Mortality

The thoughts clouded her brain terribly. 

the screams, the blood, the sweat, and the tears. 

it would hurt the most around families that lost loved ones. When she would actually go, the first few years of Christmas at the weasley Family left a hole in her chest that couldn't be filled. Fred was afterall, her first crush. Seeing Andromeda and teddy hurt the worst. 

how could she look at that little boy and ignore him because she was deemed unfit to care for a child? truthfully, she suspected it was a good thing. She couldn’t care for a child, she could barely care for herself at the moment. 

Britain in general hurt her. The sad looks mixed with gracefulness, the ministry parties and events, and the disapproving glances from close family she got when they thought she wasn't looking. 

Anastasia potter needed out. 

She knew one person who could help.

Nikolei Montgomery, her brother. 

They hadn't know of eachother until a year after the war when he had reached out to her. He had found an archive of letters inherited from his deceased mother between her father. At first, she had been suspicous and demanded proof. the next day she had a stack of letters and an offical Gringotts inheritance test in her hands. 

They had talked for years and still are, but she'd never asked for anything. 

until now. 

she silently padded down the stairs of grimmauld place to find a quill and piece of parchment, scribbling her neat handwriting quickly across the page. 

----

Dear Nikolei, 

  i have a..problem. 

i need a vacation. the Talk and rumors are getting too much and quite honestly, i find britain rather boring

Can i perhaps stay with you? i feel it is time to meet in person. 

  love, 

  Anastasia.

----

   She hadn't got an answer until the next day with a very enthusastic yes. Before she could start packing she felt she needed to talk to another group of people. 

she rapped gently on the door with the simple lion knocker. It blinked its golden eyes at her blankly while she waited. 

It Took a few minutes for the door to open. blue eyes and a freckled face stared back at her in confusion. 

" Anna?" Ron asked. 

" Hi ron. You think we can talk, is hermione here?" 

" yeah, yeah." he said softly and opened the door for her to step through. 

Hermione and rons flat was small but homey. It had squishy couches and handknitted blankets from mrs. Weasley, along with cat hair and plants scattered throughout the place. 

much better than Grimmauld place. 

as she took a seat on the couch Hermione walked in with all of her curly hair piled on her head. She dropped the box she was holding in surprise. 

" Anna?" 

Before she knew it she was pulled into a large hug from Hermione, tears pooling into her eyes.

" Oh anna!" she cried, " it's been years!" 

Anastasia looked up in alarm at ron who smiled sheepishly. 

" hello Hermione." 

" oh you've changed anna!" 

Its true. Two years ago she had chopped her waist-length hair off to brush her shoulders. Her thick glasses were replaced with slimmer, more fitting ones and she could only guess how scarily thin she had gotten over the years. 

Its been too long. 

" you've changed too." she said, glancing at Hermiones large baby bump.

" well yes.. thats what usually happens in four years i suppose..." Hermione said sadly and slowly sunk into the armchair close to the fire, wrapping the knitted blanket around her shoulders. 

It was her fault. anstasia knew. a lot of problems were her fault. 

The trio had tried to stay in contact over the years, but with their grueling jobs and newfound fame they had no time for eachother. Then, Anastasia had went into a spiral three years after the war and disappeared into grimmauld place, haunted by memories and nightmares and refusing to talk to anyone besides Nikolei. 

so yes- it was her fault. 

" drinks?" Ron asked.

" no, thank you." 

she slipped into the other couch and sunk into the squishy seat. 

" I..i dont really know why im here..but- i suppose i want to mend our friendship but there is something else.. keep in mine, it was all very soon. I-" 

" Anna." Ron said in exasparation, " breathe."

" oh yes.." 

She stared at hermione and her purple blanket. she peeked at ron and his deep eyebags. 

" Im moving. to france. just for a short while."

Hermione smiled. 

" yes. that would be good for you. but i dont quite see why you felt the need to tell us?" 

She fiddled with her fingers. 

" Im not sure.. I-I think i want to mend our freindship and i would love to reach out when i make it to france.May i visit?"  

Hermione smiled, the action tugging at the ends of her mouth showing happy smile lines. 

" of course!" She beamed, "wait! let me get you a plate of cookies!" 

she bustled off leaving Anastasia with Ron.

" Im sorry. i just really wanted to applgize before i moved, i have no idea how long i'll be gone." 

Ron smiled sadly. he had started to grow a beard and it made him look..mature. 

" it's not your fault mate, we all played a part one way or another." 

Anastasia grinned as Hermione waddled back into the Sitting room. she held a small blue container decorated with cat paws. 

" thank you mione'" 

Hermione seemed surpised but then her features twisted into an annoyed scowl.

" don't call me that wretched nickname  annie-bear!" 

Ron burst out laughing at Anastasias stunned face.That nickname was buried deep, an old one that sirius would call her. Her face slowly streched into a smile and she cackled loudly. 

as she calmed she stood up and pulled her coat over her shoulders. 

" well i best be going. Write me will you?" 

" of course, thank you for stopping by!" 

Anstasia smiled, picking up the tin of cookies and making her way out the door. 

" And do bring a pretty frenchboy home Annie-bear!" Hermione called. 

Anastasia only waved, a light laugh leaving her lips. 

When she got back to grimmauld place she just stared at the clock. she watched the hands tick by until it hit 5pm, when they agreed to meet. Nikolei had already set up the floo network. 

" Kreacher!" 

A tiny pop was heard as the old house elf apeared infront of her.

" mistress be calling kreacher?" The croaky thing called. 

" Please take good care of the House. i will be gone, i am not sure how long." 

The elf stared at her. He nodded, sweeping into a low bow and popping out of the room. 

She stepped into the fireplace and took a pinch of the powder, throwing it down with a wave of her hand. 

" montgomery mansion!" 

She was swept away in a swirl of green flames. It made her queasy and as she felt the need to vomit it abruptly stopped and she was in a dark colored sitting room. 

as she ungracefully fell out of the fireplace strong arms helped her up. 

" Hello Anastasia." Nikolei greeted.

" Anna is fine." 

She took in Nikolei. Disecting his face and all his features. He had the messy potter hair but it was dark brown instead of her inky black. He was shorter than most men she had met and had a long face. 

He looked nothing like her.  

" Thank you for having me." she said as she handed her coat to the house elf.

​He smiled, " no problem anna." 

He led her out of the sitting room and into a long hallway. 

" i'd like to show you a tour of the mansion, fair warning- it will take awhile." he had a french accent but it wasn't very distinct. 

" Thats fine. we have time don't we?" 

He grinned and took her through the maze of rooms. He explained the family history through the tour until they stood infront of a door with one gold plate.

“Anastasia potter." it read 

" this is your room." nikolei said, " my roomates is that one." he pointed to the door across from hers. 

antares menaros. what an odd name. 

" you have a roomate?" 

" He's usually not here during the day. Tends to come for dinner and sleep then leaves."

" why?" 

" never asked." 

suddenly, she was mad. " so he's just using you?" 

Nikolei smiled sadly, " He's had a hard life. it’s the nicest thing i could do." he placed his hand on her shoulder. it was warm.

" I'll leave you to it. dinners at 7pm, don't be late." 

with that he turned and walked down the hallway. She turned the doorknob slowly and stepped inside. 

It was large, with dark colors and gold accents. one wall was all window bringing in a stream of natural light. A canopy bed and a large drawer sat in the corner. a fluffy rug felt soft under her feet. two doors were on the other side, most likely a closet and bathroom. 

She placed her bag on the ground and ran her fingers over the silky bed, staring out the window. A large willow tree stood there, towering and brooding in the sun. 

When it reached 7 she quickly changed into something other than pajama pants ( that she had wore under her cloak) and made her way down the stairs to the large dining room where Nikolei was already sitting along with another man. 

Nikolei stood up with a smile. he did that a lot. 

" Anna!" he said as if he hadn't just seen her only an hour ago, " this is my roomate i was talking about, Antares!" 

Antares had long curly black hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He had cold blue eyes that seemed to be judging her every step. A dragon fang  seemed to be dangling from his ear but Anastasia couldn't quite tell. 

he gazed at her for what felt like hours. 

" your taller than i thought you would be Annie." He had a thick French accent, more pronounced than her brothers. 

​she supposed that could be true, she was known for being one of the tallest in her year. 

" It's anastasia." she replied cooly, he irked her for whatever odd reason. 

" Nikolei seems quite fond of you." he stated as the first meal apeared infront of her. 

​A basic tomato soup. 

" I suppose, I am his sister after all." 

" you don't look like him." 

" I can’t quite see how thats your business." 

​he smiled a cold smirk and turned to nikolei, talking about politics of some sort. 

He rattled her and made her angry. For the rest of the night he did not look at her despite her continued staring. 

finally, she finished her dessert ( an apple tart) and Stood up. she lazily brushed the crumbs off her pants.

​" goodnight." 

And as she left, cold blue met poisonous green