CHAPTER ONE,
a long year.

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AS ANASTASIA LEE STARE AT THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS, she feels a sense of melancholy but also fondness. She was now entering her sixth year at Hogwarts, a school that had become her safe haven, her home. With this year coming to a start, Anastasia only had one year left before she would finally graduate. She had no idea what she wanted to do just yet, but she knew she did not want to follow in her grandparents' footsteps.

Her grandparents, Catherine and Edward Lee, are purebloods. Both of them are full of prejudice and distaste for Muggleborns and Half-bloods. They believed that the wizarding world should be free of them, and they shared similar thoughts with the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Her grandfather worked closely with the dark wizard himself, he was a part of the so-called 'Inner Circle'.

However, Anastasia did not share their beliefs. She was very much like her mother. Her mother despised her grandparents for their opinions and vowed that once she came of age or had a child, she would leave and disappear from their sight once and for all.

Unfortunately, her mother did not achieve that, she—alongside her father, died at the hands of the Dark Lord as they did not want to join his army of Death Eaters which left Anastasia to grow up in the exact same life as her mother, a life that her mother desperately wanted her to not have.

"Anastasia." The sound of her grandmother's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Anastasia felt herself stiffen, chills crawl up her arms as a small breeze swayed by. The two were standing in front of the Hogwarts Express, her grandfather did not come along as he was busy, so it was just her and her grandmother.

"Yes, grandmother?" Anastasia swallowed thickly, her eyes hardened and her features remained stoic as she turned around to face her grandmother. Catherine squinted her eyes at the young girl before clearing her throat and clasping her hands together elegantly.

"I expect that you will remain top of your class. Do not get anything lower than first. And how many times have I told you to drop that ridiculous childish game of yours? Quidditch will get you nowhere. It's a simple waste of your time." Anastasia clenched her jaw, her grip on her trunks tightened as she breathed in sharply through her nose.

"Like I've told you before, I'm the Captain, grandmother, and I worked hard for that position, so I can't exactly drop the sport—besides I'm not the only one that plays it, Regulus Black is on the team with me." Catherine's eyebrows rose in surprise, at hearing the familiar name. She stood there in silence for a moment before letting out a quiet 'hmph', she gave Anastasia a stiff nod and pursed her lips.

"I see. Well, so be it. But, I expect you to not fall behind on your studies or else your grandfather and I will take some measures. Do you understand?" Anastasia mentally rolled her eyes, of course, she would instantly drop the subject upon hearing Regulus' name, the elder woman did have a soft spot for him.

Anastasia's voice fell into a mutter,  "I understand."

Catherine gave her one last rigid nod before turning on her heels and disappearing from her sight. Anastasia felt her body sag in relief, she closed her eyes for a brief moment before a stuttered breath left her lips. Desperate to find a compartment to hide out in, she swiftly turned around and practically ran into the Hogwarts Empress.

Once she found an empty compartment, she grabbed a book out of her bag before she placed the bag and her trunks on the shelf above her. The train whistled, signaling that it was about to leave the station.

The sound of the door opening made Anastasia turn, and a small smile grew on her face when she recognized the person that just walked in.

"There you are!" Dorcas beamed at Anastasia, the curly-haired girl trailed inside with two huge trunks in her hands and placed it down on the ground for a moment to close the door. She spun and proceeded to lift them on the shelf before turning to face Anastasia with a grin and said, "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Anastasia let out a fond laugh and shook her head, taking a seat with Dorcas doing the same.

Dorcas Meadowes, one of her roommates and best friend. The pair have known each other since their first year when they were both sorted into Slytherin. Anastasia was a quiet girl and Dorcas took it upon herself to get her to open up. Eleven-year-old Dorcas was very determined to make the reserved girl that she thought to be very pretty, her best friend.

"How was your summer, Dor?" Anastasia asked her, placing the book on her lap and interlocking her hands.

Dorcas blew out a sharp exhale and shrugged with a wide grin, "Splendid, actually! My mother got me a few more books that I've been wanting and we visited some of our family. How about you?" Anastasia grimaced and Dorcas' face fell into a frown, her lips pulled into a sympathetic smile, "That bad?"

"You have no idea," Anastasia sighed, reaching up to rub at her eye tiredly, "Just before I left, my grandmother was telling me to leave Quidditch, saying how she thinks it's a waste of my time. She only stopped after I mentioned that Reggie played as well."

"Oh, bloody hell!" Dorcas' eyes widened in disbelief, "You can't leave! You're quite the greatest player Slytherin ever had! Ugh, I hate that grandmother of yours!" Anastasia snorted, Dorcas was quite passionate about Quidditch.

"Not to worry, Dor. You know I would never leave." Anastasia chuckled. Just then the compartment's door opened again. A young boy with messy black hair, a bag slumped over his shoulders, along with a single trunk in his hands walked in. He raised his head and Anastasia's lips pulled into a wide smile when her chestnut eyes met familiar grey ones.

"Reggie," Regulus sent the raven-haired girl a faint smile. "I've missed you." Regulus Black was like a little brother to Anastasia, she grew up with him and his older brother, Sirius, making the two brothers her childhood friends. But obviously, ever since Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and Regulus and Anastasia were sorted into Slytherin, their relationship fell apart and they became distant.

Regulus let out a soft laugh and sat down on the seat in front of Anastasia and Dorcas, "I've missed you too, Annie."

"I'm still here, y'know?" Dorcas cleared her throat and Regulus rolled his eyes in amusement whilst Anastasia chortled. "Hi, Reg. It's good to see you, I hope your summer was well."

"Hello, Dorcas," Regulus laughed before his lips pulled into a thin line, "My summer—it's the same as always. The usual." Dorcas winced, knowing what he meant by that.

"Merlin," Dorcas sighed heavily, "The two of you need to leave that horrid family of yours." Anastasia and Regulus shared a look, a giggle left Anastasia's lips as she raised an eyebrow at Dorcas.

"Trust me, if I could, I would've been long gone by now," Anastasia answered before she knitted her brows together and glanced over at Regulus once more, "Where's Evan and Barty?"

Dorcas nodded, "Yeah, where are they? The two of them are always here first before us."

"Don't know," Regulus shrugged, "But we'll see them soon at the school either way." His eyes fell to the book that laid in Anastasia's lap, curiosity laced in his tone as he asked, "What book are you reading?"

Anastasia smiled and turned the book over for Regulus to see, "Little Women. Fascinating from what I've read so far. It's about four sisters. I think you would like it."

"Really?" Regulus mused.

Anastasia hummed, "Once I finish it, I can lend it to you," Regulus smiled and nodded, "Actually on second thought, I need to use the restroom, so if you want, you can read it for a bit." Anastasia handed Regulus the book and he let out a small chuckle before grabbing it. She sent Dorcas a smile before leaving the compartment.

As she walked to find the restroom, Anastasia bumped into a hard chest and a short gasp of surprise left her lips when she felt someone grab onto her arms tightly so that she wouldn't fall to the ground. Her gaze snapped up to see who caught her and her heart froze when her eyes met with grey, but this time it wasn't Regulus.

"Sirius."

Sirius' eyes went wide and he immediately let go of Anastasia as if her skin was burning him. Her face fell and she opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by the sound of footsteps and a panting voice.

"Padfoot! You totally cheated, I wasn't ready!" James gasped once he fell beside Sirius. "I'll get you—Lee?" James stood gaping at the girl, completely taken aback by the sight of her.

"Potter." Anastasia glanced over at the bespectacled boy and tilted her head in greeting before she glanced back at Sirius who stood frozen, his gaze never leaving her form.

"AJ." Sirius' voice was barely heard when he spoke her name but Anastasia could hear him clearly. She felt her lips twitch into a tiny smile at the nickname that he would call her.

"I heard you finally ran away." James and Sirius stiffened at her sentence.

Sirius blinked and furrowed his eyebrows together, "How—?"

"Reggie." Was all Anastasia said and Sirius fell silent, a lump formed in the back of his throat.

"He wrote to you?" Sirius quietly asked and Anastasia nodded.

James glanced between the two and pursed his lips, a slight scowl appeared on his face as he placed his hand on Sirius' arm and slowly began to drag him away.

"I think we should go, Pads. We don't want to associate ourselves with this lot of people."

Anastasia rolled her eyes in exasperation, "It's good to see you too, Potter." James merely sent the girl a tight-lipped smile, picking up the sarcasm in her tone. He felt his eyes linger on Anastasia for a moment, he noticed that her features had matured a bit more. There was a beauty mark underneath her right eye. He never knew she had one, but he thinks it fits her, she. . . looks pretty. James' eyes went wide at his thoughts, he snapped back into reality and turned to leave only to stop when he felt Sirius lightly pulling away from his grasp.

Anastasia noticed the interaction and stood there patiently, a look of understanding was clear on her face as she waited for Sirius to say something—she knew he wanted to say something.

Sirius paused, anxiously gnawing on his bottom lip before he spoke, "AJ." He breathed out, "I—Um—does he. . . you. . ."

"No." Anastasia sent him a gentle smile, which made him perked up in surprise, "He doesn't hate you, Sirius. Neither do I. . ." She paused for a second before letting out a sharp exhale, her smile pulled into a timid one, "Tu me manques." James furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity, picking up the familiar language. It was French, he knew that. Sirius had the tendency to always speak in French when he had nightmares.

Sirius' eyes went wide and his breath hitched in his throat, "AJ. . ."

Anastasia simply sent him a soft look, placing a gentle hand on his forearm, "Take care of yourself. I'll see you at school." And with that, Anastasia turned around and left, leaving behind a distraught Sirius and a very confused and intrigued James.

. . . . . . .

After Anastasia had left James and Sirius, she managed to finally find the bathroom and did her usual business there. She was back in her compartment; Regulus was completely immersed in her book, Little Women, whilst Dorcas was napping, her body laid across the entire seat, so Anastasia had no choice but to sit beside Regulus.

Anastasia leaned her head on Regulus' shoulder and peered at the page that he was currently reading, "Merlin, you already made it halfway?" Regulus let out a quiet chuckle, flipping a page over as he nodded.

"I'm enjoying this book a lot. Also, what took you so long?"

Anastasia paused for a moment before hesitantly speaking, "I bumped into Sirius."

Regulus' froze, his fingers hovered over the book for a split second before he placed it down on his lap, "Did you talk with him?"

"Yes," Anastasia answered softly, "I told him that you had written to me about how he ran away from home."

Regulus pursed his lips and slowly nodded, he was avoiding eye contact with Anastasia. Scared that if he does look at her, he'll break.

"He thinks we hate him." This made Regulus glance over at Anastasia. Disbelief was clear in his eyes as he furrowed his eyebrows together.

"What?"

"I told him we didn't. But knowing him, he probably doesn't believe it."

Regulus let out a shaky laugh, "Yeah." Anastasia gave him a sympathetic frown and pulled him into a gentle embrace, her head laid on his shoulder as she interlocked their hands. Regulus sighed and placed his head on top of hers and the two sat in silence. Their peaceful moment quickly went away at the sound of a snore coming from Dorcas.

Regulus and Anastasia burst into quiet giggles before they turned into loud ones when Dorcas jumped up from her seat, wide awake, as the train blew its usual whistle, signaling their arrival at Hogwarts.

"Bloody hell!" Dorcas exclaimed with wide eyes, her clothes slightly crinkled from sleeping, "We're already here?"

"Dorcas, you've been sleeping for quite some time." Regulus chuckled and sat up, making sure to grab his things before they exited the train, "But you had a nice sleep, didn't you?" He teased the curly-haired girl, pointing his finger to the corners of his lips.

Dorcas let out a small shriek, reaching up to wipe away any drool but stopped when she realized that she didn't have any. She sent a death glare to Regulus who snickered in amusement.

Anastasia rolled her eyes fondly at the two, grabbing her trunks as well and placing her Little Women book inside of her bag after Regulus had handed it back to her. Though, she made sure to take note of where he left off so he could continue to read it whenever he wanted to.

Dorcas grumbled incoherent curses under her breath as she grabbed her belongings and followed behind the two who had stepped outside of their compartment.

A slight breeze welcomed the trio as they stepped onto the pavement. Anastasia readjusted the grip on her trunks before walking to where the carriages were, her eyes took notice of the Thestrals who were softly purring as they waited for the students to get inside the carriages. She felt a soft reassuring pat on her lower back. She turned to her right and gave a small smile to Regulus who returned it. He could see them too.

"Firs' years, firs' years over here!" Anastasia hears Rubeus Hagrid calling out to the horde of young students. A smile lit up on her face as she identified the half-giant, she had a close relationship with him, always coming to his Hut to help him out on certain things.

"We'll meet you by our usual carriage, yeah?" Dorcas muttered with a raise of her eyebrow. Anastasia gave her a nod and smiled. Dorcas gave her a wink and slightly ruffled her hair before leaving. Anastasia scowled as Regulus laughed at the sight, the boy following behind Dorcas.

"Arseholes," Anastasia mumbled before walking towards Hagrid, a grin quickly replaced her annoyed look, "Hagrid! How have you been?"

Hagrid turned at the sound of his name being called and his eyes lit up upon seeing Anastasia beaming up at him.

"Anastasia! Well, I have been great! How about yeh?"

"Oh, same old, same old." Anastasia shrugged.

Hagrid frowned and sighed, "Those grandparents of yer's, still tough on yeh?"

"Unfortunately," Anastasia responded with a sad smile.

Hagrid nodded in sympathy before clasping a gentle hand on her shoulder, "You're home now, don' worry. Now go on, yeh don' want to miss your carriage." Anastasia let out a soft laugh and nodded, quickly muttering a goodbye to him which was returned. She began walking over to where Dorcas and Regulus were waiting, slipping out a few apologies to the young students who were rushing around trying to get to their boats. 

"Well, well, well, isn't it the great Anastasia Lee?" Anastasia glanced up upon hearing a familiar voice. Evan Rosier. The blonde-haired boy was sitting beside Regulus, his lips were pulled into a mischievous smirk, eyes twinkling underneath the lamp posts.

"Evan," Anastasia greeted with a laugh, she pulled herself up into the carriage, taking a seat beside Dorcas. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise." Evan winked at her which made Anastasia roll her eyes in mirth, a grin plastered across her face.

"How's Dora? And your summer?" Anastasia asked.

Evan's eyes lit up at the mention of his twin sister, "She's doing great, y'know? She has a thing for Xenophilius Lovegood, a promising lad from what I've heard. Summer was. . . well—the usual, I guess. Father is still on Pan's arse, belittling her every chance that he gets. Called her a blood traitor and things such as that. But it doesn't faze her anymore, she's used to it."

"Bloody hell!" Dorcas exclaims as she glances between Evan, Anastasia, and Regulus, "I know you've all told me about your family but it still baffles me how insane they all are!" The three let out a snort at Dorcas' words.

Regulus shrugged nonchalantly, "You get used to it."

"But you shouldn't be!" Dorcas cried out with wide eyes.

"We simply were not fortunate enough to have a family like yours, Dor." Anastasia places a hand on the curly-haired girl's shoulder with a slight smile. Regulus snorts in amusement as he watches Dorcas frown, the Meadowes girl reaches over to smack him on the arm in retaliation.

"Oh stop that, Reg."

"Shit, I'm not late, am I?" The four turned to see Barty Crouch Jr., the brunette boy's clothes were disheveled and his hair was sticking in all directions. Anastasia's eyebrows raised in surprise, wondering what happened for him to look like that.

"Get in, idiot." Evan rolled his eyes, grabbing Barty's arm and pulling the boy beside him. The carriages began to move, and the sound of rocks rumbling underneath the wheels was heard as they left the station.

"What's with. . ." Regulus pointed his finger all around Barty's form. Barty made an 'O' with his mouth before straightening out his clothes and hair.

"Fell asleep the second I stepped on the train and some second year woke me up, thank Salazar for them."

"Wait, so you two didn't sit together?" Dorcas furrowed her brows as she pointed between Barty and Evan, "Ana, Reg and I assumed you were because you didn't sit with us."

"Nah," Evan shook his head, "I sat with Pan and Xenophilius. Big brother things and all, had to make sure the lad was good for my sister." Anastasia felt her lips tug into an amused grin at that. Regulus rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a quiet chuckle.

"I arrived late, so I just found any compartment that was empty and slept." Barty answered with a shrug.

"Oh, I see." Dorcas mumbled before she gave him a look of concern, "Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about, Dor. I'm splendid." Barty smirked, touched that she was worried about him. The carriages came to a stop and all of them turned to see that they'd finally made it to the entrance of Hogwarts. Barty stepped out first since he was by the edge, then Evan, then, Dorcas, and finally Anastasia and Regulus.

"Ah, welcome home, ladies and gentlemen," Barty grinned as he spread his arms out.

Anastasia chortled before linking arms with Dorcas, "Let's hurry, I don't want to miss the first year's sorting ceremony." The three boys shared a look and shook their heads fondly before following behind the two girls.

. . . . . . .

"Gryffindor!" The sorting hat's voice boomed through the air. Roaring cheers emit from the Gryffindor table as they welcome a young girl into their house. Anastasia glances up from her plate, catching a glimpse of James who has his hands around his mouth as loud whoops left his mouth. She felt her lips pull into a small grin before her eyes went wide. Why was she smiling at the sight of James being happy? He hated her, so she hated him. They hate each other. Hate.

"You okay?" Regulus' voice broke Anastasia from her thoughts.

She quickly plasters on a fake smile and nods, her heart still racing inside her chest, "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. Just got lost in my thoughts, y'know?" Regulus raised an eyebrow before slowly nodding, accepting her answer.

Anastasia turned towards the front where Professor McGonagall stood with a long piece of a scroll, the elder woman called out another name, "Leonardo Ashford!" A blonde-haired boy emerged from the horde of first years. A nervous but confident expression was clear on his face as he made his way to the chair beside McGonagall.

The sorting hat barely touched his head before it yelled out, "Slytherin!" This time, Anastasia's house was the one with roaring cheers. Barty stood up from where he was sitting and did the same thing that James had done, placing his hand around his mouth and letting out tons of whoops. Dorcas beamed as she clapped happily.

Anastasia let out a laugh at her friend's antics. She watches as her fellow housemates welcome the blonde boy before her eyes trail over to Regulus who seems to be staring at someone. She followed his eyesight and her heart clenched when she recognized who he was gazing at.

Sirius.

Anastasia pursed her lips, observing Sirius who was staring at them sadly. Her head moves slightly and her eyes clash with familiar ones, ones that she could identify anywhere. James Potter. James narrowed his eyes at her before leaning over to Sirius, he whispered something in his ear which made the boy stiffen. Anastasia frowned as Sirius gave her and Regulus one last look before turning around completely, his back now facing them.

Regulus scoffed and stabbed his fork into his food harshly.

Anastasia sighed, this was going to be a long year.

. . . . .

author's note! — i'm so excited to write for this book, you have no idea LOLL

how was the first chapter? lmk your thoughts!! :3

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