The Ice Queen [s.b.]

↠on the come down, 1.39

A/N PLEASE LISTEN TO THE SONG!

March 15th, continued.

They make their way back into the room they first flooed in to.

"Potter Manor," Anna utters as she takes the small amount of floo powder she has remaining.

She appears in the center of their living room where, thankfully, only Euphemia is. The other two girls follow suit.

"Anna? Lily? Are you okay?" Euphemia asks in concern, having never met Marlene before.

"I'm, um, I'm going to sit d-down," Lily stutters, making her way to the couch.

"That's Marlene McKinnon, by the way," Anna says in an eerily calm tone, her face still emotionless. "Can you send Dumbledore a patronus? I need to write the family lawyer."

"O-okay? I'll do that. EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Euphemia says nervously, and a dove flies away.

Marlene and Lily sit down, dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Annalee paces, plotting out what she'll say.

To be fair, what do you even say? Hi, my family's kind of dead now. What are we doing about the will? Do I get murdered if I try to go to the funeral?

Something tells Anna that that wording isn't very adequate.

"Anna?" James' voice calls as he walks into the living room.

"Oh, hey, James. How are you doing?" Anna asks absentmindedly. "What do I say to the lawyer? I can't think of anything."

"I'm good? I didn't know you were coming today. Why do you need to talk to your lawyer?" James asks in confusion.

Anna narrows her eyes, "Don't uptalk when it's not necessary. Ooh! Can you help me write my letter? Dumbledore will be here soon. We need to contact the Evans and the McKinnons."

"Do you think he'll go after my parents?" Marlene says, suddenly turning white.

"No. Maybe, I don't know. But we'll keep them safe. I swear," Anna says, looking as determined as she can.

"Like you kept Jeremy safe?" Marlene challenges, standing up. Immediately, she adds, "I'm sorry, Annie. That was mean and uncalled for."

Euphemia and James exchange even more confused looks.

"No. You're right. Four people are now dead. It's my fault," Anna says as nonchalantly as ever, then walks straight out of the Potter's front door.

While she continues walking, Dumbledore appears. Marlene and Lily explain the situation to him. They post aurors outside both of their houses, and the two families are deemed safe.

Soon enough, Dumbledore finds Anna wandering around the outside of the Manor aimlessly.

"This isn't your fault, Anna. What happened today was an uncalled murder of four people who loved you very much by someone who is simply incapable of feeling anything," Dumbledore says gently, appearing by her side. "I asked Lily and Marlene to not tell anyone about your parent's final acts and words. It would only make the three of you the bigger targets."

"Okay," Annalee says noncommittally. "I have nothing to say on the topic. If any of them die, it's my fault. My brother's death is my fault, a woman who was like a sister to me died - and that was my fault, and my parents died. That was my fault. If we do good things but better people wind up getting hurt, what was the point after all?"

"How were you supposed to know Voldemort would follow you? How were you supposed to know he was able to do that? You weren't. That's just what happened, and now we deal with the aftermath. No one expects you to always be strong."