Hey everyone! New chapter up! Hope you like it. I know some people (psalty) found it to be a bit rushed, but I just didn't want to linger in third year too much. This year will be longer and more complicated so... yeah.

Anna set down her crystal cup, swallowing the sweet wine she had been allowed to drink this fortunate evening. Her hands traveled back to her eating utensils and she popped the last piece of her lemon tartar in her mouth. It was acid and sweet at the same time. She loved lemon desserts.

Her ankles were crossed under her seat, her high heels were still making her feet ache, and the dress she was wearing was uncomfortably tight around the chest. Her hair was tied up in a fancy hairdo and large pearls hung from her ears. Ever since her birthday ball a few weeks ago, her aunt and uncle had been adamant about her dressing more her age. No more flat shoes, no more little girl frocks. Fancy, elegant, lady-clothing. Anna sighed mentally. It was uncomfortable and, in her opinion, too much for a fourteen year old. They, apparently, thought otherwise. Sure, she wouldn't have to wear heels at school, but wearing them at all is what bothered her. Though she supposed she should get used to it.

Anna pulled her red painted lips into a polite smile as she continued listening to Lord Nott's rather biased opinion on international cooperation. Beside her, Theo listened obligingly to Draco's exited rant about the Quidditch World Cup finals in a week's time. Minister Fudge had invited the Malfoys and herself just this morning, by owl, and here he was now, having dinner with not only the Malfoys, but most other pure-blood families. He thought it was absolutely marvelous that the Malfoys would open their home to a muggleborn orphan so that she wouldn't have to live among muggles who don't understand her. Damn fool.

"-besides, the french have always felt superior to the magical societies. If the British Ministry of Magic gives in to their demands of lessened export-import taxes, they will think they can walk all over us! We're already being more than slightly preferential towards them; we've reserved twice as many seats at the World Cup for french citizens as for other foreigners, we've kept them in the Triwizard Tournament even if the results of Beauxbatons have declined over the last decade to fourth place in the international standings. The Japanese Institute is third at the moment but are they being invited to participate? No, because we take our political connections with the Parlament Franรงais very seriously. Which is far more than can be said for them seeing as-" Mr Nott continued, talking to the table in general. The Minister for Magic was listening intently, almost missing his mouth with his fork.

Anna turned to the side, meeting Theo's eyes in her exasperation. He smirked and shrugged, as if to say that he never listened to his father's rants either and what could you do about it? Nothing much, apparently. He inclined his head to her side, so that he could whisper in her ear.

"Bear with him, he gets like this sometimes." His lips brushed the shell of her ear, almost forcing a shudder down her spine. Almost.

"Some of what he says is actually right." She responded under her breath. "It's not all that bad."

"Oh, I know." He chuckled. "The parts that are alright are things he picked up from our discussions. Father is not too bright, you see."

She felt his lips curl into a small smile and she shifted her eyes from her plate to him, turning her head slightly. His brown eyes were twinkling with mirth and she smiled back in return.

Then Draco coughed slightly from in front of them and they turned back to him. Draco's hair had been combed back and his dress robes were made of black silk with silver and icy blue lining. He raised an eyebrow, decidedly unimpressed, and raised his glass to his lips.

Anna forced down a blush and made herself return the eyebrow raise. Beside her, Theo smirked and continued eating.

Draco's free hand clenched tightly on his lap as he stubbornly kept his eyes fixed on the screen showing advertisements. He couldn't believe they'd let such riffraff in the Top Box. Honestly, Potter, the Weasleys, the mudblood. The Malfoy family, being forced to share a box with such... such plebeians. They had painted their faces and their clothing was muddied and they were talking loudly and singing and... how could they have so little decorum, really? Were they raised in a barn? He almost laughed, sometimes he could really hit the nail on the head.

His clenched hand moved to the stylish red shawl he had draped around his neck, obviously he was supporting Bulgaria, and arranged it slightly more away from his skin. He then turned to his cousin. His right hand was entwined with hers and she was wearing a red dress with black high heels. He had insisted that she wear red, even if she rather disliked the color for some reason, and Mother had said that she had to wear heels with the dress. Anna hated the shoes, but she was slowly getting used to them. In fact, she seemed not to mind... but that could be because she was completely lost in though as she stared at the empty seat next to the house elf sitting next to Potter. She was frowning in concentration and her free hand was fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"Anna?"

She didn't react so he tried again.

"Anna?" He squeezed her hand and Anna turned to look at him, startled.

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

Anna looked at him for a second, as if considering wether to tell him or not. He always pretended that he didn't mind the fact that she never told him anything, but it hurt a lot. Shouldn't she trust him with this sort of thing? But she up and disappeared and came back tired or wounded and she never told him anything. The only proof that he had of the fact that she did anything worth knowing about was the fact that in their dueling practices she was more powerful each time. But she never said anything. He knew she was trying to protect him, but he also wanted to protect her. She was his cousin and he loved her, after all.

Anna seemed to make up her mind. "Someone invisible is sitting in that empty seat over there."

Draco frowned and turned to the empty chair. "How do you know?"

"I can feel a Dark Mark."

Draco suppressed a shudder. She had explained, basically, what the ceremony had done to her when she was small, and he didn't envy her in the least.

Suddenly, music started blasting and the players flew into the stadium, their mascots behind them.

The Irish team flew in, their green uniforms flashing brightly among the spectators. The screen showed them smiling and waving at the fans. With them came a few dozen leprechauns who danced and threw fake gold all over the place. Draco and his family didn't bother picking any of it up, even if it had been real they had no need for it. Clearly, Weasley didn't know that, Draco thought with a roll of his eyes.

The Veela were a slight nuisance, but luckily, Father and he had packed some special ear plugs that would stop them from making fools of themselves. Hilariously enough, Potter and the Weasleys almost jumped over the side of the box, though their female companions stopped them just in time. The Bulgarian team sure knew how to arrive in style, it seemed. The players with the red uniforms quickly made a few laps around the field and the hoops, the screen showing Krum doing a few acrobatic tricks, before they settled at one end of the pitch.

From somewhere beside them Ludo Bagman, who was once more wearing his ghastly Wimbourne Wasps uniform that accented his bulging stomach even more than normal robes would, stood and pressed his wand to his throat.

"Welcome to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup! As the Head of Magical Games and Sports it gives me great pleasure to bid everyone good luck!" The cheering was immensely loud. "Let the match begin!"

The snitch was released and the game began. Draco cheered along with the rest.

Anna frowned as she and her family approached the VIP section of the campsite. Just outside the largest castle-shaped tent, which was lit up by floating fairy lights and practically glowed with magic, was a group of teenagers. As they got closer Anna recognised most of them; Vince, Greg, Pansy, Theo, Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey, Hestia and Flora Carrow and Adelaide Murton, though there quite a few others she didn't know.

Before entering the tent, Uncle Lucius grabbed Draco and her by the arms.

"Don't come inside. Stay with the group and out of sight." He whispered.

Draco looked up at his father with a confused look on his face but Anna just frowned and looked at the other children. Without saying a word she grabbed Draco and pulled him over to the others. They parted to let them pass to a bench where most of the girls were seated. Ever the gentlemen, the boys had let the girls with heels sit. Anna took her place between Pansy and Adelaide -a redhead sixth year- and watched as Draco walked around greeting everyone.

"What do you think is going on?" Pansy asked.

Anna turned to her and grabbed Pansy's left arm. Gently she traced the shape of the Dark Mark on her skin before putting the limb back down. She felt Pansy shudder.

"I see."

"Honestly, I'm not overly bothered." Theo said from where he stood in front of them. "They can do what they want."

"It's not a good idea, Nott." Adrian stepped in. "You have no clue how much security is in place."

"Can we just agree that the adults of our... group... are not the brightest of all?" Anna interrupted, getting the attention of the others around them. She didn't look up from examining her nails. "We just have to stay out of the way and avoid suspicion. We know whatever is going to happen is not going to be good, so we stay away." She sighed. "How very Griffindor of them."

Adelaide laughed from beside her. "Well said. I don't know what mother's thinking, but let's keep quiet for now."

"Why are they keeping us here?" One of the Carrow twins asked. "Why not send us back home?"

"It'd attract too much attention; the former Death Eaters sending their children away from the celebrations right before the camp site is attacked. Right?" Marcus answered.

Nods followed from the surrounding children.

"Would Masters and Mistresses want something to drink?" A house elf was carrying a platter covered with glasses and bottles of refreshments, which weren't such a bad idea in the hot, humid night. The small creature passed around the drinks and disappeared into the tent again.

Hours passed before the house elf came back. It bowed carefully until they all quieted down and turned to it. Raising its head, the creature's voice sounded:

"You is instructed to go to the forest now."

Without answering, they took off. Anna kept close to Draco, holding on to his arm so that her -damn fucking- heels wouldn't sink through the mud. They avoided the celebrating masses and the fireworks that whizzed over their heads. It wasn't long before they heard screams in the distance. They kept their heads down and kept walking, even as people started heading towards the screams to find out what was happening. But the Death Eaters got closer, fires started and panic spread. They kept their wits about them and their heads down. Slowly, they started speeding up, staying slightly ahead of the terrified people.

Once they were by the trees they stopped walking and took a small break. Anna bit her lip, effectively silencing the string of curses she was about to unleash. On her clothing, on the Death Eaters' stupid plan and on everything else because she just wanted to watch a Quidditch match in fucking peace. Was that too much to ask?

She sat down on a log, huffing as the boys drew their wands and stood in a circle around the girls. She could protect herself perfectly well but if it made them feel better about themselves, fine. She couldn't care less.

Yelling sounded right in front of them and Anna pushed her way to find Draco arguing with Potter and his friends. He was pointing somewhere in the distance, saying that Granger would be showing her knickers. What?

With a puzzled frown she turned to where Draco was pointing, only to see four figures being levitated. Their terrified screams were drowned in the chaos and she couldn't see their faces but she had no doubt it was the owner of the camping lot and his family. How disgusting. There was no need for this behavior. There was no need for any of this.

Shaking her arm out of Marcus Flint's grip, she stepped closer to Draco and put a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes studied Potter, Granger and the Weasleys. She had not bothered with the youngest redhead since second year, but the others were always pulling her attention. Particularly the twins. Though... Potter. This was the closest she'd been to him in a long while and... she could feel the same thing she felt last year. A strange pull. She couldn't name it and she didn't want to name it. Her closest interactions with Potter had never ended up well, after all.

Without taking her eyes of Potter, who was staring at her she might add, she put Draco's hand on her waist to steady herself and bent over to take off her heels. The clasps were easily unmade and she stood with bare feet on the dirty forest ground.

"I'd rather have dirty feet for a short while than a broken ankle." She handed her shoes to Draco. "Could you hold on to these for me?"

Draco shrugged. "Fine by me."

Looking back at the others she drawled. "I think we should get going. They're too close for my tastes."

Without another word they kept moving, the other group slightly behind them but very clearly separate from them. Anna kept looking behind her as they hurried among the trees, keeping an eye on Potter. It wasn't all that easy, seeing as he was at the back of his group.

Then they were out of the forest and heading towards the exit of the camp site. People around them were running and still screaming, crushing down tents as they went. It was pure luck that she saw Potter get separated from his friends. He was trampled down and hit over the head. She saw him pass out. Anna scowled and kept running, edging closer to the side of the group until she was running on the outskirts. In a second she dived inside a tent that was still half erect.

Letting Harry Potter lie alone in a camp full of Death Eater was dangerous. The adults weren't in their right minds and who knew what they would do to him? Something that would get them all in trouble, no doubt. She had to... protect him? Or make sure the deed was done correctly?

Her mouth dried up as she drew her wand from the holster around her thigh. She studied it carefully, wondering about what she was actually planning on doing. Absent-mindedly she let her hair down and cleaned her feet. There were a few cuts on the underside of her feet that really hurt -she had stepped on broken glass- and it was probably a bad idea to walk around barefoot now. The cuts could get infected with whatever nastiness was on the ground. With a sigh she turned to the abandoned left overs of the tent. Clenching her fingers around the wand she started looking for some footwear. There was a bag full of clothing by a bed in which she found muggle-style shoes which she put on with just a slight grimace. Then she stepped out of the tent.

The screams had vanished into the distance towards the second mass of trees and the Death Eaters had passed some ways away from where she was. Scorched remains of tents and other belongings were strewn all over the ground but among all the black and grey she could see Potter's red shirt, almost buried under a fallen tent. She sighed and walked over to him.

With a flick of her wand the tent was shoved off the boy. He seemed to be alright, if a little banged up. The tip of her wand was pointed directly at his heart and a spell was on the tip of her tongue. She licked her lips and opened her mouth but no sound came out. With a snap her lips closed again and she kneeled next to him. A frown marred her features as her free hand straightened his shirt. Her fingers raked through his hair, moving it away from his face. The pull was there again but she shrugged it off.

Potter's face was relaxed as he breathed softly and her eyes trailed over his face. This wasn't the first time she found him passed out. Though she had to admit she was the one who knocked him out in the Chamber. Her eyes landed on his scar. It really did look like a lightning bolt, but it was small and thin. How strange that something so... unimpressive could change one's life so drastically. Anna reached out and traced it with her fingers. There. The pull was so much stronger but now it was also as if she were zapped with pure magic, putting all the hairs of her body on end. She recognized the feeling instinctively.

Horcrux.

Clearly, Potter felt it as well because he woke up and was staring at her. Or, more importantly, at her hand that was still touching his scar.

She quickly retracted it.

"I'm so sorry." She said. "I just found you and I was checking for damage." She lied, and she knew that he knew that she was lying. But her just kept looking at her strangely.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Why was she being nice?

"Fine." He said and sat up. With that movement he came to be much closer to her than anticipated, his chest was less than a foot away from hers but he didn't move away. He was still looking at her as if in a daze. She supposed it must have been a mixture between the hit on the head and the 'horcrux zap'. But he didn't look uncomfortable

She didn't feel uncomfortable.

He kept his eyes locked on hers, as if trying to figure her out. But he wouldn't be able to.

"What are you doing here?" He asked finally, keeping his voice close to a whisper. He was so close she felt his breath tickle her skin.

"Got separated." She answered. "Found you passed out on the ground."

He looked at her suspiciously but nodded.

"We should go."

"Yeah."

They stood and looked around.

"We should head towards the exit." She said. "Everyone will be looking for us."

"Right." He mumbled. "Malfoy."

"What?" She asked. "What about Draco?"

Potter shook his head. "Besides the fact that he's a git, I just wouldn't expect him to be friends with a muggleborn."

Anna shrugged. "I'm half-blood." She said. "I just live in an orphanage."

This was weird and they both knew it. They were totally comfortable talking about things and she -for the love of Merlin- felt something akin to... trust. Which was utterly ridiculous. It had to be the Horcrux influencing them. He probably didn't know about it. Though, this did explain his parselmouth abilities.

"And he's not that bad." She said aloud, though she didn't know if she was still talking about Draco. It was definitely the horcrux messing with her.

Suddenly they heard a loud cracking to the side. Both children froze, Potter putting himself slightly between her and the sound. She suppressed a huff, what was it with boys and their protective streaks?

But she could feel a Dark Mark over where the sound came and it seemed particularly familiar. She'd definitely felt this person before but... she'd felt many people before. She couldn't tell who exactly it was.

Through the dark she could see a figure moving between the burned out shells of tents. It stopped, raised an arm towards the sky and yelled.

"Morsmordre!"

She hissed a low breath, feeling more than seeing the Dark Mark forming in the sky. Ha- Potter felt it too; he clutched his head and gasped loudly.

The figure turned to them until she could see his face, lit up by the sickly green light from the sky. She didn't know this person, but she could bet she'd remember him. The man was gaunt and looked more than slightly crazed as he walked over to them.

"Come on." She whispered, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. "Harry, we have to go."

At the sound of his name, Potter came out of his stupor and hurried with her, pulling her between tents and piles of rubble away from the man. They could hear him crashing behind them.

"What is that?" Harry asked her, looking up at the mark.

She didn't look up. "The Dark Mark. Voldemort's mark."

If he was surprised that she used his name, he didn't show it. They kept running until he tripped, pulling her down with her. It was just as well, seeing as a dozen stunners shot out at them from the rubble.

"Protego!" Anna snapped, forming a shield between them and the oncoming adults.

They wore long robes, though they were colorful and none were wearing a mask. Ministry workers.

"Which of you conjured it?" An old man came forwards, pointing their wand at them. His hair was grey and a thin mustache grew above his upper lip. "You were discovered in the scene of crime!"

"We haven't done anything!" Harry scowled, helping Anna up while both kept their wand pointed at the adults. "We got separated from our groups while fleeing. I got knocked out and she found me."

"Harry!" Arthur Weasley hurried forwards from the mass of people gathering around them. He stopped right in front of the boy and started looking his up and down to make sure he was alright. Harry put down his wand and Anna, for some reason, followed his lead.

Weasley turned back to the others. "You don't honestly think Harry Potter had anything to do with it?"

The man looked ready to agree for a second before shaking his head. "No, Arthur, of course not." Then he turned to Anna. "And who are you then?"

"Anna Connors, sir." She said, doing her best to keep her voice shaky and nervous, unlike what her voice had been a few seconds before. From the look she got from Potter, she could tell she succeeded. "I came with mr Malfoy but we were separated in the scuffle."

"Malfoy?" The adults looked at her wearily, as anyone would seeing as he was a 'former' Death Eater.

"She was with me when the mark was conjured." Harry cut in. "There was a man over there and he conjured it."

Anna nodded.

The adults turned to where Harry was pointing and went to investigate. Not long after they came back with a house elf, Winky, who turned out to be mr Crouch's house elf. Potter looked pained when she was dismissed.

"You know her?" Anna whispered.

Harry nodded. "She was saving mr Crouch a seat in the Top Box but he never showed up."

Anna frowned. But the only house elf in the Top Box had been... the one with... the invisible man.

Lucius did his best to calm Narcissa, to no avail. All the Death Eaters and their children had apparated to Malfoy Manor as soon as they got back together, everyone just grabbing someone at random, but when they started checking if everyone was there Anna had been missing.

How was this possible? All children reported that Annabelle had been with them, but clearly she wasn't. Narcissa was drilling everyone, trying to find out when she had gone missing, and Draco and -funnily enough- the Nott boy were helping. Lucius had just taken a seat in the parlor with everyone else and poured himself a glass of firewhiskey. It wasn't that he wasn't worried, which he was, he just knew better than anyone what she was capable of doing. No Death Eater would have hurt her and there was no way she would be suspected in any way. He was keeping his wits about him.

Suddenly a blue light appeared by the door and Anna landed, holding a used portkey. Her hair was messed up slightly, her feet were bare, and there was a bit of mud on her legs, but she was unharmed. There was silence for a while as they took her in. She didn't seem bothered by it.

"An-" Anna cut off Narcissa.

"Levitating muggles? Seriously?" She sighed. "Have some decorum."

She turned to walk out of the room. "Sorry for worrying everyone, but I think I'll go take a bath now."