As Night Falls (Third Book in the Things Not Seen Series) *Completed*

Chapter 12

Christina paraded up the stairs with a new kind of confidence. She strode into the Great Hall and sat down next to Draco at her usual spot. However, something caught her eye and she jumped up and grabbed Draco's wrist to lead him to the other side of the table. She slid into a seat next to Anastasia who jumped when she saw Christina.

"Hey stranger. I haven't seen you all year. I was beginning to worry that you completely disappeared or got expelled or something."

"Yeah well you know me. Busy as can be."

"Okay... so how have you been?"

"Pretty good I guess."

"You don't sound very good. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

Right at that moment, one of Anastasia's books fell to the ground and she bent down the pick it up. As she pulled it up, her sleeve fell down to reveal a dark red bandage. She quickly covered it up as if it were her dirty secret.

"What happened Anastasia?"

"I don't..."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Christina pulled back Anastasia's sleeve to reveal the red bandage once again. "What happened?" she asked all emotion draining from her face.

"It's nothing. I just got into a bit of trouble with a hippogriff. Oh look here comes the mail." Anastasia continued trying to change the subject.

"Anastasia..." Christina began but was soon interrupted by Aria dragging her back to their seats. Anastasia pulled her sleeve down once again and sighed. Lucky for her, Aria had great timing. She became so distracted by her thoughts that she just barely noticed that her owl had dropped a small letter on her lap. She picked it up and read her name in beautiful cursive letters. She opened it and pulled out the small piece of paper inside of it and read it silently to herself.

Anastasia, Meet me on top of the Astronomy Tower today at 1:00. Come alone. Don't tell anyone about this.

Anastasia was very confused as she had no idea who had written the letter and she began to worry. Rumor was spreading that Voldemort would be recruiting her for his army next. She let this thought slip from her mind though. She felt a certain urge to follow what the note told her to.

When breakkfast was over, Anastasia got up from where she was sitting and walked towards her room. She entered, grabbed her wand, and exitied once again. She made her way toward the Astronomy Tower. She walked up the spiral staircase and onto the large platform. The view of the lake was beautiful and the scenery took her breath away. She looked out over the steep drop and took a deep breath. Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt the cool breeze across her face.

However, this wasn't the only breeze she felt. She felt a warm breath on the back of her neck. In a panic, her eyes opened and she whipped herself around to see who was behind her. Before she could get a close look of who it was, the person behind her kissed her. She pulled back slightly unsure who this was. It instantly hit her that she obviously wasn't meeting Lord Voldemort today so she felt some relief but she was also worried as she had no idea who this could possibly be.

When she turned her head to see who it was she was greated by a very farmiliar red headed boy. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Then without warning she punched him in the arm. He grabbed it painfully and looked at her shocked.

"You scared the heck out of me."

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew it was me."

"Yeah not really. When all you say is 'Meet me here and come alone' it can kind of creep a person out."

"Well, I'm sorry. Is there anyway that you can forgive me?"

"I can think of a few things."

The red headed boy leaned into her once again and they kissed for what seemed like hours but then Anastasia pulled back again. "No. I'm sorry. I can't do this. It feels wrong."

"What feels wrong? Shouldn't you be free to make your own choices."

"Yes but I feel like I've betrayed Aria and Christina. I tried to play it off like I got a hippogriff scratch but I don't know how much longer I can pretend. They'll find out eventually that I got splinched and that I was trying to get back to you."

"What can I do to change your mind?"

"You can talk to Aria. Gain her trust again and ask her permission to do this."

He stepped forward and thought for a moment and then began again "Okay. I'll talk to Aria."

"Thank you, Fred."