It's my last week home until mid-March; my mind is all over the place. Hehe. But I wrote you all a long chapter; I'm hoping to get a few more out this week, maybe tonight if I can.

Thanks for the reviews, CharlotteBlackwood, Nova5621 (hehe, sorry, you know how much I love cliffies.) , thewrittenword87, and Weasleytwinslover87! :D

Reviews are lovely. :3

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS QUEEN!

CHAPTER 87

Sirius kicked open Anastasia's door to find his daughter sitting up in her bed. The ends of her hair were standing up; it was a peculiar sight for such a young child.

I didn't remember having so many night terrors as a child, then again, when I was a child I wasn't surrounded by whispers of death and war.

"Alright there, little miss?" Sirius asked, putting down his wand and sitting on his daughter's bed. The girl shook her head, her eyes changing back and forth from yellow to white.

Sirius pulled the child into his arms and she clung tightly.

"Was it a bad dream?" Sirius asked, looking at her.

If you had told me when I first met him that he was going to be a reliable, caring father. I would have laughed for days. James and Remus had always referred to me as "the girl who had Sirius Black whipped." though since she was born, I was pretty sure it was Anastasia who truly had him.

"No, daddy. It was real." She said, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh." Sirius said, consolingly. "I'm sure it was just a bad dream, sometimes those seem very real."

Asia shook her head, and buried her face in her father's chest. Sirius exchanged a look with his wife, puzzled and concerned.

"Do you want to tell us about the dream?" Audrey asked, walking over and sitting next to Sirius on the bed.

"It wasn't a dream!" The child exclaimed, already exasperated with her parents. "Mama, my eyes were open, I was awake."

"Anastasia, you know your father can't understand you when you're speaking russkiy." Audrey said, looking at the child.

I was used to not understanding the Russian, but what perplexed Audrey and I was how our daughter spoke it so fluently. Audrey hadn't spoken Russian since her father died she outright refused to. Though Anastasia had broken that, she would switch languages constantly.

"What did she say?" Sirius asked softly, stroking his daughter's hair.

"She's insisting that it wasn't a dream." Audrey replied, and then turned to her daughter. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"A noise from the closet woke me up." began the child, her eyes nervously shifted to the slightly open closet door. Sirius remembered closing it after he put Asia to bed earlier that evening.

"That's where he came from." The child continued, pointing at the closet.

"Who came from the closet?" Sirius asked.

"He was hurt…he was bleeding a lot. He wouldn't let me help him, he said he couldn't feel it anymore. But I think he was lying. He asked me where you were." The child looked at her mother.

"Who was he, love?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"Jack." She said, rolling her eyes as if it were obvious. Audrey would be amused with her daughter's mannerisms if the situation weren't so eerie.

"Jack?" Audrey said softly, looking at her child.

Sirius was calculating something…he flicked his wand and a silvery dog sprinted from the tip and out of sight.

"He said he tried to tell you, mommy. But he ran out of time." said Anastasia, looking at her mother.

Audrey was horrified and confused, she didn't know if her daughter had an overactive imagination or if something deeper was going on.

There was a whoosh and a bang in the sitting room, she faintly heard Sirius say "Down the hall!" to their guests, even though he was right next to her.

All sound seemed to cease, her view changed to darkness, a familiar intricate hall, and jets of red and green light.

And then I remembered…

"Audrey, they want something from us…they want us dead, all of us. I got here and I found Hans and Peter dead in the entrance hall. Audrey, you're the youngest, and the only one who needs to know-"

He never finished his sentence, he began to gasp, and Audrey looked down at his chest. A silver blade.

Jack was Jacques…Dzhek…my older cousin…

Albus Dumbledore entered the room, Hisoka following.

"What's happened, my dear child?" Albus said, entering the room.

"It wasn't a dream." said Asia, shaking her head. She looked up at Albus with wide eyes. She was already getting sleepy again.

"Your father's patronus told me so." Albus nodded. "Can you tell me what you saw?"

"Jack came out of my closet, he was bleeding a lot. He told me he tried to tell mummy something but he ran out of time." The child said, slightly irritated for having to tell her tale again. She rubbed her eyes.

"Okay, Anastasia. Thank you." Said Albus.

"Perhaps, we should let her sleep?" Hisoka suggested, she could see that Albus was curious. The Headmaster would most likely want to investigate the room.

"That's a grand idea." Albus said, clapping his hands together. He crouched down in front of the child's bed. "Anastasia, would you like to sit with Hisoka for a while?"

The child nodded and jumped out of her bed, she took the geisha's hand and made for the doorway. Before leaving her room, she turned around and said.

"If you see Jack, will you help him find a doctor? He really needs to see a doctor. He's hurt."

Albus gave the wide-eyed child a small smile. "Yes, of course."

Once the two were out of sight, Sirius cast a muffliato charm over the room. He didn't want Anastasia hearing anything.

"Well?" He asked, looking from his wife to Albus.

"Well, what?" asked Audrey.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked, looking at his wife.

"I honestly don't know." replied a puzzled Audrey. "There is a possibility that it wasn't a dream."

"Audrey, I know you're denying one of the most obvious conclusions here." Albus said bluntly.

"Of course I'm denying it." Audrey's voice shook, she blinked back her tears.. "If you were in my position…would you want to believe it was true?"

"Valid point." Albus replied, looking at her. "That's what your husband was thinking."

Audrey gave Sirius a questioning look; Albus went back to inspecting the room.

"As soon as Asia said his name was Jack, I had a feeling…" Sirius admitted, squeezing her hand.

Audrey nodded.

"I'm just hoping it was a dream…" She said, wiping her eyes.

"But even then…you've never mentioned them…she doesn't know about them."

"Have you really not told her about your family?" Albus asked, turning around. He looked surprised.

Audrey nodded.

"Well, why on earth not?" The old man asked. "Your family is the origin of Anastasia's abilities…surely she has asked you where her magic comes from?"

"She has." Audrey confirmed. "But I told her they came from me, and from her grandfather, and his father, and so on."

"But you didn't tell her about the others? Your cousins, your uncles and aunts?" Albus was shocked.

"I did not." Audrey said straight-faced. "Is there a problem with what I tell my daughter?"

"I don't have a problem with it." Albus replied. "But the day will come and she will want more. You can't keep this from her forever."

"Actually, I can." Audrey replied icily. "And I will keep it from her as long as it keeps her safe."

"Do you really think that, Audrey?" Albus seemed skeptical.

"Albus, it's easier for us to conceal ourselves within the United Kingdom. But I do not regret keeping the Ivanoff legacy, St. Petersburg, and the secret that I don't even know about away from my daughter." Audrey's eyes flashed red for a moment.

"You don't think the curiosity will compel her to go back to St. Petersburg?" Albus asked.

I always hated when he did that. He pushed and pushed, he analyzed everything we ever did and it was irritating.

"If she never knows about it, and if I never speak a word of russkiy around her, she will forget everything. It is for the best." Audrey replied, the last sentence lacking a bit of confidence.

"And should she follow your footsteps, and someday have a performance in Russia?" Albus asked.

"Unlikely." Audrey replied, irritated now. "If she follows my footsteps, whoever is her mentor will know not to take her near there. Albus, why are you asking me all of this? I've had enough emotional stress for the night."

"Oh, just curiosity. That's all." Albus said, going back to inspecting the room. "You know, Audrey. One day you're going to have to acknowledge it…it happened, and there's nothing you can do about it. It wasn't your fault."

Audrey didn't respond, Sirius could see she was holding herself back. She shook slightly, her fists clenched. She blinked back her tears again.

I knew he was right…but the way he went about it was so cruel. When I made my debut, when I donned a new life, it was easier to forget St. Petersburg and the life I had left behind there. But with the last few months, the city came back to me in my dreams. It came back to me in my daughter's words.

"Your daughter was right, it wasn't a dream." said Albus, his voice was grave.

The couple turned to find the old man in front of the closet now. He opened the door fully, revealing a bloody handprint that was smeared on the inside.

The rest of the tiny closet was clean, all of the girl's clothes were fine. Albus moved them out of the way, revealing the back wall. "It seems that your cousin knows you're in denial."

That last comment was so unnecessary...

принцесса

Найти правду, пока не стало слишком поздно.

It was written in blood…

Sirius could see that his wife was horrified.

She was holding herself together really well, but I could see she was close to cracking.

"Do you know what that means, Audrey?" Albus asked softly, waiting for her to translate.

She inhaled a shaky breath and spoke. "Printsessa, find the truth, before it's too late."

We all knew what that meant.

I had thought that after the massacre the secret was lost to me forever. I wanted it to be lost forever; I had forced myself to believe the lie. I didn't want to remember where I came from, and the people I came from. I wasn't ashamed of them, I could never be. I was ashamed of myself; Vladimir Morozov had made it very clear to me that I was the reason my family was dead.

Was it so wrong of me to keep it from her? St. Petersburg was not St. Petersburg without my family, there would be nothing for her there but echoes of a past she did not know. Since she was born, so many strange things had happened. They always happened in the night. My seeing eye seemed to have expanded since her birth, and it kept growing. I saw many things while I slept…

"There you are, love. We figured you might be here." Said a raspy voice that Audrey did not know.

Her eyes widened.

He lunged at her and then she took off, running through a dark forest. She wound through the trees, jumped over rocks.

She was panicked; she could hear him close behind her. Her heart was racing; the light in the forest seemed to get darker and darker. She could feel boulders under her feet, and now she was worried about stumbling.

Her head hurt.

The scene then changed to a man standing above her, his face was blurred. She couldn't make out who he was as he raised his hand over her lower abdomen.

A brilliant green light.

The scene changed again, she wore a jade green dress and stood in an unfamiliar parlor talking to an unfamiliar man sitting at the piano.

"What should we do?" She asked quietly.

"Beethoven Cello Sonata, Opus 5, number 1." He replied, and sat at the piano.

Audrey realized she didn't have an instrument; the man noticed her looking around and pointed to a very dark, almost black cello lying on its side next to the piano.

She sighed, picking it up, immediately she noticed the Slytherin crest on the back of the instrument. She felt as though she were betraying everything she stood for.

The room seemed to spin; Audrey was in a different dress. She felt weaker; she looked at the man sitting behind the piano. He was the same person; he just looked so tired and thin.

He stood up from the piano, and said something about Rebecca Clarke being a muggle composer.

There was an angry yell from their lone audience member, he flicked his wand, and the pianist was on fire.

Audrey woke with a jolt, she was sweating.

"Glass of water for your troubles?" said a silky voice.

"Thanks." She said, accepting the glass and taking a sip. "How are you still awake?"

"I couldn't sleep after everything that's happened today." Sirius shrugged, closing a book he apparently was reading. Audrey would inquire about that later.

"Having more crazy dreams?" He asked, turning towards her. She nodded.

"It was bloody weird." She said, running a hand through her hair.

"I dreamt I was running through a forest from someone…something, really. It was keeping up with me…and then I blacked out, and I had this raging headache. Someone, I'm guessing my captor, was standing over me. He cast some sort of spell on me; I don't know what he did. And then suddenly, I was in a green dress performing for him with a pianist who I didn't know. The pianist told me that we were performing the Beethoven Cello Sonata, Opus 5, number…I DON'T EVEN LIKE THAT SONATA!" She exclaimed, Sirius wore an amused expression.

"Perhaps your dreams think your unsophisticated for not liking Beethoven." Sirius smirked.

"Beethoven was the only composer you even knew of when we first met, Sirius. Don't even start with me." Audrey scolded in a joking manner.

Sirius grinned… "Well, onwards with your weird dream."

"The scenario barely changes, but the man I'm performing with looked emaciated…almost as if we had been there for a very long time under terrible conditions. He then told our captor that Rebecca Clarke, a female composer, was a muggle…and then our captor set him on fire."

Sirius pulled his wife towards him.

"As I always say, love. I'm sure it was just a dream."

"But can you be so sure of that with what's happened tonight?" Audrey whispered, her eyes moving in the direction of the door. Down the hallway, Anastasia was sleeping soundly. Sirius had checked 15 minutes before his wife woke.

"I honestly don't know." He replied.