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Anna sighed in relief. She only had to deal with Lockhart once and even though it won't be that way for the rest of the year, she was grateful for any time she had away from that git, especially after the way he acted during herbology. She practically skipped all the way to Minnie's class, where she was delighted to see Harry and his friends sitting.
She waited to see if Harry acknowledged her. The last thing Anna wanted to do was baby him and seem like a bother to him and his friends, but to her delight, a giant smile came onto his face when she caught his eye and she realized that he was just as excited to have her around as she was to have him around. She returned his smile but didn't have time to approach him before class started.

The assignment was to turn a beetle into a button, something Anna could do in her sleep. She was one of Minnie's top students after all, though she insisted that all the beetles be turned back to normal when the lesson was done. She thought that turning them into something non-living and leaving them that way was almost as cruel as just killings them and, of course, the Professor hadn't objected.

Harry, however, seemed to be finding the assignment to be quite the challenge. All he seemed to be doing to his beetle was give it a work out as it scurried across his desk. Anna knew why he was having trouble though. He was just like his mother in that aspect. Lily passed her classes every year with flying colors, but always had trouble remembering what she had learned the year before when she got back from summer. All she needed was a little push and that was exactly what Harry needed.

She walked over to her nephew, tapped him on the shoulder, and asked in her most encouraging voice, "Need some help there, Sport?" He nodded in defeat and her eyes softened, "You know Harry, asking for help isn't a bad thing. I'm not Severus, I'm not going to berate you just because your still learning." She watched as the edge of his lips turned upward slightly and he sat up straighter, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Anna smiled and gripped the hand that was holding his wand, showing him the correct technique and explaining how to pronounce the spell. After showing him a few times she stood back and watched as him transform the beetle perfectly. She clapped excitedly, "There! You see? All you needed was a little guidance! Now how about you try changing it back for me?" His small smile grew at her praise. He wasn't used to being around someone so gentle and encouraging, it was a nice change from Petunia's sharp screeches or Snape's sneer. This time he did the spell without trouble and his smile filled with a little, just a tiny bit, of pride in himself. Anna congratulated him and walked a way, satisfied and walked over to Ron.

Her nose scrunched up at the smell and she analyzed the smoke that came from his wand, "Ron what happened to your wand! Trying to use a wand that's been snapped can be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt." Harry nodded, "Yeah, ask your parents for a new one." Ron shook his head, "And get another howler?" Anna shook her head, "Ron, your mother sent that letter to teach you a lesson, not to scare you out of sending letters home or telling her when you need school supplies. You can do what you want, but please consider trying to ask later on in the school year, when the incident has been forgotten. If money is a problem, I'm sure I could scrape up enough for you." Ron nodded, "Alright Mrs. Evans, I'll think about it, but I don't think my, mother would take up your offer to buy it for me. She doesn't like taking other people's money."

Anna nodded and turned her attention to Hermione, who was reading a book, "Hermione, why aren't you doing the lesson?" The Gryffindor girl smiled at Anna, "I already transformed my beetle, Mrs. Evans. I was the first one done." Anna smiled, "Alright then, in that case, five points to Gryffindor for being the quickest and most prepared for the lesson." Anna walked over to help the other students to help them and could not keep the grin off her face. She loved helping the kids.

Of Course, her good mood had to be ruined by the bell for the end of class ringing. Now was the class she had been dreading since she had met Lockhart, DADA. She walked into the door and stuck out her tongue in disgust at the small group of girls that surrounded the 'Professor'. She made her way over to the small desk that Gilderoy had annoyingly put right next to him and set her stuff down. When she turned around, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw that Lockhart had come up from behind her to greet her. Anna rolled her eyes, "Hello, Gilderoy. What are we talking to the kids about today? Trolls? Disarming spells?" Gilderoy shook his head, "No,no my dear Anna!" He put an arm around her, "You see, I thought that the best way to start off the ear would be to talk about their expert of a Professor." She gave him an unamused look and picked his arm off her shoulder as if it were a pair of smelly gym shorts.

Even though it had only been a minute or two, it seemed like hours before the students started filing in. Despite everything she still managed to smile at her nephew when he walked in.

Harry smiled back at his aunt, but he wasn't looking forward to the class. Watching Lockhart talk about himself and hit on Harry's aunt was not exactly Harry's idea of fun. He wondered who his aunt married. It dawned on him that he didn't know much about his aunt. He hadn't had much of a chance to have a really long conversation with her. He wanted to know about his parents and all the pranks she had mentioned she had done with his dad. His thoughts were interrupted when the class started and Lockhart started talking.

Anna leaned against the wall in boredom. Why was she required to come here again? It's not like she knew anything about Lockhart. But, she remembered that it was so he didn't accidentally get students killed with his stupidity. Her head snapped up at the sound of her name, "Most of you know of my lovely assistant Anna." She shuddered. She wasn't HIS anything.
"Anna, darling, be a dear and pass out my test." Anna glared. A test on the first day? She ripped the pages out of his hands and passed them around the room. Seeing that there was no more work to be done, she sat at her desk, reading her book, before the idiot interrupted her, "What literary adventure are you diving into now my little Annie? One of my brilliant works? I could sign it if-" she held up a hand and said in a low voice, "DON'T call me that!" She really didn't mean to snap, but that name was reserved for special people and most of whom were aloud to say it weren't with her anymore, so it was a tough subject and it wasn't like she screamed, it was more like a quiet shout (if that makes sense). "And, no, this isn't one of your books. If you must know it is about werewolves-"

Gilderoy interrupted, "I had a close encounter with a werewolf! Wrote a book about it too. Nasty, mindless beast aren't they? But don't worry Annabelle, I'll rescue you if such a wretched mutt comes near." At this point Anna's hands were in fist, but as his words sunk in, her angry look faded into deep sadness and regret. Annabelle. He had called her Annabelle. Only one person had ever called her that, the man who had once been her loving big bro (well...one of them), Sirius Black.

Anna was about to snap, when the clearing of a throat was heard. There stood Hermione Granger with concern in her eyes, "Umm, I'm done Professors." Lockhart's stupid grin (that had never left his face) almost grew bigger, "Marvelous! I'll take that Miss Granger." Before the hour was done Anna had already moved her desk far from the other Professor, which was probably the only way both professors would survive. The bell rang and all the students filed out and Anna hung back to collect some of her stuff, when she left the room, however, she found Hermione telling Harry and Ron the conversation she had overheard. It wasn't like they were gossiping, Hermione was just worried and Anna wasn't mad. She had no intention to hide her past from Harry for too long. It was just hard to find the time to say it. She was actually touched that Hermione, a girl she had only just met, cared so much. Anna must have made quite the impression on her.

Anna practically dashed to the lunch room, grabbing Severus along the way. The cranky Slitherin protested the entire time she dragged him to the teachers table. She sat at the end of the table and Severus sat next to her. She then begged Professor McGonagall to sit next to Snape. When she was done she sighed in relief and slumped in her seat. When she looked up she saw Severus looking at her like she had grown two heads. She sighed, "I just got back from Lockhart's class and I did NOT want to sit anywhere near that superficial, idiotic, pig with narcissistic personality disorder. Do you know what he did today? He gave the students a one hundred question test ON HIMSELF! On top of that he insulted werewolves, because he obviously hadn't been listening when I said I was fighting for werewolf rights! On top of that he called me Annie AND Annabelle!"

  Anna took a break to breathe and eat some of the chicken on her plate. He shook his head, "Well I can't say I'm surprised. Are you sure you are going to be able to stay here for a whole school year?" She nodded, "There's no way that fool is going to run me out of Hogwarts! I'm going to try and get other Professors to ask me for extra help around the classroom so I spend less time around him." The two friends talked and ate for the rest of lunchtime. When lunch was nearly over, an idea struck her. When lunch had finally ended, she tapped Fred Weasley shoulder he turned around, "Well, well, if it isn't the Princess of Pranks, the Mistress of Mischief, how can I be of service?" She grinned, "I need you and your brother to come with me. I'll write you an excuse note to give your teacher." He returned her grin and shouted for his brother, "George!"

The three sat at the empty Gryffindor table. Anna folded her hands on the table, "Boys, I have a proposition for you. I would do it myself, but I don't want to chance getting fired. To put it shortly, I need you to pull a prank, no numerous pranks on someone." The twins exchanged evil grins, "Who's the target?" Anna's own evil grin appeared on her face, "Gilderoy Lockhart." The twins high-fived, "We'll do it!" She clapped her hands, "Brilliant! Come to me if you need any supplies." Anna strutted out of the commons with a new spring in her step. She smirked as she heard one of the twins exclaim, "Dude! Coolest professor EVER!"

Finally, Anna made it to her last class: Potions. She walked in exclaiming, "Sorry I'm late! I had some....business to take care of." Snape nodded, "That's quite alright, Mrs. Evans." They went around checking potions to see who was doing it correctly. She stirred Draco's cauldron, "Yours is the wrong shade of green. Your's is lime green or neon green. It has to be dark green. Try using less Harpy feather and more Willow root. Also never crush the mushrooms in a potion that is to intended to give a negative effect. Always slice them in potions that are intended to help the drinker." She looked into Hermione's potion and the young witch looked at with an immense amount of interest, "Let's see... It's the right shade of green..", Anna stirred the cauldron, "and I'm immensely impressed at how good you are with putting in exactly the right amounts! Not a single flaw. Ten points to Gryffindor." Draco was furious, "No! You don't know what you are talking about. I much better potions that know-it-all muggleborn, and you are just as dumb!" Snape seemed to appear right behind the Slitherin brat.

Draco jumped when he heard Professor Snape's stone cold, snarling voice, "Mr. Malfoy! Are you, a second year, suggesting you're smarter than Mrs. Evans, who's skill in this subject almost rivals my own? I have no doubt your father has told you all about her impressive résumé and you still doubt. Potions almost never requires a person to use their magic so saying they are muggle-born wouldn't even be close to a relevant or clever argument situation, but if you insist I will judge your potion personally since you insist on special treatment." Severus took the ladle and slowly stirred the cauldron, "Draco, not only is this potion full of careless mistakes, it's rancid and acidic. I'll need to take extra measures to sanitize the cauldron to keep it from either corroding or poisoning every potion that is put into it. I expect An- I mean Mrs. Evans, was sugar coating how disastrous a potion you had concocted. Which I highly frown apon. Also, I want to see you after class to discuss an incident I was made aware of that occurred a few days ago. I'm sure you recall the incident I'm referring to."

Draco looked mortified and embarrassed. Snape would usually lie about how good his potion was just because he was a Slitherin that didn't like Potter. Now this mud-blooded girl strolls in and Snape's whole demeanor changes- alright, some of his demeanor. The Gryffindors in the room were astounded. What had Malfoy done to get Snape on his bad side?

There weren't anymore classes after potions, just free time to do homework and hangout until dinner. So when Harry walked out of the classroom, she pulled him all the way to her living quarters. She told him her password past the door and let him know he was welcome to drop by anytime. She brought him over to her bed and pulled out a giant photo album with the Hogwarts crest on the front.

When she opened it, it revealed all the pictures she had of their highschool days. She had even enchanted some of them to move. She had asked others to photograph their pranks too. She pointed to a first year with red hair that matched the Weasley's bright shade and a greenish blue that matched Harry's; she wore a Gryffindor uniform, "That's your mum in first year. Her hair got much darker after second year. She was so hard working and free spirited and sweet. She pointed to a picture of the same girl, older with much different colored hair, laughing with three others. They looked like third or fourth years, except for one. It was snowing and little snowflakes decorated their hair.

Anna smiled. She pointed to the redhead on Lily's right with slightly darker hair and greener eyes, but with a similar uniform, "That's me. The one with an arm around Lils." She moved her finger to an older (and shorter) girl with hair matching Lily's old hair color, "That's Molly. I believe that was when she and Arthur first started dating." She moved to the blonde and her smile turned sad, "This is Alice. Her married name is Alice Longbottom. She was Neville's mom. I don't think he'd appreciate me telling you about them just yet though."

She showed him a few more pics of her, Lily, and her other school friends until she found the marauders section. She explained the marauders concept to Harry while trying not to give too much away. She didn't want to admit it but she was terrified of how he would react to her marrying a werewolf.

She pointed to a boy that looked just like Harry with brown eyes and a more confident, cocky attitude, "This is your rascal of a father. Boy he didn't just attract trouble, he thrived in it. He WAS trouble." She showed him Peter but she didnt have to many pictures of him. She laughed when she saw a moving picture of a Sirius Black being, literally, thrown out of the door of the Gryffindor girls dormitory, "Padfoot, you were such a player." Harry looked at her in confusion, but didn't ask his silent question: 'You had a friend named Padfoot?' Anna's looked down and her voice was just above a whisper, "We were so close. We were like siblings. They did so much for me. MERLIN, I miss them." She took a second to compose herself and Harry put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and gave him a small, almost relieved smile. She had forgotten she wasn't as alone anymore. She pulled her nephew into a hug, "But that's alright, because we have each other."

She finally showed Harry a shy boy with a sweet smile, a book in his hand, and a sense of determination; Remus. Remus had been in the other pictures, but she wanted to give him his own introduction to show Harry how much he werewolf meant to her. Harry observed his aunt as she looked at a picture of a young her and another boy. There were moving pictures of them studying, laughing, chasing each other around an oak by a lake, catching fire flies.

There were similar pictures with her other friends, but somehow these seemed more intimate and the way she stroked the pictures with such love made him wonder: 'What made him different from the others?' She grinned, "And this sweet, intelligent, handsome, dashing young man is the love of my life, the other half of my heart Remus Lupin. We always were close in school...but we always thought that being like siblings, like I was with James and Padfoot, just....didn't feel right. It wasn't until a while after that one tragic night did we realize how perfect we were for each other. You see Harry, after that night, we thought you were dead with everyone else. So we had no other family no one else who knew how it felt. We realized that we were the last ones left, that we had to stick together. He became my rock, my sun and stars, my whole world and, according to him, I became his."

Harry looked her in the eyes, seeing the truth behind her words. She loved him more than anything. Harry decide that he like this guy. The man had kept his aunt to together and brought her happiness. It was strange how fast a bond can form between two people. Had she really arrived at the Dursley's only a few days before? Countless times Harry had wished on stars or prayed to anyone that some magical relative would swoop in and show him a better life. He had thought Hagrid breaking the door down was the closest thing he would ever get to his dream coming true. But now he had Anna (Evans) Lupin and he had to admit no matter what happened to him in his dangerous, crazy, stressful life; his other aunt made it whole lot better.

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