A Taste Of The Real World

by puuurfect angel

I was sent to the Muggle world by Him to watch over his chosen victims. I never expected any of the following events to happen. Least of all meeting her. Just this one chapter.

I'd been out of the wizarding world for too long now. Spending all my time in the muggle world was beginning to show on me. I had changed so much over my time spent there. I was no longer the person that I had been before. Lord Voldamort had sent me there after I'd taken my place at His side along with my farther. I still had my tattoo branding me as one of His followers, and it still hurt when He was calling everyone to Him. However, He'd given me strict orders to stay exactly where I was when He called, a precaution in case it attracted muggle attention. I was supposed to be preparing for His entrance back into this part of the world. He wanted to be feared by everyone now, not just the wizards. I was to keep an eye on those that He had picked out for murdering. But something had gone terribly wrong…

It all started when I was first sent out on my mission. I was eighteen at the time. I'd just finished my last year at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry. I was glad to be out of school and have a little time to myself. This didn't last very long though, as my father had immediately seen it fit to introduce me to the most feared wizard around and I joined the ranks of His followers. As if to test my abilities He sent me out to bring Him back a muggle He'd decided He didn't like the look of.

Of course I found this muggle easily and returned with him to my Master's pure and utter delight. I was sent on several other small missions before it was decided that I would be sent to live with the muggles as one of them for a time. The point in this would be to follow the muggles that had been picked out as threats to our cause. No one received explanations on why they were dangerous, just that they could put us in danger. I didn't even think to questions my orders at the time.

And so I packed up and left the only world I'd ever known for one of many differences and dangers. Not having properly thought out my plan of actions, I simply left before assuring myself a place to live or even money to buy food, clothes and other necessities with. I stepped from the shadows of the dark alley where I apparated onto the busy streets of the city I was to live in for the next unspecified amount of time. The first thing I noticed was that I was being thrown many odd stares at my clothing.

I looked down at myself and sighed rather audibly. I hadn't thought to take off my black robes and cape. What was a guy to do? I was fingering my cape, wondering how I was going to be able to get away with being dressed like this when a voice brought me back to Earth.

"Erm, I'm sorry sir, but are you quite alright?"

The voice that had interrupted my thoughts was a soft concerned one, belonging to a female. I looked up and caught site of a girl, a little younger than myself most probably. She was tall but shorter than me, with blonde hair scraped back into a ponytail and bright blue eyes. I immediately recognized her and racked my brain to try and figure out where I knew her from. How would I know a muggle? I'd only ever associated with wizards before then so there was no actual way in which I could know her.

All at once, it dawned on me. She was on the list, one of the people I was to keep an eye on. The fact that she'd initiated conversation with me was a plus; it meant that I wouldn't have to do it myself. She was definitely prettier in real life than on the photo though. That thought caught me off guard and I shook my head furiously. I had not just thought that, had I?

"I'm… erm… I'm not entirely sure… I can't remember very much of what happened back there in the alley. I..."

I decided that I needed to get some sort of muggle help, and this girl would be perfect for me.

"Would like me to call the police?" she questioned, worry lines appearing on her brow.

"No. No." I hastily replied, "I just need some clothes and a err… a… hot drink so I can try to remember. » At a wild guess I expected that pumpkin juice and cauldron cakes would be off the menu. A shame really, but I'd make do with what I was offered.

"Well, I live a couple of blocks down the road. I could take you to my flat but I don't know if I have many male clothes there… there might still be some of my most recent ex's clothes still lying around the place." She eyed me up and down before continuing, "I think you two are about the same size."

I graciously accepted her offer and she turned, motioning for me to follow her in the opposite direction of the town centre. She chattered away amiably to (not with, I could barely get a word in side ways) me and I soon discovered that her name was Ana and she'd lived in this city all her life. I introduced myself and hoped that my name would be enough for her. For the time being it looked like it might just have worked. But a few minutes later I found myself being ushered into some sort of muggle contraption. Heavy metal doors closed behind us and the box we were standing in suddenly lurched upwards.

I took an unsteady step backwards and felt behind me. My hand found a metal bar that I grabbed onto as if it was the only thing remaining between death and myself. I couldn't help a bitter thought of my impending death from entering my head. My other hand reached into my cape and the fingers curled around my wand. I wasn't ready to die. If the worst came to the worst, I would just apparate out of the thing and back onto the safe ground.

The thing shuddered to a halt and the doors slid open again. Ana exited the box and I was more than happy enough to follow her out onto the landing that she was now walking down.

"So you and lifts don't go together well, huh?" she questioned off handedly.

Lift? I had never heard of such a thing in the whole of my eighteen years of living.

"Erm…" I replied intelligently causing the girl to turn back to me and raise her eyebrows in disbelief.

"You know, the lift. You don't sound at all American…"

"That would be because I'm not American." I cut in. How could anyone have thought I was American with my prided British snob accent?

"… Precisely, so why wouldn't you know what a lift is?" Her accent was different to mine. I'd picked that up now. It was harder. She pronounced the words with more of a sharp edge than I did.

It suddenly dawned on me that the lift was most probably the box I'd just almost met my death in. No, lifts and I did NOT go together well. If I could I would refrain from using one ever again. I was bewildered at how muggles could just go around every day not at all unfazed by their lack of magic. How did they manage without magic? Even the simplest of charms could make things ever so much easier!

"No, I don't like lifts."

She giggled at this, it was a soft sound coming from the back of her throat and rolling off of her tongue. I watched as her eyes squinted slightly, wrinkling at the edges as she laughed at me. For some reason I didn't feel annoyed at her making fun of me, as I would have had it been anyone else. Namely Harry Potter of either of his two idiot friends.

I couldn't believe that the three of them were still friends. After all that they'd been through during our years at Hogwarts, I was surprised that they'd managed to stay together and not drift apart like what had happened to so many of the other pupils.

For some reason I found my mind drifting to Potter, the Weasel and Granger, wondering how they were holding up. I violently shook my head, forcing these disturbing thoughts to leave me alone. It also caused me to come back to the present with a slight bump.

I felt slender fingers wrapping themselves around my wrist and pulling me into a moderately small flat. Upon an initial scan I could tell that there were only three rooms and a corridor lined with cupboards. This flat was nothing in comparison to the mansion I was used to. Not that I was expecting to be seeing very much of that until my assignment was completed, and who knew how long that would take?

I followed Ana into the main living area which held a sofa covered by a light brown fabric, a large box with images flashing across it that couldn't possibly be good for the health of the viewer, a silver coloured cuboids that was emitting rather interesting noise, a small rectangular shaped box which seemed to be folded in half (when she opened it I saw that it had a screen and buttons with all the letters of the alphabet printed on them) on a desk that had many odd objects scattered all over it. A small kitchen was tucked away in the corner.

For the first time in my life, I wished that I'd had the sense to take Muggle Studies. It would have made this assignment so much easier. At least then I would have known the names of at least a number of the appliances in the room.

I found myself being pushed down onto the sofa while Ana went over to the kitchen and filled a silver coloured pot with water that spurted from a normal tap upon the turning of a handle.

I found my head swimming at everything that I was taking in. My parents had always used magic for simple household chores and having never taken Muggle Studies, I had no idea about what was going on around me. I silently cursed myself for the second time in as many minutes. This time for not preparing for this better than I had done.

When a cup of some sort of brown liquid was held out to me I took it cautiously and swirled it around a couple of times.

"What is this?" I questioned feebly, not sure whether I'd be scoffed at or not.

"It's tea, but I can make you coffee if you'd prefer…"

"No, no, it's OK."

I took a small sip and immediately drew back. The drink was hot!

"You may need to blow on it first." Ana pointed out, her lips curving slightly in the beginnings of a smile.

I felt tempted to mutter a simple spell to cool the drink to a tolerable temperature. But that would require the taking out of my wands and small sparks being emitted from the end of it. I decided that it would not be a good idea to do any magic in front of this girl since I didn't know just how she would react to it.

I blew on the hot drink before taking another sip of it. I found I actually quite liked the taste of the sweet liquid and the feeling it gave me as it slipped down my throat and down into my stomach.

"So, where are you from?" The soft question broke my concentration on the drink and I lifted my head to find the intense blue eyes staring into my own grey ones.

"Down South a bit. I went to school further north though. I was at a boarding school. I had to take the train from Kings Cross at the beginning of the year."

"Sounds interesting. What was the name of the school?"

How was I supposed to answer that question? I quickly scanned through all my options and decided that the truth would be the best solution.

"Hogwarts."

"I don't think I've ever heard of it."

"Well, it's not very well known everywhere, but it's the best school there is in its league."

"Sounds interesting. So, what subjects did you take?"

"Erm, just the normal ones, you know?" How normal Potions, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and my other subjects were, I didn't know, but I didn't care to share their names with her.

"I majored in maths and languages. That's what I'm doing now, studying languages at university."

I didn't answer that. I just kept my gaze trained on this muggle, drinking her in. How exactly was she a threat to the master? She gave of an aura of purity, like she'd never done anything wrong on purpose.

"What are you doing up here then? Somehow I don't see this town as being your type of place. It's not posh enough, in fact, it's a bit of a dump really."

"I was sent up here on an… assignment. My boss will get back to me at some point and once I have completed this assignment I'll be sent off on another one somewhere else. That's what my life is like now that I've left school, I'm never in one place for too long." Or at least that was how I expected it to be from that point in time on.

"I don't think I'd like that. I prefer being in one place and not always on the move. I used to hate moving house because I don't like having to pack everything up and leave a part of me behind in my old houses."

I stayed silent at this. I couldn't exactly claim to be up on moving around. My family had never moved house and this was the first assignment I'd been sent out on where I'd have to move away from the mansion and fend for myself. I'd never had to fend for myself before.

"Where are you staying?"

Uh oh. That was a good question! I didn't know where I was staying. At that precise moment I wasn't staying anywhere because I hadn't had the intelligence to think ahead and find myself somewhere to live while I was living in this dump of a town.

"I don't know." I answered truthfully.

"You don't know the name of the place where you're staying of you just don't know of a place where you can stay?"

"The latter one."

"Oh." She replied simply before getting a half glazed over look as though she were considering a possibility. "I think you would be able to crash here for a while. Just until you find a hotel that'll take you in."

I suddenly started chocking on the tea I had been in the process of swallowing. She was going to offer me a place in her flat?

I quickly got over my coughing fit to find that she was watching me with an odd expression on her face. I gulped almost guiltily and felt myself flushing slightly.

I was blushing! I never blushed! It was almost considered an impossibility for me by most. And I wasn't too happy that this girl, this muggle girl to make it even worse, could make me turn pink.

"I don't have very much money at the moment so you'd have to pay your way but your welcome to stay… if you want to that is."

It was her turn to flush slightly at her words and look away from me. I silently praised myself for this before wiping the smirk that was forming itself at the corners of my lips from existence.

I didn't have anywhere else to stay and I couldn't see anything wrong with accepting this offer of a roof under which I could sleep. It was better than the streets. But there was only one bedroom…?

"Thank you for offering. I'd love to stay with you."

"Let me go and find you some other, more suitable, clothes." She said while standing up and pointing at my robes.

Five minutes later she reappeared holding some very typical clothes, which she held out to me. I took them from her silently nodding my thanks and found myself being ushered into the impeccably clean bathroom.

The, what I was to later learn, denim material of the low slung jeans was a lot more comfortable than I'd expected it to be and the loose cotton shirt was a nice change from the robes I'd been sporting all day.

Stepping back out of the bathroom I walked into the kitchen where Ana had once again situated herself. She heard me approaching and turned around to look me up and down.

She let out a stifled giggle and leant forwards, reaching a hand up and ruffling my hair.

I was immediately put out by this action. I prided myself for my sliver blonde locks that were always slicked back. And now this muggle had just ruined my style! My trademark style that I'd had ever since I could remember.

Turning I caught sight of myself in a mirror hanging in the bedroom and found that I actually looked pretty damn good with my messy hair and the low slung jeans.

I was fed a concoction that Ana explained to be 'Italian' food called 'pizza' (I'd never known what I was missing when I hadn't eaten muggle food) and then followed her actions when she curled up on the sofa and turned the sound on what I now knew was called a television.

It was almost midnight before she turned back to me just as a yawn escaped her. As always happens, I then found myself yawning in return, and for the first time that night I felt fatigue hit me like a brick.

"I think it's time for bed." She stated simply while standing up.

"So do I." I said while following suit.

When I'd fully stood up Ana ushered me away from the sofa before she grabbed a side of it and pulled. I looked on in awe as the, what had once been, simple sofa turned into a bed. I had to give the muggles some credit; this was an ingenious invention.

She bid me goodnight after finding me a pair of male sleeping boxers, a duvet and a couple of pillows before retreating into her room.

I stared at the closed door for a while before shaking my head and getting ready for a welcomed night of rest.

Two weeks passed and I found myself becoming more and more intrigued by the beauty whose flat I shared. I was definitely attracted to her, I knew that much. She had a great personality and was always trying to help me. I pushed the thoughts that I would be one of the ones responsible for her death to the back of my brain.

I'd soon discovered that at least one of the others on the list of people I was to watch were friends with her. I also knew that that friend was down for being exterminated in the not too distant future.

During the week she went to her classes and I would go out and explore the town, keeping an eye out for my victims and attempting to secure myself a job position. She worked in the supermarket just down the road from her house to bring in more money and I only saw her on late evenings and at the weekend.

It was a Sunday, and that day it was warm out even though it was only the end of March. Ana decided that she wanted to make the most of the good weather and go for a walk in the park. I didn't object to this proposal since the park was, after all, one of my favourite places to go in the town.

We climbed in to her old, run down car that sounded like it was about to fall apart and set off in the direction of the other side of the ring road where the park was situated.

We stepped out on to the paths of the park and just started walking aimlessly, chattering about this, that and the other. I enjoyed my time with this muggle against my initial instincts, which told me to think of her as scum, like chewing gum (another amazing muggle food) on the sole of my shoe. I'd pushed this tiny voice to the back of my brain and made a habit of ignoring its whines.

After about half an hour of walking nowhere in particular I felt Ana stiffen quite forcibly beside me. I glanced at her and followed her gaze to a large man who seemed to be walking towards us. He had shaggy brown hair and dark eyes, which were wrinkled slightly at the sides, a result of the devil smile gracing his thin lips.

"Who is this?" I whispered but Ana seemed to be frozen to the spot, incapable of answering me.

"Ahh, Ana. What a lovely surprise! I've been wondering when I'd next bump into you." The guy said, a malicious smile curving into existence on his lips.

Suddenly Ana pulled herself taller and threw her shoulders back. A stony look on her face, almost as if she were preparing herself for war.

"Zach." She nodded at him, implying that she had acknowledged his presence. I wasn't too sure whether or not it was a good idea to do this but I kept my mouth shut while I measured this man up and down.

I wasn't too sure that in a fair fight I would be able to take him on and win… but add magic to my defence and offence and I could have the man fall over dead in the simple flick of a wrist. Not that I would do that in front of all the muggles swarming in the park.

"How have you been, baby?"

Ana visibly flinched at his calling her baby. Suddenly it all clicked into place. This man was one of her old boyfriends, and from her actions I could easily deduce that their relationship hadn't ended well.

"I'm not your baby." She spat back at him. His smile faded slightly but he immediately forced it back into place. All of a sudden his gaze snapped to me and he studied me, as if he were thinking of socking me in the face to relieve his frustration.

"So, you've already found yourself a new boyfriend then?" he asked, his eyes glinting dangerously.

"We broke up over two months ago. That's more than enough time for me to find someone else. But I won't lie to you… this isn't my boyfriend."

"What is he then? Your bed toy?" He paused for a moment before adding to his question, "Or are you his?" He laughed manically at this as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"No. He's nothing of the sort. We're just good friends. And if I were you I would shut up now and leave."

At these words 'Zach' dropped all pretence of being his warped idea of a 'friendly man'. His arm flew out and grabbed Ana's wrist and forced her towards him. She let out a small squeal when his fingers latched around her delicate arm and vainly tried to pull away from him again.

I could feel my anger towards this man bubbling up to an unbelievable pressure. I knew what would happen next if I didn't control it. But maybe I didn't want to stop myself… maybe I wanted to give this man a piece of my mind…

"Let me go!" Ana ordered, struggling even more. I could see her breathing get faster and shallower as her fear began to take over her.

"Why should I? You know you want me back…"

"You abused me! You hit me! You… you broke my arm! I don't want you back. I want you far far away from me…" Her voice was cracking now and I could tell that she was on the verge of tears.

He'd hit her? He'd broken her bones? My anger was swelling now. I needed to take Ana and leave this place right then.

Stepping forwards I grabbed her and pulled her towards me. I must have caught Zach off guard because she slipped through his fingers like butter and I found her arms wrapped tightly around my neck, almost as if I were a lifeline.

"What the fuck?" he cursed.

"You will not touch her if she doesn't want you to."

"Who the hell are you to say that? You don't know anything! I don't even recognize you… But you're probably just some mummy's boy from down South."

That was it. I was part of the most feared wizard to have ever walked the planet's ranks… I would not be compared to a 'mummy's boy'.

I faced him with stony eyes and a hard glint of evil in my features before producing my wand from my sleeve. I pointed the tip at him and muttered a charm to stop time except for Zach and myself.

Zach eyes were almost popping out of his head as his head swivelled around in every direction looking at all the motionless forms that surrounded us.

"Do not under estimate me. I am more than you could ever imagine." I stated, making my voice as low and menacing as possible, my wand still pointing towards his face.

"W… what are you?"

"Something beyond your simple comprehension." I stated coldly as I flicked my wand, muttering a few words. A bolt of light flew at him and he started falling to the floor in agony.

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Draco. And from now on you'd better leave Ana alone…"

With that I put a different charm on Ana, sending her into a deep sleep only I could wake her from, before I removed the time stopping charm, the world around me springing back to life.

I scooped her body up into my arms and set off back towards the car, her head bobbing against my chest.

Bring… bring… bring… bring…

"Hello?" Ana asked the caller, placing the phone against her ear.

I didn't hear the caller's response but the next thing I knew the phone was being held out to me. I raised my eyebrows in question at her but she merely shrugged and pushed the phone closer to me.

I accepted it and put it up against my ear as I had seen her do many times before.

"Hello?" I asked.

"This first one goes down tonight." A cold voice hissed its message before the dial tone sounded in my ear.

I pulled the phone away from myself and looked at it in confusion before replacing it on the hook.

"Who was it?" the female voice I'd come so accustomed to questioned from Ana's position in the kitchen.

"I'm not entirely sure…" I admitted. I knew it one of my associates but I couldn't really tell her that because then she would question who it was and what they wanted.

She shot me an odd look before turning back to the pan she was cooking pasta in. I felt bad not telling her the whole truth but it had been hard enough to get her to buy my story that she'd fainted at the park that day a little under a week earlier. She'd been suspicious (rightfully of course) and it had taken me a whole hour of repeating the same story over and over again until she accepted that she'd fainted and I'd taken her back to her flat after telling Zach to leave her alone.

I drifted off into my thoughts while she finished cooking. Who was the first one on the list again? For the life of me, I couldn't remember. And I couldn't consult the list either since it was magically hidden and I would have to use a spell to bring it to me.

Everything seemed to go smoothly that night. There were no more phone calls from mysterious associates of mine and I was able to spend a quiet Friday night on the sofa watching disgustingly boring TV programmes with Ana.

The next day I was up bright and early only to find that the other occupant of the flat was already up and ready for the day ahead of her.

"We're going to a shopping centre." She announced as soon as I sat up in the sofa bed. She was quietly munching away at her cereal, a towel wrapped annoyingly tightly around her form. I blinked, caught completely unaware by my sudden thought. Where had that come from?

I quickly got up, walked into the bathroom, turned the shower on and got washed, cast a spell to dry myself off and slipped into some clean clothes, just back from the wash.

Stepping back into the living area I grabbed an apple and swiftly devoured it before I was ushered into the old car and driven down the motorway until we reached a large glass domed building with huge signs around it announcing that we were entering the 'Medowhall' car parking lot.

I was then submitted to hours of a torturous female shopping spree. I found myself being dragged into almost all of the shops before I was allowed to rest my exhausted feet and sit back in the car seat, shopping bags filling the spacious boot behind us.

I was quite simply drained! I'd had enough of shopping to last me at least a year or two and had no plans of joining the mad muggle on another spree at least until I was 30.

But by that time she'll be dead… you may have as little as a few months left with her depending on her place on the list.

I jumped as the little voice spoke up and hurriedly pushed it to the back of the darkest corner of my mind. I didn't want to think about that…

We arrived back at the house and the kettle (by now I knew most of the names of muggle objects that were used day in, day out) was immediately put on, boiling the water for a nice cup of tea (I'd soon discovered that I much preferred tea to coffee, coffee gave me a headache).

I'd almost finished my drink when the phone started ringing, making me jump slightly (I still wasn't used to it). Ana stood up and went to answer it, picking up the receiver and placing it next to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked. "What?… How did it happen?… Are they sure they know nothing?… Yes, thank you for letting me know."

Her tone of voice had become less and less controlled, wavering slightly and sounding strained. I wondered silently to myself what had happened to make her voice crack but the next thing I knew there was the sound of a click resonating throughout the living area and Ana was standing with her back to me, her body shaking.

I immediately stood up and walked over to her, forcing her to turn and face me. Tears were rolling from her pretty eyes and her lip was quivering dangerously.

Shocked at facing this I instinctively led her over to the sofa and sat down with her, my hand lightly holding on to her arm while she stared off into space.

"What happened?" I probed gently, though I already had a pretty clear idea what she was going to say.

"Sally… S… S… Sally… sh… she's d… dead" Her large, tear glossed eyes turned to face me and all of a sudden the tears that had been threatening to fall were cascading down her cheeks while sobs racked her body.

"Do they know what happened?" I asked. I wasn't entirely sure how to react. It wasn't often that I had to console a sobbing female, if you excluded the times that Pansy Parkinson had come wailing to me about useless little trivial things.

"Th… they don't kn… know… they j… just foun… found her de… dead this mor… morning."

"It's OK. It'll be alright, just let out your tears."

"Sh… she was my b… best friend! And now… now she's gone!" she sobbed.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer to me, letting her rest her head on my chest, not minding the wet splotches that were appearing because of her tears.

The tears lasted for half an hour or so before they eventually subsided and turned into little hiccups.

She looked up at me with still glistening eyes and attempted a weak smile. How would I ever be able to tell her about my part in this?

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice croaky, "I've wet your t-shirt."

She reached out and stroked the said wet t-shirt, drawing my attention to her hands almost touching my skin.

I suddenly became uncomfortably aware of my arms still being wrapped around her, drawing her closer to me than I was used to with females. I had no love interest at Hogwarts and this was the first time I'd ever felt such stirring emotions towards a person of the opposite sex.

Her eyes travelled up to my own again and I found myself drowning in her blue seas. I couldn't help but reach out and run a finger down her delicate cheek, catching and wiping away a stray tear. My lips flickered in a genuine smile at her (so different from my trademark smirk) and I barely saw her reciprocate the movement. I nervously lipped my seemingly dry lips and saw her eyes concentrate on this, in any other case, innocent gesture.

Some sort of incomprehensible force seemed to be drawing us together and before my mind had registered what was happening, I could feel my lips crashing up against hers.

The kiss started out soft and sweet, innocent like the dawn of a new day, but quickly became heated and passionate. Something else seemed to take over my body and as soon as her tongue reached out, caressing my own, I pulled my arms tighter around her and pulled her into a standing position.

While tripping over various bits and bobs lying around the place, Ana somehow managed to pull me over to her bedroom with her. I'd never seen her room before but didn't judge this an appropriate time to give it a good look over. I wasn't interested in that anyway. Only one thing was on my mind, one thing that had never made its presence known there before.

The kiss broke for the first time when she pulled my shirt up and over my head, discarding it on the floor. I soon had hers unbuttoned and pulled it off, throwing it to the floor where it joined mine.

I could definitely feel myself becoming excited as our lips mashed together, our tongues intertwined and our bodies fell together onto the bed. I knew that this was going to be the night that I became a real man.

I groaned as I rolled over slightly in the bed. I reached out to where the other body should have been but felt nothing but empty air. It took a while for this to register in my mind, but as soon as it did I shot up to a sitting position.

After a brief scan of the room it was noted that wherever she was, the bedroom was not that place. I scrambled out from in-between the soft sheets and rapidly pulled on my boxers before moving into the living area.

A loud sigh escaped me when I caught sight of Ana sitting at the breakfast table, mechanically spooning cereal into her mouth while reading the morning paper. I wasn't sure what to do… was I expected to creep up behind her and give her a kiss on the back of the neck, or what?

In the end I forced myself to calmly take a seat opposite her at the table. When she didn't look up I reached out and poured myself a glass of juice. Sipping this carefully I watched her movements over the rim of the glass. She looked like she was battling with herself. I didn't want to interrupt her thoughts so I opted to stay silent until she chose to speak. I knew that she wasn't reading. Her eyes never moved from the line of text that she was 'concentrating' on. I would give her all the time she needed. After all, before I'd gone through with the night before, I'd known that there would be differences from then on.

"I'm sorry Draco…" she murmured in barely more than a whisper while refusing to lift her gaze to meet mine.

"Sorry for what?" I asked confused as to why she felt the need to apologize.

"Sorry for last night."

"But why? Last night was amazing." I was speaking from the very depths of my soul now. Every second the night before had been something very special to me and I knew that I would never forget it for the rest of my life.

"Because it was a mistake…"

I was shocked into silence. I found myself incapable of picking out one thought from another. What was happening? What was she saying to me? Why was she saying it? I wanted to understand.

When I didn't reply she decided to continue after taking a deep breath.

"I was hurt. I'd just lost my best friend. I needed comforting and my actions were irrational. I shouldn't have pulled you into all of this. I'm so very sorry for it all. I hope you can understand… I have to go now. A friend called earlier and I'm meeting him in town in ten minutes. I'll see you when I get back?"

She actually dared to finally pick her gaze up and look at me at those words. I could only stare at her, struck silent by her pain yielding words. I was vaguely aware of the clicking sound of the front door closing as she left the house as my eyes still concentrated on the air where she'd been standing not a minute before. When my heart had still been intact.

Suddenly I felt anger surging through me. Did she really expect me to just sit back and take that news as though it was nothing? I'd lost my virginity to her the night before… I was not about to turn that into a night of having thrown it all away. I was going to get her back.

I rushed back into the bedroom and slipped into the rest of my clothes before I headed towards the front door, throwing it open with a loud bang. I wasn't gone to sit back and lose this battle. I was going to fight for what I felt, for what I wanted. For once, I was going to take matters fully into my own hands.

I set off, taking the stairs two at a time (I still didn't like using the lift) and upon reaching the street I broke into a fast walk, determined to catch up with her. I didn't care if I would be making a spectacle of myself in public. I'd be leaving the town again after the assignment was complete anyway.

That thought made me swallow audibly. I would only be leaving after everyone on the list was dead. And that everyone included Ana…

Pushing the negative thoughts into the recesses of my brain, I sped up to a jog, my determination to track her down fuelling me and forcing me to go even faster.

All of a sudden I rounded a corner and spotted her and another person walking down at the other end of the short street. I sprinted the distance remaining between us slowing myself down again before I rushed into them. Grabbing her arm I roughly pulled her around to face me causing her to emit a small squeak of surprise.

"Ana, I…" I panted before recognizing the person she'd been walking with as being someone horribly familiar.

A tall but slim frame, bright green eyes that told of mischief and at that moment concern, black tousled hair sticking out every which way…

"Potter…" I sneered, not quite able to put two and two together, "what are you doing here?" and then something else clicked, "What are you doing with Ana?"

"Well, Malfoy, I could ask the exact same thing of you." He responded his features etched into a look of disbelief.

We exchanged a few more remarks before our none too pleasant conversation was butted into by none other than the girl we had initially been 'talking' about.

"Wait, shut up for a minute! I'm still trying to process this… you two know each other?" Ana asked incredulously.

"Yeah, unfortunately. We were in the same year group at school." Potter explained.

"You went to… what was its name… Hogwarts, too?" she questioned, her eyebrows almost shooting off of her face altogether.

"So, Draco, you told her about Hogwarts did you? Did you tell her everything?"

"No Potter, I'm not that stupid."

"What didn't you tell me?"

Unfortunately for Ana, her words were fully ignored by both Harry and I. We were more interested in what the other had to say. After our graduation from school I'd had hopes that I would never have to lay eyes on Harry ever again, but I was obviously not favoured by the power in the heavens that day.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Potter asked, his brows furrowing as he tried to figure out my incentive for staying in such a small, trashy town as the one we were standing in. "Why would you come here? I doubt you ever even stepped onto a street of muggle London, so why this town?"

"What's a muggle?" piped the female voice, growing ever more frustrated.

"Do I really need a reason to be here?" I asked to which Potter nodded his head in response, "I figured that I needed to get away from the mansion for a while. Father mentioned something about me getting more in touch with the world I live in and so I picked this little town to start off in. So what's your reason for being here?"

"You live in a mansion? Why don't you have any money then?"

"I came here just after we graduated. I met Ana and we became friends. I'm back here to check up on her and catch up on any news that I may have missed out on. Obviously I've missed out on a lot if you're here. You have to have some sort of deeper incentive to leave the mansion. I somehow doubt that you'd just leave it because your father wanted you to see the world. I don't think he'd even want you to see the muggle world!"

I ignored his statements and carried on with ones of my own, "What about Granger and the Weasel… are they here too?" I demanded.

"No, they're still in London. When I came up here I was alone."

Ana looked as though she were about to explode. Her face had turned a none too pleasant shade of red and her eyes were squinted in anger.

"You two weren't friends were you?"

"No." I answered bluntly.

"We came from different sides of the school. Draco was the stuck up kid with an easy childhood, I was…" I could see him searching for words to describe what school was like for him, though I'd never expected him to say what he continued with, "the boy who lived… and about that Malfoy," Harry said, turning his attention back to me, "you're being here wouldn't have anything to do with you working for Him would it?"

I swallowed the sudden excess saliva that found its way into my mouth imperceptibly and shook my head violently no. I hadn't been around him for ten minutes and already he'd picked up on my reason to be there.

"Why would it have anything to do with Him? I am allowed to be here with other reasons from that, you know."

"Who's 'Him'?" Ana voiced her question.

"Someone who shouldn't be spoken about." Harry explained upon turning his attention back to her momentarily before his eyes snapped back to look straight into my own. "Why are you here, Malfoy?"

"I wanted to talk to Ana about something. She knows what."

"Draco," she breathed heavily, almost as though it hurt her to have to go through this again, "I've already told you, it was a mistake. I shouldn't have done it."

"But what if it wasn't a mistake?" I asked desperately, "What if it was all meant to happen like that?"

"I somehow doubt that. I can't imagine why it would happen in such a way."

"Destiny is a fickle thing. It sometimes does things in ways that don't seem to be right, but you can't do anything about it. Please, Ana. At least give it a chance!"

"What are you to going on about?" Harry suddenly butted in, raising both of his eyebrows in question.

Ana coughed slightly and turned a shade of light pink while I hung my head and muttered some none too coherent words. Harry, however, got the picture.

"You slept with him?" He asked Ana incredulously, his eyebrows in danger of going into orbit. Was it really that hard a concept to take in? We weren't that incompatible, were we?

"It was an 'in the moment' thing. I don't know what happened. Normally I wouldn't have, but I was just so upset about Sally's death that all rational thought left me and I just lived in the moment."

I sighed deeply as I listened to her words. They cut deep and I had to use all my will power to stop my eyes from tearing up. She'd given me the most beautiful thing ever and immediately afterwards she'd ripped it away from me again. I'd given her my everything and she'd just discarded it. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. I was lost in the muggle world with a broken heart stuck with my worst enemy and the girl who hurt me more than anyone else ever had.

"Are you sure?" Potter asked. I hadn't been listening to the most recent part of their conversation but as my train of thoughts came to a stand still, my attention flipped back to the situation at hand. "I mean... is this another one of your denial phases that you told me about?"

"I don't think so. I haven't been in one since when I kept telling myself that Zach was the one and I just had to overlook the ways in which he treated me. Talking about Zach, we met him in the park the other day and Draco saved me."

"Your eyes just lit up then." Potter accused her.

"What? No they didn't!" she protested her innocence.

"They did, when you said his name your eyes lit up."

This was just great. She still liked Zach. Her eyes had lit up when she'd said his name. Or at least that was what I assumed since I hadn't been watching her face at the time.

"I think your trying to protect yourself from heart break again and so you're blinding yourself to the truth that you know you feel."

"Maybe." She agreed, snubbing the toe of her shoe against the pavement.

"As much as I really don't like him and want to yell at you to do the exact opposite, I think that you should give him a chance. Maybe you'll find happiness."

"I'm not sure though. I don't know what I feel."

"Well then, give a relationship a try."

She nodded at Harry and he excused himself, claiming that he had some important work to get back to in London and he needed to go and catch his train back before he missed it. I knew that that was a down right lie. He was going to apparate but I figured that just like me, Potter hadn't told Ana about his being a wizard.

Ana and I stood in silence for a few minutes before Ana broke it, the sound of her voice slicing it.

"So… what do you think?"

"What do I think about what?" I asked stupidly, blinking once.

"About the proposition."

She was playing with riddles. She didn't want to say what ever it was out right so she referred to other ways of mentioning it. She didn't seem to have clicked on that I hadn't been paying that much attention to her conversation with Potter and had simply assumed that they'd been talking about Zach.

I shrugged my shoulders in attempted nonchalance.

"I thought that was what you wanted?" she puzzled, her forehead wrinkled in incomprehension.

"Wherever did you get the idea that I wanted you to give Zach another chance?"

"Whoever said anything about giving Zach another chance? I would never go back to Zach even if someone paid me to do it. We weren't talking about him anyway."

"Whom were you talking about then?" I questioned, my heart barely daring to lift.

"You."

My stomach did a couple of back flips as I took in what she'd just said to me. It was turning into its own little circus act. Did that mean that she was saying that she was willing to try a relationship with me?

Before I could fully take in the situation I felt her arms around me and her head leaning against my shoulder. I wrapped my own arms around her too before I'd even comprehended what I was doing.

I felt my lips pressing up against her cheeks and leaving a small butterfly kiss behind them.

It was then that I knew that everything was going to be ok and that I was finally happy.

I panted as I ran through dark alleyway after dark alleyway. My one destination and what I had to do once I got there was the only thing in my mind. It was screaming at me to speed up and go quicker. I couldn't be too late. That wasn't allowed. I couldn't live with myself if I was.

I rounded another corner and found myself at a dead end. I panicked as I regarded the ten-foot brick wall keeping me from what was on the other side. For a moment I considered trying to climb it since I couldn't think of any other way of getting to the other side.

I wasn't thinking straight. My mind kept flashing possible presents in front of my eyes and it was the fear that these flashes caused that pushed me forwards. I couldn't afford to be too late. I just couldn't.

Suddenly it dawned upon me that I was magical and could easily use magic to get to the other side of the barrier.

I concentrated hard and after a loud 'pop'ping sound had filled the air; I reopened them to find myself where I wanted to be.

I was relieved. I hadn't practiced magic in almost nine months. There were only two people left on the list now and earlier on in the day I'd received another of those phone calls to let me know that the next one was going down. I hadn't given it a second thought at the time, and it was only afterwards that I realized my stupidity.

The sound of panicked screaming pierced through the silence of the back streets and I knew that I was almost there.

Upon rounding the last of the corners I came face to face with what was single handedly the worst scene I had ever laid eyes on.

Ana was backed up against a wall; she couldn't possibly escape because five large beefy men and one taller more slender man were surrounding her. All six of them were hooded so I couldn't tell who they were and they had their wands out. I knew what would happen next if I didn't react.

I took a good look at Ana's face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and I could tell that she knew that she wasn't going to get out of this alive. All of a sudden her screams stopped and she attempted to compose herself. She stood up straighter and furiously wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks with the back of her palm.

The memory of that evening when I'd returned to the flat flashed at the front of my mind. How I'd searched the whole flat for any trace of her but hadn't found one. How it had suddenly clicked and I'd screamed my frustration and fear to the silence. How I'd kicked the coffee table in my anger before I'd fled from the flat and to the back streets of the town. I'd had no idea where they'd taken her but I'd known that my time was limited.

Low mutterings caught my attention and I closed my eyes again. A small 'pop' sounded and I opened my eyes to find the attention of all six of the Death Eaters concentrated solely on me.

I turned to reassure myself that Ana was all right behind me. Her eyes were wide and fear still clouded her view but I could detect a trace of relief at the same time. I faced my allies again, reaching a hand back for Ana to take. To my peace of mind, she did. I squeezed her hand slightly in an attempt to reassure her. I didn't know whether it had worked or not.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" A booming voice, belonging to one of the beefy men, asked me.

"Are you here to help with the mission?" A second asked, this man even larger and beefier than the first.

I didn't respond. I just kept my steely gaze upon them, making sure that they didn't try anything at all.

"No." A drawl very similar to my own filled the air, catching my attention, "he's here to protect the girl."

"What? Lucius, how do you know that?"

My attention was solely on the sixth and lankier man now. I cursed myself for not having recognized him before then.

"He's my son, Hendcay. I know when he's not here for pleasure. Just look at how tense and alert he is. He's obviously not here to help complete the mission. Aren't I right, Draco?"

Suddenly my father reached up and pulled off his mask so that he could see me better. His long silver blonde hair that matched my own fell down his back and his cold eyes locked on mine.

"No." I replied simply.

"Something has happened to change to Draco over the time that he has been away from the Master, hasn't it Draco? I barely recognize him anymore."

"Yes. Something has happened, and it's too late to take it all back again now."

"Come on, Draco. Be a good boy and move out of the way. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home and to bed." It was the beefy man my father had called Hendcay who said this.

"No. I'm not moving."

"But, Draco…" one of them started to protest.

"I'm not moving. You're not taking this life."

"No. Draco isn't going to let us fulfil our mission and we'll have to report back to the Master empty handed. That wouldn't go down too well with Him though now, would it?" My father drawled.

"You can say what you like. I'm not letting your take the girl."

"How could you Draco? You come from a pure bloodline and she's a muggle! A dirty muggle! She doesn't deserve anything but death!"

"That's not true!" I objected, "she's never known about what we have. How could she be expected to have magic in her blood if she's never had any wizards or witches in her family line?"

"How could you do this to your family, Draco? Don't we deserve more than this? We brought you up the right way, we gave you everything, and you… you fall in love with a muggle!"

A collective gasp came from the other men in the street but I didn't even bat and eyelid.

"Yes. I fell in love with her. And now that I am in love, it's too late to turn back the clock and return to the time when I didn't know her. I can't pretend that I never met her and just continue my life like that. Too many things are different now."

"You fell in love with one of your victims, Draco. You knew that she had to die before you even started! How could you allow yourself to slip?"

"Why though? Tell me why? Why does He want her dead? What could she ever do to Him? She's a muggle, He's… He's Him!"

"You would have to ask Him that. Maybe she's capable of spawning magical children who could be a danger to Him in the future. I wouldn't know. But I do know that we can't just let her go."

"We have to take her life, Draco." Another of the men said gently, as though he were trying to coach me into stepping away and exposing their target for the tiniest of seconds. Enough for them to throw a curse at her.

"NO!" I yelled, the word echoing around the silent street, "I'm not letting you! If you want the girl, you have to take me first!"

I whipped out my wand and pointed it at them all, my most dangerous look on my face.

There was a dangerously loud 'boom' and purple smoke curled around the figure of the newest arrival to our party. I unconsciously shrunk back a couple of steps away from the menacing figure.

"Draco, Draco, Draco." The cold voice hissed at me, "I expected more from you. You've disappointed me."

I shuddered involuntarily and I felt Ana's grip on my hand become dangerously tight. I didn't blame her. In fact I was surprised that she hadn't screamed or fainted from fear. The first time one laid eyes on the Master wasn't a pleasant experience.

Those blood red, almost snake like eyes dug into me. Worming out the truth from the very depths of my soul.

"I'm sorry Draco, but the girl needs to go. And if you refuse to let her go with out going down yourself, well then, you'll just have to die with her, won't you?"

His voice sent shivers through my whole body that I desperately tried to hide from Him. I couldn't tell whether he saw them or not. He seemed to be indifferent to all that was going on in the alley.

A sudden idea struck me. How was it that He couldn't touch Potter? Love. His mother had died to protect him and it was the love that had protected him from the Master. The Master couldn't comprehend the notion of love. And what did I have in that alley other than love to protect me?

I pulled Ana around to me and kissed her passionately. She kissed back with her everything. I didn't have any doubts that she saw this as her last possible chance to kiss me.

"Draco," she whispered, "I see now that I don't know the whole story. But if I'm going to go, I want you to know that I love you before I do."

"I love you too, Ana, I love you too."

I pulled her into a more romantic kiss, confirming my proclamation of love before I pulled back from her and pointed my wand at the Master.

His eyes widen as He realized what it was that I was doing. I hit Him with a paralysing spell, that I hadn't been sure would work but thankfully did, before taking Ana's hand in mine. I reached out and touched His chest, above where His none existent heart should have been situated.

There was a slight burning sensation as we touched Him but I wouldn't let go. Soon enough there was a hole burning through His chest like acid and I realized that our work had been done. There was only one last thing that remained to be done.

I bound His spirit to his body before turning back to the other men who were watching me. This time, He wasn't going to come back again.

"Who's next?" I asked, my voice cold.

They all shook their heads, still dumb struck.

His body fell to the floor, lifeless, an empty shell.

"Draco… you just killed the Master. No one has ever been able to kill Him before. How did you do it?" my father asked, his face a mask of horror.

"Love." I answered him simply before turning back to Ana and wrapping her up in my arms. "I think it's time to leave." I whispered in her ear.

"You're going to have one hell of a lot of explaining to do when we get back to the flat!"

"I promise you, I will do."

"You're just lucky that I love you so damn much."

"I know." I said leaning down and catching her lips with my own before I apparated back to the flat where a cup of coffee, the sofa and a long explanation awaited us.

---

A/N: Random little thing I wrote a while ago. I've spiced it up a bit and I may go over it again later. I didn't want to change it from its original format though.