Chapter One: Are You Ready?

3K 46 11
                                    

Anna stared at herself in the mirror, playing with the ends of her shirt. She slowly eyed her reflection, meeting a matching set of curious eyes. In all honesty, for the past few months, she had been terrified of looking into the mirror. Ever since the entire incident with Peter Pettigrew, she hadn’t changed her Animagus form since - and she had been fearful of seeing a chinchilla when she looked into the glass.

Though she wasn’t a furry rodent, she had definitely changed. Her hair might’ve only grown a few inches(Curly as ever), and she had grown only a bit taller, but those were only physical. Despite the fact that it had only been two years since she first went to Hogwarts, it felt like she had aged decades.

But then again, she hadn’t had a very normal childhood either - but that just came with being a Potter. Of course, she missed her foster family with everything she was, but even with everything that had happened, where she was now felt right. She felt whole.

She gingerly inspected her wand. When she had first received her wand from Ollivander’s, the fairies had seemed like they were flying gracefully around the wand. Now, it seemed like they were just doing a melancholy waltz - a death march.

In Anna’s first year of Hogwarts, when she was brought into the Chamber of Secrets, the young Tom Riddle had told her about her role as ‘The-Sister-Of-The-Boy-Who -Lived’. Since she had thrown herself in front of Harry as a baby, the only thing more evil to counteract the spell and defeat Voldemort once and for all was for Harry to kill her. It was cowardice of her not to tell anyone(Except Mrs. Weasley, but that was in a moment of weakness and Mrs. Weasley had promised to never tell another soul) - but could you blame her? She was only thirteen years old. She should’ve only had to worry about boys and shoes - not the oncoming death of the most feared wizard in the wizarding world.

Speaking of boys, Cedric hadn’t written to her in weeks.

She had checked the sky for owls every five minutes - but no sign of Cedric’s owl. Cedric used to write to her every single morning, but now it was two times a week at best. He said it was because of his family - and that they kept him busy. She wouldn’t have been a very good girlfriend if she had said that his excuse was bogus, but that didn’t stop the ill feeling blossoming in the pit of her stomach.

She was hoping that it was just the effects of the long-distance relationship, and that if he really was tired of her, he could tell her that. That way she didn’t have to worry about him on top of all the other things on her plate. But then again, that was information she would only find out when she came back to school.

Anna slipped her last poem she had ever gotten from Cedric back into her trunk - folding it neatly into a small pocket. She looked around her. Ever since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had graciously offered to take her into the Burrow, they had given her a room to share with Ginny - which had been more than awesome for them. It was literally like living with your best friend.

Their beds were pressed into opposite ends of the room, and Anna had packed her clothes into a small dresser that was enchanted to hold a LOT more than it appeared. She hadn’t been able to take much from her old house, given that it was an unsolved crime scene, but she had managed to take her clothes and other small belongings without making it appear too suspicious.

Anna gently stroked the image of her late family - the only picture and thing she had left of them. The rest had gone to Andrea’s living family. She kept the photo hidden under her jewelry box, because some things were too painful not to keep buried. She only took it out when she couldn’t remember the shade of Bianca’s heterochromic eyes, or the exact shape of Evan’s dimples. The way Francis smiled and Andrea’s beauty mark on the left side of her nose.

Lillian 'Anna' Potter || Goblet of FireWhere stories live. Discover now