second//bill weasley

one

My daughter Madeline, or Maddie as everyone calls her, and I are running down the street. We're late to meet up with some friends of hers and their family. I open the door to the Leaky Cauldron and let Maddie walk in before me. I smile when I see the Weasley family around a large table with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

"Sorry we're late," I tell them.

Molly Weasley smiles as she wraps her arms around me. "Nonsense you're here now, Dear."

I laugh lightly before turning to Harry. "Hi Harry."

"Mrs. Donovan," Harry greets.

I wave him off. "You make me sound so old, Harry. I've told you; you can call me Annalise or better yet Annie."

Harry smiles slightly as he nods his head.

"Harry, wonder if Annalise and I might have a word?" Arthur tells him.

Harry nods. "Yeah, sure."

Arthur starts to lead Harry away from the group. "Hermione."

Hermione smiles. "Good morning, Mr. Weasley."

"Looking forward to a new term?" Arthur asks Harry.

"Yeah. It should be great," Harry says.

"Harry, there are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me from divulging what I'm about to reveal to you. But I think that you need to know the facts. You are in danger. Grave danger," Arthur tells him.

Harry looks at the wanted poster of Sirius Black that is plastered on the wall. "Has this anything to do with Sirius Black, sir?"

"What do you know about Sirius Black, Harry?" Arthur asks.

"Only that he's escaped from Azkaban," Harry tells him.

"Do you know why?" I ask.

Harry shakes his head.

"Thirteen years ago, when you stopped..." Arthur starts.

"Voldemort," Harry says.

"Don't say his name," Arthur warns.

"Sorry," Harry says.

"When you stopped You-Know-Who... Black lost everything. But to this day, he still remains a faithful servant. And in his mind... you are the only thing that stands in the way... of You-Know-Who returning to power. And that is why... he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you," Arthur explains.

"And kill me," Harry states.

"Harry, swear to me that whatever you might hear... you won't go looking for Black," Arthur says.

"Mr. Weasley... why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?" Harry remarks.

I smile at Harry. "Don't worry Harry. Hogwarts is the safest place for you."

I look at the poster of the screaming man. You can see the agony. The pain he's in. He's nothing like the boy I used to know.

After breakfast we head to King's Cross. It's that time of year again for the students to board the Hogwarts Express to return to school for the start of term. I teach at Hogwarts, so I hop a ride on the train. I sit in a compartment by myself. My mind wanders to all the times I sat on this same train going to Hogwarts as a student. I can still see my friends and I laughing and joking. No having a care for anything else.

Suddenly the train stops. I look out the window as the whole train shakes. I see something dark fly beside the train. The lights go out as the train shakes again. I jump slightly. It starts to get very cold causing the windows to fog over. It's almost as if the happiness I felt a minute ago has drained away. That's when I see it. A Dementor floating down the corridor. I instinctively try to back away from it pushing myself against the seat. Then I jump up realising why it must be here.