Hey guys I know it feels like a lifetime ago that I last posted but hopefully this makes up for my absence.

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It took almost a full minute of staring at the razor-sharp spines of ice that still glittered menacingly in the rapidly fading daylight before Anna was jolted from her shocked stupor. Dozens of questions were flooding through her mind like water spilling through a cracked dam so that the girl began to feel slightly dizzy. It wasn't until something cold and wet landed on her nose that she was finally able to focus.

Thick flakes were now falling rapidly from the sky, and although it was the middle of winter, Anna somehow knew the snow was because of Elsa.

Skiting around the frozen stalagmites, Anna tore after her sister. For all her exhaustion, Elsa was still surprisingly fast and therefore had put a good deal of distance between herself and Anna, though to be fair she'd had a fairly decent head-start. However, she was still missing a glove and frost blossomed under each footfall, leaving a shimmering trail in her wake.

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"Ugh! How could have I have been so stupid!" Anna cursed herself angrily as she raced after Elsa's rapidly retreating back. "I knew something was off, and I pushed her anyways. This is all my fault. Although, none of this would have happened if she would have just told me what was going on," she muttered.

Anna didn't hesitate when she reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest and plunged into the darkness.

Holding her lit wand high above her head, Anna raced to catch up to her sister. She moved as fast as she could, for she had lost all sight of Elsa; the only evidence the other witch had ever passed through the forest at all was the icy trail she'd let behind. Anna crashed through the undergrowth, not caring how much noise she was making, and losing all track of how just how deep she had traveled into the forest. There was only one thing that mattered to her – find Elsa.

"ELSA! ELSA, PLEASE STOP!" Anna shouted, her throat burning. "ELSA PLEASE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

When Anna finally reached her sister, she felt a small thrill of horror at the sight that met her.

Elsa lay in a crumpled heap at the center of a small clearing. She looked so small and fragile surrounded by the ancient trunks that seemed to glare down at the pair of intruders. Ice fanned out all around her, coating the forest floor with a thick layer of frost that Anna eyed warily as she moved closer and noticed it was still slowly crawling outward from its source. However, what unnerved her most, was the fact that Elsa seemed to be hardly moving other than her heaving chest and the slight wheezing sound that came from it.

"Elsa?" Anna called timidly, taking a few steps closer to the older girl.

"Stop," came the weak reply, "don't come any closer. It's not safe." Elsa shakily raised her head, her eyes seeming to be coming in and out of focus, and she curled her ungloved hand tighter against her body.

All Anna wanted to do was rush to her sister's side and do… what? She had no idea what to do. Even at the best of times, Elsa did not like having her personal space invaded. The youngest Arendelle was certain that getting close to Elsa now would only serve to make things worse (especially now that snow was starting to fall from the canopy of branches overhead), but there was one thing that Anna knew for certain – she couldn't just leave Elsa there.

"Elsa, please. Stop shutting me out, let me help you." Anna pleaded.

"I- I can't. Not safe," she repeated.

Anna would have rolled her eyes if it hadn't been for the tremble in Elsa's voice and the tears that had pooled in her eyes.

"I don't understand, Elsa. What do you mean it's not safe? Is it about this strange wandless magic that you've been hiding from me? It's okay, you don't have to be afraid, I know you would never hurt me." Anna said softly, as if trying to calm a frightened animal.

Screwing her eyes shut, Elsa made a sound that was something between a whimper and a sob. "You- you don't understand, Anna. I already- "

But Anna never found out what Elsa had already done, for suddenly the forest was filled with what sounded like rolling thunder. It was then that an arrow flew from the darkness and whistled past Anna's shoulder before sinking deep into the wood of a nearby tree trunk. Anna felt her heart skip a beat when she realized it was not thunder, but the sound of hooves that caused the ground to tremble beneath her feet.

Centaurs.

Turning slowly, Anna raised her hands to show she did not hold her wand.

When Harry had told Anna that the centaurs had become rather unfriendly (especially to wizards) since the Ministry had begun restricting their territory Anna had been doubtful to say the least. But as she watched them pawing angrily at the ground, glaring down at the two witches and pulling their bowstrings taught, Anna understood she could not have been more wrong. They were livid.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in our forest, humans!" barked a midnight-black centaur, with wild, shoulder-length hair and massive hooves that looked as though they could kill a man with one swift kick.

Anna swallowed. "Please. We didn't mean to trespass or offend. We are students from the school."

"And you think you can just come barging into our forest and wave your little magic branches around and play in the snow?!"

"No! It's not like that!" Anna pleaded, frightened tears prickling behind her eyes. "My sister- it's all my fault, I was going to tell someone that horrible toad was basically torturing her during detention, but she didn't want me to. Anyway, then I got mad, so she got mad and she tried to walk away but her glove was off… and I don't think she can control it and she is hurt and weak."

The centaurs looked equal parts confused and annoyed as they listened to the girl's story, as though she were bothersome insect buzzing in their ears.

"She was just scared. I think she was just hoping she would be safe here, get some help-"

The young witch quickly realized this was a mistake as horse-like screams of outrage echoed through the clearing.

"We do not help humans!" The black centaur bellowed, before turning back to his brethren. "Even their young think they can use us for their bidding! Their arrogance knows no bounds!"

This was met with a great deal of hollering and stamping of approval.

"Wait, no please! That's not what I meant!" Anna said, her voice rising in panic, but it seemed the centaurs either did not hear her or simply did not care.

"There must be consequences, for such-"

"No, Bane," said a low solemn voice coming from a chestnut centaur to Anna's right. "We do not harm foals."

The centaur called Bane stomped his hind leg in irritation. "I knew you were weak, Ronan, but I had no idea how much," he sneered, and many of the other centaurs laughed cruelly.

"Anna, please you have to get out of here." Elsa hissed between her ragged breathing, but the other girl ignored her.

Anna was shaking hard now, both from her fear and the piercing cold still rolling off of Elsa. She didn't trust herself to speak, and even if she could somehow force the words out, was there anything she could say that would sooth the centaurs' fury?

Snow had begun gathering on Anna's shoulders and she could feel the temperature steadily dropping. She wished desperately that she could look over her shoulder to check on her sister, but she feared even the slightest movement may result in one of the many arrows aimed at her chest finding its mark.

A grey centaur with hard features stepped forward. "That one is still young," he said indicating Anna and speaking as if she weren't there, "but the other is close to becoming a woman. You cannot deny this, Ronan."

Bane snorted. "And have you failed to notice that this 'foal' you so desperately wish to protect still continues to infect our forest with her unwelcome magic. I say it is high time we showed these humans that we cannot be treated like pretty talking horses!"

For a second Anna didn't fully register what the centaurs were talking about until Bane raised his bow and aimed it just over her shoulder. Time seemed to slow, and Anna could hear nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears as the centaur drew back his elbow.

"NO!" she screamed before spinning around and launching herself in the direction she had last seen Elsa's disheveled form.

Screwing her eyes shut, Anna heard the centaur lose his arrow and braced for the sharp pain of stone piercing flesh. However, it never came, instead a loud thud came from directly behind her, followed by a silence so heavy it carried a physical weight.

When Anna finally wrestled together the courage to reopen her eyes, she found that she was now standing only a few feet from her sister, and the two simply stared at one another. Elsa no longer lay on the ground but had somehow risen unsteadily to her feet. In those short moments Elsa looked like some mythical creature, her hair had unwoven itself from its tight bun and now rested in a braid on her shoulder, glistening with snow. Her robes were torn in places and frost had completely coated her left hand, reaching up to her elbow like a stiff, frozen gauntlet. That same hand was thrown out in front of her, as if to ward off an attack.

Elsa's eyes looked wild with fear and her mouth opened slowly, but it took her a few moments before she found her voice. "Anna, why…"

"What strange magic is this?"

Bane's confused and angry voice broke Anna from her reverie. And when she turned around, she felt all the blood drain from her face. An arrow, stuck in a five-foot-tall barrier of ice, sat aimed directly at her forehead.

"Ronan," the grey centaur said in a tone that made the hair on the back of Anna's neck stand on end, "she did not use a wand to stop the arrow… do you think?"

Ronan stroked his thick red beard and looked thoughtful. "Yes, I think what the planets foretold has finally come to pass," he said and then addressed the entire clearing. "The next Elemental walks among us."

This announcement caused a reaction among the centaurs that Anna had not been expecting. There was a great deal of muttering and some of them were even looking at Bane – who had hastily lowered his weapon - with an air of disapproval.

Ronan turned to the two witches and now addressed them directly. "Humans, this forest is no place for your kind. However, though you do not belong here, the life of an Elemental is sacred to our race and therefore you will be allowed to leave here unharmed.

Anna almost sobbed in relief. "Thank-"

"Do not mistake this for kindness!" The grey centaur growled. "We only do this to prevent the consequences that come with ending the life of something that only appears once every hundred years. If you, or any more of your kind, are caught trespassing again, you will be punished."

Too frightened to respond, Anna simply nodded her head to show she understood.

This seemed to placate the centaurs for the time being as the herd thundered away into the darkness.

Once Anna was sure the last of the centaurs had fled, she exhaled in a rush, feeling her entire body sag with relief. When she thought about how close she and Elsa had come to never leaving the forest, Anna felt as though she might be ill.

Elsa!

It was then that Anna remembered her older sister and whirled around just in time to see Elsa fall to her hands and knees.

"Elsa! Oh my god, are you okay?" Anna said taking a step forward.

"Wait," Elsa said hurriedly, shaking her head at Anna's approach and not looking up.

After taking a few deep breaths, Elsa very slowly sat up and pulled her missing glove out from within her robes. Gritting her teeth, Elsa tenderly slipped her glove back on, doing her best to avoid the fresh mark on the back of her hand.

The effects were immediate. Anna was left in awe as she watched the newly fallen snow dissolve away, the winds die down, and felt the temperature rise.

"Woah," Anna said. "So, the gloves turn it off or something?"

Elsa let out a soft chuckle. "Or something." Then she frowned, "Anna why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Jump in front of me like that. You could have been killed."

"I love you." Anna said simply.

Elsa was as powerless to stop the smile that spread across her face as she was to stop the sun rising in the west, and for a moment the two sisters simply stared lovingly at one another.

Slowly, Anna sat down in front of her sister, "Elsa, why didn't you tell me about… this?" Anna asked softly.

Elsa's eyes turned sad and she sighed shakily as her fingers slid up to her necklace.

The younger girl watched in confusion as Elsa yanked down, snapping the chain around her neck. Elsa starred at the pendant for a few moments before holding it out to Anna.

"I'm done running. It's time you knew the truth… this belongs to you."

Very carefully, Anna picked up the vial-like pendant and noted for the first time the silvery substance swirling inside it. "Wait, what? I don't understand. Mama and Papa left it for you."

Elsa shook her head. "Mama and Papa asked me to keep them until I was ready to give them back."

"Them?"

Elsa looked down, unable to meet her sister's eye. "Your memories."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in. Anna felt as though someone had knocked the air from her lungs as she slowly started to process what Elsa was telling her. "You mean…"

"They told us it was the only way… that you might not recover if we didn't take out every trace of it."

"Recover?" Anna asked suspiciously.

Elsa still refused to look up from her lap. "I- just take them and you'll understand," she said, her voice thick with guilt.

Nervously, Anna pulled the stopper from the vial and pointed her wand at the opening. "Accio memories."

Like a tiny silken snake, the memories flowed from the vial and coiled tightly around the tip of Anna's wand. Taking a few steadying breaths, Anna pressed the silver coil to her temple.

The younger girl inhaled sharply.

Suddenly, old memories began to change and shift before her eyes, and yet it felt right. As if the old memories had been previously watched in black and white and now were being seen in colour for the very first time. Scenes of her childhood began to reform as flashes of her and Elsa making snowmen in their parent's back garden changed to the two of them building their snowy friend on their bedroom floor. But then something shifted as new memories began to fill her head.

Anna saw herself jumping on her childhood bed while Elsa watched from across the room, the pair giggling as Anna sailed into the air only to fall in a freshly created pile of snow. Excitedly, the younger version of herself raced back onto the bed and began jumping even higher. Without warning she yelled "catch me" before jumping over the first pile of snow. All she heard was her sister's desperate cry and saw her throwing out a hand before everything went dark and cold… very cold. After that, were only flashes. Strangers in white coats. Her parent's worried faces. A child crying. And then she was suddenly back in the clearing, feeling as though someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head.

Blinking a few times, Anna saw that Elsa was no longer staring down, but instead was watching her sister with a look of such anguish that it made Anna's heart clench.

"You- you hit me with your wandless magic?" She said raising a hand to the white streak in her hair.

Tears began to spill from Elsa's eyes and cut twin paths down her pale cheeks, staining her robes. "I'm so sorry, Anna. It was an accident, I slipped, and it just sprang from my hand and hit you in the head. I never meant to hurt you."

Anna's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why did you hide all this from me? Why did you wait so long to give the memories back?"

Elsa's shoulders shook with fresh sobs and she hugged her small frame tightly. "P-please, Anna you have to understand, I hurt you. I needed to wait until I could c-control it before I allowed Mama and Papa to return your memories."

"Why?" Anna asked.

"Because I was scared… scared you would be afraid of me. That you would think I was dangerous, look at me like those healers at St. Mungo's did, like I was a… a monster." Elsa choked on the last word, screwing her eyes shut and clenching her jaw so tight she feared her teeth might crack.

"Elsa." Anna called softly, as if calling out to a frightened animal. "Elsa, it's okay."

Elsa blinked at Anna owlishly, hiccupping occasionally. "You mean just like that… you- you'd forgive me?"

Anna's expression turned serious. "Look, Elsa I won't lie to you, I am hurt that you've been keeping all of this from me for so long." When Elsa's face fell, Anna quickly softened her features. "But I think I understand. Fear makes people do stupid things."

"Really?" Elsa said, her expression now hopeful. "And you're not… afraid of me?"

The redhead smiled softly. "Elsa, you basically locked yourself in a room for almost twelve years because you thought it would keep me safe, and I know you would never hurt me on purpose. I could never be afraid of you, you're my sister."

As soon as the words left Anna's lips something in Elsa seemed to shatter as she began to sob uncontrollably, hunching forward. She looked so small and broken in that moment, Anna feared she might crumble into dust.

Her façade broken, Elsa was finally revealed to be what she truly was; a young girl, carrying the weight of a secret that far was too much for her shoulders to bear.

Wanting to offer some form of comfort, Anna scooted close to her sister and hesitantly place a hand on Elsa's shuddering back. Then something happened. Something, that was so shocking Anna thought she must have been kicked in the head by one of the centaurs and was hallucinating the whole thing.

Elsa jumped a little at her sister's touch. However, instead of pulling away like she normally would, the girl sat up slowly before falling into Anna's embrace, a wave of fresh sobs wracking her small frame.

For a few moments the younger girl froze, unsure what to do. Anna was unequivocally happy that the sister who had shut her out for so long was now huddled in her arms, and yet terrified that she would do the wrong thing, causing Elsa to run from her again. When Elsa only clung more tightly to the other girl's robes, Anna could no longer resist, and wrapped her arms around the weeping Slytherin, pulling her close and allowing her own tears to fall.

"I'm so sorry, Anna." Elsa murmured, between shuddering breaths.

Anna shushed her softly, rubbing small circle across her back. "I know. I forgive you."

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Thanks again everyone for your continued support and patience. I really do try to work on this project regularly as it is very close to my heart. So here is hoping I get the next chapter up faster than this one. And rememeber, review, review, review!

-N.J.B.