Book 4: Astoria Greengrass and the Curse of Quennell Park
Song rec: "Halo" by Depeche Mode
Astoria lay awake in bed far past one o'clock. It had been three days since she had torn up the floor. She couldn't believe she'd thought Professor Sinistra had made her late husband into an Inferius. She couldn't believe she'd thought Professor Sinistra had failed to bury the body regardless.
How terrible she was to think that.
Only a nut would come up with that kind of accusation.
Astoria was losing touch with herself. She had not spoken. School would start in only four days, and she would see Alecto Carrow again. Some of her friends, too, if they were alive.
In shock, Professor Sinistra had indeed asked Astoria what she was doing when she found her in the subflooring, but upon discovering Astoria speechless, she did not pressure her again. Astoria wouldn't have expected such understanding from anyone else she knew, and the professor had not even used Legilimency on her. When Astoria had finally stabilised on that fateful day, Professor Sinistra explained what Astoria had already figured out: there was a bundimun infestation in the house's foundation, which caused the carrion smell. The Professor could not completely clean it herself at this stage of the colony's development, but she was too afraid to contact pest control over embarrassment of her hoarding and fear of the government. Apparently, when Winky had started tearing through the junk to find the stench, she had released a boggart, and the boggart quickly harassed Astoria, the only human in the house at the time.
"It makes sense," Professor Sinistra said gently. "You told me your boggart was the idea of things being hidden from you. A fear of the unknown, of deception."
Astoria couldn't tell if the professor guessed what she thought was under the floor. Maybe she just thought the level of the infestation had bothered Astoria on top of everything else.
As if.
How did I come to this? Astoria kept thinking, but the answer was always the trauma. That was what trauma did to a person.
Astoria wished she had a normal boggart. The bundimuns were revolting and needed exterminated, but both the floor and Astoria's self-integrity would still be intact if her boggart had been dementors or Death Eaters. She wrung her hands. She wished Alecto had a normal boggart, too, because it kept flooding her dreams. The clock mocked her with the hour, as if the vast amount of time she spent in bed included restful sleep. Professor Sinistra and Winky were downstairs cleaning out what they could of the mould-like bundimuns. Every so often, Astoria would hear the house creaking in protest, since the colony had merged and propagated so thoroughly with the foundation.
How did the professor come to this?
Well, I know how, Astoria corrected herself. I know the whole story of how. That's how I came up with that awful Inferius idea.
I know exactly what happened. So why can't I help myself get over this? I'm not being stupid. I seriously can't talk again. Professor Sinistra isn't stupid, either. She's hurting.
Did I hurt her more?
Professor Sinistra came in what felt like days later to bid her goodnight. Astoria waved at her like an idiot.
Maybe she doesn't know. I still can't even say so much as 'goodnight.' This is just like after Maman and Father tried to talk to me about Dumbledore's death. Why won't I just talk?
The entire day had gone by, and Astoria had never left the bed. Now she'd be awake all night. She had been in suspended animation like this, only doing what was absolutely necessary to stay alive. Sometimes not even that. But when it was four in the morning, of course, she got up. Hunger plagued her, so she went downstairs instead of waiting for morning. The stench downstairs was less meaty than before, but she still couldn't eat from the anxiety, and it angered her. So much food was available, unlike the chemical-water and oxtail soup she had been forced to eat with Alecto. Now, she couldn't even appreciate the good stuff. She couldn't appreciate being her own person again, because apparently she was the type of person to tear up floors, imagining improper burial.
Astoria knew she was not in her right mind anymore, because trying to think logically about things had put her in the same place as her boggart-fed delusions. Her shame swelled as she stepped over the wood she had damaged. Winky and the professor had put it back, but Astoria could tell it wasn't the same. She had marked the house, her haven, with her own fear. Somehow, she had managed to turn every haven she'd had into a prison. She fought off images of the hotel lavatory again.
The sunroom was blanketed in a cooling gold after sunset on the first of September. Astoria ran a finger over the fray in Uncle Faunus's suitcase. Due to Hogwarts attendance being mandatory, she had become a charity case to the professor, in need of textbooks and supplies. Now she understood why Rhiannon resented being given things. She had become a vessel for pity. She had no other options.
Astoria was eager to see Flora and Theodore. If not for them, she might not be alive. She would also see Hestia, who would ask of Rhiannon. Astoria concocted the best way to reassure Hestia that Rhiannon had escaped without revealing that that reassurance had come from a Horcrux spirit.
Time passed slowly because she was so conscious of it. Her hands grew cold once she could no longer find anything suitable to fiddle with, and her thoughts tangled quietly around Draco. It seemed cruelly impossible to think of him without thinking of Death Eaters. She thought of Ivory Stretton hitting her ballroom floor dead. She thought of Ivory Stretton's daughter, her classmate Imogen. Astoria held no guilt, but rather anxiety, over what Imogen would try to do out of revenge.
That evening, Astoria finally decided to tell Professor Sinistra the whole story of the attack at Quennell Park. She described the deaths of Uncle Faunus, Renshaw, and his family, and admitted how she blamed herself for it. Legilimency didn't work in the walls of the house, so Astoria had to find her voice again to say it all. It was better to talk than use Legilimency anyway, Astoria felt, because she could choose exactly how to speak her pain. Professor Sinistra listened with quiet care, offering a few comments but mostly letting her get it out. Astoria appreciated the lack of a dismissive "everything's okay" immensely. Professor Sinistra supported Astoria without any strings attached.
After pouring everything out, Astoria spent some time alone. She brewed tea and held the warm cup close to her, processing what she had been through. Once she left this house, the professor would be back in her personal thoughts from time to time, and Astoria couldn't bear to let her know the details about her fear of an Inferius. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Even if she couldn't Occlude anything else, she must Occlude that for the woman so dear to her. Professor Sinistra was the one who had tried to help her with Occlumency in the first place. And now Astoria had to use what little ability she did have to protect her. She pushed the old thoughts down, down, down…
By the time Astoria felt comfortable Occluding the bundimun disaster, she discovered that she had one hour before she would have to return to Hogwarts Castle and face Alecto Carrow. It wasn't going to be another year of everyone pretending things were normal if someone like her was there. Astoria wondered if there was any point to keeping her head down and focusing on her tests. What was her alternative? Pretending to be a hero that she wasn't?
It was time to don the uniform and robes Professor Sinistra had provided. They smelt just as new as the ones she had her first time going to school. The tie was just as hard to tie. Astoria tried to recognise the girl who had once begged to go to Hogwarts in the mirror. Her reflection was cruel; she decided to put on one of the professor's old wide-brimmed hats to shy her eyes.
Astoria tried to imagine Daphne and Rhiannon adjusting to their new school in a new land, moving on from her false death. Daphne was going to enjoy N.E.W.T. Divination if her school offered it, and Rhiannon would be so good in D.A.D.A. Everyone would recover from their injuries, certainly. Time would heal her parents. They would all start over again, wherever they were. It was okay that it was without her, Astoria thought, as long as they were well.
Astoria and Professor Sinistra gathered their things in the hall, and the house shifted deep within in response to their impending departure. The Doppelvanga squeaked as Winky scurried up Professor Sinistra's robes and onto her shoulder. With superficially innocent spells, the professor locked the house tight. The feeling of being outside of its curious walls was like a weight off Astoria's chest. Pandora's box, good riddance.
The night was chill but not harsh. The cloud cover was heavy, but there was no rain. Astoria walked close to the professor, often on her coattails. They were being watched, but it would be all right so long as she didn't look back. The dementors that patrolled Hogsmeade each eve were currently stationary, their aimless hunger lurking along the path. They were under the apparent control of a Death Eater, his mask shimmering steely in the light of street lanterns. Professor Sinistra pretended to pay them no mind, though she grabbed Astoria's wrist and hurried her along where the cobblestone from the village mismatched the pavement along the carriage path. Soon they reached the trail to the school, which poured with anxious students who were quieter than a group of that volume should be. Astoria did not recognise anyone on her walk. Maybe she was trying not to.
First-years did not travel by boat this year, for the lake was shrouded in dementors' mist. Astoria saw the first-years pour into the carriages with the rest of the students. The line of carriages looked like a funeral procession, drawn by the Thestrals Astoria could only see in her uncle's honour. Professor Sinistra evidently meant to walk faster than the carriages travelled, and it was increasingly difficult for Astoria to keep up with the tug on her wrist.
"Professor Snape is to be headmaster this year. Do not be comforted by that."
Astoria nodded stupidly, for she was walking behind her and couldn't be seen. She tried to contextualise everything she had pulled from Draco's thoughts. Professor Snape had made the Unbreakable Vow and killed Professor Dumbledore to save Draco. But in the end, Snape was an agent of the Dark Lord. It didn't seem like his beliefs matched up. Of course, once one associated with Death Eaters, it was too late to have a change of heart.
"Astoria."
"Yes, Professor?"
"Justifying others will not keep you safe. Their actions have far more consequence than their feelings," she said briskly.
"…Yes, Professor."
Astoria noticed how many dementors were on the premises of the school. They were keeping a great distance as students clambered through the great doors of Hogwarts, though it seemed they were waiting for something. Professor Sinistra twisted round to tell Astoria:-
"Dementors will be guarding the exits. Do not attempt to leave."
"I would prefer if you worded it differently, Aurora. Dementors will be guarding the entrances," crowed a familiar, nasally voice.
Professor Snape had managed to mix himself into the crowd unnoticed, though it was beyond Astoria why he wasn't already inside in the centre of the staff table. Perhaps he was looking for Professor Sinistra. He did not so much as acknowledge Astoria's presence, though he was sure to have heard of Quennell Park.
"There is the danger of the Order's prodigy, whom we must keep out," he said, flapping his white, knobbly hand across his greasy hair.
"What a nice pretence, Severus," Professor Sinistra scoffed.
"Look further into it, Aurora. If their forces enter here, so does the Dark Lord."
The two professors must have said a few things with their eyes that Astoria missed. Then Professor Sinistra spoke aloud, "I'm well aware this is a prison."
Professor Snape's voice dropped very low.
"Pretend it isn't, for me?"
Blatantly ignoring Astoria, Snape touched Professor Sinistra's shoulder lightly and swept himself into the Great Hall. Professor Sinistra did not let go of Astoria until she got her to a seat at the very tip of the Slytherin table, where she had an unobstructed view of her.
"Remember, don't ask questions. Don't draw attention to yourself."
That rolled right off Professor Sinistra's tongue, but it didn't feel like the new normal for Astoria just yet. Winky Disapparated straight from the professor's shoulder to start her Hogwarts duties, and Astoria took in her surroundings. She noticed how empty the Great Hall was in spite of school attendance being mandatory. Then it hit her, yet again, that they had lost all of their Muggle-born students. Their absence made the castle feel too big. Where did they escape to? How many were already in Azkaban? The more faces Astoria did not see, the angrier she became. The pain of not having Rhiannon went without saying, but there were so many familiar strangers who were simply gone. She did not realise what a blessing free speech was during her days with Pariah, since that was gone as well. People were being imprisoned and murdered, and all she wanted to do was scream. But she sat down. The threat of death was not so far from her, either. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Where's Rhiannon gone? Is she okay?"
It was not Alecto, but Hestia, pleading in her ear. Astoria understood how long Hestia had waited without any knowledge of Rhiannon's safety. Astoria had been through that feeling the night Draco escaped the castle.
"Rhiannon survived the attack. She escaped the country with my family," Astoria whispered back, and she felt Hestia's teardrops hit her ear.
"She's okay? Thank God. I thought that—" Hestia choked.
"She is okay," Astoria swore, touching Hestia's hand, and they dropped the subject for their protection.
There would be so much to say later. With the question of Rhiannon's safety out of the way, Flora chimed in.
"What's with the hat?"
Astoria didn't even mind the comment. She was overwhelmed with the delight of seeing them again. They were alive. They were here and alive.
"You've made her cry and we're not even twenty minutes in, Flora."
"She usually cries about twenty minutes in, anyway."
Flora's snarkiness was forced. It wasn't the time for Astoria to talk about her late uncle. It wasn't the time to talk about what the twins' aunt had done to her. It was time to say hello and joke with one another, and eat good food… Yet she participated quietly in stutters, her shoulders and neck recalling the hardness of the floor where Alecto had made her sleep. Flora and Hestia both sighed and glanced at their relatives with hatred. They were front and centre at the staff table, scaring the House ghosts off. Amycus struggled to get a fancy new cloak off of him, and Alecto watched in amusement. Then her eyes shifted. She saw that Astoria was there but had not yet made a move. She was probably trying to lull her into a false sense of security. Or keep her quiet.
Ah, so we're just going to pretend it didn't happen, Alecto? Astoria begrudged. You're very good at pretending.
"Astoria, I'm really sorry," said Flora. "I don't know where to start. We had no idea that she captured you until after you got away. I've been in one big anxiety attack ever since."
Astoria swallowed some surfacing nerves and said, "It's not your fault. Even if you had known, I wouldn't have wanted you to do anything. In a way, it's my own fault. I went with her so she wouldn't… I don't know… hurt someone."
"Now, you know that's not your fault!" Hestia huffed. "When we found out about it, we were horrified! I nearly fired a curse in her face! If Flora hadn't stopped me, I'd've—"
"Hestia, shush," Flora interjected.
"Well, anyway, now that I'm in 'her' school, I doubt she'll keep me locked in a lavatory again," said Astoria caustically.
Flora sighed deeply and said, "It's unlikely. She didn't seem like she wanted to talk much about, well, you."
Tell them, Alecto, Astoria dared her. Tell them.
Alecto looked away.
The Slytherin table began to fill with people that would test far more than Astoria's patience, but her heart sprang at the sight of Tracey and Montel Davis and Max Lazenby, who were all okay. Heather Thatcham, Alexa Crover, Horatio Pershore, and Curtis Evercreech arrived in due time, too. Astoria wasn't close with them, but her losses had taught her to cherish even her acquaintances. She was turning to scan who was there in the other Houses when Theodore entered her line of sight. Before she reacted the way she really felt, she remembered that she was supposed to be at odds with Theodore to keep the Carrows off his case about his father. It was getting hard to remember all the acting roles she had.
Theodore wore something akin to a prefect's badge, yet more shiny and conspicuous.
"You're Head Boy?" Astoria blurted.
"Great to see you're safe, too, Astoria," he smiled grimly. "How was your field trip with Alecto?"
"I still have all my limbs," Astoria brushed off. "Who's Head Girl?"
She was begging with all her heart that it wasn't Pansy Parkinson, who had been stripped of her prefect's badge for attacking her the previous year. But now that violence was the norm…
"It isn't who it should be," Theodore said bitterly, "but I understand your concern, and it isn't Pansy, either. It's Millicent Bulstrode."
Astoria knew the Head Boy and Girl were supposed to be You-Know-Who's poster children at Hogwarts. Theodore and Millicent were a strange combination for the job.
"Move over, won't you, Theodore?"
A certain somebody with a darling, drawling accent and a regular prefect's badge arrived. Astoria felt his hand travel from her shoulder all the way along her back as he sank into the seat next to her. It felt as good as healing magic.
"Astoria, thank God you're alive."
"Good evening, Draco," she said tamely, holding back everything.
"It's not really," he said urgently. "There's a group of students who have been waiting to see if you'll come back to school. They'd like to have a go at you. I heard them on the train. You still have that piece of Foe-Glass?"
"I do," Astoria said lowly, lifting her arm to slide her sleeve to reveal the bracelet Professor Sinistra had woven.
Unsurprisingly, Imogen Stretton's face shone clearly in the glass piece. They had always hated each other, but now that Imogen knew that her mother died at Quennell Park, there was no stopping her from making Astoria's life terrible. She was accompanied by Diane Carter and Olivia Shardlow, who held Astoria in contempt, and Tracey Nettlebed, who could be talked into anything. Pansy Parkinson had not learnt her lesson; she was also in the Foe-Shard. It was more than the students that posed a threat to her; Alecto and Amycus were loitering in the back of the glass.
"It looks like I've made some enemies over the years," Astoria sighed.
"Just keep close to me tonight, Astoria. I can't believe what happened with Alecto," Draco scowled, perhaps in Theodore's direction, though Theodore didn't notice. "Astoria, if I had had any information… any moment I could have got out of the house… I would have—"
"Draco, I know. It's fine," Astoria said, trying to suppress the mess of the summer.
"We do the bodyguarding round here, Malfoy," Hestia added.
Astoria did not acknowledge Hestia, since Stretton was more serious than the twins' usual anti-Malfoy "bodyguarding" shenanigans.
"Consider your reputation, Draco," Astoria continued in a whisper. "You'd defend a blood-traitor against the Stretton family? I can handle these idiots alone."
"There are loopholes to maintaining my reputation."
"It's that I'm pure-blood, isn't it?"
"You have it, so you might as well use it," Draco responded quickly.
What Astoria didn't have was something to say in response. However, she did have the best view of the Sorting Ceremony since the time she'd been in it herself, and she wondered if the Sorting Hat would make any effort to fill the empty spaces at the other three tables. The whole House of Slytherin only suffered the absence of one student. Astoria remembered Rhiannon telling her the password to the common room was "basilisk" way back then. She remembered becoming her roommate at the last moment, and the feeling of actually making a friend outside the family. Where did Rhiannon go to school now? Had her classes already started? Had she been Sorted, or were the students treated equally where she was?
Forget all that. Was she okay?
It was not Professor McGonagall that brought out the Sorting Hat this year, but Amycus Carrow. He kicked the stool to the centre in front of the staff table and unceremoniously crumpled the hat onto it. Professor McGonagall wore a growling expression next to Professor Sprout's and Professor Flitwick's equal displeasure. Snape did not pay attention, as he was apparently in yet another mental arm-wrestle with Professor Sinistra. When the hat opened its mouth and sang a single, "OHHH," Amycus cast a rude hex on it.
"Skip to what's important, why don'cha?" he boomed.
The Sorting Hat's songs were often honest warnings, and there simply couldn't be any of that under You-Know-Who's control. The lack of a frightening song was probably best for the first-years, Astoria had always felt, but even they had to have some clue as to what was going on in the world.
Amycus Carrow could not be trusted to pronounce the names of students, so he and his sister switched places. Now close by, Alecto took a moment to smile hideously at Astoria. Astoria gave an equally unpleasant smile back to keep the woman on her toes.
"Accrington, Maria!" Alecto shouted, and a little brunette witch ran to the stool in pure fear.
"GRYFFINDOR!" declared the hat, and Alecto sneered at the child as the Gryffindor table cheered the loudest they possibly could.
"Ash, Tymyth!"
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat said, and Alecto's sneer toned down just slightly.
"Boland, Lúnasa!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Borgin, Chesna!"
There was a chorus of tittering from those not yet Sorted, and Astoria saw a lanky little girl get shoved out of the crowd.
"Go on, Chestnut! Don't make the hat too dirty for the next person!" a cruel boy's voice called from somewhere in the throng.
As if the attention of the whole room wasn't already on the girl, she walked up to the stool anxiously. When the hat roared "SLYTHERIN!" she did not look happy. The Slytherins somehow could not grasp why this little eleven-year-old had been so distraught in response to being Sorted there. A few brief, uncertain claps came for her. Chesna Borgin was not the most beauteous girl around. She had brutal acne, oily brown hair, big teeth, and stick arms. Alecto was closing in to push her from behind.
"Sit here, Chesna," Astoria called gently, budging up on the bench.
Draco was slow to react, and Theodore even slower, but they managed to make space for someone so puny. Chesna leaned over her plate to look at Draco, then sort of gasped through her nose and sat straight. Astoria wondered if it had anything to do with the Malfoys being frequent shoppers at the Borgin and Burkes Dark arts shop. Her suspicion was soon confirmed when "Burke, Sedecla!" was called and followed suit into Slytherin. The girl stomped right over to Chesna and started rattling off her opinion without warning:-
"You acted like a blood-traitor in front of the whole school. We're going to have points taken away before the year even starts! You knew you'd end up here! What's so surprising? Why are you sitting so close to him, anyway? Didn't your parents tell you not to bother the Malfoys, and the Carrows, and the Macnairs and such? I'm not here to clean up after you, Chesna!"
Sedecla had long, curly dark hair and bright yellow nail polish. She was a pretty girl, but not so far off from Chesna in her social ineptitude.
"Sedecla, why don't you take a seat over there?" Astoria encouraged as Alecto's eyes failed to leave the first two Slytherins of the year.
"Are you a prefect or something? No? Well, I can sit wherever I like," Sedecla challenged, even wary to sit next to the better set of Carrow twins.
"Then you should go sit next to Pansy Parkinson down the table there. I heard she has rabies, but you'll be okay so long as she chews with her mouth closed," Flora said.
Sedecla decided to plop down in the space the twins had created for her, shaking her head at Chesna the whole time. The rest of the Sorting Ceremony did not seem so interesting now that these two little fools were in the midst, but Astoria was at least glad to see the that there was not an undue number of incoming Slytherins due to any attempts of trickery on the Sorting Hat. After the Sorting, Professor Snape did not call for attention, but stood at the table, domineering and important, until the Great Hall fell silent simply by being aware of him.
"At least seventy percent of you have noticed our security measures," he began. "I will remind you that our use of dementors is not new. Those of you who are fifth-years and older may have even directly encountered the creatures. I should not have to advise you on this, but don't be stupid. The curfews have been changed for your protection. All students, first through fifth year will be required to retire to their common rooms by nine o'clock. Sixth- and seventh years' curfew has been moved to nine-thirty. There is absolutely no ten o'clock or eleven o'clock curfew, as we are having regular patrols for your protection."
Astoria raised her eyebrows at Snape's deliberate vagueness. Her elbows were on the table as they had never been. So this was to be the aftermath of Dumbledore's murder. Patrols for "protection."
"Allow me to introduce the new members of our faculty," Snape droned on. "Teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts course will be Deputy Headmaster Amycus Carrow."
Amycus scratched his hairy nose. The janitor's cat was a better qualified professor than him.
"And Deputy Headmistress Alecto Carrow will be teaching Muggle Studies, which is now part of the core curriculum."
He blatantly ignored the other additions to the staff — how the Auror guards had been replaced with Death Eaters, standing at the doors without their masks. Everyone knew, anyway. Everyone knew.
You might as well say it, Astoria glowered at Snape.
"This year, each student will be required to wear an identification wristband, enchanted to display the wearer's identity in spite of any transfiguration or illicit form-change. We do not want any issues with Polyjuice Potion, needless to say, and this latest development will assure it does not happen. Wristbands will be distributed hence."
Instead of the much-desired food, thin, silvery bracelets appeared on everyone's right wrist. Everyone's instinct was to either grab or look at it, and murmuring began sounding throughout. Astoria studied hers carefully as if it displayed information she didn't already know. Block letters read:-
GREENGRASS, ASTORIA NESRINE. YEAR 6. SLYTHERIN. ROOM 106.
She watched Draco as he tried to get the wristband off. The wristband itself was not offensive, but the fact that it was yet another mark on his body that could not be removed drove him to draw his wand to his wrist using his left hand, right in front of Snape.
Astoria quickly sneaked her hand to his and lowered the wand. It wouldn't do any good to cast a spell against this thing. It might even burn his wrist or scar him permanently. Draco understood. He'd acted on impulse. Several students, particularly the younger ones, began to complain of not being able to take it off. Snape found himself stuck answering questions such as, "Is it waterproof?" and "Will it burn if I'm over a hot cauldron for a long time?" Astoria happened to notice Chesna Borgin studying her bracelet with confusion.
"Did they spell your name wrong, Chesna? I'm sorry. Everyone always spells your name wrong," Sedecla Burke chimed in. "Maybe we can ask them to fix it!"
"No, but mine's just plain grey. See? But yours is pretty and silver. And so is hers. And so are theirs. I don't get it," Chesna said quietly.
"You're not the only one, though," Sedecla responded. "See, they have some down the table. There's a whole lot of them at the other tables. Actually, if you look, there's not too many shiny ones at the Gryffindor table at all. So don't freak out."
Astoria's eyes followed Sedecla's description. Flora, Hestia, Draco, and Theodore all had silver bands. But Heather Thatcham had a plain band, as well as Alexa Crover, Scarlett Lympsham, Zoe Accrington… They all happened to be half-bloods…
Astoria never pried into blood status, but it seemed like everyone with a Muggle relative had not been given a silver band. That could only mean that the half-bloods and pure-bloods had been colour-coded as part of their identification. Snape was halfway through explaining to a Ravenclaw that the wristbands would not constrict blood flow and once again resorted to saying, "Bear in mind that these measures have been taken for your protection."
"Protection against what?" a brave voice finally rang out from the Gryffindor table.
Theodore started shaking his head at the foolish move. Snape was already flouncing over to the edge of their table, daring whoever it was to say more.
"We've already got dementors and Death Eaters in here. What's left, exactly, for us to be protected from?"
It was Neville Longbottom, though it wasn't really like Neville Longbottom to speak up like that. Astoria tensed up over his safety. If it would have been less obvious, she would have drawn a line across her neck with her finger at him so he'd get the message.
"You might find, Mr Longbottom," Snape cawed, "that you have great potential to be a danger to yourself."
He made quite the show of walking back to his central place at the staff table, shoes clicking against the stone until, once again, the room fell quiet. He stood there in front of his chair to draw out the silence.
"Remember to follow the prefects back to your common rooms and obtain the passwords after the feast," was his final remark before the food was served.
Initially excited to have a meal, Astoria found it quite bland in comparison to Professor Sinistra's spicy cooking, not to mention how much she missed the food at home. Maybe the Death Eaters and the atmosphere were making everything less tasty. The Carrows were crustily introducing themselves to the staff, making their authority known to all but Professor Sinistra and Madam Pomfrey, whose conversation they avoided. By the look of it, the older teachers all remembered the pair even though they were at Hogwarts for less than two academic years. Not a great sign.
Astoria's attention faltered for but a moment, and in that moment, the Carrows had already caused a problem. They had their wands raised at Professors Flitwick, Hagrid, and Firenze, and were barking at them to move to the far edge of the table for being "half-breeds." Several teachers immediately stood up in protest and support of their fellow staff members, but they were quickly hexed by Amycus, and Alecto threatened to do worse to the trio in question if they didn't get their "dirt" away from her dinner.
"Oh. I get it," Chesna Borgin started talking to herself, trying to sneak a finger behind the wristband. "My bracelet's not silver because I'm only half-blooded."
Only half-blooded. Astoria set her fork down.
"You know, I think yours is better than the silver anyway," Astoria said.
"No, it isn't. Look at it. It's just a dull grey stripe," Chesna complained. "So everyone'll know I'm half-blood once they figure out what these bands really are."
"I can make yours glows in the dark, though," Astoria said, catching Draco's eye.
"What? How d'you know it can do that?" the girl returned.
"Shiny things don't glow as well with this spell," Astoria said.
She cast the fun Lumini spell that Draco had once used to make her a glow-in-the-dark pin for her bag.
"When you get to the dungeon passageways, it'll glow," Astoria said. "But if you want it to stop glowing, use the Nox spell."
"I just got here. I don't know any spells," Chesna said.
Astoria figured that pure- and half-blood children had already had some exposure to basic spells. Maybe this kid wasn't the kind to pay attention to what adults were doing.
"Ooh, I can show you! I've read all the spells we're going to learn in Charms," Sedecla said.
"No you didn't, you fibber," Chesna responded.
"Well, I read the first four chapters!"
Chesna was already occupied with Astoria's silver but non-glowing wristband, trying to read it upside-down. Her face turned pink when she knew she was caught.
"You can simply ask me my name, you know," Astoria teased, endeared by the two girls. "It's Astoria."
"Well, that's a nice name," Chesna said. "Can't really butcher that one. People call me Chestnut and Chest-ne, and Chesthair. And pizza-face. But that one's, like, just in general."
"People are stupid. You're gonna learn that fast here," Hestia offered.
"She's right, people are stupid," Sedecla repeated. "Oh, that ghost's head's about to pop off…"
The girls watched the shock factor of Nearly-Headless Nick whilst Astoria continued her bland dinner. Watching the two young friends had made her miss Rhiannon even more.
"So what's the password this year, you two?" Flora asked Draco and Theodore.
"Something racist? To indoctrinate them early?" Hestia added, bobbing her head toward the distracted first-years next to them.
"It's just 'Nikandros,'" Draco said.
"Who comes up with these, anyway?" Theodore pondered.
Draco only shrugged and didn't humour the conversation. His mind was elsewhere — the sort of place that didn't allot Astoria any elbow room. She finished her meal quietly, and everything she had barely managed to push from her mind came back again.
She, Flora, and Hestia grouped up promptly after the feast, but there wasn't much to say on their walk to the common room. Everything that needed said was private. Astoria wondered how late into the night they would be able to talk, and there was no deeper dread than the compulsory "Muggle Studies" class with Alecto Carrow. It would all be propaganda. It was probably held at eight in the morning, too. In the dark corridors, all of the first-years bustled and whispered excitedly. Soon they'd realise that being this far beneath most of their classes was not so great. Astoria hadn't been a fan of Hogwarts for quite some time, but she dearly hoped that the new students wouldn't come to believe this was how things always were, with Death Eaters round every corner.
In the scope of things, there had not been much time between Voldemort's first attempt at power and the present régime. There were multiple generations of people that feared him, and most had barely recovered from his violence in the 1970s before reliving it all a second time. It was hard to believe this mess was all over one stupid wizard. Well, it really wasn't. It was the age-old set of beliefs that drove him and won him followers. Anyone with enough Dark magic and brains could have done this. Voldemort wasn't special. Stronger than the rest of them, apparently, but nothing inherently special.
Astoria missed a step in the dark corridors of the dungeons and quickly grabbed Flora's arm to keep from falling. She must have zoned out. Then she stumbled again.
Not a coincidence.
Astoria remembered those girls who were trying to curse her, and she drew her wand. A mass of students parted to make space for the incoming flash of spells, and Astoria knew she had never really sized Imogen Stretton up for a fight. The girl was awful to start, but now she had lost her mother. Imogen pushed her way through some startled fourth-years, bringing her sidekicks with her. Astoria took note of Pansy Parkinson's absence — perhaps she had chickened out. Flora and Hestia had already helped to block several curses.
"You think it was me, then? That I did it whilst I was running for my damn life?" Astoria barked as Imogen's blue eyes flashed cold in the torchlight.
Imogen was speechless with rage, her body shaking but her wand held still between Astoria's eyes. Astoria wasn't intimidated until she saw not one, but four, wands in her face. How could she have made a scene so early in the year when that was precisely what Professor Sinistra told her not to do?
"Put the wands down."
Draco came barrelling through the students from the front of the group, knocking more than a few of them toward the wall. He stepped in front of Astoria and lifted up his left sleeve, boasting the Dark Mark in Imogen's face like it was some sort of arrest warrant. Tracey Nettlebed was the first to withdraw her wand, gasping loudly at the sight.
"S-So what?" Imogen challenged, though all of her friends found a Dark Mark and a prefect's badge enough reason to listen. "Your family's disgraced, Malfoy. What do you think you're doing, anyway? She's a disgusting blood-traitor!"
"Her treason is worth ten times your dirty blood, Stretton," Draco spat. "She's the last Greengrass in Britain, and you think you have business approaching her? Speaking of disgrace, you think we didn't know about those records on your great-grandparents? You're family's been claiming pure-bloodedness for about forty years too long, if I recall. Even the school knows what you are."
Imogen put her wand down to tug her sleeve further over her surprisingly dull wristband.
"If you so much as scratch Astoria, I'll have you all thrown in Azkaban," Draco shouted loud enough for the whole corridor to hear. "How do you think she evaded your mother's unauthorised attacks, Stretton? The magic in Astoria's veins is older than your whole wretched family. Learn your place."
Astoria didn't like the sound of anything he said, but she couldn't come up with a comment fast enough. Imogen blinked away angry tears, and said, "What about you then?"
It was not until she said it that Astoria realised Theodore was right behind them, using his new authority unwisely. Imogen fired off accusations:-
"Y-Your — Your dad went missing after Quennell Park, Theodore! Her family did something to him! And you're willing to defend her? Their family's full of Squibs and blood-traitors! How could you possibly — this makes no sense! A-And you two! You two have always been blood-traitors, running about with that awful Mudblood girl who tainted our House! How can you call yourselves loyal to the Carrow family?"
Imogen had a thousand more words on the tip of her tongue, but Theodore went toe-to-toe with her.
"I'm a logical person, Imogen. Spilling pure blood is not the answer. Anyone would expect the Greengrasses to defend themselves from an overnight slaughter. The Dark Lord would never sanction something so stupid. My father went missing at Quennell Park because he was following the wrongful orders of your halfwit, half-blood mother."
Theodore swirled away from her without another comment. Astoria felt Draco grab her arm and rush her along to the front of the line. She didn't like this at all and sent a look to the twins, who followed her closely. The meaning of Draco's and Theodore's words was sinking in rapidly.
They have to act like I'm able to be brainwashed to their side to protect me. My history with Rhiannon won't matter if I can pretend I've changed my mind, is that it? That's no different from Alecto.
It made her so uncomfortable to be protected by Draco's brandishing of the Dark Mark. What was the real meaning of being the last Greengrass in Britain, as he had put it? What was the real meaning of not raising wands against pure-bloods? Astoria shuddered. In order to stay safe, she had to be an object. A precious jewel, an asset. Pure blood for the next generation. Something to be brainwashed and bred.
"Let go of me, Draco."
"Oh, sorry," Draco said. "Oh, let me see your Foe-Glass. I want to know if I got the point through."
Astoria grimaced, but she pulled out the little piece of glass more for her eyes than his. Sure enough, Imogen and her crew no longer posed a threat to her. Parkinson and the Death Eaters roaming the school still did.
"Good. You don't have to worry about them anymore. If you have any trouble, you come to me, and I'll make sure—"
"Draco. Please."
"What's wrong? You know I had to say all that rubbish. They were going to try to—"
"Please. I can take care of myself. Acting like my guardian is only going to get you into trouble," Astoria insisted.
"No, this isn't like last year. The takeover's really happened. I can do whatever I want. I can actually use this the way I want to here," he said, lifting his arm, though it was sleeved again.
You're still the one being used, Draco, she thought, but what she said was, "You and Theodore are risking too much. My reputation's been established."
"Yeah, but as long as you—"
"As long as I what? Play along from now on?" Astoria stopped in her tracks.
Draco was already different from the broken man she had held at Theodore's house. It was as though being back inside the walls of Hogwarts, with his badge and his academic standing, made him latch onto power he imagined he had. He was completely convinced they could be together like nothing had changed.
"Come on, Astoria, we can talk in the common room," he said when she utterly refused to walk.
"How do you think this is going to end, Draco? You think you're going to bring me to the family dinner? You think You-Know-Who's going to pass me the potatoes because we're making pure-blood babies for his big schemes?"
"Merlin, Astoria, that's not what I—"
"It is, though! That's your twisted plan for keeping me safe!"
Draco's nails went through his hair in exasperation. People were glancing at them as they walked past. Flora and Hestia had given them some space, but they were sharing an unimpressed look.
"Okay. Okay, listen," he said. "We're going to go back to the common room and talk. And you can use Legilimency on me again, and then we'll solve this. Because I'm not wording things right. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. It's not like that. Okay?"
Astoria could barely unclench her jaw to speak.
"So… our whole lives, I'm just going to dip into your head so I can understand you? How about you try understanding me for a change? How about you try understanding that I held Daphne's severed arm, and watched Sofronia go blind, and Uncle Faunus die, and— God, Alecto's boggart…"
Draco was in pain just by listening to hers. He pulled her into an embrace, and Astoria hated how much she needed it. Somehow, it always felt right when they touched. They had spent so long concealing their feelings for each other to stay out of danger, but Astoria could not stomach the reason it was fine to be open about their relationship now. The Ministry had been investigating people's blood status viciously since Dumbledore's death. If even the likes of Imogen Stretton had an amount of Muggle blood in her lineage, there could not be that many true pure-bloods left. That was the reason they could be open about their relationship. Astoria had become a commodity, perhaps a delicacy. She pulled away.
Draco stood there stupidly, waiting for her to say something. But he was right about going to the common room. Things echoed in the halls. In stone cold silence, she walked back with him. It was the first night, so it was dreadfully crowded. There were first-years all over the furniture. Flora and Hestia were at odds with Draco over who got to speak to Astoria first. There was no place private, so Draco cast the Muffliato spell. It was a signal that Flora and Hestia were simply going to have to wait.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to get those girls off your case once and for all. They would have made your whole year miserable. They would have physically hurt you," Draco explained.
He was acting like she didn't understand that part. She knew all that perfectly well.
"My question to you is, what would your plan have been if I were a half-blood?" she asked sternly. "I'm already friends with Rhiannon and a member of a family with Squibs, so what if I was half-blooded? What would we be doing right now, tonight?"
Draco's eyes shifted.
"I mean, it'd be harder to keep people from harassing you and saying things. It'd be, er, more dangerous. We'd have to keep it private, like we did last year, and, er…"
The Muffliato spell had worked, but Astoria kept checking to make sure no one was interested enough to read their lips. Draco was speaking nonsense anyway.
"And how long could we keep our relationship, Draco, if I were a half-blood?" she challenged, her toes curling in her shoes. "I'm a danger to you already. But a half-blood? You wouldn't be thinking so far ahead about me if I were a half-blood, would you? You wouldn't be so convinced that we were going to—"
Going to… It was too hard to put to words what she had seen in his innermost wishes.
Draco showed the first signs of losing his patience by scratching his cheek and waving his hands as he talked.
"Don't we have enough to worry about without you coming up with all these fake scenarios? Why do we have to talk about something that isn't real, Astoria?"
"Because I watched my family die, Draco, and now you're talking about me like I'm a piece of meat."
"No — Astoria, I had to put it that way! Those girls, these Death Eaters guarding the school… It's the only language they're going to listen to!"
"You shouldn't be so concerned about protecting me anymore. I've learnt some awful things about myself out there, and I don't need anyone's protection. You're going to get yourself killed over me. I can't have that."
"Do you really think telling me that is going to work?" Draco snorted. "There's no way I can let something bad happen to you, now that I know that I can stop it."
"You can't stop it," Astoria groaned. "My Occlumency is terrible. You-Know-Who lives in your house, right?"
"We'll just move, Astoria. We'd be allowed to move," he said childishly.
"Moving won't fix it! He controls every single aspect of his followers' lives! He'll know I resent the beliefs his world is built upon. The first wrong move you make on my behalf, he'll kill us both."
Draco tucked her stray hairs back under her hat and rubbed her neck.
"I fully know what I'm doing."
There was so much love behind his words that Astoria nearly felt like dropping the issue. Draco was beautifully hopeless, and the depth of his feeling haunted her. She never should have let him deliver his mind to her at Theodore's house. She never should have known how far ahead his feelings were. Draco really viewed her as "the one." It was incredible how he thought she would be in his life regardless of the war's outcome. It made the ugliest thoughts flood her brain, because she wanted him any way she could have him, too. Did that make her a bad person?
Draco's whole idea of keeping her safe was to play up the fact that she was pure-blood. That is, when the time came, their children would be pure-blood and keep all the Death Eaters happy. But she would never be so blatantly stupid as to let her children be controlled by Voldemort. And first and foremost, she had to return to her family. How she would pull that stunt, she didn't know yet. Only then could they start thinking about happily-ever-afters. Not now. She couldn't accept this kind of protection. She had to learn how to protect herself. Arguing with Draco, though, would not accomplish anything other than making him feel worse. In fact, the false sense of protecting her might have been all he had left. He needed this. She was trying hard to come up with something to say that was neither an argument nor an acceptance of terms. It didn't look like she would have to commit to either with the way Alexa Crover was hurrying up to her.
"Hey! Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I'm your roommate?" she said uncertainly, twisting the band on her wrist. "Erm. I kinda noticed the change last-minute."
Draco reluctantly accepted that that was the end of the conversation for the time being, and he lifted the Muffliato charm. A few third- and fourth-years jumped in fear at the sight of him raising his wand, all apparently aware of what consumed his family. Alexa looked side to side and found Flora and Hestia on a chair not far off. Astoria realised they had been the ones trying to read her lips.
"We should get to the room anyway," Flora declared, looking towards Parkinson, who was fidgeting by the bookshelves, her eyes locked on forbidden fruit.
"I'll see you tomorrow," said Draco quietly. "Let me know what your schedule is."
Astoria said, "All right."
Walking away from him was a nasty feeling, as though she would lose him one way or another by morning. She lagged behind the twins and the blonde girl. It wasn't Alexa's fault, but seeing her walk into their room in place of Rhiannon made Astoria very angry. Astoria kicked off her shoes and crawled on top of her blankets. Uncle Faunus's suitcase was at the foot of her bed. It would take her only five minutes to unpack this year, but she still didn't want to approach the task.
"Woah, this room is pretty small!" Alexa remarked.
Astoria remembered complaining about the room being small back when stupid things mattered to her. This was nothing compared to that Muggle hotel Alecto had her in. Hestia had room to scoot her trunk across the floor the manual way.
"We're at school, you know," Astoria reminded as she watched Hestia struggle. "You can use substantial magic."
"Ah, yeah. Takes me a bit to remember when we come back," she said. "Oh, Alexa, you take this bed."
Hestia urgently motioned to what had been her bed for three years. All she wanted was to have Rhiannon's bed, but her sudden demand made Alexa think something was wrong with the bed being given to her.
"Is this one cursed or something?"
"I mean… it's next to me, so you be the judge," Flora said.
Alexa cautiously unpacked her pyjamas and lay them on Hestia's old bed. Everyone took turns getting ready to retire. Nobody talked the whole time, and Astoria felt guilty for not being more hospitable to Alexa.
"Who were your old roommates again?"
She was only trying to make conversation, but it came out as even less hospitable than the silence. Alexa swished her straight-cut fringe out of her face and took her socks off by only using her toes.
"It was me, Adelaide Murton, Tabitha Bainbridge, and Amy Frome. And we had Manami before she left. Nobody liked Amy. If anything, I'm glad I'm not with her. She chants spells before bed. I think they stuck Amy with Diane Carter to be honest, in place of Manami's mean cousin What's-Her-Name."
"That's fitting," Astoria said.
"Yeah, it's good that they're all together, but keeping the bad energy in one room is a good way to cause groupthink," Flora added, taking a long swig of one of Hestia's homemade soporifics. "If those girls threaten you because you're with us now, Alexa, come to me immediately."
"Er… okay…"
Astoria tried to catch a glance with Flora. Something about the way she had said that was tempting. Had she learned more Dark magic over the summer? For defensive purposes, of course…
"I have to have it dark," Flora said, jarring Astoria.
But Flora merely extinguished all of the candles. Alexa might not have preferred that, but she didn't protest. Everyone wiggled in their beds and fought the blankets. It was about two minutes into no sleep.
"You said Rhiannon's okay, right?" Hestia's voice struck the quiet.
"Yes. She's safe. She got away with my parents and Daphne," Astoria reiterated.
"You saw her get away all right?" Hestia pressed.
"Yes," Astoria lied.
"Then, er, how did you get stuck here…?"
"Hestia, leave her alone. If she wants to talk about it, let her pick the time. You heard the report. Her uncle was killed, and, you know, in a normal family, that's a bad thing," Flora snapped, and it was the last thing spoken.
My uncle was killed. Xavier Lofthouse killed him.
Astoria tried again to latch onto the revenge of killing Lofthouse, but it eased no pain. She alternated between sweating through her sheets and shivering with cold all night, and no matter how soft and comfy the mattress was, she tossed and turned. She would be having Alecto Carrow as a teacher, and she had no idea how Flora and Hestia had made it this far with that woman in their lives. To think, she thought Umbridge had been bad…
It was three in the morning when she guessed she'd never sleep, and it was four in the morning when she decided to do something about it. Astoria swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Her slippers weren't there, of course, nor was her robe. So she drew her uniform robe over her and put on socks. She hesitated when the door made a noise, thinking she would wake Flora, who only ever slept from the combined effects of exhaustion and potions. Thankfully, Astoria had become decent at not waking Flora over the years.
In the dim hallway, Astoria wondered why they had consolidated the rooms. Her House had lost the fewest number of students of them all. There was no reason to throw Alexa in their tiny room. Then again, with the sheer size of the castle, there was no reason why they had to have the tiny room in the first place. Maybe they were trying to totally erase the image of empty beds. They were trying to make it seem like there wasn't anything wrong, different, or missing.
No one was in the common room, which was good, considering that Astoria had no plan for if there was. She walked over to the chess table and flipped the timers back and forth. It took her father forever to make a move in chess. He was able to anticipate several moves ahead from sheer cleverness. Games like chess weren't going to be fun anymore with her poorly-managed Legilimency. She meandered over to the bookshelf. It was full of beaten spare textbooks and encyclopaedias with archaic and unintelligible language. People had been scribbling swear words and genitals in there for a century.
A small school of luminescent fish, magenta and yellow, caught Astoria's eye, and she sat in the sofa opposite the large window. There was so much motion in the water, she thought it must have been storming. Ordinary rainfall never affected the turbulence of the lake this far down. Astoria relaxed her muscles and listened to the sound of the fire logs crackling. Something about not hearing Rhiannon's snores and mumbles had kept her awake. She could hear the deep, ambient sound of the lake's motion in her dorm, but it sometimes gave her dreams of drowning.
Footsteps were not a welcome sound, and Astoria grabbed her wand from her robe. She wondered if she would spend the rest of her life arming herself at the faintest sound. Someone was walking the halls of the boys' dormitories. She didn't want to get up from her spot, so she waited to see if she would have to. Thankfully, Draco had been the cause of the stir. He stood at the top of the stair, aware of her presence instantly.
"Oh. What are you doing at this hour?" she asked.
He cleared his throat, "Well, I… it's my shift."
"Your shift?"
She reached her arm over the back of the sofa to get a better look at him. He avoided her eyes.
"We have shifts, er, where we patrol the castle. Mine's now until breakfast. I got the shortest shift, so it's not so bad…"
Astoria looked back at the window. Death Eaters patrolled the castle in place of the Aurors now. Draco was a Death Eater. She felt idiotic for being so surprised.
"What exactly are you patrolling for?" she asked.
"Students. Anything amiss, really," Draco said with a voice like he was promising to be back by dinnertime.
"And if you find students?"
"I'm more of the 'dock points' sort now," he said defensively. "I've cast well enough of the Cruciatus Curse at home. You're thinking all kinds of awful things about me now, aren't you?"
"I don't know what you've been ordered to do," Astoria uttered as he made to leave for his patrol.
She had really hurt his feelings. Then she remembered the dementors and stood up.
"Wait — the dementors — you've got no Patronus, Draco!"
"Pardon? Oh, they're being controlled, Astoria. They have an agreement with Snape. Couldn't you tell by the way they were acting? They're not going to bother with me," he said surely.
"Anyone could make it look like an accident if a dementor attacked you. You have no Patronus, and you have no… whatever they're doing with them."
Draco probably had not been as worried before she said that, but she didn't feel bad for bringing it up. He had to come back to reality. Just because his life had changed did not make him immune to dementors. Still, he had to leave for his shift regardless, or something almost as bad as a dementor waited for him. She watched him go with cold hands. Yet again, she was powerless. Unless…
"Expecto Patronum."
It didn't work at all. Every truly happy memory she had was tarnished by separation. She was miserable, but she wasn't giving up. There wasn't a dementor in her presence, and she was tired of making excuses for herself. She took several moments to calm the tension in her body and clear the anxiety and desperation from her head. She focused on a deep feeling which her voice forbade.
"Expecto Patronum."
Thin wisps of light shimmered and amassed to take the form of a peacock, whom she had named Pavo. Pavo stomped round and tilted his head at her. She didn't know how else to direct the spell except to speak.
"Go walk with Draco. Stay right next to him."
As an extension of herself, Pavo understood and passed through the stone walls of the common room. Draco would recognise Pavo instantly, so he wouldn't — or at least shouldn't — be startled. Astoria allowed herself to feel relieved for once, though she wouldn't be able to fall asleep and keep the Patronus going. That was how it would have to be. It wasn't like she would be able to get back to sleep with thoughts of being in Alecto Carrow's class creeping in at every corner.
But can I do this every night?
Astoria gripped her wand, which seemed vaguely happy to be casting something wholesome like a Patronus Charm again. Four in the morning until eight was going to be a rough schedule if she pursued it, especially nights with Astronomy. She would have to destroy her sleep schedule and dedicate this block of time to homework. There wasn't another option; Draco had been attempting to learn the Patronus Charm for years unsuccessfully.
THUNK.
Astoria jumped and raised her wand toward the sound, but she panicked when she discovered that she couldn't cast much whilst maintaining a remote Patronus. She was busy trying to come up with a battle plan when Alexa Crover came tumbling towards her.
"Oh! You weren't in the room when I got up to pee, and I totally thought you died!"
Alexa was sweaty and frantic, grabbing Astoria's arms to make sure she wasn't an illusion. Astoria hadn't meant to cause trouble, but she hadn't considered her roommates' reactions if she wasn't there when they woke, either.
"I'm sorry, Alexa. I'll be here awhile. I can't sleep, so I don't want to fidget too much and wake Flora."
Alexa had likely done a fantastic job of waking Flora already. Astoria would stay put until it was time to get ready for the day, though Alexa didn't seem to like the idea of her being alone. She stood in place, swiping her straight-cut fringe to no effect, as there was nowhere else for it to lie except in the front.
"Er, not to like, be in your business, but maybe staying in the common room overnight isn't the safest idea these days?"
"For once, I think I'll be perfectly fine. It's the class with Alecto I'm worried about."
"Oh, yeah. That, er. Well, I kinda feel out of the loop. So, like, Flora and Hestia aren't their, er, their daughters or anything, right?"
Astoria gave her a look of disdain.
"Er, no, Alexa… they're their nieces. They just act oddly towards the girls because… the dad is somewhat… off to the side, I guess…"
This roommate thing wasn't going to work if Alexa was already listening to Tracey Nettlebed's and Max Manson's rumours at the dinner table. Of course, it didn't help that Alecto and Amycus had gambolled about the Great Hall saying "our girls" like a couple of wackadoos.
"What a strange family," remarked Alexa.
Nooooo, you think? Astoria thought sardonically.
"So the Carrows are really Death Eater teachers, right? There's Death Eaters all over, pretty much."
"Correct," responded Astoria.
"Okay. Er."
Astoria scooted over on the sofa, since Alexa clearly wasn't going anywhere. She joined Astoria on the seat, accidentally knocking off a decorative pillow in the process.
"My mum said your family went missing. I'm really sorry. Like, Daphne's not here this year, and stuff… Is she… okay? I mean, are you okay? Are you gonna be okay?"
Alexa wasn't the smoothest consoler, but Astoria appreciated her concern nonetheless. She didn't want to bother catching Alexa up to speed with everything, but she certainly didn't want Alexa to feel like she couldn't talk to her.
"We were attacked by Death Eaters. Daphne lost an arm escaping," Astoria said with effort. "My cousin Sofronia lost her vision to a curse, and Adamina's jaw broke. My grandmother was wounded in the stomach. My uncle, my cousin, his wife, and her grandfather were all killed."
I killed Xavier Lofthouse and Caleb Price.
"Oh, Astoria," said Alexa, for once using her inside voice, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say. That's terrible."
"Thank you, Alexa," Astoria nodded. "They managed to escape. I just didn't."
"Where are they? Do you know?" Alexa asked a little ignorantly.
"No, I'd like to think I'd be there if I did."
"Yeah, true, yeah. Wow. So… wow, I'm sorry. What did you do? How did you get here and everything?"
I killed Xavier Lofthouse and Caleb Price.
"Muggle transportation and magic," Astoria said, eager to change the subject. "Alexa, listen. Anything Flora and Hestia say about their aunt and uncle, you need to heed. They're wicked people. I know you feel out of the loop right now, but don't ask too many questions about Death Eaters."
"Right, I sort of figured that'd be best. I think we'd all better look out for each other this year, right?" Alexa said shyly.
"Absolutely we should."
"Well, then, er… I mean, I'm just saying this because your family was attacked… but like… I'm pretty sure Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater like his dad is. And I just…"
"I know. He was forced," Astoria responded.
"Well, like, sometimes I've seen you two together, and I thought, 'oh, that's kind of a bad idea…'" Alexa said, the quietest Astoria's ever heard her speak.
"I appreciate it, Alexa. I'm aware."
"Er, sorry, I do hate to be in your business, I really do. But girls have gotta have each other's backs, I think! Like, I guess what I'm trying to say is… even if he was forced to be a Death Eater, he's still a Death Eater. So he reports to You-Know-Who. Like, when I worked at St Mungo's over the summer, my supervisor was always there over my shoulder. Not that I wanted her there, but she was. So if you visited me on the job, my supervisor would know that you did. Like, 'hey, why's your lunch break showing up five minutes extra, Alexa?' If that makes sense. I mean, I don't think Draco clocks in. But I mean… Er, you know what I mean."
Astoria did not shut the girl out. Alexa had good points, and Astoria had come to deeply appreciate her in only several minutes, but good points hadn't been working for a long time. Astoria and Draco had been through so much, and the further it pulled them apart, the closer they held each other each time they returned. Astoria took Alexa by the hand and thanked her sincerely. She appreciated anyone concerned with her safety, but it happened too often. Once and for all, Astoria knew that she had to be in charge of her own safety, but her anxiety corrupted her perception of options.