I am back! Yeah, it took me a while, but guess what? Been travelling, been arranging things to study in Argentina and stuff. Been busy. Here you go then. It's shorter than the last couple of chapters but I figured I just plan one out and they have the length they have, no more 'word goals' just content goals.

Please review, you always make my day!

Pansy stood against a wall, filing her nails with an air of disinterest, the sounds of yelling and running around her. While her eyes were fixed on her nails, she was paying close attention to whoever approached. The other members of the Inquisitorial Squad were busy 'rounding up' the members of Potter's defense group, while in reality they were making sure that all but Potter escaped. Draco was in charge of catching him, and if his raised voice –words muffled in the distance- was anything to go by, he'd just caught him.

There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned to face Greg. The large boy stood almost a head taller than her, even with her heels on, and his broad shoulders made sure he always looked threatening even when his face was usually filled with confusion or bewilderment. It was hard not to shrink away from someone who could definitely crush you if they chose to. But Greg would never choose to. As… slow as he might be, as much as he may accept that his size was one of the main advantages he offered, he did his best to be gentle and tried to understand everything you told him, even if he had to ask for a dozen explanations.

"Everything done, then?" She asked, and at his nod she poked her head through the door she'd been guarding.

The Room of Requirement, as the twins had carefully supplied, was large. Its walls were covered in mirrors and shelves with books. Couches and cushions formed comfortable corners and banners hung from the ceiling. Amongst them, the most prominent was a large cream one, longer and wider than the other, with Dumbledore's Army scrawled on it in red and gold glitter. It was a nice touch, and very useful for Dumbledore's demise.

To the side stood Fred and George, checking their backpacks to make sure they'd stowed away anything and everything that might give away anyone's participation in the illegal group. Personal belongings with names, personal belongings without names, the list… that sort of thing. Anna had been serious when she'd said that no one other than the strictly necessary was to be harmed by the procedure.

"Alright, off you go." She nodded to the twins. "Greg will go with you to your Common Room, to make sure you get there okay. Vince, stay by the door while I get Umbridge."

Pansy waited for them to pass by her to leave, her sharp eyes carefully studying the twins as they walked by. It wasn't that she didn't trust them per say, but it was always good to keep an eye on wildcards such as them. In turn, Fred met her gaze from the corner of his eyes, the bright blue following her until she was too far behind him to watch. It wasn't that he didn't trust her either, but old habits die hard and working against each other, expecting the worst from each other, was an old habit.

Without another word she turned on her heel and strode off to where she could hear the yells dying down. If this didn't help Umbridge get Dumbledore fired, nothing would.

Albus cast one last look around his office, the dust he'd created beginning to settle, and held in a sigh. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this but clearly it had been for naught. The stunned forms of Dolores, Cornelius, Kingsley and Dawlish seemed to him to be only there to remind him of how he'd failed to keep the school, his school, away from the war. The Minister and his Undersecretary were doing more harm than they knew, sending him away from the children, and they'd tried to use one of his own men to do even more harm. If sending him away from Hogwarts was bad, how bad would locking him up be? Unspeakably bad, he knew.

Reaching out a hand to Fawkes, his eyes momentarily landed on the banner with Dumbledore's Army on it. Harry had yelled that it wasn't theirs, yet he knew the name of the group to be correct. Miss Edgecombe had said she'd never seen it, and Albus believed her. Somehow someone had orchestrated everything, gotten the poor girl to tell Dolores –she'd been weeping when she was brought in, barely paying attention to the dots on her face- made sure he was incriminated and sent away. Albus had no doubt about who this someone was, but he had mixed feelings about it.

Flames engulfed him and a second later he was looking into the surprised face of Sirius Black. Grimmauld place was only a temporary measure, he'd move on to other places in the morning, but for now it'd do.

"Albus? What's going on? What are you doing here?" Sirius questioned, standing up and offering him a seat at the table, which he gladly took.

Before speaking, the old headmaster sighed and waved his wand slightly, making kitchen utensils start moving to make tea.

"It seems that your second cousin has seen fit to remove me from Hogwarts." He told the younger man. "I do not think it was on her own initiative but I have no doubt that she must have taken some enjoyment from it. I have the impression that she's quite a vengeful child."

Sirius took a seat across the table from him, silent and with his face blank for quite a few seconds. He ran a hand through his hair, longer now but clean and healthy, thick black locks framing his face. The Blacks had always had quite particular features; pale skin, sharp but narrow jaws, straight noses and strong gazes from hooded eyes. The resemblance between Sirius and Bellatrix was clear, as was his resemblance to Annabelle and Narcissa, even if the latter was blonde. Another thing they had in common was the ability to shut their faces off completely.

"I don't doubt that she would be, particularly with you." Sirius gave him a pointed look. "It's in her nature, I'd wager. But are you sure it was her?"

"Quite." Albus nodded. "It's a hard thing to miss, Slytherin House cooperating with the others and keeping them safe, particularly when it's being done by the group of students who volunteered to work for Umbridge."

"And you think Anna's behind that?" The other frowned.

"I know that Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson happen to be in charge of the Inquisitorial Squad, and they are her cousin and best friend respectively." He said. "I know that Umbridge is not the only person with a grudge against me, and her grudge is also the smallest, and she is by far not the most influential person in the castle. If you saw the way Annabelle's house was acting, and how cleanly yet secretly it all came back to her then you wouldn't doubt it either. The girl is intelligent and quite skilled in getting what she wants."

"But even she doesn't know what she wants!" Sirius countered. "When I talked to her she hadn't even made up her mind on whether she even wanted to follow Voldemort."

"That might have been the case two years ago, Sirius, but it most definitely isn't now." Albus sighed. "But I can't seem to make out what she's decided to do."

George pulled his brother up from the armchair, not having the energy to even smirk at the annoyed grumblings coming from him. The last couple of days they'd taken to staying away from the Common Room for as long as they could, feeling a tad to guilty at their fellow DA members' disappointed faces to spend too much time there. That only gave way for them to have to stay up until late to come back to Gryffindor Tower and then have to get up early for classes and now they were exhausted.

It had to be done, though. Anna said he had ordered her to get rid of Dumbledore, that he wanted something from Harry. She would keep him safe, but she couldn't do that if Voldemort didn't keep her close. If she refused his orders he wouldn't even keep her alive and that would be bad.

The twins made their way from their makeshift lab to their dormitories, picking the hallways that had no paintings and that they knew wouldn't be patrolled by Inquisitorial Squad members. Anna's orders.

Fred muttered the password to the Fat Lady and stepped in with his brother. It took a few seconds for them the notice the figure standing by the dying fire, but when they did they froze. It was a girl, third year by her looks, and she was looking at them with a bored expression.

"There you are." She huffed, voice low. "Took you long enough. I was told to give you this."

The girl extended a hand, a folded parchment sealed with emerald wax barely visible in the darkened room.

Hesitantly George stepped forwards to grab it. They knew who it had to be from, but they'd always been approached by Parkinson or Greengrass. It seemed like Anna had opted to move to a less personal medium. If they weren't very much mistaken, this had to be one of Zabini's spies.

As soon as the paper was in his hand the girl hurried away, leaving the twins to stand in the middle of the room, alone. Their eyes met for a second before George huffed and opened it. He raised it closer to his face so he'd be able to read it in the dim light.

"Astronomy tower tonight. Don't make me wait too long. Love, A." George rolled his eyes. "I don't know whether she's being flirty or dramatic, or both, or is just messing with us."

"Just leave her be, I suppose. She can do as she likes, already does most of the time." Fred shrugged before turning to the door. "Though if 'as she likes' includes dragging us away from much needed sleep then I'm not happy about it."

Together they grumbled their way to the Astronomy tower, nodding awkwardly at Crabbe and Goyle who stood a few corridors apart ahead of the tower. Shortly later they were at the top, crossing their arms to keep themselves warm and making their way to the figure sitting on the thick edge. Anna was wrapped in one of her more colorful cloaks, swinging her feet off the side of the tower while staring up at the night sky.

"Took you long enough." She said once they stood close enough to hear. "I was starting to think Blaise's kid hadn't delivered the message."

"We just got there late, is all. She was waiting for us." Fred leaned on the edge with his back to the dark grounds while his brother took a similar position on her other side. "What happened?"

"Things are starting to get in motion." Anna told them, not taking her gaze off the stars. "First the simplest information; I know you're itching to torment Umbridge. I've told Pansy and Draco to tell the Inquisitorial Squad that they are to be as unhelpful as possible to her, and that includes helping… rule breakers get away with it. They didn't name you specifically but if there's any rule breakers in this school it's you."

The twins high fived behind her back. "That's sick. We've got a lot of ideas."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Few people want her breaking down more than I." Anna smiled.

Then she turned to George and he could see her hesitating before looking down. She'd never done that before, she'd never looked anything less than completely and utterly composed and in control. Something was wrong.

"Don't spend all your time on that, though, your jobs start now. I know you told me that you didn't really need your NEWTs and that you had everything ready in Diagon Alley so you're going to leave the school as soon as you finish this assignment." She sighed.

"Leave? You mean like-"

"-actually not doing our NEWTs? Like just starting up now?"

"Not now." Anna snapped. "Here."

She took out a parchment from an inner pocket and handed it to the elder twin. On it was a list of names, each with a house and a year behind it, then behind that there was another name of a person in the same house. There weren't many names, only about two dozen, but they were spread out over all non-Slytherin houses equally.

"We found out who all the muggleborn students are, currently. There's actually almost three hundred of them. Blaise had his kids start talking to all of them, to convince them to go into hiding. He succeeded with most of them; they'll have their families hide away with us as soon as Voldemort goes public and the students will go when we tell them they should. That'll be when they're not in Hogwarts, but you never know. Maybe Hogwarts won't be safe at some point." Anna shrugged. "Your job is to convince these students to do the same. These are muggleborns that wouldn't listen to us. Tell them to send their families to you when Voldemort comes out and that they'll be contacted by that student when the time comes."

"Wait. You're not sending all of the families through us, are you?" Fred demanded, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Of course not. Some will go to Obscurus Books, something I arranged with the owner who's a friend of mine. Others will be sent a portkey or they'll be given instructions to drive. It's all been carefully arranged." She huffed.

"And you've been at it for a while. When did you start?" Fred stuffed the paper in his pocket.

"A few weeks ago. We've been working on this a lot but we've had help from some of our people in the Ministry. Recruiting is going better than expected." She blinked as if remembering something. "You'll be having to work with Marcus Flint in the future, by the way."

"That dung for brains? What's he got to offer?"

"He's high placed in the Ministry, knows how to work that system and he's an old friend." She raised her eyebrows as if challenging them to protest.

"Alright…" Fred groaned.

"So that means you've found a place?" George asked suddenly, grinning. "Where is it?"

"Nott Manor." Anna muttered after an uneasy pause. "Daphne will start preparing the place soon enough and we'll place it under a Fidelius Charm. Theo will be the secret keeper but he'll make sure you know the secret and that you have a way to let others know."

"Like with a paper? Like Dumbledore used?"

"I don't know what that old bastard used but-"

"Hang on." Fred cut her off. "Nott Manor? I get that Nott want to help and do his part and all, but his father lives there too, right?"

"Nott senior won't be a problem, I assure you." Anna answered through gritted teeth.

Somehow they had the feeling that that was exactly what she'd tried to avoid saying.

Anna stuffed the small pouch in her pocket as she left the bathroom. As she nodded to the two Inquisitorial Squad members that had been guarding the door for her she could hear the stones sliding back into place behind her. The Chamber of Secrets was a good place to hide things, to practice magic to keep as a hiding spot for emergencies but unfortunately very few people could access it. That's what this was for. In the pouch were eight basilisk fangs, which she'd carefully pried out of the corpse's rotting jaws. It'd taken a while as it was a delicate procedure, getting the fangs out without damaging either the jawbone or the fang or the whole skeletal structure and not touching the venom dripping off of it in the mean time. But she'd done it and now they were in her pocket.

"To the library then." Anna smiled at the two sixth year boys and they started walking without saying a word.

It wasn't great, having to walk around with guards, most of all guards that weren't Vince and Greg, but it had to be done. Fred and George really were going all out and the fireworks were some of the best things she'd seen in a while. Of course that led to Umbridge running amok trying to catch or destroy they damned things, which she was completely failing at. That was not just because the fireworks were brilliant inventions that just couldn't be gotten rid of almost at all, but also because the Inquisitorial Squad was having a fantastic time being creative and finding out how the things react to any and every spell they could think off. They were doing more harm than good, but Umbridge thought they were doing their best.

Children, in Umbridge's opinion, were stupid so it was only natural that they could only make the situation worse.

Draco had put almost all members of the Squad on furthering the new headmistress' torment so all the 'important' members had to be there. Including Vince and Greg. Which was how she ended up stranded with two almost completely unknown Slytherins whose only purpose was to cast constant shield charms around her so the fireworks wouldn't get too close. Not that she couldn't do it herself but Draco insisted. She would have ignored him but then she remembered a few of the times she'd imposed unnecessary security on him and she gave in. Anna owed him.

Not much later, though way too late for Anna's liking, she found herself standing in front of the doors to the library. One of the boys opened it for her.

"Alright, thank you." Anna smiled. "You can go help Draco now, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

The two students looked at each other from the corner of their eyes.

"Malfoy said to stay with you-"

"I don't care." She cut them off, jaw tight and eyebrows raised. "I'll be perfectly fine in the library, the fireworks can't get it. If Draco has a problem with that tell him –and you'll have to quote me- that he can come tell me by his own damn self."

The one on the left opened his mouth to retort but Anna walked past him and shut the door behind her, making a resounding noise pass through the silent library. Madam Pince, who had as always been pretending she wasn't spying on the students, cast her a disapproving glance but didn't say anything. Taking that as permission to enter, Anna made her way amongst the tall bookshelves and tables cluttered by students until she got to the furthest back corner. There sat Theo, Blaise and Daphne, already buried in their notes and books and finished essays. Well, they'd had to start studying for their OWLs sometime.

They turned to her as she sat down with them, Blaise winking before looking back down and Daphne smiling before doing the same. Theo didn't wink or smile, he extended his hand and placed it close to her with the palm turned upwards. Anna took it and squeezed. He hadn't been alright since choosing to have his father killed. He'd been quiet and more fragile.

He'd been trying to figure things out for himself. Anna didn't know what, but she decided she would wait until he told her himself. She wouldn't push him. Sure, she knew that what she'd been having issues her uncle and friends had pushed her to make up her mind, to get over it. She wouldn't do that to Theo, she wouldn't let anyone else do it either. Anna was going to make sure he had all the time he needed for anything he wanted.

With a gentle smile she leaned forwards and placed a soft kiss on his lips, both closing their eyes for the few seconds it lasted. His eyes were sad when they looked at her again, sad but determined, sad but trusting and loving. He'd be alright, she knew, it was just hard, harder than she could ever imagine, sending your own father to die.

They deserved each other, though, both had more family than they knew what to do with, whether it was just a father or both parents and a nearly mute uncle.

"I figured a few things out, Anna." Theo muttered.

"Yes?"

"I'll be sixteen when father-" He sighed. "I'll just be spending a few months by myself before having to come back to Hogwarts, where I'll turn seventeen and so of age. Blaise says that seeing as the period during which I would lack supervision is so short, that I would be sent to live with my closest relatives for that time. His mother looked it up for him."

Anna frowned. She hadn't thought of that. "And who are they?"

"Well, father was an only child, so was mother and so were both my grandparents." He ran a hand through his hair, expression pained. It was clear that thinking about the whole matter was making things worse for him, let alone talk about it. He hadn't even emotionally processed anything properly yet. "It was a long search but I got them. Hestia and Flora are my fourth cousins five times removed. And they're not actually my closest relatives, that would be their father, but they're the ones we know."

"Flora and Hestia Carrow?" Anna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Like, one year younger than us, aunt and uncle are in Azkaban for being Death Eaters but their own parents want nothing to do with it, Hestia and Flora?"

"Yes but-" He ran a hand over his face. "But it won't be a problem. They won't actually be able to limit what I do. Officially they're in charge, but they're not stupid. Father will be a known Death Eater then, Voldemort will be public, they won't get in the way."

"Particularly not if you promise to keep them out of it." Anna nodded. "Alecto and Amycus are very loyal, I can make sure they don't go near their family."

"That's a plan, then" He swallowed before turning back to his studies.

"No, we're not doing it." Colin scowled at them and it was all Fred could do not to punch the little idiot. "We're not running away, Harry needs all the help he can get."

Little Dennis nodded from his spot beside him. The kid was pale and looked like he wanted to run away from the two scary seventh years, but he stood beside his brother with his chin held high. At least he lived up to the name Gryffindor, but they were both also living up to stupid stereotypes. Namely, being brash and stupid.

"Listen, it's the safest option." George repeated once more. How many times had it been? Five? "Death Eaters will be after all the muggleborns they can get their hands on, even kids like you."

"Besides, do you really think Harry'll let you do any fighting? Actual fighting against Death Eaters? You'll get killed, Colin, you too Dennis." Fred pushed. "We have a place where you and your parents can hide."

"Offer it to the other muggleborns. We're not the only ones." Colin argued. "We don't need it."

"Yes, you do, and yes, we have. They accepted. You're the only stubborn idiots who haven't." Fred snapped. It wasn't exactly true. Of the twenty three names they'd been given only seven had accepted so far, but then again, Colin and Dennis were number eight and nine.

"Why is Natalie working with you?" Dennis piped up.

Natalie? The twins frowned for a second before remembering that that was the name of the girl Zabini had assigned to these two.

"All three of us work for someone else." Fred was surprised at how little problem he had with saying he worked for Anna. Just two months ago he'd been ready to kill her. "That person means well, they've prepared everything for as many muggleborns and their families as they can. They're even preparing how to move some of them out of the country if it gets too bad."

"Who is it then? Who's doing it?" Colin pressed.

"We can't tell you. You'll find out eventually but not yet." George tried to placate him. "We trust them. Don't you trust us?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

At that point the twins' eyes, which had been fixed on the two lowerclassmen, drifted upwards. They were just in time to land on Hagrid who was failing to sneak into the forest unseen. Lately he'd been very wounded, and he wasn't getting better. Why would he be sneaking? He was the groundskeeper and the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures, he was supposed to be going into the forest.

Unless…

The twins' eyes snapped to each other before making a simultaneous choice. Fred cleared his throat and hardened his gaze on Colin, who was still rambling about trust not being second hand that he could trust someone just because they did. Technically, he was right. He would be right if it were anyone other that Anna. He could trust Anna, but they couldn't tell him anything just yet. That part was truer than anything else, ever.

"Alright, you know what? You don't want to hide, Colin. We know that. But you know what else we know?" Fred glared at the boy. "That you're being a selfish prick."

Before the boy could object, George went on with the low blows. "You little brother here? He's terrified. He's eleven. You're going to make him fight Death Eaters?"

"And what about your parents? The muggles? You think they're gonna be left alone just because they have no magic? Because they can't defend themselves?"

"No. They'll be sitting ducks. Voldemort will just sent some Death Eaters to visit them. No mercy."

"So, go on Colin." Fred gave the boy a little push. "Don't accept the protection we're offering. Leave your parents to fend off Death Eaters. Remember what happened at the Quidditch World Cup? What do you think is gonna happen to them when it's not just a show of bravado, huh?"

"And yeah, let your little brother fight. Don't do what's best for him physically and mentally. Force him to fight for his life." George insisted. "And Harry? Let him live with the guilt of you, Dennis, and your parents dying for him unnecessarily."

They could see Colin deflate, could see him start to doubt everything. They could see they'd won but there was a bitter taste in their mouth. Some things shouldn't be said, no matter how true of necessary. But they'd said it. It was the only way to convince him.

And convince him in time to follow Hagrid into the forest to make sure there's nothing that could hinder whatever Anna was planning. Deep down they could see that working for her was turning them into people they didn't want to be. They didn't want to help his friends lose their defense group. They didn't want t bully kids even if it got them to safety. But it'd be worth it in the end. They'd save a lot of people working for her. They would.

"Talk to Natalie." Fred huffed and they both pushed past the two younger boys. With a glance over their shoulders they could see the older of the two sitting down and the younger stand in front of him, shuffling his feet. George pulled Fred along between the trees. They'd have time to think about what they'd done. Now, to find out the dirt and to tell Parkinson. She was the most approachable, for some reason. Fred just found it oddly comfortable to talk to her, even with her snark and holier than thou attitude. It was easy to talk back to Parkinson instead of just standing there and awkwardly reporting to Greengrass, who always interacted with them with a blank expression and an emotionless voice.

George cursed as he stubbed his toe on an out sticking branch. As Fred helped him stand with a bit more stability they heard a loud crash. They looked at each other with wide eyes before taking off running again. Merely seconds later though, they crashed into a clearing.

The boys' eyes widened before turning to each other.

"To Parkinson. Now." Fred whispered, trying not to attract the attention of the two people already in the clearing.

"Right behind you, Freddie. Run." George answered.

Anna stepped into Theo's room as soon as he opened the door. His hair was messy and he was still in his silk pajamas but there was no sleep in his eyes. He looked tired, sure, but not the 'I just woke up' kind, more the 'I haven't slept all night. That wasn't good.

"Hey." She whispered. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks." He smiled. It was genuine, and she was glad. "You didn't have to get up this early, you know. We could have just done this tonight."

"But you told me you were born at three in the morning. So this is your actual birth… hour?" Anna paused. "Whatever, it's romantic, alright?"

He chuckled. "It is, it is." He pulled her over to the bed where he sat down.

Instead of sitting beside him as she would usually do, she climbed onto his lap, straddling him. With one hand she combed his hair, pushing it to the side as he liked to wear it, and with the other she caressed his neck. Once he had relaxed a bit –he'd been very tense lately, as could be expected- she kissed him deeply. His lips were warm and slightly chapped as they parted for her. Because of course they did, as tough and flirty as he might behave, in the end he would let her do whatever she wanted. So she did. Anna deepened the kiss, pulling him towards her and letting him press her tighter to his chest. She tasted every crevice in his mouth and he let her, until she coaxed him to take control, easing back bit by bit until he did.

Theo wasn't forceful, wasn't rushed. He was patient and curious. He took his time exploring her mouth and letting his hands slide under her dress until he'd pushed it up to her ribs. She wasn't embarrassed as she nuzzled into his neck, letting him touch the skin of her back, of her stomach, as he felt the lace around the edges of her underwear and squeezed her thighs. Neither was she embarrassed as one of his hands left her buttocks and went up to her chest, feeling gently enough to tickle her. He would stop if she told him, but she wouldn't need to. Theo wasn't going to go any further.

As predicted, not long after he pulled his hands back and she arranged the layers of her dress to how they should be. He looked up at her, his pupils still dilated and she knew that if he had been any less of the person she knew him to be, he wouldn't have stopped. Wouldn't have forced himself to keep all they reasons why they didn't in mind.

And she would have let him, if she thought it would make him feel better. But they both knew it wouldn't, so they didn't.

"I'll always be here for you. For anything." She told him, clearing her throat slightly. "But I know that there are some things… some things you can't say, can't get past your throat even if they need to come out some way. Or even if you could, things you don't want to share. No matter how much you might care about the other."

Anna slid a hand into the pocket of the long cloak she wore over her dress and brought out a small package wrapped in blank paper.

"I know we both agree on journals or diaries to be… an unnecessary liability, but this one isn't." Anna passed it to him and he started unwrapping it without saying a word. "There are things you can't say aloud even when you need to, emotions, thoughts, opinions, whether it's to get it off your chest or to figure things out. Writing them down for anyone to read would be foolish, but writing them in this… It took me a while to make, you know. Practiced with a lot of parchments and notebooks." She let out a breath. "None of it will come back. If once you stop writing you write down End of Entry, everything you've written to that point will vanish and it won't come back. "

"You- you're sure?" He muttered, tracing a finger over the carefully and delicately etched runes on the leather cover.

"Yes. Completely."

Theo opened it, letting it fall to the first page. I hope this will make things easier. Anna was written on it in clear, elegant writing. He traced the letters one by one.

"I love you." He whispered, looking up at her again.

Anna inhaled sharply, her eyes widening at his words. They'd never said that before and hearing it was at once the best and worst thing she'd ever heard. He loved her, he did, and oh, how she loved him. But love was so dangerous, it was a double-edged sword and they were balancing so many things at once that falling on it would be easy. It was a huge risk for both of them, admitting it, a risk that would make them too attached, too vulnerable, too blind when comes to the other.

"I love you too." She answered