BREATHE -draco malfoy

twenty eight.

"This is completely mental."

"Completely."

Ana stood, holding her little silver cup of Polyjuice potion, staring down at the petite brunette that she was about to transform into. It was a completely terrible idea to go into the Ministry, even if it meant getting ahold of the real Horcrux.

"You don't have to come Ana," Hermione had said to her that morning as they devised their plan. They had discovered the previous night that Mundungus Fletcher had given the locket to none other than Dolores Umbridge, the scum of the entire wizarding world. Why on Earth did it have to be her? Ana shivered in remembrance of the witch, with her high-pitched, sickly-sweet voice that resembled cherry flavored cough syrup. She remembered the way Umbridge dressed in all pink, the way her voice got all squeaky when she was angry. And she remembered how Umbridge had tortured her friends and almost used the Cruciatus Curse on Harry for information on Dumbledore's Army during their fifth year. Ana wanted, more than anything, to never cross paths with that woman again. And besides the bile that rose in her throat at the thought of seeing Umbridge again, Ana was going to invade the Ministry of Magic, a place that was overtaken by Voldemort's followers. But if Harry, the boy-who-lived and the number one target of Voldemort's wrath, could pluck up the courage to go into the ministry, there was no way in hell that Ana was going to sit this one out.

"I'm going," Ana had said, firmly. She felt better today than she had previously, no longer as achy and tired from her torture. A good night's sleep had rejuvenated her, even though her dreams were still riddled by memories of Draco, and she was ready to get to work.

So it had been decided that the four of them would capture four ministry personnel and use Polyjuice potion, a rather familiar brew, to find Umbridge without being seen. There wasn't really a set plan in motion, but then again, they never really tended to plan out every detail about their quests. When they were set to leave Grimmauld Place, packing up and preparing to travel, Ana had stared down at her serpent ring, her lifeline to Draco. She would do this for him, as she had done so many other things, in the hope of one day seeing him again. Ana had lifted the silver ring to her lips and laid a kiss on the serpent, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Now, she was standing above the four unconscious wizards, watching as Harry, then Hermione, then Ron downed their potions, almost immediately starting to transform.

"Are you sure about this?" Harry asked Ana as he started to grow taller, coughing from the nasty taste of the Polyjuice. Harry's face was starting to bubble up and shift to look like the face of the man that was laying on the ground next to him.

Ana looked Harry in the eye and lifted her cup to her mouth.

"Cheers," she said ironically, tipping the cup back and letting the potion slide down her throat.

---

"There she is!" A ministry officer yelled at Ana through the crowd of other ministry workers, almost immediately after she had stepped out onto the black marble floor.
Many of the other ministry people turned to look at Ana, which made her blood turn to ice in her veins.

Ana had known that this was going to be a potentially dangerous quest, but she had never expected to have been found out, the second she arrived at the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, were nearby, walking slightly apart so as not to be seen as strange. At the sound of the officer's voice, Ana's heart dropped. Should she run? How on Earth could they possibly know who she was? She shifted, grasping onto her jacket sleeve, feeling the cold metal of Draco's ring against her hand. Ana hadn't been able to will herself to take it off, as it was the only thing she had of Draco's and she was not going to lose it. She wore the ring on the pointer finger of her right hand, a hand that didn't really belong to her, as she had been transformed into a witch by the name of Mary Cattermole. She didn't resemble Anastasia Prince at all anymore, with her wavy brown hair that was pinned up on the back of her head, her common attire and completely average, unrecognizable face. But the officers were walking swiftly towards her, as if she had been discovered. Ana stole a glance behind her shoulder at Ron, who was disguised as a plump, middle aged, balding man, and he was looking at her in fear. Another officer walked up, grabbing Ana's arms and pulling her forward.