A light tapping sound woke 15 year old Annabelle Black from her deep, cozy sleep. Blinking her eyes open, Anna turned over in her bed, looking around for the source until her eyes landed on her bedroom window. A Barn Owl that had a pure white front that faded into a golden brown and gray color on her head, back, and wings was sitting outside on her window sill.

Groaning, Anna threw her sheets off and stumbled out of her bed toward her window. She threw it open, letting a light summer breeze and her owl into the room. Ariel, her pet Barn Owl that she bought about three years ago, landed lightly on Anna's shoulder as she closed her window just enough to leave a crack.

"Alright, pretty girl, what do my goofball friends have to say?" Anna cooed to the bird, scratching her on her fluffy cheek before untying the small letter tied to her leg. Ariel nibbled affectionately on Anna's ear before flying across the room.

During the first few weeks of the summer, having nothing better to do with her time, Anna had built a more accommodating home for her owl so she wouldn't always have to sleep in her cage. So, she'd built a simple wooden box with a small, square opening so Ariel could build a nest inside. She'd placed the box on top of her small bookshelf in her bedroom next to her desk, and in the corner of the room next to it Anna had placed a small tree with no leaves and a smooth, pale surface in a pot. This was so Ariel had a perch and could use the tree to get to her nest box if she didn't want to fly inside. There was also a small bowl of water in her cage, which was also on Anna's bookshelf. Ariel fed herself on nightly hunts so Anna didn't usually have to feed her apart from the occasional treat.

As expected, Ariel landed briefly by her cage to get a drink before perching on the top branch of her tree.

Anna smiled at the beautiful bird before sitting on the edge of her bed and opening the letter the owl had delivered. She smiled, recognizing the handwriting of her two best friends, alternating back and forth throughout the letter, like they often did while talking.

'Hey Anna,

It's Fred and George. You'll never guess what we just found out! You know the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw? Dad won it! He won 700 Galleons! He's decided we're going to spend it on a family trip to Egypt to visit Bill, since most of us stayed at Hogwarts while Mum and Dad got to visit him for Christmas last year. He thinks we'll stay there for about a month. Anyway, Charlie's coming with us and we were wondering if you wanted us to tell him about the whole Flint thing, you know, since you wanted him to be told face to face.'

Anna closed her eyes briefly, her throat closing in pain. The year before, right after Gryffindor's Quidditch match against Slytherin, Marcus Flint and two other Slytherins had cornered her and attacked her in the Quidditch supply shed. While the other two held her down, Marcus Flint had raped her. He hadn't been able to do much, though, because George Weasley had blasted the door open when he couldn't get in. She'd kept it a secret for as long as she could until George and his twin, Fred, dragged it out of her.

Taking a deep breath, Anna turned back to her letter.

'We understand if you want to tell him yourself, but we can tell him if it'd be easier. You already have to endure a trial in front of the whole Wizengamot. Let us know. Anyway, that's really all that's new since the last time we wrote to you. So, let us know how you're doing. And you better be eating! If not, we'll hear about it. We're leaving about halfway through July, so we'll be gone before your trial, but you better let us knew how it goes. And we'll tell you all about Egypt.

Love, your favorite Weasley twins,

Fred and George'

Anna smiled, flopping back on her bed and holding the letter up in the air to reread it a couple times. During her mild depression after being raped, she'd been very distant and hadn't eaten often. Since the twins found out they'd always made sure she ate a decent amount at meals, which contributed to gaining back the weight she'd lost. That, and them just being their usual, happy selves had contributed greatly to the improvement of Anna's condition.

Another thing the rape had caused was the change in her hair. Anna was born a Metamorphmagus, which was a rare ability to change her appearance at will. The only other Metamorphmagus she'd met was her cousin of sorts, Nymphadora Tonks, who preferred to be called Tonks.

A strong surge of emotions can cause a change in appearance, like when Anna got extremely mad at a couple Slytherins the year before, her hair had briefly flashed red. However, after Flint hurt her, her hair had changed to a dull blue-gray color. It had faded as time went on and her emotions improved, and now it was back to it's usual color. Brown with a layer of black underneath. She wasn't sure why she couldn't make the layer of black go away, it'd just always been there. Though she noticed it was a bit smaller and more faded now than it used to be. It was more of a really dark brown.

Stretching once more, Anna got up and placed the letter on her desk. She'd write out a response in a little while and give Ariel a chance to rest before heading off with a response. She headed downstairs with the intention of getting something to eat for breakfast.

XXX

Anna followed her mother out of the fireplace and into the Leaky Cauldron, dusting soot from her traveling cloak, having just Flooed from home to the dingy pub for lunch.

"Wren!" a middle-aged witch waved them over to a booth in the corner. She was tall and very beautiful with curly, light brown hair, pale skin, and wide eyes.

Anna's mother, Wren Black, beamed at the other witch.

"Andromeda!" They quickly approached the booth and Andromeda Tonks stood up to give Wren a tight hug. Sitting across from her was a twenty year old witch who currently had black hair with a couple purple streaks and bright green eyes.

"Hello Nymphadora." Anna greeted with a tiny smirk.

Nymphadora Tonks, her cousin of sorts who preferred to be called Tonks, wrinkled her nose up at her before standing up.

"Wotcher, Annabelle." she greeted back before pulling her into a tight hug. When she pulled away, Tonks ruffled Anna's hair playfully before sliding into the booth toward the wall so Anna could sit next to her. Opposite them, Wren slid in next to Andromeda.

"So, how have things been with you two? How's school going, Annabelle?" Andromeda asked curiously as they looked over the menus, "You're going into your fifth year, right? That's exciting."

Tonks snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you mean being drowned in homework and revising for OWLs well into the morning. It's loads of fun." she agreed sarcastically, winking at Anna, who sniggered behind her hand.

"Nymphadora." Andromeda scolded, making Tonks wrinkle her nose again at her name.

"School's been going great. And apart from all the homework, I am looking forward to my fifth year. Honestly, it can't be any worse than last year." Anna admitted.

"Oh, that's right. I heard about all those attacks. It was simply horrible, I'm sure. I was so relieved no one was killed."

"And wasn't the last attack the Weasley girl? Charlie's sister?" Tonks added.

"Um, yeah, Ginny. She was taken into the Chamber, but Harry Potter and Charlie's brother, Ron, saved her. But,…um, that wasn't exactly what I was talking about, I guess." Anna admitted.

"What else happened?" Andromeda asked just after they placed their orders and waited for their food.

Anna glanced over at her mother and sent her a pleading look. She didn't want to tell anyone anymore. She'd already had to tell the twins, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, her mum, and a few of her girl friends. She hated it.

Wren nodded slightly before turning to Andromeda. "Well,…last year after a Quidditch match…Anna was attacked by a boy from the Slytherin Quidditch team."

Andromeda looked between Wren and Anna worriedly. "What do you mean 'attacked'? What did he do to her?"

Wren swallowed ever so slightly before whispering so only their table could hear, "He raped her."

Tonks took in a sharp breath, her head snapping around to stare at Anna. She had visibly paled and was staring at Anna with watery eyes. Anna couldn't meet her eyes, so she simply stared at her hands on the table.

"What?" Andromeda breathed in horror, her hand coming up to cover her lips.

"That's partially why I wanted to meet with you two for lunch today." Wren admitted, "Anna has a trial near the end of July, and I didn't want word getting out and have you hear about it through gossip or something."

Andromeda nodded in understanding, taking Wren's hand on top of the table and squeezing it supportively. Tonks reached her arm over Anna's shoulders and pulled her into her side, the two just leaning on each other.

After a few awkward minutes, they moved on to safer topics.

"So, Tonks, are you still training to be an Auror?" Anna asked as their food arrived.

Since graduating Hogwarts a couple years ago, Tonks had begun training as an Auror, a wizard trained in catching Dark Wizards.

"I've got another year of training, and then I'll officially be an Auror." Tonks beamed before taking a bite of her food.

"Even though I think she'd be better off doing something safer." Andromeda stated pointedly. Anna got the sense she'd said similar things in the past when Tonks rolled her eyes.

"So, Anna," Tonks turned to Anna a few minutes later after Wren and Andromeda talked about work stuff. "any boy problems to speak of?"

Anna's brows furrowed in confusion. "Um,…not really. Fred and George have just been their typical selves."

Tonks sighed, rolling her eyes at her. "Not with them. I suppose that answers my question." She turned in her seat and leaned forward so her face was inches from Anna's. "I meant boyfriends." she whispered before laughing, leaning back to talk at normal volume. "You know, cute boys. Are there any cute boys? Or boys you're into?"

Anna grimaced as she looked up thoughtfully. "Not really." she answered slowly. "I mean, there probably are some cute boys, but…I don't really pay attention to that. I don't really have time, anyway. Between Quidditch, homework, visiting Hagrid's, and hanging out with the twins I don't spend much time checking out boys."

Tonks looked at her like she was insane. "Seriously? So you've never met a guy that you think is cute?"

Anna shrugged uncertainly. "Well,…I don't know!" she whined. "Why is this such a big thing?"

"You're almost fifteen. There's such a thing as hormones. Eventually the other sex will start to look less stupid and more attractive."

"Nymphadora Tonks!" Andromeda hissed at her daughter, having overheard. "Leave the poor girl alone. If she doesn't want to date, that's her decision."

Tonks rolled her eyes again. "I'm not telling her to go out and snog the first bloke she sees. I'm just telling her to…browse the selection."

Wren hid her smile and Anna laughed silently while Andromeda gave her the stink eye.

They had plenty of fun conversations as they ate their lunch and stayed a good hour after all their food was gone. Finally, it was decided they needed to get going because Andromeda needed to start cooking dinner at home for her husband, Ted.

"Make sure you write to me about this stupid trial." Tonks told Anna as they hugged. "When is it again?"

"July 24th." Anna answered.

"Well, good luck. I'm sure you'll be fine." Tonks assured her. "You need to be sure to write to me tons over the school year. Hey, maybe you can tell me when the Hogsmeade weekends are and I can visit you for a bit."

Anna lit up. "Yeah, I might just do that."

"Have a good rest of the summer, Annabelle." Andromeda cut in, giving Anna a tight hug.

"Thanks, you too."

Giving one last wave, Anna and Wren stepped into the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace and were whisked away back to their home.

XXX

Sorry the first chapter short and uneventful, but I didn't want to put the trial in the first chapter. Oh well. Review and let me know what you thought!