(Credit to whoever took this photo)

December 1976

When Annabelladonna returned to her room she knew exactly what she was going to do. The girl was bored and in possession of basically half of the sweets in Honeydukes so the solution seemed clear. Bella only ate around a forth of what she'd gotten because she knew that if she ate more than that she'd never stop. She hid the rest of the sweets in one of her dresser drawers with the hopes that whatever charm replaced the clothes in there would also apply to the candy and she could have a never ending supply. Sadly it did not work.

When the girl finished her snacks she suddenly noticed her sketchbook lying on her vanity. She hadn't drawn anything for a few weeks and she was itching to create something new. Normally the doodles took shape in new creatures that were born when the pencil met the parchment. Occasionally a person would get added to the mix but Bella was terrible at proportions so it wasn't often. If Annabelladonna had someone sitting in front of her she could probably make a rough outline and eventually turn it into something better. Mostly she drew tattoo ideas, whether she wanted them on herself or just thought they'd look cool the always exceeded her expectations.

Bella had always admired people with tattoos, she thought that the way the ink met the skin was extraordinary. She had befriended all of the tattoo artists that she could and thanks to that she'd seen the process many times. She even had a few tattoos of her own, they were all easily hidden because if her parents found out she'd be dead but she loved the way her tattoos made her feel. To her tattoos were a whole new form of art, she wanted as many tattoos as she could fit on those tiny little arms of hers. She even drew new tattoos ideas on the people surrounding her. In her sketchbook she had a plethora of tattoo ideas for Asher, Apollo, and Ares.

The people that appeared in her life often appeared in her drawings. She would catch them in a cute outfit or an interesting pose and just took it and ran with it. She would make them more outlandish, adding colorful backgrounds of entirely new places. Very few people got to actually see her drawings, most of them stumbled across them by accident and just so happened to wonder if they had a drawing too.

Her latest drawing was Remus Lupin.

The boy was hunched over his book in the library and his head rested atop his arms. He was floating in and out of consciousness and his face twisted with confusion as he tried to pick apart the new knowledge. The girl desperately wanted to go over to him, maybe even offer to help, but she knew that he would just walk away.

Remus John Lupin was extraordinarily good at walking away from his problems. Bella knew this because she had been deemed of as a problem by him. They seemed to form a routine by this point. Annabelladonna would smile and wave at him, or try to joke or chat with him. Remus would get a dazed expression on his face, then his eyes would find the scar that traced from her lip to her collar bone: when Remus saw her scar, the light would leave his eyes and he'd quickly make an excuse as to why he had to leave.

No one believed Remus when he said that he had to go to the library or that he was going to be late for cello practice. Remus didn't play the cello, and he'd excuse himself to go where he already was.

Annabelladonna on the other hand was a great liar. She found it easy to just bend the truth a little bit, after all it is just acting. She normally just lied to spare feelings but her ability to fake cry had helped her a lot throughout the years and she used it to get herself out of quite a few detentions. It really was quite handy and it's part of why she, Asher, and Apollo were so accomplished with their pranking. They never hurt anyone of course and anything they did could be easily undone so people never really minded their pranks. Some teachers even commended their strategies or gave them new ideas.

They were unlike the marauders in that sense. People minded the marauders work, some even thought it was cruel. Most of the time those people were right. The four boys consistently targeted people below them, whether it be younger kids or just weaker in general. There was one person in particular who they loved to tortue and his name was Snape, Severus Snape. It was no secret that there was a feud between James Potter and Severus because of their shared interest in Lily Evans. And it was no secret that Snape fought back, throwing nasty hexes at them in the halls or purposely ruining their schoolwork. The fact that neither the group nor the grease-bucket ever got in serious trouble because of their harsh actions against each other astounded Annabelladonna. From what she had seen she wouldn't want  to be in either of their positions.

Snape was lonely, he only had one true friend and even their relationship was rocky because of his upcoming interest in the dark arts. The marauders were the most loved people in the school, but they were also the most hated. Especially Sirius Black and James Potter. Rumors were constantly spread about them and even being near it was exhausting. Pair that with the weekly trips to the hospital wing because of Snape's rebuttals to their pranks and you've got a tough situation. Annabelladonna was glad that she was on the outside looking in instead of standing on the battlefield with the five angry and hormonal boys. She never really picked which side she'd be on because quite frankly she thought both were wrong.

As Annabelladonna got lost further in her thoughts about the situation she missed everything that was going on outside. Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew had just arrived back from hogsmeade and Sirius was a bit mad. Remus and Peter being the good friends they are, decided to go get him some tea from the kitchens whilst James defused him.

"Who did that guy think he is? He was acting like he owned Annabelladonna did you hear him tell her it was time for them to leave. It was like he was trying to control her."

"Sirius he didn't mean it like that he was just uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Ares is one of the sweetest people I've ever met and he wouldn't try to actually control Donnie. She's like his sister." James Potter was trying to calm his best friend down but his efforts proofed to be useless.

"More of his sister than mine."

"Woah where did that come from? I think she's a pretty good sister to you."

"Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just, she has everybody wrapped around her little finger and I'm sick of it. She doesn't care for mostly of the people in this school yet they act like she's a saint and I hate it."

"It may not seem like she does but she cares about you pads. Do you remember all of the letters she used to write to you. Maybe you don't because they just ended up in the fire but she genuinely tried. And she cares about other people at this school she just has a hard time making connections."

James was starting to grow frustrated with Sirius's dislike of his friend even though he understood why he was feeling this way. James would probably be just as frustrated if he were in that situation but a big part of him sided with Annabelladonna. Sirius only saw the bad in Annabelladonna, he found her apathetic, deceptive, and stuck up, just as he saw Regulus whereas James saw the good. If someone were to ask him who the most caring, honest, and accepting person he knew was he'd have to say Bella. (or Lily but to him Lily is the answer to everything so it might not be true). Bella can definitely come off as kind of a bitch because she gets awkward around new people but people normally like her once they get to know her. That's why she was so popular in Beauxbatons, because everyone knew her. And despite her flaws the people back home loved her for who she was.

"Well yeah I was a dick then but I'm here now and I just want everything to go back to the way it was when we were kids."

"Does she?"

"What do you mean, why wouldn't she."

"Because when you were kids you were constantly belittled and tortured by your parents. You had no friends and no one who cared about you besides each other and Regulus. So why would she want it to be like that. Now she has probably the best friends she could ever ask for and even though she just got ripped away from them they're still there for her. So be nice to her, she's sensitive. And think, if you were her would you wanna be back where you were when you were kids."

With that last statement James had left Sirius to think everything over. Sirius had felt like there was a war going on inside his head. He had forgotten about how much Annabelladonna had been through and he didn't even know the extent of it. One part of him still wanted that connection they used to have and was annoyed that Bella didn't. The other part of him was trying to understand how she felt and how he could approach her without being cold or getting snippy.

Sirius fell asleep on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, a war was still going on in his head. His thoughts swiftly transferred into a peaceful dream about giant cards and a world so wonderful he wished he could just fall into it.

Annabelladonna fell asleep tucked under all of her covers, thinking of a war that only turned into a brutal nightmare. She tossed and turned trying to get the horrid images out of her dreams.

Both of the Black twins were in a state of unconsciousness. Sirius was cold but had happy dreams that made him feel warm. But Bella was warm and had dreams that made her feel as if she was drowning in a lake that glazed over with ice, trapping her down in the dark and making it impossible to breathe. One woke up happy and ready to start the day and one woke up wishing that she never had to sleep again, because no matter what happened in her dream she was always drowning.

1882 words

A/N: Leave a comment or a vote if you're liking the story or have any advice. I'm a fairly new writer so I'm still working some things out, criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive. Have a nice day!