December 11, 1976
1:09 pm
Diagon Alley

Even though there were still two full weeks until Christmas, Euphemia had still insisted on shopping for gifts at Diagon Alley one afternoon when the two boys had just been lazily joking around the house without much of a goal.

Mrs. Potter had been right to go then, though, because the shops were already packed full of shoppers frantically trying to find the perfect gift before stock ran out.

"Merlin, they're acting like their lives depended on this," James said with slight amusement as he looked at the line going halfway down the alley from Flourish and Blotts. "Where are we going?"

"Well, your mother and Sirius are going to to wait in that line like their lives depend on it," Fleamont said, and James rolled his eyes at the joking mockery. "You and I are going somewhere else to shop for Mia."

"See you in a bit," James called over his shoulder. "If we don't return, it's because I got kidnapped into some apothecary while dad tries to find the perfect scent for mum."

Sirius gave him a salute as the two Potter men walked away. Him and Mia joined the very end of the line, and they honestly couldn't complain about the wait because of how beautiful the alley was around them.

Fluffy clumps of mid-December snow had settled in among the rooftops and fabric awnings and crunched underneath their feet as they attempted to stay on the path other shoppers had already carved for them so that they wouldn't sink.

The air around them was very cold, but it would have been ten times more biting if so many people hadn't been moving around and dragging their body heat with them. Sort of like the jack o'lanterns for Halloween in Hogsmeade, magically illuminated tinsel had been strung between the two sides, making them feel like they were in a Christmas wonderland.

"So, tell me more about this girl," Euphemia said, turning to her son with a smile. "I've gathered a bit from the story, but I want more. And James isn't here to make fun of you, so take that as a blessing."

"I will, that was torture with him last night," Sirius scoffed as they inched forward in the line. "And, what do you want to know? I could start anywhere."

"What's her personality?" she prompted with an exasperated sigh at his tight lips. "Do I have to ask you every question individually?"

"Well she's really clever, but not in the normal way with books and facts and things," Sirius started. "She's really good at finding holes in logic, making your argument sound stupid, connecting dots, finding patterns and then applying them, those sorts of things."

"So I'm guessing you're talking about the second one with experience?" Mia asked with amusement, and Sirius nodded with a huff. "What else?"

"She's southern, you know that," Sirius continued, becoming more free with his words. "So she was all these little phrases that none of us understand, and they can be rather insulting. Oh yea, her accent also increases when she gets mad, it's like a warning sign that you're in for it."

Euphemia watched with a soft smile as Black slowly seemed to get in a better and better mood the more that he talked about her.

"She's the Seeker for Gryffindor," he explained, loosely gesturing with his hands. "And she's really good at it, she played for Thunderbird at Ilvermorny. Her hearing is amazing, she says that it helps her with seeking."

"Has Gryffindor done well for the House Cup so far this year?" Euphemia asked, and Sirius nodded.

"We've won every quidditch game, the only things that we really get counted off for are pranks, most caused by us," Black said with an air of pride. "Oh, that reminds me, she also made an alliance with Peeves on her first day."

"Peeves?" she asked in shock. "He's been causing mischief since I was at Hogwarts."

"Like it was nothing," Sirius said with a proud smile, this time for Anneliese and not himself. "She's pretty amazing."

"I can tell," Euphemia replied, happy to see her son so happy. "And then what did you say that you thought was going to happen the morning you left that didn't?"

"Oh, after Slughorn's?" Sirius clarified, and she nodded. "I dunno, I just thought that we were finally going to get on the same terms. That we, I know it sounds immature, but like each other so that we can finally get things cleared up."

"No, after all it seems you two have been through, it is not immature," Mrs. Potter reassured him. "Finally, the shop's open!"

The two of them rushed in from the cold, whipping air outside into the warm, cozy bookshop. The second that the fire lit air hit his face, Sirius let out a sigh of relief. A steady amount of freezing pink had been growing on his face, and he didn't find it very attractive.

"Hey, where are we looking-" he started, only to see that Euphemia had already started conversing with a group of witches about some book they had all read. "Okay then."

Humming American Pie slightly to himself, Sirius wandered up the flight of stairs with pine strands wrapped around the banister, silently wondering if he should write a letter to Anneliese.

And ran directly into someone, knocking over the six or so books they had in their hands.

He quickly bent down at the loud bang of the hardcover books against the wooden stairs, gathering them up and then standing up to hand them back to their owner with a charismatic, apologetic smile that worked every time for forgiveness.

But it was Regulus looking back at him.

Instead of ducking out of the situation as he normally would with his brother, though, a certain phrase spoken by Anneliese on his birthday cropped back up in his mind.

Your brother warned me, you know!

There were a few moments of silence as Regulus looked down at his older brother from the higher step, the obvious hurt that he felt whenever he looked at him masked by coldness.

"Where are mother and father?" Sirius asked, quickly glancing behind him to make sure Orion and Walburga weren't near. "Are they in here?"

"No," Regulus answered quickly with a cold sneer. "Why were you planning on running away or hiding again?"

Sirius winced slightly, but just grabbed the upper arm of Regulus's sleeve and pulled him to a more private corner of the landing. The younger knew that he wasn't going to be left alone until his brother said what he wanted to, so he let it happen begrudgingly.

"What do you want?" he asked tersely. "We aren't family anymore."

"You know that's not true," Sirius replied, his hand shaking slightly behind his back. "It's not, so don't even try."

Regulus didn't reply, only made his face as stony and emotionless as possible.

"What did you say to Callaway?"

"I didn't tell her anything that wasn't true," Black snapped. "It was just a fair warning and saying that it was odd for you to actually care about someone since you'd hooked up with half of the school."

Cringing internally, Sirius only let his eyes narrow as a reaction.

"I don't want you to try and sabotage me or something, Regulus," he said firmly. "It's not-"

"It's not what?" Regulus spat. "It's not fair?"

The younger brother took a step towards his older brother, trying to keep too much emotion of anything besides hatred out of his face.

"It was perfectly fair to me to warn her about you always putting yourself first," he said in a quiet tone. "I didn't lie. I told her what happened like it happened. I told her the truth. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean that I should have to-"

"Listen, I know things have been hard for you ever since your friend didn't come back last summer," Sirius said softly, trying to calm his little brother down. "But that doesn't mean that you should take your frustration at the world out on me-"

"Don't bring her into this," Regulus said, his tone just now finding pain. "I would have said it even if she was here."

The fifth year blinked his grey eyes a few times, trying to get his mind off her and what could have happened when she never came back from the manor. Not all of them could get as lucky as Sirius and find the person who would keep them strong.

Maybe in another life she would have still been with him.

Regulus swallowed his pain and turned back to Sirius, knowing that he had to stay on the point if he didn't want to break down in tears right then and there.

"I will always make sure that you don't hurt people like you hurt me."

There was nothing left for Sirius to say as his brother descended the stairs.

December 18, 1976
5:09 pm
Gryffindor Common Room

Humming Stayin' Alive slightly to herself by the crackling, bright orange and lemon fire, Anneliese cracked open the dark navy seal of Leo's letter that he had sent her at breakfast that morning. She had wanted to save it for the early evening before dinner so that she could think about it and not feel so alone while she ate.

She set the parchment on her thighs, resting her knees over the arm of the red chair so that her feet were dangling a few inches away from the rich carpet.

A,

I flew solo at the Christmas dance, and you will be horrified to know that Violet went with Mitchell. The whole thing was a total disaster, and I'm eighty percent sure that it was a dare among the Thunderbirds and Horned Serpents. Didn't really end up mattering much because she hexed him with bright blue hair that we can't get undone, but it was still pretty shocking.

I am so close to beating your record of losing three hundred and fifty points in a week.

Obviously, nothing is going to top you getting the Thunderbirds to the negatives in our fourth year, but it's still pretty significant.

Believe it or not, Sayre actually let me have my wand back over the holidays. It makes sense because she's the headmistress, yet I'm just glad that she didn't continue to keep it saying it's because she's my mom.

The run into the ocean this year was the coldest that it's ever been, and Violet swam so far that we thought a kelpie had drowned her until she finally sent up a flare and eight of us swam out as well because we were panicked as hell that she was drowning or something.

Turns out she found a rock that looked like Sayre.

The resemblance is actually rather remarkable, yet the cost was all of us having to use about eight hundred Heating Charms to keep ourselves from dying.

That's pretty much all that's happened, so I want to know how things are going with Sirius.

Remus wrote me that you two are getting along really well after I left, and what can I say, I'm a miracle worker.

Hopefully neither of you mess things up, otherwise I'm going to have to bring in Queenie to slap one of you.

Much love,

L

Anneliese smiled softly as she read the letter, laughing out loud at the part about Violet and the rock because of how accurate it seemed. She leaned over to grab a pot of ink and parchment from the mahogany coffee table, and began to write her reply.

L,

You're going to have to figure out a way to smuggle me that rock next time you visit if it hasn't already become some type of idol. I have a perfect image in my mind of what it looks like, and I need that to come true for my life to be fulfilled.

I also went solo to Slughorn, one of our professors, parties.

The night went really well, expect for a few idiot Ravenclaws who couldn't keep their damn mouths shut.

And Sirius had, as Queenie would put it, a movie moment.

Things would be going perfectly between us if my idiotic self hadn't slept in on the day that he left for Potter Manor I didn't get to say goodbye to him or say the other thing that I had planned on. It was so frustrating, you have no idea.

I'm excited to see him when he gets back, though, things have been getting rather lonely around the castle. I'm the only Gryffindor in my year who stayed, and the only sixth years at all are Lucius Malfoy, a total ass, and Theodore Nott, an even bigger moron.

Remus blushes whenever we mention you.

It's quite funny, actually, James will occasionally start talking about guys wearing eyeliner just to make him turn all red and literally not stop thinking about you for the rest of the day.

I hope that Sayre gives you your wand back in'77, just ask for that for Christmas. I'm sure that things at Ilvermorny are much more educational now without all the distractions, but I still miss you loads.

Love,

A

In a much better mood than the lonely one she had been stuck in earlier, Anneliese decided that now would be the perfect time to get rid of that notebook once and for all for many reasons.

First of all, there would be no one in the common room to disturb her as there would be normally, guaranteeing her perfect privacy. Second, Sirius or any of the others that knew the dark magic inside wouldn't be there to see that she hadn't disposed of it yet. And finally, no one would try and get it out with curiosity.

Anneliese had seen this happen with a third year boy's diary before, and the thing had been read aloud from the fire until Alice stopped it.

Pulling the dark leather from it's nearly permanent residence in her waistband, she stood up by their fire and stared into the flames until her eyes started to hurt from how bright the light was.

Even when she shut her eyes briefly, the imprint on her eyelids was still there.

Anneliese could feel the flicker of heat on her freckles, making them turn slightly rosy as she extended her arm and tossed the book into the fire. Her wand stopped it midair when she saw a separate list flickering in the very back of the stone.

The parchment had flames licking all around it, but it was refusing to burn.

"Accio parchment," she muttered, hoping that she had seen wrong and that her name wasn't on whatever thing a Gryffindor had tried to dispose of.

The parchment was scalding hot with absorbed heat when it hit her skeleton tattooed hand that wasn't holding the rescued green book.

But it was nothing compared to the boiling blood rushing inside her.

The Anneliese Black Bet

yes that was a hollis reference and what would have happened if she had never gone out on that one full moon at the perfect time.

2.6k words

see you tomorrow! <3

what do you wanna see?

VOTE! - it rly helps