Choosing Draco Malfoy

Chapter 32

                Anna woke around noon, took a quick shower, dressed and ran down to the great hall and quickly ate lunch. She was meeting Draco down by the black lake and she did not want to be late in case he thought she might not show up. Anna looked over towards the Slytherin table but he wasn’t there.

                It was cold out and the middle of February, but luckily Anna had thought to bring her jacket. In fact Anna had just celebrated her 17th birthday and could now use magic and apparition outside of Hogwarts. Anna saw Draco waiting for her down near the trees that bordered the Forbidden Forest. When she got down there Draco opened his arms to her and Anna went into them, snuggling up tight against him, her head resting on his warm chest, “I missed you,” he said against her hair softly. Oh how she loved this boy. If only others could see the Draco she knew.

                “It’s only been a few hours since you saw me,” Anna laughed, enjoying the feel of his warm body against hers.

                “Yeah, but that is still too long,” he kissed her softly. His lips were healed and his eye was barely discolored from his fight with Rafe the night before.

                “Does it still hurt?” he asked, his finger running lightly along her nose where it had been broken last night.

                “No, it’s perfectly fine. You did a really good job mending it,” she smiled up at him, “Maybe you should think about becoming a healer when you’re finished here at Hogwarts. I know you have the grades and the ability to do it.”

                “That’s a good one,” he laughed harshly without any humor, “A death eater healer, that’s a little bit of a contradiction, don’t you think?”

                “Well, you did fix my nose and took care of me when I was sick in your bedroom over the holidays,” Anna reminded him.

                “Well, that was because it was you,” he said softly, looking at her deeply, “I’m not a bleeding heart for anyone but you, Anna.”

                “You know I never did thank you properly for rescuing me from Bellatrix and Greyback. And thank you for telling my father I was safe, you didn’t have to do that,” she leaned up and kissed him deeply, her hands going around his neck and into his silky platinum hair.

                “Did you tell Lupin about us?” Draco asked when the kiss broke.

                “No. Not at first. When we met secretly over the summer that time last year he knew it was you I was meeting. I don’t know how but he figured it out and must have seen us flying on your broom that night too. After he confronted me I told him how I felt about you.”

                “Yeah, he told me in Diagon Alley when he asked for my help that you cared for me. Well. I am sure he took it well, his daughter in love with a Malfoy,” Draco said sarcastically.

                “Not too bad. He did warn me about your family’s connection to the dark lord and that it was probably best if I stayed away from you,” Anna admitted.

                “And he was right. You really would be better off loving someone else,” Draco said sadly.

                “Don’t say that,” Anna said firmly, looking up at him, “I will choose who I want to be with, not my father. I don’t like what you’ve become Draco, but it’s not going to make me stop loving you.”

                “And I love you, and I am just selfish enough to want to keep you with me no matter what,” Draco sighed and pulled her tighter into his arms, resting his head on her hair. Even if Anna didn’t realize it, he knew what they were up against and it wasn’t good. And while he had admitted to her he was a death eater, she still did not know the whole truth of what the dark lord had in store for Hogwarts and his role in it. Draco knew he had better enjoy his time with Anna while he could because it wouldn’t be long until he finished his task. He would probably never be able to return to Hogwarts, if he wasn’t dead first.

                Over the next weeks, Anna did her best to avoid Rafe. She would see him in the corridors of the school and quickly go in a different direction. And she couldn’t meet Draco much during the week either because he was always claiming to be working on homework most evenings and Anna began wondering what he was up to; she had a bad feeling that it wasn’t good.

                One evening her luck avoiding Rafe ran out. She had just left from meeting Draco in their usual spot at the Astronomy tower and was headed up to her dorm in the Ravenclaw tower when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind; she gasped, jumping and nearly tripped over her own feet. But they grabbed her, setting her up straight before she could hit the floor.

                “Hey,” a voice she knew well said.

                “Oh, hey,” Anna said turning to Rafe.

                “You are avoiding me, aren’t you?” he asked, looking at her with those soulful green eyes.

                Anna didn’t know what to say or how to tell him. She didn’t want to hurt Rafe because she really liked him; but she loved Draco. “There is something I need to tell you,” she began, unable to look him in the eyes.

                “I already know. You and Malfoy are back together. I’ve seen the change that has come over you and how you both watch each other,” Rafe said with a heavy sigh.

                “Rafe I’m sorry. I really like you, but just as a really close friend,” Anna finally looked up at him.

                “Anna, I like you a lot and I want to be your friend. Hell, I want to be more than just your friend, but I can deal with that,” he looked at her intensely and asked, “But what are you going to do when he hurts you again? Are you going to keep going back to him?”

                “Draco isn’t going to hurt me again,” Anna snapped at him, wanting to believe the words she’d spoken.

                “Have you asked him about who cursed Katie Bell? Or who poisoned Ron Weasley? I bet he knows the answer to that because he did it,” Rafe said angrily, “Why don’t you ask him, or are you afraid to learn the answer?”

                “It could have been anyone,” Anna hissed. But there was a feeling of doubt in her mind. After all, Draco was probably the only death eater currently attending Hogwarts, but she couldn’t tell Rafe that.

                “So you are okay with your friends and possibly your family being hurt by him?” Rafe said in disbelief.

                “Shut up, Rafe. You don’t know that Draco did any of that,” Anna was getting furious.

                “Anna, I am not trying to be mean or make you angry, I am being truthful. Sometimes the truth hurts. What will your father say when he learns about you and Malfoy?”

                Anna couldn’t stop the look of fury, her eyes shooting daggers at Rafe, “Are you threatening to talk to Lupin about me? Because I really don’t care what my father would say.  He may be my father, but Lupin doesn’t control my life or feelings. Did he not tell you the details of our messed up family?” Anna asked harshly.

                “He told me enough,” Rafe said uncomfortably, wondering where she was going with this.

                “Then you know what he is and that I grew up not knowing him, being raised by my mother and stepfather, whom I thought was my real father, until they were killed by the dark lord. And then here comes Lupin into my life, my real dad,” Anna sighed and then continued, “My point is this. I really don’t believe he has much say in my love life. It is my decision to make.”

                “Yes, I know Lupin is a werewolf and I also know that you get sick every full moon cycle although you do not change. But I also know that Lupin loves you. When you were snatched at Christmas by Greyback I thought he was going to go crazy or end up dead himself. He searched every known dark wizard hideout in the country he could think of, putting himself in terrible danger,” Rafe tried to make her understand.

                “Rafe, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but it’s not going to work. I still love him,” Anna started up the stairs to the Ravenclaw common, “I’m sorry. Goodnight,” she called back down to him and went up to her dorm, exhausted and hit the sack.