Chapter Eight

A/N: Thank you to sammiSTRICK and kittyhawk07 for reviewing the last chapter.

Minerva had been lucky. Four more years had passed, and the eldest of the Black daughters showed no sign of recognising Narcissa, nor did the younger one, Andromeda, who had not seen the girl at all, due to the fact that the child had been forcibly locked in her room on the night of the middle sister's Sorting, so that she would not come out again. However, that was all about to change, and there was nothing that the woman could do about it.

At the age of eleven, it was now Annie's turn to attend the school, this time as a student. Both she and Dumbledore had agreed that she should be entered under the name of Anastasia Selwyn, for the sake of both the child and her mother, as all of her hard work would be undone if she were merely announced as Narcissa Black to the whole school, a crowd which would include her trueborn sisters, along with her cousins, Sirius and Regulus, one of whom had been selected to become one of her own lions, as much to her shock as his own. The family had always been one that valued the standings of the Pureblood lines in Slytherin, one of the reasons that she had taken the child from that family in the first place, and Minerva doubted that they had taken kindly to one of their own becoming one of their age old enemies.

The woman was finally pulled away from her thoughts as the group of forty children entered through the ancient wooden doors, preparing for the process that would split them into four until they left the school in seven years. Among the children, the Scottish professor caught sight of a few locks of shimmering blonde, belonging to her own small daughter. For a moment, she looked over to the Slytherin table, to ascertain if there had been any reaction from the two Black sisters, but other than a sense of vague alert that came to them with the Sorting in any case, there was nothing.

Five minutes had passed, and over half of the names had been read. Alison Richards had been sent straight to Ravenclaw House, after only a few seconds of the Hat having been on her head, and the next name was read out, causing a stir of nerves in Minerva that she thought she had shaken at the young girls' indifference.

"Anastasia Selwyn."

Annie seemed unable to control her shaking hands as she approached the stool, and her adoptive mother felt pain for the girl's fear. She was clearly so nervous about the Sorting Hat's judgement, as if Hogwarts had become such a part of her that she wanted to go into a particular House, though she did not seem to know which House that would be. Despite what the child might have thought of the Head of Gryffindor House, she did not mind at all to which group of students the girl would belong. She hoped that the girl knew that in any case.

As soon as the Hat was placed on the child's head, the room fell silent, bar a few whispers from tables all around it, as the older students speculated which of them the blonde would be joining. Minerva was breathing extremely heavily, so heavily that she was certain Professor Dumbledore could hear her two places down in the Headmaster's chair, and her heartbeat was pounding in her head. The enchanted brown fabric was shifting around on the girl's head, two folds moving as it spoke quietly to her, and briefly, the woman wondered if Annie was still scared. She hoped not, but had no more time to think of the girl's fear, as the Hat hollered out its decision for the entire hall to hear.

"Gryffindor!"

Unconsciously, the Head of this House breathed a heavy sigh of relief, though whether it was for her adoptive daughter's Sorting into her own House or merely the fact that it was over, she could not say. It was all that she could do, when the blonde turned to face her in questioning, to smile encouragingly in her direction, nodding towards the table that would now be her own. Satisfied that she had her mother's approval, the child ran along to join her fellow lions, a few congratulatory pats on the back being awarded to her when she arrived.

'I should have known that she would become a lioness.' Minerva thought to herself, chuckling a little. 'Ever since she was just a tiny child, she has always been so brave. Far more than I was, or probably will be. She will be happy with the Gryffindors, and all I can do is hope that she won't become too involved with the Marauders and their silly misbehaving.'

Still, the smile on the face of her beautiful child was enough to make the woman forget all the cares she had in the world. Almost.

For just out of the corner of her eye, the professor caught sight of an odd expression, as if the wearer had just seen an old, dear friend that they had not met for years at a time. But this did not truly worry her until she realised the identity of the girl that wore it. Andromeda Black.

Most of the worries the Scottish woman had had for Annie had revolved around Bellatrix discovering the identity of the girl, that the young woman who had been but eight years old when they were parted would remember the face of her sister, but she had not counted on the younger of the two, by only a single year, doing so. If she spoke of the matter to her elder sister, then the whole of the Black family line would be upon her. There were so many things that could go wrong, but Minerva forced them to the back of her mind, and concentrated on the happiness she felt for her daughter having been Sorted into a House that pleased her.

'No matter what happens, I will always love that girl.' she told herself staunchly. 'And no matter what, I will make sure that she is safe.'

A/N: So, Annie's a Gryffindor. Did you expect that? Please review!