That evening, Anne happily answered Hermione's call. Talking with Aaron and Diana earlier had lifted a weight from her chest. After the upcoming Order of the Phoenix meeting, it would finally be time to tell the Gryffindor trio the truth.
Even though the road ahead remained uncertain, Anne still believed that in the end, she would defeat Voldemort, with them by her side.
"Hi, Hermione. Did everything go well back home?"
"It went fine," Hermione said. "Anne, are you still going to China over the summer?"
"Well, that depends. But with the current situation in Britain so unstable, I did mention before that the Roland family has been considering transferring assets. And China's a huge opportunity, we're definitely planning to take a slice."
"Really? That actually sounds great," Hermione replied. In the background, Anne could hear the voices of the Grangers. "Oh, Anne, I'll talk to you tomorrow, my parents are calling me."
"Alright, go ahead. Sleep early. Good night," Anne said gently.
"You too. Good night," Hermione said.
Once the call ended, Anne lowered the phone and rubbed her nose thoughtfully. Something about the conversation had felt... off. Hermione didn't seem to want to talk much, was it just her imagination?
She shook her head. It was probably just the aftermath of Dumbledore's death. Hermione and the others hadn't had the time to mentally prepare the way she had. After all, they had only just attended his funeral today.
The thought made Anne's nose sting slightly.
"Stubborn old man… never stops causing trouble," Anne muttered, then turned and walked toward her study. She'd best get the meeting minutes and upcoming plans for the Order wrapped up.
She worked late into the night before finally going to bed. The next morning, after breakfast with Aaron and Diana, she saw them off to the Ministry of Magic and threw herself into a sea of intelligence reports, tracking Death Eater and Dementor movements across the country.
At noon, Gooka brought lunch to Anne's study, along with the latest issues of the Daily Prophet and Wizarding Weekly. The study now looked nothing like it had in the past: flying parchments whirled through the air, data sheets and newspaper clippings littered the space, and correspondence from the Order poured in from all over the UK.
Finding a small clear spot near the piano, Anne ate her lunch while skimming through the Daily Prophet.
Dumbledore's death had sent shockwaves through the wizarding world. Since Harry had only confided in a few people about what had really happened, most were still in the dark. Hogwarts, once considered the most secure place, had been breached. One of the most iconic symbols of resistance against Voldemort had fallen, plunging magical Britain into deeper fear and unrest.
The front page featured a long obituary penned by Elphias Doge.
Anne flipped through it quickly. Page three contained a full spread on "How to Stay Safe from Death Eaters at Home", mostly useless fluff. On page five, however, a new article caught her eye: Violence Escalates, Muggleborn Wizarding Family Slain in Manchester.
Anne froze. Manchester? She put her food down and raised her wand. Dozens of scattered parchments zoomed together in midair, forming a stack that landed neatly by her side. She flipped through them rapidly and sighed. As expected, reliable intel was becoming harder to gather.
She quickly finished the rest of her lunch, placed the empty container aside, and dove right back into the chaos of war reports and intelligence summaries.
Over dinner, she and Aaron and Diana discussed how best to extract the Roland family from Britain, and what to do about the identity of "Anne Roland-Reeve."
Anne knew that as Voldemort's influence grew, even eventually taking over the Ministry, if they didn't deal with her identity properly, both Aaron and Diana could end up in danger. She wasn't going to let that happen. The safest move was to make it look like both the Roland family and "Anne Roland-Reeve" had completely vanished from British wizarding society.
"I could write a letter excusing you from school for a year," Diana offered. "Say it's for handling Far East trade matters. My father used to consider the same thing when I was a student at Hogwarts."
She added, "Besides, Anne, you passed the clan head test with flying colors. Technically, you have every right to wear the family leader's ring."
Anne immediately waved her hands. "No, no, Aunt Diana, I think you should keep it. Once this is over, I plan to enjoy life for a few more years."
Aaron chuckled. "You sound awfully confident about getting through this alive, Anne. Voldemort isn't exactly an easy opponent."
Well, I don't know the details, but I'm pretty sure Voldemort won't last more than another year, Anne thought. Out loud, she just laughed. "Optimism helps, right? Anyway, if Dumbledore's secret mission goes well, we should be okay. I can't say more about it now. But at the Burrow in a few days, there'll be some changes in the Order."
Her phone call with Hermione that night lasted nearly fifteen minutes, but after hanging up, Anne felt even more unsettled. There was something off about Hermione, and Anne couldn't quite put her finger on it.
The following day, another call with Hermione only deepened her doubts. Was Dumbledore's death affecting Hermione this much?
Anne muttered to herself as she entered her study. She found Gooka tidying up the newspapers, books, and magazines per her instructions.
"Good evening, young mistress," Gooka said respectfully.
"Evening, Gooka. Thanks for your hard work," Anne replied distractedly, flipping through a magazine.
"Miss Anne," Gooka pointed to the sorted papers, "should I store these in the archive now, or wait till tomorrow?"
"Leave them for now. You can move them in the morning. Go get some rest," Anne said while scanning the top paper.
"Understood. Rest well, young mistress. Good night." With a pop, Gooka vanished.
As Anne flipped through the stack again, her eyes fell once more on the article about the slain family in Manchester.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, clarity struck.
She finally understood why Hermione had seemed so strange lately. Anne had overlooked something critical: Hermione didn't know that Anne knew about the Horcruxes.
Back when Jill had been injured, Anne had withdrawn from contact for a while, and during that time, the Gryffindor trio had stopped sharing updates. In their recent calls, Hermione had subtly steered the conversation away from her own summer plans, and Anne, knowing Hermione intended to help Harry, hadn't pressed.
Now it was clear: Hermione didn't want Anne to know about the Horcruxes. She was deliberately keeping her in the dark. Anne recalled that look of hesitation on Ron and Harry's faces beneath the beech tree the night Dumbledore died, then Hermione's kiss that followed.
She realized it in an instant: They're planning to leave, and they're not going to tell me where they're going. Only four people know about this mission… and I'm not one of them.
What an idiot, Anne thought.
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