Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me – they belong to Stephenie Meyer – except Anastasia and Scorpius

Apov

I walked into the house feeling potentially pleased with myself, I had virtually mastered setting seven different trees alight with Scorpius's blue fire. Who said it was too complicated. Give it a few months and maybe i could set fire to as many as he could.

However now I was bored and sat down in the living room rubbing my eyes. I didn't feel in the mood to study my spell book or talk to anyone in particular.

What to do? I thought

You could get me some chicken Zarbien replied looking hopeful

I gave him a look and he scowled.

Fine he said snootily and walked off indignantly to the kitchen with his tail held high

My lip twitched slightly as I watched him disappear. It's not everyday you see a cat go off in a huff.

I gave a stretch and pulled off my black jacket hanging it on the side of the sofa. I looked in the full long length mirror on the wall at myself and pulled a comb through my long straight black hair.

It had been a relatively hot day at least for Forks it had and Bella's father wasn't going to be home for a while so I pulled off my black T-shirt and tossed it onto the floor giving my body some air pulling up one of my bra straps back up to my shoulder.

I looked back up to the mirror pulling my knees up to my body. My image was smiling back at me.

"You don't have to stop there you know" it said

I gave a jump in alarm and slowly my imaged changed hair shortening to just past my shoulders eyes going jet black a long trench coat wrapped around my body. My mouth fell open as I stared at the whole new figure before me.

"Zeke!" I shouted

"The one and only" he replied

I could only stare at him. Was I imagining him? Was I fantasizing?

"Oh-Oh my God how-how did you break the network? I thought you're not allowed communication at Darkhalls?" I said confused and thrilled

"You're not. But this is me we're talking about so I think we can both make the exception" he smirked

I put a hand to my mouth taking in his face, his pale conplexure, his dark features, so familiar. I bit my lip emotions shooting through me by the dozen. I could hardly believe it was him. He must have gotten through the reflection network, that was not permitted. No-one including Zeke generally broke the law for they had one hell of a family reputation to uphold, what would they do if they found out Zeke had done this just to talk to me?

"Where are you?" he asked

"In my sister's father's house" I said giving the living room a brief glance

"The human?" he said with evident distaste

I nodded. He'd never liked humans, his whole family were rather prejudiced against them but I'd managed to persuade Zeke to get past it a bit, with Bella and my mother anyway.

A dark shape slithered over Zeke's shoulder and round his neck. Zeke's familiar, a long black snake bigger than a python with slits for eyes and fangs sharper than a vampires.

Zeke smiled down at it.

"And Ivoros sends his greetings too" he added

I smiled knowing Zeke's familiar had never liked me. He still hadn't got over the fact that I had a human mother.

"What's going on at Darkhalls?" I asked "What's it like there?"

I had asked this question several times during his first year there when he came back in the holidays but I wanted to know again.

He gave me a run down of everything, we talked for over an hour at least, we didn't bother to talk about Forks, hell what was there to talk about? When he asked which was obviously just to be gentlemanlike – all Zeke's family were brought up like that since they were so high in upper-class magical society – I merely replied that I was dying of magic lack briefly explaining my situation.

He shook his head "I couldn't do it, I simply couldn't. I would have run away in less than a week"

I smiled "I did consider it but Bella would have slowed me down too much"

"You'd just leave her behind" he shrugged

"Zeke we've been over this Bella's my sister, she knows about magic and is not your everyday dim-witted human" I said firmly

"Yeah yeah if you say so" he said dismissively

At this point Zarbien walked into the room now in the form of a lion with a full sized chicken in his jaws. He looked towards the mirror and his eyes widened.

How did he contact us?

'I don't know and I don't care' I replied

Well tell him hello from me

Zarbien seemed to approve of Zeke and although Zeke's familiar may not be the biggest fan of me he had definitely made friends with Zarbien which was one good thing.

I was now right up next to the mirror and felt the urge to brush my fingers across it so as to touch his face which I had wanted to do for so long, but didn't because this was real life and not a cheap romance movie.

Still the temptation to have him here was tremendous.

At that point I heard the door open and spun round shooting out a hand, it slammed shut as I locked it with magic. Zarbien transformed into a cat fast.

"Hey what's going on" came Bella's father's voice from outside banging on the door. I rolled my eyes.

"What is going on?" asked Zeke curiously from the mirror

"Sister's father trying to break in" I said apologetically

Zeke's familiar gave a hiss and although I couldn't understand him could imagine what he wanted me to do to Bella's father. It wasn't pretty.

Then suddenly Bella ran out from the other doorway towards the front door.

"Anastasia let him in" she said

"Were you spying on me?" I said indignantly

"Later let Charlie in. Wrap it up with Zeke okay" she said trying full hardedlt to unlock the door. When she touched it it gave off an electric shock, the same on her fathers side, bonus.

I laughed out loud "You wish, I'm talking to Zeke for as long as I like. Your excuse for a father will have no say in it"

This communication could actually take up the whole night, if I had a say in it I would just like him to step through the God damn mirror and appear before me in person.

"Bella" came her father's voice again "Bella unlock the door"

"He'll freeze to death out there it's getting dark and cold" she implored

"Your point being?" I asked and Bella glared at me

"Anastasia, get your clothesback on and open the door, now!" she hissed

I looked down at myself and realised I hadn't put my T-shirt back on. I leant down and pulled my T-Shirt over my head once more then turned to Bella.

"He can use the back door tell him this one's broken" I said turning back to Zekeknowing that human would swallow any excuse his daughter gave him.

Bella read her gullible father some story which he seemed to swallow like the idiot he was, it wasn't even a good excuse. Any idiot would know that this door was not broken and with Bella's uncreative voice only he would not notice the lies woven into it. How he succeeded as a police officer I will never know.

I turned back to Zeke as she left to meet him round the back of the house.

"I would have knocked him out cold" Zeke said pointedly

"I know" I nodded "But you don't have a sister"

"True" he agreed but I could tell he didn't care

We talked some more, some of which I made sure Bella wasn't eavesdropping, nosy sister. But as the saying goes all good things must come to an end.

"I wish I could talk to you for longer, well I wish I could talk to you pretty much all night but soon people are going to come in and even I will not be permitted to be using the reflection network in Darkhalls" he said

My heart sunk like that badly built human boat the Titanic taken down by a group of hypnotic ice witches.

"When can I talk to you again?" I asked trying to mask my disappointment. All my defences went down when I talked to Zeke.

He shook his head "I don't think I'll be able to pull this off again. My family will kill me if I'm caught and people know about this" at this point he pointed to his face "Future of the family honour on my shoulders"

Stupid family honour I thought and I felt sympathy in the direction of Zarbien. Usually I hated sympathy but now I felt I kind of deserved it.

"Goodbye" he said. His voice was almost impossible to read and his black eyes were as always just endless pools of infinite darkness but behind the impassiveness I was sure he was sad, I certainly was.

"Wait" I said suddenly making Zarbien jump slightly he had had no warning for I had spoken without thinking "I-I want you to know I really missed you"

I wouldn't have said that to anyone but Zeke and Zarbien. Not even Bella. In front of Zeke though my vulnerability could just shine out of me as all my control was lost in a range of new feelings.

He smiled "I missed you too"

His image faded away to be replaced with mine.

"I love you" I said but was only staring at my own longing reflection.