A/N: Hi again! I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post it. Well, read the summary and then, go on with the story.
Summary: It was just a normal summer for Alana Kaligaris. Even though she misses the love of her life, Draco Malfoy, everything is just the same as it has always been. But when Draco comes to her in his greatest hour of need, Alana is torn between the unfailing love for Draco and the loyalty to her family. As Alana and her family hide Draco from those who seek to harm him, Alana and Draco's love grows stronger and stronger as the summer drags on. But as the plot between them thickens, their love will be put to the ultimate test. Also, Voldemort's forces are growing stronger. Will the Order be enough to stop him, or will they have to recruit someone that they don't even trust? And will Draco and Alana's love be enough to save them both this time, or will they be torn apart forever? Read and find out.
Fly Away Summer
Chapter 1
Missing You
This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
You know, you know
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
And you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore- " Far Away" Nickelback
It was perfect outside during that one perticular day in June. Alana Kaligaris lay stretched out comfortably on a recliner by her pool. The sun shone down brightly from above, wrapping her body in a pleasant warmth. Her eyes were closed behind her dark-tinted sunglasses in relaxation. The weather couldn't be better; the temperature somewhere in the 80's, but not too humid. A slight breeze passed through now and then, but otherwise everything was still. She let out a content sigh, and a delicate smile formed on her lips. Everything was so calm and serene; nothing could break her perfect environment of tranquility. Then just as this thought passed through her mind, a loud splash erupted from the pool! Not a second later, Alana became soaked to the core by lukewarm water.
She jumped up from her recliner with a high-pitched shriek, flailing her arms about in a fetal attempt to get the water off; a look of disgust coming to play upon her face. A bell-like laugh came from the pool, filling the air with its ringing. Alana stopped her shaking and turned towards the pool, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head to glare at the offending jokster.
" You think that was so amusing, don't you, Jezebel?" She growled through, clenched teeth.
" But of course." Her friend, Jezebel Sinclaire, replied flashing Alana a wicked smile. " It was well worth to see the look on your face."
Her indignant friend crossed her arms over her chest and continued to glare at the young woman leaning over the edge of the pool. Jezebel's long, black hair lay plastered over her shoulder in tangled waves, and her dark chocolate eyes sparkled with the all-too-common glint of mischief. Her pale complexion had become tanned from the many days she had spent outdoors with Alana since the end of school. They had travelled home together on the train and had been at Alana's home in the country, which was just a few short hours south of London, ever since. Jezebel's smirk remained twisted upon her naturally-dark crimson lips as she said, " Oh, come on, Alana. You know it was funny. I only did it to get your attention."
" There are other, less irritating ways to get someone's attention, Jezebel." Alana retorted, her startling, sapphire eyes still narrowed in aggitation. " Why didn't you just call out my name or something?"
" But where's the fun in that?" Jezebel asked, faking an innocent look before her familiar smirk took up its normal spot again. " Besides, you were too deep in your little " dreamworld " to hear me. I thought a cannon ball would bring you back to reality without me having to ruin my vocal chords."
" Fine," Alana sighed, exasperatedly, " what do you want?"
" For you to come in and swim with me." Jezebel said, simply.
" And give you the chance to drown me? Forget about it!"
" Oh, come now. Would I ever try to do something as cruel and mischievious as that?"
Alana raised an eyebrow and gave a Jezebel a look that appeared as if she was saying " you've got to be joking, right?".
" Okay, but that's besides the point." Jezebel replied, dismissively. " Please, Alana, just come in and swim with me for awhile. It won't hurt for you to get a little wet."
" In case if you haven't already noticed, I already resemble something of a drowned rat right now." Alana answered, extending her arms to gesture towards her soaking-wet bikini. " Besides, I was in the middle of tanning just a few seconds ago before I was so rudely interrupted."
" Alana, you already have a permenant tan thanks to your Greek heritage. You don't need to tan or else you'll become as dark as Blaise." Jezebel complained. " Please, just come in and swim for awhile. You haven't gotten in once today. I'll be on my best behavior. Promise."
" No." Alana replied, firmly.
" Fine, you give me no alternative." Jezebel warned her before sticking out her bottom lip and scrunching up her face into the saddest expression anyone could ever hope to muster.
Alana shook her head and tried to look at anything else, but her friend's pouting face.
" Jezebel, stop with the puppy dog face. It will not get you anywhere."
" Please, Alana!" Jezebel whined in an equally pitiful voice. " Please, come and swim with me!"
" No, I refuse to give in to something as pathetic as this!" Alana retorted, firmly.
" Pleeeeeeeeeease, Alana! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"
Alana bit her bottom lip, struggling to fight for control. It was hard to do so when her best friend was acting like a five year old. Then, she made the fatal mistake of looking back at Jezebel's face. With a sigh of defeat, Alana dropped her arms to her sides and threw her sunglasses back onto her recliner, walking towards the divingboard.
" Thank you, Alana!" Jezebel's voice rang out, still in five-year-old mode.
" Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alana muttered under her breath.
She stepped lightly onto the board and stood still, looking over the pool full of turquoise-colored water. Jezebel swam back a little, so Alana wouldn't collide with her when she dived in. The afternoon sun glinted off of her moist, cocoa skin, giving her a heavenly glow that made her look like she was some Greek goddess in human form. It also caught off of something around her neck. Hanging on a thin, silver chain was a square-cut sapphire stone set in silver with tiny, diamond stones outlining it. Alana took one last deep breath before she took a running start on the board and lept into the air; her body going into perfect diving formation before she finally hit the water.
Down, down, down she went, like a sinking rock before she curved slightly and levelled out. Then taking to the water much like a mermaid, Alana swam swiftly upward, where she broke through the water and took her first gasp of air. She smoothed back the hair that had managed to come out of her ponytail. Her eyes blinked away the unwanted pool water before she could actually see Jezebel's still smirking face.
" See," She said in mocking tone, " now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Alana rolled her eyes before murmuring something under her breath and diving back down under the water. A spell came into place to protect her eyes from the chlorine in the pool water. Jezebel followed suit, and the two swam together under the water like two, bickering, mermaid sisters. They swam in circles and made intricate designs in the water with their bodies. Alana felt at peace under the water, like she could stay down there forever and never be unhappy. She swam around the edge of the pool, looking at the red flowers in the mosaic blocks that lined the basin. Tiny squares of blue, yellow, white, green, and orange surrounded the flowers. Then, she came across a block with something etched into the concrete below it.
Alana smiled and traced a fingers over the carved symbols. A.K. "heart" D.M. She had carved it only a few days ago with her wand, etching in each letter of their initials and each line of the heart with love and care. Suddenly, something grabbed Alana's arm and drug her back up towards the surface. When her head broke through the water, Alana realised how much in need of air she had been. She coughed and sputtered, wiping excess water from her eyes as the spell wore off when it came in contact with the air. Her throat was now burning, and Alana made a mental note to get a glass of water as soon as she went back into the house. Jezebel was breathing heavily from having to swim both of them up to the surface. She glared at Alana in irritation before saying, " What is wrong with you? Did you want to drown or something? We're humans, not fish! We need air, Alana! What on earth were you doing down there? Having a tea party?"
" Wow, Jez, I don't think I've ever seen you pissed off and concerned at the same time before." Alana commented with a smirk. " I don't know whether to feel frightened or honored."
" I'm serious, Alana!" Jezebel hissed, angrily. " You could have sufficated! But were you thinking about that? Oh no! You were off in your own little fantasy land, daydreaming about God knows what!"
" Sorry, Jez." Alana sighed, sheepishly. " I wasn't thinking clearly."
Jezebel heaved a heavy sigh before swimming over to her and putting an arm around her shoulder. She gave Alana a weak smile and said, " I'm sorry for snapping. It's just you scared me, Alana. You were going all blue in the face, but you just didn't seem to notice. It reminded me too much of what happened only a month ago. I almost lost you then, and I don't want to lose you now."
Alana embraced her friend warmly, hugging her close in a sisterly, affectionate way. Jezebel hugged her back, holding her firmly to show how scared she had been.
" I already told you before," Alana murmured, softly, in her ear, " I'm not going anywhere. You need to give me room to breathe again, Jez. I know you worry about my safety a lot more than you used to, but I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."
" I know, but I still feel the need to protect you." Jezebel whispered back, trying to hide her choked up voice. " I just...I don't want you getting hurt again. For awhile, it seemed like you were already gone. I blamed myself for not looking after you better."
Alana chuckled light and replied, " Now, you're starting to sound like Draco."
" Ah! I'm insulted!" Jezebel shrieked, protending to be hurt and pushed herself away from Alana. " How could you even think to compare me to that...that..."
" Arrogant, egotistical snake?" Alana finished for her.
" You know me too well." She replied with a smirk, shaking her head fondly.
" Comes with experience." Alana retorted, shrugging her shoulders.
Jezebel then, smiled whole-heartedly and placed a loving hand on Alana's moist cheek.
" I'm serious, though, Alana." Jezebel told her. " Draco and I both have good reasons to be concerned about you. I know you're a grown woman and can take care of yourself. But there will be times when you won't always be able to defend yourself. And those are the times that I, Draco, and all of your other friends will be there to protect you. We made you that promise before we all went our seperate ways this summer and we will keep it until death parts us."
" And for that I'm truly grateful." Alana assured her, placing a hand on top of hers. " Now, how about we move onto happier things and go inside. Mama should be starting on supper here pretty soon."
" Sounds good to me." Jezebel replied, her smile brightening even further as they swam to the other side of the pool to get out. " That is one thing that I will truly miss when I have to leave: your mum's excellent cooking."
" Hey, look at it this way." Alana said as they climbed out of the water and walked over to their recliners. " It just gives you all the most insentive to come back and visit."
" Yeah, the only insentive." Jezebel retorted with a teasing smirk.
Alana made a hurt sputter before hurtling her soaking wet towel at her friend. It wrapped itself around Jezebel's head, plastered to her skin. She furiously tried to get it off, while Alana just stood there laughing at her.
" That wasn't very nice." Jezebel complained when she finally got the drenched piece of fabric off and threw it to the ground.
" It wasn't very nice of you to get it all wet in the first place with that cannon ball of yours." Alana threw back at her, reaching for a dry towel on the table next to her recliner. " And then, you had to go and insult me. You deserved it."
Jezebel pouted her lip out at her, but Alana just chuckled and shook her head at her as she dried herself off. The two girls walked arm in arm into the house and up the stairs towards Alana's room. After shutting the door behind them, Alana started to strip out of her bikini.
" Ow! Ow!" Jezebel howled, teasingly. " Where is Draco when you need him?"
Alana rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head as she threw on her robe. She picked up her bathing suit and walked over towards the door. That's when Jezebel's eyes caught sight of her promise ring. A knowing smirk played upon her lips as she asked in a bored tone, " Don't you ever take that thing off?"
Alana's fingers came up to brush over the ring absent-mindedly. She went back to the night Draco had first given it to her. It was a symbol of his undying love for her and a promise for their future together. No, Alana would never take it off, but leave it to hang next to her heart where it belonged.
" Why should I take it off?" Alana mused, thoughtfully. " It practically goes with everything."
" Aren't you afraid that it will tarnish, especially if you wear it while swimming?"
" I put a protection spell over it." Alana told her, dismissively. " Quit fusing over it already! It's not like its my engagement ring or anything!"
" Fine! Fine!" Jezebel remarked, holding up a hand in defeat. " I won't say another word about it."
Alana smiled appreciatively before putting a hand on the doornob and opening the door.
" I'm going to take a shower." She informed Jezebel as she looked back over her shoulder. " Do not, I repeat, do not destroy my room before I get back."
" Wouldn't dream of it, Love." Jezebel replied before catching a marble statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite that was sitting on Alana's desk that she had accidentally knocked over.
" Right." Alana mumbled, sarcastically, slamming the door behind her.
She walked down the hall until she came to a door on the right that was left open to reveal a rather large bathroom. Alana closed the door behind her and locked it securely to avoid interruption. Then, she hung up her bathrobe on a hook next to the glass door of the shower. Her bikini was hung on another hook on the back of the bathroom door to dry. Alana opened the glass door of the shower and turned on the water before closing the door again to let it warm up. She then, turned to the mirror and undid her ponytail, wincing at the friction between her chlorine soaked hair and her tie. Without even bothering to brush it out, Alana opened the glass door again and stepped inside the shower, closing it behind her.
The warm waters of the shower ran over her body, making Alana sigh contently. She relished in the calming water as she wet down her hair once more before tipping shampoo into it. While she was scrubbing her scalp, Alana's thoughts couldn't help, but go back to Draco. Oh, how she missed him! In fact, missing him had become her weakness. It seemed like an eternity since they had seen each other. Sure, his letters were a small comfort to the aching in her heart, but every night she would lie awake in the late hours, yearning for him. She missed laying in his strong, comforting arms that always wrapped around her protectively and the gentleness of his voice as he whispered endearments in her ear. But most of all, Alana missed the soft, tenderness of his lips as they brushed against her own in the most perfect kiss. Alana knew that Jezebel could see her misery from being parted from her love. Jezebel too was feeling the tugging in her heart from being parted from Blaise, who was down in Rome for his brother's wedding. He sent letters to Jezebel almost as frequently as Draco did to Alana.
The waters caressed her skin delicately, reminding her of the way Draco's fingers would brush against her so lovingly. Tears sprung to her eyes. Why did it always have to be so painful to be away from him? She hadn't felt whole since the last time they had seen each other, which had been three weeks ago. Alana knew that when they had parted, Draco had taken her heart with him, and that she had his with her at that very moment. She felt so lost without him beside her, so empty. But she still charished each and everyone one of his letters. Alana kept them in a locked drawer in her desk, where no one, not even Jezebel could get to them. Those letters were meant for her eyes alone and no one else's. When she missed him the most, Alana would unlock her drawer and re-read the letters over and over again, consuming them like the sweetest chocolates. What she loved the most about Draco's letters was the way he always managed to tell her how much he loved her. Sometimes that would be all his letters consisted of; his pledge of undying loved for her.
In the boredom of Malfoy Manor, he told her all he wanted was to be there right beside her, to hold her in his arms once again and feel the pleasure that kissing her brought to him. He wanted to be able to wake up with her right beside him and watch her sleep peacefully in the early morning light. Alana herself missed gazing into those deep, stormy gray eyes of his and running her hand through his silky, platinum blonde hair. Every kiss, every caress, every loving word, every fond memory...came back to haunt her. She knew that they both antisipated the day that they would be boarding the train back to Hogwarts together and let their love blossom once again. It hurt Alana even more to read about the misery his father was putting him through by pressuring him about his initiation to finally become what he loathed so deeply: a Death Eater. Alana knew that Draco planned to runaway with her after they had graduated and join the Order of the Phoenix. But until they had, Draco had to use every tiny bit of his cunning to postpone his initiation.
Jezebel and Blaises' own initiations were coming up soon as well. But they were sure they wouldn't happen until after graduation. This made Alana wonder...why was Draco being pressured into the initiation now? Everyone else his age got to wait, but what made him so special that his had to take place now? She tried to talk about this as little as possible with Draco. All it did was irritate him and add to his already great stress level. When she had finally dubbed herself clean, Alana shut off the water and wrapped her now drenched hair up into a towel. She quickly tried her body off with another towel before wrapping it around herself and stepping out of the shower. Alana walked up to the counter and wiped the mist off of the mirror. As she let the towel around her body drop to the floor and reached for a bottle of body lotion, Alana looked up at her reflection. A frown took over her blank expression and she set the bottle of freeshia-scented lotion back down on the counter. Silently, Alana traced the little, white scar just above her breasts. Then, her eyes went over to the scar running down the length of her biceps on her left arms and the other one on her right thigh. Her fingers gently ran over the scar right above her naval.
They would never go away, never disappear, just like the horrid memories. Flashbacks of that dreadful night flooded back to her. She was surprised when she could feel the cold and weakness consuming her entire being once more. The sharp, searing pains returned as the jagged blade tore at her once flawless flesh. Scarlet stains on a once pure white, marble floor invaded her sight. For a second it was like she was back in that very room, back in the Prefect girls' bathroom. She could see her huddled form lying in a puddle of her own blood so clearly. Oh, the mass of crimson liquid frightened her to death. But the worst thing of all was when Alana could hear Pansy's dry, brittle cackle behind her as she watched Alana suffer to the point of insanity.
Alana grasped the counter tightly to keep from falling. Her legs had become so weak all of a sudden. Without realizing it, her breathing had grown quick and ragged. She even looked around the room, as if trying to find her assailant. When she couldn't find anyone, Alana shook her head and stared back at her reflection. Her face was pallid and sweaty; eyes wide and petrified.
" Get a grip, Alana!" Alana thought, wiping off the slight persperation from her brow. " Parkinson is in Azkaban. She can't hurt you anymore. You just need to relax. There is nothing to worry about."
After convincing herself that everything was okay and regulating her breathing, Alana picked the lotion bottle back up with a slightly shaking hand and went about massaging the sweet liquid into her skin. She had to hurry before Jezebel actually did have a chance to destory her room. Once her body was glistening with lotion, Alana slipped her rob back on and brushed out the tangles from her hair. Soon, it cascaded down her back in wet, silky waves. Alana gave herself a satisfied smile before unlocking the door to the bathroom and walking back to her room. When she opened the door, Jezebel was lounging lazily on her bed in her own bathrobe, while reading a witch fashion magazine. She shook her head playfully as she walked over to her closet and opened the door, turning on the light.
" The shower is all yours." She announced, looking over her clothes to decide what to wear.
" Good!" Jezebel rejoiced, throwing the magazine back onto Alana's desk, narrowly missing the statue again, and jumping off of the bed. " You've been hogging it for almost forty-five minute.
Alana turned around just to smirk at her when she saw Jezebel's teasing expression fall. It turned warry as she took in Alana's paled complexion and jumpy reflexes.
" Are you okay?" Jezebel asked, worriedly, walking over to her and placing a hand gently on her shoulder. " You look a little out of sorts."
" I'm fine." Alana replied, dismissively, turning back to her closet.
" Are you sure?" Jezebel pressed, looking at her uncertainly.
Alana just shrugged her shoulders before adding, " I'm just a little tired. That's all. I'm fine, Jez. Just go take your shower. Dinner will be done soon."
" Okay, if you're certain." She muttered before walking out of the room.
Once she had left, Alana let out a sigh and walked over to the double doors that led out to her balcony. She threw open the doors and went to lean on the stone railing. Her eyes gazed out at the beautiful sunset that was casting the most amazing shades of pink, yellow, orange, and purple across the open sky. Alana let out another sad sigh and ran her fingers through her still wet tresses. She didn't want to worry Jezebel with the flashbacks she'd had. They came occationally, perticularly when she was tired and withdrawn. It wasn't that abnormal, but Alana didn't like that fact either. She wanted them to disappear just like the dream had. They were memories she wished that she could just forget. Now that Pansy could never hurt her ever again, Alana wanted to forget all about her. Alana shut her eyes tiredly, letting the soft melody of the birds take her away to somewhere where no pain could ever reach her.
She imagined that Draco was standing right behind her; his arms circled protectively around her waist. Alana felt herself being held tightly to his chest and his intoxicating breath caressing her cheek. She could almost feel his hand coming up to palm her cheek so that he could kiss her now aching lips when the sound of the doorbell shattered her peaceful daydream. Alana let out an annoyed moan and hoped that someone else was going to get the door. No longer wanting to watch the beautiful sunset, Alana went back into her room, leaving her balcony doors open to allow the breeze to cool off her room some. Her eyes caught sight of her favorite picture on her dresser. She walked over to it and picked it up with gentle hands, caressing the wrought-iron frame and glass lovingly. It was the watercolor of herself and Draco in Paris. Alana could still remember the time when the picture had caused her nothing but pain, and not the blissful feeling of happiness that it did now.
She kissed it fondly before sitting it next to the vase full of different, color-tinted, crystal roses. They were all gifts from Draco that he had sent to her on one day or another. Her collection was still growing, too. So far along with her blue one, she had a pink, lavender, yellow, red, and green rose. Alana couldn't wait for the day when his owl would come to her window sill with a little box tied to its leg with yet another crystal rose in it. Unable to help it, she picked up the blue rose; the first gift that Draco had ever given to her. It was so special to her, and again, she regretted shattering it that one time. Thankfully, Draco had been able to repair it. She had promised on the day he had given it back to her that she would treasure it always and never break it again. As she held it to herself, the sound of pattering feet came into her room. Alana turned around and saw her little cousin, Leyla, standing in the middle of her room. She was staying with her, while her parents were in Spain for their anniversary. For the most part, Leyla shadowed Mia's every step, since the little girl adored her and Mia was over almost everyday to help out with the house work. Alana smiled down at her and put her rose back. She bent down to the five year old's small stature and asked, " What is it, Leyla?"
" Ala, someone at the do. They want to see ou." Leyla answered in her baby talk.
" Okay. Thank you for telling me." Alana told her, sweetly, before giving her a plaful push towards the door. " Now, go back down stairs and see if Gema needs any help with dinner."
Leyla nodded her head excitedly and went racing clumsily back down the stairs. Alana sighed as she raised herself back up to her full height and tightened the belt around her robe before heading downstairs herself. She really didn't want to deal with visitors right now. All she wanted to do was write Draco about the images that had been plaguing her. Comfort was the only thing she wanted right now, not guests. As she came down the steps, Alana could smell the wonderful aroma of the stew that her mother cooking dinner. Her father was in his favorite easy chair in the parlor, reading the afternoon paper as always. Just as she came to the first floor landing, a loud, anxious knock sounded from the door.
" I'm coming!" Alana exclaimed, rushing towards the door.
She unlocked the door that Leyla had no-doubtably locked back up and threw it open, squinting outside in the already accumulating darkness. Her eyes slowly became adjusted to the dark. Her guest stood on the stoop with his hands jammed into his jean pockets. He was a good head taller than her. His porcelean complexion only helped to bring out the shocking brightness of his plantinum hair. He still wore dark sunglasses that covered his eyes. Behind him leaning on the sidewalk was a yellow and black motorcycle. Alana stared at him in shock and awe. He removed his sunglasses slowly to reveal a pair of intense, stormy gray eyes.
" Dra...Draco?" Alana studdered in disbelief, her voice shaking with excitement.
The vistor smiled warmly; his eyes softening, and replied, " Hi, Alana."
A/N: How was it? I know it's long for the first chapter, but I just had so much to talk about. Please Review and tell me what you think. It'll be awhile before I have the next chapter up. It's not fully done yet.