Anna Black, The Girl Who Lived (Book 5)

Chapter 23

Anna's eyes grew heavy with every blink as she stared at the dark fireplace. She felt nothing. It was blissful and depressing and haunting all at the same time and she couldn't comprehend a thing. People passed and took no notice of her. She didn't know if she was happy or sad about it because again, she couldn't feel anything.

Anna had never felt so broken in her entire life and she herself had been through quite a few ordeals. How could it of happened? Why didn't Harry listen to her? She wAsn't crazy, and she kNew that Sirius was in trouble. He had actually been captured...but why?

What Anna didn't know was that her sister was the cause. The girl had demanded a scrifice from one of the three. The resentment towards her father was strong, and she knew Sirius' weakness: Anna and Harry. So, he gave himself.

It was as if the lost sister was the fire and he was the innocent sacrifice, the offering to the Dark Army, and the true start of the war.

Anna stared and stared. The only thing close to an emotion that she felt was the smallest flicker of hope.

That's right...hope. The Gryffindor fireplace was all the hope she had. It usually had an eternal flame, but for the first time in over 200 years, she had extinguished it with her mere presence. How? She had no clue, but it was most likely the pure gloom that followed her. And, somehow, she was oblivious to the depression that was nipping at her heels like an agitated dog.

Many may ask, "Why was the fireplace her only hope?".

Well, her father was most likely unable to come to Hogwarts, but he could always use the Floo network. Sooner or later, he'd pop his head through the fireplace and reassure her and apologise for this sick joke he'd pulled. She was absolutely sure of it.

As her dead eyes stared into the dark hearth a certain ginger passed by. He had no clue where Anna had been since the battle and was sick of her apparent hiding. So, he looked to the couch where a black-haired girl sat. He asked, "Hey, have you seen Anna?"

The girl turned and Ron let out a gasp, unknowingly stepping back in fear and shock.

Saying Anna had changed was an understatement. She looked like a corpse. Her used-to-be blonde hair was now jet black and her formerly mesmerising grey eyes had turned a dark blue. Her skin was paler than parchment and her well-filled out body was noticeably getting thinner. "A...Anna?"

'How did she let herself get like this?' Ron wondered as he felt worry in the pit of his stomach.

"Hmm?" Anna replied, seeming completely unaware of whatever was abnormal about her appearance.

"What...how..."

"Want to sit and wait for Sirius with me? He should be here any time now." Her voice came out in a croak since this was the first word she'd said in days, yet it was somehow dazed and child-like.

Ron's eyes bulged. He knew Anna was finding Sirius's death hard to come to terms with but he really didn't think she was still in denial over it. "S-Sirius is-"

"Shh, don't listen to them. They don't know him. He wouldn't die."

The boy raised his eyebrows. This was too strange and hard for him to co-operate with. He wondered why was she taking this so badly. Yes, he knew grieving was hard -although never really experiencing it himself- and that people dealth with it differently, but he didn't know it could be this bad. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!"

Anna stared at him as if what she said had been completely normal, as if she were just a normal girl waiting for her normal father to get home from a normal day's work. "Nothing," she stated, narrowing her eyes, clearly irritated by his change of tone. "And if you're going to be a downer, you can leave."