After All This Time - Book 2

Forty Six

The first of June came faster than any one of us would have liked. Time seemed to move faster when you were dreading receiving the dark mark. Draco and I sat alone in the parlor of Malfoy Manor once again, waiting for Narcissa to fetch us. Neither of us had said a word, rather just sat there across from each other staring at the untouched breakfast pastries sitting on the table. The door slowly opened, sending my heart racing at the thought of what was about to ensue.

Narcissa quietly stepped in, half smiling at the two of us. "The Dark Lord is ready for you" she said softly.

I could hear the pain in her voice, the sadness of knowing her son and the girl she had come to love as a daughter would soon be marked for all eternity. We both stood silently and followed her out, Draco placing a comforting hand on my shoulder for the few seconds it took to walk to the dining room. It slipped off as we entered, taking the last bit of warmth from my body with it.

Voldemort stood in the center of the room with Bellatrix and Snape by his side. A nasty smile spread across Bellatrix's face as she watched Draco, undoubtedly proud of her nephew. A equally as nasty smile spread across Voldemort's face as we stopped infront of him, bowing our heads slightly to him.

"This is, a most special day" he hissed, smiling down at the two of us. "How I wish we could share this great honor with the world, but alas, I supposed the six of us will do for now. A party, of course" he said, turning to Narcissa, "when the rest have returned from their trips."

"Of course, My Lord" she replied softly.

"Now" he said, turning back to us, "Miss Potter, I was hoping you would be first."

"Of course, thank you My Lord" I replied, bowing my head slightly to him.

I stepped forward to him, pulling up the sleeve of my black dress to reveal my bare forearm. Voldemort took my wrist in one hand, his wand in the other. As he pressed the wand to my skin, a searing pain shot through my arm as if it had been set on fire. I didn't dare flinch, instead bit my tongue as I watched him mutter a spell. Slowly and painfully, a jet-black skull appeared on my forearm. I looked down to it, watching as a snake slithered its way across my skin, its head resting near my wrist as it quickly became motionless and the pain subdued. As quickly as it had began, it was over. Voldemort released my arm and I stepped back, running my fingers gently over the new mark. I felt nothing in that moment; no emotions, no pain, nothing. My mind was in such shock that my body had completely shut down. I hadn't even realized that Draco had gotten his until two loud pops echoed through the room, pulling me out of my trance.

Snape was next to me in an instant, pulling my face up with a gently hand. "Anna, are you okay?"

I stood there, blankly staring at him for what seemed to be hours before I could find even one word to say. "No."

Snape nodded slowly, dropping his hand from my face. "That's okay, you will be in time."

"We all will be" Narcissa added. I looked over to her, clinging to Draco's arm as tears welled in her eyes. "You'll be staying for the summer, yes?" she asked me as she wiped the tears from her eyes, obviously changing the subject to draw attention away from the dark marks now adorning our forearms.

I nodded, looking down again at my covered arm. "I guess so." I couldn't exactly go home now without having to spend my entire summer hiding my arm and lying to my parents about why in the heat of July, I was wearing a long sleeved shirt. Instead I would lie to my parents about my whereabouts again, telling them I was spending the summer studying under a potions master or travelling the world with a friend. I hated it; having to leave them in the dark all the time. But, there was no way they could ever know.

Snape muttered something to me, stretching out his arm to me. I missed every word he said, I was so out of it, but assumed we were apparating somewhere and grabbed a hold of his arm. Seconds later we were just outside the gates of Hogwarts, standing in the gloomy rain that was currently plaguing northern Scotland. I reached back to grab the hood of my cloak, but quickly realized I had left it at Malfoy Manor. No worries though, I would be back there soon enough.

Snape must have realized it too because seconds later he was wrapping his cloak around my shoulders. I slipped my arms through the oversized sleeves and took off after him, trudging through the wet muck to the cobblestone path that led to the castle doors. We silently slipped through the large doors, quickly making our way to the large gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office.

"Lemon drop" Snape whispered and seconds later the gargoyle began rising, giving way to the all too familiar spiral staircase.

We followed it up to the door to Dumbledore's office which was ajar- he was obviously waiting for us. Dumbledore's eyes flew up to us as we entered, taking in our soaked forms over half-moon spectacles. His brow furrowed as he stood up and walked over to us, motioning to me for my arm. I lifted it for him, watching as he gently took my wrist in his hand and pushed back the soaked sleeves of Snape's cloak and my dress to reveal the jet-black ink. He studied it for just a moment before pulling the wet clothing back over it and walked back to his desk. He rummaged around through the stacks of papers and books for a moment before retrieving a small envelope which he brought back to me.

"For your parents" he said as he handed the small envelope to me. "I had a feeling Lucius and Narcissa would invite you to spend the summer with them. This letter is to inform your parents that you will be spending the summer traveling with Severus and studying alchemy from well-regarded witches and wizards around the world. This is true. However, according to that letter during times you are not travelling you will be staying at Hogwarts when in reality..."

"I'll be with the Malfoy's" I finished.

Dumbledore nodded. "I hope that you will enjoy these travels though, you show promise as a great alchemist, and even then it should help to occupy your mind in other ways."

"Thank you, professor, I really do appreciate it" I replied, smiling at him. "I should go pack my things now though and send off this letter with Helios. Severus."

I turned and slipped out of the office, making my way down the deserted corridors of the castle to Griffyndor Tower and my room. A majority of my belongings had been packed before I left that morning, just a few things still strewn about the room. The list of everyone's summer address sat on my bedside table, waiting for me to send it off to the others. I scribbled down that I would be spending the summer at Hogwarts and rolled it up, just in time at Helios came to perch on my windowsill.

"I have two for you today" I smiled, scratching the side of his head. I attached the scroll for my friends to his leg and handed him the small envelope addressed to my parents for him to hold in his beak. With a quick kiss on his head I sent him off into the dreary evening sky and finished packing my own belongings for the looming summer.