AN: I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE. I truly am.

To get you to forgive me, I will update chapters FAST. Anyways, Hermione will NOT be bashed anymore. (Sorry). I like her far too much. And Ginny, Luna and Astoria(Daphne and her can be Frat twins), for the sake of the story, will be in Astra's year, so Ginny can try to be "The Girl-Who-Lived's Best Friend", so Luna can get in on the action early, and so Astoria and Draco can have a love-at-first-sight type relationship.

Another thing: I'm toning down the bashing. In my story, Dumbledore sets up the Weasleys so A, Astra could have a Light influence from the start, and B, so she can have somebody to guide her.

The betrothal? This story is going through heavy editing, and there was a betrothal, and the "The Weasley family may use anything, varying from the Confundus Charm, loyalty potions, and anything else, to make Iris Lily Potter loyal to Ronald Bilius Weasley" part? Molly added it. Dumbles cares about his students as a whole and the Wizarding World AS A WHOLE but he is willing to sacrifice one life to save many.

I don't think Dumbledore would have condoned that. Molly and Ron had plans to go ahead and dose dose dose despite Dumbledore.

Now ON with the story! Meet Abraxas!

Word count: 1,995

Date updated: November 30, 2020

Year One: Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 8

Astra's ear was starting to sting from the pain of pressing it against the keyhole. She adjusted her head so that she wasn't pressing as hard.

Earlier that day, on a bathroom visit from her and Draco's playroom, she had heard her parents talking in their bedroom, so naturally she had gone to investigate.

By listening to the thin crack under the door, she had managed to catch a few words. Just a few, though.

"Abraxas..visit..no..half-blood..never approve.." She hadn't been able to piece things together properly due to the lack of information, so she opened the twin-link to Draco.

She had been about to ask, but at that moment, the door swung open with a creak. "Ah!" She yelped.

Astra ran like a bullet, desperately hoping for refuge. She saw a door next to her. She yanked it open and jumped in just in time. It was a simple closet, towels and whatnot piled up around the room.

Astra found she had landed on a pile of towels. They were warm.

Refuge, she thought, relieved as her body sank into the towels, muscles aching. She heard her parents' voices as they walked past her.

"I thought I heard something, Lucius." Her mother's voice filtered through.

"You must have imagined it, Cissa. Now, Leonard Shafiq. What of him, again?" Lucius asked conversationally.

"He asked for an audience with you, Lucius…"

Their voices faded away.

Greeneyes, what the heck?

Draco's voice through the mind link broke through.

Oops, she realized. Must've kept it open.

I can still hear you.
Yeah, anyways, guess what I heard! So I was listening to what Mum and Father were saying in their room, and they said something about a man named Abraxas visiting, then they said something about half-bloods and him never approving, what does that mean?

I dunno. Maybe it means our Grandfather Abraxas?

Oh!

We should listen more to find out.

Aye aye, Cap!

What?

Muggle thing.

So, I'll go-

You have the subtlety of a hippogriff, Dragon.

Do not.

Do too.

Fine, you do it, since you're so much better than me.

I will!

And so here she was, listening to her parents speak some more in the living room. Astra could hear them much easier pressing her ear to the keyhole, even if it hurt a little. The cold metallic feeling was nowhere near horrible, but it was still uncomfortable.

Dragon, Dragon! Come in!

In.

Okay, listen closely.

She opened the link to let him hear what she heard.

She pressed her ear closer.

"Your father, visiting, Lucius?" Narcissa's voice was saying.

"Yes, he'd like to see his grandchildren, I'm sure, Cissa.." Lucius answered her with a bit of anger in his voice. Astra was sure he didn't appreciate his father being criticised like that.

"Your father, the blood purist, meeting the half-blood we adopted?" Narcissa's voice was sceptical.

"Cissa.." Lucius pleaded.

"Fine, but I will not hesitate to throw him out on his arse if he makes a single comment, a single 'mudblood', and he will be gone, Lucius Malfoy, understand?!" Narcissa's voice was deadly. "And you will be sleeping on the couch."

"Yes, dear.." Lucius said.

Astra had heard enough. She removed her ear from the door and quietly crept back to the playroom.

When she got back, the first thing she did was interrogate Draco about Grandfather Abraxas.

"Tell me everything!" she sat cross-legged across him.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair. "I dunno. I guess he's...strict? He's really, er, smart, and kind of, uh, scary. He's also...really good and Potions…?"

"I guess that's something to go by," Astra said doubtfully.

Truth be told, she was worried about meeting her grandfather.

She was just a half-blood.

How would he accept her?

Two days later…

The inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were in a frenzy. Narcissa had been shuttling everyone around the house, ordering various articles of clothing on and sneering at the ones she deemed unworthy.

"Astra! Don't smooth your skirt like that!" Narcissa was yelling. "Draco! Keep your tie on!"

"Fine, Mum!"

"Whatever!"

Lucius, as usual, looked intelligent and sharp with a silver and white ensemble that fit nicely with his serpent-headed cane.

Draco looked just like his father, handsome grey eyes glittering as he fiddled with his silver-and-white tie.

Astra had a silver-white dress of her own with short sleeves and a poofy skirt.

Narcissa's dress was, of course, silver and white. It was a long, flowy gown that didn't touch the ground.

All four had just about finished putting the final touches on their outfits when the wards alerted them to an arrival. Lucius strode forward to open the door and Abraxas Malfoy stepped in.

He was tall and his hair fully white. There were lines creasing his face, yet you could still see the glorious shark he had once been. Astra could feel her body trembling as her father moved in front of her and Draco.

"So this is the little half-blood chit, then." His voice was hiss, a quiet curl of his voice, yet she thought she'd be able to hear it in another galaxy.

"Yes, Father," Lucius' voice was steady, yet a bit meek. It surprised Astra to listen to her strong father sound so quiet. He bowed respectively, and the others all followed suit.

"Move. Let me see her." He said. Lucius moved, ever so slightly, and Astra found herself facing him. He kneeled down so they were the same height. "Kippy!" He whispered.

Crack! A house elf appeared. "Yes, Master Abraxas?"

"This is my granddaughter," he kept his voice level. "I wish her to practice some spells on you. Do I have your permission?"

A shocked expression appeared on Astra's face. Rarely did pure-bloods ever truly care about the welfare of her elves. Interesting.

"Yes, Master!" Kippy stood ramrod straight. "Hold this," Grandfather gave Kippy a pen. He looked at Astra. "Please Disarm him..if you can." He raised an eyebrow challengingly. "The incantation is Expelliarmus."

"Father, that's a second year spell-" Lucius started.

"Lucius, let her." He said.

Astra swallowed and took out her wand. She noticed Grandfather eying it with a surprised and proud expression on his face, and she felt a burst of energy rise. "Expelliarm...us?" she tried. She swished her wand the way she did for Wingardium Leviosa. Some red sparks came out of her wand, but nothing more.

Grandfather looked down on her. "Hold it like this, child." His voice softened. He adjusted Astra's grip on her wand. She clenched it tighter.

"No, no. Loosen up. The wand will sense your discomfort." He chided.

"O-Okay, sir." Astra loosened up.

"And don't swish it. Stab it. Hold it high, and swing it down." He directed. "And none of that. I'm your grandfather, not your Professor."

Her grandfather.. "Okay."

"And the most important part. This goes for all spells. You have to imagine it happening. You stand proud. Believe. You are a Malfoy."

Astra raised the wand high above her head, not even bothering to answer him. And then she swung it down, putting her power into that downturn, the swing of her arm. "Expelliarmus!" The pen in Kippy's hand flew out like a bullet. It got merely an inch from Astra's eye and she just managed to duck.

Grandfather wasn't so lucky.

The pen hit his stomach hard and he gasped. The slim tool fell to the ground and Grandfather looked straight at Astra.

She wanted to melt into the ground.

And then he laughed.

His laugh was like thunder, proud, high, yet Astra could see it was genuine. Draco was looking a little awed and a touch scared, so Astra reached out to his mind.

You okay, Dragon?

Yeah. Grandfather is scary.

You think?

Yeah.

I was BEING soorcastic.

It's SARCASTIC.

Is not.

Is too.

You're poo.

You too.

UGH.

Astra closed down the mind link as her grandfather spoke. "No one has gotten the jump on me for nearly forty years, child. I...commend you."

Astra smiled back earnestly. "Thank you, sir!"

He laughed some more. "Come along, both of you." Astra and Draco tentatively followed him.

His feet clacked against the marble floor as he walked. Shoeless, Astra and Draco were quite the contrast. He neared the room that Astra and Draco had classes in. Then, he took a left and went through the hall next to it.

Astra had never ventured down that hall. Ever. It gave her an eerie feeling, the feeling of being watched. They hit the first door. It was to the right. Astra saw, through the glass window on the door as she looked at it, inside there were cells. A prison, she thought, a bit of fear surfacing.

It looked to be a truly garish place. There was blood splattered all over the walls and floors, and she saw a fleshy white thing that was probably a-

"Don't look there, child," Grandfather's voice was sharp. Astra obediently stopped as he spoke. "Nasty. Those were built for the war. There is a reason you have never ventured down this hall - you haven't, yes?"

Astra nodded affirmatively.

"Simple Touch-Me-Not Charms and perhaps a feeling of...eeriness? Used to keep you children away from here." He explained.

They approached another door. Grandfather stopped. "Shall we?" He gestured towards the door. Draco took a tentative step forward and was closely followed by Grandfather and Astra.

It was a wide room, with nearly indestructible walls. It looked to be about twice the size of the Dursleys' home. Astra didn't bother to ask how. There were two benches on either side of the room.

"This is the Malfoy Duelling Center," Abraxas announced. "It has been in the Malfoy family for generations. Only members of our family can enter without an invitation. If they did," a chilling grin appeared on his face, "well, they'd get a nasty shock…"

Astra shuddered to imagine that nasty shock. If that dungeon of blood was anything to go by, it would surely be a terrible thing.

"But...what are we...doing here?" Draco asked.

"What are we doing?" Grandfather repeated.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to duel."