Domino One

And that goes for everyone: THANK YOU and ENJOY!

CHAPTER TWO:

"BLESSED"

"Lost behind the morning clouds,

And wrapped in the black night’s burial shroud,

Rest in peace, Star, with the moon,

Who reflects that which comes soon:

For even night must lowly bow,

To the light of lights, the Sun most proud."

The damp morning chill made Remus shudder as he crawled out of the opening by the Whomping Willow. While part of him complained silently that it was only September, the coolness reminded him that it was already September. He looked forward to the bitter cold post-full-moon morning in January with much anticipation. This was by no means a sarcastic comment; bitter cold mornings were like soothing ice packs on the searing pains and aches that were spiking throughout his body and limbs. He loved winter.

Pulling himself stiffly into a standing position, he hobbled across the castle lawn, cradling his blood-soaked arm, forcing himself to distract himself with his daily schedule.

First period… Transfiguration…

Remus sighed to himself as he remembered that they were studying various miscellaneous forms and specialties of transfiguration… Animagus. McGonagall was a very smart lady, but surely even she was getting suspicious when James and Sirius were raising their hands with all the answers. Okay- so that wasn't the suspicious part. It was when Peter did to too that she began to worry.

Second period…Potions… he recalled, suddenly standing up straight with a tremendous flare of pain. Note to self: Make suicide potion….

Remus winced as he stepped on a stone, and his ankle rolled slightly…

Subnote: Make it a painless suicide potion….

Remus would readily claim to anyone who asked that Potions was his favorite class. Sure! Why wouldn't it be? Where else could you mix camel snot, Jasmine root, and left over food from a fast food dumpster and come up with something so amazing, so profound, that all you could do is stare at it and compare it Sirius' mom's cooking…

Or Snape's face. They compared their 'ingenious' concoctions to Snape's visage on several occasions.

Make up Divinations test after Potions…

Yeah, so he really didn't care much for potions, if you haven't already guessed. And if he hated Potions, you can be assured, he loathed Divinations.

Take the lesson from a few days ago, for example…

"Mr. Lupin!" the tiny professor squawked, "I see dark things in your future…. Dark nights…."

"Nights are usually dark," pointed out Peter. A few students chuckled.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Pettigrew… but this is darker… Dark arts…"

Of course the Professor knew perfectly well that Remus was a werewolf. She was one of the many who disapproved of his presence. It didn't take Remus' inner eye to figure out that she was trying to get the class to see him for what he was.

"He has Defense Against the Dark Arts next," pointed out James.

The Professor was growing impatient… "No no.. a dark beast lies within you, an animal… Mr. Lupin…"

"Well, OF COURSE!" cried out Sirius dramatically, "this is REMUS we're talking about! He's the biggest party animal in the school!"

Besides it being Remus- often nicknamed "Remus "GENIUS-WITH-A-'J'" Lupin - the fact that Sirius had said it had automatically captured the attention of the female students. The guys laughed at the thought of Remus being a "party animal;" the girls giggled because Sirius was acting as his cool-self. Either way, The divinations professor gave up on her current pursuit to expose Remus and the crisis was averted.

It was like thousands of needles and shards of glass stabbing at Remus's various leg joints as he climbed the steps of the castle. But if you saw him, aside from his pale skin, the shadows under his tired hazel eyes, his mussed hair, torn robes… etc… you would think he was perfectly content. He was smiling to himself, much in a Mona Lisa sort of way… mysterious, but a smile, none the less.

He recalled the past day in Divinations.

"How did I find such great friends…?"

* * * * *

"Hey, Lily," perked up James, as he dished some bacon onto his plate.

"Mornphm," grunted Sirius through a mouth-full of a Lucky Charms.

Lily sat down at the table. "I tried to wake up Ana. Great Giants, can that girl sleep."

"She's probably jet-lagged," shrugged James.

"Portkey lagged," corrected Lily. "She told me she traveled by Portkey."

"What about Portkeys?" asked Peter, as he sat at the table.

"New student from the States- got here yesterday," muttered Sirius, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Really? You guys should have woken me up!"

"We did, and we told you. You mentioned something about wanting Lily, rolled over, and went back to sleep."

"What?!" gasped Peter, wide-eyed in disgust. "You're lying!"

"Tell me you’re lying," grimaced Lily, her face turning five shades of green

"Naturally," grinned James. "-OW.. Geez, Lil'! What's with you and kicking me?"

"So how did it go last night?" inquired Peter. "Did Snape know it was you? Did you get Berenice her payment???" he asked excitedly.

"Right. Let's lock her and Remus in a room together on the night of a full moon. That would get us places…."

"Oh, right…."

"Seriously, he's going to kill you when he finds out what you guys promised Berenice…." sighed Lily.

"But it's only ten minutes!" Sirius reasoned with his cheshire grin.

"Ten minutes alone with the biggest slut in school," snorted Lily. "He will kill you."

"Or he'll be the happiest guy at Hogwarts!. And she's not a slut. We guys prefer the term friendly. Really friendly!" He grinned hopefully at Lily who just glared. He sighed. "C'mon Lily, he needs the female attention!"

Lily just shook her head. "So when are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who what?" asked Sirius innocently.

"TELL-REMUS-ABOUT- OW! James.. stop kicking me!"

"Tell me what?" a voice came from behind them. Remus found his way to the table, and slumped down in a chair. Sirius, James, and Peter exchanged a glance while Lily busied herself with breakfast. "Tell me what!?" he insisted.

"Umm.. well….. just that…" stuttered Peter.

"-JUST that, we have a new student!" said Sirius with an over exuberant amount of enthusiasm. He nodded pointedly at James and Peter. "Right guys?"

"Oh yeah! Seriously, she's great! Her name's Ana!"

"You'll love her!" added Peter. He shot a not-so-discrete questioning look at Sirius who with equal discreteness gave him a thumbs up.

"New student," he grinned. "Yes."

Lily tried to stifle a giggle with food, and ended up choking and coughing. Peter started hitting her on the back, while Sirius and James just smiled with all the sainthood of angels. Remus could almost see the halos. This worried him immensely.

"And the truth would be….?" He asked, leaving a nice line for them to fill in.

"Oh, it’s true!" insisted Sirius. Suddenly a bang at the opposite end of the Great Hall gathered their attention, as well as the other students’. A strange brunette clattered her way through the door, carrying her witch’s hat, and looking around with either relief, exasperation, or fear. Remus couldn’t really tell.

"Ah! And there she is!" said James, after a small prayer of thanks.

* * * * *

Ana froze like a deer in the headlights. If she was uncomfortable last night being stared at in the Gryffindor Common Room, the hundreds of students in the Great Hall weren't much better. Even her panting stopped.

She had actually been awake for a good deal of the night, falling asleep around two, waking up around four, falling back to sleep at five… She finally awoke to find it morning about ten minutes ago and found the dormitory and common room abandoned. She didn't panic -something she was very proud of later on; she just ran like Hell.

A sharp pain in her side reminded her to breathe as she unfroze and looked around for a place to sit. Lily’s crimson hair flared from the other side of the hall. Ana approached her, the boys she was sitting next to, and most importantly, an empty chair. She had only made it to the middle of the room, however, when suddenly, an all too familiar voice rang through the hall.

"May I have your attention please? " It was Dumbledore. Ana froze, and stared at him wide eyed. Somehow she knew what was coming. ‘Please … oh no no.. please don't do this…’

"We have a new student!" the Headmaster chimed cheerfully. He motioned toward the appalled brunette in the middle of the hall. "Ana Anblick!" he introduced to mild clapping. "… a new Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table clapped and cheered loudly, and Ana blushed with embarrassment as Sirius stood and started whistling between his fingers. "Welcome," Dumbledore concluded as he sat.

As the students commenced eating, Ana walked to the table, willing herself to be absolutely invisible. By the glares of the students in Green Robes - Slytherins, she recalled as their names - she was quite sure that she was not. One in particular looked at her with a cruel smirk, one that seemed to arouse a mysterious anger in her, and she glared back at him, before sitting down at the table.

"Morning Miss Anblick!" grinned Sirius and James with a mysterious gratitude glittering in their eyes.

"Ana," she corrected them. She had known them for less than twelve hours, and she knew something was up. They were acting unusually innocent…She looked at Lily, who just shook her head.

"You don't want to know. But you haven't met Peter," she said, nudging the heavier boy on her left, who stared at her with wide eyes and wore stupid grin, "and the grump over here," she sighed nodding toward a brown-haired boy, who was resting his head on his empty breakfast plate, "is Remus."

Ana, slightly startled at seeing Remus in his state, gave Peter (who was still goggling) a quick smile. "Yes, hello, Peter… Remus, are you alright?" He was sitting right in front of her, and Ana bent to the side slightly to get a look at his face- which was pale, somewhat scruffy, and overall exhausted. She could see a few pale-white scares under his bangs. "You look terrible!"

Remus looked up, startled. Ana had thought that it was for the 'terrible' comment, but she stood corrected. "American?" He had heard the accent.

Ana nodded, grabbing the orange juice, and pouring herself a large glass. Remus gave a half-interested grunt as he rested his head back on his plate. "I'm fine," he muttered, his voice amplified against the china. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he added dully.

"He'll be fine in a few minutes," promised Lily, offhandedly. James and Sirius were quieter than usual. Peter was still goggling.

Shrugging, Ana took her glass of orange juice. It was slightly off-color, but either Ana didn't notice, or what was probably more accurate, Ana didn't care. She took a large swig.

Immediately, eyes, wide, she sent the orange substance spraying across the table. "PUMPKIN? Who drinks pumpkin juice!?!" She shuddered, sticking her tongue out slightly in obvious disgust. She could still feel the orange poison fortifying itself on her taste buds. She gagged.

The table burst in snickers. Most of the people tried to at least control their amusement, but Peter and Sirius were all laughter. The only people who weren't laughing were Ana (who was mortified, besides the whole gagging thing…), and her victim.

At first Remus didn't move. His hair was just a mop of pumpkin juice. But as he raised his head, glaring at Ana with silent, outraged, hazel eyes. Unfortunately, the look on his face, and the orange beverage dripping from his sloppy layers only made people crack up more. Ana looked completely horrified.

"I-AM-SOOOO-SORRY," she gasped between coughs. Internally, she was cursing herself out. ‘All you had to do was blend in! Blend in! That’s all! ‘

Remus glared at her.

Lily just giggled. "We drink pumpkin juice a lot here," she said, taking her wand, and to Ana's relief and wonder, instantly dried up Remus. There didn't even appear to be any stickiness. Lily glanced at Remus, who still looked ticked. She nudged him firmly with her elbow. "Isn't that right, Remus? Lots of pumpkin juice?"

Something seemed to click, suddenly. Immediately, his head raised slightly higher, and there didn't appear to be any tired bags under his eyes, which were now a soft hazel. His shoulders seemed to relax and a small smile even played on his lips. Even his voice was gentler. "Yeah- we drink it all the time. But it's customary in England to keep it in your mouth."

Ana smiled, slightly, wondering where this change had come from. "I'll try to remember that…" she muttered, nervously looking up at the gazes of the table. Most people were laughing and giggling and shaking their heads. Others whispered and watched on. Peter Pettigrew stared at her, grinning.

But just as conversation began to grow again, a loud clatter at the end of the hallway drowned it immediately.

The doors at the end of the Great Hall flew open and gasps flowed from the students as two large creatures appeared in the entranceway. Both appeared to be half man, half horse. They were of white and gray coloring, and stood tall, and imposing. Not imposing in the sense of intimidating, but rather, that it was an imposition upon them that they were there.

"What are they?" gasped Ana silently.

"Centaurs," said Remus grimly, glancing at them quickly, as if he had seen them on several occasions. Ana frowned at his causality. Everyone else, especially she, was bending to grasp a better glimpse, whereas Remus seemed to concentrate heavily on his breakfast roll. But she was certainly more concerned with viewing the magical creatures than frowning at Remus.

After obtaining silence, one spoke in a deep voice. "Stars be kind to you, young mortals." The two separated to either side of the doorway, and bowed. "Her Majesty and Reader of the Stars, by whom she was ordained- The Sixth Guardian, Devinon Lys Ome, Kezia Dopelle."

Dumbledore and McGonagall were already on their feet in addition to a small woman with massive hair at the end of the table. She wore a bright grin that brought out the wrinkles in her face. The rest of the Professors stood slowly in astonishment as the students followed their lead.

Ana craned her neck, trying to get a glimpse at the doorway. The Gryffindor table was on the isle, so she just had to look passed Remus, who was now watching with interest as a breathtaking woman of perhaps twenty five years old stepped into the hall. Her blonde hair seemed to glow in the sunlight, which shone brightly from the enchanted ceiling. She seemed to glide with the mien of an empress, her held up high, exposing an amethyst star suspended on her forehead by a silver chain just above the part of her eyebrows. It glittered splendidly against her brilliantly purple eyes- which even from a distance, and with all the glories that she carried with her, were the first things that Ana noticed.

Slowly, as she walked down the isle, a few of the better-dressed students (who Ana concluded by the state of their robes were of the more important wizarding families) would nod their head in a slight bow James did so as well. But Sirius just gawked, drooling slightly. "Wow….."

Ana smiled at his reaction, but turned back to the woman, who was just about to pass them. She stared straight ahead, seeing Dumbledore and approaching him. But just as she was walking passed Ana, her eyes flickered directly at her. Ever so briefly she glanced, and yet, Ana had the exposed feeling that she had just given up her height, weight, date of birth, and social security number, just from that one glance. She couldn’t explain it…

"Well, well," chuckled Dumbledore, bowing slightly, "The Sixth Guardian at Hogwarts! This is an honor!"

The previously set-faced imperial smiled brightly, perhaps making her look ten times as beautiful. "Oh come now, Professor! I’m still just Kezia to you." She gave him a warm hug, until the tiny, old, large-haired professor bulleted out from around the table.

"OH! Kezia! My Dear! I didn’t believe it when my stars told me that I would visit with a Seer! –A TRUE Seer!!"

"Hello, Professor Pyrre," she grinned sheepishly, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I’m sorry, I have to wait to visit with you. There is something I must discuss with Professor Dumbledore first." Ana saw a glimmer of gravity in her eyes as the rest of the student body watched the scene with silent curiosity.

The tiny professor nodded. "But make sure and stop by for tea! I can’t wait to hear all about LeBab!"

Kezia nodded slightly at her before taking Dumbledore’s arm. Ana watched with interest as he led her out the side exit.

"Was that normal?" asked Ana, vaguely aware that students were beginning to sit down and chatter excitedly.

James and Remus sat down as Lily piped up. "Not at all… I’ve read about them though. Some consider them to be among the most powerful wizards and witches on the earth. They’re basically royalty."

"Self-ordained royalty…" added James smugly.

Remus shook his head wisely. "No.. they have the Seers behind them. They’re known as True Seers or Guardians- basically the best of the best of Seers," he explained to Ana.

Seers? True Seers? …Guardian… Ana remembered her conversation with Dumbledore, and she was suddenly struck with fear. She’s here to see me… She jumped back to reality as their conversation continued.

"What is she doing here?" Lily muttered with confusion, twirling her spoon around in her cereal.

All of them shrugged. Ana kept quiet and stared at her empty plate.

* * * * *

"So what brings you to Hogwarts?" asked Dumbledore, closing the Hall door behind him.

Kezia grinned and tapped her toe against the stone corridor floor idly. "Don’t play innocent with me, Professor-"

"-Please, you’re not a student here anymore. Call me Albus!"

"Okay, Albus," she said awkwardly. "You know perfectly well that I’m here to investigate this report of the Seventh Guardian you’re so sure you’ve found."

"Oh, on the contrary my dear, I think there’s a possibility that I’ve found the Seventh Seer."

Kezia studied for a moment with her penetrating violet eyes, smirking, before she shook her head. "No, Professor-"

"-Albus," he corrected.

She just smiled. "You have your mind set. You think it’s her."

"And you don’t?"

"I’ve been studying her since I first time saw her," she nodded, contemplating, pacing slightly in the corridor. "But before I even begin about her talents, I have to ask."

"Ask what?"

Kezia stopped pacing and stared at him with wide, concerned eyes. "Why haven’t you told her?"

Dumbledore didn’t even need to ask what she was referring to. "I will, soon, Kezia," he replied gravely. "I decided that she should probably sleep the night first."

Kezia shook her head. "Promise me that you will do it today. She’s so excited and happy here. I got that presence from her before any sense of divinative power or her thoughts. It’s simply pouring out from her, and whether her face shows it or not, she’s very scared. She’s holding onto the thought of her mother, who she still thinks is alive, and that’s part of what’s keeping her brave."

"Ignorance is bliss," pointed out Dumbledore.

"Until she learns. And the longer she waits, the more stunning it will be. Prof-.. Albus, you have to tell her today, before she goes and tries to owl her mother."

"Kezia, I always planned on telling her today. There was never a question in my mind. You need not worry about that."

"I’m not just talking about her mother. You need to tell her about yourself."

"That, my dear, will come in it’s own time."

Kezia’s eyes flashed angrily. But before she could open her mouth to argue, the doors of the great hall flew open with people beginning to leave. The headmaster and she scanned over the crowd. Through it, they finally saw a certain group of kids coming through.

"So what’s your first class, Ana?" asked a slightly stocky, mousey haired boy. Kezia grinned as he blushed miserably. She bit her tongue as she searched Ana’s mind; she was well aware of the boy’s signals, and was not at all comfortable. Kezia watched as she fumbled with the schedule. Dumbledore called out to her first.

"Miss Anblick! Over here!"

* * * * *

Ana looked at the group, who shrugged, and walked over with her. Dumbledore smiled at them all. "Good morning. I don’t believe you all have had the honor of meeting Miss Doppelle, the Sixth Guardian.

Ana looked at the gracefully beautiful woman behind him, who rolled her eyes slightly. Ana could tell she didn’t like public introductions… perhaps she put up with the one in the hall.

"Kezia," she corrected him, shaking each of their stunned hands. "I’m pleased to meet you." She shook each hand briefly, coming to Ana’s last. She looked down at Ana with very steady, unblinking eyes. Ana swore her eyes glowed brighter for a moment, as she felt a wave of vulnerability pass through her again. She took back her hand quickly, frowning slightly.

Apparently her little move had not been so discrete. Remus and Dumbledore watched her carefully, and Kezia even seemed slightly startled. She looked away.

"It’s an honor," she mumbled, as her new friends had done.

"Yes, well, I believe you all have classes to attend?" asked Dumbledore, breaking the silence.

"Unless you’d be willing to cancel them!" piped up Sirius hopefully.

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. "Will you do my paperwork for me, if I do?"

"Absolutely!"

"That’s quite what I’m afraid of, Mr. Black," he smiled through his beard.

"C’mon Sirius," muttered James. "Let’s go." And as he turned to leave, Peter, Remus, Lily, Sirius and Ana began to follow, although still feeling a little creeped out, she did so warily, looking back after the Headmaster and Guardian. Immediately, though, she wished she hadn’t.

"Oh, Miss Anblick, not you. You stay."

* * * * *

"That was different…" frowned James, as the climbed the stairways up to the Gryffindor Tower to collect their books.

"I know!" groaned Sirius. "Give us hope for canceling classes and then he takes it back…"

"I think he was referring to Ana staying," pointed out Lily.

"Something’s up with her…" muttered Remus suspiciously.

"Oh," said Lily suddenly. "Which reminds me. We do not attack the new people!" she hissed, staring dead into Remus’s eyes, half laughing, half glaring. "I swear, if your "happy potion" had decided to kick in even twenty seconds later…."

"ENERGY potion, Lily," Remus sighed, "It’s ENERGY potion."

Lily conveniently ignored him. "You were about to snap back there! She didn’t know it was pumpkin juice! You’ve gotta be careful Remus!"

"It wasn’t that bad, Lil’," reasoned James carefully, giving her a meaningful look.

"Whatever," she muttered.

Remus just stared straight ahead as he walked through the corridors, not speaking up again until class.

* * * * *

Ana approached the Headmaster and the Guardian again nervously. Somehow, the Headmaster’s soft, twinkling blue eyes seemed to reassure her, especially when in contrast to the wide violet ones. It wasn’t that Kezia seemed threatening. There was just something about her that just put Ana on guard.

"I thought I would accompany you to your first lesson," smiled Dumbledore, as he extended a hand toward the open corridor. They began to walk.

"Don’t I need my books?" frowned Ana. "My schedule says I have Defense against the Dark Arts first…"

"I thought it would be more important to schedule a private session with Professor Pyrre, our divinations instructor." He glanced at Kezia before adding, "I hope you don’t mind if I request Guardian Dopelle to join us?"

Ana gave the young woman another nervous glance, "That’s fine…"

The woman was only slightly taller than she, but her eyes still looked down to meet hers. Ana began to look away before the woman smiled down at her reassuringly. "You’re nervous." It wasn’t a question.

Ana shrugged vaguely as she climbed the tower steps wearily.

"You don’t need to be," said Dumbledore peacefully. "There is nothing in this lesson that will make or break you. I promise- it’ll be perfectly harmless."

"And don’t be afraid of Professor Pyrre. She’s the most harmless woman you’re ever going to meet. She’s almost like a grandmother to me," grinned Kezia. She really did have an angelic smile. Not in the fake sense, but in the completely genuine sense. Somehow, it began to make Ana feel better.

* * * * *

Ana stepped into the Divinations room shortly behind Professor Dumbledore. Sunlight was beaming in through the full-length windows, illuminating the remarkable round room. Colored sitting puffs had been shoved to the outskirts of the room, and two large easy chairs sat in the middle. Ana presumed they were for herself and the divinations professor, whom she didn’t notice behind her.

"And what do we have here?" giggled the tiny professor excitedly, as she approached Ana, circling her while she examined her with radiating enthusiasm. "Ah, yes, yes, I see," she murmured, stopping to take Ana’s hand and turn it palm-up. Ana frowned, and gave Dumbledore a startled look, but he only smiled, and nodded assuringly. She traced the lines of her hands with a single, short, old finger, but stopped suddenly. The woman looked up directly into Ana’s large, brown eyes.

"She has brown eyes."

"Indeed," smiled Dumbledore.

The tiny professor glowered up at him. "But… brown???"

"Professor," chimed Kezia from the doorway, "it’s all right. Yes, she does have brown eyes. Please continue."

‘I like my eyes...,’ Ana frowned to herself, confused over the whole matter.

The small professor beamed up at Kezia through her tangled mop of snow-white hair. "Ah, Kezia. So good to have you back." But then she turned to Ana. Her enthusiasm quickly melted to apathy. "Yes, yes, do come in child," she said, motioning her to one of the two chairs in the room. Ana sat in one, the elderly professor sat in the other. "I understand you claim to see visions. Now then," she rattled on, sighing heavily, "When do they happen?"

Ana blinked nervously. "At random."

The Professor frowned. "Waking? Sleeping?"

"Both…"

"And what do you see?"

Ana stuttered slightly. "Everything… I mean, lots of things… not just one thing over and over again."

"Have you ever had anything repeat itself?"

"Occasionally…" she said with growing anxiety.

"How long until your ‘visions’ come to reality?" muttered the professor, playing with her rings with concentration. Ana was appreciating her less with every question.

"… they don’t come true…" she said heavily.

"Or they haven’t yet," added Dumbledore.

"Or, they have, and you just didn’t make the connection," said Kezia. Ana shuddered at the memory of the horrible dream she had just had a few nights back. She sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t come true in any form. Kezia’s eyes were disapproving as she turned to the professor, who was still concentrating on her rings. "Professor Pyrre, please get on with the tests."

The professor looked up at her, and shrugged. With a wave of her wand, a pile of white cards fluttered across the room to her, and landed neatly on her lap. A clipboard flew to her right hand side, along with a large, feather quill. The professor took her time in beginning. She didn’t seem to Ana like the kind of person who liked to be rushed. But she finally did go on.

"Miss Anblick, today we will be exploring your inner eye. We will be using a variety of tests to examine your psyche, namely clairvoyant abilities, ESP- or extra sensory perception, telepathy, and most importantly, divinitive tests in tea leaves, palmistry and crystal balls. Well then. Are you ready to begin?"

Ana almost laughed. ‘She has got to be joking…’ "Professor, I’m not quite sure that-"

"-Good," the old woman nodded, cutting her off. "The first test will be ESP cards. A card," she held up the deck of white cards, "will flash before you, and you will tell me which shape is on the other side. There are squares, triangles, stars, and circles. In addition, you will tell me what color you see- red, blue, green or yellow. Now clear your inner eye, and tell me when you’re ready."

"My inner eye?" She turned to Dumbledore, whose eyes twinkled merrily. "This is ludicrous!"

"Indeed," he nodded, grinning. He made no motion to intervene. Instead, he simply leaned back on the puff he sat on, and relaxed.

Ana’s mouth hung open slightly. She turned to Kezia, who had been watching with close interest. "Inner eye?"

Ana watched as Kezia realized she didn’t know what an inner eye was. She pointed to her forehead, where the amethyst jewel hung, suspended by a silver chain. Ana supposed it was some sort of crown. "It’s the concentration of one’s psychic powers- it’s what allows seers to see and know what they do."

Ana just blinked.

Kezia smiled. "Just relax Ana, and go with your gut feeling."

Ana turned back to the professor, who was looking at her impatiently. "Okay… let’s start…"

"Are you sure you are ready?"

"I guess…"

* * * * *

Remus watched numbly as Peter stirred the potion in a smooth, rhythmic motion… going round… and round… in a dizzyingly hypnotic motion.

"You sure that energy potion is doing the trick?" Peter grinned down at him.

Remus just smiled weakly. He was exhausted. Reaching to the table behind them, he grabbed a jar of beetles and tapped two or three into the potion, which fizzed, and bubbled hungrily.

Peter looked down into the cauldron. "It’s too thick. It needs some owl blood."

Remus studied the concoction. Taking the ladle, he scooped up some, and let it fall back into the pot in thick, splatting globs. He nodded. "It’s too thick alright, but it doesn’t need owl’s blood. It needs water."

But Peter had already grabbed the flask from behind him, uncorked it, and was about to pour.

"Peter!" gasped Remus, jumping behind his bench, and ducking under the table, just in time to dodge a thundering ‘BANG.’ A few startled students screamed, but most started coughing as the smoke wafted through the room.

"PETTIGREW! LUPIN! WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT’S GOOD AND DECENT IS GOING ON?" bellowed a horrifying voice that could only be their professor.

"A bit too much owl blood, sir…" said Remus weakly as he crawled out from under the bench, and waved some of the smoke from his face. "I’ll fix it."

The professor glowered down at Peter, who was covered in soot as he was hiding the flask behind his back. "Five points from Gryffindor," he barked before going to open the small window near the ceiling. The dungeon didn’t exceed in natural lighting or ventilation.

Remus smirked at Peter, who looked like he was about to faint. "If the amount of owls blood exceeds the amount of pig bile at a temperature higher than 50 degrees Celsius…"

A light bulb went on in Peter’s head. "It’ll explode! I KNEW THAT!" he groaned, falling to his seat, some soot falling off him as he did so.

"I’ll take care of it," said Remus, still smirking, as Peter resigned the flask of owl blood.

Across the isle, another cauldron station was set up where James and Sirius were working. Okay, so it was more like they had already finished, and were laughing at Peter.

"I don’t know, Pete…" muttered James, grinning. "Gray and Black really aren’t your colors."

"Oh you stop," said Lily, who was at another station with another Gryffindor, not too far off. "You’ve exploded your fair share of potions before."

"Oh yeah? Name one time!"

"Last week! Confuto Linguium potion. You nearly blasted that wall out!" she pointed with triumph to the crumbling wall behind them.

James looked at it with amusement. "Oh yeah. But that was more Sirius than me."

"Damn straight it was!" grinned Sirius, admiring his "handy work."

Peter shook his head as they continued their argument and grinned at Remus. "Those two act like they’re married."

"Sirius and James?" Remus chuckled.

"No!" snorted Peter. "James and Lily!"

Remus looked up to see James and Lily sticking out their tongues at each other. They had been good friends since first year, but this year it had escalated to constant mockery and teasing. Part of him agreed with Peter, but he remained neutral. "If you say so…" He carefully measure out the owls blood before dumping it in.

"Speaking of marriage," said Peter, like he had been looking for an opening for the conversation for a while, "What do ya think of Ana?"

Remus stopped what he was doing and stared at Peter. "Seems nice enough…" he said carefully, studying Peter, who was positively grinning. "You know you just met her?" he reminded him.

"I’ve never seen anything so beautiful!" he exclaimed. "And she’s smart, and funny?"

"And how do you know that?" he laughed. "You’ve seen her a total of 15 minutes at most."

"Well… she has a smart and funny look about her… she’s great!"

Remus sighed and smiled slightly as he turned back to the potion. "Good luck, Pete."

* * * * *

Hours. Not one, not two, but three hours of divinations tests. Ana’s head was pounding as she stared, completely numb, into a crystal ball. She had seen nothing but fog for the last twenty minutes. Before that, after four agonizing cups of tea, she miraculously saw at the bottom of her cup an arrangement that was miraculously quite similar to a lump of tealeaves. This happened all four times. Ana concluded that there must be something coming in her future that revolved around clumps of tealeaves. She hoped the Professor wasn’t planning on making her clean the glasses.

Before that she tried to send and receive clairvoyant images. She concluded that she couldn’t do that either, after literally 45 minutes of tests. Before that, Ana sheepishly guessed at literally 1,300 ESP cards. From beginning to end, Ana was almost sick with embarrassment, being placed in such a humiliating situation. Everyone once and while, Kezia would smile at her reassuringly, but her blazing violet eyes were more apologetic than anything else. No one was giving any expression or feeling if Ana was doing well or not. They remained blank-faced to the issue for the entire time, leaving Ana completely apathetic to the whole thing after the first twenty minutes.

"Do you see anything yet?" inquired the old woman. She almost sounded annoyed.

Ana was well beyond annoyed. Suddenly, she sat up straight, and stared into the crystal ball with amazement. "I see… I see…"

"What!??" asked the professor eagerly.

Ana’s eyes flashed up at the professor’s with a sniding smirk. "FOG. I see fog in that crystal ball, just like I have for the last twenty-some minutes. I don’t see a thing!" she exclaimed. "I’ve been guessing on every test you gave me, and I don’t care what you said about the clairvoyant images, but I definitely did not see roses. You know what I saw? DARKNESS. You know why I saw darkness? BECAUSE I HAD MY EYES CLOSED!" Ana stood, wearily. "I’m sorry Professor Dumbledore, I know this was kind of necessary, but I think it’s been made absolutely clear that I do not have divinitive powers! I’m not like my father. What more proof do you need?"

Dumbledore stood. "I need to see your results," he replied simply, as he walked over to the clipboard at Professor Pyrre’s side. He took one glance at it, and with a small twitch in his face he looked up at Ana. "Would you mind stepping out in the hallway for a moment?" he requested.

Ana shook her head and stepped out in the hallway, and closed the door most of the way behind her. She sat on the cool steps, and listened through the paper-thin door. Even though they were whispering, the openness of the room was a natural amplifier. Ana heard every word.

"Some Seer, Albus," she heard Professor Pyrre hiss. "Most people would get maybe 5% right by guessing, luck and chance. This girl probably got .5%. She’s a loss! I’ve never seen anyone this bad since my first year teaching."

There was a pause, and shuffling of papers. Ana figured he was glancing through the clipboard. Finally she heard him speak. "And the visions she sees?"

"If there really are visions," hissed the tiny Professor, "then she may be blessed with some odd form of prophecy, or some sick type of hallucinations."

Weary tear’s swelled in Ana’s eyes as she listened in misery. Kezia jumped into the conversation.

"Oh, no, professor. The visions are real, or at least they are to her. When we were talking at the beginning of lesson about the possibility of the manifestation of these visions, we frightened her. I could feel it- she was pretty creeped out."

"She saw some terrible things a few nights back," replied Dumbledore gravely. "Kezia, is there anything you can tell us?"

Ana listened to the pause in the room, wondering with personal curiosity what Kezia would say. She had grown to trust Kezia to some extent, based solely on her support, and respected her opinion. She hardly noticed the figures that had climbed the steps, and were now standing over her.

"That's her, Mr. Crouch," came a man’s voice.

Ana jumped, startled, and whirled around, to come face to face with a stout man with thinning, reddish hair. She didn’t speak, she was still trying to catch her breath from the scare. Behind him was a ghost- she recognized him as Nearly Headless Nick- the Gryffindor Ghost she had met the previous night.

"I’m terribly sorry to startle you," said the man quickly. He looked genuinely concerned. Ana remembered the tears running down her face, and wiped them away. "You're Ana?"

She crossed her arms and glanced at him. "I’m her.. who are you?"

"Ana, my name is Charles Crouch and I’m with the Caucus Resistance," he said, reaching into his pocket, and offering her his handkerchief, which she refused. "I just want to start by offering you my deepest sympathies and condolences for the loss of your mother."

Ana looked up at him with confusion. "Excuse me?"

* * * * *

"I can tell you this," replied Kezia. "She’s clouded by a thousand different emotions. The tests scores could be inaccurate."

"Can you tell us straight out if she has the gift?" inquired Dumbledore, still flipping through the pages.

Kezia smiled at him. She could, of course, tell him everything he ever wanted to know about Ana Anblick. But that would be compromising her vows as a Guardian. She shook her head. "I wish I could."

"But you do know, correct?"

Kezia nodded, her smile fading, but she never got a chance to answer. A ‘BANG’ at the other side caused all three to turn and see the door still shaking, as it had been thrown open aggressively. Ana Anblick stood in the entranceway, her jaw clamp-set, and her eyes expressing nothing short of sheer fury.

Kezia knew immediately. "She knows," she whispered to Dumbledore, who nodded.

Ana approached them in a very straight manner. She didn’t even see the tiny professor get up, and cower at the side of the room with Kezia- her eyes were locked on Dumbledore’s. He didn’t say anything. He let her walk up to about three feet from him, and glare at him for a moment before she spoke with very forced but very stable words.

"My Mother was MURDERED?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely.

"You KNEW."

Dumbledore again acknowledged this. A small noise came from her throat, and she just shook her head.

"When were you going to tell me?" she whispered, looking out the window distantly.

But Dumbledore was interrupted by Kezia, who was glaring at a figure standing in the doorway. "YOU!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Miss Doppelle," replied Crouch. He nodded at Dumbledore, who did not acknowledge him. Professor Pyrre was first to speak up though.

"You WILL address her as Guardian Doppelle, sir," she replied, standing up by Kezia and taking her arm. Crouch and Kezia glared at each other with such fierce loathing, that at some dimension, sparks were crackling.

"I will do no such thing," replied Crouch angrily. He turned to Dumbledore. "I can’t believe you put up with these people before me, Albus."

Dumbledore wasn’t listening, he was watching Ana carefully, who had moved to the window, and was looking out towards the cloudy western sky.

"I can’t believe you told her!" Kezia hissed at him.

"I can’t believe you didn’t!" exclaimed Crouch in retaliation.

"It wasn’t my place!" returned Kezia.

A quite voice at the other side of the room interrupted them. "You knew too, Kezia?"

Kezia looked at Ana, who was still looking out the window. She shot a glance at Crouch who was looking at her with grim victory. "Yes, Ana. I did know. And Albus was going to tell you as soon as we were done with the lesson."

Ana just rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. "Thank you for your sympathies, Mr. Crouch," she replied simply.

"Is there anything I can do for you Ana?" he asked. Ana shook her head, but refused to look at them.

Dumbledore spoke up. "I would like to speak to Ana alone, if you would please," he motioned towards the door.

Reluctantly and slowly, the three stepped out. He turned to her, and she turned around. She was not crying- it apparently had not sunk in yet. Surprisingly, she was the first to speak.

"Why would someone want to kill my mom? WHO would want to kill my mom?"

Albus sighed as he sat down in the chair in the center of the room. He motioned for her to sit as well, which slowly, she did. "As there is much evil in the Non-magical World, Ana, I’m afraid that there is much evil in the Magic World as well. Every few generations, a master of the dark arts rises up and tries to take power. Now, and for the last few decades or so, there has been a dark wizard by the name of Voldemort who has been reeking havoc on the world, and in this case, your tiny corner of Maine. He killed your mother."

"Why."

Dumbledore paused before continuing. "Seers come in two forms," he said, with recollection. "There are those who have the gift, and those who try hard. Locks can only be opened with the correct key. Some people have the key to their psyche while others do not. There is no key that will open the door any better than another; if the person holds the key to their psyche, they are a Seer. Seers are on equal ground. They live for the purpose of being watchdogs against human error. There is no hierarchy, there is no social class, there is no winner or loser in the world of the Seers. They either see, or they don’t."

Ana listened carefully. "What about True Seers. I thought they were ‘the best of the best of the Seers.’ "

Dumbledore nodded. "That is both a common misconception and an absolute truth. True Seers, or Guardians, are seers. They protect against human error, they see things that are, have been and will be. They have the key, just like normal seers. But what lies on the other side of the door to which all Seers have the key, the True Seers see so much more….

"Consider this. A seer can look at the stars, and read the future. Sometimes, they can read the future of other individuals, with promising accuracy. True Seers can look at a sky full of stars, and can read the future of millions- groups of people; civilizations. They can see not only human error, and they can see not only what will be, but what should be."

"They see… fate?"

"Precisely. Hence the name "Guardian." They are "Guardians of Fate." They stand by the belief that all people have a purpose that is vital to this age. When it passes that someone challenges their fate, or is misguided, it is when the True Seers step in to restore order. I cannot go into the details of it, largely because I do not know what happens myself. It is only known to the Guardians. They are an elite group characterized by the unique colours of their eyes, and served by the Seers and other divinitive creatures, such as centaurs."

"Color of their eyes? Is that why everyone’s so upset about my brown eyes?"

"When the Circle is complete, there are seven members with uniquely different eye colors," he nodded. "Purple, like Kezia’s, Green, Grey, Black, Brown, Hazel, and Blue- like your Father. The "Anblick" eyes are a brilliant sapphire blue, and many assumed that you would have them too. Unfortunately, there is already a Guardian with Brown eyes at this time…"

Ana didn’t really have anything to say to this. "Sir, what does this have to do with my mother?"

"Not so much your mother, Ana, but your father. You father was a Guardian for a time. He was very active during his time at LeBab Tower – that would be the Guardian stronghold – and he rose up against Voldemort, alerting the ministry of many of his henchmen, who were consequently captured. Word got out that Omri was behind everything, but the True Seers were and are well protected, and Voldemort had no chance of retaliation. He was left with his festering anger.

"But Omri soon became enraged with some of the practices of the Circle. He began to feel that they were "playing God" of sorts, and being manipulated by bribery, among other things. He left the circle, and went into hiding with your mother in the cottage in Maine. You were born there shortly thereafter.

"The American Ministry did a fine job of keeping your family’s presence quiet. No one located your house until just in the past days. However, they did meet up with your father while he was on business in London. Voldemort’s anger was fulfilled. He had no need to harm your family anymore, but we still kept your location quiet- or at least we thought we had. But as we now know, Voldemort was not the only one who was against your father. There is another organization by the name of The Caucus Resistance."

"Mr. Crouch is from there," Ana recalled with an alarmed whisper. Dumbledore nodded.

"They don’t believe in divinations whatsoever and they believe that the Circle is nothing but a group of wayward souls who are going around controlling people’s lives. Although they have not moved to murder, they have done many things to sabotage the mission of the True Seers, including "bugging" the homes of select Seers, and in this case, your Father. I don’t know how they located your home, but when your mother contacted me a few days ago, the message from the fireplace was received in the Caucus Resistance headquarters. From the sound of the message, it was possibly implied that you were another True Seer, just like your Father. Voldemort, who either had contacts in the Caucus Resistance, or who monitored them carefully, got wind of the situation. Besides unresolved anger against your father, he saw a possible threat in you, an heir to his talents."

"Me? A threat?"

"I cannot stress the power of the True Seers enough. Part of me believes that your father knew a way to stop Voldemort when he died. Simply put, Voldemort, who is very interested in the divinitive arts, fears True Seers, and even moreso, the completion of the Circle of Sight."

Ana stared at him. "He went to the house then? He was looking for me, and he found my mother…" Ana suddenly felt very dizzy. She rested her head in her hands between her knees. "He killed her because of me…"

Dumbledore stood up, and rested his hands on her shoulders. "He would have killed the both of you."

"I’m not even a Seer… I heard you talking… I failed the test…" She was almost gasping for breath.

"The test isn’t conclusive, my dear. And I’m afraid that Professor Pyrre missed something very important." Dumbledore reached back for the clipboard, and flip to the very beginning- the ESP cards. "Unfortunately," he muttered, surveying all the red scribbles, "her grading scale only calls for completely correct answers… of which… you got… ah yes. 45 out of 1300." Ana shook her head in silent horror. "But my dear, look at the chart. Number one: your answer was Yellow Star, the true answer was Yellow Circle. Number two: your answer was Blue Triangle, the true answer was Blue Square. Number three: your answer was Blue Star, the true answer was Blue Triangle. Number four: your answer was Red Circle, the true answer was Red Triangle…. All these answers were marked wrong."

Ana shrugged. "At least I guessed the colors."

"You guessed all 1298 of them?"

She looked up wearily. "Huh?"

"Ana, these are all marked wrong because you did not get the whole answer correct. But when it comes to colors, you received a nearly perfect score." Dumbledore smiled down at her. "It’s in there Ana. You’ve got the key!"

She shook her head. "Is that supposed to make me feel any better? I can name colors." Her shoulders tensed in anger. "Great. My mother was killed because I could name colors. And I don’t have blue eyes! There is already someone with brown eyes in the circle!"

"All True Seers were Seers before they realized that they were Guardians," replied Dumbledore. "There is no fact that you are not what many hope you to be. And the brown eyes- the Guardian with brown eyes won’t live forever, Ana."

There was resounding silence in the room.

"For now, Ana, let’s deal with the loss of your mother. You may have the rest of today off, but I would like you to return to classes tomorrow. Life has to go on. Meanwhile, tonight, I’ve arranged for a small memorial service to take place in the great hall."

Ana looked up at Dumbledore numbly. "My mother’s body is..-"

"No, it’s not here. I’m afraid that Voldemort set fire to the house, destroying most of your possessions, including the remains of your mother."

Ana felt sick. She leaned back in the chair and rested her head quietly against the headrest. She closed her eyes. She could hear the door to the room open, and a small voice ask if they could come in again. Dumbledore must have nodded or something, for Ana heard several pairs of feet shuffle into the room. Opening her eyes, she saw Kezia looking at her apologetically, Mr. Crouch looking at her sympathetically, and the tiny professor looking admirably at her rings. Even Dumbledore, Ana noticed was watching her with concern. Ana stood, and he stood as well.

"May I leave?" she asked.

"You may. I will call for you before the service," he replied.

Ana nodded and walked through the crowd of observers, who parted to let her pass.

"Stars be kind to you, Ana," she heard Kezia’s soft goodbye. As she walked out of the door, she could hear Mr. Crouch’s angry response.

"Stars, stars, stars! That’s all you people ever talk about! The girl didn’t need that, Kezia, the girl needs sympathy. She probably doesn’t even want to hear about "stars" and "fate…"

The voices drifted off as Ana sagged down the winding staircase of the divinations tower. To be honest, she didn’t want to hear about stars and fate. She decided at that moment, that she rather liked Mr. Crouch.

* * * * *

Remus thumbed through his book of poetry as he walked towards the Divinations tower reluctantly.

"…But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind
With tranquil restoration:—feelings too
Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
As have no slight or trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered, acts
Of kindness and of love…"

An almost jealous feeling came across Remus as he read. "I wonder what you’re remembering, Wordsworth," he muttered, smiling at the thought of the old man lost in his memories. He kind of wished he had some great memory to hold on to. But as he scanned his mind, all he could vaguely remember was a time before he was bitten. It was Christmas.. he was maybe three years old…

But he never got a chance to relive his memory.

"And what do we have here?" came a silky voice from behind him. Remus didn’t even have to look.

"Hello, Severus," he chimed with sickening good-naturedness.

"As much as I would like to take the time to mock muggle literature with you, Lupin," he hissed cruelly, noting the book in disgust "I do believe I have a purpose to talking to you…"

"Do tell," he sighed.

"The matter intrigues me greatly, Lupin…" he said, his eyes twinkling madly. "Last night you were not in divinations class, no?"

"No, Severus, I was not," he replied, turning the page, and continuing his reading.

Snape grinned darkly. "And where were you?"

"If you must know, I wasn’t feeling well," he muttered, continuing to walk.

"Interesting… your twit of a friend Pettigrew said you weren’t in your room… and just because I’m so concerned for your well being, I checked the H-Wing… you weren’t there either… imagine that…"

Remus made no reply.

"You seem to be ill quite often Lupin," suggested Snape, insinuatingly. "And yet, every time you’re ill, you seem to disappear…"

Suddenly Snape put himself in Remus’s path, and blocked it. "I know something is up with you Lupin," he grinned evilly. "And mark my words, I will find you out…"

Remus just looked up at Snape with sullen apathy. This wasn’t the first time they’d had this discussion. "You really need a hobby," he sighed, shaking his head.

Snape gave Remus a twisted smile before he whirled around to walk away. And if he hadn’t whirled right into Ana, it would have been successful, too.

"Ack! Watch where you’re going," she barked angrily. Remus took a moment to look at her. There were dark circles forming under her eyes. She looked beat.

Snape grinned his all-too-familiar grin down at Ana with mock-interest. "And what is this? An Anblick here at Hogwarts… and speak up girl. What’s in my stars?" he shoved his palm towards her face. She looked away quickly with disgust. "Oh? Not a Guardian like dear old Daddy? I can’t tell you if that makes you brave or just plain stupid…"

Ana looked at Remus who was quite interested in Snape’s comments. He returned a questioning gaze.

"Who is this guy?" she asked Remus angrily.

But Snape continued his taunting before Remus could answer. "I’m surprised your father wasn’t killed before he was… yes, he lasted quite a long time… unnecessarily putting your family in danger… shouldn’t have even had you to begin with, if you ask me."

"I didn’t," replied Ana shortly.

"Well, I suppose it is nothing short of a miracle that you, as well, survived this long… Perhaps the Stars are kind to you after all, your Guardianship," he said evilly, as he bowed in mock fashion. Of course, that was all Ana needed- for him to lower he head to her level- for her to throw a well executed uppercut across his jaw and to follow up with punch in the face.

"AAARGH!" groaned Snape, being thrown back against the wall of the corridor. "You little bitch, you broke my nose!" he exclaimed, holding a hand over his face, which was gushing blood.

"Is there a magic charm to fix those too?" she asked Remus dully.

Remus raised his eyebrows, very amused. "Probably," he said, watching, making no move to intervene.

Ana just shrugged and walked back to Gryffindor Tower.

After she had gotten far enough away that Remus was sure Snape wasn’t going to go after her, he sighed, and continued reading, as he started up the stairs to the Divinations Room.

* * * * *

"Did you summon him?" Kezia frowned at Dumbledore, referring to Crouch.

He shook his head. "Much like yourself, my dear, he summoned himself."

"And with perfect timing, I see," grunted Crouch angrily. "Really, Albus, I’m surprised you didn’t contact me. "

"To be fair, Charles, I didn’t contact either of you two. Nor will I be contacting either of you in the future!"

They stared at him. "Good Heavens, Albus," gasped Crouch. "Why not?"

Dumbledore stood, anger flashing in his eyes. "I realize that there is a certain animosity between your and your political affiliations, but your behaviors before Miss Anblick today were, simply put, unprofessional and uncalled for."

"-Albus, I hardly think-" Kezia started.

Dumbledore didn’t let her continue. "This girl, regardless of her powers, will not be a battle ground for you two while she is under my protection at Hogwarts. She has enough trials right now that she does not need to be smothered under the philosophical debate of divinations and sales pitches you two have planned in the back of your minds."

"Albus, I only came here to investigate the claims," sighed Kezia. "That was all I had orders to do."

"Orders?" piped up Mr. Crouch tauntingly. "And from whom? From Kasek? Your fearless leader?"

"Charles, contain yourself!" muttered Dumbledore. "This is exactly what I am talking about. I feel ill just sitting in the same room as you two. Kezia, I trust you have the information you wanted?"

She nodded, gravely.

"Charles, why did you come?"

"To introduce myself to Ana, and to offer her my sympathies. I am also curious as to her test scores."

"Her test scores came out negative," said Kezia, her jaw set in annoyance. "You can check the clipboard if you doubt me."

Charles looked at her, trying to detect a bluff, before going over and paging through page after page of red checks and scribbles. With a nod, he set the clip board back down.

"You both have everything you need then?" asked Dumbledore. They nodded. "Neither of you are to return to this castle on the business of Miss Anblick without my written consent. Neither of you will be visiting the castle while the other is here, And although I will not enforce this, I urge both of you to have some compassion on the child, and to leave her in peace. Am I understood?"

The two nodded, solemnly.

"Then a good day to the both of you. You were both students here at one time. I trust you can find the door." At that, Dumbledore turned and stepped away.

* * * * *

After about five wrong turns and two switching staircases, Ana finally made it back to Gryffindor Tower. The room was full of students of varying ages, apparently between classes. A few of them introduced themselves to her, as she fought her way to her dormitory. But she smiled and talked to each of them for a moment. She always had been a good actress.

She was relieved to find the dormitory abandoned. She went to go lay down on her bed bake in the sunlight, which was pouring into through the windows. Closing her eyes, she didn’t feel anything. It’s not that she was happy or content- she really didn’t feel anything. The only thing that she did recognize was the slow and rhythmic cycle of her breathing.

Without anything more to think of, Ana thought of her mother. But she quickly distracted herself- she didn’t want to deal with that yet. So she thought of her anger towards that strange Slytherin she met in the hallway. The nerve he had! Then she thought of Remus. She always did notice people’s eyes first. The Slytherin’s were a glossy black. Lily’s were brilliantly green. But Remus’s were different- they were a normal hazel tone, but there was something deeper to them. Ana could almost picture them perfectly.

Suddenly, she heard crying. Realizing she was not alone in the room, she sat up, startled.

There, in the middle of the room, knelt a woman. She was perhaps middle aged, but she looked older- gray strands flying evenly through her beautiful dark blonde hair. Even though she was looking at the floor, Ana could make out her hazel eyes.

"Umm… Ma’am??" asked Ana, kinda startled by her sudden appearance, "Are you-"

But before she could finish, a little boy appeared out of nowhere. Ana watched with interest at the vision that lay before her, as the small boy- with light brown hair approached the woman, who could only be his mother. He had the exact same hazel eyes. In fact, he looked exactly like a younger version of …

"Remus," whispered Ana.

A closer inspection revealed that he had tears running down his face. She marvelled at how even at the young age he looked- maybe 6 or 7, he still looked very much like the Remus she knew. She watched as he went and knelt by his mother, and hugged her tightly. Why are you crying? Ana thought to herself, watching with growing concern.

As if on cue, the entire room became bathed in a bright, blinding white glow for a few seconds. When Ana could finally see again, Remus was gone. His mother still sat, weeping, in the middle of the room. She glanced around the room wildly, seeing nothing. And it wasn’t until she heard a dark growling from behind her that she even thought to look behind her.

Her heart beating rapidly as she turned, slowly, to come face to face with the largest wolf she had ever seen. She had seen her fair share of wolves, living out in the country. Even though she had never been as close to them as she was now, she was sure, that this wolf was abnormally large. There was a redness to it’s eyes, and a frightening extension of its teeth that made Ana certain that she really didn’t like this vision very much, and she flew off the bed, and backed up against the wall, wide-eyed. Luckily, the wolf did not follow. Instead, it approached the woman sitting in the middle of the dormitory.

Ana cringed as she watched the wolf get closer and closer, growling menacingly. She really didn’t want to watch this, but she couldn’t avert her eyes. She found herself holding her breath as the wolf’s face was just inches from the woman’s- who was hardly taking notice at all. Then, out of no where, the wolf started licking her face. Whimpering, it was as if it was wiping away the woman’s tears, as she cried.

Ana watched, stunned and confused as this carried on for a few moments. But hearing a door close across the hallway startled Ana, and she looked away. By the time she looked back, the vision was over.

She shrunk to her bed, holding her forehead in her hands. She rarely had such in-depth visions. Very few though, especially in the past month, were becoming more and more detailed. It seemed to be a growing pattern. She shook her head wearily. "Hallucinations my ass," she grunted, collapsing down to the bed.

* * * * *

"You guys wait here, I’ll get rid of my books and be right back down," muttered Lily, approaching the stairway to her dormitory.

"Can’t we come?" asked James, watching her retreat.

"You’re taking the blame if you get caught in the girl’s dormitories. It was your idea, not mine," she shrugged. James, Sirius and Peter followed her.

"I think they’re more concerned about boys sneaking into the girl’s dormitories at night, not noon, Lil’," said James.

Lily turned and flashed him a smile. "When it comes to you three, they’re always concerned."

Sirius grinned as he climbed the stairs, admiring a picture of ballet dancers. "Hey, no fair- the girls have better portraits in the hallways than we do!"

"What, no pictures of naked women in your hallway?"

"Well of course there are," nodded Sirius, "But Agnus.. she’s just getting kind of old… loosing her looks. A real shame. My brother says she was quite the looker back in his day."

Lily stopped and glared at him. When he showed no sign of joking, she looked at James, who rolled his eyes. "He’s kidding."

"About which part?"

"The whole thing," he grinned.

"You’re getting so good, it’s scary," she muttered to Sirius.

He beamed. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, stopping and opening the door to her dorm room. "Boys in the room," she announced to whoever was there. It was only Ana though. "Hey Ana, you won’t tell if I let the guys in the room, will you?"

"No, don’t worry about it," she sighed, still baking contentedly in the sunlight.

Lily walked in, followed by the three musketeers. Peter beamed excitedly as he saw Ana. As Lily went to her trunk to drop off the books, he went over.

"H- Hi, Ana," he stammered, nervously.

Ana had her eyes closed, but she opened them. "Hey Peter," she answered.

He blushed, excited at a reply. He found a lot of girls seemed to ignore him. He eagerly continued conversation, trying with every ounce in him to be cool.

"So.. how is the first day of classes going?"

She raised an eyebrow as if she were seriously considering how to answer that question. "Pretty good," she replied distantly.

Peter smiled. ‘Another answer!!!’ He was walking on clouds.

It was observant Lily who joined the conversation. "You all right, Ana? -you look a bit pale."

"Yeah, I’m good," she said rather convincingly.

Peter’s eyes opened further. "You know," he worried, "My Great Aunt Elise Margot Pettigrew- may she rest in peace- got violently ill after traveling by portkey. It doesn’t agree with everyone you know. She was vomiting for weeks! You should really see someone, Ana- I’ve seriously never seen anyone puke so much as she did! I swear, every time she ate something, it just gushed right back out!"

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at Peter. Even James and Sirius, who had been going through Lily’s wardrobe, shot him a disgusted glance.

"I don’t think she wanted to hear that, Pete," Lily muttered, giving him a pat on the back.

"Oh…" said Peter quietly. "Right. I’m sorry, Ana," he said quickly. He looked like he had just lost a million galleons.

Ana managed another smile. "I’m fine, Peter. Um… thanks for being concerned."

His face lit up again. "No problem! Hey, you want to come to lunch with us?"

Ana’s smile faded. "No thanks, I have some stuff to do."

"Would you guys stop???" giggled Lily, walking over to her wardrobe and snapping it shut.

James and Sirius grinned at her. "What?"

"You’re messing up my drawers!" she laughed, shaking her head. "Let’s go before someone finds you guys up here." As she dragged James by his shirt collar back to the door, she looked back at Ana. "You sure you don’t want to come?"

"Nah, thanks though."

"Later, Miss Anblick!" called Sirius before he was dragged out of the room.

"SO… see ya later?" asked Peter, walking backwards toward the door slowly.

Ana nodded. "Yeah, see ya Peter."

* * * * *

"DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT?" beamed Peter mercilessly as he walked with them into the great hall, "She said she’ll see me later!"

"You’ve got it bad, man," sighed James.

"And there’s nothing wrong with that," smiled Lily. "I think it’s cute."

"What do you think, Lily?" inquired Peter. "Does she really like me?"

"Well…" said Lily, searching for some encouraging words, "She doesn’t seem to dislike you…."

Peter glowed.

"POTTER!" snapped a voice from the other side of the great hall. Most of the hall turned to see Berenice approaching him rapidly. She looked furious.

"Hey Berenice!" he said cordially.

"Oh don’t you "Hey Berenice" me, Potter. I know what you’re up to."

"Fine," he nodded formally. "No more pleasant greetings. Sirius, remind me never to greet Berenice again in any sort of emotion besides apathy or displeasure."

"Dually noted, sir!" replied Sirius, grinning.

Berenice fumed angrily. "I’m talking about my payment. When do I get to see Remus!?"

"Who, settle down there, my estrogen-driven friend," said Sirius, putting an arm around her, and leading her towards the table. "All in due time, all in due time. Remus is a very busy man, but you’ll have your ten minutes."

"I’m warning you," she glowered, "I will never help you sneak into the Slytherin Dungeons ever again!"

"And that’s a valid concern of ours," replied James in a very businesslike manner. "We’ll let you know soon, all right?"

Berenice did not answer. She simply gave them short glances as she twirled around to walk away. Unfortunately, she turned to see Remus approaching the table.

"Hello Remus," she said, flashing him an enchanting smile.

Remus stopped short. "Oh.. um… hey," he smiled shyly. James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged grins, while Lily frowned at them. As Berenice walked off, giving Remus another glance over her shoulder, Remus came back to earth and sat down by the group.

"Hey, how was the make-up test?" asked Lily.

Remus’s face darkened. "Brilliant," he grumbled. He looked over at Peter who was grinning stupidly- apparently lost in thought. "He talked to Ana, I take it?"

The group nodded. But something caught Sirius’s eye at the other side of the hall. "Bloody hell… look!"

All their eyes flowed towards the all too familiar visage of Severus Snape- gallant in his flowing black robes, his black eyes playing nicely off a purple and blue bruises around his nose.

"Looks like someone finally gave Snape a run for his money!"

"She sure did," replied Remus, grinning with wide-eyed recollection as he grabbed a dinner roll.

"She? She who?" asked Sirius.

"Ana."

"Oh, go on!"

"What happened?" glared Lily with concern.

"He made some comments that she apparently didn’t like, and she slugged him rather hard."

"Well what did he say?" asked Peter furiously.

Remus shrugged. "Usual Snape comments. He was in his evil-mode - he had just confronted me about last night." He decidedly kept his mouth shut about the fact that Ana’s father was a Guardian. He suspected there was probably a reason that she hadn’t told them earlier, and that it wasn’t his place to say anything.

"Oh, not again," grumbled James.

Sirius looked at Snape darkly. "We need to find a way to get him off your back, Remus."

Remus was washed with gratitude and concern. "Let it be, Sirius. He won’t figure it out."

"Hey, he may be uglier than a dementor, but I’m telling you, he’s smart. Don’t let your guard down."

Remus just nodded. As conversation drawled to different things, Remus got to thinking about Ana. Her father was a guardian… and now, a guardian visits Hogwarts… He wondered what it all could mean. He thought about the argument he heard coming from the Divinations room before he entered it. It was between the Guardian and some man who Remus had never met. The both left when Remus showed up, leaving him with a flustered Professor Pyrre. He hadn’t seen any of them since. Somehow he knew they were arguing over Ana.

* * * * *

Charles walked into his office and sat down. "NINA!" he barked to his secretary who popped her head in.

"Yes, Mr. Crouch?"

"Send in the board immediately."

It took only seconds for five well-dressed business wizards and witches to assemble in his office.

"Back already, Charles?" asked one.

He nodded.

"What did you find?"

"Kezia Doppelle."

There was an angry shuffling in the room. A few people swore.

"Did she get to her first?"

"Yes, but it doesn’t matter. The girl failed the tests."

"All of them?" asked a witch in the chair by his desk.

"Yes. Miserably. And she has brown eyes."

"That doesn’t mean anything," replied one of the older men.

"It does," insisted Charles earnestly. "The Circle is seeking a blue-eyed Seer. She’s not the one."

"The test scores confirm it then. We have nothing to worry about, right?"

Charles seemed distracted. "Right…"

There was a pause before one of the woman in the back asked, "What are you thinking, Charles?"

He shook his head. "It was Kezia… I can't help but think she's hiding something…"

"She's bluffing, Charles- all those Seer scum do it. You know that! They thrive on messing with people's minds."

Crouch was not convinced. "Call it my gut feeling. I don’t want to throw this case away just yet…"

The assembly exchanged glances. "Whatever you want Charles," shrugged the same woman. "But don’t worry about it too much, okay?"

"Yeah…" he muttered, deep in thought.

* * * * *

It was later in the evening, when the students of Gryffindor Tower were silenced by the entrance of Professor McGonagall. She looked around with her catlike eyes, searching for someone. Still looking around, she approached Lily. "Miss Evans, have you seen Miss Anblick?"

"She’s sleeping… or at least she was. She’s been in bed for most of the afternoon..." Professor McGonagall set her jaw as she thanked Lily shortly, and approached the staircase. A few moments later, she came back down, and left the common room.

"What was that all about?" Lily wondered aloud.

"I don’t care what you guys think, there’s something going on with her. No one is that exhausted from traveling," muttered Sirius. They had been up sporadically throughout the afternoon to Lily’s room. They found her each time, curled in bed under the blankets, sleeping as soundly as death.

Remus frowned, considering how she looked when he saw her in the corridors. She did look tired.

"Oh no… it’s my Great Aunt Elise all over again," moaned Peter.

"I don’t see Ana puking, do you?" asked Lily.

Peter knocked on the wood table in despair.

A sudden hush in the common room made them turn around. At the foot of the stairs of the girl’s dormitory, stood Ana. Her hair was gathered in a neat and simply ponytail that dipped down her back silkily. She looked exceptionally pale, dressed in all black- a knee length black skirt and a black blouse. Even her hair looked black in the dim light. Her eyes were unusually dark. She wove through the chairs and tables to the portrait, which she stepped through gracefully.

Immediately upon her exit, the room erupted into conversation.

"What odd clothes…" replied Jackie, a girl sitting next to Lily.

"But still beautiful!" beamed Peter.

Lily ignored him. "They’re muggle clothes," she whispered.

Remus was absorbed with intrigue. "I wonder where she’s going…"

Suddenly Peter stood. "I’m going to follow her!"

"Go for it Casanova," grumbled Sirius, obviously tired of Peter’s swoonings.

He grinned, and left the room quickly.

The group shook their heads and turned back to their DADA assignment. Remus reached into his bag to pull out his notes, and groaned.

"What?"

"I can’t find my notes."

"Where was the last place you saw them?"

He pondered this for a moment. "… we were looking at them in the great hall." He brightened. "I left my notebook under the table- I didn’t want it to get food on it. Hang on," he muttered, standing, "I’ll be right back."

* * * * *

Ana’s heels clicked with loud echoes as she entered the great hall. She was immediately wafted by the warmth of the room. Dumbledore had really outdone himself. There must have been two or three thousand white candles floating around. The head table was draped in a long, white table cloth which had white roses bursting from it’s seams. In the middle, was a picture of her mother surrounded by shining silver candles on mirroring plates.

Slowly, looking around in astonishment, Ana walked to the front table. She had never seen that picture of her mother before. She was younger in the portrait, perhaps in her mid twenties. She was smiling, and waving at Ana as she swung on a swing. Ana didn’t recognize the place, but she watched, enchanted by the portrait of her mother, feeling a tiny pinch of pain in her chest.

"You do look resemble her very much," came a voice from behind her. She knew it was Dumbledore. He sat down at the chairs closest to the head table- a Hufflepuff Table. If Ana had any reaction to his statement, she didn’t show it.

"This is lovely," she said quietly, surveying the room. "Thank you."

"I knew your father very well, Ana, and I admired your mother. She was a remarkably brave woman."

Ana watched the picture for a while, the only sounds in the great hall being the occasional scratching of her shoes on the stone floor.

"Shall we get started?" asked Dumbledore gently as he stood. Ana took another look at her mother before nodding.

Dumbledore approached the picture of her mother solemnly. At the base of the frame, hardly visible against the white tablecloth and white roses, lay a piece of fine white lace. He picked it up, and while Ana was still watching her mother, placed the lace over the picture frame. Ana felt the tightness grow in her chest, and she held her breath, desperately trying not to cry. She was only standing slightly behind him, as he placed a hand on the top of the now covered picture. He began the farewell.

 

"Now depart to the city of God,

to the heavenly light

to the multitudes of angels and archangels,

to the clouds of those beloved and loved

to the ancestors and the prophets

to the ones who wait anxiously for you

to the host of saints and the company of heaven.

May the angels take you into paradise

may your loved ones welcome you on your way

and lead you into the holy city of God above.

May the choir of angels welcome you!

Depart to the paradise of God and live in peace."

 

And with these last lines, all the candles that rested on the table with the picture frame dimmed symbolically, leaving the Great Hall to the light of the candles above them.

Ana was now visibly shaking as she fought the tears that were not glassing her eyes. Dumbledore turned to put a hand on her shoulder, but with a jerk, she stepped away. That would only make her cry more. She forced herself to try and breathe in a normal pattern, but it ended up being shaky and staggered. Dumbledore just stood and watched, giving her the moment she needed. Ana moved to the table and sat, not daring to look at the memorial. There was a long silence in the hall, which made Ana feel incredibly small.

Finally, in a desperate search for answers and a change of subject, Ana spoke. "Who’s right?"

"Excuse me?"

"My father ran away from the Circle. Is the Circle bad? Is the Caucus Resistance right? Or was my father wrong…?"

"That is a matter of opinion," he replied simply.

"Well what’s your opinion, then?"

He studied her. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I don’t know what to think." It was a logical answer.

Dumbledore looked at her apologetically. "I’m sorry, Ana, but I’m not going to tell you what I think. This is something that needs to be decided by you and you alone."

Ana turned away to look at the lace covered memorial. After another pause, she turned back. "May I have a moment alone, please?"

Dumbledore stood and nodded. "I’ll be outside."

Ana watched him leave before sitting down at the table, and gazed up at the enchanted night sky.

* * * * *

Kezia walked swiftly into the great white ballroom of LeBab Tower, not bothering to give her cloak to the Centaur waiting to take it at the door. Kasek was the only one there. He looked up without greeting, his grey eyes blazing with intent as she sat down opposite him at the great white round table.

"She’s gifted," replied Kezia flatly. "She failed the tests, but she’s a seer at the very least. She’s got a photographic memory, a well-hidden respect for her visions, and above all, she’s color-sensitive. She didn’t pick up on the clairvoyant colors, but she’s unconsciously perfect at the ESP cards when it comes to colors. "

Kasek studied her carefully. "-But?"

Kezia frowned. "She has brown eyes."

"The prophecies say that the circle will be completed within our lifetimes. That includes Tomas’s lifetime."

"I am aware of this," Kezia replied. "I’m just reporting what I saw and what I saw. She’s destined for greatness, yet she has brown eyes… It doesn’t add up. We have already found Tomas’s successor…"

Kasek shook his head. "What of Dumbledore, what does he think?"

"He saw the color sensitivity. He seems quite confident that she’s the one." Kezia paused for a moment. "I should mention that Crouch showed up."

Kasek glared. "Yes, yes you should mention that!" he groaned, annoyed. His thick Russian accent made his voice sound twice as angry, making Kezia sit straighter on guard. "What does he think?"

"I don’t think he saw anything. I don’t think he’s anything to worry about."

"He’s always something to worry about."

"All he has to work with are the facts. She has brown eyes and she failed the test."

Kasek sighed uneasily, seemingly lost in thought. "You insist he has nothing to work with?"

She nodded affirmingly.

He shook his head. "Fine. Let’s get the others here. We need to examine this prophecy once more… just too make sure."

"To make sure of what?"

"Eye Color," he replied, exiting to an adjacent room.

* * * * *

Remus approached the doors of the Great Hall slowly. There was a bright glow coming from the other side, and as soon as he peered through the opening, he knew why. Thousands of candles floated before him, illuminating the dark room. He could see Dumbledore walking out of the eastern doors of the hall, leaving Ana sitting alone. He frowned, and looked around. No sign of Peter. He had apparently not found her yet. Knowing him, he probably went to the Astronomy tower first.

Whatever was going on in the great hall, Remus had the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to be there. Silently, he craned his neck through the open door to see the Gryffindor Table. He couldn’t get a good view of the spot where he left his book, so as silently as he could, he crept into the room and walked stealthily along the wall. Finally he got to a point where he could see his book. At least he knew it was there.

Taking a deep breath, he tiptoed across the hall towards the spot. Ana seemed to be lost in thought and didn’t take notice of him. With ease, he bent over and picked up the book.

Suddenly, Ana stood. Remus froze. He watched as she crept towards the table. He watched her, holding his breath, as she ran her hand gently along veils of white roses. He saw her stop in the middle, and reach to uncover a centerpiece- which was covered in a white lace. As she stepped to the side, Remus saw it was a picture. It looked quite a bit like Ana- although older. As Ana gazed at the picture, Remus turned to walk away quietly. He had made it halfway to the door, though, when she spoke.

"How did you know that they were our favorite? White roses…"

Remus tried to come up with something to say, but the best thing Remus "Genius with a J" Lupin could say was, "Umm….."

Ana turned around. Her mouth dropped suddenly, startled. "I’m sorry… I thought you were Dumbledore…"

Remus realized he was still crouched over form sneaking out of the room. He stood up straight, blushing at being caught. "Err.. no problem. How long did you know I was here?"

"Since you walked in," she said simply, picking at her fingernails.

"Oh," sighed Remus. "I’m sorry to interrupt, I just needed my book…" Remus drifted off as he watched Ana’s jaw clamp tighter, before she turned away quickly. Her saw her shoulders tense as she brought one of her hands to her face- looking like it was clamped over her mouth.

Remus looked at her, startled, as he sighed, put the book down, and approached her.

"Who was she?" he asked, already guessing.

It took Ana a minute to answer. When she did, it was choked and short. "My mother."

Remus nodded gravely. "I’m so sorry, Ana."

"It hurts," she whispers.

Remus could hear the pain in her voice. He could feel the pain in her voice. He went up, and put his hands on her shoulders gently. "I know. I know it does."

She shook her head miserably as she whirled around to face him. "You know? She’s dead because of ME, Remus. He was looking for ME, and he killed her. I don’t care what people say about my father, it was MY FAULT."

Remus stepped back. He had no idea that her mother had been killed. But he could guess how. "Voldemort?" he whispered. Nine out of ten times, if someone was killed within the past ten years, it was related to the dark lord.

Ana’s knees seemed to give in, and she knelt on the floor. "He was looking for me…if I had only kept my dream to myself, none of this would have happened…"

Remus sighed, wishing there was something he could say, but he just didn’t have the first clue what was going on. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked gently, kneeling down and trying to look into her eyes.

It took Ana a long time to get out the whole story. She told him everything. She didn’t know why, or what she was thinking, but he was there, and he was listening, and she needed someone. She was still somewhat upset with Dumbledore, her parents were dead, she didn’t know what to think about Kezia or Crouch… and there was Remus. There, and willing to help. She told him the whole story. Everything she knew, or thought she knew, from the time of her father’s death, to her visions, to her horrifying dream of the man covered in blood, up until the present. She did not tell him about the vision she had concerning him though.

When she finally finished, Remus was stunned. Ana seemed pretty stunned by the story too- she had stopped crying, distracted by the drama.

"I’m glad you told me this," Remus said finally. "You really shouldn’t keep things bottled up inside like that… it’s a killer."

Ana frowned at him. "There are some things that you just don’t tell people, Remus. You have no idea what people will do if they find out your ‘special.’ You don’t know what it’s like to be the center of attention- most of it negative."

Remus smirked slightly. "You assume too much."

"Whatever."

"Just like you wrongly assume that the death of your mother was your fault."

Ana’s eyes flared. "If I would have kept my mouth shut…"

"-It’s not your fault you are what you are. And it’s not your fault because you were human. You couldn’t keep that secret anymore Ana! It’s not like you didn’t try! You did try. I know you did, and you have to realize that too." Ana’s chin trembled as she looked away. Remus continued gently. "To err is human, Ana. You telling your mom was not an error, but if you must call it that, know that it’s not unheard of to make a mistake."

"It was still my error…"

"But your mother was happy that you said something, right?"

Ana looked away. "She didn’t like that I saw visions…"

"But she was shocked that you hadn’t told her earlier?"

Ana nodded.

Remus smiled weakly. "Because she loved you, Ana." His stared off in thought for a moment. "Parents would do anything to take away their children’s pain…" he said distantly. He came back to reality shortly though. "You would have told her eventually, you know. It was inevitable. Some things you just can’t hide, especially from those who care about you the most."

Ana looked up at him. Her deep brown eyes were glassy with tears. "You talk like you’ve kept a huge secret before," she muttered.

"You could say that," he smiled.

Ana looked up at the picture of her mother. Remus followed her gaze.

"What am I going to do about the whole seer thing?" she asked.

Remus shrugged. "What can you do? It’s not going to just disappear. See what you can learn." He glanced at her. "I’ll help you, if you want. James, Sirius, Lily and Peter will too. We’ll help you get caught up as well. James and Sirius are outstanding at Transfiguration, Lily at charms and Peter at Herbology."

Surprisingly, Remus’s optimism was reflecting on Ana. She nodded, determined, but still looking up at the picture.

Remus remembered something he had read earlier:

"As virtuous men pass mildly away,

And whisper to their souls, to go,

Whilst some of their sad friends do say…"

But he stopped at the startled look on her face. "I’m sorry, I-"

" "The breath goes now," and some say, "No"…" finished Ana. "John Donne?"

Remus, impressed and startled at the same time, nodded.

Ana thought about the poem again. " "The breath goes now," and some say, "No"…" she repeated. She nodded, sadly, looking up at her mother’s picture. "Of course they say, ‘no’… they miss their friend…"

"But they also need to let them be at peace."

"I can’t just stop loving her."

"No one’s asking you to," replied Remus. "They’re just asking you to love her enough to let her be happy."

New sets of tears rolled down from Ana’s eyes as she looked at Remus. "I’ve never wanted anything else," she sighed.

"She’s happy. No one is going to hurt her anymore, Ana. She’s safe, and she’s happy."

Ana opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it. Remus saw her shoulders tense again, but he was ready. He reached out and hugged her tightly as she sobbed silently into his shoulder.

He sat there with her for a long time. He talked to her, and he listened, and he held her when she needed to be held. Within the hour, he was leading her out of the great hall. She allowed him to stay while she said her good-byes to her mom. He grabbed her hand tightly as she walked out of the Great Hall. Only looking back at her mother’s smiling portrait once, she whispered hoarsely, "I think I’m going to need to hold on to you for a while."

Remus looked down at her. "You can hold on to me as long as you need to. I’m here for you. We all are."

Ana looked away. "I don’t think I want to tell them quite yet."

Remus didn’t ask. He just nodded. "That’s fine."

She looked up at him gratefully for a moment, before smiling weakly.

"What?" he asked.

"You forgot your book again."

* * * * *

Peter gawked as Remus came into the Gryffindor Common room, followed shortly by Ana. "I’ve been looking all over for you!" he squeaked to Ana. "Where have you been?"

Ana looked at him, startled, but before she could answer, James spoke up.

"Yeah Remus, where did you disappear to? We finished the DADA assignment."

"That’s okay," shrugged Remus. "I can figure it out on my own."

"So where were you?" asked Peter.

Ana frowned in confusion. "I’m sorry… did you need me for something?"

If Peter had an answer to that, he sure didn’t show it. He though for a moment, but the best he seemed to be able to come up with was "No- I was just worried."

Ana forced a smile. "You worry about me a lot!"

Peter shrugged sheepishly. "You’re new.. I just figured-"

"Thanks Peter," she smiled gratefully. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I have a long day tomorrow, I think I’m going to go to bed. Goodnight everyone."

They exchanged goodnights before Sirius literally dragged Remus down to the bench by their table. He was met with smirks and stares. "So what really happened?" winked Sirius.

"Excuse me?"

"You two. Alone. Night….?" asked Peter. He seemed quite annoyed.

Remus smirked. "It’s not what you think!"

"Then what was it?" smiled Lily.

"It was me going to get my book from the great hall," he muttered holding up his book that he had to go get for a second time, "and me seeing her there, and us talking."

"Talking?"

"About what?" asked Lily curiously.

Remus thought for a second. "I don’t think I can tell you."

"Why not!"

"I just can’t- it’s her business."

"Oh come on. How bad could it be?" asked James.

"It’s pretty serious."

"You guys were talking about me?" grinned Sirius.

Remus shook his head. "Sorry, no. But it’s something personal. It’s big - kinda like me and the wolf," he whispered.

Lily leaned tighter into the circle. "She’s a werewolf too???"

Remus groaned. "NO! But it’s on the same level."

Lily looked at James. "Dumbledore wouldn’t let a vampire into the school, would he?"

"She’s not a vampire. Look, she just needed someone to talk to and I was there, okay? If you’re so concerned, ask her yourselves!"

The table shrugged. Peter looked at him grudgingly. "So nothing happened?"

"NO!" groaned Remus again, standing. "I'm going to go do my homework in peace," he grumbled.

"Remus, wait," sighed Lily. "We need to talk."

Remus turned to look at them. Sirius, James and Peter looked away slightly. "What is it now?"

"James, has something to tell you," she replied, folding her arms in front of her. Remus raised his eyebrows at James, who smiled nervously.

"Have a seat, Remus!"

Remus didn't move.

"Right…" laughed James nervously. "Hey, you remember how we were going to … decorate… Snape's robes last night?"

"Yeah…" he nodded, with growing concern. "What, did you guys get caught?"

"No, but we had help. We got Berenice to let us into and get us out of the dungeon."

Remus nodded. They had enlisted her with various things on several occasions. She had never personally let them into the dungeons though.

"So what's the problem?"

"I guess she kind of saw letting us in as a big job. She demanded payment."

Remus smirked. "What?"

"She demanded payment," he repeated.

"No, no… what did you pay her ?" he grinned.

"Well…" piped up Sirius, "We haven't exactly paid her yet…"

"You'd better be careful, or she won't help you anymore," warned Remus, still smiling slightly.

"Oh yeah yeah, she's already warned us of that many times."

"So why haven't you paid her yet?"

"Because you've been busy," replied James simply.

"Me? What do I- .." he began, but he stopped. The smile faded from his face. James and Sirius looked away, and Peter buried his nose in his book.

"SO, LILY," James stuttered, his voice cracking slightly. "Think Gryffindor will win it's first quidditch match?"

"OH I DO," piped up Sirius, desperately.

"I'm going to kill you!" grumbled Remus.

"I told you he would!" Lily sighed to James triumphantly.

"I'm still alive!" James retorted through his teeth, trying not to move his lips

"James?" asked Remus.

"Hmmm?"

"What exactly did you say I would do?"

"Oh, just spend some quality time with her."

"How much time?"

"Ten minutes."

"Where. The Broom closet by Filch's office???"

Sirius laughed. "Oh, no no no. Nothing like that. The Astronomy Tower, of course!"

Remus paled as he tossed his arms up in the air. "Unbelievable! Bloody Hell!"

"What!? C'mon Remus! She's flat out the prettiest girl in the School. And she has her eyes on you! What's the problem?"

Remus shifted his weight. "I don't like her like that, James!"

"You don't have to!" replied Sirius. "Just have some fun!"

"That's terrible," snorted Lily.

Sirius shrugged, and everyone paused for a moment.

"So…" said James, breaking the silence. "…will you do it?"

Remus glared at him.

"Aww, please Remus?" begged Sirius. "She's great when it comes to helping us get Snape! Think about it! There was yesterday, and there was the time when she put our cow bile in his pumpkin juice-"

"-and the time she switched his shampoo with bleach," added James.

Remus smiled slightly. "That one didn't work. He doesn't shower."

"It'll work someday," replied James, grinning. "But think about it! She's done so much, we can't lose her now."

There was a pause. "You'll never promise her anything like that again?" asked Remus.

"Never!" promised Sirius and James. Peter looked up hopefully.

He sighed. "You owe me big time."

* * * * *

There were a few girls chattering in Ana's dorm as she crawled into bed. Bringing the quilts up to her shoulders, she gazed out the tower window. A long way below was the inky dark ground. High above, shone diamond-like stars and an almost full moon. Cuddling herself in the blankets, she thought about her mother and her father. They were both gone. They were the only family she knew of- her grandparents were all dead, she didn't know of any aunts or uncles and consequently cousins. It had always just been her and her parents. Then it was just her and her mom. And now? Now it was just her.

Yet, as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, a feeling swept over her that she would never be able to explain to anyone. She knew that she was not alone at all.

* * * * *

James listened as Peter snored in the bed next to him. It almost sounded like a grizzly bear with a sinus infection.

"We've got to do something about his snoring," he muttered.

"They've got to make a potion for it," muttered a sleepy Sirius from his bed, his voice muffled by pillows and closed curtains.

Across the room, came whimpering, and slurred whispers. "Help… please help…." James looked up. Remus's curtains were pulled back far enough for him to see him tossing, and flailing his arms in his sleep. "Help me, please…."

Sirius pulled back his curtains to take a look. "Another nightmare…"

"Can't blame him," muttered James, laying back again. Remus made a habit of having horrifying dreams. James never asked. No one did. Werewolf's haunted normal people's dreams. No one wanted to know what haunted a werewolf's.