BREATHE -draco malfoy

thirteen.

Ana stepped out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, trying to slip away without being seen by Harry, Ron, or Hermione. It was lucky for Ana that the foursome had chosen to go to Diagon Alley today, as it was Saturday. She passed the abandoned, grey shops on each side of the alley, wrapping her thick shawl around her tightly. It wasn't cold outside, as it was early August now, but she felt chilled to the bone and nervous goosebumps ran through her. Her bare legs trembled as she walked and she felt like she was going to be sick. Ana wasn't excited to see him. Well, she was. But she was nervous about what he might say to her.

It had been nearly two months since Ana had heard anything at all from Draco, up until he sent his very short, very curt letter to her which she had received that past Sunday. Ana had been staying at The Burrow with the Weasley's for the past week. Severus had hinted that she should go there, one night as they sat in the sitting room.

"I just wish I could see my friends, that's all," Ana had said after Severus had asked her curtly why she was acting strange. It was very uncommon for Severus to notice much about Ana's moods, but she had been so severely downtrodden all summer that it was hard to miss. Her poor spirits were not simply a  result of Ana missing her friends, though she did.

"Go see them," Severus had said simply, not even glancing over the top of his book. Severus said this like it was the obvious solution, and perhaps it was. Ana desperately wanted to get away to take her mind off of Draco's silence.

So Ana wrote to Ron who informed her that Hermione was already at The Burrow. This made Ana instantly decide to go there as well. Snape agreed willingly that Ana should go, and even strongly suggested that she stay there until the start of term. Severus was acting strangely, as if trying to shoo her off. But this was alright with Ana.

Even though she couldn't talk to Ron or even Hermione about what was bothering her, just seeing her best friends would make her feel better, or so she hoped. Soon after Ana arrived at the Weasley's, Harry did as well. She let the warm companionship of being at the Weasley household drink her up, trying to ignore any thoughts of Draco. And it was working, until she had received his letter. With no sender or return address, Severus had simply sent it on to her. She had jumped up from the Weasley breakfast table and hurried off upstairs to read it in private, away from curious eyes.

Ana had a horrible feeling about their meeting. She knew more about what was going on than Draco thought, as Harry had told her all about the end of last term when he had fought Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father and a Death Eater, the night Sirius had been murdered. Ana even knew all about Lucius Malfoy's trial, as it had been plastered all over the Daily Prophet. She had read about this in private as well, pouring over the pages to find any hint as to what was happening. Unfortunately, though, the only news that she saw of Draco was his picture plastered on the front page, standing stiffly next to his mother.

It only made sense that Draco was somehow involved with the increasing power of Voldemort, although Ana didn't know to what extent. Ana walked further down Diagon Alley, past Ollivander's abandoned storefront, her mind wandering frantically. She longed to see Draco, of course. She had yearned for him every night that summer and most of the days when she didn't have the distractions of her friends around her. It was a wonder that Draco had asked her to come at all. When she read his letter on Sunday she had yelped out loud at his words. Come. If Draco wanted her to come to him, maybe something had changed. Maybe he didn't want to ignore her anymore. Ana had ran through all of the possibilities in her head during Draco's extended silence. That he was dead, or hurt, or wasn't getting her letters at all. But when she received his fateful reply, she knew that none of these things were true. Draco had simply just not wanted to talk to her.

But he wanted to talk to her now, apparently. Ana walked briskly past a couple of cloaked figures towards Knockturn Alley, an area notorious for being unpleasant. It was very curious, although not out of character, that Draco wanted to meet her here. Ana didn't know exactly where she was supposed to go, but she knew that the number was 17 B. After a short while, she arrived in front of an abandoned store. There was a sun-faded outline of a sign that had been taken down off the front, but she saw 17 B clearly above the open door. Ana took a deep breath and walked slowly inside, hugging her sweater around herself.