Hey guys! Only two followers away from my first hundred! I'm so exited! Anyway, bid deal in this one, big deal in he next one... probably from now on everything will be a bid deal. I hope not to miss anything important though if there are any moments which you think I micht forget but which you definitely want to see happen, tell me about it!
Harry held the triwizard winnings on his lap, staring numbly at his own hands. He hadn't been able to go to Cedric's memorial today; Madam Pomphrey hadn't let him get out of bed.
Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys all sat around him, chatting in low tones so as not to disturb him. He couldn't get Moody's insane ramblings out of his head, couldn't get his or Voldemort's mocking voices to vanish. Of course he knew that it wasn't Moody, Dumbledore had found the actual Moody in a trunk, but nobody knew who the man really was.
Nobody believed that Voldemort was back, except his friends, but really-
He snapped out of his daze when a pale hand landed on his own. Looking up he saw Anna, frowning down at him with a worried look on her face. Somewhere in his mind he noted that everyone else had fallen silent.
"Anna." Harry breathed.
"Hey." She laid both her hands on his and sat down on the side of his bed. Her thumbs rubbed his hands gently, comforting, and he hadn't realised his hands were cold until her warm ones enveloped them. "How are you feeling?"
Harry swallowed and opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. His green eyes rose to meet hers and he tried to convey what he was feeling that way. She seemed to get the message because suddenly her eyes started watering.
"I see." She attempted to smile but she failed so she just pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Harry held on, bandaged hands clumsily resting around her back, and buried his face in her curls. Somehow they smelled sweet, like sugar or honey, but on the other hand it smelled fake. It made him uncomfortable. He'd never felt uncomfortable around her before.
Over her shoulder he could see the Weasleys staring, stunned, and Hermione glaring at Anna. Then all the way by the doors stood Malfoy with his back turned to them, as if keeping watch.
"H- how was the memorial?" He forced himself to ask.
Anna shrugged as she let him go, keeping her hands on his arms. "As you would expect. Sad, everyone was... well, numb. Dumbledore told us about You-Know-Who, that you escaped him... you must have been so scared."
"You believe me?" He asked, perplexed.
"Of course I do. I've known you for years and you wouldn't lie about something so serious." Anna frowned. "Was he... alone?"
Harry paused. Moody had asked the same question. "Why?"
Anna shrugged. "Before you... defeated him last time he had a lot of followers. Some of them were sent to Azkaban but not all of them, not all by far. If you remember who was there maybe-"
"That's enough." Mrs Weasley cut in, frowning at Anna. "Now, I don't know who you are but Harry is recovering. You can't just come in here and start asking him questions like that!"
Harry could swear he saw a flash of fury pass Anna's features but it was gone in less than a second.
"Of course. Where are my manners?" She turned back to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I have to go now or Draco will throw a fit. Get well soon and... don't be too hard on yourself."
She didn't even glance at the others around her as she left and he couldn't help but think that while she treated him nicely, she was no different that the other Slytherins to everyone else. For no reason at all. There must be a reason, though, right?
Anna sat between Theo and Draco in their usual compartment, an open book in her lap but staring out the window. The boys had always worn dark robes and dress shirts as casual clothing but not her, she wore colours and flowers and frills and patterns, usually. Draco had approached her this morning and told her that maybe a change in wardrobe was in order, maybe she should start dressing like the Dark Lord would expect her to be, like her mother. So now she wore a black long sleeved dress, beautiful, fashionable, with her curls pulled up into a high tail, with black heels, dark stockings, silver jewellery, black nails and dark lipstick.
She hated it.
The second she'd looked in the mirror she hadn't thought she was looking at herself, she'd thought about her mother. Anna wasn't Bellatrix, she wasn't. And she would never be. So there.
She was pulled from her musings by the door to their compartment opening and Blaise, Daphne, Pansy, Greg and Vince stepping inside, dragging their trunks behind them. They didn't look at her yet, only grabbed their belongings, put them away and sat down, choosing to take no notice of her until they were comfortably seated.
By then Draco had been glaring at them and Theo was rubbing his temples in irritation. The passive aggressive way they were handling things was a very Slytherin approach, but it was annoying as fuck.
It was silent as Anna refused to meet their eyes and the others tried to stare each other down.
"You look different." Daphne attempted. "You look like-"
"A Death Eater." Anna snapped. "I look like my mother the Death Eater."
Pansy humphed. "I'll do it. Anna, shut up while I speak."
Anna turned to her with a raised brow. Pansy looked the same as always, fringe perfectly combed, short hair straight to her chin, pouty lips a pale pink and an annoyed and contemptuous glint in her eyes. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she was not so subtly tapping her foot on the floor.
Without waiting for her to comment, Pansy started ranting. "You're an absolute moron. I can't believe you didn't tell us about what you were doing. It influences all of us! All of us are so fucked. I'm not mad about you doing it, I doubt you had a choice - and yes I considered it – but not telling us and keeping it all to yourself and deciding for us that we weren't going to want to be around you anymore while you definitely don't know if we want to or not – we do, by the way, we'll always help you because you are our friend and because we know you. We. Know. You. We know that you would never have done something so stupid and selfish if you had a choice and I – we – refuse to let you pull away from us and keep us out of the loop any longer because Merlin dammit Anna, you got us into this mess and we'll be fucking damned it we let you deal with it alone. You are no longer allowed to take any actions that influence us so much without our involvement. Anna, fuck you!"
For a second it was quiet as Pansy regained her breath, face flushed in anger as she kept glaring at her friend. Then Daphne put a hand on her shoulder.
"So what now?" Daphne asked, levelling Anna with an unimpressed look.
For a second Anna stared at her, trying to process everything that had come out of her other friend's mouth, before she realised she'd been asked an actual question.
"What?"
Daphne rolled her eyes. "What's the plan now? Are you just going to let him walk all over you and do as he pleases with the rest of the wizarding world? Or are you actually going to take responsibility for your actions?"
"Well, I can't just..." She cut herself off and let her head fall into her hands with a groan. "I'm doomed. I'll get back to you when I have a plan."
Blaise scoffed. "If you're done throwing a pity party for yourself, you might want to start figuring things out soon. You-Know-Who is not going to wait for you to make up your mind. Are you going with him or against him?"
"...Both? Are you sure about following me?" She asked, looking up at them with an uncertain grimace.
Daphne slapped her. Hard. The sound rang out through the compartment and everyone stared at Daphne and Anna in astonishment. Anna's head had turned completely to the right, facing Theo who was looking at her reddening cheek in near horror.
"Stop whining." Daphne snapped. "Stop trying to push us away, we've made our choice. All of us. So stop being a pathetic mess and start figuring things out. This is not the Annabelle we know."
"Ugh." Anna mumbled as she rubbed her cheek, rightfully shaken out of her self-pitying state. "Fine, fine, just... fucking hell, Daph, let me figure stuff out, Merlin."
"What's to figure out?" The blonde countered. "He's a maniac."
"Yeah, but he's not stupid. Plus, I'm stuck with him and I have to figure out how to keep... so many people safe including us, our families and friends while we're figuring out how to get rid of him."
"Don't bother with my father." Theo added. "I don't give a damn if he dies; hell, if he's a problem I'll kill him myself."
Anna grabbed his hand and squeezed it, but shook her head. "Muggleborns, our families, the students at Hogwarts... us... what else?"
"No." Draco shook his head. "First things first. You can't do shit without having space to work in and you won't have space unless he gives it to you. He'll only give you space if he trusts you. And he needs to trust you more than the other Death Eaters in case they get suspicious."
"Gain his trust? I revived him." Anna growled.
"But it wasn't your plan." Blaise argued. "You need to get him what he didn't have before."
"Not Harry. Harry defeated him last time, we need to make sure he survives." Anna frowned.
"I know that." Blaise rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about the ministry. Get him the Ministry of Magic."
"Are you insane?" Theo snapped. "That'll just implicate her and us all the more when things are done. If they ever are done."
"Idiot. If she orchestrates it she can control the damage, she can make sure everything goes according to plan and that less people are injured or killed than there would be otherwise." Blaise retorted. "Anna, you need to make yourself useful. Play him. Use him."
"Listen to yourself." Anna retaliated. "As if it were easy."
"It's not. I know it's not. But we can't live properly, we can't fulfil our ambitions if he's here. We need to get rid of him and gaining his trust is step one."
Anna sighed. "I'll work on a plan for that then. Step two would be to figure out a way to kill him... that could take a long while, but we could focus on step three."
"What's step three?" Greg asked, joining into the conversation for the first time.
"Making sure we have done something 'good' to help us get out of the charges for being Death Eaters once it's done." Anna told him. "Sheltering muggleborns, helping people, and so on. But we have until You-Know-Who decides to step into the public eye to figure out how to do that and where to keep them."
"What about our parents?" This time Vince was looking at her questioningly. "I'm with you, Anna, you're my friend. But my parents..."
"Will your parents join us?" She asked him.
Vince shrugged. "They're scared of him so... maybe not? They won't stop us if they find out, though."
"Mine too." Greg added. "Yours?"
Anna swallowed uncomfortably. "I'll deal with mine. Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius will be with us, I know it. Theo doesn't care about Lord Nott... and yours?" She asked the others.
"Mom will be keeping her head down." Blaise shrugged. "She won't get out of the country because I'm here but she'll probably stop hanging out with anyone risky."
"My parents will keep their head down and do as they're told. They're in no immediate danger." Daphne shrugged.
"So are mine." Pansy added. "They'll probably be threatened into joining You-Know-Who but they know how to survive, they did last time."
"Fine." Anna nodded. "Vince, Greg, Daphne and Blaise, next year you'll have to find out who among our fellow Slytherins will be willing to pick my side if necessary. Draco and Pansy will be prefects so you'll keep an eye on the rest of the school. Theo will help me when necessary."
"How do you know we'll be prefects?" Draco asked. "I mean, me, sure, but I thought you would be the girl prefect."
"Snape is a Death Eater, I don't want to be a prefect, I'm sure we can come to an understanding." Anna shrugged.
"... So... help the Dark Lord get control of the ministry with minimal damage, find a way to limit the casualties, and find a way to kill him?" Daphne summed up. "I think we're fucked."
When Anna and Draco spotted Lucius, he looked the same as always. He greeted them with a smile and pressed them to his chest in a familial hug, making them look like a large blob of black cloth. Gently, he cupped their faces and whispered to them.
"He's at the Manor." Lucius kept his voice low. "I didn't tell him about the diary, he hasn't asked yet. What do you want me to do if he does?"
Anna bit her lip. "If you tell him it was destroyed we'll be punished, but if I tell him I saved it he'll know..."
"He'll know what?" Lucius asked.
"That I'm a horcrux." She muttered.
For a second it was quiet. "Very well, then." Lucius nodded, eyes filled with worry and shock but neither voice nor face betraying anything. "If he asks I'll tell him it's in our Gringotts vault and if he asks to see it we'll pretend it was stolen. It won't hold up for long, but it should do for a while." Then he turned to Draco. "As soon as we get home you'll go to your room and stay there. He wants to meet Anna. Barty spoke most highly of both of you, but he wants Anna tonight."
"Both of us?" Draco asked. "I didn't do anything."
"You helped Anna help Barty escape." Lucius argued. "Now we have to go."
He grabbed their wrists and the two teenagers held on to their trunks as they aparated away from King's Cross Station to Wiltshire, where Malfoy Manor stood, regal in its cold exterior.
As soon as the large doors opened, Narcissa hurried over to them, barking out an order for a house elf to take away the trunks. She hurriedly pulled both of them into a fierce hug.
"You dumb children. What have you done?" Her breathy voice sounded.
"It's not like I had a choice? And Draco didn't know anything." Anna grumbled from her place between her aunt and her cousin.
Then Narcissa pulled away. "Draco-"
"I know, I know." Draco interrupted, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "To my room." Then he turned to Anna and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Be careful, stay calm."
Before Anna could nod she was pulled away by her aunt and uncle, each holding one of her hands as they walked briskly to the ballroom. She could feel the sweat of their palms clinging to her own skin.
Their quick steps were in time with her skittering heartbeat but she made sure to keep her breath slow and steady. She couldn't give herself away now. If he got at all suspicious he would try to get into her head and come across the wall she'd built. Then he'd definitely know something was up.
They stopped right in front of the door.
"He's in there." Narcissa said, her voice sounded hollow, as if she were lost in thought, but to Anna it sounded disappointed. "So are the others, including your friend Barty."
"Don't worry." Anna whispered. "I'll take care of everything."
Before they could turn their shocked faces to her she waved a hand at the door and it opened, revealing the ballroom in which she'd danced so often. If was different now, though. There were candles, sure, but far less than before and there was barely enough light to make out how many people there were. The thick curtains were closed, blocking off what little light the moon could have offered, and all the furniture had been removed. All furniture but a large throne on which a pale figure sat. She couldn't make it out properly over that distance in the dark, but as she stepped closer she could see.
Her steady steps – she had no idea how she hadn't collapsed yet – echoed through the room as the Death Eaters kept quiet and watched, her aunt and uncle striding close behind her, and her hands were clenched tightly by her sides, right forearm flexing slightly to feel her wand in the holster under her sleeve.
He was staring at her, red eyes glowing in the dark and a pale hand stroking the huge snake that was draped around the back of his throne, sleek scales reflecting the pale candlelight. Voldemort's black robes floated down the steps to the shiny floor in cascades of fine cloth and a crystal goblet of red wine was perched between the fingers of his other hand.
His thin lips spread into a terrifying leer on his face, which for all intents and purposes lacked a nose.
Anna's knees felt weak, and not in a good way, and she felt sweat on the back of her neck, but she kept her head high and she met his eyes. She curtsied, lips curling into a gentle smile as she ignored every other person in the room, even if she could see Barty out of the corner of her eyes and she definitely recognised Snape by his mop of hair.
"Anna." His voice sounded like a snake's hiss, vicious in its gentility. "Dear little Anna. Do you remember me?"
She struggled to find her voice for a second before she could answer. "Of course, my lord. How could I forget your kindness in my first year?"
A soft chuckle came from him as he stood, slowly stepping towards he until he stood right in front of her. His now free hand reached out and trailed cold fingers across her right cheek to cup the back of her neck possessively.
She knew that if she hand't built up that wall, his magic would already have made her faint.
"I am your godfather, Anna. Call me as such." His red eyes were still boring into hers.
"Of course, godfather."
"Barty told me what you did, how you helped him. Loyal aren't you? Just like your mother." He was faking it. This warmth. She could tell it was fake. He was trying to win her over, make her devoted to him. He knew she wasn't convinced, she could tell that he knew, and he was going to make her submit. Two could play that game, she decided as she steeled her nerves, she could fool him to thinking she was as loyal as her mother. "You deserve a reward."
"All I ask, godfather, is that you allow me to serve you as my mother and father once did." She did her best to make her eyes express the sincerity she did not feel. "That is all I could ever ask."
He blinked, maybe surprised that she had not asked anything else, or surprised that she was pretending so well. She didn't know.
"Not your parents?"
"I do not know my parents." She said. "But I would cherish the opportunity to learn from them. However, they are yours to do as you please with them."
"I will get them, for you and for me... eventually." Then his fingers clenched a bit tighter around her neck, making her swallow uncomfortably. "But you are right. They are mine. But so are you, and I reward those who are mine. You were always going to be by my side, you were always going to serve me. Name your reward."
For a second she thought. Something that she wanted, yet that wouldn't make her seem suspicious. "Revenge, godfather, is the only other thing I could desire."
A nasty laugh escaped him. "Very well. Your revenge you will get. Until then, we can't have you drinking potions to survive." He motioned to the side with his goblet. "Severus told be about your condition, though I remember it well. There is some preparation that needs to take place before I can close your core properly. But I don't need any preparation for the other reward I was already planning on giving you."
Somehow, she could tell that neither he nor she considered it a reward, though the way he looked at her was like someone looked at a pet, a pet they were about to put a new collar around. She didn't like it. Not at all.
"...Other reward godfather?"
He handed his goblet over to someone behind him, Wormtail maybe, and drew his wand.
"Put out your left arm, Annie." The nickname was mocking, though to anyone else it would have sounded warm. She could tell the truth though, she was looking into his eyes and she saw his suspicion. He was making sure he kept her loyal and she couldn't refuse it.
So she extended her left arm and watched as he made a cutting motion with his wand, the sleeve falling in tatters to the floor between them, and his left hand held her neck even tighter, making it hard for her to breathe.
It was a mark of property. It wasn't like with his other Death Eaters who got it willingly. She had no choice.
He didn't say anything as he pressed his wand, yew from what she could see, just like hers, to her left forearm.
It felt like he was branding the mark into her skin with burning iron, and dark smoke rose from her skin. The smell of burnt flesh invaded her nose and she had to swallow to stop herself from puking. She didn't scream. The pain was incredible but for some reason she didn't feel the need to make a sound. It was a deeply ingrained stubbornness that rose up from inside her as she stared into the Dark Lord's eyes that made her stay completely quiet. But it was a sign of rebellion, and that could get her killed, so she whimpered.
A hint of amusement was visible on his face before he flickered his eyes down to her arm, motioning for her to look. Anna obeyed and glanced down.
The skin on her arm, which used to be milky white, was now marred with a black skull and snake. The mark was moving menacingly and she felt it tying itself to her very being.
That was it then. Her mind was tainted, her soul was tainted and now her body. She felt damaged and dirty, as if she would never be clean again no matter how much she cleaned and purified herself. Her self. Her very own self was filthy and marked and-
"Annabelle." Voldemort's voice reached her just as she was plummeting into a well of self deprecation and made her look up.
"Godfather?
"You're a good girl." His hand moved from her neck to her cheek. He was lying. She could see it. She could feel it. He was having fun. He knew it hurt, he was amused by her pain.
At least he hadn't noticed that she was a horcrux. At least he hadn't caught on to her need to betray him.
"We're done here." He said suddenly. "You've all met Annabelle, I assume. I should not need to tell you that she is in charge when I'm gone. You are not to roder her about at any given time. My goddaughter should not need to heed her inferiors after all." He gave her a last once-over before turning away. "Leave me, all of you."
He liked hurting her. He was cruel. He owned her. She was contaminated and foul. Completely. Everything about her. How could she possibly be anything but this? She never had a chance. Not a chance- no choice- she never had a choice or a chance-
Before Anna could shake herself out of her stupor Aunt Narcissa was dragging her out of the door by her waist as she studied her face, on Anna's other side Uncle Lucius was examining her mark, muttering to himself. Barty laughed and congratulated her.
Somehow, no one noticed she was crying softly.