Emily Potter - Book 5 - Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 6 - The Great House of Black

Upon descending the staircase, a portrait of a dark haired girl caught Emily’s eye. The girl was smiling, winking at whoever looked at her. She couldn’t be older than Emily herself, and yet she gave off the vibe that maybe she was older than everyone thought.

“Anne Harris,” Sirius said from behind Emily, “She went to Hogwarts with me and your dad.” He said wistfully, looking at the portrait, “She was a marauder.”

“Really?” Emily said with wonder, though she wondered why she never saw a fifth name in the marauder’s map.

Sirius smiled, a truer smile than Emily ever saw, “Yeah, she was.”

Was. Past tense.

“She was close with all of us, but Remus...Anne loved him.”

“What happened to her?”

The man seemed to have aged when Emily asked of Anne’s fate, the smile he wore vanished, and the brightness in his eyes gone as well. Emily instantly regretted her question, and apologized to –

“Don’t , please,” Sirius said with a sad smile on his grief stricken face, “Even after 19 years, her death still seems like a fresh wound to me. Merlin knows what Moony feels...” He paused for a moment, looking at Anne’s portrait, “She comes from a highly respected Pureblood family, the Harris’ held a high position in society, and an even higher one in the Ministry. Her family was brave enough to support Muggles and Muggleborns alike, and not to mention Squibs. On Christmas day, her family was wiped clean from the records.

 They were dead, all of them. Anne was at Hogwarts at the time, spending the holiday with us. When Dumbledore broke the news to her...It was hard to watch. After a few weeks, Anne was okay. She seemed okay. But then...She left Hogwarts, she ran away to find you-know-who and kill him herself.” Sirius took a deep breath, tears in his eyes, “She never reached the age of sixteen, she never saw what she got for her OWLs – “

Silence rode vigorously in the conversation for what seemed to last for decades. In that silence, Emily saw how much Sirius had loved Anne, she saw how much he cared. “Her body was found a week later when she had left Hogwarts,” Sirius said, grief stricken, “Aurors reports say that she was bitten by a werewolf, and then she was ripped to shreds.” The pain was evident in his voice, even Emily felt it, “There were many signs that she was tortured before she had been killed. Remus couldn’t sleep for weeks, ever since he found out about her death, his transformations under the full moon was thrice the pain he felt. He was suffering.”

“How did he get through it?”

“What makes you think he got through it?” He said with a dark look in his eyes, “Remus managed to cope with his loss but he never truly did stop loving her. She died fighting for her beliefs; she died for the welfare of Muggles, Muggleborns, and Squibs. May Merlin correct me if I’m wrong but I think she was the first one to actually fight you-know-who.”

“How come this is the first time I’ve heard of Anne? She’s brave –“

Sirius grinned lightly, “It isn’t easy to suddenly bring up the death of a good friend, Em. Much more difficult if it were the love of your life.” He said nodding to an old portrait of Remus by the upper part of the wall.

“Anne said in one of her letters that if she was dead, Remus should move on – “

“He never did.”

“Spot on,” He said, “Try forgetting your first love, I dare you.” The grimness lifted from the man’s face, a smile appearing, “You remind Moony of her.” Sirius said, “Dark hair and a head stronger than a Bull’s, one of the reasons why that Godfather of yours has a soft spot for you.