A/N Yikes that last one was a roller coaster of emotions. Just so y'all know if you didn't, they use DD/MM/YYYY in the UK for dating format.

Finally, this chapter will cover the next year. Enjoy.

JUNE

23/06/1976

My Dearest Dorothy,

Today Annalee came out of the Hospital Wing. She and Sirius still are not talking. The school has been notified of everything that's happened.

I feel for them, you know? Everybody can see that they love each other, except my idiot of a brother. Thought I suspect that, as Anne says, that's because he's a bloody buffoon. I overheard him talking (crying) to James Potter earlier about whether or not she still loves him.

She's good at keeping up appearances. When she cries, she does it in private, like a good pureblood daughter. Her hair is neat and her outfit is tidy. If I didn't know her, I'd think that she's just fine. But I do and I can tell that (not to be dramatic or anything) she is wrought with guilt. I feel for her, too, honestly. Grief can make people crazy.

I know it's made me crazy.

I miss you lots, Dory. More with each passing day. For the longest time, I was so sure that we were the main characters. I'm not sure of that anymore. I think maybe, just maybe, Annalee is the main character in this story.

In other news, your parents aren't having a funeral. Sirius and I have organized a small gathering in the Forbidden Forest for tomorrow.

We'll be with you one last time there, I suppose.

Yours always,
R.A.B.

JULY

"Evans?" Sirius calls into the townhouse, having been invited over by Lily. He and Anna hasn't spoken a word since their fight. While they haven't broken up, he's dead scared that they will.

When there's no response, he walks through the open door in time to hear the laughter of a little girl.

"Princess Daisy," comes the elated voice of Annalee Fawley, "here is your tea."

The little girl, Daisy, presumably, laughs again, "Does it have gold in it, my fair lady?"

"Gold and caviar," Anna obliges.

Sirius follows the noise into the family room where Anna is sitting at a tiny table in a tiny chair next to a small redhead with a flower crown of Daisies on her head. The little girl is sipping at a plastic cup of tea.

"It doesn't look like gold, Lady Lee," Daisy crinkles her nose into the cup. "And caviar is grody."

Sirius leans against the doorframe, his hands thrust into his pockets, and a smile playing on his lips.

His smile has nothing on Anna's huge one, though. Hers is spread all the way across her face shamelessly.

Annalee laughs, a sound Sirius missed.

"You know, Princess Daisy, I'm not sure you've ever had caviar."

"Doesn't mean I can't not like it," Daisy says authoritatively, wagging her finger. "Plus, I do believe I'm the Princess here...? You serve me."

Anna holds her hands up in surrender. "I simply must beg your forgiveness. I am oh, so very sorry for imposing my mostly correct opinion."

"I heard that," Daisy grumbles. She glances over to the doorway and her face brightens, "Lady Lee, have you brought me a prince?"

Sirius chuckles, "Actually, I'm looking for Lily. And I might be a little bit old for you."

Anna looks over to him and, for the first time in about a month, her smile doesn't leave her face.

"Lily's out shopping," Daisy says. "And age is just a number."

Anna laughs again, turning away so Daisy doesn't catch her.

"Unfortunately, it seems that the number in question is... unacceptably large," Sirius says carefully.

Daisy rolls her eyes, "Just sit down."

"Is that alright with the fair lady?" Sirius asks nervously, running a hand through his hair. He glances over to Anna.

Daisy looks to Anna expectantly.

Anna toys with one of her blonde locks, "If you'd like, you're welcome to. But only for one cup of tea."

"I'll take it," Sirius agrees, taking a seat in the chair between Anna and Daisy.

Daisy sips her tea. "Well you two obviously have a variety of unsolved issues, so get to it."

Anna chokes on her tea-that's-actually-water.

"I believe I've done my best to express my feelings," Sirius says, grinning at Daisy.

"Princess Daisy, would you please tell Prince Sirius that I don't forgive him?" Anna requests politely, dabbing her mouth with the napkin.

Daisy raises her eyebrow. "I'm sorry, who's giving who orders around here?"

Anna holds her hands up in surrender, then turns to Sirius. "I still don't forgive you."

"Why?"

"Because you wouldn't leave me alone and if I forgive then I'd have to say sorry and I don't particularly like saying sorry."

Daisy claps her hands, "Oooh! Drama! What happened?"

"Sirius-" Anna begins.

"I think my name is Prince Sirius, thank you very much," Sirius interjects snidely.

Anna shoots him a glare, "No. Anyways, I got hurt a month ago and a friend of mine got really hurt. When I was still recovering, he kept trying to talk to me. We both said some things we didn't mean. Me, especially."

"Thank you," Daisy beams. "And you, Prince Sirius?"

Sirius breathes deeply, "I'm sorry again for claiming that you were being blindly vengeful. Which you were."

"I accept that," Anna agrees. "And I am sorry, Padfoot. I shouldn't have said all those things. Really."

Daisy squeals, patting Sirius's hand in excitement. "Yay! Oh, this is better than mum's soap operas."

"I forgive you, Princess," Sirius says sweetly, reaching for her hand.

She looks back at him with an expression that could only be described as lovesick, her eyes twinkling.

"Aaaand now this is getting sappy so let's wrap it up. Back to me!"

About fifteen minutes later, when Daisy goes to the bathroom, Sirius helps Anna up.

"I love you very much, you know that?" Sirius probes. When she nods, he continues, "Then I hope you won't mind my saying that it appears that Lily has Parent Trapped us. You're babysitting Daisy tonight, I believe you said?"

"Yeah. And I don't mind," Anna responds gently, putting her arms around his neck.

He laughs, shoving her closer. "May I kiss you, my fair lady?"

"Please do," she murmurs.

He kisses her then, for the first time in a month, with a sort of fire that only comes from that missing length of time.

Around the kiss, he whispers, "I'm so sorry, Love."

"I am, too. I said such horrible things to you, Siri. I'm so sorry. And I'm so sorry I didn't say that sooner."

"I forgive you. Always. Tonight, we can see if you can stay at the Potter Manor. We can play some quidditch, talk," Sirius waggles his eyebrows, "snog?"

Anna smiles, unable to contain her giddiness, "I'd love that."

Hours later, Sirius and Anna are in his room (under the condition they keep the door cracked open, of course) talking and chuckling.

"I don't understand," Sirius says as they sit against his wall. "You're telling me that when you were six years old, you ran away from home and snuck off to a muggle carnival."

"And I rode every damn pony they bloody had," Anna agrees, sipping at a Cola. "When my mum came - they used a locating spell to find me, and oh, my Merlin, did she rain holy hell on me. I swear, people looked. You know what I did?"

"What?"

"I started singing Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made For Walkin', which had come out six month earlier, while I rode on the bloody carousel. I swear to Merlin, the memory of my mother trying to figure out the damned thing is one I will treasure until the very day I die."

Sirius grabs the Cola, sipping at it. She tugs it back, that teasing smile on her face.

"You were a crazy little girl, weren't you?"

With a somber look, Anna agrees, "Yes. But I had absolutely shit on Daisy Evans."

***

At the end of the month, on Anna's birthday, she gets a letter. Which is surprising because, you know, there's only one person alive that knows her birthday and he doesn't know where to mail a letter. Sitting down on Sirius's bed while she sips her hot chocolate, she reads the message in the neat script signature of Dorothy Hawkins.

𝔗𝔬: 𝔐𝔶 𝔒𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔉𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡

𝔉𝔯𝔬𝔪: 𝔄 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔊𝔦𝔯𝔩

𝔄𝔫𝔫𝔢,

ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, ℑ'𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡.𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔵𝔱, 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔱𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔤𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔥𝔶 ℑ 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔧𝔬𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔈𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰. 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔰, ℑ 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔩𝔢𝔣𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔢. 𝔄𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔞𝔶, ℑ 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲. ℑ 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱.𝔄𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔡, 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔡𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤.ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔞 𝔱𝔬𝔱𝔞𝔩 𝔬𝔣 54 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔪𝔰 (𝔐𝔢𝔯-𝔩𝔦𝔫, ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴). 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 27 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰, 𝔬𝔟𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔩𝔶. 𝔓𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝔭𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔛-𝔪𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔡𝔞𝔶.

𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢,𝔇𝔬𝔯𝔶

When Anna reads this letter, she finds herself slipping to the floor, her cup crashing and breaking.

Quiet sobs shake her body, feeling the sense of losing Dorothy all over again.

Footsteps patter inside, rushing next to her.

"What's wrong, Anna?" James asks softly, crouching down next to her.

Through her cries, she manages, "D-d-dory. M-m-miss. B-b-birthday."

"Hey, it's okay," he murmurs. "Want me to grab Sirius?"

"No!" she nearly yells, scooting away, trying to calm herself.

She succeeds to some extent, narrowing her sobs down to sniffle.

James reads the letter and observes the package. "It's your birthday."

"Don't tell Sirius," Anna replies, practically instinctive.

"Okay, I promise. I'm going to clean up the hot chocolate, alright?"

"Okay," she mumbles.

AUGUST

Dear Dorothy,

Morning, Love. I hope you're doing well today. Wherever you are. I feel confident that you're happy. Or, at least, that's what I've been telling myself. I don't quite know what I would do if I never got to see you again.

That possibility of, you know, seeing you again, makes me feel reckless.

My father has me leaving to get my Dark Mark in a couple minutes.

I suppose that's why I'm writing you right now.

Out of guilt? In search of comfort? In search of hope? Out of preemptive regret?

I don't know. I wish I did, I really do.

On the bright side mother nearly threw a fit the other day because Sirius proposed to Annalee.

Kidding. You always did love a good joke.

But they are talking again and I know that would make you happy. You did always believe that they'd do good things together. Personally, I think they already have. I think you'd be proud of them.

I know I'm proud of Sirius.

When we were young, I liked Anne, you know that? I think if I'd told you, you'd have been jealous about it. You always did get a little jealous. I didn't hate it, if I'm being honest. I liked the attention.

Is that part of why you died? Am I to blame?

I need to go now, my love. I need to go join the very man who killed you.

I'll always love you, I promise. Until the day I die.

Yours,
R.A.B.

SEPTEMBER

"School," Marlene murmurs with disdain. "I bloody hate it."

Grumpily, Ginger adds, "And Wes and Em went back to Ilvermorny, so I can't make fun of them for finally getting back together."

OCTOBER

Sirius grabs Anna's wrist. "You have a new charm?"

"My birthday," she explains, a teasing smile on her lips. "Dory did something, I guess, years ago to make sure that I'd get one. She sent it on my actual birthday. Which was months ago. Or was it days?"

"One day," he warns, "one day I will find out your bloody birthday."

"It's been redacted on all government documents," Anna points out.

From her left, Lily nods vigorously, "I tried meeting with the Minister, but even she didn't know."

"Eugenia's an old friend," Anna muses. "And Harold's my cousin."

In unison, Sirius and Lily sigh.

***

"Princess Fawley," Sirius begins, sliding in next to her at breakfast, "do you happen to know what today is?"

Anna thinks for a second, then turns to Lily, "Lils, what day is today?"

"Why, Lee, I believe it's Halloween," Lily explains in a simple, teasing manner.

Anna turns back to Sirius, "Sirius, today is Halloween."

He glares at her playfully.

"You're a mean, mean lady, Ms. Fawley," he declares.

"Well if you feel that way, I suppose I shouldn't give you the gift I got the other day?"

Lily snickers.

Sirius hmphs! "But I want it, Fawley," he whines.

"If you say so," she says softly, pulling out a small trinket but shielding it with her hands so he can't see. "This took me actual days to make over summer, so I'm letting you know now that you're just getting candy for your birthday, alright?"

"Yep," he beams.

She reveals a tiny motorcycle, the size of his hand. "I built it myself," she explains. "It can fly and actually drive. Before you say it, yes, it is tiny, but I'll give you the spell to make it normal-sized. You just need to learn how to drive the bloody thing first. Happy anniversary, Siri."

"Love, do you think you could maybe come with me for a bit?" asks Sirius, voice strained.

Anna's expression devolves into one of worry, "Is everything okay? Do you not like it?"

"No," he's quick to say. "I love it. But I don't want to snog you in front of the entire Great Hall."

She giggles, waving a quick goodbye to Lily, then grabs his hand as they run off.

In between kisses, she stutters out, her face flushed, "Wh-what's m-my pre-present?"

"Later," he murmurs against her lips, artfully rendering her speechless.

She'd never stop being wowed by the chemistry they have and the power he has over her when he chooses.

But when he moves for her shirt, she catches his hand, looking him in the eye sternly.

"We are not doing it for the first time in a broom closet, you hear?"

Gently, Sirius cups her flushed cheeks, passing his thumb over her swollen lips and murmurs in her ear, "I was never trying, Love."

That evening, he gives her a new leather jacket to replace the one she lost.

***

Elsewhere, Remus and Ginger celebrate their own anniversary.

NOVEMBER

Dory,

Today I feel as though I have betrayed you all over again. Annalee found out about my Dark Mark. And I performed my first Unforgivable. I think the scariest part was that it worked. Meaning that I meant it. The Dark Lord was pleased.

I was not.

I'm scared, my love. I'm scared because I no longer hear your voice in my ears and I can no longer picture your face and I can no longer feel your touch.

And I'm scared because I'm all alone, Love.

Worst of all, I'm not sure that I hate it.

Predominantly yours,
R.A.B.

DECEMBER

It's long past midnight and Anna's sitting alone in the kitchens, thinking about a werewolf.

A voice startles her out of her reverie, "Are we ever going to tell him, Annie?"

"I dunno, Remus. It's not like I cheated on him," Anna speculates. "Is that why you've been ignoring me?"

Remus sits down next to her, "I haven't been ignoring you, per se. Just... thinking. You know, you're so happy with him, but it just feels like I'm betraying him."

Her eyes snap over to him.

"Listen to me, Remus," she says slowly. "We kissed once. Months ago, after Sirius and I broke up. It didn't mean anything to either of us and we agreed to never talk about it again. I don't see the problem."

"The problem was that it was two weeks after you two broke up. And that I'm his best friend," Remus points out. "Even when Sirius was going on his Random Girl Kissing Spree," (as James had so artfully dubbed it, "he never tried to kiss/kissed Lily or Marlene or Dorcas or any of your other friends."

Anna sighs, "I understand. I know, believe me, I do. But I was upset, you were there, and I took advantage of you. That was all."

If only.

James clears his throat.

Both of their heads swivel over.

"Hey, Prongs," Remus greets him. "I'm going back to the dorm, but I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

James makes some sort of noise that hopefully resembles a yes.

Then he sits down next to Anna.

She holds his gaze for just a second too long as she says, "Evening, Prongsy."

It leaves much to be wondered.

"I heard everything," James says in a tone that could be followed with the words for your edification.

"Alright," she says softly. "Then you know that a mistake was made, never repeated, and always regretted. I feel no need to say anything more."

"You should. I want everything that happened, keeping in mind that both you and Moony are in relationships with both of our best friends. I don't think you want anything to ruin that."

"Ginger knows. I told her after about two weeks of knowing her on a night I was feeling particularly guilty and vulnerable about my parents death. Or have you forgotten? The only reason he was there that night was because it was minutes before I was supposed to take the potentially lethal potion to help me find my brother," Anna says plainly. "And Ginger wouldn't tell Sirius."

"Tell me what?" Sirius asks, walking in.

Anna looks over to him with a look Sirius could only describe as love and a look only James knows as guilt.

"Nothing, Love. What are you still doing awake?"

"Eh, Remus woke me up when he went back in the dorm, I saw Prongs over here was out of bed, and I figured he'd be in the kitchens and up for some late-night pranking," Sirius explains as he sits down next to Anna.

Even a fool could see that he didn't hear a thing.

James looks to Anna expectantly.

When she doesn't say anything, James just says, "I think Anna has something to tell you. I'm going back to bed."

Anna could've killed James in that moment.

Sirius turns to Anna.

***

"It's alright, Love. I forgive you."

JANUARY, 1977

My love,

I killed a man this evening. A muggle. I am left to wonder what you would think of me now. All terrible things, I'm sure.

I'm so sorry, Dory. I'm sorry for betraying you, I'm sorry for not being brave, and I'm sorry for not being my brother.

He wouldn't have killed an