why do I want to curse him? Why do I feel the need to beat him to a pulp and just walk away without a care? What's happening? I look down at my wand before throwing it at him. Sure enough he catches it and the shield around the arena drops. Turning on my heel, I take off at a run, barely registering the look of shock and worry on Sirius's face.

"Annalisa! Annalisa come back here!" Father yells, but I ignore him.

The door shuts behind me, effectively shutting off all sound from the room. I look at the halls and have to decide, left or right? I hear a click behind me and start a sprint to the right. Right, left, left, straight, right, left, right, down the stairs, left and then behind the door. When I shut the door I look around the room and sigh in relief when I don't see another way into the room. Sitting on the floor I put my hands over my eyes and sigh.

"Wake up, wake up don't just lay in bed. Sleeping in is bad for your head," mother sneers.

My muscles are still twitching from last night, and I try to sit up, to move, to do anything so as to avoid what is going to happen if I don't show signs of being awake. Too late. I can feel my body scream as she uses a compression spell on it.

"I'm up! I'm up!"

She huffs, "Get into the dueling arena. Now!"

The door slams and I roll out of bed, wincing as my left leg threatens to give out. Limping into the arena, my feet are knocked out from under me in an instant. I give a growl and crawl to one of the alcoves, trying to get my bearings.

"Annalisa, stop hiding! Come out now, or I will force you out," Father shouts.

I wait where I'm at, wondering if he's bluffing or telling the truth. Within moments though I feel as though I am floating on a cloud, not a care in the world, 'Weird,' I think, 'Wasn't I worried about something?'

'Come out of hiding.'

Deciding not to worry about it, I climb out of my hiding spot and stand in the open.

Another thought comes across my mind, 'Why am I in the open? I could get hit!'

'Find Tessa. Once you have found her, use rompreos.'

When I feel my body move of its own accord I start to worry and try and fight the feeling. I try to stop myself, but the floating sensation is too much, and I sink into it after a while, enjoying it.

A crash from above me startles me from my thoughts. Looking around the room, I shift some things to block the door and sit in one of the corners, my thoughts racing and turning over that event time and time again. It was the first time I had even been put under the imperious curse. That had been during the summer before fourth year.

I knew that one of the reasons that Sirius would be worried about me is because I've started to use dark magic more, but I honestly don't want to. I hate doing it and I hate myself every time that I do it. However it is one of the only things that will work against Tessa and father, particularly when they both are attacking me at the same time. I never have enough time to look up offensive spells that are lighter in nature, but I can always figure out a new dark spell to use. After all I only have to wait for Tessa or father to use it on me a couple of times and I can pretty much master it.

I hear a scraping and jump. Looking around frantically, trying to find where the sound is coming from, I barely register that I've taken a defensive stance. Some stone, roughly at waist level, moves back and then to the right. My breath quickens slightly and my eyes narrow. A shaggy black head pops through the entrance and I sigh in relief, sinking to the floor.

Sirius steps in and shuts the door behind him. Sitting opposite of me he waits for a few moments before clearing his throat.

"So is there a reason that you decided to run from, what would have been, a pretty fun duel?" Sirius asks.

I glance at him before croaking out, "I felt the need to attack you. To severely harm you, and I didn't want to. I was worried that if I didn't leave that you would end up hurt."

Sirius frowns at me before glancing to the ceiling, "What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Something's happened, and you aren't telling anyone."

"Right, cause I have to tell you everything," I snap.

"I don't mean it like that!" Sirius says, "I just mean that I'm worried for you! In all the years that I've known you, I have never known for you to act like this!"

"Act like what?"

"Act like you're giving up."

"What?"

Sirius nods, "You've given up. Something's happened and you've decided to stop fighting against your family and stop doing what you believe in."

"I have not!" I shout.

"Then what happened to you?"

AN/ Lookie! Another chapter and it's before four months! Ok, so I know that the story seems like it's going slowly right now, but it will pick up soon, I promise!

Thank you to the lovely xoxo fanfics for reviewing, that made my day! On what you said about Ann and Sirius using dark magic, yes they will be using it more than previously, but they are also older than before. More of Ann's sort of internal battle will be shown in later chapters, because she's still trying to figure out what the use of dark magic means to her. Sirius, so far, prefers to not use it, but since he grew up in a house which is bubbling over with dark magic, his magic will sometimes take on that feature more readily than light magics.

Thank you for reading and please review!