"You're late," said Professor Mavis boredly as Anna ran into the room. The class stared at her while she stumbled to her seat, her arms full of books and eyes tired. She wasn't used to waking up so early, as she had been skipping the class continuously for over the past month.

Regardless, she didn't sleep much anyway and any bit of shut-eye helped

After spending all night on the ridiculous amount of homework Professor Mavis had piled on her, she was completely and utterly exhausted.

"I'm aware," the girl muttered, slamming the piles of parchment on the front desk. 

"Maybe you shouldn't be tardy-"

"And maybe you shouldn't be a wretched old hag who likes belittling teenagers and making them do a month's work of homework in one damn night," spat Anna, her grey eyes colder than ice.

Mavis smirked. "Maybe you shouldn't have skipped my class for a whole month. Now if you're done making a fool of yourself, I suggest you should take a seat."

Anna gave one last glare before turning around and looking for an empty spot. First, her gaze landed on Caspar, who was sitting next to Luna. He gave a sympathetic smile before resuming his hushed discussion about Nargles with the blonde. Next, she saw Ron and Hermione - the latter giving her an extremely confused look, probably from her absence the previous night. Harry was on his own but practically radiated anger. Finally, she saw Reeve Waters, who was waving her over. 

She hesitated, remembering how Reeve had been at the Battle the previous year. The girl had been hysterical afterwards, then blaming of Evie. Reeve had been the only one she hadn't talked to since, and the mere thought made her nervous.

But she would rather choose a girl she was distant with than someone who was too close and angry.

"Hey Reeve," whispered Anna with a small smile, quietly setting her stuff down and lowering herself into the seat.

Mavis began her lecture but Reeve responded anyway. "Hi Anna, what made you come back?"

"I um...decided it was time," she lied.

"...and the witches were caught stealing from the vault. They were caught and blackmailed into joining the rebellion..." Anna gave a glare as she heard this tidbit from the lecture. It was so perfectly timed it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Ah, makes sense. You haven't missed much. Just a lot of sarcasm, detentions, and lack of teaching," said Reeve. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I'm pretty sure she's a drunk. She has this flask in her desk that she drinks out of between classes."

Anna's eyes widened and she suppressed a laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah. Honestly, she's a complete nutter. She won't tell anyone where she's from or anything else about herself. Anyone who asks gets detention. Heard she doesn't even show up for that either. She never leaves her room either."

"That's...odd...hey, you should tell someone, maybe they'll fire her," suggested the blonde with a smirk.

She received a sigh. "If only...apparently Dumbledore's fond of her. Oh, and a lot of the guys like her. Yeah, she's beautiful, but she's a real bit-"

"Detention, Waters!" snapped Mavis, stopping her pacing as she turned to face the girl. 

Reeve stayed silent but rebellion grew within Anna. "Professor, where are you from?"

"That's irrelevant information," she murmured, looking away. 

"Oh, really?" asked Anna. She caught a glimpse of something dark on the woman's arm...a bit of ink peeking from under the sleeve of her dark robes. "Sure you haven't been working for anyone in particular? Maybe Vold-"

"Where were you last night, Black?" the woman cut her off quickly. 

Silence filled the room as they stared each other down, anger boiling within them. But Anna caught something in the woman's beautiful light eyes...could it have been sorrow? Mavis didn't hold her gaze for long, as if it pained her to even look at the girl.

"I would give you a detention, but it's as if you're begging for it, and I refuse to give in," she droned. "Besides, the last thing I would want to do is deal with you outside of class...perhaps we could settle for a double-length essay on the troll wars in the 1800's? It'll be due tomorrow."

Anna seethed as she watched the woman pace and continue on with her lecture. But something nagged at her, who really was Professor Mavis?

~=~

Potions was later that day, and although Anna disliked the tension between herself and Harry, she preferred it over Mavis' presence. 

Speak of the raven-haired boy, they hadn't spoken a word to each other since the previous night. It broke her heart, but she wasn't about to be the weak one. She was happy and would stand her ground. He knew nothing about Caspar, and he had no right to say he was evil merely based on family ties.

Harry hadn't told anyone about what he'd discovered the night before, not even Ron and Hermione. Despite his anger towards Anna, he wouldn't turn on her. Sure, his feelings and tension were evident, but everyone who noticed took it as just one of their regular arguments. 

So, they worked together in silence, pouring over a potions book and making the concoction. Slughorn didn't seem to notice the oddity of their silence, as he had other matters on his mind.

"Um, hello you two! How's it going?" he greeted, his merry tone forced.

Harry couldn't meet his eyes. "Good, sir."

"Good, good...hey, do you mind if I ask a favour?" 

"Go for it."

Slughorn looked around before leaning closer and lowering his voice. "Have either of you seen an...um...a binder? It's leather with files in it-"

"No, why? What's in it?" asked Anna coldly, meeting his skittish gaze. 

He looked taken aback. "Oh, um, nothing really, just some notes over potions. Y'know, boring and useless-"

"Then why-"

"We'll be on the lookout for it," Harry cut in with a smile. 

The man looked a bit relieved at this. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you, m'boy!" He gave Harry a pat on the shoulder before walking off.

"So, 'm'boy', having fun with those lies?" mocked Anna with a smirk.

Harry almost cracked a smile, but he decided against it and kept a cold demeanour. "You'd know a lot about lies."

"We really need to look at those files, Harry," she leaned forward and whispered. The close proximity made them both blush a bit, but they tried to ignore it. "Sooner we return them, the better. Then I can leave Mavis'-"

"She can still tell him it was us."

"Let's just go over these during lunch, okay?" suggested Anna, looking into his emerald eyes with a kind smile. "We don't need to argue over everything, y'know."

He looked at her, giving a nod and sigh. "Okay, fine."

They resumed their silent work for the rest of the period until the bell rang for lunch, when they silently went to the vacant Gryffindor comment room. Anna trudged up the stairs to her dorm to get the files. She had hidden them in the bottom of her trunk, knowing none of the girls would be idiotic enough to search a psycho's suitcase.

She went back down and plopped herself next to Harry and set the files on the coffee table in front of them. "Well...shall we?"

"Let's look at the biggest one first," he said quietly, eyeing the many files within the binder. On top of the stack, there was the most-filled file. He opened it and set it between them. They both gasped.

"T-that's my mother..." whispered Anna.

And indeed it was. On top of many papers there was a profile of Leah Kendricks. It listed her full name, birth date, death date, relations, friends, strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments, grades, and some notes written all by Slughorn himself. The file contained many of her written papers, letters, and various pictures.

Anna's eyes started watering as she stared at her mother's life before her. It was all there. But her existence wasn't, and her heart longed for a parent more than ever. 

Harry noticed she couldn't make out the words through her tears. He put an arm around her and read it out loud. "'Leah Kendricks, Muggle-born(?) born November 2nd, 1959. She had four siblings and lived in Evanston, Illinois in the U.S. until she moved to Chicago with Sirius and later on Whitefield, England, then Godric's Hollow with the Potters. Her strengths were intelligence, kindness, courage, perseverance, likeability, and love of learning. Her flaws were being impish, fickle, overambitious, nosy, arrogant, forgetful, and an internalist.'

"'She maintained very high grades, got a perfect score on her Potions N.E.W.T, and only got under an O in transfiguration due to memory loss caused by head trauma. She was romantically involved with a gamut of students, but especially with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, eventually marrying the latter. Her best friends were them, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, Amae Chang, Rachel Cooper, and...Kate Mavis?'"

"M-Mavis?" asked Anna quickly, wiping her tears away. She snatched the file from him and made sure to read it correctly...he did. "What the hell...?"

Harry took it back gingerly and continued on, "'She tested out of Healer school and was able to get a job as one of the Heads of St. Mungo's. At age 18, she won a Third Class Order of Merlin award for single-handedly creating the Wolfsbane potion merely with supplies from potioneer Domacles Belby and the teachings of Horace Slug-'"

"She made the wolfsbane potion?!" she exclaimed.

He nodded, confused as to why she seemed frantic. Then it hit him as well. "Leah made the potions for Remus...didn't she?"

"Probably...but why?"

"She loved him," said Harry simply, recalling the conversation in which Remus told Anna about their relations. 

Her eyes widened and she turned to face him. "You eavesdropped...didn't you?"

"I, um..." he gave a sigh upon seeing her irate expression. "Look, you were so upset and I didn't want anything happening-"

"Yeah, whatever," she grumbled before putting her head in her hands. She didn't even have the energy to argue. "I can't believe she made a potion that's so important and she didn't even get much credit! I was never told any of this!"

"Anna-"

"I mean, that's my mom! I can't believe Sirius kept fo much from us! What a fucking jerk!" Anna yelled at the fireplace. She stood there for a bit, breathing heavily from the burst of anger. It was the first time she'd felt such an emotion towards him since she believed him to be a mass murderer. 

But she had every right...right? Because she just knew Sirius had to be somewhere out there and he just had to know how angry she was. And when he'd come back, she'd give him what for.

"Anna...maybe we should take a break-"

"No. Let's...let's keep going," she said quickly, flipping through more papers. There were various letters between the two, her essays, outlines for potential potions, and something in particular that sparked both their interests. "He...he started writing a biography on her."

"This is really odd, you know."

"Yeah, what a fucking creep," muttered Anna bitterly. "I mean, why the hell was he so obsessed with her?!"

"She seemed like a prodigy of his and that she was genuinely interested in learning from him," guessed Harry. He picked up the outline of the biography and noticed an annotation on the side. 'Include pictures taken by Adrian'. Of course, he went through the files and found one the corresponded to the name.

It contained regular facts and a picture of a man with thick round glasses and messy brown hair. They recognized him as a photographer from the Prophet. Inside was an envelope of pictures.

Pictures of unknowing students at Hogwarts.

"What the hell?! What's with people being stalkers?!" exclaimed Anna upon seeing a few pictures of her mother. She read a note in the profile that frustrated her further, 'fancied Leah Kendricks'.

"Anna-"

"I'm done. I just...I'm not doing this. You deal with Slughorn-"

"We need to listen to-"

"You don't get it!" she said suddenly, her eyes wild. Harry stayed silent. "Your parents...they were good! Everyone loved them and they weren't shady a-and, in the public eye, my father's a lying mass murderer and my mother was a whore then stupid enough to marry that! And I'm worse than the both of them combined!"

Harry watched her break down. He wished he could make everything better. His grudge against her was forgotten and replaced with sympathy and the desire to be kind. But something tugged at his heart...jealousy.

Yes, jealousy. He wished his mother were as successful and noticed. He wished his parents were in the spotlight. He wished his godfather was Remus. 

But still, he had it better off and he knew it. He was able to slip in and out of the limelight. Anna, on the other hand, was stuck with it. 

"We'll look for Tom's file and we're done, okay?" he asked softly. When she didn't respond, he wiped her tears and tilted her chin up so they were making eye contact. "Please, trust me."

She melted a bit under his gaze. "Okay."

They went through the remaining files, not spending much time on anyone else's - and yes, they, to Harry's silent distaste, merely skimmed over Lily's - until they got to the last one...it was empty with the exception of 'Tom Marvalo Riddle' written at the top.

"Are you kidding-"

"Maybe we left it behind," suggested Harry quickly, but theu both knew that wasn't the case. 

Anna sighed and shook her head, getting up from the couch. "I think I'm gonna write to Remus...I need...well, I don't really know."

"Don't be too harsh on him, please," he pleaded, causing her to laugh a bit.

"No promises." They stayed in silence for a bit. Then, suddenly, Anna sat next to Harry again and gave him a tight hug. He tensed a bit before embracing her, his face warming up. 

They let go and Harry turned his face away so she couldn't see the colour in his cheeks. What he didn't notice, though, was that she was doing the same. "What was that for?"

She finally looked at him, trying to come up with an answer. In all honesty, she had no clue. Well, she did, but she wasn't blatantly going to say that she loved him. "You'll always have a special spot in my heart...you know that, right?"

His eyes met hers and he almost snogged her then and there, but it was almost as if she knew what he was thinking. The look in her eyes dared him to do it but begged him not to at the same time. He didn't want to test her or put her in a bad position. He knew he could win her over if she had to choose...but he just knew he wasn't good enough for her.

He pulled her close and her eyes widened before he kissed her on the forehead and gave her another hug. "I think I do know, actually."

"I should, um, y'know, go," she said with a nervous laugh, motioning towards the door. Harry watched as she got up and left the common room, not bothering to look back.

Anna's heart pounded in her chest as she made her way to the owlery. She was filled with adrenaline and changed to her animagus form, sprinting all the way. By the time she reached the tower filled with owls, her lungs felt as if they'd collapse and her heart was heavy with guilt...was she disloyal to Caspar?

'It's only been a day and I merely said something to Harry...it was no big deal,' she reassured herself. 

She'd reached her destination yet she had no idea what she was to do. She didn't have an owl, Remus' address, quill, parchment, or any idea of what to write. She felt slightly better when she saw a desk with spare supplies.

But her relief was ruined when she heard a certain squawk...

Anna spun around to face a bird she'd recognized a loud gasp escaped her lips. "Oh my gosh...no way."

It was Sirius big black owl. Its amber eyes glowed as they bore into the poor girl. Everything felt surreal...that owl was not there last time she'd come to the Owlery.

Her fear was replaced with hope but quickly turned to anger.

She went to the desk and quickly scribbled her displeasure onto the parchment. When she was done, she felt drained. The letter read, 

Sirius,
  I don't know where you are or how your owl is here, but what I do know is that you're in the wrong far beyond what I could ever assume. There's so much you never told me. Remus is my godfather. My mother was in love with him and even made an astounding potion for him that I was never told about. She was a genius and a player at the same time. I found out through Slughorn's student-logs...she's so complex and I didn't even realize. I don't even know how to argue on this...I'm just now realizing the extreme lack of information I have about my own mother. 
   You've been secretive and shady since we met again two years ago, and I knew those vibes weren't meaningless. Why'd you hide so much? What else do I not know? And who the hell is Kate Mavis?!
  On a different - and more current - note, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Harry barely tolerates me anymore, and when he does, I just...hell, he's more complicated than all the girls at this school combined. I've met someone new but Harry doesn't trust him and I don't think Draco does either. Also since you've been gone, I've been doing horrendously in my classes, socially, and with life in general. 
  I don't know where I'm going with this...I just wanted to say that wherever you are, I hope you're having a great fucking time, ditching your daughter and godson. You've always been a coward. 
  I hope you don't get this. I hope I'm wrong about you being alive. 
  I hope for the former and I hope I get to join you soon.
~Anna

She tied the roll of parchment to the owl without a second glance, bitterly speaking through tears, "Take this to Sirius."

The owl didn't budge, it just looked at her with remorseful eyes. 

"Go!" Nothing. "Hell, just take this to him, now!" Anna picked up the owl and ignored its squawks of complaint as she forced it out the window. 

The big black bird flew around the tower aimlessly, unsure of where to take the rambling anger-filled letter.

~=~

Hey peeps! Sorry if the chapter is boring, choppy, or has errors. You get the gist; I'm tired and busy asf. Next chapter will be interesting.

Question of the chapter,
~Least favorite class irl and at Hogwarts?~
(irl-Chemistry, Hogwarts-History of Magic or Herbology. It's ironic because Hufflepuffs typically like the latter, but although I'm in that house, I don't think I would.)

Thanks for reading! Pls vote, comment, and follow.

Love to all,
~Lumos