September 5, 1977
2:01 pm
Potions Dungeon

The first few days back at Hogwarts had been such a blur that hardly anyone could keep up, especially the seventh years, with everything from Anneliese trying to help Leo learn his way around school and James and Lily trying to train prefects in the way of a smooth transition from summer to school.

Anneliese and Sirius had taken to calling the prefect training 'parenting practice.'

Leo hadn't addressed his brief coldness towards Sirius in the slightest, but both of them were just a little bit too friendly towards each other in a way that made Anneliese and Remus slightly worried that they weren't going to get along too well.

But for now, nothing, not even a tiny insult, had been exchanged between the two.

In fact, Sirius was doing Leo the courtesy of showing him to the Potions room, their first class with Slughorn starting today.

Anderson raised his eyebrows in mild surprise when he walked into the dungeon.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, but his eyes were scanning the room for Anneliese, who hadn't arrived yet. "Was it really different at Ilvermorny or something?"

"It was just a bit less cave like," Leo said, nose slightly wrinkled as he coughed at the smoke already in the air. "Nothing against Hogwarts, of course. The whole school is.. lovely."

Black bit the inside of his cheek. He liked Leo, he really did. But a slightly different side of Anderson was coming out at school, something a bit more hostile that he didn't quite enjoy.

"I agree," Sirius said simply, knowing that he had to at least try and keep his temper down for Anneliese's sake; it wasn't his place to approve or disapprove of Leo.

"Ah, Mr. Anderson!" Slughorn said, suddenly coming up from behind the boys with a welcoming grin on his plump face. "It is lovely to have another new student here, just lovely."

"Thank you, sir," Leo replied with a mildly fake smile, hoping that Anneliese would just walk through the door already and spare him from talking to any of these people anymore. "Lovely to be here."

If Slughorn was at all discouraged by his falseness, it didn't show in his expression.

"You are the son of the headmistress at Ilvermorny, are you not?" he asked as the class began to settle back down. "That is a rather large title to boast of, and I know many well known people. And what about your father, what does he do?"

Sirius pressed his lips together in a flat line, wishing that Slughorn could mind his business and not try to find the value in connections of students for once in his life.

"Yes, my mother is," Leo stated shortly, expression cold. "And my father isn't in the picture."

Remus was getting the sudden urge to hit Slughorn over the head with his own ridiculous gold and burgundy hat with a tassel dangling from one side. Or yank that tassel so hard he fell into a toxic potion.

Either worked.

Yet once again, if Slughorn wasn't at all deterred from making their entire year who took Potions know about Leo's parental situation, then he once again didn't seem to care very much.

"And I understand that you and Miss Callaway are rather close friends, are you not?" he prompted, and Leo gave him a bewildered expression. "Yes, Mr. Anderson, most of the gossip at the school comes my way."

"Yes, we are," Leo said in the same tense tone, as if he was being interrogated, which he really was, and Sirius began to set down his things next to James.

"Well, I hope you show the same curiosity as her," Slughorn said with a cheery smile. "She is rather bright, your friend, especially when one remembers that she is muggleborn."

Several snickers came from where many of the Slytherins were standing behind their cauldrons, primarily led by Lucius and Theodore. Snape smirked slightly as well, having the same prejudice.

Leo looked around in disbelief. Anneliese had warned him that things were like this at Hogwarts, but he hadn't quite realized how casually said and to what extent these statements were.

"I don't see how her blood status would have anything to do with her skill level," Sirius said in an unnervingly calm voice that made James slightly nervous for Slughorn. "Would you mind explaining that to me?"

The entire classroom went silent as Black stared at his professor, practically daring him to say something along those lines again in front of him, especially involving Anneliese.

"Hello, professor?" James prompted with a falsely innocent expression as he backed up his best mate and adjusted his glasses. "Did you not hear his question?"

Slughorn was getting flustered, and was finally about to open up his mouth to speak with an undoubtedly wrong answer before he was saved by the five Gryffindor girls missing walking into the classroom.

All heads turned at the loud snort of laughter that quickly made Marlene slap her hand over her mouth as Lily tried to catch her breath, making Anneliese, Alice, and Dorcas all wheeze even harder, clutching their stomachs from laughter.

Despite his previous anger, Sirius smiled at the sight of them, her.

It was a sort of irresistible thing when those five girls walked into a room. Everyone else wanted to either be them or be their friend, and it was as simple as that.

None of them took away any arrogance from this, though, besides maybe Dorcas a little bit. They knew they were smart, funny, and they knew that their personalities and confidence made them attractive, yet they still possessed a large amount of grace.

It was a balance that they had mastered with that contract.

"I think we interrupted something," Marlene wheezed as she scanned everyone's serious, tense expressions that were fading more by the second. "Why does everyone look so upset, really?"

"We don't look upset," Lucius called from his group of Slytherins. "Probably attractive, though."

"Okay, literally no one asked your albino ass," Anneliese said with a roll of her eyes from the doorway, all the girls next to her still. "Did yall hear someone ask?"

Sirius and James exchanged a grin as Alice, Dorcas, Marlene, and Lily all shook their heads no, Evans resting her forearm on Anneliese's shoulder.

"You're such a bitch, Callaway," Lucius muttered, realizing how overpowered he was by the five girls standing with their eyes narrowed at him.

Sirius cringed slightly. Was that how he had sounded?

"Hm, yea, I am," Anneliese said, a smirk growing on her lips. "Thanks for that observation-"

"That's enough, all of you," Slughorn said, waving his hands for them to all go to their seats after enjoying the drama for a few minutes and then deciding that he was done. "I don't want to have to take any house points for profanity, do I?"

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled a lollipop out from her bag, offering Anneliese a lick before placing it in her mouth for herself.

"Did we just kiss?" Callaway muttered in a mischievous tone under her breath as she and Lily passed Sirius. "Does that count?"

"I think we did," Lily replied in an equally low tone, eyes wide with feigned shock. "Oh my god, are we a couple or something now? Is it official?"

"I think so," Anneliese whispered back, meeting eyes with Sirius from a few cauldrons away and teasingly running her tongue over her teeth with a cheeky wink to shortly follow.

Black turned his head away, furiously trying to keep down the blush creeping up his neck, making him loosen his already loose tie.

The burning, scratching sensation invaded his skin anyway.

"Sirius Black doesn't blush," Marlene teased him, passing Black on the way to the supply closet. "You're in deep, my love."

Sirius just flipped her off behind his back.

Leo had been watching the whole time with his mouth partially open in shock, all thoughts of the actual Potions class gone as he watched the way the students and professors interacted with each other.

He thought that he lived fast, but these people, including Anneliese, were a whole different story.

It was hard to believe that they were the same group of friends that had just been attacked by Death Eaters days before from the way they joked and laughed and flirted and stuck up for one another as if nothing had happened.

Well, not quite as if nothing had happened. More like they acknowledged the tragedy, and then decided that it was just another motivator to live life to its fullest with no regrets.

It was either very stupid or very inspiring; Leo couldn't seem to decide which.

"You alright?" Frank asked, seeing Anderson's somewhat frozen expression. "I know it's a lot going on, but that's really just how things are here."

"We know there's something wrong when a Slytherin hasn't insulted one of us or Lily and A haven't flirted by third block," Remus chimed in. "It's normal."

"Yea, it's fine," Leo muttered, starting to help Longbottom chop up ingredients. "Just different."

Anderson was silently starting to wonder if Anneliese had changed along with her school.

"How'd you think Leo's adjusting?" Lily asked Anneliese as she stirred their cauldron. "He seems to be having a bit of trouble taking all the chaos in."

"He'll be fine," Callaway replied, glancing to where Leo was now talking to Remus in a hushed tone about something that was making Lupin flush slightly. "Granted, this year is starting off a bit more wildly than others."

"I've already had three boys ask me to the ball," Lily said, supporting the wildness. "I'm surprised any of them aren't too scared of James- well, I suppose they've had the common sense not to do it in front of him."

"And everyone seems to have forgotten about the whole quitting the quidditch team thing over the summer," Anneliese added with a sour smile. "Thank the lord for that, because I might have just started hexin people."

There were a few snickers behind them and mutters as Narcissa, Lucius, and Theodore looked at Anneliese and Lily.

"Speaking of hexing people," Lily muttered, turning back around after glaring. "Thank god we only have to spend one more year with those snakes."

"And then we can be rid of Snape's obsession with you once and for all," Anneliese said as she looked back at the gaunt boy. "He will forever give me the creeps, I said what I said."

Apparently, she had said it a little bit too loud, though, because Snape turned away from his cauldron to face her.

Lily and Anneliese both just stared back at him, the two girls he had called mudbloods practically daring him to speak or say a word against them.

After a few seconds, he just turned back around, muttering to himself and jotting down something in his Potions textbook with a very angry look in his eyes that made Lily wrinkle her nose slightly.

The rest of the Potions class continued on like this, and Leo was just about done with it by the time they walked out of the classroom.

"Are things always like this?" he asked Anneliese, catching up with her before Sirius or Alice could. "Because that was like the most crazy least efficient class I have ever been in."

"What do you mean?" Callaway asked, smile fading. "What was wrong with it?"

"Uhm, it was literally just everyone flirting while the Gryffindors and Slytherin came at each other and insulted the other house like the whole time," Leo said in a critical tone. "And we just happened to be brewing during it."

"Okay, but like, and?" Anneliese prompted, rolling her eyes. "It's just multitasking. I know that I learned a lot. Lily and I both agreed that we could brew that Memory Potion in our sleep now. He's a good professor, Leo."

"He literally said that you were smart especially when one remembers that she is muggleborn," Leo exclaimed, holding his hands out in front of him to try and emphasize his point. "Does that not pull any alarms to you?"

"He said what?" Anneliese asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Was that before we came in?"

"Yea, it was!" Leo replied. "I cannot believe how much you let slide here just in general, though, A. If half these things were said to you at Ilvermorny that I've heard, then you would have killed someone by this point! Do you just not have a will anymore?"

"Okay then, well while we're on the topic of things annoying us, then why the hell are you acting like such a snob about Hogwarts?" Anneliese countered angrily.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked as their pace down the corridor quickened, even though he knew good and well what she was talking about.

Anneliese stopped suddenly to look him in the eyes, expression hurt and angry.

"You aren't the headmistress or headmaster's son here, Leo," she spat. "So stop acting like you're too good for this school when you're the one who chose to come here in the first place."

Leo bristled back in shock, but Anneliese took no care as she walked between Sirius and Peter, a sour expression on her face.

"You good?" Sirius asked with mild amusement. "What were you talking with about Leo?"

"I just feel like he's being stuck up about Hogwarts," Anneliese said, and Black and Potter exchanged a knowing glance over her head. "And our reputations are linked whether we like it or not, so I'd rather him just not."

"No one blames you for that," Sirius said, not disagreeing with her. "It's not like you asked for him to come here."

Anneliese just frowned, and Sirius did after a few seconds as well, but for a different reason than Leo. Curious, Callaway followed his gaze over to where a group of Slytherins was clumped in the corner of a courtyard.

Mainly, his grey gaze was on Regulus.

"What is it?" Anneliese asked, looking between the brothers with concern.

"He needs to stop hanging out with them," Sirius said, unable to tear his eyes away. "They're the wrong crowd of people, all going to become Death Eaters the second they graduate, or already are. I don't want that to happen to him."

Anneliese watched as Lucius muttered something to Regulus as he fixed his eyes on a group of Hufflepuff girls, none of which were purebloods, a sick smirk on his face.

Regulus cringed slightly, but Anneliese wasn't sure if she had imagined it a few seconds later when he smirked as well as whispered back another comment, most likely as crude as the one made by Malfoy.

"I don't like him," Sirius said, shaking his head with a sneer as he looked at Lucius. "He's always just been so influential to Reggie, even when we were like ten years old and at dinner parties."

Anneliese's mind fed her a picture of an upsetting younger Lucius bossing around Regulus while Sirius watched with a bitter expression from the side, all of them in too nice, stuffy clothes for their age.

"And he's always bothering you," Sirius added, still watching the Slytherins as his eyes narrowed further. "Like, more than he does most people."

"It's because I'm hot," Anneliese said with a roll of her eyes, trying to comfort him. "Really, I wouldn't think too much into it. And, you know, the whole mudblood thing that people tend to get rather upset about."

"Why do you do that?" Sirius asked, finally turning his gaze back to her. "No one else that I know who's muggleborn calls themself that, just you. Why?"

Anneliese blinked a few times in surprise. She herself hadn't really noticed herself doing it before, and she was taken aback that Sirius had and then took the second step of pointing it out to her.

"I'd rather call myself it first so that at least one of their weapons against me feels powerless," Anneliese said, eyes narrowed. "If you can beat someone verbally and mentally, then it makes their physical power feel like a pathetic last resort."

"When the hell has someone resorted to physical power against you?" Sirius asked, alarmed at the experience in her tone.

"I think it'd be more accurate to say that they tried," Anneliese corrected. "But some people just never learn their lessons, no matter how many times they fail. Well, sometimes you have to let them win. You know?"

Black blinked a few times, because he did know what she meant.

His parents failed over and over again to get him to comply with what they wanted him to do, and they never learned that he simply wasn't going to break.

But sometimes, when he sensed that they were going to hurt Regulus instead, he had to obey, if only briefly, so that they would both be safe for at least a few days.

Every time he thought he knew everything about Anneliese, she seemed to prove him wrong. Because how did she know what that feeling was like?

"Better question," Sirius countered, starting to walk again. "How do you know?"

He wasn't expecting Anneliese to actually answer the question.

"Because everyone at Wings hated me," Callaway said, shoving her hand into the pocket of Sirius's jacket and pulling out a cigarette and lighter. "Like hated me. So naturally, I hated them back, because no one has time for being nice there."

Sirius gathered that the place she was referring to was a shortened version of the name of the orphanage she must have spent the summers at up until only last year.

"And whenever something went wrong or someone got in a fight it was like, oh, time to blame Anneliese so she gets in trouble and not us," Callaway sighed. "Granted, they were usually the person to offend me first, hence the fighting in the first place."

Sirius watched with a frown as she let the smoke pour from her barely parted lips.

"But sometimes, it just wasn't worth it," Anneliese said, casual tone fading. "I just learned to accept it and not cry, at least not in front of her."

"Who's her?" Sirius asked, gaining a general idea for the punishments on his own.

"Miss Jenkins," Anneliese told him, voice cold at the memory. "Most hypocritical, cruel, self righteous, and money hungry bitch I've ever met. Not a good combination to be put in charge of looking over a bunch of young girls and boys."

Callaway sat down subconsciously against a wall of the open air corridor, and Sirius joined her as the traffic of the hallway showed no signs of stopping.

"And boys?" Black repeated, feeling slightly bad for asking so many questions.

Then again, Anneliese had never told him this much about her past before Hogwarts, before Ilvermorny, in a row before, and he wanted to learn as much as he could.

"Oh, we were separate, of course," she assured him. "Some girls still found ways to get pregnant, though, which was just.. bad. We kept a secret stash of birth control in one of the ceiling tiles, but Miss Jenkins found it and obviously it was blamed on me."

Sirius was alarmed at how she was talking about this all so casually, like it was normal. But he supposed for her, ever since she was far too young, it was.

"What happened to those girls?" Sirius asked, taking the cigarette from her hands and taking a draw for himself and not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Most of the time she kicked them out," Anneliese said, wincing slightly. "She didn't see a point in keeping a pregnant girl because there was simply no way someone was going to want to adopt them in her eyes."

Black was rendered speechless. Different horrors were set up for different kinds of people.

He should have guessed that her experiences as a muggleborn girl in an orphanage and his as a pureblood