Destiny Denied

"So how many times have you read book five, now, Cathy?" Lenore asked. Her strawberry blonde pigtailed little sister looked up over the top of her large blue and silver book. She looked back down to her pages and read a few more lines before placing a ribbon topped bookmark and replying.

"Eight." She said simply, "I had to take a break from fan fiction," and her green eyes went back to roaming the pages. Her eyes had been Cathy's favorite feature, especially after becoming a Harry Potter fan. Granted, that had been many years ago, but the initial charm and excitement that inevitably leads to obsession had not worn off in those long seven years. It had been one year, two months since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had been released.

It had been five books, seven years and many pairs of reading glasses since the Lector sisters had discovered the magical world of Harry Potter, and it had been since then that they had been trying to live in it. They all lay in their beds at night, secretly wishing to do exactly that.

The Lector family cat wandered into the doorway of Cathy's room, where Leo was leaning in the door frame. He mewed and wound his black body in and around Leo's feet, before she finally gave in and scooped him into her arms.

"That's our cue," Leo smiled, talking mostly to Harry. "Night Cathy, say goodnight, Harry." Leo waved the paw of the aptly named cat at her younger sister, just as she heard a few 'pops', and two male voices in the hall.

"Goodnight," Harry Potter said. It was a good thing that the two Lector sisters had been silenced, because they would have screamed, mostly out of surprise, and woken the entire house. Leo's arms went slack, and she inadvertently dropped Harry the cat, who went bolting towards Annabelle's bedroom. Cathy had dropped her book and stood, walking towards the door slowly and lethargically, as if she had been zombified instead of silenced. Not that anyone really knew what a zombie moved like.

"Sorry to startle you," the bushy haired brunette in the center said. The Muggles knew her as Hermione Granger. "We can unsilence you if you promise not to scream. We won't hurt you." The two sisters replied with silence, and wide eyes and mouths. Ron and Harry exchanged looks, and there was a long moment before the girls were given back their voices. However, it was pointless, as they simply continued to stare, still quiet.

"Where's Annabelle?" Hermione asked. Cathy and Leo looked at them for a bit longer, but Leo seemed to be the first to snap out of her shock. She glanced at Cathy quizzically before turning back to Hermione.

"She's asleep... I can go get her," Leo said. Hermione nodded, and smiled a bit. However, not being accustomed to seeing fictional characters appear in their hallway, both Lector girls remained motionless.

An awkward moment of silence passed.

"Oh, do you mean now?" Leo asked. Hermione nodded again, needless to say a bit more impatient, but Ron had turned his head to the side to disguise his laughter. Leo looked at them for a bit longer, before a strange feeling of familiarity started to creep over the back of her brain. She turned and made her way quickly down the darkened hall. Annabelle was sleeping restlessly, and Harry had curled up on the pillow next to her.

"Anna, wake up," Leo said, shaking her shoulders.

"What time is it?" Anna asked, rolling her head to the side to see her neon green digital numbers.

"It doesn't matter, get up, Harry Potter is here and he's asking for you," Leo said, tugging on her arms.

"That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. We really need to get lives, you know," she said, trying to pull her covers over her. Leo however, grabbed them and pulled them off her swiftly.

"Get up now, I'm not kidding!" Leo demanded.

"Whatever," Anna yawned, and climbed out of bed, following Leo into the hall sleepily. She was rubbing her eyes as she entered the hallway, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the three adult figures there.

"Holy crap!" she cried. "You weren't joking..."

"Hello Annabelle," Hermione said. They all three looked a little ruffled and worn. Hermione was holding a rolled up piece of parchment in her left hand, and her wand in her right. "I think it would be good if we spoke with your parents as well as the three of you."

Again, the three sisters remained motionless. Hermione grinned awkwardly at them, hoping this would steer them to action. It did not. Ron began to chuckle and Hermione elbowed him. She rolled her eyes.

"Where is your parents' room?" she asked. The three sisters pointed behind themselves soundlessly. Hermione started walking that way, leaving the other five to follow. They all caught up quickly.

"So, wait... why are you here?" Anna asked.

"We can explain it in a moment," Hermione said, opening the Master Bedroom door. Anna and Cathy pushed past Hermione and ran to their parents' bed, and began to wake them up. Leo, however, was standing in the doorway, her head aching slightly with a severe case of déjà vu. She crossed her arms, and leaned against the doorway.

Mr. and Mrs. Lector sat up in bed, observing the scene carefully. Mr. Lector reached over and found his glasses on the bedside table. He slid them on hastily while Mrs. Lector stared slightly open-mouthed. Cathy reached past her mother and turned on her lamp.

"There's quite a bit of explaining to do, but I'd rather like to have Lenore do it," Hermione said, turning and handing the parchment to Leo. She looked the most confused of all of them. She unrolled the paper, and furrowed her eyebrows when she saw the hand writing.

"I wrote this?" she asked.

"Yes, about ten minutes ago to us, but next week in your future," Harry said. Leo looked up at him. His explanation wasn't helping her confusion at all.

"Time travel?" Cathy asked.

"Don't keep us waiting, Leo, read it," her father said.

Leo looked down at it for a moment and clearing her throat.

Dearest Us, Aug. 23, 2004

It's going to seem really weird when Harry, Ron, and Hermione show up at our house, but take time and listen to them. They need our help. Below is a list of what went wrong in the books, (which if you haven't figured out yet, are not fiction) and ultimately threw off their destiny. I can't explain too much, self, as the school is being attacked right now, and we're running out of time. Voldemort is scary. And unfortunately we know from experience. Malfoy is on the good side now (long story) and he's been going back in time, a lot, to try and fix this. They asked us to help them because we were the biggest nerds they could find. And hey, it worked. What we need to do is send LeeLee back in time as a student, so that she can keep an eye on everything below. Point is, we can only go back one more time, so if Anna doesn't go, it's the end of the wizarding world. Oh, and there won't be any more books, because Rowling = Trelawney = DEAD. So Anna's gotta go be a hero. I wish I could elaborate more, but we're running out of time. You'll get to be a witch, Anna, GO!

"Then we signed below," Leo said after she had finished reading. "Even Tawna..." Leo turned and looked at the three wizards, and they nodded.

"Let me see," Mrs. Lector began. "Your fate...."

"Broke, essentially," Hermione sad.

"And only my daughter can fix it?" she asked. They were all quiet for a moment.

"That's the only solution we could come to," Harry finally said. Mrs. Lector nodded. She looked very thoughtful for a long quiet moment, then began to shake her head.

"Momma, I need to go," Anna said, crawling onto her bed.

"I know sweetie, but I'm not going to-" she broke off as a stream of tears started down her cheeks.

"Mom," Leo started.

"Anna can go," Mr. Lector said. "It's just... since she'll be going back in time, we won't get to see her grow." Harry looked suddenly guilt ridden, as if he had just realized this. He shook his head too.

"I'm so sorry, I know what it is to lose a child... but if you don't lose yours for a few years, we will all lose ours forever," Harry said. Mrs. Lector wrapped her arms around Anna, who had crawled into her lap. She kissed her forehead and held her close for a long time.

"Leo, Cathy, why don't you go get your sister's things for her?" Mrs. Lector asked. Hermione's posture relaxed a bit as she sighed with relief.

"Thank you so much," Harry said, and Ron and Hermione echoed their appreciation.

Leo and Cathy arrived with Anna's favorite pillow, books and a few other tokens, as well as a few outfits of clothing. Meanwhile, Anna had said her goodbyes to her parents. She crawled off her parents' bed, and made her way to her older two sisters. While hugging Leo, she turned suddenly to her parents.

"What are we going to tell the boys?" she asked desperately. Mr. Lector sighed, and looked quite thoughtful.

"Well, we'll tell them the truth. That you went to Hogwarts to go to school. It will have to stay a secret within the family of course, as if you are a Muggleborn," he said. Anna smiled, and turned to Cathy. She hugged her tightly around the waist, before the three Lector sisters shared their final group hug.

"How far back am I going?" Anna asked.

"To 1991," Harry answered. Anna's eyes widened.

"That's when I was born!" she said. "I'll be doubling my age... I'll be twenty four when I come back here." She had a far off look in her eyes for a moment, looking scared. But then her expression suddenly broke into a large smile. "Cool!"

"Let's get going before we all start crying like Momma," Anna said, smiling widely at her mother. Her mother smiled back, but then started to cry harder. Anna dropped the bag her sisters had pack for her, and ran back to her parents one more time, for one last hug and kiss.

"It's okay Mom, I'll come back as soon as I can, you'll see me soon," she said.

"I know, I'm crying for you sweetie," her mother answered. For the first time, Anna looked glum. She took a very deep breath, then sat up, kissed her mother on the cheek, and joined the three wizards in the doorway. She stood silently looking at her family, then smiled widely.

"Portkey, Hermione?" Harry said. Hermione nodded.

"Right, thank you," she said, pulling her wand from her robe. She pointed it at Anna's suitcase, and in another moment, they had whirled away.

For the next few days the remaining sisters poured over their Harry Potter books, only stopping to eat and visit the restroom. It wasn't until the third book that they noticed any differences. They were hoping to see Anna's name in the sorting during the first book, but with no luck. The changes were easy for them to recognize, and the sisters used their sustenance breaks to discuss the strange dreams they had been having, of the three sisters and their friend Tawna running around Grimmauld Place... which for some reason they kept wanting to call something else entirely.

They were each reading through their own copies of Order of the Phoenix; Leo with her British edition and Cathy with her American, when she reached the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army at the Hogshead.

"She's in the DA!" she shouted, jumping from her bed. Leo was a few chapters behind, as she had stopped to get them a pizza.

"What?" Leo asked, letting her eyes leave her own book and look over at Cathy's as she held it out for her.

"Right there, sitting between Michael Corner and Zacharias Smith!" Cathy said.

"Do you think she was sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, then?" Leo asked.

Cathy made a disgruntled noise, "I hate her."

"Jealous, much?" Leo chuckled, looking back to the page.

"Heh, you can tell?" Cathy smirked. They were both quiet for a while before she spoke again. "How do you think she's holding up?"

"I managed," came an adult voice from Cathy's doorway.

Leo and Cathy both stood from their chairs, letting their books fall to the floor. They were not as stunned as they had been when Harry, Ron and Hermione had shown up only a few nights previously. They both ran to their now adult sister and embraced her tightly. She embraced them back, and the three held each other for a long moment.

"You look beautiful," Leo said once the three finally broke apart.

"Thanks," she replied humbly. Her once waist length hair was now trimmed above her shoulders, and had only darkened slightly from its corn husk hue. She had grown a bit as well, though she was still the shortest of the Lector girls; a good few inches shorter than Leo.

"You've got an accent," Cathy observed.

"Yeah, about two years in I realized I wasn't faking it anymore," Anna chuckled.

"What did you do to your hair?" Leo asked sadly, holding the ends of it in her hand.

"Don't you like it?" Anna laughed again, "Have to keep it short with two year olds running about."

"What?" Leo exclaimed.

"You have kids?" Cathy asked simultaneously. Anna was all smiles again, and she raised her left hand, wiggling her fingers and showing off a wedding band.

"I graduated seven years ago, what did you expect?" she laughed. "You'll meet him in good time, hopefully within the next few hours."

"Well who is it?" Cathy demanded.

"You can't just keep us hanging, come on, Lee Lee, spill!" Leo demanded.

Anna was smiling broadly again. It seemed she was unable to stop. "I've been gone for thirteen years and you want to know about my husband." She joked. "I've come to kidnap the two of you, I figure I can con you two into babysitting while Bill and I have a night off."

"Bill Weasley?" her sisters echoed in unison. She laughed outright this time.

"Of course, who else?" Anna giggled. She smiled at her two older, now younger, sisters, before pulling them into another long embrace.

"Here," she started, procuring two vials from within her robes. "Take these, get some rest, you're both coming with me when you wake up."

"You made these?" Cathy asked, holding hers up towards the light to look through it, half awed and half cautious.

"Oh no, I'm shite with potions, I borrowed those from a friend. One, I might mention, who is very anxious to meet you," Anna said, nudging Leo in the ribs. She looked quite puzzled as to whom Anna was implying.

"If we're sleeping, what are you going to do?" Leo asked.

"Catch up with Mum and Dad, of course," Anna scoffed, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "Go! Get some rest, I'm sure you two have been reading this whole time," she smiled wickedly at them.

"Besides," her hands dove back into her pockets. "We're going to France tomorrow for the final." She brandished a set of three paper tickets, a light blue with gold embossing on them. The wording was in French, but Leo could not read it, as Anna was waving them quickly, and had begun to squeal and bounce. This excitement caused a deep purple, elliptical amulet to release itself from her robes.

"What are-" Cathy trailed off before she could finish her question.

"Finals?" Leo asked simultaneously. The Muggle sisters seemed to realize what she was speaking of, and gasped, then shortly joined in the bouncing and squealing.

"Who is it, who's playing?" Leo asked.

"Does it matter?" Cathy asked, easily the most excited either sister had ever seen her.

"It's us against Poland, it'll be a ripping match," Anna smiled, and Dumbledore's arranged a box for the Order. Said he wanted to introduce you two in a recreational environment."

"Dumbledore?" Leo asked, "Why would he want to introduce us to the Order?"

"Apparently, we were a great deal of help," she said. "Though none of us can remember it," she added hastily.

"Who cares? We're going to see Quidditch!" Cathy announced, though her bouncing had not yet ceased.

"And that is why you need your sleep!" Anna said, ushering Leo towards the door, and pointing Cathy in the direction of her bed.

"Can we see your wand?" she asked excitedly.

"Go to sleep," Anna pointed to the vial. "I'm older now, so you have to listen to me." Cathy stuck her tongue out, but moved towards her bed nonetheless.

Once out in the hall, Leo grabbed Anna in another tight hug. "I can't believe that you've grown up."

"I can't believe you're still taller than me," Anna grumbled, but hugged her sister affectionately regardless. "But really, Leo, go get some sleep. You've got a taxing day tomorrow, and I don't want you to have dark circles under your eyes when you meet him. He's very excited to finally meet you."

Leo had begun to ask who Anna was talking about, but she had clamped a hand over Leo's mouth and pointed in the direction of the stairs to Leo's attic bedroom. "Sleep. Love you. Go," she commanded. Leo nodded, and with another quick hug, started up to bed. She doubted she would be able to actually sleep, knowing that in only a few hours, she would finally be entering the Wizarding World.