Being Different Year 6

It reached November and Anne seemed to be getting the quiet year at Hogwarts she had always dreamed off. She would go to class and do her homework, do Prefect duty with Anthony spend time with her friends, and go to the occasional party with the Slug Club with Irwin, Hermione, Ginny and Harry.

She was sat at her usual desk doing her potions essay on a Sunday afternoon with her headphones plugged into her Walkman listening to a Roy Orbison tape.

Suddenly Anne’s eyes were covered by someone’s hands.

“Guess who?” he chuckled.

“Let me see,” muttered Anne, “who do I know how always smells of chocolate?”

“Hi Annie,” chuckled Irwin kissing her. Irwin as always tasted slightly chocolatey and smelt of citrus from the lime shower gel he used.

“Chocolate?” he asked sitting down at the desk with her and pulling out a bar of chocolate he always carried on him for emergencies.

“No thanks Irwin,” she laughed as she finished her potions essay.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he said beaming.

Anne sighed as she put away her essay as Irwin held out his hand excitedly.

Anne and Irwin raced down to the seventh floor and what a shock, as usual Irwin’s surprise was within the room of requirement.

“So whats the big surprise,” said Anne with her hand on her hips as the headed into the room.

“The surprise is me dragging you away from your work for the afternoon,” he pointed out

“Actually, I’d already finished,” Anne told him.

“Yeah but once you’ve finished you usually start helping someone else and this afternoon,” he beamed as he pulled her into the room, “you are all mine!”

The Room of Requirement seemed to have turned into a sitting room, with a sofa, large piles of books and a coffee table which had a pot of tea and an assortment of cakes.

“This looks like a sitting room for a middle-aged couple,” said Anne as Irwin lit the fire in the fireplace.

Irwin looked around and saw that Anne was kind of right, there was floral print sofa, huge stacks of books and an afternoon table on the coffee table. He had tried to plan for every eventuality.

“You got a problem with that?” he asked pulling her in close.

“No,” she giggled, “of course not.”

This was the first time that Anne and Irwin had been properly alone without even the slightest threat of people bursting in, in months

Anne and Irwin made out on the sofa for what felt like several long days but was actually only about half an hour.

“Do you want some tea?” he asked once they had finished.

Anne nodded eagerly and they both knelt down by the coffee table as Irwin poured the tea and Anne sorted out the cakes. There were scones filled to bursting with clotted cream and strawberry jam, strawberry tarts with custard, there was even a mini Victoria sponge just big enough for two people.

“Where did you get all this?” she chuckled as she put one of each onto both of their plates.

“Kreacher,” beamed Irwin, “he’ll do anything for you, so he sent me your favourite sweet treats.”

Anne took a sip from her tea and then got out a fork which she used for the cakes.

Irwin decided that he couldn’t be bothered with a fork, the cakes just looked too good. He picked up his scone loaded with jam and cream and took a huge bite.

“You’ve got cream on your nose,” she chuckled.

Irwin had managed to get a dollop of clotted cream on his nose when he had tried to eat his scone. Anne reached over and wiped the cream off with her finger before eating it.

Irwin shook his head slightly and pulled Anne in for another long kiss.

Once they had finished the cakes Irwin levitated the coffee table over to the side of the room.

He flicked his wand at the ceiling, and music started to fill the room.

Anne danced in Irwin’s arms to everything from Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again, to Air Supply’s Making Love Out of Nothing At All.

They kept dancing until both their feet got tired and they eventually gave up after dancing for several hours. They were lying down on the sofa listening to The Seekers together before they had to go back to the Common Room. Irwin was one of the only people Anne knew apart from Remus and Brenda who appreciated the genius of The Seekers.

“Come on Annie,” grumbled Irwin at ten o’clock, “we’ve got class in the morning.”

Irwin heaved himself off of the sofa and Anne and Irwin walked back to the Common Room together their arms around each other.

“Where have you two been all afternoon?” asked Persephone smirking with her hands on her hips.

“If you keep her out this late again, we might not let you take her out,” added Anthony wagging his finger at them.

“Fuck off,” muttered Irwin.

“Did you two get the afternoon off you needed?” asked Persephone as they all sat in front of the fire together.

“Yep,” nodded Irwin, “you two?”

“We kept on having to change classrooms,” grumbled Anthony.

“People kept on walking in,” chuckled Persephone.

“Yeah, like Won-Won and Lav-Lav,” Anthony muttered darkly raising his eyebrows.

“They make me sick,” agreed Persephone.

“They can’t be that bad,” chuckled Irwin looking at his two best friends.

“I mean people thought me and Annie were a bit annoying at first,” he pointed out.

“You two were cute,” said Persephone.

“They make us sick,” finished Anthony.

“Sephie we should get to bed,” said Anne.

Persephone was looking fairly tired and it was the full moon tomorrow night so she needed to get as much sleep as she could tonight.

“Goodnight my beautiful goddess,” said Irwin as he stroked Anne’s cheek before giving her one last kiss.

“Now you see Seph, I’d try and be all poetic and romantic, but I’d just get outdone by young Romeo over here,” said Anthony.

“Goodnight Anthony,” said Persephone giving him a kiss before following Anne up the staircase.

Anne had the same dream again about the phoenix and the snake, she’d had it quite a few times over the last few months. She jotted it down again in her diary as she woke up, she just wished she knew what it meant, at least it meant she wasn’t having quite as many nightmares as she used to.

She knew that snakes meant deviousness and phoenixes were rebirth or reincarnation, but that just didn’t make any sense.

Anne looked over to where Diana was guarding the door to stop any unwelcome intruders. Diana saw that Anne was awake and came over to her bed.

“Morning Di,” muttered Anne tickling her between the ears. Anne pulled Diana under the covers because it was freezing cold as it was five o’clock on a November morning.

She went through her schedule for the day, Divination, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic. She was all caught up on her homework as the weekend had just finished.

Diana started licking Anne’s face with kisses. She knew that Irwin wouldn’t be up for hours as it was only just five o’clock. She went to go and take a bath and wash her hair, before pulling on her uniform.

As she brushed out her hair for her plaits, she wondered if anyone at home might be awake, she knew he had full moon tonight.

“Sirius,” Anne called leaning against one of the sofas in the Common Room.

“Hello?” Sirius picked up almost instantly.

“Heya kiddo,” he beamed his face cracking into a grin.

“I didn’t know if anyone would even be awake,” Anne muttered.

“I just got back from doing a mission with Mundungus,” Sirius explained, “how are you?”

“I’m ok,” said Anne, “I just miss everyone back home, how’s little Teddy?”

“He’s great, Tonks is relieved, he’s finally started sleeping through the night.”

Anne and Sirius talked for little while before Sirius had to head off to bed as he’d been up all night.

“Hey Anne,” called Morgana as she came into the Common Room.

“Hi Morgana, how’s second year treating you?”

“Pretty good yeah,” she nodded, “you heard from Julian recently?”

“He’s great, getting on with his work, even joined the Order of the Pheonix.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” stammered Morgana.

“Morgana your brother is more than capable of protecting himself,” said Anne firmly.

“It’s the complete opposite of back home,” she said, “Dad hates the Order and everything it stands for.”

Anne remembered what Julian had been worried about a few months back, but just because Mr Selwyn didn’t like Dumbledore that didn’t mean he was a deatheater, not everyone in the world was black or white, there was a lot of grey in-between.

“Oh, that reminds me,” said Morgana fishing in her school bag, “I’ve got a message for you.”

She handed a rolled-up piece of parchment to her. For a moment Anne thought it was another invitation from Slughorn but when she unrolled, she realised that she was wrong.

Dear Anne,

Could you and your brother please come to my office at seven o’clock tonight?

Looking forward to seeing you then, Professor Dumbledore.

By the way, I like fudge flies.

Why did Dumbledore want to meet up with her and Harry? What could be so important?

Anne only picked at her breakfast and lunch, she was so distracted, why in the world did Dumbledore want to meet up with her?

“You’ve got to eat something Annie,” coaxed Irwin at dinner.

Anne tried to eat a potato, but it got stuck in her throat, and turned to dust.

“Still worried about Dumbledore?” he asked knowingly.

“Hmmm,” Anne muttered.

“Why don’t we try and get a start on that essay on the impact of goblin rebellions on the wizarding world?”

Anne shrugged and picked up her bag, at least it might be able to distract her for a while.

By the time that they finished the essay it was a quarter to seven.

“Good luck Annie,” he called as Anne left the common room.

Anne shuffled her way along to Professor Dumbledore’s office, she met Harry at the entrance to the spiral staircase.

“Hey little Sis,” grinned Harry.

“Hi,” she muttered.

“Look Anne I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” said Harry as they headed up the staircase to Dumbledore’s office.

“Harry, Anne,” beamed Dumbledore as they came into the room, “thank you for coming.”

“Is there something wrong sir?” muttered Anne as she sat down.

“There are a few matters I have asked you both to come here to discuss,” sighed Dumbledore.

“I wish I had more time,” he continued.

“What do you mean more time sir?” asked Harry.

Dumbledore showed them his hand, it was getting worse, his blackened hand had now reached halfway up his arm.

“How long do you have left?” asked Anne knowingly dreading the worst.

“If Professor Snapes antidotes work, hopefully around late June.”

“What do you mean hopefully?” shouted Harry.

Anne gripped Harry’s hand under the table trying to get him to keep his temper.

“The cursed injury is a progressive illness; it’s going to get worse not better.”

“Who else knows?” asked Anne.

“Apart from you two, only Professor Snape and that is for obvious reasons.”

“So why are you telling us?” asked Harry.

“Because, I’m worried that I won’t be able to get rid of all the horcruxes before I die.”

Harry calmed down so that he could keep his head clear.

“So, there’s three left right?” said Harry.

“Yes Harry,” Dumbledore nodded, “three left, Hufflepuffs cup and probably his snake Nagini.”

“What about the third sir?” asked Anne nervously. She knew there had to be more of a reason for her and Harry being called in.

“You know that Harry is the Chosen One?”

They both nodded.

“What I’m going to tell, you cannot tell anyone,” Dumbledore said firmly.

“Harry’s a horcrux isn’t he?” Anne muttered looking at Harry’s scar.

Harry looked at his sister dumbstruck.

“No,” Harry laughed nervously, “I’m not a horcrux I can’t be.”

“That’s why we can see inside his head, and Harry can talk to snakes?”

Harry looked from Dumbledore to Anne as if hoping that one of them would tell him that Anne was wrong.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

Anne put an arm around her brother, Harry had gone silent his mouth agape.

“So, Harry has to die?” Anne stuttered.

“I’m afraid so,” Dumbledore nodded again, “but try to kill the snake and get the cup first.”

“Are you telling me,” Harry seethed, “that you have been preparing me all these years, how to hunt Horcruxes just so I can die anyway?”

“I know Harry I’m sorry,” said Dumbledore a tear in his eyes, “I should have told you years ago, but you weren’t ready.”

“Oh what?” Harry shouted jumping up from his seat, “and I’m ready now!”

Anne was trying her hardest to stop herself from going into lockdown, she had to support her brother.

Harry was about one step away from trashing Professor Dumbledore’s office.

“Why does it have to be me!” he screamed pushing over a stack of books that toppled onto the floor.

“I know Harry,” said Dumbledore calmly.

“You haven’t got a part of Voldemort’s soul hiding inside your body!”

Anne started to go into lockdown, her brain started to be filled with a buzzing noise. Even when people weren’t shouting or screaming at her, she got upset.

“Why don’t you just kill me now if you have to!”

“Because,” explained Dumbledore, “you have to be killed by Tom when the time is right.”

“Right!” Harry yelled, “how will it ever be right!”

“I know Harry,” said Dumbledore, “I think you and Anne could use some time to talk.”

Harry looked over to his sister who was staring blankly into space, this was beyond a panic attack.

Harry took a deep breath.

“Come on sis,” he muttered still seething with anger.

Harry shepherded his sister from the office and down to the Room of Requirement.

The room changed into Anne’s bedroom back at Grimmauld Place. Anne slumped leaning against the bed staring at the wall.

Harry cast a quick muffliato on Anne’s bedroom door to make sure that nobody in the house could hear them or know they were even there.

“What the fucking hell are we going to do Anne?” Harry muttered joining her on the floor.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled.

He put an arm around her, and Anne finally burst into tears.

“What am I going to do without you?” she sobbed.

“You’ll be ok, you’ve got Irwin, Remus, Sirius Tonks, I won’t be abandoning you.”

“You’re my brother Harry,” she cried, “nobody could ever replace you!”

“I know that Sis,” he muttered.

“I’m scared,” she stuttered calming down slightly.

“Me too,” said Harry.

“I mean everyone has to die,” said Anne, “but so soon, you’re a part of me!”

“Yes well,” said Harry laughing slightly, “unfortunately Tom’s a part of me.”

Anne didn’t know how long she and Harry were in there, they didn’t talk much mainly just crying and holding each other close. Everyone dies but most people don’t know that they how they’re going to die, but if Harry didn’t die eventually, how many more people would Tom kill?

“I should get you back to the Common Room,” said Harry after a while, “Irwin will be worried about you.”

“What you going to tell Ginny?” she asked turning to face him with tears running down her face.

“I can’t tell her anything,” Harry struggled.

“We can’t tell anyone about anything we’ve heard tonight,” he sighed.

“Anne do you understand, we can’t tell anyone, not Irwin, not Remus, not Ginny, about either Dumbledore or me.”

Anne nodded uncertainly.

“Come on then,” he said trying to put a smile on his face as he helped Anne up from the floor.

“What always comes but never arrives?” asked the eagle knocker when they arrived.

“Tomorrow,” said Harry.

The Common Room swung open.

“See you tomorrow yeah Sis?” said Harry giving her one last hug.

Anne went into the Common Room and found Irwin, Anthony and Persephone at their usual table

“Hey Anne, how was old Dumbles?” asked Persephone.

Anne shrugged as she leant against Irwin’s armchair next to the fire.

“You ok Anne?” asked Anthony.

Anthony had seen Anne’s face when she had come in and her eyes looked red like she’d been crying.

“Hmmm,” she muttered leaning deeper into Irwin.

“You look exhausted Annie,” said Irwin stroking her hair.

“You been pushing yourself too hard again Anne?” asked Persephone, “maybe you should drop a few subjects.”

“No I’m fine,” she muttered getting up.

“I’m going off to bed,” she rushed from the room before they even had a chance to try and stop her.

She quickly changed into her pyjamas and hid under her blankets.

“Anne you in here?” asked Persephone poking her head around the door.

“Just leave her Sephie,” said Irwin, “sometimes she just needs to be alone.”

Anne hugged one of her pillows underneath the blankets, her tears were running down her cheeks. Diana came to join her under the sheets and started to lick the tears off of her cheeks.

She eventually managed to drift off into an uneasy sleep, there was a new dream tonight though and it was different from the others, it wasn’t quite a nightmare. It was in the future, she was married to Irwin, they had three children all with dark red hair, but she wasn’t quite happy and she knew why, Harry was dead.