~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I sneak through the halls, being sure to keep to the shadows, and hoping that none of the Marauders will look at the map. The Marauder's Map was finished last year, and is quite the piece of magic. It shows anyone and everyone, no matter what. It was made to show where people who are moving are, even if they're just pacing. It is also able to focus on one person and find them within the castle if you give it the right command.

'Merlin, please don't let them look at the map!' I think, entering the transfiguration wing. I pull out the parchment that my wards are written on and levitate them to the rafters, casting sticking charms on the back to keep them in place. Once they were placed, I activated them and began on the charms work. Lily would add to them once I left the area, and then Marlene would come in and do the finishing touches with the potions. I just hope that this will work.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

As I cast the spells, I wonder if this will actually work. If it does, then this is going to be one hell of a prank. The only problem is that it might really injure some people, so we've kept it away from the stairs, making it so that a person can see where the stairs are and doesn't fall down and break their neck or something.

"Sirius!" James voice sounds from my pocket. I pull out the mirror and smirk, "Yes Prongsie?"

James rolls his eyes, "Have you finished with your hall yet?"

"Just about. I only have a few more feet to do."

James nods, "All right. See you in the commons!"

~*~Ann's POV~*~

The next morning, I feel some anticipation and also some dread. Something telling me to stay in bed. 'Great, now your thoughts are rhyming.' I roll my eyes and finish getting ready, waiting for Lily and Marlene. When they're finally ready, we exit the tower, chatting about the Hogsmead trip coming up. Of course, it's the Valentine's day one, so a lot of the other girls are giggly, but I have rather…darker feelings toward the holiday.

"I'm just saying who wouldn't want to pluck the wings from the little fucker and throw him in a well?" I ask.

Marlene huffs, "You're just not a romantic. And while I don't agree with a baby in a diaper with arrows shooting people-"

"A cherub," Lily corrects.

"Exactly. I don't think that's too awesome, but I like the idea of the day over all."

I roll my eyes, turning the corner and stop dead. The entire hall is made up of mirrors.

"What-"

"the-"

"hell?"

"Hello ladies!" Sirius calls from behind us. I turn around, my eyebrows raised, and a grin on my face.

"I see you blokes have been busy."

Remus grins as he walks up, "Just a little bit."

I roll my eyes and continue toward where I know the stairs are. Counting the steps in my head, I manage to make it to the Great Hall without any troubles. When I glance behind me, I notice that the others are missing, shrug and go to the Gryffindor table. Regulus and Rowan sit across from me and look at me expectantly.

"What?"

"We just want to know how you did it," Regulus says.

"Well, I didn't do it, so you're going to have to ask Sirius and that group when they get here," I say, "Though I find it sad that they can't find their way through their own prank."

"They can't?"

"They were right behind me when we first encountered the mirrored halls. I don't think they trusted me to navigate."

Rowan chuckles, "They should know better. After all the times that father had all of us go through mazes…."

I laugh, nodding in agreement.

"What do you mean by that?" Regulus asks.

"Our father is nearly as paranoid as yours. He had us learn how to navigate in an area where we couldn't see and had us walk through it continuously until we were able to make it out from counting the steps and remembering the turns," I explain.

Regulus nods, "That's useful."

Rowan and I nod, "Definitely."

"See? I told you it was the second right!" Sirius's voice travels to us through the doors.

"If we'd just followed Remus we wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place," Peter says.

"You all are idiots."

"Oh, you love us Evans and you know it."

"Bugger off Potter."

I chuckle, "And they have arrived!"

Rowan and Regulus laugh, watching as the group enters the Hall. The Marauders, Lily, and Marlene come and sit around the three of us. Sirius, surprisingly, sits across from Regulus. The group starts to eat their breakfast, chatting about various things. When a good amount of the students are in the hall, a thick cloud of smoke appears in the center of the room. When the smoke clears, the room has a perfect view of a large box with a handle. The handle starts to turn, bringing out a tinkering song. The hall seems confused, except for the muggle borns, and those who have taken Muggle Studies. Those people are backing away slowly. A loud 'Click!' sounds, scaring a good three quarters of the school. They relax, laughing, thinking that it was over.

The sound of many keys of a piano being hit sounds, and a large clown pops out of the top of the box. It starts to laugh before turning its head to look at each table.

"You set the challenge, consider it accepted!" the clown says before disappearing in a burst of smoke, confetti, and glitter.

My eyes catch the other girls' and I give a subtle nod. When they both nod back, I have to hide a smirk. Let the war begin.

~*~AG~*~

"AND FURTHER MORE DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH YOUR ACTIONS COMPLETELY UNDERMINDED THE ENTIRE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE SET UP HERE? YOUR PRANKS HAVE CAUSED HALF THE THIRD YEARS TO END UP IN THE HOSPITAL WINGS SO THEY CAN HAVE THEIR FAIRY WINGS REMOVED!"

I zone out of McGonagall's yelling. My feet are cold and I shift back and forth for a moment. I'd gone to make a last minute adjustment to a prank, and hadn't even changed from my pajamas. Lily and Marlene had heard me and decided to come with me. Apparently the Marauders had been setting something up as well and Peter had forgotten the map while James had forgotten the cloak. McGonagall has been going at it for the last fifteen minutes. I hear her cough slightly and she takes a sip of tea.

"Now," McGonagall says, her voice back to a normal level, "I am extremely disappointed in the seven of you! Never have we had almost an entire year group of a single house in so much trouble. I have never seen so many students out at once! Miss Evans, Mister Lupin, you are prefects, I expected more from you!"

I clear my throat, "Umm…McGonagall, it's not their fault."

Her sharp gaze turns to me, "Miss Grimwood?"

"Well, I know it's not Lily's fault at least. I'd convinced her and Marlene to help me," I say. I shift back and forth again, feeling a draft on my legs, bloody shorts.

"And it's not Remus's fault either," Sirius says, "I convinced him and James and Peter to help as well."

McGonagall frowns, "Very well. Twenty five points from Misters Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin as well as from Misses Evans and McKinnon. You five also have detention for a week with me starting tomorrow. You may go."

"What-what about Ann and Sirius, Professor?" Lily asks.

I give her a look to shut up, but she barely spares me a glance.

"I will send them along when I'm done with them."

The five nod and leave the office. Turning my attention back to McGonagall, I have to avoid ducking from the look she's giving the both of us.

"I want you to explain yourselves right now before I take off more points and give you more detentions than you have had in your entire school experience!" she says, eyes flashing. Clearly McGonagall doesn't enjoy being woken up to find seven of her lions roaming the castle at night.

Sirius has a few false starts while I battle myself.

"Well you see-" he says

"I started it!" I blurt out. Almost immediately, I look down, my fringe falling in my face. "I was sick of the boys fighting. I knew that they were just looking for a reason to apologise to each other, regardless of what they said in public. So I convinced Lily and Marlene to help me get them back together, not so that they would cause chaos, but so that they could be happy again."

McGonagall's eyes flash for a moment before she nods, "Very well. Mister Black, Miss Grimwood, you both have fifty points deducted from you and a weeks worth of detention to be served with me starting tomorrow. Dismissed."

I nod and turn on my heel, leaving the room. I can hear Sirius behind me and adjust my strides accordingly.

"Why did you take all the blame?" Sirius asks.

"Because it's the truth."

"But- we responded without much prompting."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "You want me to tell McGonagall that you've changed your mind and you want more punishment?"

Sirius shakes his head, and the two of us walk in silence for a while before I hear Sirius chuckle.

"So what made you forget your robe?" he asks, glancing at my pajamas.

I roll my eyes, pulling on my shirt, "I was in a hurry and thought that I'd be back in my bed in five minutes. I didn't expect Lily and Marlene to follow."

Sirius laughs, calling out the password for the tower. We climb in and head toward the dorms. I start up to the girls dorm when Sirius calls my name.

"Yeah?" I ask.

He rubs the back of his neck, "Thanks. For getting my mates to talk to me again."

I smile, "Anytime Pads."

He grins back and we head up to our beds.

~*~AG~*~

I pull on my cloak and smile. The April rain will stop a lot of people from going to Hogsmead, and all I want is some time to be by myself. Some time to think. Though, that probably isn't the best idea right now. With the chaos Voldemort on the spread, it's only time until it's declared as an actual war. Providing that the ministry decides to act. They seem to be rather determined to sweep this under the rug.

Frowning, I pull on my gloves, flexing the fingers, and pull up the hood of my cloak. I exit the castle and pass by the carriages, not in the mood to ride to the village. As I walk to the village, my thoughts travel to the impending war again. Regardless of what people say, there is going to be war. There is going to be fighting. The teachers keep trying to keep the students calm, saying that it won't affect us at the castle. While the castle may not be attacked, there is no guarantee that we will not be affected. In fact, it is highly likely that there will be something that happens. The train, Diagon Alley, the platform, Hogsmead, and all other places that students gather that could be attacked. All of these places could bring war to the front gate of the students of Hogwarts.

"And we all go falling down," I mutter. I walk to the Hogs Head and enter the pub. It may be one of the dirtier places, but it is one of the best places to go if you don't want to be bothered by other students. Most of them think that it's out of bounds, or they just avoid the place.

I order some ale and sit at a corner table. Pulling out some parchment and a self-inking quill, I begin to work on some warding schematics I'd been working on for a while. There was only one real weak point and I have been having problems figuring out how to get rid of that point. I make a few marks then scratch them out.

'That's not it you fool. Come on, think about it,' I wave away my thoughts and look out the window. The rain continues to fall, and I can't help but notice that, as I believed, the village is practically deserted of students. That's when a flash of black catches my eye. I exit the pub and follow it, hearing the shouts and using them to help me find the commotion.

"Stop! Stop it, leave me alone!"

"You shouldn't have messed with us!"

"You're going to learn your lesson right now."

"Stop! Ow! Help!"

My eyes narrow and I take off at a run, turning a corner and running toward the small group of people at the end of the alley.

'Five people standing, one on the ground. Three with wands out, two in the back pockets. Fifth year and older. Kid on ground is a forth year. Estimated need of wand, low.' I smirk. This is going to be fun.

Before they can react, I've managed to knock their wands from their hands and get between them and the kid. Smirking, I hold up their wands.

"Lose something?" I ask.

The boys glare, "Give us back our wands."

"Yeah, don't think so. You see, I don't like that you all were beating up this kid. Not fair odds."

"So now you're going to fight us on your own?"

"Yes, these odds are much better."

The boys laugh before starting to attack. I smile as I block their attacks, or use their momentum against them to throw them into walls. I start to laugh during the fight. It excites me. This is what I thrive on.

~*~AG~*~

"And you promise you'll write?" Lily asks for the fiftieth time.

I smile, rolling my eyes, "Yes, I promise."

She nods, "Good. I'll see you next year Ann!"

"Absolutely." I wave as she leaves with her family.

Rowan sighs, "How much longer do we have to wait until they come and pick us up?"

Frowning, I finally place charms on our trunks and place them in my pocket, "Grab a hold of my arm, I'll take us home."

"But father hasn't added you to the wards."

"Whoever said we're apperating into the house?" Rowan grabs my arm and I twist, thinking about the small corner of our yard where visitors were told to apperate. Once we've landed, I ruffle Rowan's hair. He's nearly as tall as I am, but I think he's only going to gain a couple of inches and then stop growing. He'll probably be the same height as me or a little taller.

"I forgot about this corner."

"So did our parents," I say, noting the dilapidated look of the space, "I'll have one of the house elves fix this up. It's no good to have the first thing visitors see be so run down."

Rowan nods and we walk up the path to the door. I unlock and open it, entering before Rowan because one never knows what sort of madness that can come about in this place. Luck is with us in that none of the other occupants of the house are here.

"Mother? Father?" Rowan calls, when no one responds, he smiles at me, "No one's here."

"Really, you think? Did you forget about the charm on that door that rings when guests arrive?" I drawl.

Rowan blushes, "Oh yeah."

Chuckling, I walk through the halls, lighting the gas lamps and other sources of light. I grab one of the triple armed candle holders, light it and walk through the halls, trying to see if anything is wrong. The house is entirely too quiet for my liking. When I can't find anything wrong, I travel to the kitchen, lighting the entire room and get to work at cooking dinner.

"Mmmm! Smells good!" Rowan says, walking in, "What are you cooking?"

"Red Salmon with a hollandaise sauce, asparagus sprinkled with sea salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar, and red potatoes with pepper and olive oil," I say, whisking the eggs for the hollandaise, "For dessert we will have an apple tart."

"Sounds wonderful. Anything I can do to help?"

"Wash the potatoes and start to cube them. Be sure not to make them too small or they'll have to be mashed."

I send a spell to open the windows and drapes, bringing even more light into the room. I huff slightly when my fringe falls into my face and let out a puff of air to get it away.

~*~AG~*~

"Come on Annalisa, you can do better!" father says.

My eyes narrow before I smirk, "Do you really want to see what I can do?"

"That's what I have been waiting for."

"You asked for it," I mutter. Placing my wand in its holder for a few moments, I grab my special throwing knives and throw them into the ground around where father is standing. "Exsilio!"

A purple and black shield appears, springing up from the knives and circling, connecting at each point and forming a dome at the top. And even though I cannot see it, I know that there's a similar dome under the ground. I smile, dropping from where I'd been hanging on the chandelier in the training room. Walking toward where my father is, I smile as he sends every spell he can at the walls of his cage and nothing happens. The walls get stronger with each hit, and I grin even more.

"Problems?" I ask.

"What is this?" he asks.

I shrug, "Just a ward system that I set up. It took me pretty much all of the school year to figure it out, more than that to figure out how to make it work if I placed it on knives. All of the variables. What metal to use, how to activate them, how strong they will be. It probably won't hold someone like Dumbledore or Voldemort, but it will hold the average wizard well enough."

"And can I not just summon one of the knives, bringing the wards down?"

"Try it and find out what happens."

I smile as he summons one of the blades. A flash of purple flies through the dome, causing father to duck. The tail end of his robes gets cut off by the light, and he blinks in shock at the sight.

"Pretty nifty huh?" I smile.

"I am surprised Annalisa, I never thought you possible of something like this," father says.

I smile and turn around, walking toward the door of the training area.

"Annalisa, where are you going? Our training isn't done yet," father says.

I stop. Turning my head, I look at him over my shoulder, "You're right. But wasn't it you who said that everyone has to learn to live without food or human contact?"

"What about water?"

I smirk, "You have a wand. Use it."

~*~AG~*~

Lily,

See, I'm writing you like promised. So, how has your summer been so far? I'll admit mine was halfway decent until I decided to do something stupid. But we're not going to get into that. I think I'm going to go mad here. Oh, have you heard from Sirius? And don't pretend that you've gone back to hating him, once you're friends with Sirius, it's impossible to hate him again. I don't know why, I think it has to do with how puppy like he can be. Anyway, send me a letter, it'll be a nice break in the monotony.

Ann

Ann,

It's good to hear from you! Yes, I'm still being friendly with Sirius, why would I stop? He warned me though, that it might be a while for you to write. My summer has been fantastic so far! My mum and dad are going to take us to France for the summer! And what did you do that was so stupid? Ann, please tell me that you didn't get into too much trouble. How can you go mad, though? I thought that you already were.

Lily

I smile at Lily's letter and start to work on my return letter, when I hear some commotion from the main part of the house. Rolling my eyes, I climb the stairs and try to find the source of the disturbance. When I arrive in the lounge, I find that the six other Lords have gathered. I frown before stepping into the room.

"Might I inquire as to why you all are here?" My voice seems to bring them out of their argument, and they turn to me with murderous looks. I merely raise an eyebrow and wait for their response.

"Annalisa Grimwood, go find your father and bring him here at once," Lord Black instructs.

"My sincerest apologise Lord Black, but Lord Grimwood is not within the residence at this time. Is there anything else which I may assist you with?" I know my tone shows the contempt I feel for the man, and I know he can hear it, but I really don't care. He tried to kill Sirius, he's lucky I don't try to kill him.

"Are you aware when he will return?"

I glance at the clock, "Within the hour."

"Very well, we shall await him here."

"As you wish. I shall have some tea sent in by the house elf." I bow and exit the room. Something is going on. Something that has them concerned.

AN/ Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love hearing from my readers. Funny enough, I have a whole bunch of ideas typed up for seventh year, now it's just a matter of figuring out which pieces to put together and use.