Classes resumed as normal for Anika, but the dark cloud of the trial hung over her. It was so far off, but it was constantly on her mind, not helped by the continual letters sent to her by Mr Borgin and Mr Burke asking her to take their side.

She attempted to distract herself by doing far more school work than was necessary, but Lily joined her in this hard work so she wasn't alone. Marlene made the quidditch team and was busy practising as the quidditch captain Kathryn Markson was determined to win the quidditch cup in her last year at Hogwarts.

With much complaining, Mary joined Lily and Anika sitting quietly doing school work. However every day she quickly tired of this and moved away to talk to Lisa and Donna on the other side of the common room.

Anika had found that Lisa and Donna had distanced themselves from her somewhat that year, which was odd because they had been on friendly terms since they had met. She hoped that it was just her imagination, but she feared that the girls were acting strange because of what the news had revealed about Anika's heritage.

In early October, Anika received a letter from the Flamels which set her at rest somewhat.

Anika,

We have been considering how to write this to you for quite some time and it seems I have now been able to put it into words. Know that we did not intend for this trail to happen, we were not the ones who instigated it.

I am very thankful to Mr Borgin and Mr Burke for raising and caring for you as they have and I would by no means intend to influence you in any way, however, you should know that it was them who pushed for a custody trial and we were just content in knowing you.

The news has of course blown much of it out of proportion, but we trust that the other trial isn't impacting you too much, know also that we will be your strongest advocates in this matter.

I know that due to the ministry guidelines we are unable to meet, however, I continue to look forward to the day that we can.

All my love,
Perenelle

This letter had quite the opposite effect on Anika's mood as Mr Burke's letter which tried to persuade her to take their side in the custody trial. In fact, the letter from Perenelle soothed her somewhat and created a strange warmth in the pit of her stomach that she didn't recognise.

*

The months stretched out in front of Anika before the trial, but all too soon Christmas was upon her. Due to the terms of Dumbledore's temporary guardianship, Anika was to remain at Hogwarts for Christmas that year.

Marlene's parents were taking her and her siblings to America to see their Grandparents for Christmas, Mary had promised her sisters that she would be back for Christmas that year and Lily was returning home to her family, leaving Anika the only second-year besides Remus, Sirius, Peter and James to stay behind that year.

Anika spent her Christmas reading up on material for her fast-approaching trial and dodging the four second-year Gryffindor boys who seemed intent on making her enjoy their company.

Anika appreciated their efforts, however, she was quite content in her own company. She did play several games of exploding snap with the boys and joined in on a huge inter-house snowball fight that Hagrid the gamekeeper organised.

But Anika's heart was not really up for the Christmas spirit that year so she skipped Christmas dinner in favour of sweets in bed.

She had been heartily surprised to wake up on Christmas morning to all of her friends had sent her presents, along with a very extravagant travelling cloak from Mr Borgin and Mr Burke and another beautifully engraved box from Nicolas and Pernelle Flamel which contained sweets that Anika had never come across before.

Staring at the box Anika was struck by the sudden realisation that she had never written a letter back to Nicolas or Pernelle. She pulled her trunk out from under her bed and pulled out a quill, inkwell and parchment.

Dipping the quill in ink, Anika began to write.

Dear Nicolas and Pernelle,

She hesitated there, not knowing how to continue. What could she possibly say to the two people who had created her and then not seen her for the past thirteen years of her life, what would they want to hear?

Merry Christmas.

I am sincerely sorry that I haven't written back to you sooner, but in all honesty, I didn't have any words to say.

I am enjoying my second year at Hogwarts and look forward to term starting again so that I can get back to classes, and of course, because all of my friends have returned home for Christmas so I am stuck here in the castle with no one but four annoying boys for company.

I wanted to thank you for my Christmas presents this year and last year! Both of the boxes are beautiful and I look forward to trying out all of the chocolates.

I am sorry that this letter is short

Anika hesitated a moment wondering how to finish the letter.

I look forward to meeting you both soon.

All my love,

Anika

Anika couldn't help but feel that the letter wasn't enough, but she didn't know what else to say to these two strangers. She just knew she wanted them to know she was thinking of them and was thankful for her presents.

She rolled the letter up and began to wander towards the owlery to give Stanley the letter to deliver. She pondered what Mr Burke's reaction would be if he found out Anika was writing to the Flamels and winced slightly at the thought of his almost certain anger at the idea.

Tieing the letter to Stanely's ankle, Anika couldn't quite place her fingers on what emotions she was experiencing, she just knew that she was more than ready for the trial to be over.