(AN: Just an immature writer, writing an immature story, that hopefully will also gain some maturity over time. Perhaps. Updates might be slow, but I'm very busy in the background. The entirety of the story is about half done, and works have commenced for the next parts. Yes, I'm 100% getting ahead of myself with my scattered, chaotic mind, but that's fine. I hope you enjoy!
ALSO: There are a few perspective shifts in this one, hopefully none are un-clear because alas, I am still beta-less for the foreseeable future.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing within the HP universe, but my possibly insane OC and possibly more insane plots.
Chapter 2: Shifting Wind
Draco Malfoy was furious.
It came over him gradually, beginning with yesterday morning's Potions disaster. He'd visited the hospital wing, not once, but twice thanks to Astrid Blackthorne - which resulted in him spending the entire evening under Matron Pomfrey's care. Draco fumed at the thought, the anger of yesterday's events still bubbling through his veins.
He quickened his steps to the Transfiguration hallway on the first floor, seething at the fact that it was a longer route that morning - having come from the Hospital Wing.
Blackthorne just thought she was so bloody clever.
That girl had another thing coming if she thought she had gotten away with unceremoniously shoving him into a small broom cupboard, locking him in and then laughing hysterically as she strode away. Draco flushed angrily at the memory cursed loudly through the echoing hallway - causing two first years to jump violently and hurry away as he came round the bend.
Why Blackthorne was so hell bent on pissing him off, he had no idea. All that he did know was how it was so easy for her to get under his skin, and how much he loathed her for it.
He continued the rest of his journey much in the same way - seething all the while, as he thought about Blackthorne, the infuriating wonder.
Draco absently noted that he must have been early, as he entered the Transfiguration hall. All of his classmates were lazily lounging by the tarnished oak door and waiting to be let in, in a variety of relaxed stances.
He scanned the throng, spotting her immediately and stalking furiously towards her.
Astrid must have seen him coming, because she had turned to face him as he approached, calmly leaning against the wall and looking as smug as anything. Her charcoal swirls fell gracefully across her shoulders, as her sharp grey eyes followed his advance.
This girl was a bloody nightmare. Like a well polished dagger, Astrid was always ready to wound his pride, mood, ego, or whatever else she felt like taking a stab at - which she saw to, frequently.
Draco scowled at her self-satisfied demeanor as he approached.
He was not having this.
.x...x.
"We need a word," Draco hissed.
"No, I don't think we do actually." Astrid replied in a flippant tone.
"Yes, we do. You can't just sodding attack people in your own house, whenever you fancy it-"
"Perhaps you shouldn't be such a little prick then." Astrid said in feigned sympathy, waggling her little finger suggestively and waving it across his furious gaze.
"Listen to me, you bloody-"
Astrid turned away from what was surely going to be a rather becoming insult and strode up the hall instead. She saw Hermione Granger up ahead and decided to link her arms with the now rather alarmed Gryffindor - who looked quite shaken by the sudden company of a girl she barely knew.
"Alright Granger?" Astrid said and nudged the bewildered girl, who's eyebrows had shot up so high that they disappeared within her fringe.
Draco shot daggers at her from across the hall, having watched her antics from afar. Astrid smiled back broadly, waving her little finger teasingly at him.
Just then, Professor McGonagall came striding down the hall, and with one last withering look from Draco, she was ushered inside.
The students gathered in the classroom, noisily fetching their supplies and textbooks as the Transfiguration Professor gave them all shrill directions for the next hour of lessons.
Astrid sank into the seat next to Hermione, deciding that her new Malfoy-repellant friend was the best choice, in order to make it through the lesson unscathed.
Most lessons, Draco was avoiding sitting with Pansy; and Astrid was avoiding sitting with Draco. Unfortunately for her, most of the time Draco won and ended up in the seat next to hers anyways. Some days it was tolerable, and they'd even manage to get through a lesson without any threat of bodily harm.
Today was not one of those days.
As soon as McGonagall turned her back to the class, Hermione had whipped around in her seat to face Astrid, a look of astonishment on her face.
"I can't believe what you did to Draco Malfoy," Hermione hissed furiously. She propped up her textbook so they could speak more discreetly.
Astrid smirked and shrugged.
"He had it coming, Granger. If I could do it all again differently, I wouldn't. I'd just do it again and laugh a little harder the second time."
Astrid flipped through her own textbook to find the appointed chapter. She looked up when Hermione said nothing, instead she was gazing at Astrid with an odd expression, as though she was torn between looking thoroughly scandalized and pure awe.
"...But you'll be in heaps of trouble if the Professors get wind of this." Hermione admonished, looking very troubled indeed at the very thought of detention.
Astrid just grinned. "I'm not concerned. We Slytherins don't have a habit of grassing each other up. It's a bit of an 'unspoken rule', if you will." she said, making air-quotes with her fingers.
Hermione harrumphed in disapproval, snatching her propped textbook off the desk and throwing herself into her work furiously.
A quiet half hour later, the students piled away their work and set off practicing the directed spell. Today, they were attempting to transform their desks into pot-bellied pigs - which Astrid was less than thrilled about, considering Transfiguration wasn't her strongest suit. The two girls spoke leisurely as they worked, occasionally exchanging remarks and joking lightly with the other.
"Damnit," Astrid swore on her third attempt, as she watched her desk sprout nothing but a long curly tail. Hermione giggled quietly, as she continued her own attempts.
Towards the end of the lesson, most of the students had succeeded with mixed results. Ron Weasley's desk looked mostly un-touched at first glance - however it had grown two long tufted ears that flapped furiously every time he attempted the spell again; Pansy's desk had remained largely unchanged; and Hermione's massive brown pig had charged head-first into Astrid's desk, knocking it cleanly to the floor.
Astrid had managed the task in the end, with barely suppressed glee, as she transfigured Draco's desk when he was caught unawares. She cackled at his beet-red strained face, as he tried to shove the massive animal off of him. After a moment - or two - of laughter, she cast the counter-spell. Draco furiously brushed himself off and forcefully knocked into her shoulder as he walked by. Astrid just smirked, and hurried off with the others as they made their way to their next lesson.
.x...x.
By that afternoon, Draco was no longer furious.
He was positively fuming with rage, which made it very difficult to focus on much of anything other than his hatred for Astrid-fucking-Blackthorne. Draco had barely managed to make it to the third floor, when he realized that the very same girl who was tormenting his thoughts, was trying to catch up with him.
He stopped very suddenly, causing her to collide with him roughly, and they both stumbled slightly. He whipped around quickly, withdrawing his wand.
"What do you want, Blackthorne?"
Astrid blinked at him for a moment before crossing her arms at his stance. "Perhaps I'll tell you if you put your wand away."
Draco laughed humourlessly. "I think I'll take my chances."
The pair glared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up.
After a moment Astrid sighed and stepped forwards.
"Alright, alright." Astrid said, raising her hands in defeat, "I actually wanted a chance to try and make amends."
Draco peered at her in suspicion, unsure if she was messing with him or not. Without his expression betraying him, he too crossed his arms and stared at her, eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"Look, I'm sorry. For y'know... Potions yesterday and the pig today... and the Squid hands." she snickered a bit, in spite of herself, "Even though you were being a prick, and probably deserved it. I was just taking the piss and may have gotten a teensy bit carried away."
"And why exactly should I give you a chance?" Draco deadpanned, leaning back against the stone wall.
Astrid shrugged, kicking the dust beneath her feet, as she met his angry stare. "Well, because we're house-mates. Maybe even mate-mates, on the rare occasion. I just don't want us starting a full-on feud - that could only end catastrophically."
Astrid tentatively held out her hand, her apology hanging loosely in the air between them. Draco raised a brow as she stood in determination before him, her striking grey eyes watching him in earnest.
Finally - grumbling as he did so, Draco shook his head to the heavens, and straightened himself off of the corridor wall.
"Fine." he snapped, "We're going to be late for Charms."
His eyes darted to her outstretched hand, before scoffing loudly and brushing past her, a ghost of a smirk playing at his lips, and with that, he wordlessly strode away.
Astrid grinned, thoroughly surprised that he had caved so easily as she followed in his wake.
.x...x.
That afternoon the group of Fifth-Years made their way to the Quidditch pitch for their weekly Games Lesson, accompanied by a rather surly Madam Hooch - who looked rather fed up with the lot of them already and had yet to commence the lesson.
"Alright, Fifth-years, gather 'round!" Madam Hooch barked to the group of students, many of which exchanged gloomy looks. It was a collective agreement that Games was rarely fun -
Unless it involved flying.
"Today we will be doing laps around the pitch-" Ron Weasley looked gleeful at these words "-or perhaps I should amend; we will be running laps around the pitch! I think five should do it."
Madam Hooch glared expectantly at the sea of grimaces when nobody moved.
"Now!" she barked, furiously blowing into her sharp whistle. Then she stalked away to the stands and settled in comfortably with a hot cup of brew that had magically appeared and a copy of The Daily Prophet.
Astrid groaned exuberantly to the skies above - like many of the others - and reluctantly began to jog around the long winding field. After her second lap passing the large golden goalposts, she had to slow down as her breaths came in short shuddering rasps.
Her lungs burned as she continued her brisk stride, passing Pansy Parkinson along the way and smirking slightly when the other girl collapsed into a heap of exhaustion - "This is so bloody stupid!" Pansy whined in her gravelling tone - just as Astrid also passed a comically beet-red Draco.
By the fourth lap, Astrid's legs began to feel like lead as she sluggishly tried to keep her pace up. Nearly half of the class had long since given up or finished, all sprawled out and panting breathlessly as they watched the remaining group run the length of the pitch.
Harry came trotting along next to her - the bastard didn't even look winded - and said "Alright?" with a grin.
"Fine." She wheezed back, attempting to smile - but failed dismally, her grin looking more like a grimace instead.
Harry smiled brightly, returning to his quick pace and leaving her gobsmacked expression behind as he jogged ahead.
"Sodding... Fuck..." Astrid managed to rasp out as she caught up to a rosy-cheeked Daphne who still seemed to be bursting with energy as they briskly trotted along the path together.
Daphne smiled breathlessly. "Nice weather today!"
"How... Can you... Say that..." Astrid wheezed back pathetically. Obviously, she needed to exercise more, because she felt dangerously winded next to a rather unaffected Daphne.
Fighting the urge to give up on her final lap, determined to prove herself (and the on-lookers) that she could do it, Astrid tore ahead of Daphne and used her last burst of energy to make it to the end.
Immediately after passing the golden hoops, she collapsed into an exhausted pile of completion. Her breathing ragged and uneven, she mustered up the strength to roll over onto her back and gazed up at the cloudless sky. Until a silhouette loomed over, that it.
Harry must have finished the laps ages before her - or was just in much, much better shape - because he looked perfectly composed next to her wheezing form. He grinned at Astrid's sorry state and held out a silver bottle of water to her.
"Cheers," she gasped, gratefully accepting the bottle and taking several tremendous chugs before gracelessly falling back into the soft grass with a thud.
Hermione was equally winded, trudging towards them with reluctant, doubly-red Weasley in tow as they dropped onto the grass next to them.
"This should be illegal." Astrid said, still trying to catch her breath.
"Agreed." Hermione panted, accepting the offered bottle from her.
Harry pulled a face, looking between the two of them. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."
"Speak for yourself, Mate." Weasley finally spoke, his face as red as his hair, which amused Astrid greatly.
"Well at least it's lovely out today, I'd hate to run in the snow." Hermione said conversationally.
Astrid snorted. "Daphne said that too. That's a pretty crap consolation prize, considering that I nearly just had a coronary."
They laughed amicably and sat in silence for a pause, relaxing their assaulted muscles and drinking from the endlessly filled bottle of water.
Harry leaned closer to the group, nodding to the other side of the pitch. "Did you see Malfoy?
Looks like a beat-red git with a terrible mop-hair for disguise."
The Gryffindors snickered, then paused, looking at Astrid in confusion when she bit her lip and pointedly looked away.
"Oh no, I'm not touching that one. I'm firmly sat in neutral territory today, mates." Astrid said and stretched her tired legs onto the grass.
"Really? Why?" Weasley said with a frown.
"Er, well I apologized to Malfoy actually. In the spirit of not pissing off who you have to live with and whatnot."
"What? Why the hell would you do that?" Weasley demanded, "That stunt you pulled was brilliant. Truly."
Astrid grinned. "Cheers. You're not so bad, Weasley."
He shook his sweaty head furiously. "Just call me Ron. It's hard to keep up with so many of us called Weasley, half the time I'm not even sure if I'm actually being spoken to or not." he snorted.
"Fair enough, mate."
Astrid noticed the small group of female Slytherins across the field sending her filthy looks and sighed, deciding that she didn't need any more aggro today. She groaned in protest as she stood up, massaging her sore legs.
"Well, I'd better clear off before I get into even more trouble with my lot. See you." she said with a wave.
She strode across the field in record time - considering she couldn't feel her legs - and approached a rather offended looking Daphne and Pansy.
"What the hell were you doing, Blackthorne? Are you as thick as you are insane?" Pansy hissed with narrowed eyes.
"Just being polite Parkinson, keep your knickers on." Astrid said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head.
Daphne stared at her in suspicion, tongue in cheek. "You're not... Friends with those Gryffindors are you?"
"Er... Well no, not exactly-"
"Not exactly? What the fuck does that mean?" Pansy snapped. "Oh just you wait until the others get a load of this!"
Daphne rounded on Pansy so suddenly that the latter squeaked as Daphne grabbed a fistful of her tie.
"You will do no such thing, do you hear me? I trust Astrid, so if she says they aren't friends, then I believe her. You would do well to do the same Parkinson - or our next conversation won't be a pleasant one."
Pansy backed away, looking both scandalized and furious at Daphne's words.
"Whatever this is, is obviously just a mix up. We have nothing to worry about, right Star?"
Astrid nodded quickly - too afraid to look back at her new acquaintances across the pitch.
.x...x.
The afternoon passed by amicably and despite her apology - Draco still wasn't speaking to Astrid during their last class of the day. They sat silently, side by side, attempting to keep their eyes open through Professor Binns droning tone during History of Magic.
Astrid was once again idly doodling on the corner of her parchment, yawning quietly as she did. Draco was splayed backwards in his seat, resting his head casually on his arms. He was staring out the window, occasionally shooting an untrusting glance to the girl next to him.
"...and in the Great Elvish war of 1669, biting toadstools were used for the first time as a weapon of mass destruction..." The silver Professor continued in his monotonous voice, staring unblinkingly ahead at the chalkboard before him.
"Merlin, I can't take much more of this." Draco finally whispered, blearily rubbing his face with his hands. Clearly, the boredom had gotten the better of him. "Binns is doing my head in. Why the bloody drip hasn't been sacked yet, I'll never know. Perhaps I should talk to father-"
He glanced over his shoulder at Astrid, and did a double-take suddenly as he studied her parchment.
"Are you... Are you drawing tits?" Draco hissed incredulously, light grey eyes suddenly wide.
Astrid smirked without lifting her quill, "What else am I supposed to do? Pay attention, work?" She scoffed.
Draco blinked at her, a small tinge of pink settling high on his cheekbones. He swallowed and said nothing for a moment, before smirking.
"Is this supposed to be a self portrait?" He muttered suggestively, amusement dancing through his features.
Astrid viciously jabbed him in the ribs, causing him to grunt in pain, but she smirked back all the same.
"I wish." she said seriously, squinting critically at her work. "Though it would probably throw my back out if I had to heave those bloody things around all day."
Draco snorted quietly, propping his head on his knuckles, and went back to gazing absently out of the open window.
Blackthorne was nothing short of an enigma to him, and bloody confusing one at that. One minute he was ready to hex her into oblivion, and the next - he stole a un-noticed glance at her - and shook his head in amusement. Draco wasn't sure when or why he'd gotten so bloody soft with Astrid, but he wished that she would stop trying to get under his skin. Every. Damn. Day.
Draco knew he had the skin of a snake - a thick, scaled armour that kept him detached from such frivolous things... but for some reason, this girl - this bloody ridiculous girl - had a special way to either make his life a living hell, or more colourful, and vibrant.
The entire classroom was suddenly filled with the sounds of chairs scraping, and Draco started slightly as he realized everyone had all stood to leave.
"...and I will require two feet of written scroll on the closing points of the Great Elvish war by next week..." Binns droned tonelessly to the room at large. And with that - he turned and drifted straight through the wall.
Draco turned and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw that Astrid was no longer there. Frowning, he began to collect his books and parchment instead, hastily stuffing them into his book bag and standing to leave. Before he had a chance to take a step, he noticed a loose sheet of ripped parchment on the desk. He stopped and peered curiously at it.
It was another doodle of Astrid's, but this time she had crudely drawn Draco as well. Her depiction of him was gaping open-mouthed, staring at the very same tits she had drawn earlier in class. Scrawled just beneath was a note which read,
I thought you'd like some new wanking material, clearly Parkinson doesn't hold a candle to these ones - it was pretty obvious during Games. Bad luck mate.
He grinned widely, laughing quietly in spite of himself. Maybe having the skin of a snake wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Perhaps the time had finally come, to shed his skin, so to speak.
Draco strode from the classroom, smirking widely, the crude drawing held tightly in his hands.
.x...x.
"Rook to F-4." Draco murmured softly, leaning forward in his seat in the Slytherin common room later that evening.
Blaise scowled darkly, watching his Queen fight a losing battle with Draco's marbled Rook.
"Wanker," He muttered under his breath, eyes darting across the board in thought.
Draco stretched his arms over his head, smirking as Blaise ordered his Bishop right into the path of his Knight. Swiftly, he claimed the Bishop for his own as well, causing Blaise to dejectedly sit back in his emerald armchair, mumbling about cheating tossers.
"It's impossible to cheat in Wizard's Chess, Zabini." Draco said, smirking victoriously, "You're just terrible."
The dark boy glared, saying nothing at all as he drummed his fingers in thought.
Sighing, Draco lazily gazed around the dark common room, eyes settling on Blackthorne who sat across from Daphne Greengrass on the plush, tufted sofa. The two girls were sprawled out comfortably, talking in quiet undertones while Daphne flicked through her copy of Witch Weekly.
"Did you figure out who you're going with yet?" Daphne said absently, light blue eyes scanning the magazine.
Astrid raised a brow, looking at the girl in disbelief, "You do know what a blind date is, right Greengrass?"
Daphne huffed impatiently, shooting her a furtive look though her auburn curls.
"'Course I do," she snapped, turning a page, "I'm merely suggesting that your friend Ashwood doesn't have a good grasp on match-making. In fact," - she slapped Witch Weekly onto the table - "She's downright one of the last people that you should be asking for dating advice."
Astrid scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"No Star, I mean it." Daphne said seriously, sitting up. "She tried to set me up with a HUFFLEPUFF last year for the Yule Ball, do you remember?"
Astrid's eyes twinkled in amusement, "Sure do. Which was hardly a surprise, by the way, seeing as she's a Hufflepuff herself."
Daphne poked her tongue in her cheek, and said nothing, eyes roaming to the roaring emerald fire in front of them.
"You know," Daphne said, cocking her brow and nodding to the two boys playing chess, "I think Zabini's gotten even fitter this year. I wasn't even sure if that was possible, but low and behold." She said lavishly, sending a knowing look to Astrid.
"Keep it in your pants, Greengrass. Last thing I want to see is you shamelessly throwing yourself at Blaise." She said, scrunching her nose in disgust.
Daphne huffed, and turned back to Astrid with a devilish grin.
"Star, is it true you locked Malfoy in a broom cupboard?" She whispered, face shining gleefully.
Astrid just shrugged, though smirked all the same as they watched Blaise shout and throw his hands up in defeat from across the common room.
"Perhaps." Astrid said, scratching her chin idly, "I'm not one to curse and tell. Though he definitely had it coming." She added, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.
The two girls stared at one another for a moment, before promptly bursting into laughter. Blaise looked on curiously.
"What's so funny?" he shouted from across the room, after instructing his last remaining Knight to advance on a pawn.
Draco looked up as well, his eyes finding Astrid's immediately before darting away.
"Nothing of your concern, Blaise." Daphne said sweetly, fluttering her long lashes at the boy.
Blaise grinned, sitting taller in his seat and turning to resume their match.
Astrid rolled her eyes, watching the exchange in amusement, "Quit kissing his arse, Daphne. His ego's big enough without you parading yourself around him."
Daphne simply snickered, "Ha! Fat chance. At least I," she put emphasis to the syllable, "Don't need any divine interventions from a deranged Hufflepuff to find myself a date."
Astrid inwardly sighed, knowing very well how true her words rang. It wasn't as though she needed a boyfriend, per se, she just liked the idea of throwing herself out there and seeing what she could reel back in. Which is where Rose Ashwood came into focus. The Hufflepuff girl was definitely quite mad, though in an intelligent sort of way. For some reason she was never deemed a threat to the other Slytherins, so their friendship was quite public.
Astrid paused for a moment, deciding that she would have to visit Rose soon to see if she had found her a new 'victim' yet.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Astrid yawned and stretched widely, and thought about turning into bed early. Mid-stretch, she noticed that Draco was watching her, and he shamelessly raked his grey eyes over her body while she glared back at him. Daphne had noticed too, and discreetly winked at her before settling comfortably behind another magazine.
Scowling, she made a rather rude hand gesture to the blonde boy as she stalked off towards the girl's dormitories. Watching her go, Draco thought he saw a quiet smile grace her lips.
Grinning at the exchange, he moved his Queen directly in line with Blaise's King, and sat back smugly.
"Checkmate."
Blaise grimaced in defeat, and rose to join Daphne on the heavily cushioned couch.
Smirking at his victory, Draco cleared away the set with a wave of his wand and set off for an early evening himself.
(Reviews will make me go wh-hoo like the Pillsbury Doughboy! Sorry about any blatant errors that may or may not be present!)