After All This Time

Ten

A train whistle blew through the air as I felt my compartment lurch forward. I stared out the window and watched as Hogwarts disappeared into the distance. My first year at Hogwarts had come to an end. I gazed out the window at the countryside passing by. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were deep in conversation, still talking about the last Tri Wizard tournament.  

As it turns out, Barty Crouch Jr. had actually been posing as our DADA professor, Alastor Moody. The real one had been locked up in a box in Crouch's chambers. Crouch had also been responsible for Harry and I's run in with Voldemort. He was the one who turned the Tri Wizard cup into a port key and later took me from the bathroom. After he was caught, Dumbledore immediately had him release the real Mad Eye Moody and then promptly escorted to Azkaban. Before leaving Hogwarts for the summer, I had the pleasure of meeting the real Alastor Moody who was definitely much more pleasant than Crouch had been.

I reached down into the pocket of my cloak and pulled out the necklace that Snape had given me. I knew that he had given it to me for protection, but I couldn't help but wonder why he had specifically chosen this necklace. It was definitely much older and almost looked to be a sort of family heirloom. I twirled it around in my fingers, studying the intricate designs engraved on its sides. I found some sort of comfort knowing that Snape was always just a thought away. I hadn't noticed the compartment had grown quiet until Hermione snapped me back to reality.

"What is that?"

"Oh nothing" I replied, smiling. "Just something one of my friends had gotten me." I shoved the necklace back down into the pocket of my cloak, right next to my wand. I turned and stared back out the window, half listening to the conversation going on between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I kept going over my previous conversation with Dumbledore in my head. I was now on my way to becoming a Death Eater and it killed me to not be able to talk about it. I couldn't lean on my friends or family for support. This was going to be a battle that I would have to fight on my own.

The train started slowing as we arrived at King's Cross Station, the four of us rising from our seats and making our way to the door. As I got off the train I saw my parents standing there on the platform, hand in hand. My eyes started to fill with tears. I quickly composed myself and ran over to them, pulling them both into my arms. "I've missed you so much."

"We've missed you too sweetheart" my mother said, kissing my head. "We can't wait to hear all about your first year."

I pulled back and looked my parents, both of them smiling at me and their eyes sparkling. "Is it okay if I go visit Grandpa first? I'll only be gone for a couple hours."

"Of course" my father said, running his hand down my hair. "Is there something wrong?"

"No" I replied, smiling back at them. "I've just really been missing him lately."

"You two have always had quite a close bond" my mother said, smiling. "Give him my love."

I gave them both one last hug before I disappeared from the platform with a loud pop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you all for reading this first book! Now before I go on to tell you the details of the sequel, I feel as though I should address some questions I received. The first question I received was about Annalise, Snape, and Draco. I know right now it seems as though I have a confusing little love triangle going on, but trust me when I say you'll be pleasantly surprised by what happens in the next books. The second question I really want to address is about the prologue. A lot of readers have messaged me, asking where in the world it fits in to this book. Well, it doesn't. From the beginning, I knew that the prologue would not fit into this book in any way. The prologue was actually more of a foreshadowing of the series than of the first book. I also wanted to keep this book short and the romance to a minimum as it was more of a set up for the books to follow. I had been planning from the beginning that I would include four books in total in my series, following books 4-7 of the Harry Potter series. In fact, while writing this book I also wrote many major scenes that will be included in my fourth book.

Now, as for the sequel. The release of chapters from my second part of the series will take significantly longer as I am planning on closely following the details from the original book as well as adding in at least one other point of view. I'll also be traveling quite a bit this next month which will also slow me down. I promise though, I will do my best to publish a chapter at least twice a month.

As I publish this final chapter, I will also be publishing the prologue for part two of my series. I hope you guys enjoy and I can't wait to start leading you on Annalise's journey through "The Order of the Phoenix"!