Chapter 2) Reunions

Selected Listening: Cinnamon Girl- Lana Del Rey

Anastasia watched from the turret of her chamber as the Azkaban dementors swept over the grounds. They infected the lush green grass like ink dropped into water, slinking over the hills, freezing their paths.

Her father had told Cornelius, not within the bounds of Hogwarts. They had to stay on the outskirts, away from students.

He agreed, but first, before the students came, they would search the entire grounds.

At least they scared away the reporters.

A week after her grandparents visited, she received an owl from Fred and George. Along with a supportive hello and explanation of their upcoming Egypt excursion, they included an article ripped from The Querying Caster and circled the following sentence:

"An anonymous tip from those close to Miss Dumbledore says that she can spit dragon fire, speak mermish, and summon the dead."

The twins had circled the sentence in red ink and wrote "These gits will believe anything, won't they?" next to a stick version of themselves dancing and laughing.

But Anastasia soon found she was old news…

SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES AZKABAN! MURDERER AT LARGE!

Within a few days, the face of Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, appeared in their fireplace. Anastasia sat reading one of the muggle books from her collection, and Albus busied himself with knitting over tea.

"Good evening, Albus," he said, but immediately started eyeing Anastasia with a wary expression.

"Good evening, Cornelius. What causes you to grace my household with your presence this evening?"

"Why surely, you've heard the news, Albus? Ah, is this the girl the papers have been talking about? Anasthesia is it?"

"Anastasia," she corrected.

"Anastasia, wonderful. Now, Albus, with Sirius Black running amok—" he glanced over his shoulders as if the man would appear with him in in the room, "we can't leave the school unprotected."

"It isn't," Albus said simply. "We have thirteen faculty members who are exemplary in both protection spells and dueling. I place protection spells around the campus once a year. We are geographically protected between the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest with only one above-ground and one below-ground entrance."

"Sirius Black is the only person in history to escape Azkaban. I have no doubt that with his knowledge of the school grounds, he could be there in an instant."

"Why would Sirius Black have a reason to come to the school?" Anastasia asked.

Cornelius stared at her cautiously, and then directed his words to her father.

"Albus, you understand the situation, do you not?"

He gave a slight nod and leaned forward.

"What do you propose, Cornelius?"

"I want dementors guarding the campus, Albus. He's too dangerous for anything else. As soon as he is detected, they can incapacitate him."

"Dementors? Aren't those incredibly dangerous?" Anastasia protested. "And again, why would he even come here?"

"Albus, could you?" Cornelius asked hesitantly. Albus nodded.

"Anastasia, please go to your room and stay there until I've asked you to come out."

"What, really?" Anastasia asked. Albus stared at her without blinking. "Oh fine."

She grabbed her book, trudged to her room, and slammed the door behind her. There was no use to listen through the door. Grandad put a silencing spell on it immediately.

Anastasia sunk down and examined her book, A Little Princess. In the book, a girl had a father who sent her to a boarding school where everyone treated her well until a note came saying that her father had lost all his money and then died. Then, all the girls' friends and teachers turned against her, treating her quite cruelly. Anastasia thought it was quite horrible, and hoped that if her father passed away unexpectedly, she would at least receive a modicum more understanding than Sara did, but then, to keep her sanity, Anastasia pushed out the thought of the possibility entirely.

When Albus finally called her out, he told her that the dementors would in fact be coming to Hogwarts that year.

"But why would Sirius Black come here in the first place?" Anastasia asked angrily.

"Sirius Black went to school here once as well. We don't know why he escaped, but if there's something he wants, it may well be here."

Anastasia knew Albus wasn't telling her the entire truth, but she didn't bring it up again.

It was the day after the dementors arrived, a cloudy Wednesday, when another of the castle house elves popped into the headmaster's office. Anastasia had her door open and could hear the conversation from upstairs.

"Professor, there's a parent and a student here for you."

"They don't have an appointment…new or returning?"

"Narcissa Malfoy and her son."

"Oh…well send them up."

Anastasia instantly blushed. The last time she saw Draco, she kissed him on the cheek for a thank-you on the train after he had kept watch at her bedside while she was petrified. They had been friends, but then so many things had come out over the summer, what did he think of her now? She didn't even know what to think about his mother. She'd never formally met the woman.

Anastasia smoothed her hair in the mirror, straightened out her sweater and jeans, and walked down to meet them.

"Ah, Anastasia." Her father extended his hand and ushered her into to the office where he had summoned an extra chair for her beside his own, while Narcissa and Draco sat in the two chairs opposite. Narcissa sat down properly, her hands folded in her lap, back straight.

Draco sulked down in the chair and refused to make eye contact. He had grown at least three inches over the summer, and his face had lost some of its child-like boyishness. He had let his hair go instead of gelling it back, and now it hung effortlessly over the tips of his ears. Anastasia thought it looked rather nice.

"It's good to see you," Anastasia said, trying to be friendly. Draco scoffed, rolled his eyes, and slumped into his chair.

But Narcissa was grinning at her as if it was the happiest moment she had in a long time.

"Hello dear, how are you?"

"Um…I'm okay…" she answered, "How are you?"

"You've grown so much. I see a little of your mother in you," Narcissa said. Anastasia didn't know how to react to the woman being so kind to her. The only time Anastasia ran into her in Diagon Alley, the woman had become so upset that she had to leave the bookshop.

"Draco, it's customary to sit up straight when meeting formally." Albus said, flicked his wand, and the chair Draco sat in shook him until he corrected his posture.

"Fine, fine!" he said. "Why are we here?" he demanded of his mother. Anastasia winced. Maybe she had done something horribly awkward when she said goodbye the last time. His mother took a deep breath.

"Forgive my son, this summer has been very stressful for our family, as I assume it has been for yours. The news outlets can be so damaging when they grab a good story," Narcissa excused.

"Yes, I, understand quite well." Albus said. "How's Lucius taking everything?"

Narcissa looked away towards the window. Draco almost growled. Anastasia shrunk back.

"Let's say he doesn't approve of all of this coming out at once, but that was to be expected," she replied. "No, the reason I come today is to discuss what you and I discovered last spring, Albus. The children need to know."

"Know what?" Anastasia and Draco asked at once. Albus's glance flickered to Anastasia. Whatever it was, it couldn't be avoided any longer.

"The newspapers are right about my involvement in your birth, Anastasia. But what they don't know is I saved your life the night you were born with a special piece of magic that connected your life force with Draco's. I didn't realize it would have unintended side effects."

"Mum! Are you serious?" Draco asked, panicking. Anastasia's eyes widened.

"The magic I used is why you and Draco have been experiencing problems when it comes to his asthma attacks and your fainting spells. It's why you are injured in the exact same way at the exact same time, and it's why when you were petrified this past spring, Draco also experienced severe coldness and stiffness in his limbs. It's called a lifeline."

Anastasia caught Draco's eyes for the first time that day, and they accepted the seriousness of her statement. Something they always suspected but never confirmed, why Anastasia had the feeling she needed to give him the inhalers in the first place. Why they were always in the infirmary together, and why no matter how they tried to be away from each other, something seemed to be drawing them in like a magnet.

"Well, how can we get rid of it?" Draco said quickly.

"Yes, how?" Anastasia asked.

"I too believe that is essential, Narcissa." Albus said. The woman sighed.

"The type of magic I used…the book was burned in the fire. As far as I know, it was the only copy of its kind. It was illegal, sacred, and translated from runic, making it incredibly inaccessible. It could be a while before we can find a way to undo the connection…and even if we find a way…we'll be lucky if it doesn't kill you both. I'm not willing to take the risk if I don't know for sure."

"Great. Fantastic." Draco got up from his chair and walked away, ruffling his hair, which had grown to his ears, and he now let it hang instead of gelling it back.

"Do you know anything about this book, Narcissa?" Albus asked. "The author? The year?"

"Maybe it's in our library." Anastasia suggested, attention snapping back. "We could find it."

"No, I…can't remember," Narcissa said carefully.

Albus stared at her as if he didn't quite believe her.

"Alright…well if you happen to remember...be sure to alert me," he said cautiously.

Anastasia nodded hopefully and looked worriedly back to Draco who was staring at the wall of headmasters, arms crossed, not saying anything.

"Very well." Narcissa said and stood. "Until then," she looked between Draco and Anastasia, "Do not inform anyone of your condition. You must be exceedingly careful to avoid injury."

"Careful how?" Anastasia asked. "What's different now than before? And why can't we tell anyone?"

Draco turned towards them and took one step towards the desk.

"We've already survived one of us being petrified. What more could possibly happen?" he asked, worried eyes flickering briefly to Anastasia. Her heart twinged. Narcissa directed her speech entirely at Albus now.

"I'm very concerned about the dementors, Albus. They're unpredictable creatures. If any of them go rogue—"

"If one of them has their soul sucked out, the other will be brain dead for life…" Albus said and looked back to Anastasia and Draco. "She is right. You must avoid them at all costs. Do you understand?"

Anastasia nodded frantically.

"Yes." Draco choked out.

Narcissa's glance fell briefly over the two teens and then returned to Albus.

"My cousin is a danger to himself and everyone around him. He is reckless and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The dementors might not be able to stop him." Narcissa said.

"Your cousin is Sirius Black?" Anastasia asked.

"Was." Narcissa said through pursed lips. "We should be going."

Draco turned to leave without looking at Anastasia. Her hopes fell. Narcissa followed him towards the stairs, but there was still something nagging at her, and she ran after the woman.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Anastasia asked. Narcissa turned briefly over her shoulder. "You're the one who's been sending me Christmas gifts and birthday presents every year. The music box and the necklace," Anastasia pulled the glittering, yellow diamond pendant from her collar.

Narcissa smiled.

"What are godmothers for?" she asked and left with a flick of her cloak.