bloodline ▸ draco malfoy

two.

She hummed, lightly drumming her fingers on Theo's chest while he snored softly under her. She checked his watch: half past eight in the morning.

It was the first day of her sixth year and she knew that she, and a majority of the senior Slytherins, had Advanced Potion Making first block, right after the welcome home breakfast in the Great Hall that Dumbledore planned every year.

She sighed as she rolled off of the boy, placing her feet on the cold concrete floor of the dungeons and stood up, stretching her lengthy body out until every last bone had popped into its correct place.

She made her way over to the bathroom, starting up a rather steamy shower to wash off last night's sin. As she scrubbed her scalp with shampoo, her eyes scanned over her darkened skin. Over the years, she had collected several dozens of tattoos, things she had drawn up in her free time and... other things... But, only Theo knew – she kept a glamour charm on most of her body, leaving her arm sleeves visible. It helped disguise the Dark Mark her parents forced her to burn into her skin over the summer. Not that she was ashamed of it, not entirely, it just wasn't a popular feature among the crowds of young witches and wizards at Hogwarts.

As she stepped out of the shower to lather herself in lotion, Theo aimlessly walked into the bathroom rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning, sugar," he yawned, pressing a peck to the top of her wet head before going to stick his face under the faucet that was running cold water – his wake up tactic that Anastasia always found rather odd, yet funny.

"Morning," she cooed back, waving her wand over her body as she covered her ink.

They walked around each other for several minutes wordlessly as she blow dried her hair and he buttoned up his dress shirt. She snapped her fingers and his tie tied itself as he brushed his teeth. She tied her hair up in a clean ponytail and added a natural touch of makeup to make her look and feel more alive.

"I'll see you tonight," was the last thing he said to her. She simply nodded, pulling her backpack over her freshly pressed emerald green robes and heading down to the Great Hall.

♟🃏🎱 ♌︎

As she found a semi-empty area at the Slytherin table, she made awkward eye contact with the same man from last night. She could not forget his striking blonde hair or his dead gray eyes. He was Draco Malfoy after all.

He blinked at her, smirking with utmost disgrace, and went back to reading the newest edition of the Daily Prophet. Wonder what Rita Skeeter was blabbing about now?

She'd never really talked to Draco, other than on rare occasions when Theo would send him on a man-hunt for her to the most random places, like the Prefect bathroom. So you could say they knew of each other enough.

She put a forkful of scrambled eggs in her mouth, watching as Theo sat down beside Draco and slapped him on the back. Following Theo was Pansy, and her "secret" lover Blaise Zabini – though it wasn't really a secret, as they frequently made out with each other in the midst of crowded hallways as students moved through classes. None of them looked at her. Not even Theo. He let the sin of the night before soak into his skin so deep he was glowing, though only she knew why.

Anastasia sat in silence for a little while longer, enjoying her eggs and watching as first years struggled over which route was the fastest to Transfiguration and worried about how Professor McGonagall would react if they were so much as a second late.

It amused her, and it also made her realize how much she solely did not care about this place anymore. She was only here to finish off her last two years, if that. She knew there were bad things coming, she had been a part of – or more so eavesdropped on – conversations of a second world war multiple times over the summer. She didn't know how or when it was going to take place – she simply knew she had to complete her special task first... or else it would be her body lying lifeless, run numb by the killing curse, on the dining room table of her family mansion like those mudbloods. She'd lost count of how many deaths she'd witnessed since joining the dark forces and she shuddered at how many more were probably, definitely, to come.

Losing her appetite at the thought, she pushed up from the Slytherin table and made her way to Professor Snape's classroom. She had no time to dwell on what might be or what was. The clock was ticking. Eight months were left. It had to be done by April. Right after she turned 17 and lost the trace.

♟🃏🎱 ♌︎

Professor Slughorn lectured blandly and immediately assigned a potions assignment. It was one that she could do practically in her sleep – thanks to the help of the tutor her mother hired years back, she was well ahead of her class level and used her time to assist her best friend, Leo Kordell.

Leo, who was busy scribbling away at her parchment and adding measured ingredients to a steaming cauldron, was also a witch from a rich, pureblood family who had too many rotten strings attached to their name. It's probably why they got along so well - they shared a lot of the same trauma.

While Leo precisely cut up lacewing flies for their brew, Anastasia drew up her next tattoo. She knew that as a pureblood she had to hate the muggle world and all things muggle, but there was something so thrilling about disguising herself and spending time sitting in a tattoo parlor, giving complete trust to a stranger. The adrenaline rush wasn't something she'd felt for a while, truly since her and Theo had started sneaking around in fourth year after the Yule Ball.

The classroom door opened suddenly and in tumbled Ron Weasley and Harry Potter – dumb and dumber. Anastasia snorted at the surprised look on Slughorn's face, watching as the pair fought over the last available textbook.

A loud explosion sounded in the other corner of the room. When she shifted her gaze, Seamus Finnegan could be seen with soot covering his face, his hair standing pin straight off the top of his head. Laughs bubbled through the rest of the students as Slughorn rushed him off to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey.

Leo never looked up from her work. Most of the Slytherins didn't. They were used to foolery by now from their classmates in the other houses and made sure everyone knew how above it they were. It made Anastasia want to punch a wall sometimes, because she felt like she was growing up way too fast. She felt as if no childlike life was left in her, and that thought alone made her feel stuck like a mouse in a glue trap.

Anastasia and Leo ended up finishing their potion early, and, having been given the okay by Slughorn, proceeded to clean up their things and head back to their dormitory for free period. When they arrived, Leo immediately collapsed onto Anastasia's bed, heaving a sigh of relief at the comfort of (almost) solitude. As she lay down, a small crunch could be heard, and Leo pulled a letter out from under her behind. How an owl reached the dormitory was beyond her.

"Ana..." her voice was quiet, enough to make Anastasia's blood run cold. Leo handed her friend the letter and the pieces all but flew together in her head: It was engraved with her family crest, as well as the small symbol her parents used when communicating with her about the Dark Lord (and her task) while she was at school. Secrecy was important in a time like this, in case their owl was intercepted by the Ministry of Magic and investigated, like so many of her family friends' owls had.

She tore it open, seeing her mother's perfect cursive handwriting scribbled in their family's code language. The cryptic and jumbled sentence read:

There is someone at Hogwarts who can help you. Look for them.

When Anastasia's eyes reached the end of the line, the letter, envelope and all, burst into flames. She reviewed it in her head. No names, no pronouns, no initials even. Absolutely no detail was given and she was just supposed to find this person and request their help? Secrecy really annoyed her sometimes. Leo frowned as Anastasia swore out loud.

"What the fuck..."