00. prologue
“Why are we out here again?”
Currently, a disgruntled 7-year-old Draco Malfoy was being dragged by a 6-year-old Anastasia Prince through the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Anastasia was donning a baby-blue coat with a matching barrette and delicate, white gloves. On the other hand, Draco, who was also wearing a coat and gloves, was dressed in all black. It was January, and the gardens were covered by a heavy layer of snow, giving the scenery an idyllical feel.
The girl puffed up her cheeks and blew a strand of her obsidian-colored hair out of her face. “I told you, Dray. Your library is entirelyboring- I couldn’t stay cooped up in there any longer. You have such boring books. It’s so much more fun out here in the snow,” she finished with a radiant grin.
“But... it’s cold and wet,” Draco complained. “The new leather boots that my father gave me are going to be ruined.” With that, he kicked the toe of his right overshoe into the ground, sending bits of the powdery, white snow flying. He shivered as some pieces landed on his coat, melting into the fabric. Anastasia giggled and rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on, stop being such a crybaby. Those boots are clearly enchanted to be waterproof; you’ll be fine! Now let’s go~!” Ignoring the protests of the blond boy behind her, she took his hand in hers continued trekking through the thick snow. A few minutes later, they two of them reached a tall fir tree that had retained its green leaves even through the latest blizzard. Anastasia plopped down at the base of the trunk, and patted the ground beside her expectantly. Begrudgingly, Draco sat down next to her, yelping when he felt the chill of the ice beneath him.
“Ana - It’s so, so cold.”
“Oh, hush.” She scooted closer to the boy, wrapped her arm around his, and put her head on his shoulder. “There. Still cold?”
Draco could feel the blood rush to his previously pale cheeks. “... N- no.”
Anastasia grinned triumphantly. With her free hand, she started doodling pictures in the snow. An angel, then a rose, and then a heart. She could feel Draco’s eyes attentively trained on her finger, paying close attention to every stroke that she made in the snow. After a while, she looked up and glanced back at the Manor. A light had been turned on in a room on the first floor, and she could now see three silhouettes moving from within - Lucius, Narcissa, and her uncle, Severus Snape.
Although Uncle Severus was only her mother’s half brother, he was, more than anything, a father-figure to her. Her father had left her and her mother before she had even reached 10 months old, and her mother had died when she was 2 as a result of causes that her uncle refused to disclose. He had then taken her in and treated her as his own, which she was eternally grateful for.
This morning, he had taken her to the Manor to discus “important adult matters” with the Malfoys. Now, with her interest piqued, Anastasia decided that she wanted to go find out what these important matters could be.
She quickly rose to her feet, gently pulling up Draco as well. “Let’s go back - I want to see what they’re talking about.” Just when she was about to walk back to the Manor, she spied Draco out of the corner of her eyes and giggled. Chunks of snow was stuck to his suede, black coat. The way the snow and his hair contrasted with his outfit rather reminded her of a skunk. She pursed her lips endearingly. “You look quite ridiculous.” Before Draco could retort, she used her gloved hand to lightly brush off the white snow, making Draco’s face redden just as it did before. Once his coat was clean, she beamed proudly. “Much better.” She didn’t bother waiting for a response before running back to the Manor, beckoning for Draco to follow.
Once the two of them reached the Manor, they noticed that the lit window had been cracked open slightly. Excitedly, Anastasia put her hands on the window sill and tippy-toed, but she was still unable to reach the window.
“You see anything?” Draco asked from behind her, unable to peek inside as well.
Anastasia pouted and crossed her arms. “No, the window’s up too high.”
Draco tilted his head in thought, and then, without warning, wrapped his hands around Anastasia’s waist, eliciting an ”eep!” from the younger girl. He then proceeded to hoist her up so that she was eye-level with the window. “How about now?”
She flashed him a bright smile. “Yep!” She was now able to make out some of the words that the adults were saying. Lucius had propped himself in a chair by the fireplace, and standing next to him was Narcissa. Her uncle seemed to be conversing with the two of them, but he had a slightly displeased expression on his face.
”… are still too young, especially Anastasia,” she heard Snape say. Her eyebrows raised when she heard her name. Just what were they talking about?
”But this… beneficial to both our families.” Lucius was further away, so Anastasia only caught bits and pieces of his sentences.
”How so?”
”When the Dark Lord rises… would be good to have… alliance between our families…”
”So that you can preserve your bloodline?” Snape asked with a scowl.
Anastasia’s eyes widened. What would she have to do with preserving the Malfoy’s bloodline? Weird, she thought to herself.
This time, Narcissa was the one that responded. “This is the only way… retain our power.”
Snape pursed his lips, obviously reluctant. “Fine. But I refuse for her to be wed before her 18th birthday.”
Wed. She swallowed, not knowing how to process the information that she had just learned. Did that mean her and Draco were going to be married?
Upon noticing her reaction, Draco impatiently asked. “So? What’s happening?”
”Well- umm-”
“Just get on with it.”
”I think… they want us to get married.” Anastasia blurted.
“Oomph!” At the word ’married”, Draco had abruptly dropped Anastasia.
“Married!?” he asked, incredulously. “I’m sure that mother and father would not- ”
Before Draco could finish his sentence, he felt a hand clasp over his mouth, and he was pulled down to the ground. He stared at Anastasia, questioningly, and began to remove her hand. However, Anastasia help up a finger to her lips and pointed up. Above them, Narcissa had poked her head out of the window and was now looking around. It seemed that the adults had heard the clamor made by Anastasia and Draco, as Narcissa proceeded to shut the window. Once they heard the ′click-clack′ of her heels fade away, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“... So, what now?” the noirette asked softly.
Her friend sat in several minutes of silent contemplation. Suddenly, he stood up and extended a hand to Anastasia. “Follow me.”
Anastasia hoisted herself to her feet as well and slowly excepted his outreached hand. Without another word, he wrapped his fingers around hers and lead her back to the entrance of the Manor. They crossed the foyer and ascended up the large, majestic stairs that lead to the second floor. Anastasia became increasingly confused, but didn’t question Draco as to where they would be going.
Finally, they reached a large, mahogany door, which the boy pushed open to reveal his bedroom. Anastasia’s jaws dropped at the sight of the room- it was one that you would expect a king to live in, not a 7-year-old boy. At the left side of the room was a stately bed that was covered by green bedsheets and pillows. In the center of the room lay a large, white rug, and above it was a gleaming chandelier. At the back of the room was a roaring fireplace surrounded by comfortable green couches. Everything was lined in silver.
So wrapped up in her surroundings, she had barely noticed that Draco had found two, matching silver snake rings and was now holding them in his left hand. In his other palm was a dazzling, round cut emerald.
“Dobby,” Draco called, summoning his house elf. With a ′poof’, the house elf appeared and lowered his head in a bow. “Could you embed this emerald into this ring?”
“Of course Dobby cans, young Master,” the house-elf responded. He snapped, and, sure enough, the snake was now coiled around the emerald.
“Thank you Dobby. That will be all. And there’s no need to mention this to Mother or Father.”
The house elf nodded and bowed once more before disappearing.
Draco turned back to her. “Ana, give me your hand.”
Now extremely confused, Anastasia complied. Carefully, Draco slipped on the emerald-embedded silver ring onto her right ring-finger, and he slipped the other ring onto his own ring-finger as well.
“What are these for?” she gingerly asked.
Draco huffed. “Goodness, you’re quite daft. They’re... promise rings,” he explained, averting his eyes. He now had a faint blush on his cheeks, and Anastasia did too. He continued on. “I know that we’re not getting married for the next twelve years, but... these can be something that’ll always remind us of each other. After all, I suppose we’ll be husband and wife when we grow up. And I thought it would be something that you’d like- ”
Anastasia quickly cut him off and tackled him in a hug. “Like them? I absolutely love them. Thank you, Draco.”
