Never • The Lost Daughter | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 83 - Phoenix

I landed on my knees that instantly got dirty with wet sand. The storm continued, as I walked to the dark house by the sea. There was only a weak light on the window. When I reached the door of the house, I heard two voices from inside. One was deep and old and the other was steadier. I knocked on the door.

"Who is this?" said a sharp voice behind the door.

"My name is Annalise Riddle. The Lost Daughter. I'm looking for Mr Bronkovitch. His sister, Alexandra, sends me. She said that he could help me," I said.

There was a moment of silence. I heard a whispered conversation. Then there was silence again. I waited for a long time before a man as plump as the woman in the inn opened the door. He had grey hair and eyes that seemed in the dim light of the candle he was holding.

"Let me look at your face. Come in the light," he said half closing his eyes. I made a step.

"Merlin's beard! It is you!" he said. And then with a sudden movement, he pulled me into the house.

The room was warm and lighter than I thought it would be as I was walking towards the house. There were not many things inside, only two sofas facing each other, a couple of chairs, a lit fireplace but also a table with a full recording and radio equipment. There was someone sitting in front of the table. It was you man with dirty blond hair and handsome features.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Constantine Bronkovitch and this is my son, Dimitri. You are most welcome here, Annalise," he said giving me his hand.

Dimitri stood quickly and greeted me with a wide smile.

"So what is this place?"

"We are running the only free and independent radio station in our world. We broadcast the real news, we announce the list of the missing wizards and witches, we try to give away some hope... Of course, it is very difficult to do this job with the Death Eaters in the Ministry, we are all on the run. But since we can still give it away, we keep on doing it," he said. "They informed us about you missing and they said that we should keep our eyes open for you. You're safe here," he went on. For the time being, you should get these clothes out. You're soaking wet." said Constantine.

Just at that moment, a crack was heard from the stairs nearby. My wand shot up to the air without controlling it as I turned around to see who it was. The end of my wand was held against a man's neck.

"Woah, woah, woah!" said the man. He had a beard, one that people only got when they were out of the civilized world for long enough. The man's eyes looked familiar. "Dimitri, is this the crazy ex you were talking about?"

I knew the voice like it had come from a dream.

"Aramis?" I said, narrowing my eyes.

He seemed at a loss for words at first but when he carefully studied my face, my image quickly came back in his mind as well.

"Annalise Riddle!" he said, now revealing a wide smile. I lowered my wand.

"You two know each other?" said Constantine throwing looks back and forth.

"I was her Guardian back when I was an Auror. The Ministry had assigned me and Ferron to watch her after everyone learned she was You Know Who's daughter."

The images came back easily. My guards were never strict with me. Although they did their job, they seemed to believe in me back when no one did. It was no wonder that it turned out Aramis was part of the resistance. He and Ferron had turned a blind eye when I sneaked out to see Draco in the Astronomy Tower one too many times.

"It's so good to be amongst friendly faces. You can't imagine what is happening at Hogwarts right at this moment. What are you doing here? Is Ferron with you?"