The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 4

The week seemed to pass slowly for Anna. Pretending to actually like Umbridge and the others was draining her, that topped with classes basically left her feeling like a zombie. But finally the weekend came. Anna didn't know if she would be able to get away from the others, especially Theo, who was now constantly hanging around her. She'd had no idea that he was so needy. But she was able to make her escape when he saw a couple of his friends while they were at the Three Broomsticks and started talking to them.

Anna found Hermione waiting for her when she arrived at the Shrieking Shack. "Sorry I'm late, Theo has been clinging to me like a koala recently." Anna said as she rolled her eyes. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Anna's eyebrow went higher and higher as Hermione told her that Harry was essentially going to be teaching students in secret. "Mione, I don't know if you lot are crazy, brave, stupid, or a mix of it all. You know that you'll most likely get expelled if you get caught."

"If we get caught." Hermione said.

"You really are crazy! Mione I can't! If I  join your little group and it gets discovered, then my cover is blown."

"Anna please, we need you! You're one of the brightest witches in our year. They could learn so much if both you and Harry taught them!"

"Mione, I'm sorry. I can't. I'm risking enough as it is. If they discovered me, I would be dead. Quite literally mind you. Kate would have no problem using the Killing Curse on me."

Hermione sighed quietly. "Anna, I know that it's a lot to ask of you, especially since you have so much on your plate already, but I don't think that this will work without you."

"Everyone else still thinks that I'm a traitor Hermione."

"Then we tell them the truth."

"We can't!" Anna hissed. "The more people that know the truth, the higher the chances that I get found out. I'm sorry Hermione, but my decision is final. I'm not helping you."

"The old Anna wouldn't hesitate to join." Hermione snapped, and Anna glared at her. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not that Anna anymore. I may have gotten my memories back, but I'll never be able to change back into who I used to be." She rolled up her sleeve, and Hermione visibly winced when she saw the Dark Mark.  "Anna-"

"Forget about it Hermione." Anna shook her head as she gave her a sad smile. "I wish that I could help you. Believe me, if things were different then I wouldn't hesitate to help. But this is the way that things are now, and as much as we may want to, there's nothing that you can do to change it. You have your path, and I have mine." Anna walked out of the shack, and she couldn't help but feel like this might be the last time for a long while that she would be talking to Hermione, or any of her old friends for that matter.

When Tuesday came, Anna met Snape in his office. She hadn't had time to eat any dinner, and her stomach growled noisily.

"Oh shut up." She scolded it before turning to Snape. "Where are we going?"

"Malfoy Manor." He responded. He grabbed her by her robes, and they apparated away, arriving in the cold and forbidding hallway that was the entrance hall to Malfoy Manor. "They are waiting for us in the dining room."

Somehow Anna got the feeling that this wasn't going to be a regular meeting and it turned out that she was right. They walked into the dining room, and she saw Voldemort sitting at the head of the table. "My Lord." Anna said as she bowed, and he gave her a look that chilled her to the bone. "Sit down child." He said, and Anna sat next to Kate, who was giving her an excited grin.

"Zamperini has told me much about your abilities." Voldemort continued. "She said that you are talented and have amazing talent and that you show great promise."

"Thank you my lord." Anna murmured as she kept her gaze fixed on the table, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Zamperini rarely speaks so highly of someone, especially someone in the lower ranks, which is why I have decided to test your loyalty to me."

Anna frowned and finally raised her gaze. "My lord?"

A person was brought in. Cuts covered their body, their face caked with blood. Anna couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman.

"Prove your loyalty to me." Voldemort said. "And kill them."

Anna felt all of the color drain from her face. She couldn't kill them, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did. On the other hand, Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she didn't do as he requested. She stood up and walked over to the person, who seemed too weak to even beg for mercy, for their life to be spared. Anna pointed her wand at them, her arm slightly wavering.

"Avada Kedavra." She whispered. A burst of green light shot out from her wand tip, and the person went still. There was silence for a few moments before Voldemort spoke. "Welcome to my inner ranks."

Anna was in now, but at the cost of her soul. She just hoped that someday she would be able to forgive herself. Dinner was served then, but she had lost all of her appetite. Nonetheless, she forced herself to eat so that no one would seem suspicious of her actions. The moment played over and over again in her head. The person staring at her with nearly lifeless eyes; her saying the Killing Curse and watching the person go limp. It had been a matter of survival. Anna liked to think that she wasn't selfish, that she would gladly give her lif up to save another, but that wasn't true. Anna had killed them so that she could live. In her mind, she was no better than the people that were gathered around the table with her. She was like them. She was a murderer, a monster. There was nothing that would be able to save her now.