^^apparently thats how you spell marshmallow.. thanks google

tw: mentions of eating disorder / self harm

December 2, 1977
6:02 am
The Burrow

Anneliese's feet were near to silent as they paced across the creaky wooden floors, walking so lightly on the pink and blue socks that she had begrudgingly put on that she was like a ghost moving through the corridors of Hogwarts.

Her steps led her down to the kitchen, and she was pleased to see that there was no one in it at this early hour in the morning, just like she had hoped.

Anneliese silently reheated the kettle on the stove, making the mistake of turning her back to the fire while digging through the cabinets for some coffee and not just the plethora of tea Molly had stocked the shelves with.

There was an incredibly loud, high pitched wail that sounded like an infant screaming from behind her, and Anneliese realized that the teapot had been enchanted to make that noise instead of a simple whistle.

She lunged over to slap her hand on the burner's knob, stopping the unholy screaming as her heart pounded out of her chest. Sometimes magic still got the best of her.

Anneliese exaggeratedly blew air out of her lips as she finally settled on some black tea very neatly labelled, letting the thrumming on her ribcage slow down as it steeped into the hand painted mug with sloppy flowers all over it.

The house was still asleep as she began to make her way back upstairs, but without the goal of her room in mind this time.

Her eyes scanned over all of the doors, and she was happy to see that they were all marked in some way. There were hand painted with letters that Anneliese recognized from Molly's handwriting that had labelled all of the teas.

The first one she passed read Andromeda, Ted, and Dora in dark blue paint. Upon closer inspection, the letters actually seemed to be magical as well with a small dot at the end of the names.

Curiously, Anneliese brushed her fingers over it. The names changed to Arthur and Molly, then to Bill as she touched it again. There was a flurry of people that she cycled through, all people she assumed had stayed at the Burrow before, until she got back to the original setting again.

Callaway continued up the stairs, looking at all of these labels until she finally landed on the one that read Fabian in orangish red letters, the exact same color as his hair.

The door was already slightly pushed open, and Anneliese could see his bed through the crack. As silently as she could, which was very silent, she pushed the door all the way open.

The tiny creak that the rusted hinges sounded made her heart leap out of her chest, but Fabian remained fast asleep. Anneliese leaned against the doorframe, cup of tea cupped together in both of her hands.

It only took a few seconds for Prewett to get the silent instinct that someone was watching him like all humans did, and his eyes flew open.

He was so tired, however, that all he did was stretch enormously and swing his legs out of bed as he scratched his back at an awkward angle.

Anneliese only thought it fair payback that he was just wearing his boxers.

Fabian pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and was rummaging through his messy drawers for a shirt when Callaway decided that then would be a good time to cough and announce her presence in the doorframe.

His head whipped towards her, and Anneliese smirked slightly at the very high pitched shriek that came from the back of his throat when he saw her there.

"What the hell, A?!" he cried with wide eyes, but there was more smile in his expression than anger. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," she replied simply, taking an even longer sip of her tea as she watched him slide on a Cannons shirt. "I guess it's not just the windows, or should I say the reflections in them, at the Burrow that have good views. It's also the doorways."

Anneliese smirked, and the look wasn't lost on Prewett as he realized she had seen him in the same undressed state as her. He supposed it was proper revenge.

"Mhm, you're very clever," Fabian said, reaching up with one arm to grasp the top of the frame so that his chin was tilted down to look at her. "That tea for me?"

"You wish," Anneliese said, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Go make your own damn cup- HEY! YOU DEVILISH LITTLE GINGER! GO BACK TO HELL-"

Prewett was currently sprinting away from her, the stolen mug of tea in hand as he raced down the stairs, laughing loudly enough to wake up the entire house. Anneliese moved after him, and quickly closed in despite his head start.

Callaway turned sharply into the kitchen, not expecting him to be standing right there waiting for her. Her shoulder slammed directly into his chest, sending both of them down onto the rugged ground with a loud groan.

The mug smashed down inches away from their faces, and that annoyed Anneliese even more than landing on top of him.

"Am I interrupting something?" Andromeda's voice came from behind them, sounding highly amused. "Or should I just leave and act like I never saw anything?"

Callaway suddenly realized how her neck was hovering so closely to Fabian's, and their thighs were pressed together from the way they had landed. A blush was starting to move up the back of his neck, and Anneliese was the first to make an effort to disentangle their limbs.

"Flashbacks to quidditch practice sixth year," she teased, holding a hand down to help pull him up. "Because James was constantly knocking you off your broom to 'build up your reflexes.'"

"Ah, yes," Fabian sighed, taking her hand. "Even though I'm a year older than him, Potter always did have a knack for finding ways to boss me around so his captainship wasn't threatened. Did you two end up together, by the way?"

Anneliese's eyes widened, and she choked on her own saliva, coughing so forcefully that it sounded like her throat was made of sandpaper.

"M-me and James?!" she wheezed out, one hand on the counter for support as Fabian and Andromeda watched. "What the hell would give you that idea?"

"Well, everyone on the team saw that he fancied you," Prewett said with mild concern at her reaction. "And Black was always such an ass to you and Potter always seemed so worried about how you were doing, I- we thought it would end up like that, at least for a little bit."

Anneliese laughed that laugh again, that cold laugh that made Fabian nervous.

"No," she said, starting to scoop up the shards of the mug. "Absolutely not. James.. he's a friend. That's all, if even that- well that, but also he- it's complicated. I like him well enough, just not like that. At all."

Prewett raised his brows and just nodded. Apparently the drama and secrets at Hogwarts hadn't in any way slowed down with him and his twin's departure.

"You said who was an ass to you?" Andromeda asked, appearing to be only very vaguely interested as she helped her clean up. "What was his name?"

"Oh, nothing," Anneliese said, firmly shaking her head. "No one. Not no one, but he's just- I don't want to think about him right now. He messes with my mind, makes me do things I would have never done if he wasn't there. It's all just too confusing."

Callaway thought again of that click after she kissed him, how she hadn't realized her mind was fuzzy until it was clear again.

"Alright," Andromeda said with a slow nod, not pressing the name any further for now. "Well, since you're already up, we might as well get to work getting rid of something that's going to take all of these three weeks."

"And what would that be?" Anneliese asked as her accent increased with mild irritation, which Fabian took as his cue to exit. "God, how is it still three weeks-"

Andromeda cut her off with a loud snap, startling Anneliese.

"I don't know if you're aware, but the polyjuice potion does not change your voice, which means that you'll still have a southern accent even if you look like damn Merlin," Andromeda said. "And Narcissa does not speak like you do, obviously."

Anneliese's breath caught in her throat, the playful mood of the morning lost. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

"Which means that the first thing you're going to have to do is master a British accent, phrases, and sayings, especially the delicate, feminine ones of a pureblood young woman," Andromeda continued. "Quite the opposite of you right now. How confident are you?"

"I mean, I've been around you people for over a year now," Anneliese said slowly. "I certainly know how you sound, much better than I did in America. I think.. I think I can do it."

"That's not enough," Andromeda said with a shake of her head. "I need you to know that you can do this. The future of the Ministry's stability can not rely on I think."

Callaway swallowed heavily. Determination, right?

"Alright," she said, looking Andromeda firmly in the eyes. "Where do we start?"

"The yalls."

December 9, 1977
4:09 pm
Potter Manor

Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find.

Sirius turned up the record player with a flick of his wand as he did another sit up, fingers laced behind his head and a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead and bare chest. His stomach was burning, but he didn't care.

It felt good.

Workin out feels like self harm sometimes, her voice said in his head with a giggle, and he heard his own laugh back, sounding like it belonged to another, more happy person. Honestly, I wonder why I do it to myself.

Sirius gritted his teeth harder, as he turned up the song again, hoping that the music would drown out Anneliese's voice that was mercilessly flooding his mind just like it had been since she had disappeared the night of the Yule Ball.

Whatever happened to our love? I wish I understood. It used to be so nice, it used to be so good.

Black furrowed his brows as he switched to pushups, now hoping that the new location of the ache would stop the ache in his mind.

Everything just felt so wrong. The more he replayed the night over in his head, the more it just made less and less sense to him. On the surface, things were perfect. More than perfect, really. They were beautiful.

When you're gone, how can I even try to go on? When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?

But then Sirius had started to wonder why she kissed him.

That notebook didn't deserve a kiss, didn't deserve any form of forgiveness or redemption, not after everything that he had done to hurt her.

The goods he had given and bads he had inflicted just didn't balance out.

You seemed so far away, though you were standing near.

Black tried to push her away, bending and lifting his arms over and over again. They were caught on fire more and more with every repetition, but he found himself not caring. With each flex, his pain was redirected.

I really tried to make it up, I wish I understood.

Sirius was so caught up in the cycle of pushups and pushing her away that he didn't even notice Euphemia walk into the room until she spoke.

"You know, exercising to ABBA isn't going to make you feel any better about what's bothering you," she said with her arms crossed. "So why don't you stop before you pass out and tell me what's going on."

"Nope," Black said stubbornly, even though he could feel in his chest that he was going too far with the exertion. "I am perfectly happy doing this, Mia."

Euphemia rolled her eyes and pushed his arms out from under him, making Sirius fall down and give his exhausted arms a much needed break.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" he shouted as she tossed him a shirt. "Oh, thank you-"

"Yes, you're welcome," Mia said in a patient tone at his exhausting mood swings, wondering how she managed him and James together. "Your temper is a short thing, Sirius Black. You need to work on that before it hurts someone."

Sirius winced slightly as he pulled on the bright green Honeydukes t-shirt Lily had gotten him as a joke when her and Remus decided that he needed a more convincing disguise if he really planned on fake working there to hook up with girls in the cellar.

Looking back, Black realized how shitty of a thing that was to do, no matter how fun at the time.

It was just those kinds of horrible yet true facts that he prayed that Anneliese would never find out about him, more of the kind of person that he used to be before she stumbled into his life without warning.

Because sleeping around like that really didn't make him happy. Not in the way she did.

"I've been told that before," Sirius grumbled, snapping himself back to his bedroom. "And I think it's a little too late for the before it hurts someone."

"And whatever do you mean by that?" Mia asked warily, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. "I thought you stopped hexing people just because you can or whenever they look at you the wrong way, Sirius."

"I would have rather hexed the whole school than hurt her," Black said with a dry laugh that instantly began to border on tears. "Sometimes I think I'm my dad. I think.. I think he influenced me more than I realized."

Euphemia's eyes widened in shock. That was certainly not what she had been expecting.

"Please explain" she prompted, sitting down on the edge of his bed next to him. "Think carefully before you answer, Sirius. Don't sell your morals short because you're feeling down on yourself."

"I'm not selling my morals short," he said with a shake of his head. "I.. I did something bad. It wasn't.. it wasn't violent- yes it was. I just.. she was sitting down on a table and I slammed my hands down next to her really, like really hard.. I don't even know.."

Euphemia looked at her son slouched over his knees, holding his head in his hands and pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"And I scream at her so much," Sirius continued, voice furious. "And not like the only halfway mad kind of scream. The kind where it's so loud that it hurts your throat."

Mia blinked.

"I can hear my dad screaming at my mom like that," he said, the memories reverberating around the walls of his mind. "And I sound like him. I sound so cruel and selfish and angry and just straight up vile."

Sirius took a deep breath.

"But the worst part about it is that she forgives me," he ranted. "Over and over again, she just keeps on being determined to see the good in me that I can't even see. And it's just.. it's not right. She kissed me, Mia."

He looked up and turned his head to meet her eyes.

"I didn't deserve that kiss," Sirius said, certain of that at least. "I was so selfish that I didn't even question it. I just took it, stole it, I was happy for the night. And I.. and now I don't even know where she is. She says she's safe but.. I just don't know Mia, I don't know anymore.."

"Well, I can tell you one thing," she said firmly. "You did not deserve that kiss."

Black winced again. He had been expecting it, but hearing Euphemia say it was a whole different story than him telling it to himself.

"And I can also tell you that I don't think she's forgiving you in any way," Mia continued, still very knowing that she was right. "I think she's just storing the anger away, not actually letting it go."

"So you're saying it's just a matter of time before it all lets loose?" Sirius asked, voice flat. "And what the hell am I supposed to do when it does?"

"Love, you might not even be there," Euphemia said. "You might be far away, not being able to do anything about it. But if you are, then you just take it. Because if there's one thing you deserve, it wasn't that kiss. It's her anger."

Black stared at her for a few seconds.

"You know, this is a really shitty pep talk," he said finally, and Mia laughed. "I'm not joking, really. Like, now I feel even worse than I did before. I think that James would definitely do a better job with his quidditch captain skills."

"Well, what was I supposed to say?" Euphemia asked.

"Uhm, that I'm not my dad," Sirius said blatantly. "That would have been mildly comforting at least. A good, solid way to start."

"Sirius, there is a very large difference between being your father and inheriting a few of his traits, the thing hammered into you since you could remember," Mia said, already wrinkled forehead creased. "You grew up thinking many evils were justified, did you not?"

Black nodded.

"Well, I think the important part is that you can separate those evils from the things that are good," she told him. "You are not your father, but you are his son. But you are also my son, you understand me? So figure out the lines, Sirius. Figure out what's right and wrong, even if they have been blended for you."

"You say that like it's easy," he said. "Right and wrong isn't simple, Mia."

"Do you want to know what I think about easy and simple?" she asked, and Sirius nodded. "I think that your love life, or should I say sex life, has been too easy. I think it's about time this girl came along and made things hard. Because you, Sirius, need to learn some things."

They were both quiet for a long time, only the record player still going in the background.

So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me, S.O.S. And the love you gave me, nothing else can save me, S.O.S.

"I think this song is ruined for me forever," Black finally said.

"And why is that?" Euphemia asked. "It's been one of your favorites since it came out two years ago. I remember it was the first song you listened to when you ran here."

"It was one of my favorites because of the music in it, not the lyrics," Sirius said. "And now it's ruined for me because I can relate to it. Yay for growing up, I guess."

"My love, you are many things," Mia said gently. "Many good things, may I add."

Black let her push a rebellious strand of slightly sweaty hair behind his ear.

"But you are far from grown up."

December 10, 1977
9:45 am
The Burrow

Anneliese was highly enjoying startling people like this.

"Can someone pass the salt, please?" Gideon asked, and Callaway tossed it over the packed breakfast table towards him. "Thanks, A."

"You're welcome," she said in an incredibly accurate British accent that sounded almost just like Narcissa had possessed her, a voice that could not possibly be more opposite than her natural one.

Gideon dumped almost an entire tablespoon of salt onto his eggs in shock at the sudden change, and everyone else at the table started laughing.

"That's quite the progress," Arthur said with a happy nod. "Especially for only working on it for what? A little more than a week."

"Yes, well Andy is quite the teacher," Anneliese said, switching back to her normal southern drawl as she winked at Andromeda from across the table, who winked back. "I still need to work on not using reckon, but besides that, I think we're nearly done with that part."

Fabian couldn't help but look at her with admiration twinkling in his eyes, and Bill instantly noticed from across the table.

"Fabian is making lovey