Anna rolled onto her stomach and stretched her arms out. Her right hand fell onto the empty bed space next to her. A wave of panic washed over her before she remembered. Sirius wasn't there. He hadn't been at home for nearly two weeks.
Being alone was, well lonely. Anna hadn't realized how much time that the two of them spent together. The house seemed cold and empty without him banging around. A small part of her felt rather pathetic by missing him as much as she did. After all, what he did for the Order was very important. She just wished that he wasn't spending so much time doing it. Was she being selfish? James stayed with Lily now that they had a family. Did she need to marry Sirius to keep him around? Anna hoped that wouldn't be the only reason he would keep coming back.
Annoyed with her train of thought, she rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom. After splashing some water onto her face, she looked into the mirror. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips when she noticed how different she looked. Her skin was pale, nearly translucent. The grayness of her irises seemed more prominent and dull at the same time. The tips of her hair nearly reached just past her shoulders. Sighing, she turned away and turned the shower on to warm up the water. Carefully, she stripped off her pajamas and stood under the water.
It was hard to think that it had been almost three years since the Spenser-Thompson family had moved to England. So much had happened. Who would have guessed that Anna would have liked it when she fought tooth and nail to stay in the United States? Funny how things change.
Around noon, she decided to go and visit her parents. It had been a while since she'd seen them and it was an excuse to get out of the house. Preferably, she would have gone to see Lily but since they had gone into hiding, they had tried to limit the amount of people going there.
After getting dressed in "appropriate" attire, Anna walked out of her home and braced herself for the cold October weather. It shocked her to see children running around in costumes. Then she realized that it was Halloween. How could she be so out of it? She probably should have purchased some candy and dragged out her old Hogwarts robes. What could be a more convincing costume than being a witch? Anna snickered at herself, thinking about how she had ALWAYS loved Halloween. Her parents had thrown huge balls in New Orleans for the holiday but stopped once they moved. She had had some pretty amazing costumes, too. One year she had gone as a Southern Belle, complete with an authentic dress that belonged to a great-great-great aunt twice removed.
"Anna, darling! What a pleasant surprise!" Mrs. Thompson hugged her only daughter as she walked into the sitting room. Photo albums were spread out on the table in front of her. "You've just missed your father. He said something about going to the Ministry" she waved her had as if to make the unpleasant thought leave.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked while sitting next to her mother. There were pictures of her parent's wedding day, her mother's dbut ball, her father's teams
"I just got the sudden urge to look at these. Look at this! It was the first day that we had you home," she thrust an album into Anna's arms. She smiled when she saw herself in her father's nervous arms. Her mother beamed at the camera as her father smiled shyly. "We were so nervous to have you home. Your father was so worried that he would do something wrong," Mrs. Thompson laughed. "I think that was the day he started worrying about the boys you would bring home."
"Well there hasn't been too many of those," Anna laughed and turned the page. She saw a picture of herself jumping on her canopy bed, swinging a pillow above her head. In the corner of the photo, she saw her father shaking with laughter. Opposite of that was her and her mother sitting at the vanity table playing in the makeup and jewelry.
"We always had fun, didn't we," her mother looked at the picture of the two of them together.
"Yeah, we did," Anna whispered, unable to meet her mother's eyes. Looking at this just made her wonder what had changed their relationship.
"You know that I only wanted the best for you," Mrs. Thompson said after a couple of minutes of silence. "That's why I chose those men. I thought that if I could find someone close to how your father was, then you'd be as happy as I am."
"I know that," Anna sighed, closing the book and setting it on the coffee table.
"But I am happy about how you've found someone on your own," her mother finished her little speech. "I just wanted you to know that." Anna looked at her mother, who seemed to be pleading her to understand. On impulse, she reached over and hugged her.
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you too."
After having lunch with her mother, Anna went home. She felt as if, for the first time in years, she and her mother had actually connected on something.
The house was still empty. Bored, she started to clean up. After all, there was no reason for Sirius to come home to a dirty home. If only she knew when he would be getting back. James had been very cryptic about where he had gone.
"Scourgify," Anna said, pointing her wand at the sink full of dirty dishes. They cleaned and stacked themselves. Quickly, she put them away as the front door opened. She froze in place. Hesitantly, she put the plates back on the counter and grabbed her wand. Carefully, she crept to the wall and hid behind it. The person seemed to be looking around the back of the house. She took a deep breath and leapt out from her hiding spot.
"Stupify!" she screamed. The intruder jumped out of the way.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Sirius yelled as he peeked out from behind the couch.
"Sirius!" Anna let out a nervous laugh. "I didn't think it was you!"
"Obviously not," he smirked while standing and dusting himself off. He got a wolfish grin on his face before he charged over and gathered her in his arms. Before she could stop him, he dipped her and kissed her hard. Anna's wand clattered to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Miss me?" she laughed when he set her on her feet again.
"More than you know," he laughed. Anna traced a new scar above his right eyebrow.
"Want something to eat?" she asked after a minute.
"Not right now. But if you're done attacking me-"
"Attacking you!" she laughed, "You're the one that attacked me."
"And I'll do it again," he grinned before kissing her again. "But as I was saying, if you're done attacking me, I've got a question for you."
"Come on, I'll make something for you," she grabbed hold of his hand and tried to drag him to the kitchen. He stood fast and pulled her closer.
He wrapped an arm around her waist, successfully trapping her next to him. He leaned over her and touched the tips of their noses.
Rest of the chapter and memo --->
"What?" Anna asked, closing her eyes and standing on her tip toes to kiss him. He pulled his head back so that she couldn't. Groaning, she stood still as he kissed along her jaw.
"Will you marry me?"
Obvious ending for the chapter, I know. But I'm happy with this. I'm trying to tie up a few loose ends before the story gets finished. Only one chapter and the epilogue left! *Tear* It's kind of sad. I've been writing this since about May of 2006.
But all good things must come to an end. You can look for the last chapter on Monday and the epilogue on Tuesday.
Right now I'm working on my next story, which will be announced in the epiloge. I hope you'll keep reading my stuff.
Love,
Trick
