The Slytherin common room cleared early that night leaving me to sit in the the large leather armchair next to the fireplace. My sisters are sitting nearby, pouring themselves over the their respective piles of homework. In the quiet of the common room, it feels like we are home, sitting in my parent's library, but still only coexisting together in our respective space.
"What is one use for mandrake leaves?" Astra asks. She is looking towards me and I sigh, closing my History of Magic textbook.
"They used mandrakes for the students who had been petrified last year," I remind her before returning to my book. I had a quiz on the goblin rebellions coming up and I wasn't too sure of my ability to remember the correct dates.
"The question was about their leaves, not their roots, Lenora." Hera says, "Mandrake leaves can be used to become an animagus."
I swallow and glance over the top of my textbook to find that Hera is already staring at me. The cold silver of her eyes is piercing, taunting, and I know I've been caught.
"But I guess you wouldn't know that yet." Hera smiles wickedly.
How could she have found out so quickly? Renata and Sebastian knew better than to mention anything about me to Hera.
"It wasn't one of your guard dogs" Hera muses as if she can read my mind. "Peregrine mentioned it to Marcus, who of course told me."
The silver necklace of her betrothal flickers in the firelight, she continues "Of course, Peregrine was so bothered by your actions."
In a split second decision to save myself, I decide to play dumb. "What actions?" I question, knowing full well that I did not hide my adoration of George Weasley well.
"Please Lenora, playing dumb doesn't suit you well." Hera snaps. When I don't respond Hera's eyes narrow dangerously. "What would mother say if she knew you were being friendly with a blood traitor?"
"I'm not being friendly. He's my partner for a project." I explain through gritted teeth. "And mother isn't going to know."
"Not yet." She responds before glancing towards Astra. Our little sister has her face buried so deep into her homework it looks like she is trying to disappear.
"Leave her out of it." I spit before Hera can begin to pull Astra in. She glares, but leaves her alone.
"You need to find a new partner." Hera finally says after waiting a few minutes in angry silence.
"I already tried to." I respond with a swallow, trying to forget the heavy words Professor McGonagall expressed to me.
"Then you didn't try hard enough." Hera sighs and closes her textbook with a hard slam. "It's not just you who get affected Lenora. It's mother and father. It's Astra and me."
I stare at her, arguing seeming pointless. Hera would always worry about her status. How others perceived her. She saw me as the shaky foundation our family was built upon. I was the one who threatened to expose us daily.
"There is nothing to be done." I tell her, returning to my book. "The quicker we complete the assignment, the quicker George Weasley will be out of my life."
"He better." She sneers before gathering her things and heading off to bed. "He's a Weasley," I can hear her mutter as she marches up the stairs. As if there couldn't be anything worse.
I return to my book, but my attention span to read is gone. Sighing and pressing my hands to my forehead in an attempt to stop a headache creeping up on me. With my eyes closed, I picture Peregrine seeking out Marcus Flint in the common room earlier that night. Eager to throw me under the Knight Bus in hopes of earning more points with my family. I picture Marcus' scowl as he imagined his future sister-in-law befriending a blood traitor. I picture him telling Hera, how her face would darken. I can almost hear the whispers between the three of them as they decided what to do with me.
It makes my stomach sick.
"Lenora," Astra's quiet voice breaks the silence and I quickly drop my hands to see her. She still has her homework spread around her, but from the deep lines between her brows I can tell that she is no longer worried about mandrake leaves.
"Do you still need help with your homework?" I ask, trying to help her forget about the spat between Hera and me.
She looks down at her homework with a hint of surprise, like she had forgotten what she was working on. She nods and I stand, taking the spot next to her. We work carfully through the herbology homework, helping her sketch out the leaves of an adolescent mandrake.
"I like the Weasley's" she finally whispers. I glance at her, but say nothing.
When I don't respond, she continues "I only know Ginny Weasley, but she's nice and she's funny."
"I'm sure she is," I agree with a slight smile. How do I explain to her that it didn't matter. It didn't matter how nice or funny they were. As long as they sympathized with Muggles and Muggle borns - it just didn't matter.
"She helps me in potions a lot," Astra adds with a scrunched face. Similar to me, she had not mastered the careful skill of potion making. "And I help her with charms."
"That is quite nice," I agree.
"It must be nice to have brothers." Astra adds with a thoughtful look towards me. "Ginny says that she has 6, could you imagine?"
"No," I chuckle, imagining 6 red-headed boys running around a garden. "I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like."
"Is George nice?" She asks and I try to hold the smile from her, but Astra is intuitive. She's studying my face closely, looking for any signs.
"He is. I don't know him that well, but he's nice." I say and she nods, satisfied.
After a few more moments of looking over her herbology homework one last time I decide that it's time to turn in for the night, "We should go to bed."
Astra nods with a yawn. Helping her clean up her textbooks and safely place her homework in her book bag. I walk her to her dormitory and push her soft blonde hair back gently. She closes her eyes momentarily and then hugs me goodnight. I hold her for a moment before pushing her off to bed.
There was a time when I relied on Hera for the same comfort, but this didn't last long. Prior to Hogwarts, my older sister was one of my greatest friends. She would build blanket forts, play games in the park, and during thunderstorms she would allow me to sleep in her bed. This changed soon after the summer after Hera's year. When she turned thirteen and I started at Hogwarts, my sister grew up. I needed her and she left me behind.
As long as I was here, Astra would have me for as long as she needed me.