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Chapter 15



Afternoon Tea and Sympathy



The weather was absolutely foul: wind, rain, sleet, frigid temperatures. In short, one of those days it was just as well there was no reason for going outside. What better excuse for settling into a comfy armchair and having a nice long chat.



Harry arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom just after four on that November Sunday, having been sent a note from Professor Twigg-Jones asking him to join her for tea and that talk she had promised him on her first night at Hogwarts.



"Harry? Is that you?" Anna called from her chambers.



"Yes, it's me."



"Come on in then, you're right on time. Dobby has just delivered our tea and I'm ready to pour out a cup."



Harry wasn't quite sure what he'd find in her chambers, as the door was usually closed and the few times it had been open there was a screen blocking any view of the furnishings. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Anna was using the chamber as a true bedroom, complete with a sitting area, and not just an office/storage room as the previous male teachers seemed to prefer.



An oak and black ironwork bed had been placed against the right wall, while opposite there stood a large armoire and matching dressing table. Before the fireplace were two overstuffed armchairs with side tables and short tufted stools for putting your feet up, so as to warm them while enjoying the crackling fire. A low table was holding the tea tray; loaded with cookies and scones, a jug of juice and two glasses, the teapot and strainer, cups and saucers, etc. Anna waved him over to join her, indicating the chair opposite her.



"Dobby really must think I'm wasting away and feels the need to buck me up a bit, eh?" Anna observed with a shake of her head, leaning forward to pick up the teapot.



"Don't worry; I'll take a bit back to Gryffindor Tower with me, when I leave. That'll stop him from scolding you for not eating, or worse, giving you a lecture about your health. Takes his role as our nanny-in-residence quite seriously, Dobby." Harry laughed as he sat down, facing Anna.



"He certainly does. Well, have a cup, Harry, and then let's get started. I'm sure you made a list of questions, as I suggested."



"It's really hard to know what to ask first." Harry put his cup and saucer down on the side table and leaned forward. "What was my dad like as a kid? Where did you live? Tell me about my grandparents. And your family, too."



"James and I grew up next door to each other, just outside of a little village east of Brighton. Your grandfather, William, who I called Uncle Will, worked for Obscurus/ Books/, the Wizard publishing company, as a senior accounts manager. Your grandmother, Annabelle, who I called Aunt Belle, was a housewife and avid gardener. She and my Mom had a friendly rivalry going about whose flowers were tallest, brightest, longest blooming, etc., etc. If you didn't find either of them in the kitchen, you looked in the garden.



"What did your dad do for a living?" Harry asked as he reached for his teacup and settled back in his chair.



"Dad worked at the Ministry of Magic, in the Transportation Department, Floo Network Division. My Mom was a Muggle, but she embraced the Wizarding world and for all intents and purposes considered herself a Squib. She had a house elf, Daisy, but they had an agreement: Daisy cleaned the house and did the laundry and helped take care of me. Mom did all the cooking, with occasional help from Daisy for parties and holiday baking. However, Mom was first and foremost a gardener; she had studied horticulture at university, till she met Dad and chucked it all to be with him.



"Your grandparents lived next door," Anna continued, "and our yards were separated by a low brick and stone wall, with a trellised gate in the center. That gate was never closed. Your grandmother's vegetable garden and ours were beyond the flower gardens, toward the rear of our properties and the orchard was behind that, then the surrounding woods. There was a huge old oak tree in our yard and Dad and Uncle Will built a tree house for both of us to use. Aunt Belle and Mom's friendly rivalry over their flower gardens also included the vegetable gardens and fruit orchards as well. Out of fairness, your grandmother wouldn't use magic to help her plants grow faster or bigger. But, /both agreed to getting rid of pests with spells /if Mom's Muggle tricks didn't work. Her favorite," Anna laughed, "and the one that tickled your grandmother no end, was drowning slugs in beer from the corner pub, in jars she'd countersunk in the grass around the edge of the gardens. 'If the little blighters are going to die, let 'em die with a smile on their faces' she'd say as she poured in the beer."



Harry choked on a cookie, but quickly recovered and laughed heartily. "Did it work?"



"Oh, yes." Anna nodded. "She knew her stuff, Mom did. But she and your Grandmother did have to resort to magic, occasionally, when a there was a nasty infestation of something or other. Then there was the Gnome problem; your Grandmother detested the pests, but my Mom thought they were cute and would let them run amok in our garden, even started naming them, until she realized she really couldn't tell them apart."



"Were there any other Wizard families in your village?"



"No, just our two, but we had friends at primary school, and had them over, occasionally. Basically, it was just James and me as playmates. Honestly, I can't remember not having James in my life, both being only children. As soon as we could toddle through that gate, we were hardly ever apart. We just got on well and that was that. Oh, we'd have fights and verbally slam the gate shut, until we got bored playing by ourselves and then we'd say we were 'sorry' and just pick up where we'd left off. You know how it is with close friends, don't you Harry? I bet you've had an 'I'm never speaking to him again' fight with Ron, haven't you?" Anna tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in question.



"Yeah, Ron and I have had our squabbles, as have Ron and Hermione. But, you're right, we work it out in the end and we're still friends." Harry smiled back at her. "Why didn't you become Dad's girlfriend and marry him?"



"James was more like a brother to me, so that never occurred to either of us. We knew each other TOO well. Just friends, that's all we ever were. I did have a crush on Sirius Black for a while, but that never went anywhere. He treated me the same way James did; a bratty kid sister. Lily, well, she and James were made for each other, and I was very happy that James had found such a sweet person as Lily to fall in love with."



Anna regarded Harry thoughtfully. "You are so much like your father, Harry; it's really almost .. creepy for me. I've caught myself, more than once, almost calling you James. Actually, if I were honest, /every /time I see you. Your glasses are a little different but that thatch of hair and your smile; it's James all over again. I know you've probably heard this, ad nauseum, too, but you /do /have Lily's eyes.



"If I had a Galleon for every time someone's said that, I could make a nice fat deposit at Gringotts." Harry replied, smiling and shaking his head. "Tell me about my Mom." Harry ran his hand through his hair. "Aunt Petunia has never told me anything about her or their childhood together."



"I don't doubt that. Petunia always hated the Wizarding world and anything or anybody associated with it. Is she still as skinny and snobby as she was back then?"



"Yeah, she .. hang on .. you've met her?" Harry was flabbergasted.



"Oh, sure. I visited Lily at her home over holiday, as she did mine. They only lived about thirty miles away, outside London. Her parents, your other grandparents, were sweet and very supportive of Lily. They loved James and were thrilled with you. Unfortunately, they were killed while on holiday, train wreck I believe. About six months after you were born, actually, so I doubt you remember them."



"No, I don't."



"I met Lily here at Hogwarts, of course. Gryffindor roommates, just naturally hung out together, as girls that age do. Became fast friends and as we got older, giggled, a lot, as we watched James and Sirius make perfect fools of themselves on an almost daily basis. The two biggest showoffs in the school, trying to impress the female population in general, and in James' case, Lily in particular.



"I've compiled a list of their most infamous capers," Anna announced as she leaned over and picked up a roll of parchment from off of the table. "Look it over, pick one and I'll tell you the details." She handed it to Harry.



Unrolling the sheet, Harry started to read off of the list, " 'Fireworks from the tower.' Remind me to tell you about the Weasley twins' fireworks prank from last year." Anna smiled and nodded. " 'Trips into the Forbidden Forest.' Well, I've been in there, let's see .. 5 times, I think."



"Really?" Anna was astonished.



"Yeah. Let's see. 'Peeves vs. Filch' and they're still at it, after all this time, too," Harry laughed. " 'Feeding the masses or how to get great treats into Hogwarts without getting caught.' " Looking up, he grinned. "Bet that one has to do with the Marauder's Map!"



"How do you know about that?" Anna gasped.



"I am the proud custodian of the map, thank you; given to me by Fred and George Weasley, in third year. Passing it on, they were. Then I found out from Professor Lupin that he and Dad and Sirius and .. Peter Pettigrew .. made it. And I have Dad's Invisibility Cape. Used that a time or two or ten."



"Good Lord, are you serious?" She shook her head. "What goes around ..."



"Comes around .. to the next generation."



"So it would seem."



"Should I elaborate on the list of things that have happened to me and Ron and Hermione and let you choose? We'll swap stories."



"Stop!" Anna laughed. "Don't tell me anything and then I can deny I have any knowledge of your adventures."



"Fair enough," Harry conceded. "Tell you what, I'll look this over and pick one that sounds really intriguing. Then you can spill the beans on Dad. But first, I need to ask you about something that's been on my mind."



Harry rolled up the parchment and laid it on the table.



"Anything, "Anna answered softly, seeing how serious Harry had become.



"Professor Lupin told me about some of the things that went on when all of you were here together and I've .. well .. I saw, in a Penseive, an incident with Professor Snape. Were he and my Dad really bitter enemies, or was I just seeing, from Snape's perspective, how much he hated Sirus and my father?



"What did you see? If you don't mind my asking." Anna leaned forward, staring at Harry.



"Well, Sirus and Dad hung Professor Snape upside-down, Dad was trying to impress Mom and she just got mad at him. I don't remember seeing you there, but you might have been.



"No, I know the incident you're talking about and I was inside the school. It was over by the time I showed up .. late, as usual." Anna sat back with a frown on her face. "They were such idiots some times."



"Dad and Sirius, you mean?"



"Severus, too. He was no slouch at trying to jinx them/, but it /was two against one and he usually got the worst of it. Young and foolish, the lot of us." Anna shook her head. "You and Mister Malfoy carry on about the same as they did; just an honest instinctive dislike for each other."



"Then my Dad and Professor Snape really were that nasty toward each other. Why?" Harry inquired.



"Actually, I think Severus was more hostile towards Sirius, perhaps because of the fact that Sirius was in Gryffindor and all of the Black family had always been in Slytherin. But, James and Sirius were so close; they both became the target of his anger. Why? I have never been able to find out. Probably never will, although I have my own theory. Lily used to yell at James and Sirius to grow up and stop being so childish and I yelled at Sirius and Severus to do the same, to no avail.



"As we neared our last year here, we could all see what was waiting for us out there in the real world. Voldemort was getting more powerful, picking up followers. We started getting ready and then Sirius' brother, Regulus, was killed. Foolish boy. Sirius became obsessed with getting out there and fighting Voldemort. Severus, who was to become a Death Eater, started avoiding everyone, except for classes and meals. I hardly saw him and when I did, it really scared me to think what was happening, and might happen, to all of us once we left Hogwarts."



"It must seem like you're having a deja vu episode, with what's going on now, huh?" Harry gave her a cockeyed grin.



"What goes around .. comes around .. the bad stuff, too." Anna agreed. "Severus and I had an unspoken mutual agreement not to discuss what was looming in front of us. We stayed friends, despite everything. We all knew that some of our friends would die. We were well aware of that fact."



"Why him? You two weren't even in the same house. And he's .. well .. Snape." Harry leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I know you trust him, now, but how did you become friends in the first place?"



"I don't really understand it myself, Harry, we just clicked. Soul mates, as strange as that sounds. I remember at our Sorting Ceremony, I was looking around at all of the other first years, most of whom looked scared to death. I thought it was funny, really, as there wasn't anything scary about it. I've got a slightly off beat sense of humor."



"We've noticed," agreed Harry, with a grin.



"Yeah, well, anyway, I saw this boy with black hair, standing a bit away from me, his arms folded -as usual- with a haughty, but slightly perplexed, look on his face. He was glancing around and had obviously come to the same conclusion as I; these other kids were so stupid - it was /only /the Sorting Ceremony - they were scared of /nothing/. We locked gazes and I crossed my eyes and then winked at him and smiled. He looked thoroughly startled but smiled slightly and nodded at me. He knew I felt the same as he about the whole thing. Bit silly, but that was the start of our friendship.



"We were sorted into different houses, but learned each others name at the Sorting Ceremony, so never really introduced ourselves, just started talking the next time we met. We did have classes together, of course, and true to form, my first class - Potions, don't you know - I came running in late and the only seat left was in the back, sharing a bench with Severus. 'Anastasia, are you always late/?' he whispered at me. '/Almost always/,' I puffed back at him, trying to catch my breath. '/I'll save you a seat, then,' he replied. And he always did."



"What did Dad and Mom have to say about it?" Harry inquired. "Weren't they upset with you?"



"Well, James thought I should be sitting with the other Gryffindors and not with a Slytherin, but I told him I could sit where and with whom I pleased. I finally worked it so I sat at the end of the bench and James was across the aisle at the next desk, even though I was sitting with Severus. The things we women do to keep the peace.



"Lily was appalled, but even she admitted Severus was very gifted at potions and to sometimes being jealous of my having him as a partner in class. I learned a lot more from Severus than from the Potions Master we had. He told me his mother was very good at it and he had just picked it up from watching her as a child. Severus hadn't realized how far ahead of everyone he was until he came to Hogwarts. It was his one joy here at school: that he out shone James and Sirius, well, everyone for that matter, at Potions. Tops in the whole school come to that."



"No wonder Professor Dumbledore hired him, even as young as he was, to be Potions Master, if he was /that /good as a student." Harry observed, with a shake of his head.



"That's one of the reasons. Anyway, after that first meeting, I spent years trying to get him to laugh, getting in trouble in the process, too, mind you, but if I got a smirk or saw a twinkle in his eyes, at least I knew he appreciated my silly efforts, and I knew it would make up, slightly, for the persecutions heaped on him by Sirius and James."



"Were they that awful?" Harry asked soberly. "I know that they weren't saints .. but."



"Not any worse than you, Ron, Neville and Seamus are towards Draco, Gregory, Vincent or Theodore. School boy stuff; you'll laugh about it when you're older, hopefully. If we survive this war, that is." Anna added, with a sigh.



"Do you think it's going to be as bad as last time?"



"Probably worse. Voldemort has had plenty of time to rethink his strategies. That's why we have to have some new tricks up our sleeves. Things his Death Eaters won't expect you students to know or use. Plus some things they won't know how to deal with. We'll get to that soon in class. Shhhhh!" Anna looked furtively around and then giggled. Harry laughed and put his finger to his lip, nodded and winked.



After taking another sip of tea, Harry put his cup down and looked at Anna, with his eyebrows knit in question. She waited, knowing what was coming, knowing she'd have to tell him the whole story.



"I know my folks and others in the Order of the Phoenix were killed or hurt, but .. how did you survive?"



Anna took a deep breath and sighed. "If I tell you about this, I'll have to do a memory charm on you. It's not information you want floating around in your head, unless you're very skilled at Occlumency."



"No, I'm rather bad at it, but I'd like to hear what happened, even if you do have to administer a memory charm." Harry replied.



'Arcanum Commence'. She waved her wand, and then laid it on the side table