Note To Self; OPEN

Anna had practically been alone for the past couple of years. There were a couple of people she had liked one way or the other, but they had all either died, like Natalia, or missing, like Dani, who had only stuck around for Anna's first year and left Hogwarts without a word. She wanted not to care. She didn't want to care. But guess what? She did.

Anna felt her cellphone vibrating through her Ravenclaw robes. It was a mystery how they managed to work in such conditions - though her father probably had something to do with it - but they did anyway. She read the message. It was from her mother. Anna smiled. If there was anyone she trusted with her life, it was her mother.

Anna,
You're having a sibling. Very, very soon.
Mum x

Anna felt her eyes boil at the message and threw her phone across the cafe. It smashed into pieces, and the young Ravenclaw ran to the fragments and smashed them with her foot. She felt some of them pierce her foot, but she didn't care. She just wanted that message out of her mind now.

"Why must this happen to me?" she whispered, putting all of the fragments in her hand and chucking them all in the bin.

Iris walked into the tea shop, having no idea why she was here in the first place. She wished she could hang out with some close friend but she didn't seem to have one at Hogwarts; she just went around talking and laughing with everyone. Not really in the mood for having drinks, she looked around the cafe, hoping to see any of her classmates. She smiled when she saw Anna but the smile quickly faded when she noticed what Anna was doing. Running over to her, she asked with concern lacing her voice, "Anna, what's the matter?"

Anna sighed, brushing Grayson off. "None of your business," she muttered bitterly, shoving the rest of her cellphone fragments in the bin and shutting it tight. From a glance, she could tell that some of the fragments had entered her bloodstream and she could die if she wasn't careful.

Anna didn't care anymore. She sighed loudly. "I don't mean to be angry at you Gray, but... trust me. You don't wanna know."

"It's alright," Iris replied with a small smile. She knew it must be something really bad for Anna to be acting like this. "It doesn't matter whether I want to or don't want to know. But if you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen." She offered.

Anna smiled at the Gryffindor. "I don't know why people are always willing to help me," she said serenely. "I'm not a nice person at all, but they're always trying to help me with my problems." She then thought about her loyalty. Should she tell anyone? That was a bad idea in itself. "So, how are you doing, Gray?" she asked, now returning to her cheery self. "And if you don't mind me asking, are you dating that new boy in Gryffindor?"

"Ever heard of the word 'friend'? Well, that's what you are to those people." Iris grinned. "Besides, sometimes one needs help, even if they don't want to admit it."

"I'm good. Though my holidays were kinda boring 'cause I didn't have anywhere to go and was stuck in Hogwarts." Iris said with a light laugh. "Oh, you mean Hades? Yeah, I am. People already noticed, huh?" She asked, her eyes having a mischievious glint.

"Hmm... okay!" Anna grinned, showing all of her teeth.

"A lot happened over the holidays," Anna listed. "With all the travelling and the exploring and all of the family visits I had to do... yeah."

Anna laughed, "I don't know about other people, but I sure noticed!"

"That sounds great, Anna." Iris replied with a huge smile on her face. But she couldn't help feel a bit sad at the mention of travelling with family. Times like this made her realize just how alone she was..without a family. But she had always found the strength to move on and be happy for her friends. Wonder which crazy couple is going to adopt me next, thought Iris. "So, which all places did you explore?"

"I actually didn't think anyone would notice. So many things happen in this school at the same time, people's attention are always diverted," Iris commented, grinning. "Besides, I didn't know who to tell it to, so I just kept quiet about the whole thing."

"Uh... Ibiza? Thimphu - as per usual - and... Paris?" Anna sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Really, being dragged all over the world just for a stupid honeymoon did that to her.

"A lot of relationships are happening this year, that's for sure," Anna nodded. "I haven't found anyone special, but fine by me!"