Ana woke up twenty hours later, refreshed after not having slept for a week and running through the woods for two days. Draco was still beside her, holding her despite the fact that he was wide awake.
"Good morning." She whispered as she turned around to face him.
"It's evening, darling." He laughed, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead.
"Is it? Oh, well I'm starving."
"Dinner is still happening, should we go down?"
"Maybe we can just go directly to the kitchen."
"Okay, we can do that." He said, standing, followed by Ana.
She decided just to go down in her pajamas, not caring what anyone thought. They walked down with his arm around her shoulder in silence. She was anxious, she felt vulnerable, but he was beside her and that provided some comfort.
She tickled the pear on the portrait and it opened up to let them into the kitchen. A house elf ran up to Ana and hugged her, squealing about how glad she was that the girl was alive.
"Me too." Ana laughed. "Can I get some dinner by any chance?"
"It's still happening upstairs." The house elf replied confusedly.
Draco leaned down and whispered to the house elf, who nodded in understanding and rushed away without another word. Draco led the girl to a table and they sat together, the house elf returning with two plates containing potatoes the way Ana liked them and a stack of pancakes covered in fruit, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.
"Listen, love, I can't imagine what you went through over the past week and a half; which is why I need you to tell me, so I can help you." Draco said as they ate.
"I'd like everyone to know. I can't do what I have to without support, so I plan on telling Briar and them. It will be difficult enough reliving it once, so I don't want to explain it to you and then again to them... Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course." He reassured her.
She devoured the plate in minutes, asking for more. The house elf brought a second plate with chicken, vegetables, and a side of chocolate covered strawberries. Once Ana had finished that, she drank a good ten glasses of water before she was ready to go back to the Common Room. Her legs were still painfully sore, so Draco helped support her as they walked back. He would do whatever he could to make the transition back to normal life as easy as possible for the girl.
When they walked back to the common room, Ana was hounded with people asking questions and people she barely knew were hugging her, saying they missed her. Draco eventually fended off the crowds, bringing Ana and her group of friends to her dormitory.
Briar enveloped the girl in a gentle hug, Sage, Pansy, Emory, Blaise, Zina, Alastair, Theo, and Ben all joining in. Once they all released her, Sage had a difficult time letting go, Ana understanding and letting her hold on for as long as she needed.
Sage pulled back, wiping away tears and sitting by everyone else.
"I know you're all wondering what happened, and you deserve to know the truth. I guess we should start with the fact that I'm not Anastasia Redmare. I'm Alexandria Rainbrooke."
"What? Draco, did you know?" Pansy asked, having helped the boy through grieving the missing girl all those years ago.
"Not at first, not until around the end of November, when we got together." He responded.
"I was kidnapped and my memories were taken from me after the woman I thought was my aunt, Alaris, killed my parents."
"I had no idea." Alastair said, shocked at the new information.
"I went to Beauxbatons after she moved us to France, and I met Mason, or you would all know him as Jaxon. He was..."
"It's okay." Draco whispered, providing more comfort.
"He was abusive... that's why under polyjuice as Jaxon, he had violent tendencies towards me. When Fleur Delacour... er Weasley, wrote to me asking to help fight in the battle, I left immediately, using it as an escape from Mason. When I returned home from the battle, Alaris saw how strong I had become and she... she recruited me to be an assassin, taking after her. I killed tons of Death Eaters and evil people. I was becoming numb to the feeling of taking lives when I was assigned the mission to kill Draco. I was put on the Hogwarts Express and sent here, where I met all of you. I tried a few times... to kill him. But I had fallen for him... so I didn't, I couldn't."
"Wow." Briar commented.
"I had been getting memories back in dreams, but they were vague and unclear, as well as sparse and few. Then I got close to Draco and they all came rushing back. I regained them all, and explained everything to Draco, and he forgave me."
"It's very irregular that Alaris used a memory charm on you, but you kept them all in the back of your head." Emory added.
"Yeah well, then I figured out Alaris was lying to me and then I also figured out I could control things with my mind."
"It seems to me that if the woman was weak when she cast the spell, your mind powers created a sort of force field... shielding your brain." They analyzed.
"I'm getting to that... all the attempts on my life and Draco's were from Mason. He was sending me threats and attacked me on multiple occasions. He attacked Pansy after she tried to help me and by then I knew the truth of his identity but hadn't told anyone because if he was detained, Alaris would send another spy that we didn't know. Anyways, he attacked me and Draco after classes one day, and that's when he kidnapped me."
"Merlin." Alastair sighed, running his palm over his face at the knowledge of his closest friend's suffering.
"I woke up in a cell two days later. He had cracked my skull and broken my hand in the struggle, but repaired them by the time I came to. He told me... when I was down there... that Draco was dead. I believed him and stopped trying to escape. After a week of him hitting me and punishing me, starving me, I agreed to his terms for release. I agreed to marry him to get out of that place. He tried to remove my memories of Draco, of all of you, of his cruelty, so I could be 'wholly' his." Ana choked up. "It didn't work. That's when I realized my mind had some kind of shield around it. Then, then I went upstairs with him, acting oblivious. I got cleaned up, ate, and the first opportunity I got I went looking for my wand, instead finding his grandfather's. He hit me and... and he fought me but I won and I... I did what needed to be done."
"You killed him?" Draco questioned.
"I did. I couldn't risk him coming after me again or anything. I tried to apparate back here after, but the wand didn't work well for me. I was able to cast a location charm and I followed it. I walked and ran for about two days until I reached here. I didn't take many breaks, only stopping to quickly eat then continuing on my way. Filch let me in and told me where Draco was." She left out the part about him jumping, not wanting to upset them to excess.
Briar, who was crying at the story, stood and left the room. Everyone was silent, no one knew how to respond.
Alastair was ashamed of himself, guilty for not protecting the girl. He followed Briar from the room, bringing her back once she had calmed down.
"I'm so sorry, Sia. I–"
"What about Alaris?" Alastair interrupted.
"What about her?"
"Have you killed her yet?"
"No, I was–"
"Well we have to find a way. You said that she is responsible for all this. We need to put an end to her torment."
"I was trying to figure out how."
"Well let's come up with a plan. We have to find a way to take down the woman. She can't just get away with all of this." Alastair was fuming, he wanted the manipulator gone.
"Okay, what are you thinking?" Draco asked, looking around the room.
"The Rainbrookes had a manor in France, didn't they?" Ben asked.
"Yes, I inherited it." Ana replied.
"Well, let's go there for Spring Break." Pansy added, understanding where Ben was going.
"You invite Alaris to meet you somewhere nearby and we'll go with you to take her down, eleven to one." Emory planned.
"I can invite her to meet at our old house." Ana said, liking the plan. "By now she'll know that I'm aware of her motives, so I'll have to tel her I'm meeting her alone."
Alastair shook his head. "It's too risky, she could find a way–"
"It's the best option we have." Draco interrupted.
"Right so we'll stay there for the first week, preparing for the attack. Then we'll meet up with Alaris on Easter Sunday." Sage contributed.
"Then we have the second week to recuperate." Blaise finished.
"I can teach you all how to fight without magic, because the house has anti-magic wards and you can't use an unforgivable curse without being sent to Azkaban for not contacting the aurors to do the dirty work." Anastasia decided. "We can do this."
"Yes, we can." Draco reassured with a smile. "She'll never hurt you again."
Ana smiled, but it faded soon after. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Right well, I'm going to go write to my parents about the fact that I won't be coming home." Zina said airily, leaving the room.
"Let's go for a walk." Draco suggested, gently pulling Ana from the dorm.
They were on their way to their spot when the Golden Trio stopped them.
"Ana!" Hermione gasped, hugging the girl. "I'd heard the rumors of people saying you'd come back yesterday, but I assumed they saw a ghost!"
"Bloody hell, there was a memorial and everything." Ron said as he hugged the girl.
Harry awkwardly shook her hand, but she pulled him in for a hug.
"I'm glad you're okay, Ana, we all are."
"I have your stuff, I was sending it to your aunt but here." Hermione pulled a sweater and an envelope from her satchel, passing it to Ana.
A homemade sweater from Molly and an invitation to George's spring break wedding.
"Thank you. I'll write to George as soon as I get back, letting him know I can come and I'll write to Molly to thank her."
"Yeah I've told them to write to you through me, anyways." Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Thanks."
"We'll be going, then." Draco interrupted, pulling Ana away. She waved goodbye as they continued on.
Draco sat leaning against the rock, holding Ana who laid her head on his lap, watching as the sky grew dark.
"I think we'll have a good view of the stars tonight." Ana commented.
"I hope so. There's supposed to be a meteor shower."
"Exciting."
There was a moment of silence as Ana played with his rings, twirling them around.
"Do you see a future for us?" Draco asked out of nowhere.
"Well if the 'marry me' thing wasn't just an impulse, yes. And if it was just impulsive and you'd like to take it back for now, the answer is still yes."
"I meant it. I was just wondering. I didn't expect you to say yes so quickly, I thought I'd have to put up more of a fight."
"For a while, I didn't think I'd make it to now. I didn't see a future for myself past this year. But then, I met you. Now I can see everything clearly. There was no point in hesitating when I knew my answer."
"What do you see?"
"We'll live in one of my manors, have a few dogs and cats."
"Seriously? Multiple cats?"
"Yes! Did you think I'd stop at Pumpkin?"
"I hoped." He chuckled. "Any kids?"
"I don't think I'd be a good mother."
"That's not true. I think you'd make the best mother."
"I'm too problematic. Death follows me."
"You had to do things to keep yourself alive, you had to focus on yourself to be aware and able to fight off any threats. Once Alaris is gone, you won't have to worry about anyone killing you. You'll be able to live normally. I've seen how you take care of your friends, you'll do great."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then we'll have two, maybe three."
"Daughters or sons?"
"We have no control over that so let's not get our hopes up too high."
"I'd like a daughter, though."
"Me too." Ana giggled.
He ran his hands through her hair, relaxing her, admiring her eyes that glistened in the moonlight.
"I'm happy you're not dead." Ana said with a bright smile.
"You too."