Tall cloaked figures gathered around a chair on a platform in a dank dungeon looking room. In the chair was a dark cloaked figure with a snake wrapped around it. Raven didn't really enjoy these meetings and usually avoided them, but this one intrigued her because she was told not to come to it. So, naturally being the curious person that she is, she went anyways disguised under an invisibility cloak.
"My lord, are you sure you want Raven at Hogwarts?" a man with very little hair and a grey beard asked.
"Yes…" Voldemort answered vehemently. "Do you dare to question my decision?"
"No, my lord, I would never," the man said hastily. "It's just we've all heard rumors that Potter and his friends aren't coming back to Hogwarts and if Raven's purpose is to watch Potter then why send her somewhere he isn't going to be?"
"He will go there eventually and besides his beloved Ginny is there. He would always be in contact with her. We need someone there watching for any sign of him!" Voldemort yelled at the man, who quickly stepped back with a bowed head and muttered, "Yes my lord."
Raven smiled to herself as she watched her father be put in his place. Raven's smile immediately left her face when she heard Lucius Malfoy speak next.
"My lord, what if that old bat tells her the truth about who she is? You have to think that Dumbledore told her." Raven stared at him.
"That is a risk I'm going to have to take. If the old bat tells her about her heritage then hopefully she has been raised right to keep fighting for our cause and not join Potter just because he is her brother. I have faith in Raven; she will always be on our side, no matter what." Voldemort said a matter-of-factly.
Raven stood there in complete shock. She couldn't listen anymore as quietly as possible she ran from the room and Apparated to Malfoy Manor. She and Draco had been friends for as long as she could remember. They had grown up together and right now she just needed someone she could trust and she knew that was Draco. She came crashing through the front door and almost flattened Blinkie, the Malfoy's house elf.
"Miss Raven!" Blinkie squeaked as she dove out of Anne's way.
"I'm so sorry Blinkie. Is Draco here?" Raven said helping Blinkie up.
"Don't apologize, Miss Raven. Blinkie is used to it since Draco was a little boy and decided to be a dog for a while. I don't think he ever decided not to be one in my mind, but don't tell him I said that." Blinkie answered dusting herself off.
"Don't worry Blinkie, I agree. Do you know where he is?"
"Yes, Miss Raven. I think he is in his room, but be careful Miss Raven. I think Miss Pansy there."
"Of course she is. Where else would she be? Her own house? I will be careful Blinkie, thank you." Raven said as she ran off down the hallway and up the staircase towards Draco's room. When she got there she stood there for a second trying to catch her breath and then knocked loudly on the door.
"Blinkie! I told you not to bother me when I have guests! Go away!" Draco shouted.
Raven shrugged her shoulders and deciding that since she wasn't Blinkie she could go in. This is exactly what she did and immediately regretted it, because she just walked in on Pansy sitting on top of Draco kissing him passionately. She stood there for a second deciding what to do and then took out her wand and yelled "Aguamenti!" Water shot out of her wand completely drenching Pansy and Draco.
Draco stood up furiously and pushed Pansy to one side so that he could see who did it. You could almost see the steam coming off of him. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR? ANNE!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Raven knew that it would take him a few minutes to calm down, so she just stood there an evil smile on her face. He stood there fuming for another minute or two until Pansy put her hand on his arm and whispered, "I think I'll go now. I'll see you later." She kissed him and then walked towards the door. She glared icicles at Anne as she went past and then she was gone.
"When will you ever learn not to come bursting into a person's room?" Draco said walking over to his dresser and picking up his wand. He muttered something under his breath and the next minute he was dry.
"I don't know, maybe when people actually decide to tell me the truth." She said closing the door and walking over to the window. She felt a tear start to run down her face. Draco came over and put his arm around her saying "What do you mean?"
"I just found out that I'm not who I thought I was." She said and then started sobbing. Draco pulled her into him and held her close. She turned into him and cried softly into his shoulder.
"You're Raven Anne. You're one of the best followers of the Dark lord and the brightest witch of our time. Granger is nothing compared to you." Draco whispered smiling.
She pulled far enough so that she could talk and said "Draco, I'm not a pureblood." His smile vanished immediately.
He stepped away from her and just stared at her. Then after a few moments he said "How is that possible? Wouldn't the Dark lord have killed you by now if he knew that?"
"Well considering whose sister I am you would think so, wouldn't you? I don't know, it seems like I'm important or something."
"Sister? You have siblings? I am so confused."
"You're confused?! Apparently, I have a brother!" she said her voice growing louder as stepped away from him, "Want to know who that is?! It's Harry Potter! Our Arch Enemy! And I thought this year couldn't get any worse!"
Draco stood there staring at her again. "Wait! What? Your Potter's sister? How does that work?" he asked rapidly.
She shook her head sadly and said "I don't know. I really don't know."
"Anne, why did you think this year couldn't get any worse?" he asked inquisitively.
"I… Well… For starters, they're making me go back to Hogwarts; I didn't really like the place to begin with. Second, I won't see my friends, the few that I had. And lastly, I'll be away from my best friend for the longest time ever."
"Your best friend? I thought you were going back to your best friend, the library." Draco said laughing.
Raven, however, wasn't laughing. She just stood there staring at the floor, once Draco's laughing subsided she said in a low tone. "Didn't you ever wonder why I never went back to the library after our fourth year? Of course you didn't. You never really cared what I did unless it directly involved you. I shouldn't have come here. I'm going to go." She turned from him and began walking away.
Draco for the third time that day stared at her dumbstruck as she walked towards the door. He didn't understand her and he was pretty sure that he never would. "Anne, wait." She stopped but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry, that was inconsiderate of me. Would you like to take a walk in the garden? Because I think Pansy will probably be coming back soon." As he said that there was a knock on the door and a high pitched voice on the other side said "Draco? I'm back. Is that thing still here?"
Raven turned around and raised an eyebrow at him saying "Thing? Since when did I become neuter?"
"Shh… do you want her to hear you?" Draco said grabbing her arm and pulling out the door onto the balcony. "This way, I have an escape route."
"Do you escape from Pansy often?" Raven asked as he pulled her over to the right side of the balcony. He shook his head and said "No, I don't usually want to. Mostly my parents and other unwanted guests." He held out his hand out for her. She took it and they went over to the railing. She looked down and there was Draco's broom. "Get on." He told her as he grabbed the broom brought it over the railing and got on it.
She shook her head starting to back away, but he held her hand tightly asking. "What's wrong?"
"You know I have a fear of flying."
"Anne, how many times are we going to go over this? I will not let anything happen to you. Just hold on to my waist." She still seemed reluctant so he added "You could always stay here and face Pansy's interrogation of where I went." Her eyes went wide and she got on behind him. She clung to his waist as tightly as possible and closed her eyes. They took off just as Pansy walked into his room but luckily for them she didn't look on the balcony until they were out of sight.
"Anne?" Draco gasped out when he had landed "Anne, I can't breathe."
She opened her eyes and once she saw they were on the ground she let go. He rubbed his ribs wincing in pain but got off anyways. She was still a little shaky so he helped her off the broom and walked her over to a nearby bench. "Please don't make me do that again."
"What are you going to do when you get married and have to ride off into the sunset on your husband's broom?" he said sitting down next to her and laughing. She shoved him off the bench and said "Well, my husband won't be a jerk like you and he won't make me. We'll just Apparate."
"Good luck finding a husband like that." Draco said picking himself up off the ground and getting back on the bench.
"Oh you're so reassuring. Why don't you be supportive for once? I don't understand why Pansy puts up with you and your negativity."
"Everyone loves me and my pessimism, because it's humorous pessimism. I mean you love me, don't you?" he asked. But she wasn't really listening stared off into space thinking.
"Um… Anne? It wasn't that hard of a question." Draco said after a minute or two.
"Oh, sorry. Of course I do, Draco." His face lit up slightly, but immediately fell when she finished. "You're my best friend; I don't think that I could ever not love you."
"Thanks, I'll remember that." He said turning from her a tinge of disappointment in his voice. Anne didn't seem to notice she simply said, "Why do you think the Dark lord kept me around for so long? I mean considering who I am and that I'm not a pureblood."
"You know Anne I'm really not sure. He obviously is planning to use you against Potter eventually, but I'm sure you already deduced that much." She nodded standing up and starting to pace. Draco let her pace for about five minutes, then said "Anne, could you stop pacing? You're making me sick."
"I'm sorry." She said as she sat back down again. "I just don't know what to do and I think better if I pace. It's sort of a habit now; I don't even realize that I'm doing it anymore."
"You could always ask the Dark lord or one of the death eaters from the meeting." Draco suggested.
"Only if I have a serious death wish. Come on Draco, you know that both of us were told not to come to that meeting. And you also know that is the only reason I went. If they found out that I was there, they would kill me on the spot. Are you trying to get me killed?" She said and then stood up to start pacing again.
"No, of course not, I like you alive." He said as she started to pace back and forth in front of him. "Please don't start pacing again; you're going to make me puke."
She stopped and said "Well, were going to get nowhere fast unless I can be moving while we talk."
"Ok, well, let's actually take a walk then." He said standing up. He took her hand in his and they started down the path. Unfortunately, Pansy had decided to take a walk in the garden until Draco came back from where ever he had gone off to and happened upon Draco and Anne. She saw him take Anne's hand and begin walk away into the depths of the garden. She was furious that he would even think about touching another girl. She waited until they were out of sight then she began to follow them.
"Draco, Pansy is following us." Raven said as they turned the corner and the bench was now out of sight. He looked at her confused. "I'm serious. I saw her as we turned the corner. I bet she saw you take me hand. She is not going to be a very happy person."
Draco sighed, shook his head and said, "Why won't she leave me alone?" Raven shrugged as he continued. "You know I have been meaning to dump her. She's gotten to controlling for my taste."
"You have taste? Since when?" Raven said laughing.
"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I have taste, much better than yours. You're dating Blaise."
"I believe the term is I DATED Blaise. We broke up at the end of last term. Besides Blaise is a good guy, unlike your Pansy. She believes that if you talk to me you're cheating on her but she did more than just talk with that Michael guy. Yes, you have taste. You have about as much taste as a rock."
"I resent that statement."
"No, you resemble that statement." She said punching him softly on the arm. "Ow!" he said rubbing his arm. "I didn't deserve that."
"Oh, yes you did and I didn't hit you that hard. Stop being a baby." She said laughing.
"I'm the baby? I'll show you who the baby is!" he said laughing, picked her up in his arms and carrying her fireman style.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy! Put me down! Put me down this instant!" Raven screamed at him while she playfully hit his back.
"Draco!?" a high pitched voice screamed from behind them. Draco turned around still holding Raven and said "Oh… Um… Hi, Pansy."
Draco gently set Raven down on the ground and ran his hand through his hair ashamedly. Raven stood there feeling the anger emanate from Pansy and wishing that she could go crawl into the nearby shrubbery.
"Draco. What do you think you are doing?" Pansy said crossing her arms.
"Hanging out with Anne."
"I'm your girlfriend. She's nobody! We all know that she isn't a pureblood!" Pansy was now screaming at the very top of her lungs.
All the color drained from Raven's face, she stared at Pansy in shock. "Pansy!?" Draco yelled. "How dare you? I want you to leave right now!"
"But Draco, I…" Pansy started saying but Draco interrupted her. "I don't care! Get out!" He turned his back on her and putting his arm around Raven guided her away from Pansy. They walked for some time in silence. Then Anne said "Thank you, Draco."
"Anne, I… Uh…"
"All you have to say is you're welcome. I don't need an explanation."
"Ok, if you say so."
There was more silence as they walked, then Raven suddenly stopped dead in tracks and said, "You've known, haven't you? You've known all this time and never said anything."
Draco stood there his back to her and said nothing so she continued "How could you do something like this to me? I thought you were my friend." Draco turned but before he could answer, she Disapperating leaving him standing there with his thoughts.
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