AN/ Ok this is the sequel to Crystalline Glass. And while it isn't imperative for you to read that story, it would help make some things clearer for you. Ok, so this is going to start the summer before their fifth year, and, once again, will focus a lot on Ann and Sirius. The story will be getting darker from here on out. If anything gets too graphic I will put a warning in that chapter. To my readers from before, thank you and welcome. Please enjoy and review.

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be.

I take a deep breath and let it out, trying to focus on what I have to do rather than the pain in my right leg. Tessa and father aren't playing any games today. Swallowing I take off at a sprint through the arena and slide into one of the hiding spaces that's around, Tessa's spell just barely missing me.

"Come on out little Annalisa! I want to play!" Tessa laughs. She's been hanging around Bellatrix more and more lately. I'm worried that she'll start with the baby talk soon.

Placing up a strong shield I think about my next move and remember the last time that I had talked with Sirius about his cousin.

"We actually used to be really close," Sirius says, "I think that's why she hates me so much right now. It's because the two of us used to be the closest out of all the cousins. We helped each other out. I miss when she would help me out or even just talk to me, but that hasn't happened for a long time now. I miss her sometimes. I miss my Bells."

That had surprised the others. The thought that Sirius used to be close to Bellatrix, but it seems like it would only make sense. They're both strong willed, loyal, cocky, insane, and fierce duelists. They're too similar to have been anything but close when they were young.

"Enough hiding Annalisa, you're only proving that all Gryffindors are cowards," father sneers.

My temper flares and I creep from my hiding place. They want me to come out into the open. I know that they have a trap, but sometimes the best thing to do is to just charge in. As soon as I step out into the field spells rain down on me and I'm dodging them quickly, hoping that they'll hit each other and be done with it.

"What's wrong little Anna? Don't want to play?" Tessa asks. She's wearing a black cloak with silver lining along the seams.

I close my eyes momentarily and then just start sending spells at her, not caring if they're dark magic or if they're light magic. On her the only thing I won't use are the Unforgivables. Tessa smirks and starts to fight with me more. Ever since she became a Death Eater she's gotten a hell of a lot better are dueling. It's driving me insane and I want to beat her to a bloody pulp. Fortunately for me, she still sucks at hand to hand combat and that makes it easy once her wand is away from her.

"Now that's more like it!" she shrieks with happiness.

I give a light growl and keep shooting spells, hexes, curses and jinxes at her. In between two of my spells she sends a curse at me and I dodge away from it as best I can, but still get hit in the calf. I feel the skin and some of the muscle tear and yelp in part surprise, part pain. She gives a smile and throws another spell. This one I shield, but I can feel the shield crack.

'Damn, she's managed to channel power better since the last time that I dueled her!' I think and then send out a smoke spell. Distracting her and causing her to cough.

"Enough," father says, "Annalisa, go to your room and change clothing. Meet me in the sitting room in a half hour. Lord Black and his heir are coming over to discuss some things."

I nod and hurry down to my room. Sirius is coming! Glancing at my clothes the first thing that must be taken care of is that cut. I grab some bandages from my cabinet and wrap my calf, keeping pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Stupid curses and their stubbornness to be healed by magic. Once that's taken care of my clothes change from work out gear to some black pants and a black button up, and I also put on a dark purple robe. I feel like racing around like a little kid, but that wouldn't be worth the punishment. Ascending the stairs, I feel the anticipation building, but keep my face blank. To show any kind of emotion or anticipation would be more than just cause for my father to kick me out of the meeting and lock me in the training room.

Entering the sitting room my first instinct is to organize everything and make it look neater. Shifting the chairs and some of the heirlooms that lie about the place, I glance at the time and quickly stand behind father's chair. He walks in a moment later with Lord Black and Sirius following. I give a quick bow in their direction and give the smallest of winks to Sirius when both men are distracted by their conversation.

"Lord Black, thank you for privileging me with this visit. To what do I owe this honor?" father asks, directing Lord Black to take a seat. Once the other man is seated, father sits in his chair.

Lord Black folds his hands in his lap and looks father in the eye, "You have heard of the Dark Lord, no doubt?"

"Naturally."

"I was wondering what you think of him."

Father doesn't hesitate, "He has good plans and ideals. I trust him to bring the Wizarding World to what it should be and the rest of the world to soon follow."

Lord Black nods and looks contemplative, "My niece, Bellatrix, is one of his followers. I know that your daughter, Tessa, is one as well. I am planning Sirius to join the summer before his seventeenth, and was wondering if Annalisa was going to be joining him as well?"

I hold back a gasp and my eyes dart to Sirius's face. He's turned pale at the mention of his father's plan, but doesn't show any other sign of shock. Either he knew this was coming or he is getting better at holding back his emotion. One year. That's all Sirius has to decide if he is going to run away or if he is going to stick with his family. One year to make one of the hardest, if not the hardest, decision in his life.

"Though she shows a certain reluctance to use her natural magic, Annalisa is a more than capable duelist and she has a fierce temper. I have been entertaining the thought of when to have her join and the summer before her seventeenth has been sticking in my mind as well." Father entwines his fingers together and crosses one leg over the other.

I feel no shock at this proposal. Honestly, I knew it was going to happen. I have one summer left as well. One summer to decide if I am going to stay with the family, leave, or end up killed by the family. I know that Sirius is watching me with the same worry that I had shown him a few moments earlier, but I cannot meet his eyes. I knew my fate was coming, he quite possibly did not.

"I was wondering," Lord Black begins, "If you would like to bring your children and wife to the Falasie Noire. I will be bringing my children and Bellatrix along with Walburga. I was thinking that we could train our children together; after all I know that you have been training Annalisa specially for a while now. Maybe in a slightly unfamiliar environment will have both of our children working toward the level of magic which they should already be at?"

Father thinks about the proposition for a while. Out of all the Ancient and Most Noble families ours has the prestige and honor of being the one known for its fighting skills. Closely behind is the family Black. To train with the family Black would be well worth it. We could gain the skill that they have and learn more about their fighting methods. Yet they would also learn about our skills and methods. To my father this is almost a double edged sword, the good and the bad in the same decision, but which will outweigh the other?

Finally father nods, "That is a good proposition and I accept. When do you wish us to meet?"

"The sooner the better. However Walburga will need at least the rest of today to pack, so tomorrow. You can come by floo, the wards will be opened for your family."

Arriving at Falasie Noire I notice that the area is mostly decorated in black marble, silver accents and a lot of emerald. It's oddly comforting. Shaking my head, I step out of the way of the fireplace and wait for the rest of the family to arrive. As they all enter with a swoosh, footsteps sound on the marble floor and Lord Black walks in. He has on a pair of deep emerald robes and black shirt and pants. His hair is tied into a low pony tail and he nods at my father before motioning for us to follow him. Mother, father and Tessa follow him, leaving their bags for Rowan and me to carry.

I roll my eyes and pick them up, shouldering my duffle and placing Tessa's trunk under a levitation spell. Rowan levitates father's trunk and we carry mother's between the two of us. Sirius appears out of, seemingly, nowhere and smiles. He levitates our mother's trunk and starts off.

"So welcome to Falasie Noire. This place is completely blocked from all ministry wards, spells and other things. So, as you already figured out, we can do magic even if we're underage," Sirius says. His voice has deepened slightly over the summer and he's grown by about five inches, causing him to be taller than me by about two inches.

"Yeah, kinda figured that already," I say, smiling, "But, have you ever been here before?"

"Once," Sirius mutters, "last year."

I frown because I realize that this is where Bellatrix hit him with the crucio curse the first time. And that bitch is going to be here too. Oh, I hope I get to duel her.

"So what are we doing after settling in?" Rowan asks. He's a third year this year, and he already has hair longer than what mother would approve. Tessa thinks that it is offensive, I think that it's hilarious.

"We're to meet in the conference room, our training partners will be decided upon based upon how we match up with them by power and ability. Father was originally going to have it be based on how we are listed in the families, but he figured that we would learn more if we were fighting with an equal against either better or worse opponents," Sirius explains.

I nod, "That makes sense. I hope I'm not paired with Bellatrix."

Sirius grins, "Yeah, you'd end up hitting her more than your opponent. You can set the trunks down here, the house elves will put them in the right rooms."

Rowan chuckles as he sets down the case, then perks up, "Regulus!"

Finally noticing that the younger Black brother was ahead of us I give Rowan a nod and he runs after the boy, who stopped to wait for him. Sirius smiles and gives Regulus a wink and Regulus nods back, a slight smirk on his face. My guide then takes a right turn and leads me down a hallway where the marble floor gives way to carpet of the same color and wood panel walls which have been stained a dark brown. Emerald drapes line the wall with silver tassels and pull ropes alongside the heavy green material.

"So the two of us have rooms right next to each other. We also have some of the larger rooms because we're the heirs to the family. A slight perk, but the downside is that they are nowhere near our brother's rooms and they are also far away from the other private rooms," Sirius says, "But we're near the stairs that come out right by the training rooms and the conference room, so we can take some time getting ready."

"That can be useful. Are there windows in the rooms?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to clean them if you want a clear view outside."

"That doesn't bother me." I don't tell Sirius that I'm excited to be living in a room, outside of Hogwarts, that is above ground for the first time in over ten years. I don't tell him that to have an actual window is something that I have waited to have for a while now. He doesn't know that I live in the basement of our house, and I don't plan on him finding out.

Sirius opens a bedroom and smiles at me, "Welcome to home sweet home for the next two months."

Stepping inside I grin. The place actually has only a little green around, it is mostly covered in amethyst and other purples. Light gray and black accent the room as does pewter metals. The doorknob, instead of being the classic snake, is just a cast iron handle with a paw print engraved in it. There are a couple of wolf accents around the room and I turn to Sirius, my eyes wide with excitement and delight.

"Did you do this?" I ask, voice low.

Sirius nods, "We got here last night and I figured that you would want something other than an emerald lair to live in. Plus this is much homier than some of the other rooms around here. It was good spell practice and-"

I place my hand on his mouth and smile, "You're babbling."

He shrugs, mischief in his eyes, "I tend to do that when I'm trying to impress my friends."

"I've noticed," my chuckle escapes, "Well consider me impressed. And thankful."

"Good, now we need to get down to the conference room. Father doesn't appreciate it when people are late."

I nod, thinking the same thing about my father and follow him out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. This is a different set than the main stairs, and are wooden with a carpet runner going down them. I figure that these were probably the staff stairs that were used back before muggle slaves were outlawed in the 1700s. Luckily they are still in good condition, but I worry about how open we are to an attack from this angle. Knowing my father, he is going to want us to be in training all the time. He won't care if we're trying to sleep. It could be the middle of the night and he'll wake us up with a stinging hex and start a duel right in the bedroom. It's happened before. If this is a twenty four hour, round the clock training exercise, then that means I am going to take precautionary measures against that sort of thing from happening. Good thing I have a Marauder with me.

Arriving in the conference room I instantly take refuge in the shadows along the wall, as does Sirius. He's become fantastic at hiding himself amongst shadows and sometimes even I have a hard time finding him. One by one the family members who are here enter the room. Both of our Fathers are the last ones to enter and look around, counting the heads. Only six people stand before them.

"Where are Sirius and Annalisa?" Father asks.

Lord Black merely raises an eyebrow at Regulus, who gulps.

"They were not in their rooms when we went to get them," Rowan and Regulus chime.

"We're here," I call out, stepping out of the shadows. I don't want either of the boys to get hurt. Sirius follows me, the flash of his eyes being the only thing to tell me that he is worried about both of them as well.

Both Lords nod and turn to the center of the room, father motions for Lord Black to begin and steps back slightly.

"We have decided that you will train with one partner based upon power and ability. To figure out who will be evenly matched each of you will duel the other people from the other family. Once we have found your match, we will continue to the next person," he says. "We will start with Annalisa. She will duel against Bellatrix."

My heart pounds for a moment and blink. Of course they would have Sirius or myself go first, we're the heirs. Damn title. Standing I follow them into the dueling room. Taking my place opposite Bellatrix, I take off my robe and toss it to the side of the arena. A large semi-clear bubble takes place over the arena and I know that it's to stop any stray spells from hitting the spectators.

"Ready to lose Annalisa?" Bellatrix asks, her voice condescending and setting my teeth on edge.

I let out a growl and just take up position. I've only dueled Bellatrix once and that ended in what was more or less a tie. But we both were far younger then. Right now, this duel could go either way, especially with how we both operate in a duel. We're both best in offensive spell work, we know a lot of curses and hexes, and we're fairly good at physically dodging attacks. She has the upper hand in knowing some more damaging hexes and curses and ones that will hurt a person for a while. I have the upper hand in that I am way better at defensive spells than she is. While she's good at protego, she has to dodge a lot of spells. Meanwhile I know a lot of spells to absorb attacks, protego maximus, and I also know things such as physical defense.

"Let the duel begin," Lord Black directs.

I wait for her first move, knowing she's far less patient than I am. She starts out with a bright orange curse, which I recognize as a skin burning hex and absorb the spell. I feel the energy in me and send out two spells of my own. The good thing about having been in training with father is that I can already cast silently, which is something that she won't be expecting me to know.

She dodges the purple hex and blocks the stupefy, responding with a bone breaker hex, a fire curse, and a body lock spell. Those are easily dodged and I send a couple of other spells.

"Enough with the child's play Annalisa!" Bellatrix yells, "Duel me like you mean it!"

"But I have to use child's play! After all, I'm dueling a child!" I shout back.

This seems to piss her off for some reason and she starts in with the really dark magic. My eyes narrow and I reply in kind. Finally we're moving so fast that I would be surprised if anyone would be able to keep up. I conjure a rapier and leap at her, knowing that there wouldn't be anything to block us from going into the other person's half of the dueling arena. She conjures a shield and uses it to block my physical attack while using her wand to block from the magical one.

Bellatrix seems to wise up and transforms my sword into a snake. I don't have time to banish it because she hits me with the shield and uses it to push me away from her. Taking her wand she then begins a continuous assault, mixing in a crucio or two when she gets bored. One of her crucios hits me and I immediately clench my jaw together. Bellatrix laughs and amps up the power. My eyes close and I try thinking that the spell is only in my mind and that it isn't actually hurting me, but that doesn't help. Opening my eyes I see scared blue-silver eyes staring at me. Using that as a focus I begin to fight the spell.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

I hate that I have to sit here and watch as she is attacked repeatedly by Bellatrix. That bitch is going to die by my hand for attacking Ann like she has. Rowan, who is standing on the other side of the arena, looks scared as hell. His eyes have become tinged with silver because of his worry and I wonder if he'll be alright after seeing this. It's something that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. To see your own sibling being tortured like that is horrible, especially when you are so close to them.

An explosion like sound turns my attention back to the arena and there's nothing to see except for a bunch of black smoke. I begin to worry if Ann is alright when she comes limping out of the arena. Standing in front of my father she throws Bellatrix's wand on the ground and limps over to her brother, enveloping him in a hug.

I let out a silent sigh of relief and give the slightest of smiles before locking up again. Father and Lord Grimwood are conversing in low tones, but neither seems very angry. That means one of two things. Either they expected this, or they were hoping for something like this to happen, which doesn't make sense to me.

"To allow both duelists a break the next pair will be Sirius and Tessa."

I grip my wand and step into the arena, taking off my robe. I prefer fighting without the possibility of tripping in it.

"Ready little dog?" Tessa sneers.

I smile, "At least my name is in the stars. Doesn't yours mean something like gatherer or something like that? Real impressive."

Tessa shrugs and stands there. From what Ann has told me, she's learned patience as she's grown older. That means I'll either have to piss her off or start the party myself.

"Defodio!" I call, while sending out other spells silently.

Tessa blocks the first two spells, while using another one against the third to send it back to me. My eyes narrow and I wonder what spell that was, it could be useful in the future. Sending out some more curses I wait it out and run down what Ann had told me about Tessa's dueling style. Tessa is more defensive, but she knows some really bad offensive spells too. She tends to favor her left side and is pretty apt at physical fighting. I watch her carefully before throwing some spells at her and bringing up a shield.

Tessa gives a light growl and throws three extremely powerful spells at me, breaking my shield, and hitting me with one of them. I hiss in pain before glaring at her. Shaking my head, I tap into the reserves that I usually ignore. My magic reserves tend to be darker in nature, and they tend to work better with dark magic.

"Matraque!" I hiss, sending that spell between a few other ones. I watch in amazement as she ends up dodging into it. She lets out a scream and is thrown back. I clench my teeth and ignore the drop of my stomach and throw fractureos at her. Her wand arm breaks and I summon her wand from her. I hold it in my hand long enough to get the shields to go down before throwing her wand back to her.

Walking back to my position at the edge, I catch Ann's eye and we nod. I know that our parents will decide to have us work on our own. They don't want us to get any ideas. Rowan and Regulus will be together because they are closer in age and act and react to each other well. Tessa and Bellatrix are similar enough to be different and different enough to be similar, so they will be able to help each other build. So the two of us will have to work together, yet separate at the same time. Sounds like fun.

After the duels are all done, father and Lord Grimwood stand together talking about what they are planning to do. For all we know, they could just say forget having partners and every one of us could be on our own.

"So what do you think their plan is?" Ann asks as she steps in next to me.

"Not sure, but I know that they are going to do whatever it takes to push the rest of us to our wit's end. Whatever happens, I know that we're going to have to be careful when in our rooms," I say.

Ann nods, "I thought about that too. They're too isolated and have one too many ways to get to them. I don't like it one bit, but there's nothing we can do about it right now except to prepare for what may come."

I nod and turn back to our fathers, who have finished with their conversation. They look at us and seem as though they're still calculating things. Almost as though they aren't entirely sure about what they have planned. I bite the side of my mouth and wonder if my first assessment was correct. Will we be fighting on our own, or will they give us partners to work with?

"After careful consideration of both dueling style and knowledge of magic it has been decided that you will work on a rotating schedule. This is so that you all can gain the most from this experience as possible," father says, "The first pairing will be the longest, and will last four weeks. Your next will be three, then two, then one. The rest of the summer you will be on your own."

I swallow. So they couldn't decide what would work best. Obviously this is the best compromise that they could come up with. Hopefully it will work well.

"It is the decision of Lord Grimwood and myself that the pairs should be like this. Regulus will be paired with Rowan. Sirius will be paired with-"

I close my eyes, hoping and praying that it will be Ann.

"Tessa. Bellatrix will be paired with Annalisa."

My heart sinks and I catch Ann's eye across the room. She looks about as thrilled by this as I do. And in all honesty, Tessa and Bellatrix look as though they can think of better alternatives as well.

Lord Grimwood steps forward, "Get with your partner and discuss things on how you will train and practice. Both of you have something to learn from the other. Your training schedule is completely up to you. We do not care if you practice in the morning, afternoon or middle of the night. But, when you are scheduled to meet with Lord Black or myself you will be prompt. And do not think that if one of you is late that you both will be punished. You may be partnered, but you are not a team."

"Now," Father takes over, "Get out of here. No one is to use the dueling arena for the rest of the day."

I bow to the Lords and exit the room. Leaning against the wall I wait for Tessa. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get work done on other things. Ann walks out and it seems that she's pissed. She stands in front of the door, eyes narrowed, arms crossed and a scowl on her face that could easily put others to shame. When Bellatrix walks out she glares at Ann and the two seem to have a staring match for a while until they both turn and walk off. Regulus and Rowan leave, already in deep discussion about what they will be working on. They're balanced quite nicely. Both have even talents in offensive and defensive tactics and both are fairly powerful. They're more likely to work as a team than as two people forced to work together.

Tessa finally exits and gives me a look, "Let's get this straight. I don't like you, you don't like me. We'll put up with each other for the next four weeks and then go back to trying to kill each other, got it dog breath?"

"Fine, but you really need to come up with better insults," I start to walk away, then look over my shoulder, "Coming?"

I hear her huff, but soon she's walking along side me through the house. I lead the way to one of the courtyards and quickly make my way into the tree that stands to the side.

"I'm not climbing a tree," Tessa sneers.

I shrug and lay down on the branch, "Whatever. So what the fuck are we supposed to learn from each other?"

"You don't pay attention to fighting styles do you?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so," Tessa says, "because then you would know that I'm a defensive fighter. You are an extremely offensive fighter, and therefore are more likely to run into a place without thinking."

I roll my eyes, "Oh yes, because over analyzing things is so much better."

"Better then not having a plan at all."

"I always have a plan."

"Oh really? And what might that be?"

"Yeah, go in there, kick some arse, and not get myself bloody well killed."

"Brilliant plan."

"It's worked so far.'

She snarls, "We are not getting anywhere by bickering like this. If you wish to act like an immature child then please do so when not in my presence! It is bad enough that I have to deal with your inept fighting for the next four weeks, do not make this any tougher than it must be."

"Inept fighting?" I sit up and look down at her, "Did you forget who won our duel a while ago?"

"That might be so, but I am far better at hand to hand then you are. There are only two people in this house who are better than I am," Tessa sniffs.

I snarl at her, "Yeah, and I happen to know who to talk with to have your arse kicked from here to the fucking Mediterranean!"

"Right," Tessa snorts, "as if Annalisa could ever actually hurt me. She might be father's atrum angelus, but she's nothing. Too weak, in both mind and will. That must be why the two of you get on so well."

"Really?" I smirk, "Well, good luck finding your way back to your room from here. There are anti-apparition wards over the entire manor. The only person who can apparate in here is my father. And the reason I picked this specific courtyard to sit in is because it's the furthest from the rooms we stay in and there's no quick easy way to get back to a main room or hall."

"And?" Tessa says, "I can just follow you back."

I laugh, "Multiple people can enter at once, but only one person can exit at a time. Do you get it now? I know all of the passages around here. By the time you're allowed out, I'll be in my room relaxing."

Her eyes narrow, "You would not leave me here. I am the oldest of the Grimwood children."

"And? If you want to play that card, I trump it." At her confused look I roll my eyes, "Heir to the house of Black, remember?"

"Your father would not want you to leave me here. It shows bad manners."

"He'd let it slide once I told him that I'd planned it. It shows my more Slytherin side," I shrug and smile at her, "Bye Tessa. See you tomorrow!"

I exit the courtyard and enter one of the passageways. Walking along I whistle a tune that I remember from muggle London. Sure it was a nasty trick to play on Tessa, especially when the Grimwoods have no idea how to navigate in this place, but she deserved it. She acts so damn superior and snooty. It reminds me a lot of Narcissia and Malfoy.

Exiting the passage I take a couple of turns and walk into the library. Regulus and Rowan are seated at a table with some books around them.

"What's going on?" I ask, "Studying? Tsk tsk boys, I expected better of you."

"And what did you come in here to do?" Regulus asks, "To sleep?"

"Naw, that's what I've a bed for."

Rowan smiles, "True, but where's Tessa?"

"We split ways."

"Uh-huh," Regulus nods, "well, we'll be getting back to work now.'

I laugh and walk over to a bookshelf that I have slowly been working my way through. Pulling off the book I was last reading I head back for my room. Leaving the library I ruffle Regulus's hair and dodge around his reflexive hit. My room is right above the library, so it's a relatively quick walk and I immediately open the windows when I reach it.

My room is nice. It's done up in blues and silvers, with pewter and cast iron as the main metals. I have a bed, dresser, and desk that are all in a matching walnut with a dark finish on the wood. The bookshelf is rather large, and there's a mirror that is opposite it. I have huge windows that face the southern lawn and usually have a nice breeze that come through them.

Settling on my bed, I kick off my shoes and open the book to the next available page. This is the main reason I don't read much throughout the school year, because that's what I spend a lot of my summer doing. It's the best way to keep mother and father off of my back. Though now, it seems as though summer will be a bit different.