Chapter Four

His heart was pounding through his chest. The only sounds around him were his heavy breathing and his footfalls through the forest. He was running for his life.

He slipped on some mud in the darkness, but remained vertical and composed himself. He then took in what he could of his dark surroundings, the light of the full moon filtering through the high branches. He had finally reached a point where he felt that his pursuer would not care enough to continue. For now at least.

He then saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head and raised his wand, ready to attack. But it was only Anastasia who walked out from beneath the cover of the trees.

He lowered his wand and smiled.

"My Ana," he whispered into the air.

"There you are, my Dragon," she said with a British accent, and a smile creeping on her lips.

~.~

Draco practically jumped out of his skin. He awoke from one of the strangest dreams of his life in a cold sweat, with his sheets tangled around his legs. What the fuck just happened, he thought. All he could remember was that he was running through a forest and suddenly that damn Anastasia was there. I am going mad, that can be the only explanation, he concluded. Or that he had spent half the night writing a potions essay because he couldn't help but to overanalyze the meaning of the note that had been left in his bag the day before. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, and dropped his head in his hands. It's going to be along year. He got up and mechanically began dressing himself, looking out the window into the depths of the Black Lake, watching as a few Grindylows began to fight each other. Finally drawing his attention away from them, he pulled on his cloak, grabbed his bag and headed out of the empty dorm, towards the common room.

Pansy practically jumped in his pants when he walked in, obviously forgiving him for "ignoring her."

"Draco! Merlin, what kept you? I have been waiting for at least an hour for you to show up! We must get to breakfast!"

Pansy continued to shrilly discuss everything about her first day, all the while making sure that everyone whom they passed knew they were an item. Draco would have shaken her off and told her to go annoy the hell out of someone else, but was too unfocused to do so. As they walked into the Great Hall and took their seats near Blaise, Draco continued to ponder over the note, furious that he couldn't figure out whether it was a joke or if it was sincere.

As they ate their breakfast Pansy took over the conversation, not bothering to realize that she was practically having it with herself. She finally got brave and decided, in order to get Draco's attention, to almost sit in his lap. Draco, who was still functioning mechanically, just tried to consume his breakfast as best he could with the obstruction in his midst.

Blaise, who had been observing the two since they walked into the Hall, had also noticed that Anastasia couldn't keep her eyes off the pair. He had always loved to "stir the pot", and decided to make his sixth year just a tad more interesting.

"You might find it repulsive, but that new Gryffindor girl can't stop staring at you." Blaise whispered into Draco's ear, making sure that Pansy wouldn't hear.

What was just uttered from Blaise's lips seemed to snap Draco back into reality. He finally realized what exactly Pansy was doing.

"What the fuck are you doing Pansy? Get off me!" Draco hissed at her.

Pansy, who was entirely lost, just stared helplessly at Draco, hoping that the blond would quickly revert back to how he was acting only moments ago. Blaise simply smiled, and turned back to his porridge.

Draco, who had had enough of Pansy's antics over the years, tried to simply push her off of him but failed to realize his own strength and ended up pushing her to the ground. She squealed and began to cry, looking up at Draco as though he had just slapped her across the face with a red hot poker.

"How DARE you, Draco Malfoy! What gives you the right to treat me like a piece of shite? I am sick of it!" she blubbered through her tears. "And I am sick of you! This is over! I never want to see you again!" With that, she ran out of the hall and it was all too easy for Draco to imagine a pug running away with its tail between its legs.

"Merlin, I swear she gets more mental every year," Draco commented to Blaise, who only responded with a condescending glance, and returned his attention to his breakfast. Draco composed himself, and remembered the cause of the scene with Pansy. His eyes immediately shot towards the Gryffindor table, where they were soon met with a pair of dazzling blue-grey eyes that winked at him.

She tore her gaze away from the Slytherin Prince, and glanced down at her half-eaten bacon and toast. She let a smile play on her lips, pleased with the effect that she was having over the blonde.

"Anastasia, what are you so happy about?" The bushy haired brunette asked her, obviously surprised to see the girl whom she considered a friend smiling. It was only then did Anastasia realize that she had yet to crack a genuine smile since the official school year had begun.

"I am just excited for Transfiguration. It was my best subject at S.W.I."

It was only her second day and she was already weaving a complicated web of lies. Saying that Transfiguration was her best subject was not the lie, but rather that it was her best subject at S.W.I. She hadn't even gone there as a student, but rather a teacher! The American Ministry of Magic may not run things as the Brits would like, but there is one thing that even the British cannot deny, and it is that their American counter parts are incredibly accepting of other species.

In America, it did not matter that she was no longer human. It also did not matter that, physically, she was sixteen. All that mattered was the knowledge she possessed.

"Anastasia, come on! We must get to Transfiguration!" Hermione's voice brought her out of the thought.

Her stomach growled in response.

She looked up, embarrassed. "I think I'll finish off my bacon. Go on, I'll be there before you know it." Hermione was skeptical of leaving her alone, but was pulled out of the Hall by her friends.

Anastasia wasn't hungry. She was thirsty. She hadn't properly fed herself in almost two days, and it was beginning to show. She was becoming angry at the drop of a hat and couldn't focus on something for more than a few minutes. She wondered if she would be able to sprint up to her room and quench the thirst that was slowly taking over her mind. It was then that she realized the Hall was practically empty, and she had mere moments to get to Transfiguration. She grabbed her bag and stretched her muscles to the fullest. She was walking into Transfiguration just as the bell rang to begin class.

She glanced around for an empty desk to find that Meryl and Lawrence had saved her a seat. It was only then she remembered that Professor McGonagall knew their secret. She met the eyes of the Professor, who gave her a knowing gaze and gestured for her to take her seat. She sat down, took out her book and some parchment to take notes, even though she wouldn't need them.

"Before we get started on notes, I want to test your abilities. First, you will transfigure these beetles into buttons. I know that we have done this many times, but we are easing back into the year."

She then conjured two beetles for every student, which appeared on the desk in front of them. Everyone in the room was able to get through the first three objects, but it was the fourth assignment that gave a few some difficulties.

"I would like everyone to transfigure a scroll of parchment into a silver dagger. Once you have done this, do not touch it. I will come around and collect them. Proceed," she told the class.

Anastasia had no problem with this. She simply muttered the incantation, waved her wand, and a gleaming dagger was lying on the desk before her. She glanced around the room, which caused her to notice that a certain blond whipped his head around to face the front when she looked in his general direction. She smiled to herself. This is going to be easier than I thought.

"Already finished Miss Hunt?" Professor McGonagall said while looking over her dagger.

"Yes Professor."

"You did a very nice job. Do you enjoy Transfiguration?"

"Yes, it is my favorite subject and happens to be my best."

Suddenly a scream broke through the room. A Hufflepuff girl had picked up her dagger, against Professor McGonagall's instructions, and was now bleeding a good bit from her left palm.

Anastasia focused. There it was, freely dripping from such a weak human. Her pupils expanded making her eyes completely black, while her fangs elongated, and she poised to pounce on her prey. But before two seconds had passed since the scream had echoed through the room Meryl and Lawrence were each grabbing an arm and dragging her out of the room. She still had enough of her mind to remember not to fight her friends, and relaxed her limbs. Once the three were in the hall with the door firmly shut behind them, Meryl and Lawrence threw her against the opposite wall.

It was Meryl who went off first.

"What the hell were you thinking, Ana? Why would you not feed yourself properly? We have a limitless supply of blood from the nearest muggle hospital, why are you not abusing your share? You know that you have always had it the worst out of the four of us. You have always needed to quench your thirst more often than Lawrence and I, even more than -"

"Don't say his name," Anastasia interrupted.

"Fair enough," Lawrence answered.

Meryl stopped and threw Lawrence an exasperated look, which he returned with a simple shrug of his shoulders. She closed her eyes and composed herself before continuing.

"Ana, you are ten times stronger than Lawrence and I combined. Why did you not fight back when we grabbed you?"

"I have been practicing keeping my mind once my fangs come out, as cliché as it sounds. But if we would have been in there for any longer I would have probably killed you both to get to the girl," she replied.

McGonagall then cracked her door and peered out.

"I am not going to address what just happened right now. Get her to Gryffindor tower where she can fix her issue. I am bringing Hannah out so that she may visit Madam Pomfrey, so make yourselves scarce."

Meryl and Lawrence hoisted Anastasia by her arms as the three sprinted off in the general direction of Gryffindor tower.

Of course it would be a Hufflepuff who would disobey McGonagall. He may not like the Head of Gryffindor House, but he certainly respected her. He heard a bench scraping against the ground and turned his head to find the source of the noise, but all he saw was the new Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff dragging Anastasia out of the room. His body began to move of its own accord, and he stood up as if to follow the three out of the room.

"Sit back down, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall barked at him.

He slumped down, and rested his chin in his hand while stealing another glance towards the door. Anastasia had yet to walk back through. What is wrong with her? And why the hell do I care so much.

~.~

When he walked into Potions later that day Anastasia was already in her seat, casually chatting with Theodore and Blaise. His fellow Slytherins looked up and waved him over, obviously enjoying their conversation. He took his seat just as Slughorn waddled into the room. The Professor described today's lesson, a coughing potion, and told them to get to work.

Now is my chance, he thought. It was now or never. I could causally mention the note, and hope for a positive response.

But wait. Why do I want her help? I am perfectly capable of brewing a potion on my own.

By accepting her help, I would be spending more time getting to know her.

But why do I want to spend my time in the midst of a lowly Gryffindor?

But Blaise and Theodore obviously like her, so she had to have some redeeming qualities.

She is also fiercely attractive.

But she is arrogant enough to think that I would need her help.

But I actually do need her assistance because I had never brewed a potion quite that complicated before.

While Draco was at war with himself, Blaise was observing him. It was quite obvious what was going on in the blonde's head, and he noticed that the girl was keeping a sly eye on Draco all the while. Why was she so fascinated by him? Thankfully Draco was oblivious to her curious gaze because it might propel him into hysterics.

Draco had almost finished the battle in his mind when he caught a waft of a particularly pleasing scent. His eyes involuntarily closed as he inhaled as much of the intoxicating scent as he could: amber. But where was it coming from? It was only when he opened his eyes that he noticed Anastasia had her hair down and his nose was mere inches from it. He quickly repositioned himself, and returned his focus to his potion.

He didn't remember that one of the smells wafting from the potion of Amortentia last class was amber.

It had been a long day, especially considering her slip up earlier. McGonagall told her that if it happened again they would make sure that she never set foot onto Hogwarts grounds again.

That certainly brought everything into a new light.

She promised herself that she would have at least two bags a day from now on. She had feasted upon seven of them after Meryl and Lawrence had escorted her back to Gryffindor tower. Now she felt as though everything was sloshing around inside her, but she was in a considerably better mood and her skin no longer had the pasty complexion to it that was characteristic of not quenching ones thirst.

She was sitting at dinner, pushing her chicken around with her fork and with her chin resting in her free hand. She glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who were sitting next to her. The two, plus Harry, were the perfect set of friends, each offsetting the others in a way that made you want to be part of that inner circle. And, of course, practically everyone wanted to be The Chosen One's acquaintance. He was a hot topic nowadays. Did Harry Potter know how lucky he was? Yes, he is the only one that can vanquish the Dark Lord, but he will defeat him. He will get to grow up, have a family, and live a wonderfully full life. And eventually, he will die.

It was a luxury that was not an option for her.

There is nothing she wouldn't do to become human again.

She was 957 years old, and she would do anything to be released from the cursed life she was forced to live.

It was Meryl who brought her out of her pity-party.

"Come on, you said you wanted to go to the library before we went to Astronomy, right?"

Realizing that it was nearly ten o'clock, and they had to be in the Astronomy tower by eleven for the start of class, snapped Anastasia back to reality. She gathered her bag and watched as her plate shimmered away. As the three began to walk towards the library, they ran into Harry. He looked extremely uncomfortable with the situation he had just been thrust into.

"Er, may I speak to you Anastasia? Alone?"

She nodded, and told Meryl and Lawrence that she would just meet them up in the Astronomy tower. When she turned back to Harry, it was like she was looking at a totally different person. He appeared no longer uncomfortable, but determined.

"I just came from Dumbledore's office."

Oh no. He knows.

"He told me – he told me to trust you."

She was immensely confused, and it showed on her face. Until she realized that Dumbledore had probably just fed Harry her "story".

"He said to trust you no matter what, to not question any of your actions. He also said that it would be in my best interest to become your ally, but to keep it a secret. I would not normally do anything of this sort, but I would trust Dumbledore with my life, so I am going to take his word on this." He paused, and looked her straight in the eyes. "So, allies?" He said, while offering her his hand.

She reached out and grasped it. "No one can know," she said.

"No one," he echoed.

~.~

By the time she finally arrived in Astronomy, the class was already paired up.

There were only five other people in the class: Meryl, Lawrence, two other Ravenclaws whose names she did not know, and Draco Malfoy. And, as fate would have it, Draco was the one lacking a partner. She approached Professor Sinistra, apologized for her tardiness and asked what they should be doing at the moment.

"Well, for N.E.W.T. level Astronomy I want you working in pairs so that you may observe more and see the stars through the eyes of another. Mr. Malfoy does not have a partner, so you two shall be paired up for the year. All we are doing for the night is plotting the position of the planets, as well as which constellations are in the sky. Get to work, and I stress that you should not be tardy to my class again."

"I won't be, Professor. Again, I am sorry," she replied, and walked over to join her new partner.

Draco was bent over his parchment, obviously enthralled with his work. It was then that she truly took notice of him. He is so tall, she thought. His back was completely arched and it appeared to be quite uncomfortable, but it seemed that Draco did not take any notice of this. She approached the desk, and set her things on the table. Draco jumped at the noise, and scowled down at his paper. He quickly jerked his head up with a foul look upon his face until he realized who his partner would be, his face then showed nothing but surprise and it appeared that he was at a loss for words.

"I suppose that I never formally introduced myself. I'm Anastasia," she said, with a smile playing on her lips.

"I'm – I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy," he stammered. "Don't expect me to do all the work in this class, I have heard nothing but atrocious things about American intelligence."

"Well, Draco, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, should you?" She retorted as she withdrew a quill and parchment from her bag.

He didn't have a response for that.

The two continued strained small talk for a short time while they mapped out the planets and constellations. She could tell that Draco was practically itching to ask her something, and made sure to keep herself open to conversation. He kept glancing at her, obviously trying to find the perfect moment to bring up his question.

"So, Anastasia. It seems to me that you think yourself better than I."

"And what makes you think that, Draco?" she said while continuing to focus on her parchment, which threw him off. He quickly recovered.

"The note that you slipped into my bag after Potions yesterday."

She finally met his eyes. She expected to see them filled with superiority and arrogance, but she couldn't help but to notice that they were nothing but curious and even had a glimmer of hope in their silver depths.

"Well, I was wondering how long it would take you to mention it," she responded, setting her quill aside and focusing her attention on him.

"So you do think yourself better than I?"

"No. I simply wanted to help my peer. It seemed to me that you seriously wanted a vial of Felix Felicis, and I can help you make a whole cauldron of it. Why would I not want to offer you my services?"

He thought over her response, obviously skeptical of receiving help from a girl he barely knew. She only hoped that he wouldn't refuse her help on account of the fact that she was a Gryffindor.

"Fine. I'll let you help me. But what is your price? Galleons?"

"Oh no, no, no. I already have enough of those. Don't worry about payment for the time being. I will let you know when you can repay me."

She could see the skepticism on his face. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't want her help. She would have refused help from someone if they had offered her what she was offering Draco.

"Fine. We have a deal. But if you mess something up, all bets are off and I will owe you absolutely nothing."

He was finally back in his room, changing into appropriate sleep clothes.

He was content with the progress made with Anastasia today, and even happier that her note was not a joke, but she truly wanted to help him.

It is idiotic to agree to something without knowing how to pay a person. If you can't pay them until they tell you the charge you are in their debt. I can't be in her debt. I haven't even known her for a week.

But he couldn't deny that the idea of spending more time with her was probably the only light in his dark world. It didn't make him happy, it just gave him something to look forward to.

As he settled in between the silver sheets of his four poster bead, he let his mind play around with the idea of a friendship with Anastasia, and, possibly, something more than friendship.

It was with that thought his left forearm began to burn from the inside out, as if it was the only part of his body being subject to the Cruciocurse. He ripped back the sheets to stare at the hideous mark. It was darker and more sinister than the last time he let his eyes drift to it, as if it was saying in his horrible voice, Don't forget your task, Draco.Your mother's life depends upon it.

That brought him back to the reality of his situation. He realized that he couldn't focus too much of his attention on Anastasia. He was simply going to use her to procure some Felix Felicis. He wasn't even sure if he could use the potion to get out of his task anymore. He wasn't going to risk his mother's life. But he wasn't going to kill someone either.

I have to have that potion. Three lives depend upon it.

He only hoped that Anastasia was up to the task.