Chapter 16: the day they almost died

January 1977

For the rest of Winter break Annabelladonna stayed at Hogwarts and met with Dumbledore to talk about the order. If the girl was being honest she didn't want to fight in this war, she thought it to be concerning that Dumbledore had to ask literal children to be on his side but she just went along with it. The more she met with him the more she regretted saying yes to his offer of joining. Bella wanted Voldemort dead, she hated the mere thought of him, but she wished that she could be young and naive. All sorts of horrors would present themselves to her in the next few years. Everyone from the opposing side of the war would try to crush her like a bug and the girl just hoped that neither of her brothers would be a part of that group. The Headmaster concluded that she'd be allowed to go to The Order meetings as long as it didn't affect her schoolwork. She hasn't gone to one yet but she was kinda excited to meet new people. Sure they were all older than her but maybe she could make some new friends. Who knew, maybe the people there would like her.

When everyone returned from the break Bella could feel the loneliness leaving her heart, sure she had written to people but for her it was much better seeing them than just imaging their faces. Over the two week time period she had written to Sirius and the rest of the boys asking them to not bring up what she shared about Apollo being a werewolf and explained when he was turned without being too specific. She didn't want to leave her friends in the dark but she would never purposely put Apollo which is why she asked for his permission to share his secret. She could remember the day he was turned like it was burned into her mind so it was no problem shaping it into words.

They were 13, innocent as can be. Well maybe innocent is the wrong word because they weren't pure in the slightest but they were... happy, ignorant to life's struggles. Apollo and Annabelladonna were walking back home after sneaking out to get Ice Cream. The moon was high in the sky but somehow they managed to ignore it. The two were tethered together by their hands, their fingers laced together. Soft laughter bounced off the walls of the alleyway that they were in, dim lighting shown on their faces. They were both clueless as to what was lurking behind them, shadowing their movements until he struck. He was bloodthirsty and out of control like a wild animal in a hot dog factory. Striking Annabelladonna in the side, his claws sinking into her waist and tearing down her thigh. She stumbled back and collapsed into the ground. Apollo tried to rush to her side but he was trapped in the jaws of the creature. A bite mark left in the crook of his neck and shouts at the end of the alleyway. Bella tried to bat the werewolf away from Apollo with her purse but it was no use, the gashes on her leg left her vulnerable and weak. Two figures appeared at the end of the alleyway, shooting spells until the werewolf was rendered unconscious. Zeus and Floria Cardell had saved the two teens but now they had to patch up their wounds which wouldn't be an easy task. The gashes in Bella's thigh were almost to the bone and blood was flowing out like it was escaping prison. Although Apollo's marks were not nearly fatal they were almost twice as painful, venom was coursing through his veins and he could almost feel his entire body pulsing. The boy's parents were rushing to stop the bleeding, they apparated home and sent a Patronus to a friend of theirs who ran the French division of St Mungos. They were not letting either of their children die that day.

Bella never told her parents about that day, in fact she and Apollo haven't told anyone besides Asher and the Cardells until now. James, Sirius, and Peter has all written long winded letters expressing their feelings about her attack but to be honest Bella only skimmed them. What intrigued the girl was Remus's response. His letter consisted of three tiny words that made Bella feel like an elephant was sitting on her chest.

"I'm

So

Sorry"

He didn't leave his name but she knew from the handwriting that it was him. He always had sloppy, somewhat rushed writing but this time his words were neater, more careful. Bella knew what this had meant. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. She didn't know exactly what he was apologizing for since it would be physically impossible for him to be the werewolf that attacked them considering he had never been to France. Nonetheless the girl wrote back two simple words, underlined to showcase their importance.

"It's okay" .
***
All of the boys had missed Bella over the break. Peter liked the way that she payed attention to him and he really looked up to how confident she was with herself. James had always had a soft spot for the girl, she was one of his best friends, his sister. James had seen her grow from an arsehole blood supremacist being lead down the wrong path, to a girl who had finally taken a step back to evaluate what she had been taught all of her life, to a girl who was just as willing to fight for muggleborns as she used to be willing to fight against them. She still slipped up sometimes, she still heard her mother's voice yelling at her to drop the blood traitors and Mudbloods, but she wasn't listening. She knew that blood didn't mean shit and that there was no blood type that was better or worse. Sirius has been skeptical of Bella at first, he held a grudge against her for as long as he could remember (which wasn't very long), but he'd given her a second chance. And he was bloody glad he did. Sirius has his twin back, his other half, and when she wasn't around he'd always relate her to something in his mind "oh Anna would like this, oh she'd have fun doing that." They had that bond again, and it was stronger than ever. Remus had been surprised at how much he caught himself thinking about the girl. Surprised at the hollow feeling he had in his chest when she wasn't there, surprised that he'd become so accustomed to having her there to the point where it felt unnatural when she was gone. Clammy hands grabbed a pen, scrawling out a short letter. The need to know more about the girl burning inside of him.

"What's your Animagus form?
-Remus Lupin"

"A panda.
-Annabelladonna Black."

"Pandas are really cute, how did you find the information about becoming animagi?
-Remus"

"One of my teachers just so happened to leave a book on his desk after I asked him about it.
-Bella"

"Damn your teachers must've been really slack, the boys practically had to torture Mcgonagall to get her to tell them where they might find a book.
-RL"

"Torture? What'd they do, make her listen to Sirius sing?
-AB"

"Close, they just sat their and stared at her until she got annoyed.
-R"

"Yeah that sounds about right. What are the boys forms?
-A"

"Peter is a rat, James is a stag, and Sirius is an itty bitty baby puppy, we named him snuffles.
-Rem"

"HA, do you think he'd mind if I called him that?
-Bells"

"Oh he definitely would.
-Remmy"

"Good.
-Belladonna"

Just as he was about to send his response another letter was dropped into his lap, the Black Family's owl not even waiting for a treat before deserting the place.

"Might not write back for a while. Stay safe.
-B"

That was on Christmas, Remus spent the rest of the break chewing on his lip whilst waiting for another letter. The letter never came. He spent the next week pacing and worrying about the girl who had for some reason, bombarded his thoughts. He face planted on his bed and just sighed. Feelings were never his thing but in that moment he would give anything up to feel the way he does when he makes her laugh or when they're close and his heart starts beating louder and butterflies invade his stomach and it feels good. Annabelladonna made him feel giddy, some part of him recognized that but the other part was in favor of blocking it out and returning to his clueless ways. He just wanted to forget that he might care for the girl and be her friend but he had a feeling that he'd keep missing her until they were more than friends.

***

The marauders re-entered Hogwarts as they left, with a bang. All of the houses colors were switched, metal statues were charmed to do the robot, origami figures of the boys were floating around the air, and Snapes robes had been embroidered with the outline of a penis. To put it simply it was chaos and it was beautiful. For the first twenty minutes of the feast no one told Severus of the phallic symbol on his back but that was all ruined when Dumbledore approached the slytherin table with an embarrassed Horace Slughorn behind him.

"Mister Snape, your robes are in violation of our dress code. Please remove them and put on some more... appropriate ones. Thirty points will be taken from your house as punishment." 

Severus inspected the front of his robes for a second. When he discovered the symbol on the back of his robes he turned beat red and ran out of the Great Hall, a disheveled redhead ran after him trying to keep her laughter from bubbling up her throat. The Gryffindor boys looked like they were about to burst with laughter. Bella would've felt bad if it were anyone else but since it was Snape she found it really fucking funny. Severus Snape has always been a git and she's just glad that their paths haven't crossed more than once or twice.

***

Classes had started again once everyone was settled, their schedules exactly the same. Everything was the same except Regulus Black, he looked like a lost puppy who'd just been kicked. Last summer his brother ran away after being burnt off of the family tree, and on Christmas his sister left because she had finally done something that her parents would kill her for. His sister had defied them and pushed away their plans for her life, instead choosing to spend her free time fighting against the dark lord. Walaburga Black was pissed, she could do whatever she wanted trying to calm herself down but it was just a silly little charade. More hate had buried down into her heart. She despised Annabelladonna, her own daughter, someone who she might've cared about once. Walaburga could feel her sanity burning to the ground like a witch at the stake. Or a marshmallow being held over a camp fire. Or like Bella's picture being burnt off of the family tree. One of the three. Orion was a mix of emotions. He was hurt, angry, he felt disgust at how his children ended up, but somewhere deep down in his heart he was sad. He'd lost two kids now and he knew the third would be soon, especially with Walaburga's plan to have Regulus join the dark lords ranks that upcoming summer.

Orion could never stop it though. He wouldn't dare to think he could. He was too much of a spineless coward to stand up to himself let alone his wife and the dark lord. So Orion let Sirius leave after a burst of anger, he let Bella flee in fear, and he would let Regulus be forced to the dark side.

2033 words

A/N: hey, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! If have any criticism or advice it's always welcome, have a nice day.