August 8th, 1894 — Pennyworth, Alley near the Moony home

The rage was still hot, the sound of blood in her ears, Anne's constant companion. That, and the crushing grief. Anne was familiar with grief, with pain and loss, but that was supposed to over. This was her time, her platform, and it was stolen. There was no other word for it; Anne was robbed of what was rightly hers: her place as prefect. Her whole summer felt like a cosmic 'no,' a word Anne did not handle well. Her parents refused to let her go abroad; Ned was so busy being an auror trainee that he never had time for her now, and her friends...Anne couldn't think of her friends now.

She'd locked herself in her room after the owl came without her badge, the slight a personal one that Anne would never forgive. She'd spent days sobbing, refusing to eat, and threatening to hex anyone who dared enter her room. Somewhere around day three, teenage hunger had forced her to reconsider a hunger strike, but food only fed her seething anger. Her skin didn't fit her anymore; there wasn't enough room for her and her feelings, but without an outlet, the destruction turned inward. It was in the livid spiral that Anne's need for destruction turned resourceful. There was a way to harness this energy, to feel powerful, even without her wand. Anne sent her owl without a second thought, her complicated relationship with the recipient now insignificant in the face of the ticking timebomb in her chest called a heart. She could deal with the consequences later, but now, she needed her dad.

Waiting until the house fell asleep, Anne took the familiar path out her window to the street, the thrill of sneaking out dampened by her purpose. Tonight, no one would be stopping Anne. She waited just outside of the light of the gas lamps in the mouth of the alley, leaning against the bricks, trying to keep from imploding. When she finally heard footsteps, Anne pushed off the wall, ready for a fight. Confirming it was her father didn't relax her much. "I need your help. And you can't tell mum."

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