~*~AG~*~

My Darling Anna,

It has been far too long since I have called you that. Far too long since I have shown you any kindness. And yet, I find that you have grown up to have a remarkable amount of it. I cannot tell if this is just your character, or if you found it as your grew, but I hope that you keep it in your life.

There are few things in my life which I regret. The main one is not allowing you the chance to grow as a child should be allowed. In this, I feel that I have failed you. I understand if you find this odd, this sentimentality from me. This love. But, the truth is that I have always loved you. You always have been my favorite of my children, and I wish that I could show you that as the truth, but I doubt that you would believe me anyway.

As you are reading this letter, I have already died and transferred my magic to you. You already have a remarkable amount of power for yourself, and I feel that with the addition of this magic, you will be able to do what it is you must. What that is, I am not aware. The cosmos have yet to clue a mere mortal like me into their plans, but I feel that you will need all the help that you can acquire. As such, I shall go against words that I have told you before. Stay close to Sirius Black. That boy is powerful, intelligent, and loyal. He is, regardless of what I, your mother, or his parents have said in the past, a remarkable wizard.

Take care of your brother. I know I need not say that, but if I do not, I will feel as though I have not fulfilled my duties as your father. You are a good girl. You are strong and brave. Smart, cunning, loyal, proud, and determined. I am proud to have you as a daughter. As my heir. Thus, I should warn you, your mother plans your death. For you to not inherit the family line, she must kill you, and that is how far she is willing to go to keep the family within her vision.

My Anna, do as you must. Whether you feel the need to fight her and defeat her, or the need to just abandon the family as they stand. That decision is yours to make, and I feel that it is within more than capable hands.

I hope the best for you, my atrum angelus. I know that you will do great things, for you were born to do great things. The Aurors will gain an exceptional fighter. This I am sure. Stay strong my Anna. Do not forget who you are. Regardless of what people may say, keep your head high. Remember, you are a Grimwood. You are of my flesh and blood and magic. And I could never be more proud.

~*~AG~*~

I slowly descend the stairs and enter the kitchen. Mother and Tessa are sitting at the table, chatting about some inane subject or another. I clear my throat and smirk when they start.

"What do you want?" Mother asks, her face set in a grimace.

"I thought that you would care to know that father has died."

"Absurd!" Tessa says, standing from the table quickly, "He would have called me to his bed before he died! It is Grimwood tradition for the eldest child to be given the head of the family's magic when they die!"

"Believe what you want! He is dead, there is no changing that!" I cannot believe that the first thing she thinks about is that she should have gained his magic. "Idiotic girl, your father has died! Do you feel no grief?"

"And you do?"

I frown, "My relationship with father is different from yours. You were pampered where I was not. Therefore I believe that my lack of apparent grief is appropriate."

"He was the head of the family! You should show him respect through your grief!"

"Oh what am I thinking? Allowing my opinion of what is to be expected of me to differ from yours. Yes, because you were absolutely raised to take the Headship of this family," I drawl. Tessa flushes and walks from the room.

"I hope you realise that you will be unable to lay claim to that title," mother says, "At current, it now belongs to me."

I smile at her, "Actually you're wrong. I can take it at anytime. But you know what? Keep the damned title. I'll just take it when you're dead."

"I wouldn't expect my death for a while if I were you."

"I can hope, can't I?"

Mother's eyes widen and she bristles, about to yell, when Tessa comes back downstairs. This time she is more subdue.

"She's telling the truth. He's dead."

Mother deflates a bit, and nods, "Very well. We have a funeral to prepare for."

~*~AG~*~

Standing in front of the coffin, I use the movements that I'd learned what feels like ages ago. The entire time I am ignoring the glares and acidic whispers from the crowd, I start with the final part of the spell, and watch with satisfaction as the gems form the most spectacular pattern and are of the darkest color. Upon completion of the spells, I step outside and walk amongs the tombstones, lighting a cigarette and watching the smoke drift to the sky.

"Are you ok? That spell seems really draining," Rowan says, catching up with me.

I shrug, "It's not as bad as when I used it the first time. I hope you realise that all hell is going to break loose when we go back to the house."

"Why?"

"Because," I take a drag and blow the smoke from my nose, "mother is not too pleased and she has probably heard about several events which have taken place today."

Rowan nods, "Well, then let's get back inside. It's freezing out here."

I drop the butt of the cigarette and watch it melt the snow in its path. Crunching back into the funeral, I sit at the back of the room and listen to the rest of mother's speech. Naturally she can't just give a eulogy. She has to give an entire run down of what she has planned for the family.

"And Annalisa has decided to let me lead the family until she has finished helping the cause."

My head snaps up, my fingers pausing in picking at a string on my robes. I cannot believe my ears. Gritting my teeth, I hold back from yelling in the middle of the funeral. I don't want to disrespect the dead.

"Annalisa plans on helping the Dark Lord much like her sister has, and make a good name for the Grimwoods."

I feel my restraint slipping, though I remind myself to wait until we get back to the house to yell at her. Surely she's going to stop lying now? Or does she really want a fight?

"However, she will not just be any Death Eater. She has plans becoming amongst the inner ring of the Dark Lord, and possibly even being his right hand."

"Bullshit!"

I hear the gasps run through the crowd and they all turn to face me. Mother's eyes are now clashing with mine and I hold back a snarl.

"Excuse me?" she whispers.

"You heard me. I said bullshit. I have never shown any interest in groveling at some man's feet!" I slowly stand, knowing fully that this is going to escalate, "Unlike others within my presence, I do not lower myself to a rank which is below a house elf. How dare you even suggest that?"

Mother sneers, "Peg, please follow me and assist with explaining to Annalisa what her duties are."

Aunt Peggy smiles, "With pleasure."

I can see the movement before mother makes it. However due to the amount of young children in the room, I cannot block the spell. Flying through the doors I hit my head on a gargoyle-esque statue and roll to the side. Flicking my wrist, I close the doors behind the two women and add a shield to it which will block any stray spells.

"You really don't want to do this," I say.

"Oh, but you're wrong. We do," Aunt Peggy says.

I laugh, "Fine, we're already gathered for one funeral. Might as well make it three."

As they start to attack, I cannot help but to smile and laugh. They really are horrible duelists. How they made it this far in life without dying, I cannot fathom. They soon resort to using Dark Magic and eventually one of them gets my wand away from me and my hands pinned to the wall above my head. I smirk at them, wondering what they're going to do and admiring the cuts and bruises that have already formed on them, knowing that more will form soon.

"Not so tough now, are we?" Aunt Peggy says, her eyes shining with victory.

I chuckle, "You're a cocky bitch."

Her eyes widen in shock as she lets out a squawk of indignation. I roll my eyes and use wandless magic to release my hands. When that works better than it usually does, I smile.

"There we go, now this'll be a fair fight."

Aunt Peggy doesn't have a chance. I manage to cast enough spells at her to leave her unconscious for a month. Her skin is bright purple, her hair neon green, and she has bumps along her skin. She is also hanging from the ceiling by her ankles and has pigeons roosting on her. How the pigeons came about, I don't know, but I suspect a couple of spells merged together. Something to look into for later.

"Now that we won't be interrupted," I say, summoning my wand, "What is it that you wish to discuss with me?"

"Oh, family politics," mother says. Then the bitch hits me with a blasting curse. Luck is on my side when I get a shield up in time, but I'm still thrown into a stone wall. I groan, feeling the pain in my back. Mother also manages to summon my wand and starts to send various dark spells at me. Within a few moments I have been electrocuted, cut, burned, have had the air compressed from my lungs, and I'm sure that she broke my left arm. She uses another spell to send my flying into the wall again.

"Thank Slytherin," mother says, "That Rowan is a much better Grimwood than you could ever be."

"Leave…him…alone," I manage to gasp, slowly gaining my breath back.

"Ah, but I have such big plans for your brother…such plans that he'll be marked for the occasion."

Letting out a snarl, I leap at her, transforming into Shadow mid jump. Her eyes widen with terror. I land on her, my front paws on her shoulders, causing her to fall onto her back. My left paw is at her neck within moments, my claws pressing against the soft flesh. It would be so easy. Too easy.

I turn into a human, my right hand grabbing my wand as my left hand closes around her throat. My wand tip then digs into her temple ever so slightly, causing her to whimper.

"You ever threaten to hurt my brother's well-being again, and you will find out that I am much more of a Grimwood than you think I am!" Letting her go, I take down the shield in front of the doors and walk into the room where the rest of the family is waiting. They look shocked at my appearance and I quickly find Rowan, motioning to him to come to me. When he reaches me, he grabs my arm and I turn, apparating us away. When we land in the house, I turn to him and make sure he's looking me in the eye.

"If you want to leave with me, now is your chance. Grab whatever you need, but be sure to hurry in your packing. I'm not sure how much time we have," I tell him. He nods and practically flies up the stairs. I summon my bags and shrink them. As I place them in my pocket, I hear a crack of apparition and am hit with a curse. I feel the skin on my back split open and quickly turn to face my attacker. Tessa is standing before me, her eyes narrowed and fury on her face. She flicks her wand at me again, and I feel the cut on my chest from first year open again. But before I can move, one word leaves her mouth that I am absolutely unprepared for.

"Crucio!"

I clench my jaw, doing all I can to ignore the pain and pretend that it doesn't exist. I feel her push more power into the spell and can taste copper in my mouth. Suddenly, she cuts the spell.

"How dare you?" she whispers, "You dare treat our mother like that? To throw away the Grimwood name like that?"

I spit blood at her and smile, "I'm a Gryffindor, daring is a requirement."

She snarls at me and casts first one spell and then crucio again. The pain is incredible. And even as I scream, I cannot help but admit that it was smart to cast a spell to make my nerves extra sensitive before the second crucio.

Because my eyes are squeezed shut, I don't see anything, but I hear the yell of anger and the thump of someone hitting the floor. The pain lifts and I take in deep breaths, wondering if my throat will be forever sore.

Rowan looks at me with worried eyes, his wand pointed at Tessa, "Are you going to be ok?"

I nod, wincing as that triggers more pain, "Yeah…come on…let's get to Hogwarts."

Rowan, who has already shrunken and lightened his luggage, grabs my arm. I disapparate, with full intentions of never returning to that hell hole. Our feet touch on the snow covered ground of Hogsmead in a moment and I barely manage to keep my feet. Pain flashes up and down my body and I see multiple images of everything around. Giving my head a light shake, I give Rowan, who looks really worried, a smile.

"Shall we get to the castle?"

He nods.

I shift my cloak and lead the way toward the path and school. The moon is in waning Gibbous, and I can see a dark trail following me in the snow. I grimace, wondering how long it will take to recover from this. I know Rowan can see the trail as well, he is following behind me after all, but neither of us say anything.

We reach the main doors of the castle and I find them locked when I attempt to open them. Deciding to do the next logical thing, I knock on the wood.

The door opens and I smile at Sirius, who is staring at us, bewildered.

"Told you I wouldn't splinch."

I proceed to fall forward as the world turns black.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

Catching Ann before she hits the ground, I feel a warm dampness on the front and notice the trail that is behind her in the snow. I pull my hand back, notice it's a dark red, and pick her up.

"Rowan follow me to the Hospital wing!" I turn around and take off at a run, not even caring to make sure that he'll follow. I dodge around the few people in the hall and take a passage that I know leads to the floor that the Hospital wing is on. As I run toward the door I growl, wondering why the Hospital wing's door is closed. Not even bothering to slow down, I use my momentum to kick open the door, running past it as it bangs against the wall behind it. Madam Pomfrey comes running out as I reach one of the beds.

"What is going on?" she asks, her voice screeching.

"Ann's badly injured and needs help," I say.

The matron's eyes catch sight of the girl on the bed and she moves like a firework. Casting various spells, she notes the colors that appear on Ann and either grabs or summons the necessary potions. Her wand is also moving quickly, sealing cuts and keeping the diagnostic charm working.

"Blue," I mutter, "cuts. Green for burns, and black is Dark Magic in general. Yellow is electric shock, while purple is for broken bones. What does orange mean again?"

Rowan, who had arrived sometime during the chaos, lets out a shaky breath, "Crucio."

I pull him to the side while keeping a count on the number of blood replenishing potions used. "She's been under Cruciatus?"

Rowan nods, "At least once. I don't know about any other time, but when I came down from packing, Ann was screaming and Tessa was above her. It was so bad that my hairs still stand on end at the thought of her scream."

"Oh gods, and she has such a high tolerance for pain. I can't imagine anything that would make her scream like you said," I mutter.

"She said the same about you, you know. When you ran away and came here in the same shape she's in, she said the same thing about you," Rowan says. He bites his lip, eyes never leaving his sister's bed. "I hope she'll be ok."

"She will," I say, more sure than I feel. 'She has to be.'

~+~SB~+~

I tuck the quilt around Rowan and sit back in the chair I've been occupying for the past few hours. I know that there's no reason for me to stay awake and watch her. I know that I have no excuse. But I feel as though I have to make sure that she's ok. Rowan had stayed awake for as long as he could, but he eventually fell asleep. Sighing, I wonder when the world decided to go to hell and hand out horrible Karma for some unknown evil committed.

"You should be sleeping."

I glance at Ann and give a slight smile, "So should you."

She gives a shrug, winces, and glances at Rowan before her eyes return to mine, "I will. Trust me, I'm entirely too tired to stay up for too long. I just thought that I'd heard Rowan make a noise. I wanted to be sure that he's ok."

"No, I think you heard me sigh," I say, "So, what happened?"

Her eyes grow distant for a moment before she gives a soft smile, "Nothing too horrible."

"Liar."

"Prove it." She shakes her head, "Anyway, my father's dead now."

"He's dead?" My tone doesn't properly convey my shock and I raise an eyebrow.

She nods and winces again, "Oh…bloody bitch…yeah. The idiot has been sick for a while and then he decided that he wanted to perform a ritual. He died right after it was performed."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't bother. I never cared for the bastard anyway."

I frown. Though the statement rings true, Ann has never been happy with her home life, something seems off. It's off in the same way that I assume it would be for me if someone had asked how I felt leaving Grimmauld place for good those first few days. "So, you're head of the family now?"

"Technically. Mother is controlling the title at the moment, but I could easily deal with her if I wanted to. But she isn't worth my time."

"How did you end up here like this?" I ask, "I've never seen you so beaten up returning to Hogwarts."

A partial smile forms on her face, "It all went to hell. Plan and simple."

I frown and watch, even as she falls back asleep. Leaning back, I settle into the chair I'm in and try to get some sleep, though my thoughts staying uneasy preventing me from doing a good job.