A/N:

I. . never mind, just read it. Read it and please don't hate me :C

One Month Later.

Asteria absently pushed some hair out of her face as she bent over the file on the desk in front of her. The damn files kept getting more and more complicated and whatever she did they didn't make any more sense the more she looked at them.

"Asteria?" asked Cassie who was watching her with a frown from behind the desk.

"Hm?" Asteria responded and looked up fleetingly.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Cassie asked and carefully slid the file from Asteria grasp.

"You just had to remind me didn't you." Asteria muttered and stood up straight with a deep inhale.

"Pass it on to Carter will you?" She added swiftly before heading down to the changing rooms.

She was really not looking forward to the dinner tonight. Or dinner-party, as it actually was. Last week she'd received another letter from her sister. An invitation. She hadn't planned on even responding, seeing as Daphne's letters had been getting more and more hysterical the more time went past. But at least now she knew why. And of course Draco just had to be the one to know.

"You know why she's like this don't you?" Draco asked as he read over Asteria's shoulder as she angrily stared at the invite.

Asteria just crumbled up the paper and chucked it at the trash bin before sitting down on the sofa in the middle of her living room. Draco watched her for a few seconds before sitting down next to her.

"Do you want to know? Or." Draco paused with a reluctant expression. "Talk about it?"

He looked so uncomfortable Asteria couldn't help but laugh a little. Draco sneered for a second before leaving further back into the sofa and stretching his legs across the floor.

"She's gone mad, clearly, and no." Asteria said with a smirk and gave Draco a peck on the cheek, to which he pointedly kissed her full on the lips before she could pull back.

"Yes but there's a reason she's gone mad." Draco said against her lips and Asteria pulled away with a thoughtful expression.

"And that would be what?" Asteria asked blankly.

"You know Pansy's in Azkaban right?" Draco asked casually. Asteria did know, and she couldn't help but feel slightly smug about it. She nodded.

"And that her mother's all alone now." Draco said with faked sympathy. Asteria frowned. Mrs. Parkinson would be alone, now that both her daughter and husband were in prison. But that couldn't possibly have anything to do with Daphne. Unless.

"Is that bitch doing this to my sister?" Asteria demanded as she shot up from the sofa. Draco stayed in his lazy position and simply nodded. Asteria could feel the anger building in her. How the hell did Mrs. Parkinson of all people get close enough to Daphne to manipulate her like this?

Asteria started pacing the living room while she thought of all the not so wonderful things she'd like to do to Mrs. Parkinson.

"I like you when you're angry." Draco commented nonchalantly. "You get all worked up." He said with a smirk.

"You are not helping." Asteria grumbled at him.

"I'm not trying to." Draco said simply.

So now she was stuck going to a dinner party at Greengrass Park, where her sister was living now apparently. It was just bound to go incredibly wrong. Asteria only knew two people who would be there. Daphne and Theodore. Neither of which she had spoken to in months. She didn't know who or how many others would be there, and she was not looking forward to finding out.

She raced through the changing rooms and apparated back to her house. The invite said it was a formal gathering, so she'd need to find something to wear.

Asteria looked at the clock hanging by one of the doors in the hall and sighed. An hour. Well that was just peachy. She dropped her bag and keys on the table by the door and headed upstairs. She really needed a shower. Whatever the fumes in the Magical Bugs and Diseases floor had been that day they did not smell nice. They never did really. Especially with Dragon pox going around.


Asteria stood by the gates to Greengrass Park. This was going to be an absolute disaster, but damn it she had a plan and it was going to work. She took a deep breath to calm herself and drew out her wand to open the gate and head towards the entrance.

Asteria felt the odd need to knock on the door. She supposed it wasn't that odd, but given that this house had been her home for most of her life it just seemed a bit surreal.

Only a minute after she knocked the door opened to reveal a very shocked looking Daphne. She looked thinner than the last time Asteria had seen her. Thinner and with very wide frantic eyes.

"Hi Daph." Asteria said awkwardly.

"Asteria." Daphne said in a strange tone. "I. . . didn't think you'd come." She continued and looked down awkwardly.

"Well I hope you're not disappointed." Asteria tried with a smile. Daphne looked up at her wide eyed again and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Of course not." she said pleasantly and stepped aside. Asteria walked into the hall with as much confidence as she could muster. There was something about Daphne that very much unnerved her. She'd been expecting some form of snide comment, and was confused she'd gotten none.

She didn't find it that odd when she saw who would have overheard in that case though. In the parlour Mrs Parkinson, Narcissa, Andromeda Tonks, and Mrs. Zabini were all sat. The three of which looked quite serene, even given the unlikelihood of this combination of people. Really. Mrs. Parkinson looked quite uncomfortable and kept sending looks towards Andromeda, who looked quite amused to be honest.

Asteria must have looked absolutely shocked because when the three women turned to look at her Andromeda looked at the brink of laughing out loud, while her sister smiled pleasantly along with Mrs. Zabini. Mrs. Parkinson looked horrified. Which made Asteria smirk ever so slightly. She looked at Daphne beside her who shrugged and gestured for Asteria to sit.

"Uhm, hello, I guess." Asteria said as she sat down casually.

"So nice to see you again Asteria." Narcissa said pleasantly.

"And nice to meet you." Andromeda said, still obviously amused. Mrs. Parkinson continued to seethe quietly, while Mrs. Zabini and Daphne continued a conversation they'd apparently been having.

"So how is the training going Asteria? Theodore told me about the St. Mungo's apprenticeship." Narcissa asked.

"Good, thank you. Never a slow day, but good." Asteria said with a smile.

"St. Mungo's is never quiet. I know that much." Andromeda offered. "I was a mediwizard for a while you know."

"Really?" Asteria asked. This was new. Draco hadn't mentioned that, but then, maybe he didn't know.

"Briefly. I think you know just as well as I how the hospital is with Slytherins." Andromeda said. Asteria nodded.

"And how are they with our great house?" Mrs. Parkinson asked sharply, in her rather high-pitched voice. "Surely not disrespectful." she added. The other conversation also halted as everyone turned to look at the terrible woman.

"They're people dedicated to helping others. They don't like having anyone with as questionable a reputation as any Slytherin in their midst." Andromeda said coldly.

"But you're not.. unhappy Asteria? Right?" Daphne said quietly. Asteria looked at her rather vulnerable looking sister sternly.

"No. I am most definitely not unhappy." She said.

"That's nice. Draco isn't either you know." Narcissa said with a smirk, and Asteria could have sworn the woman just winked at her. Andromeda smirked as well, when Mrs. Parkinson turned a dark shade of plum.

"And why is that Narcissa? He's missing his friends isn't he?" she sputtered. Everyone knowing full well that she meant her daughter. And that she didn't really mean friend. Wow, Asteria didn't think it was possible to get that clueless.

"Of course. His father too, but he has his new job. He has Asteria." Mrs. Parkinson turned an even darker face colour, and Narcissa smiled widely. "And his friends are only a few years away."

"Mrs. Parkinson if I may. Maybe this would be the best time for you to leave." Asteria said pleasantly but firmly.

"This is not your house, you little brat!" Mrs. Parkinson shrieked.

"No, but it's mine." Daphne said angrily. "And I don't want you insulting my sister."

"So as you see dear Hyacinth. You aren't very welcome here any more." Narcissa added in casually.

Mrs. Parkinson was positively shaking with anger as she got up and stomped out of the room.

"So Daph, would you like to tell me again why you've been socializing with that woman?" Asteria asked Daphne airily. Daphne gave her an annoyed look.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, she just showed up. And Theo is not a very pleasant person to live with you know." Daphne said defensively.

"Fine, I'll forgive you as long as you promise not to speak with her again." Asteria said demandingly.

"That could become difficult eventually, but I'll try." Daphne huffed.

"And now that that's settled." Andromeda said calmly. "Shouldn't we move on to lighter subjects?"

"We could try." Narcissa said simply.

Asteria figured this probably could have gone a lot worse, and that she didn't really mind this company much. Even though she did watch Daphne a little more attentively.


"So why exactly did I insist on getting you here?" Draco asked annoyed at all of the less than friendly employees all around him. Asteria just smirked and handed him her coat while she finished yet another file.

"You tell me, but since you clearly suffer from memory loss." Asteria trailed off, and Draco just rolled his eyes at her.

"If you really want a cure that would be floor number 4." Davis added as she appeared out of nowhere with an extra file for Asteria.

"Carter asked me to give you this, and Calbel wants to see you first thing in the morning." She rattled off disinterestedly.

"Lovely, thank you." Asteria said with a slight bit of sarcasm. Davis just grimaced and kept going down the hallway.

"She seemed peachy." Draco commented dryly. Asteria shrugged and headed for the exit.


"What do you mean I'm skipping the potions floor?" Asteria asked Calbel incredulously. The man simply stared back at her.

"Exactly that. It will be your actual work space once you've completed your training, so it makes sense for you to end it there." He explained calmly.

Asteria crossed her arms unhappily. She had the feeling she was acting quite childish, but damn it she had the right to. The other floors held no appeal to her. Quite frankly they annoyed her. Or well the people in them annoyed her.

"It's the way it will be Apprentice Greengrass. So you will accept it." Calbel said a little less patiently.

"Alright. I don't like it, but fine." Asteria mumbled the last bit, but he seemed like he heard her perfectly fine anyway.

"That will be all for now. Finish your rounds for today, and start on the 4th floor on Monday." Calbel said dismissively. Asteria left his office and headed towards the staircase and the stupid sickness floor. Just as she went through the door to that particular place of annoyance she was dumped into by several mediwizards rushing towards the stairs. Great, just what she needed.


Carter was mindlessly giving a lecture to some man sick with dragon-pox as Asteria watched from the wall. She'd never met a man so yawningly boring in her life. Except maybe Professor Binns, and he barely counted.

She absently looked out into the busy hallway as the man droned on and on about the infection and dangers and thought for a minute she caught a glance of someone familiar. Not co-worker familiar, but. . Oh no. Asteria's eyes widened for a minute when she caught a definite face, and expression of the person. Not just any person. Marius. Coming towards her.

Asteria started to panic slightly, until she realized he wasn't coming towards her exactly, just down the hallway. Asteria tried inching her way further into the room while keeping an eye on him. It's not that he would see her, but one could never be too careful. And just as he passed.

"Greengrass are you paying attention?" Carter asked. And ironically enough Marius obviously heard, and turned towards her. Catching her eye for a minute looking comically shocked and rooted to the spot.

"Greengrass?" Asteria snapped her head towards Healer Carter, and nodded swiftly, which seemed to be enough as the man dismissed her again.

Asteria looked back out to find Marius still looking at her. He didn't seem angry or hurt, or anything really. He just seemed kind of numb.

Asteria thought she must have looked kind of the same because they stayed that way for a while. Or maybe it wasn't because she didn't exactly keep track of time. It wasn't until Carter moved to leave the room and motioned for Asteria to follow the Marius look hardened and he turned back to walk down the hallway again.

A/N:

OKay, so I've discovered that this story is getting a bit too many filler chapters and not enough action. . That will need to change, and you can expect plot-twists to come in the near future. . near as in not several months from now. . I'm sorry, as you've probably guessed, but I will do my best and try to re-earn the follows on this story. It wont e next week though, as I wont have any freetime. . like, at all, I have a role in a play. which is exiting and all, but not so relevant.

I also might be having some other issues in these next few weeks, but I will try to post anyway. . And you probably don't believe that, but i swear i will.

Also, to throw it out there, I just went to see the film Warm Bodies.. It was very good, and cute, and funny, and worth a watch. I'm also anxiously awaiting Beautiful Creatures which you can't see in Denmark till the 21st :C and Mortal Instruments in August. . Good books, worth reading, I'm so exited, and I hope you'll bear with me on the fangirling to come xD

Until next time, goodbye :)