Ana tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, glancing at her twin. He stood leaning against one of the posts, casually talking to one of the girls from his house. Already missing her best friend, she averted her gaze from Nathan. Natasha had to stay with her muggle family this year due to everything that happened. Anastasia felt her blood boil thinking about the path her twin and parents had taken.
Nate had taken the dark mark this summer, as her father had done in his youth. Thankful for the train's arrival, she grabbed her things and quickly headed to an empty car. The girl leaned back against the seat, taking in the silence. She had spent this past summer with shouts of disappointment in her lack of willingness to conform. It was a miracle that she was allowed to come back to Hogwarts. Her parents believed that Nate would be able to knock some sense into her.
When the door to her compartment opened and Nate came in, she frowned. It was hard to be around him. They had been inseparable once, and now they barely talked with everything going on. She was better off around him. When one of his friends came in behind him and sat down, she cringed as the boy, Derick, something or other, draped his arm around her shoulders.
"Has anyone seen Malfoy?" Derick asked, ignoring Ana's discomfort.
Nate shrugged. "Pretty sure I saw him with Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabinni. Why?"
"I figured we should check and make sure we ain't got orders."
Ana watched her brother contemplating for a moment before nodding decisively. "Ana, go fetch Malfoy, will you?"
Ana rolled her eyes but was glad for the chance to escape Derick's embrace. She knew Draco wasn't going to take kindly to being told to come to the car her brother was in. The issue was he needed to talk to his companions without her, but he didn't want her somewhere he couldn't watch her. So thankful for the hundredth time she was sorted into Hufflepuff, and he couldn't keep her under his thumb at school, she made her way to Draco's car.
Knocking, she waited to hear one of them answer before opening the door slightly and leaning against the door frame. "My brother wanted to know if you had orders for him?"
Ana watched as Draco got up and towered over her. She held her ground, refusing to back up. "Tell him... that I don't pass orders along through Hufflepuffs. If he wants them, he can come here himself," he said, his voice low, making Ana roll her eyes. She had expected as much, but it didn't make it any less annoying.
"I'm pretty sure he figured as much," she grumbled under her breath. Knowing Nate, he just wanted to get her to leave the compartment so they could discuss something without her. She sighed, hesitating to leave, not wanting to go back to her brother's compartment.
"Better yet... move, Blaise," he said, glancing back at his friend. Ana watched Blaise roll his eyes but move to where Crabbe and Goyle sat. She raised an eyebrow at Draco in confusion. "Why don't you join us, Anastasia?" Draco asked, his tone low and smooth.
She looked at him, wondering if it was some sort of trap. Then, after a moment of debating, she nodded. Anything was better than having to deal with Derick. She moved to sit down where Blaise had been seated, trying not to laugh at the way Crabbe and Goyle were stuffing their faces while Blaise continued to stare out the window, disinterested in everything.
"So, what classes are you taking this year?" Ana asked, trying to ignore the feeling that she didn't belong. Sitting here was by far better than having to deal with her twin. Not to mention the bonus that he would eventually have to come looking for her.
"Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Alchemy, Dark Arts and Ancient Studies," he responded. Ana wasn't surprised. Draco was one of the top students in their year. "What about you?" he asked.
"Potions, Care of magical creatures, charms, Dark Arts, and herbology," She answered, running a hand through her hair. Potions would be a pain this year without Natasha around to help her study. "Honestly, I'm just ready for the year to be over; Nate is already driving me insane," She muttered under her breath, looking out the window at the passing scenery. She missed the smirk that crossed Draco's face at the mention of her twin. She wasn't sure what to add to the conversation or if she needed to say anything.
She was pretty confident the only reason Draco had invited her to stay was some sort of power move. She leaned back against the seat, studying the group of four boys. None of them seemed to pay any attention to each other, all lost in their thoughts. She honestly wasn't sure how Blaise and Draco could stomach being around Crabbe and Goyle unless they used them as some sort of bodyguards. "Did Pansy not come back this year?" Ana asked, hoping the answer was no. She did not get along with the girl, and she was sure Parkinson would kill her if she heard that Ana was sitting in the same care as Draco. Moreover, that girl was unnervingly possessive of the blonde male.
She turned back to look at Draco just in time to catch him grinning as he ran a hand through his hair. There was something about his smile that made her stomach flip. She had always found Draco charming and a little too handsome. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure he knew it too, which made his good looks all the more dangerous. "She's here," he said, breaking her train of thought. "Probably sitting with Millicent, Daphne, and Tracey…." He added before her brain had finished processing, he was answering her question about Pansy.
It was odd that the girl wasn't sitting with him, but Anastasia wasn't about to analyze that fact just yet. She needed to make her escape before his girlfriend tried to pull her hair out for daring to sit with the blonde. "In that case, I don't want to step on her toes. I'd hate to make her angry over a simple misunderstanding." Ana watched annoyance flicker over Draco's face before the emotion was gone, almost as soon as it appeared. Goyle snorted, and she glanced at where he was sitting to see Blaise looking amused, and Crabbe was too engrossed in his food to notice anything else.
She was surprised when Draco stood up, opening the door for her. "I'll see you in class, Anastasia," He said in farewell.
"Call me Ana. I'll see you around, Draco; it was nice talking with you. See you around Crabbe, Goyle, Zabbini," She waved goodbye, ducking out of the car. She walked back to where her brother and his friends were seated.
"You were gone for an awfully long time," Derrick said, his tone suspicious.
"I was talking to Malfoy about classes. I lost track of time. I apologize. Nate, Draco said you'll have to speak to him yourself." Ana said, taking her seat and positioning herself so Derrick couldn't throw his arm around her again.
"That's fine. I'll talk to Malfoy later. I'm glad you stayed out of trouble."
For a minute, Ana was struck by a feeling of longing. It almost sounded like Nate cared about her well-being, but even if he did, it didn't change the fact he had sided with the villains. She ran her hand through her hair and proceeded to ignore them for the rest of the train ride.
When they finally made it to the school, Ana couldn't get away from her brother and his friends fast enough. The welcome back feast was somber, and the students were quiet. The hall seemed empty, and the sorting ceremony was brief. She continuously stole glances at Draco throughout the meal, knowing that she was asking for trouble. It was amusing that he was ignoring Pansy. Ana was unsure if something had happened between them over the summer, which would explain why Pansy wasn't sitting with Draco earlier. It didn't matter, even if he was single. Anastasia knew he wouldn't be interested in her anyway, considering she was labeled a blood traitor and belonged to Hufflepuff.
Finally, when Headmaster Snape dismissed them, she made her way to her house and her dorm, glad to have herbology and care of magical creatures as her only two classes the next day. She was surprised she would have potions and dark arts with the Slytherin house. The two groups rarely were paired together. Which meant she would have to deal with her brother more than she would have liked.
A/N :: Yo, so I doubt anyone is going to read this, but if you do hello! This is based on a roleplay, I'm currently working on. If you enjoy, feel free to check my bio and hit me up on discord/Gaia because I'm in a roleplaying mood. Anastasia is my OC and my roleplay partner wrote Draco for me. (I only used his speech and his actions, editing it so it flowed as a story from Ana's POV rather than back and forth that is typical of roleplaying)