"Astoria! We're going to miss it!" Daphne Greengrass rushed into the library and stared at her sister in disbelief. Astoria was still just sitting there, despite them needing to catch the train. Daphne flicked her wand and Astoria's book snapped closed on its own accord, and only then did her sister look up.
"Daphne!" Astoria protested, having just lost her page. Daphne rolled her eyes and tugged her younger sister up by the elbow and towards the entry room where their things were waiting. "The train leaves in thirty minutes! You shouldn't be reading."
"Wit beyond measure is man's greates-"
"I don't care! If we're late for the train then you'll miss your classes!" Daphne told her. This time it was Astoria's turn to roll her eyes.
"Daphne, the train leaves in thirty minutes," Daphne nodded so she went on, "We floo to the train station, or you can apparate, and get on the train, and then we're off. We don't need thirty minutes, we barely need five."
Daphne and Astoria were two daughters born to the Greengrass bloodline. To the dismay of their parents, neither of them were male, and could not carry their name through to the next generation, but this was no real loss. They had several male cousins on their father's side of the family, so the Greengrass name was still set to continue. Aside from both being born to the same last name, the two were also very similar in personality, though not in interests.
"Floo to the train station? Astoria, its muggle! You know that! The closest you could floo would still have you walking for fifteen minutes. And that would have us very close to being late."
"And you expect to apparate with all of your things? And how am I getting there then, without mum and dad?" Their parents had been needed at the ministry, and left their children to their own devices, especially seeing that they were quite old enough to see themselves off. Daphne had turned seventeen a month prior, while her sister was two years younger.
"You should learn to pay attention when others are talking. That teapot in the foyer is the portkey we're using, then we'll have a five minute walk. But the thing leaves in," Daphne cast a quick tempus, "four and a half minutes, now get your things!"
Astoria humphed at her sister before picking up her book. She smoothed out her black skirt and proceeded to brush off the somewhat imaginary lint that seemed to cling to her chinese blouse. She had spent quite a while attempting to put together a satisfactory muggle outfit for the trip to the train station. Her blouse depicted a scene of black and white sakura trees against the shiny blue material. Elegant, yet muggle. Not that she couldn't wear it in wizarding society, she wasn't much of a fashion-forward witch.
Daphne turned to the window and shrunk the owl cage that was sitting there on a stand. Her brown owl looked at her questioningly from the sill. Daphne turned to address the bird while Astoria watched bemusedly, forgetting about the urgency.
"You've only done this five times Wyllt. I'm going to Hogwarts. You know where that is. I'm taking the train. Due to the disastrous events following you coming with me on the train my first year, you are not to be allowed on the train once more. So you are flying."
The speckled bird tilted her head as if to ask, 'where again?', sighing with frustration Daphne pulled open a drawer to the armoire next to the window and proceeded to scribble the address down before attaching it to the bird.
Looking very reassured, the owl took off and glided happily away from the house.
"Right strange owl you have there." Astoria grinned at her sister.
"Oh bugger off, he's not half as bad as your cretinous cat."
"I concede. Though Emrys isn't stupid. He's just a bit loony."
"A bit? Well, I guess he just takes off after his brilliant, if not mad, caretaker."
Astoria grinned at her, and then headed through to the foyer.
"Thanks for reminding me, Emrys isn't going to be so happy using a portkey."
Said cat was growling in a very low tone sitting in a small steel cage she did not look happy with. A paw slid through the bars and ripped up at the carpet nearest it. The cage wasn't to protect Emrys, that much was obvious. Society, or at least muggle society, needed the protection. Emrys wasn't too thrilled with nonmagical folk.
"Stop the caterwauling Emrys, I'll let you out on the train, where I'll expect you to behave." The cat shut its trap, but didn't stop its attempts to escape.
The two sisters worked silently to place all of their trunks and packages into two trolleys and then into a small circle around the teapot in the middle of the room. It sat on a temporary stool conjured for the purpose.
"If you just hold Emry's cage, will it teleport him as well? Or does he need to be touching the portkey?" Daphne asked curiously while Astoria gripped his cage in one hand. It rocked haphazardly as Emrys flung himself against the sides.
"Well, Portkeys use the wizard's or witch's magic in order to teleport them, that magic is normally enough to also teleport whatever else they are touching, and intending, to bring with them. While Emrys has his own magic, we are still more than enough to teleport him. However-"
Daphne continued putting everything in place, nodding her head while Astoria continued on. It wasn't too much of a surprise that Astoria had been placed in Ravenclaw. Although Daphne had constantly questioned why her sister, who was more devious than even herself, hadn't made it into Slytherin. She assumed that Astoria had managed to deceive the hat or something of that nature. How an opportunistic, manipulative little prankster hadn't been placed into Slytherin was beyond her.
"-So it would be impossible to bring another witch or wizard just by grabbing on to them, especially if they didn't intend to go. If they fully intended to be transported, it could be possible for them to also lend their magic to the portkey and tag along, so to say, without touching it. But I'm not sure how much has been tested. They might get splinched or something." Astoria ceased her one-sided debate. "We have around thirty seconds I believe."
Daphne cast tempus to verify that her sister was indeed correct. She wondered vaguely if Astoria had been counting down ever since she mentioned it.
"Got everything you need? Haven't forgotten your wand?" Astoria teased her older sister, there had been a year where Daphne had indeed, forgotten her wand. But today it was tucked inside the inner pocket of her robes, she patted it just in case. Just to find that it was gone.
It was being twirled in Astoria's hand.
"Little thief." Daphne snatched it back. Astoria reached out to touch the portkey while simultaneously seizing the handle of her trunk, she struggled slightly with the cage in the same hand. Thankfully, all extra packages were secured to the trunk, and would be teleported as well.
Daphne mimicked her actions, and after another two seconds, they were gone.
-----
They appeared in a back alleyway about two blocks away from the train station.
Sighing in relief Daphne was glad to see that she still had all of her things. She strode briskly out of the alleyway while her sister took a moment and gathered her trunk and cat, who had started screeching loudly at the feeling of being teleported, before taking off after her sister. Who happened to still have her wand in her hand, for the entire muggle world to see.
Astoria caught up easily, and snatched it away from her, casting an inconspicuous silencing charm on the cat cage before quickly stuffing it into her ridiculously small, but magically enhanced purse. Daphne's expression was horrified for a moment, but she shrugged it off easily, there were no muggles around. Not wanting to attract attention to themselves by talking about wizarding things, it was hard to find a topic, and they walked without conversation for the first half block.
"Excited to see your boyfriend? Zucchini wasn't it?" Astoria taunted her.
"You know very well that his name is Zabini. And yes, I'll have you know, I am. When are you going to pair up Astoria? Its not as though the Greengrass charm was lost on you."
Indeed, it wasn't. Both girls were pretty faces, and had pretty bodies, if not on the lighter side. Both girls were very petite, and therefore had less… credentials. Both were pale; having permanent magical sunscreen placed on them when they were little, as most purebloods or wealthier families have done. They shared near the same shade of brunette hair, Astoria's was a bit lighter and straighter, while Daphne's was wavy and thick. Astoria was in no way average, and obviously would have no problem attracting guys, instead would be having problems fending them off.
"Aw, you know me, I like to keep my options open." Daphne rolled her eyes at the answer.
"You could attract a fellow prefect with your shiny new badge." Astoria rolled her eyes at this. Both girls then rolled their eyes dramatically at the other. Laughing, they continued, dragging their trolleys over the pavement.
"It just seems odd to date when we're so young. It doesn't seem as though anything will come out of it. I don't plan to marry any of my housemates, so what's the point in dating any of them?" Astoria wondered out loud and looked up to the sky. It felt like Autumn. She felt slightly reassured that summer was over. Heat wasn't her thing.
"You're being way too analytical about it. Wouldn't it be more logical to get experience before pursuing someone to have as a husband?" Daphne tried to appeal to her sister's Ravenclaw side. Astoria seemed to consider it.
"I suppose…"
They chatted amiably while making their way into the station, stopping once they hit the crowds where it was more difficult to hear.
Astoria made a game of trying to spot out who was part of the wizarding world while they neared the entrance to the platform. Most of the time it was easy to tell. Either they wore cloaks or robes, or they attempted to wear muggle clothing and failed miserably. It was quite entertaining.
They finally approached the wall between platform's nine and ten.
Daphne dashed confidently towards the falsely solid wall, while Astoria slowed to make it less conspicuous to the muggles surrounding them. In a moment, both were on the other side, staring up at the scarlet train.
Astoria glanced over at the large clock near the entrance, they had around fifteen to twenty minutes left to board. Daphne was already boarding the train, obviously hoping to get a good compartment. Astoria wasn't concerned. She took in her surroundings. The crowd seemed a bit smaller compared to last year.
With the dark lord on the loose, it wasn't much of a surprise, but she still felt disappointed. Some families would prefer to take their students out of school while the political climate was so dangerous. It would be the Hufflepuffs who would lose the most students. Followed by the Ravenclaws. Slytherins were well protected, and didn't have anything to worry about. Gryffindor families, on the other hand, were too proud and too foolish to consider taking their children out of school in most cases. Ravenclaws knew that they were safest at Hogwarts, and would make their parents see the truth. But some might feel that it would be more dangerous, as Professor Snape was now headmaster. Astoria felt otherwise. Severus Snape, although wearing many masks, was seen by most Ravenclaws to be an exceptionally trustworthy and virtuous man. He was very fair to all houses, favoring his own house only slightly. He did tend to have short patience, especially towards the Hufflepuff students who generally needed their hand held when brewing potions. But Astoria had heard that the man was only biased against Gryffindor when Harry Potter or his friends were in the class. Otherwise, he seemed sort of, considerate to the house, as if he had once made friends there. He dealt with most other students on a situation basis, regardless of house. Something that was very difficult to do, especially while being the head of Slytherin house.
Very odd. He was a deep person. Astoria remembered many discussions in her dorm room that focussed on the Professor. The death of Dumbledore, especially, was a very strange matter.
Astoria cleared her thoughts for a moment before coming back to Hufflepuff. The Den would be more empty this next year, as they were the only house that had reason to run and no foolishness or intelligence to counter that notion.
There was now twelve minutes left. The parents hugging their children became a bit more frantic, and the crowds surrounding the doors to the train became a bit more dense.
Astoria flipped open her book, not yet wanting to become a part of the writhing mess. 'Concepts of Dueling Deceptions' was loads more interesting. And useful, Gryffindors were getting less dim-witted each year. If they ever found out that it was her, not some Slytherin, playing all those pranks, she would be in desperate need of dueling talent. Which thankfully, she smirked, came a bit naturally. She leaned back on her trolley and flipped the page.
A few minutes later, she started as someone grabbed the book closed. She felt irked at loosing her page yet again.
"Astoria Greengrass, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" One slightly peeved Draco Malfoy stood panting before her, obviously having just pressed his way out of the crowd. His hair was a little mussed, but it looked a bit better that way. He grabbed her wrist, and quickly levitated her things off the trolley behind them, easily maneuvering them above the crowd while he pulled her through to the other side.
'Has it really been that long?' She glanced at the clock. They did, in fact, only have seven seconds to board. Astoria finally recognized the urgency and caught up to Draco who smirked at her.
"Leave it to you to almost lose me a few galleons." They reached the door just as the train began to move, Draco flung her things inside, pushing a few younger years out of the way while doing so. They were walking quite briskly next to the train now, and before it sped up more Draco caught Astoria around the waist, and lifted her lightly inside. She clung to the banister next to the stairs on the inside, her heart pounding fast, despite it not being too scary. She wondered at that for a moment before Draco joined her. A grin broke out on his face.
"Let me guess. You just won a couple of galleons betting that I wouldn't miss the train." Astoria watched him as he straightened out his clothes. He was wearing some very handsome dark, black wash jeans, that were obviously tailored for him. A long sleeve white button up collared shirt adorned his torso, with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows. Astoria shook herself out of her thoughts. "Whom did you bet?"
"Your sister." He laughed, and started to brush out her own clothes out a bit. Her eyes widened as he did so.
"Should of known you'd make a bet with my sister. Of course, wouldn't helping me be cheating?" Astoria asked, knowing the answer. He grinned up at her.
"Since when have I played fair?"
She grinned back and brushed by him, gathering her things while the other late comers dispersed.
"What, no 'thank you'? You would have missed the train…" He raised a single eyebrow at her, a look enhanced by the fact that he still hadn't fixed his hair.
"Thanks Draco." She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
"And?"
"Umm, I owe you one?" Astoria said questioningly. He smirked, and she realized what sort of implications that might have when said to a Slytherin. She made a mental note about it before he continued.
"I was just wanting a, 'Oh its nice to see you Draco' or 'How was your summer?' or 'I missed you'. But this more than makes up for that." He purred, and she stuck her tongue out at him before taking off down the corridor, intent on finding a compartment. Draco matched her pace.
"They're all full, you might want to sit with a few of us Snakes. Damn first years." She couldn't help but laugh, and let him lead her to the right door. She picked out her sister's loud voice before Draco slid open the door and stepped inside. Astoria leaned against the side for a moment, not wanting to intrude.
"Mind if I sit with you sis?"
Daphne regarded her sister for a moment before smiling.
"Of course! You need a little more Slytherin influence anyway. Or maybe you don't." She gestured to a seat anyway.
Draco helped to secure her trunk on one of the upper shelves. She sat down next to Draco, straight across from her sister and Blaise. The arrangement felt a little odd.
"So Draco, I heard that you managed to secure a job at the ministry, congratulations." Daphne praised, then she spotted the head boy badge pinned to his tailored robes, "And you made head boy!"
Astoria glanced at the pin. He had indeed. Which meant that she would be following his orders. Joy.
A/N: Add to your story alert, you don't have to review yet! I promise it will get better, this chapter didn't have nearly as much Draco as I wanted it to, but it would have been a little odd for him to just show up at their house, despite them being a family friend.
Also, a few of you, maybe a total of like, three, may recognize this story. Its because I wrote something very very close to it a few years ago. Before JKR told everyone who Draco was gonna marry, which is apparently Astoria Greengrass, younger sister to Daphne, who was only mentioned in one sentence in the fifth book.
I swear I have ESP because I wrote about Draco being paired with Vanessa (pretty close to Astoria don't you think?) Daphne Greengrass's younger sister whom I had thought I had made up.
Yeah so. Add to your story alert, I'll have the next chapter up within the week as its already written. I'm just scared to post it because I've been changing the whole story a lot and am not sure how much I need to change about it.
with love and hate,
Q