starstruck || hannah abbott

18 || life is not fair

September 1st. A day in which many witches and wizards look forward to beginning or returning to Hogwarts for a new year of spells, potions, and friends.

King's Cross Station was bustling as usual as families dragged heavy trunks to the impressive Hogwarts Express. The platform was packed with last minute hugs and double checking that the luggage all made it on the train.

Anastasia Dorhn approached the train alone this year. She did not look for her Slytherin friends, in fact, she hoped that no one would recognize her. Ana's sixth year was about to begin and it could not have started worse.

Days before she would normally go to Diagon Alley with her grandparents, something happened that would forever haunt the now sixteen year old witch.

Her family was not part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood families. They were a small family who kept to themselves, especially after her parents' untimely death when she was so young. One would think that they would be left alone.

Yet one night, a mysterious figure showed up on the doorstep of Ana's small home. They knocked and waited for someone to receive them. Anastasia's grandfather came downstairs and let in the mystery person. This commotion awoke Ana and her grandmother who both came down to the living room where the other two were seated.

Anastasia felt more unease than she had ever before and felt her heart rate skyrocket. Her hands shook slightly as she stared at the hooded figure in front of her.

The cloaked person pulled back their hood to reveal a surprising face to Anastasia and her family. Ana gasped and immediately clapped a sweaty palm over her mouth, silently cursing herself for reacting so harshly.

Sitting there on her grandparent's couch was none other than Lord Voldemort. His red eyes glowed and his nostril slits flared slightly. In the low light of the living room, his pale skin seemed to shine which gave him the appearance of a ghost.

"Dorhn," he whispered to her grandfather.

He stepped forward carefully, as though the Dark Lord might strike him down in a second. For all her grandfather knew, he would.

"M-My Lord?"

"I have a proposition for you, Dorhn," Voldemort sneered.

"What is it, my Lord?" Anastasia could see her grandfather's fear in his brown eyes.

"This year, I have appointed the Malfoy boy with a task to complete. His task is to remove Albus Dumbledore from office through the means of the killing curse. He, then, will let Death Eaters in through the use of a Vanishing Cabinet to help weaken the castle," Voldemort said quite calmly.

No one said anything as Anastasia tried to process everything that was being told to her.

"W-Why are you telling us this information, my Lord?" Her grandfather stumbled for the words.

"Because everyone knows how weak the Malfoys truly are. Lucius is in Azkaban as I'm sure you have heard. This means Draco will replace his father, for now, in the Death Eater ranks. He will need help. Someone on the inside to make sure that he is able to get the Vanishing Cabinet to work. I'm told by Nott that his son, Theodore, is very close with your granddaughter and that she is gifted in Charms. I require that the two of them assist Draco so that he may not fail and can prove himself," Voldemort stated.

"Absolutely not! They are just children!" Anastasia's grandmother finally stepped in and said something.

"I imagined you would say something like that, so I have the perfect way to ensure that you both keep quiet while your granddaughter and her friend help," Voldemort hissed as he drew himself up and his wand out in one fluid motion.

It happened so fast that Anastasia barely reacted. Yet the Dark Lord snatched her grandfather's left arm and drove the end of his wand into his forearm. An agonizing scream left her grandfather's mouth as a black serpent and skull imprinted themselves into his skin.

Her grandmother rushed to her grandfather's side only to be greeted with the same inked horror. Ana, herself, was too petrified to even blink an eye.

Her loving grandparents, right in front of her eyes, had been converted to the Death Eater Army in a matter of seconds. They were innocent people in this cruel world, but unfortunate events do not discriminate the pure from the corrupt.

As Ana stood in complete shock, the Dark Lord moved to her side and grasped her left arm in his ice cold fingers. The grip was tight and seemed to constrict her blood flow. She whimpered and closed her eyes, praying for him to let her go.

Her prayer was met with the end of his wand stabbing into her forearm and a burning sensation of indescribable magnitude that consumed her. The pain was so strong and overpowering that the young witch collapsed in her own living room as her grandparents cried out to her. Moments later, Lord Voldemort vanished and left the Dorhn family to collect what was left of themselves.

Anastasia's grandmother carried her unconscious granddaughter to bed and all three spent the night in Ana's room out of fear and shock.

Now, Anastasia loaded her trunk meticulously and pushed her way on the train. She sought out an empty compartment and claimed it as her own. The last thing she wanted was company after this horrific experience had befallen her family. She wanted to disappear entirely.

Her arm still ached with a dull, throbbing pain from the Dark Lord's visit and Ana just wanted to wash it off. Though she was well aware that touching it would summon Lord Voldemort to her side, the Slytherin girl wished that she had some way to remove this dreadful ink.

Not only did it stain her skin, it stained her thoughts and ideas. There was no way that Theodore would accept this. None of her friends would, especially not Hannah Abbott.