Chapter Six

A/N: Thank you to sammiSTRICK and kittyhawk09 for reviewing!

The very end of August arrived far sooner than it had been expected to do, and still Minerva could tell that the dreams of the past Annie had been experiencing had not ceased. She had not spoken of them to her, nor to any other members of staff that she had come to trust, namely Dumbledore and Poppy Pomfrey, but the woman could tell that they still plagued her twilight hours, whether she wished to discuss that fact or not.

However, the fact that Bellatrix Black would be coming to Hogwarts in only one day's time made the situation even worse, as the Scottish woman now did not know whether or not she had been included in the visions or otherwise. If she had been, her relationship with her adoptive daughter, the eleven year old's sister, was in serious jeopardy.

That evening, once the sun had retreated below the line of the horizon, Minerva knocked on Annie's door with one hand, the other having a cup of hot chocolate balanced on it, something of a peace offering in advance, before Bellatrix arrived to change things for them. Upon the girl's summons, she turned the handle, a little awkwardly, and entered the room, placing a smile on her face before he did so, one which increased by far as she saw the child lying in bed, clutching a teddy bear affectionately to her chest, as her eyelids began to drift shut.

"Hello, Mum." the young girl greeted, her eyes opening a little wider as she did so, in an obvious attempt for her to keep herself awake long enough to speak to the woman. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I am." the professor responded, moving forward so that she was seated beside her daughter on the bed. The child immediately attempted to move from her position below the covers, so that she could actually sit by her mother, but she was immediately stayed by a gentle hand on her shoulder, pushing her back into the soft pillows. "Are you?"

"I'm fine." The response came instantly, as if she had been expecting the question and had prepared the answer in advance to make sure that she sounded as convincing as she possibly could. "I honestly am, Mum."

"Are you still having those nightmares? About the blonde woman, calling to you?" the woman asked, and her daughter's composure faltered. She had always been very skilled in acting, but even she could not keep up the appearances when she was cornered in such a way. "Annie?"

"They aren't nightmares. They're just dreams." the young girl protested, with a slight sigh, which could easily have been a yawn, had the blonde not had an expression on her face which suggested that she was extremely unhappy about the talk. However, she could not maintain the silence for much longer, and so whispered the answer that her mother desired. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me, sweetheart?" she questioned, a little frustrated, although she tried very hard not to let it show. She did not especially like getting annoyed at children to a great extent when there was a way around doing so, and felt doubly bad doing so when directed at her young daughter.

"I didn't want you to worry about me." the blonde replied, her voice a quiet sigh. It was clear that she was a little fearful about the woman's reaction to the admittance, though her adoptive mother had never even considered hurting the girl, particularly not over anything she had said, and never would do so. If she spoke truthfully, Minerva was immediately saddened by this, despite the fact that she knew why she had reacted in such a way.

Poppy Pomfrey, when she had checked the blonde over upon her arrival at Hogwarts, had told her fellow professor with a heavy heart that she would most likely retain the fear in her subconscious for a good few years, if not for longer. Now, Narcissa - 'No. Annie.' Minerva told herself - was finally about to feel the consequences of the trauma she had suffered as a baby.

"Annie, I worry more about you when you keep things from me than I do when you tell me about your dreams." the Scottish woman explained, pulling the child closer to her, so that she was leant entirely on her right shoulder. "I am here for you, and I always will be. That is not going to change, whether you have a dream that you think might worry me or not. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Mum." she told the woman, wrapping her arms tightly around the woman's waist and burying her head in her shoulder, a smile finally illuminating her face. Minerva could not help herself for breathing a sigh of relief at that moment, as she had been extremely worried about the child in her care, thinking that she was unhappy, that she was fearful, that she would figure out what had happened in the past and would hate her adoptive parent for it. Luckily, none of those things had happened, and she was extremely glad for this, as it was a nightmare of her own, and had been for many years, that Annie would reject her in favour of her true born family.

"I love you, my darling Annie. I hope that you know that." the Scottish professor sighed, as she tucked the young blonde underneath the covers, making sure to cover the stuffed toy in the girl's arms as well, something which made her giggle a little, though she did so sleepily, as she was almost lost to sleep at such a time of night as it was.

"I love you as well, Mum." the girl finished, already drifting away into the clutches of sleep, a pleasant darkness consuming her waking hours.

That night, amid the darkness, Annie dreamt once again of a blonde woman with blue eyes. A woman who called her Narcissa.

A/N: So, here comes Bellatrix, but will she recognise her? Please review, so you can find out quicker!