The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 20

Cedric ran as fast as he could towards the hospital wing, holding Anna tightly so that he dind't jostle her around too much. After he had placed Anna in a bed, he was ushered out of the hospital wing by Pomfrey so that she would be able to tend to her. He paced back and forth outside of the door as Harry, Hermione and Ron came running up.

"How is she?" Harry asked, and Cedric shook his head. "I don't know, Pomfrey's still working on her."

Hermione began to cry and hugged Ron tightly, who awkwardly hugged her back. "It's gonna be okay Mione, she's gonna be alright."

Cedric ran a hand through his hair. It was his fault they were here, Anna had taken the spell that had been meant for him.

"Don't blame yourself." Harry said. "Anna wouldn't want you to do that. It's not your fault, it's Voldemort's and Pettigrew's. They're to blame for this."

Cedric nodded, realizing that Harry was right, Voldemort was to blame, for everything.

Madame Pomfrey came out then. "Mr. Potter, your sister must have the best luck of anyone in this school."

"She's going to be okay?" Harry asked urgently, and she hesitated. "Well...she's going to live, miraculously."

"You hesitated." Cedric said. "Why? Is there something else wrong?"

"Miss Potter is suffering from amnesia." Pomfrey explained gently. "Quite severe I'm afraid."

"Can we see her?" Hermione asked, and Pomfrey nodded. "Yes, just don't be surprised by anything that she may say or do."

The group walked into the hospital wing where Anna was. She turned towards them and gave them a polite smile. "Hello."

"Anna!" Hermione hugged her, but pulled back when Anna didn't hug back.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Anna asked, and Hermione stared at her, flabbergasted. "Anna, it's me, it's Hermione!"

Anna shook her head. "Sorry, but the name doesn't really ring a bell."

Hermione teared up again, and she quickly walked out of the room, Ron right on her tail.

Anna looked at Harry and Cedric apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I don't know who she is, I don't know who any of you are."

"Do you remember anything?" Harry asked her. "Anything at all?"

"I know that my name is Anna, that's really all that I can remember. The matron told me that I was in some sort of accident, that I was hurt and suffered some kind of amnesia. She also told me that I was gong to be sent to St. Mungo's, that they may be able to restore some of my memory."

Harry nodded; he really hoped that they would be able to help her. "Well...we'll go now, let you get some rest." He and Cedric walked out, both their hearts silently breaking at what Anna had turned into.

The next day, Healers came to bring Anna to St. Mungo's. Remus would be meeting them there, and Harry was allowed to go with them. He brought Cody as well, so that Remus would be able to bring him home afterwards.

"You really saw you-know-who?" Remus asked him, and Harry nodded. "He's really back. Remus, is she going to be okay? Are they going to be able to restore her memory?"

"They're very hopeful." Remus said. "It may take quite a bit though, and there are some memories, especially ones from her early childhood, that she may never regain."

"It's not like our childhood was really worth remembering anyways." Harry answered. He hoped that Remus was right,that Anna's memory would be mostly restored, but neither of them realized how Voldemort was going to use this incident to his advantage. No one knew about the spy that he had in the hospital, someone who would turn out to be Anna's most trusted friend while she was recovering

The spy in question was a young woman named Kate Zamperini. She was about twenty one years old, with dark skin and jet black hair, her eyes a warm brown that hid the evil within her. She was a Death Eater, one of Voldemort's most trusted followers, the only one that he woul trust with such a mission. A mission that, if successfull, would turn Anna into a Death Eater, and a very powerful one at that.

Anna looked at Kate as she entered. She looked like a regular Healer, Anna had no idea about her true identity, or what her true purpose was.

"Hi!" Kate's voice was bright and cheery, and she had a wide smile on her face. "My name's Kate."

"I'm Anna." Anna introduced herself. "Nice to meet you."

"And you as well. I understand that you had some memory loss."

"Yes, they told me that I was attacked, but they didn't specify who."

Kate nodded, glad that they hadn't told her about Voldemort. It would make her job that much easier. "Well, let's see what we can do about restoring your memories, hm?"

Anna nodded, eager to get her memories back, remember who she was, who her friends and family were. Kate took out her wand and she muttered a spell, and Anna's eyes closed as she felt an image returning.

"No!" Lily Potter cried as she tried to shield the baby girl in her arms. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Your kind must be destroyed." The stranger answered. "You're freaks, abominations of nature. You must be exterminated from this Earth..."

Anna gasped as her eyes sprung open. "W-what was that?"

Kate looked sympathetic. "You must have relived the moment of your mother's death. We didn't think that you would regain your memories of your early childhood, especially infancy, so this is a good sign."

"My mother's death? She's dead? But how?"

"Muggles are not very tolerant of our kind I'm afraid. They view us as nothing more than a pest, as something that needs to be exterminated."

Anna couldn't believe this. Her mother was dead, killed just because she had magic.

"I'm sorry Anna." Kate patted her arm. "Others try to make out Muggles to be such innocent creatures, but I'm afraid that they're far from that."

Anna din't know if she had trusted Muggles before, but she definitely wouldn't now, not after what she had learned. "But there's Muggle-born witches and wizards."

"They're just as bad. They hate the fact that they have magic, and take it out on those around them. People have made Lord Voldemort to be a cruel, evil man, but he was just giving those Muggles what they deserved. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Anna whispered. "I understand."

Kate held back a smirk. This was going to be easier than she had originally anticipated.