The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 10: An Unlikely Match

After being away for months, Ana wanted to spend every moment she could with Draco. For the rest of the break, the two of them were chasing after the golden snitch that he got as his gift from their mother. Draco caught it every time, no matter how hard Ana tried to get it. She pleaded for Draco to come along with her when she was going back to King's Cross Station, but the idea of him having to say goodbye again was almost too much for him. He was upset until she told him that the next time he'd be at the station, they would be going to Hogwarts together, and that was enough for the boy to give in. If Ana thought leaving Draco behind was hard before, having to leave him to his lonesome in that big house for a second time made her stomach hurt.

But being away from Draco wasn't the only thing Ana was dreading. She knew that the twins' mercy had expired and she assumed that they would've pranked her as soon as she stepped foot in the castle. They were probably putting something elaborate for her given it had been so long since their last prank, she figured. The thought of having to bear another cake explosion or something similar did not seem exciting in the slightest.

Yet her biggest grievance was that because of her poor attention span in history of magic, Professor Binns was going to be introducing to her tutor her next class. It was at the end of the day, which meant that paying attention to any of her other classes or listening to her friends during meals was an impossible task. She felt bad for not being there for them, but her mind was reeling with anticipation.

Her leg was bouncing in worry which earned her a few annoyed glances from the Hufflepuff beside her. But she couldn't stop. Her body had to expunge some energy before she exploded and this was the only way she could do so while sitting in the most boring class of wizard kind. The class went by agonizingly slow, the professor mumbling about an old rebellion that took place years ago that no one even talked about even more. Needless to say, Ana was not entertained.

Time stood entirely still, up until the point when the ghost dismissed the class, and she tried her hardest to keep out of his sight and sneak out of the room. She figured she could duck down, roll out the door and pop back up like all those spy movies Calista had told her so much about. But that fantasy was pointless as the professor phased through the other students and made a beeline towards her.

"Not so fast, Ms. Malfoy," he groaned tiredly. "You know what time it is."

Oh, she knew. That's why she tried to sneak away, she thought. Her head dipped in defeat as he showed her to his office. Her feet felt like they were weighed down with bricks as she trudged after the ghost. After ascending a few stairs, she stepped into a simple, dusty office to see someone already seated in front of the professor's large desk.

"Ana, meet your tutor."

Her nervousness quickly drained and was replaced with aggravation as she looked into the face of the person who was supposed to help her. This was it. This was the worst case scenario.

~

"Your tutor is Wright?" Alex howled, all the girls were sitting in the common room discussing Ana's situation.

Ana eyes popped at how loud the girl yelled his name. Sure he wasn't very popular among the Slytherins, mainly because he didn't talk to many people, but Ana wouldn't want any eavesdroppers to be listening in to them right now. From what she could tell, every other student was minding their business, but Ana didn't want to take any chances.

"Yes," Ana sighed lowly, "and apparently Aeron is the best student in his class. How that happened I have no idea." Even saying his name out loud felt like a curse and it felt wrong on her tongue, like an acid pop that was so sour that it burnt a hole through it. She made a mental note to stick to referring him by his last name; maybe she could convince herself that it wasn't really him if she refused to say his name.