The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 7: Friend and Foe

"Look what my father sent over," Ana exclaimed one weekend evening as she bustled down to the common room to meet with the crew. They were all in various states of sleeping, with Calista being the one closest to actual unconsciousness. 

In Ana's small fist was a broom, the very broom Draco was admiring during the summer when they were in Diagon Alley. The polished dark black wood looked right at home in the dark Slytherin lounge, perfectly sleek and shiny. She never knew he was going to gift her the latest model; however, it wasn't only her that got the new brooms.

"The new Nimbus 2001! Ana, that's the best broom on the market. Godric, I'd kill for a broom like that," Lucian cried out as he marveled at the girl's new piece, his hands reaching out to it like a baby wanting his bottle. Even in the shadowy room his eyes glowed a brilliant sapphire.

"I'm glad you think so, it's for you," she tossed him the broom, rejoicing in the mixture of elation and confusion on the older boy's face as he bobbled the large broom in his hands.

Alex, Calista, and Aeron all shared the same puzzled expression, wondering why the girl would simply give him her broom. Especially Alex. Neither Aeron nor Calista liked playing the sport, they preferred to watch and comment on the game instead of risking injury. But Alex was another story. Her lover for the game rivalled Ana's, and possibly even rivalled her own brother's. The young girl was gazing upon the broom with an even greater look of longing than her brother did.

"Me?"

"Apparently, my father was so excited about Draco earning the spot on the team that he decided to gift everyone on the team new equipment. His note said that he wanted Slytherin to have a more 'unified' look to them now that his son was a part of the roster. Of course, he didn't do this when I made the team, but we won't get into that," Ana trailed off with a huff. "So enjoy, Bole. You've got yourself a brand new broom. Just in time for practice tomorrow."

He held onto the new broom with the lightest of touches, as if holding it like he was supposed to would break the surprisingly lightweight object. 

"Oh! What time is practice? Alex, Aeron and I will come and watch," Calista hummed happily as she started to paint Aeron's nails the dark forest green color Ana had gave him. It was somewhat of a ritual for the two of them, Aeron's technique wasn't great, but he always painted Calista's nails if she did his.

"Three."

"Three."

Both Ana and Alex answered the question at the same time, but no one other than Ana noticed as their voices blended into one. It gave her a moment of pause, but once Draco came barreling into the common room with his broom in hand, Ana's attention was fully stolen.

He was running around with it, hoisting the thing up in the air like a trophy despite having not even played a game yet. Aeron chuckled at his horribly performative act, but he came to learn, like Ana had, that the boy would do anything if that meant he would get some attention. Once all eyes on him, he chuckled quietly and stumbled up the stone stairs, his tiny feet pounding loudly as he raced to his room.

"Then you should be getting some rest, yeah?" Calista smiled as Aeron was finishing up painting her long nails a sparkling pink color. "I mean, with Draco being the newest member, who's to say things are going to go smoothly."

"He's the seeker, Callie," Alex answered plainly, "His job isn't until the very end. If he somehow manages to get in the way of the game when he should be patiently waiting for the damn snitch, then we're doomed."

And with that, everyone followed Calista's advice, tiredly trudging to their rooms for the night.

Buzzing with excitement, Ana downed her sleep potions quickly, otherwise she would stay up for far longer than she intended. The idea of being on the team with Draco after years of talking about it made her heart flutter with anticipation. It didn't take long for the potion to kick in, leaving her with a smile as her last expression, her hand holding her knit Weasley hat as she fell asleep.