The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 1: Emeralds and Old Money

"Goodbye, Severus. Remember that you're not going to be needed next weekend. Bibiana will be having some company," her father grumbled to the potion's master who was collecting his wits after their latest training session.

                Of course, once her father got word of her rather impressive progress with Legilimency, the man wasted no time convincing the Head of Slytherin to frequent the Manor on the weekends to continue where they left off from school. They had their silent agreement, he would continue to teach her as long as she kept absolutely quiet over the whole matter. It made telling the truth difficult to her friends, and yet Ana knew it was a sacrifice she had to make if she wanted to appease her father.

                Learning the skill did give Ana a bit of an ego boost, she was able to succeed even moderately in something her father failed at time and time again. That little fact made her warm and prideful; it reminded her that no matter how hard her father tried, he didn't have all the answers. Or all the power.

                Ana gave the potions master a lackluster wave, which didn't matter considering he left the large estate without a second glance.

                "Alright, Draco! You can come out now!"

                Her father's blasted voice echoed throughout the house, bouncing off every cold vacant wall until it reached the ears of her younger brother. She didn't understand why he still called for the boy, he never came out anyways.

                Once her father refused to share with Draco why Professor Snape was there, he grew irritated: most weekends he stayed locked up in his large room with no one to talk to. At least to their father's knowledge, but Ana knew that Draco would talk to Dobby whenever she was busy and he was lonely. Neither were quiet about their story telling, her father was just too uninvolved to care about his son.

                During the weekdays when their father was at work, Draco would made his appearance. Ana would be laying in her bed, reading either a book on Herbology or Potions when he would crawl on the floor: always low enough so she wouldn't see him sneak up on her. As her head was stuck between the pages of her books, he would chuck his golden snitch at her head, laughing every time it bounced off her skull. That was his ritual if he wanted to hangout. He did that every day.

                Draco was determined to make the Quidditch team, given the empty seeker slot that desperately needed to be filled. It was his favorite position to play; he would zip around on his broom, faster than she ever could despite being a chaser. But the job of the chaser meant working well with two other teammates, and Draco was not necessarily the collaborative type. He wanted the glory. He wanted to be the reason the team won a whopping 150 points at the end of the match. He wanted to be appreciated, and Ana could understand why.

                Every day, regardless of how tired she was, Ana would take him up on his offer to chase after the little golden ball in the heat of the blazing summer sky. It burnt their skin, with how long they stayed out, but Ana didn't want Draco to turn away from her given how miserable she was when he ignored her last year. She didn't know what exactly made him come back to her, but she thanked the heavens for it. Ana missed Draco dearly, and she figured he missed her too.

                After her usual dinner of soup and a sandwich and joining Draco for a game of chase-the-snitch, Ana started imagining all the fun things she would get to do once her very own guest arrived to the manor. It was almost at the end of the summer when Ana was finally able to convince her father to let Aeron stay for a weekend. Whenever she brought it up he would roll his eyes and tell her that inviting rowdy children to the manner was not something he ever wanted, until she mentioned who it would be. Her father's interest piqued once he found out she wanted her Pureblood friend to join them for a few days. In his mind it was better than her wanting to spend time with the Boles, a known bloodtraitor family, or the Muggleborn that she lived with at school. It made the bitter man's skin crawl with her even owling them during the summer, but her mother insisted she was allowed that luxury.