Book 4: Astoria Greengrass and the Curse of Quennell Park
Song rec: "Erinyes Magaera" by ourfathers.
Note: I expanded McGonagall's actual quote for context, as that scene occurs in Deathly Hallows.

Astoria snacked on Wandlets and waited for her cupped soup to become edible. She and her roommates were holed up in the dormitory, wondering how they would ever escape the Unforgivable Curses from the Carrows after their actions. Alexa was notably terrified, Flora kept a stiff upper lip, and Hestia was somewhere in the middle. She kept checking her framed Foe-Shard from Rhiannon, waiting to see if Alecto would come after them. She hadn't yet, but somehow that was a different kind of bad.

"We'll have to hold them off every day, the way Neville Longbottom does. I've had enough," said Flora. "We brought most our stuff. So I'm not going back home."

"We'll go on the run! Live off the land! Channel our nomadic origins!" Hestia said eccentrically. "Oh… but Dad…"

Flora's eyes were unchartable.

"Dad will come if he's wizard enough."

Alecto never did come to attack the girls (before bedtime, anyway). Astoria stared at her clock as she lay on her side. It would go off in her ears only, but she had to keep setting it earlier since it was taking her longer to cast a Patronus for Draco's shift. Her eyes closed.

Something brushed her face shortly after eleven o'clock. Astoria swatted blindly and made contact with several pieces of paper, the only thing that could slip through all their protective enchantments. Her eyes adjusted, and she saw that they were folded paper birds trying to get in her face. She threw the covers off, hurried out the door, and locked it with spells behind her. The paper birds continued their bothering. The common room was only occupied by one person, and he stood with his toes against the bottom step of the dormitory stairs. Astoria ran up to Draco, and when he saw her, he called off the birds.

"Sorry, I didn't know how else to—"

"Don't worry about it. What's wrong?"

Draco was fully dressed. Had his shift changed? He sighed heavily, so that wasn't it. He lifted up his sleeve, and at a loss for words, simply showed Astoria his Dark Mark. The snake was sliding through the eye holes of the skull, back through the mouth, making a tangled mess. Draco's muscles were tense. He was being burned.

"H-He's calling you?" Astoria gasped, and she could not seem to get close enough to him.

"Not me personally. When the Mark burns these days, it means somebody's captured Harry Potter."

Astoria chewed the inside of her cheek. Harry Potter was a key figure in the resistance. How awful that he was captured. Draco cleared his throat and took Astoria's hands.

"What this means is that Potter is probably in Hogsmeade or the castle. Snatchers throughout the country can't give this signal if they just found him in the countryside. So I'm almost certain he's round here. And, so, well, the Dark Lord might… no, if Potter's really here, the Dark Lord will be coming. A-And he's worse than what people already know about him. He killed a whole group in my house over the holiday. H-He's probably going to cause a lot of trouble here, and—"

"Draco, what do you need me to do?" Astoria cut in, steadying him.

"I would just like for you to remember me if I… if something—" he shook.

"Draco, what do you want me to be doing?"

"I want you to do exactly whatever the teachers say to do. I want you to be where the teachers tell you to be. Don't raise your wand at any Death Eaters. Astoria, you have to promise me. Th-This could be over really quickly if we can just get Potter to him—"

"Draco, what are you saying?" Astoria grimaced. "That's not right. He'll kill—"

"Astoria, if we lose Harry Potter a third time, my parents and I will be killed, and so will others. He'll kill anyone who raises a finger at him. He'll kill me and my family, and everyone in the school if we lose Potter a third time! I'm not telling you this to make you angry. I'm telling you I want you and everyone else to live. I almost lost my life last month. This is it," Draco said with a clenched jaw.

He briefly put the wand he had in his pocket. It had a beautiful, gem-studded handle and a black wood. His mother's. That would work for him, but Astoria was petrified. She did not know, and she actually did not want to know, where Draco had to go or what he had to do. It seemed like they should exchange something, but there was nothing on her except…

"Draco, take this. Here, take this, here," she fretted, pulling off the Foe-Shard bracelet. "Here, I'm sorry it's got a girly pattern on the band. I'm sorry, but please, just take it. I mean, don't look at it too much, it's not going to help that much — look at what's ahead of you. You'll have to pay attention to what's round you over this thing, but if it helps at all…"

Draco's eyes were red, and he wrapped his hand behind Astoria's head, pulling her to his shoulder so she would not see his tears. He kissed above her ear. She could not get her hands to let go of the fabric on his back. She had to breathe him in. She had to memorise every mole on his neck, every curve of his face, the way his collar was folded, the way he parted his hair.

"I'm so sorry."

"Draco, I will always love you."

"I'll always love you, too. No matter what. I'm so sorry."

He hissed a little at the burn on his arm, tore from Astoria, and left the common room. She followed him to the edge, and from the hall she heard him say a last-moment direction: "Wake your friends so you're all ready."

Astoria hesitated no longer. She went back to her dorm, and she lit all the lamps.

"Flora," she said, and Flora was awake.

"Hestia," they both said, and Hestia's wand was ready.

"Alexa," they said with a touch to her shoulder, and Alexa tied her shoes.

"Should we wake others?" Hestia asked.

"No, they might do something stupid," Astoria said, thinking of Diane Carter's dormitory. "We're going to wait in the common room to see if any teachers come."

Astoria tucked her grimoire into her inner robe pocket and, in addition to the Anti-Theft Charm already on it, she Stuck it to the inside. It could not fall into the wrong hands whilst she was gone. She brought her uncle's pipe, too, even though it didn't do anything. Hestia dosed out foul-smelling Energy Potions to each of the girls so they would stay awake and alert for any emergency.

"What if it's Amycus?" Alexa asked, her blonde fringe covering her worried eyebrows.

"We go where he tells us to go, unless it is to our deaths," said Astoria firmly.

Everyone was taken aback, but when Hestia began to protest, Flora said, "She's right. If You-Know-Who is really in the castle, we'll have to do what they say."

"Why do we have to be out here?" Alexa said loudly, but not angrily.

"So we're the first to react," Astoria said. "If you want to wait in the dorm and not see what's happening, go ahead back."

Alexa quieted. There was no sound for a long time. The four girls stood by the fireplace, wands held, clueless and afraid. Astoria was glad that Rhiannon was somewhere safe, far away from here, but her presence would have steadied her anxiety. Flora rubbed Hestia's shoulder when the silence pressed them a little too hard. Then, Professor Slughorn came tumbling into the room, heaving and unable to catch his breath.

"Oh, Hestia, m'girl! Good, you're still up!" he assumed incorrectly of the girls. "Would you four please help me wake the students? We must go to the Great Hall at once."

When he did not follow up with any more information, Astoria asked, "What are we to tell them?"

"Er…" Slughorn stalled, still out of breath as he waddled to the boys' stairs. "Oh, er… is that you, Nott?"

Theodore came into view. He was almost unrecognisable. He had completely buzzed his hair. But Astoria would know his shying eyes anywhere.

"Tell them the Dark Lord is coming so they move. There isn't time to let them argue with you," Theodore said.

Astoria knew why he had cut his hair on such short notice. He was going to try to blend in with the soon-to-be crowd of students. He was not going to be spotted, and he was not going to join Voldemort. Astoria nodded at Theodore, and she set off with her friends.

"Er, Theodore, would you also help wake students? And round up our prefects?" Professor Slughorn asked in exhaustion. "I'm going to project my voice, but it might not rouse everyone."

"Absolutely. Did you see him, Professor?" Theodore asked urgently.

"See him! My dear boy, no, Heaven forbid! Not yet! We must move, though!"

Hestia Amplified her voice and sounded a lot like an Auror trying to train new recruits as she yelled everyone awake. The girls were grateful when Tracey Davis and Millicent Bulstrode came out of their dorm, even though it meant they had to encounter Pansy Parkinson. Tracey and Millicent, as a prefect and Head Girl, respectively, were quite skilled in the art of herding students. Astoria studied the heads of the first-years as they whimpered past her, but she did not see the oft-bullied Chesna Borgin nor her companion, Sedecla Burke. After weaving her way against the wave of people, Astoria walked towards their dormitory and found Sedecla standing outside the door with her hands on her hips. Sedecla looked horrified to see Astoria and backed away.

"I tried to tell her to speed up, but she's trying to catch her stupid toad!" Sedecla said.

"I'm not leaving Ramsay!" Chesna called from inside.

Carefully, Astoria opened the door and shut it behind her.

"Hi, Chesna. Can I teach you something really quick? Hold your wand out and say Accio toad. He is in your room for certain, right?"

"Oh, he's in here! Erm… Accio toad."

Out from somebody's sheets came Ramsay, a fat little guy. He landed right in Chesna's hands, and she put him in a pet carrier.

"That worked well!"

"Yes, let's go now, okay?" Astoria said, and she hurried Chesna out of the room.

Sedecla was notably upset that Chesna was walking with Astoria.

"Come along, Sedecla. We need to get to the Great Hall quickly," Astoria instructed.

"Don't you know You-Know-Who?" Sedecla asked firmly.

Ah, Sedecla must have believed the dream Rabastan had given the unprotected students. Shame on Rabastan. This was not the conversation Astoria wanted to be having with an eleven-year-old when everyone's life was on the line. Trying to control her irritation, Astoria said, "No, I do not. I know about him."

"I thought you were having a baby together."

"Sedecla, stop being rude! If she was having a baby, she'd be all big in the stomach!" Chesna said.

"Well, we saw her using Dark magic, remember? And ladies can transfigure themselves to not look pregnant."

"Yeah, but You-Know-Who's old and weird!" Chesna said, getting to the root of the issue.

"He is very old and weird," Astoria said with some amusement. "I am not having a baby, Sedecla. That was a dream put in your head by one of the Lestranges."

"Why would he say you were having a baby?" Sedecla wondered, her actual belief of Astoria's so-called pregnancy not nearly as strong as her flapping mouth.

"Well, he wanted to upset me, and he wanted other people not to like me. I hope that trick didn't work on you, Sedecla," Astoria said with a dramatic sigh.

"N-No, it didn't work! I know a fake dream when I have one!" Sedecla said. "I just wanted to tease you, and it worked! You thought I was serious!"

"Well, let's not tease others anymore. We have to focus on getting to safety now."

The girls nodded and huddled close to Astoria. She met up with Flora and Hestia, who were at the tail end of Tracey's group. They walked up to the Great Hall, the first of them nearly meeting the last of the Hufflepuffs. Astoria was amazed — all of the real teachers were standing on the platform along with members of the resistance! Professor Lupin was right there, covered in even more scars than before. Astoria smiled at him as she passed, and despite the occasion, he nodded and smiled back.

Draco was nowhere to be seen, and it was nearly giving Astoria a stomach ulcer by this point. Both first-year girls wanted to sit next to Astoria, who tried to be a good example and not show too much fear. Flora and Hestia took the next seats down. The Great Hall was packed. Professor McGonagall was at the head of the teachers and members of the Order of the Phoenix. She addressed them with a serious, commanding voice:-

"You-Know-Who is approaching Hogwarts with the intent to attack. We are going to evacuate everyone from here, up the marble staircase, and into a secret chamber you are to follow through. From what I understand, this chamber and the evacuation point is a bit narrow, so don't hit your head, and do not panic. Teachers will charm you back in place if you start bunching together, mind you. The evacuation will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

From the Hufflepuff table, a boy stood up to ask a question. Astoria recognised him as Ernie Macmillan, who had studied with her for the Astronomy O.W.L. but did not continue the class.

"What if we want to stay and fight?" he asked, and his friends cheered him on.

"If you are of age, you may stay," Professor McGonagall replied.

A young Ravenclaw called out worriedly, "What about our things? Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions. The important thing is to get you out of here safely," Professor McGonagall said firmly.

"Pets are more than possessions," Chesna mumbled next to Astoria, waving her finger at her toad through the glass.

"Yes, I'm very glad we have Ramsay with us. That was a neat spell you used, Chesna," Sedecla said, finally realising the situation.

Astoria found Professor Sinistra standing next to Professor Grubbly-Plank, who had been filling in for Professor Hagrid. But there was one key figure missing from her repeated scans of the staff group.

"Where's Professor Snape?" Astoria shouted, since Snape's location was very likely to be Draco's.

"He has, to use a common phrase, done a bunk," answered Professor McGonagall.

All the other three tables cheered, but that wasn't as good as everyone thought it was. Snape was what stood between Voldemort and the students. And if Snape left, where was Draco? Was he really going to be fighting the Order of the Phoenix?

McGonagall told the students about the protections round the castle, and more importantly, how they were not perfect. Astoria, along with many others, spotted Harry Potter moving between the tables. So, whoever had captured Harry had already botched the job. Was Draco already killed? Is that why Snape legged it — he knew he would be killed like Draco? Astoria nearly started crying, but she had no proof that was what happened, and the children would see…

It seemed to be ages since she had seen Harry Potter in person; he looked more beat up than he did in the newspaper photos. Astoria had refused to read a newspaper since her family had been attacked. There was something disturbingly familiar about the wand Potter had, but with so many heads bobbing in her line of sight, she could not figure out what was odd about it. She wondered what had led him to come back to school, and how he had got away from the patrolling Death Eaters. They weren't skulking round anymore, so they must all have had to report to Voldemort.

The moment she thought the forbidden name, a horrible voice started echoing against every surface in the castle. It was Voldemort himself, addressing them as though he could see into the castle. The little ones screamed as he talked.

"I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Everyone was dead silent, horrified of the noise and of the wizard it came from. Harry, the fugitive in question, stood with his mouth open, as though everyone would suddenly change their minds and move to grab him. Only one such person made that idea known. Pansy Parkinson, who was in a sweating panic, jumped up and said:-

"But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

Astoria gasped as it seemed people obeyed Parkinson's request, but they all stood to defend Potter, not harm him.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson. You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your House could follow," Professor McGonagall said exasperatedly.

Theodore and Millicent stood and waved the far side of the table first towards Mr Filch, then Astoria's side. She felt the small, wet hand of Sedecla sneak into hers. Chesna held her pet carrier close to her chest.

"Ravenclaws, follow on!"

Astoria could no longer see Professor Sinistra over the heads of tall boys. Would she come this way? Would she evacuate? Would she fight? Why had Astoria chosen to ask McGonagall about Snape when Professor Sinistra was right back there, beyond the line of heads…?

Alexa spoke up and asked round if Amycus and Alecto were still in the castle. Professor Flitwick, who was close behind them with the Ravenclaw group, said, "No, they are trapped in my common room and without wands. Professor McGonagall has already seen to them!"

He then separated from the line of evacuees, and waited for overage fighters to follow him. With all of the Ravenclaws, Astoria couldn't change course to get to Professor Sinistra, so she simply made sure that Flora and Hestia were still behind her and walked up the steps. They were led up many levels and down a dark corridor to an opening Astoria had never seen before. Astoria assumed it was a room that had been moved with dimensional magic, but fortunately, she did not step into crushing blackness upon crossing the threshold. On the contrary, it looked like there was a camp set up in there. Banners from every House except hers hung on the walls, and there were hammocks and food everywhere. The rough furnishings and the lack of any Slytherin representation told Astoria that it must have been a hideout of Dumbledore's Army. Mr Filch yelled at the students as they started doing exactly what Professor McGonagall had said not to — bunching together. Eventually, with Theodore's clear directions and Millicent's very loud voice, students started neatly filing towards an opening in the wall.

"Light your wands, now, it's dark down there!" Theodore said. "That's it, we can do four at a time. One — two — three — four! Wait till we can't see their wand lights. Okay, go! One — two — three — four!"

"EVERYONE GET IN THE DAMN LINE!" Millicent had to say for the eighth time.

Tracey Davis and Maxwell Lazenby ran alongside the edge of the students, straightening their line and running their arms to space each set of four. Sedecla squeezed Astoria's hand, afraid that she wouldn't be in her group of four, and Astoria squeezed Sedecla's sweaty little hand back.

"Astoria," Flora said darkly. "We are staying behind."

"What?"

Flora spoke fast, as the students were moving quickly, and they were nearly to the evacuation point.

"Listen, I don't care what Flitwick says. If Amycus and Alecto are inside the castle, they pose the worst kind of threat. They've clearly been left unattended. Hestia and I are going after them."

"Flora, no!" Astoria protested. "He said they're wandless. I think even Imperiused…"

"You think it's impossible to slip them a wand? Or to fight off the Imperius Curse?" Hestia scoffed. "Animagi amongst the Death Eaters can get in."

"McGonagall said they set up protections," Astoria said stupidly, trying to get the twins safely through the evacuation.

"Oh, like Dark magic can't shred those! Astoria, listen. We're going to fight. We're going to fight for the Order," Flora said.

"You're not of age! She said only if you were of age!"

"When's the last time we listened to anything McGonagall said?" Hestia said. "We wanted you to know where we were. Be safe, Astoria."

And the twins broke out of the line, weaving their way unnoticed through hammocks, tapestries, and luggage. Astoria's mouth dried. She was only a few groups away from the exit, with the first-years and Alexa. She let go of Sedecla's hand and patted the girls on the back, handing them off to Alexa. And for once, Alexa had no intrusive question. The younger girls protested Astoria's departure, but were soon seen through the exit. Theodore, though, lost his cool when he saw Astoria walking the other way and tried to get her to stop.

"Astoria, no! You have to evacuate! You're underage!"

"I'm of age! My birthday was in January!" Astoria lied securely.

"Yeah, your sixteenth! Weren't you advanced a year?"

"I just turned seventeen, Theodore, I don't know what you're talking about!"

"ASTORIA, STOP!"

Theodore couldn't move from his post.

"DRACO WILL HAVE MY HEAD IF I DON'T GET YOU OUT!"

Astoria absconded from the gawking crowd, shoving hammocks out of her face, shouting for the twins. She had not lost them yet, since they were unable to get out the way they had come in. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs came traipsing through, and there were young Gryffindors down the hall. The twins stood in the shadows behind some boxes, watching the queue carefully. Astoria came up behind them.

"You're not of age, Astoria, go back," Hestia said.

"You're not of age, either!" Astoria hissed.

"Well, we turn seventeen in June, so hush up and get back in the queue."

"Let her come, Hestia," Flora said. "She wants to. Nobody's made her."

"I don't want Amycus and Alecto hurting her anymore!" Hestia cried out.

"We may need her if they're already free. Don't you get it? We're doing this alone! We may be fighting for the Order, but we don't have any Order members with us!" Flora said. "Astoria duels to win."

Shapes of people who were now dead came to Astoria's mind without invitation. It's not easy, she wanted to tell Flora. It's not easy to do it, Flora. It's very hard. She thought of Ginny's silence, out on the grounds, standing aside two bodies. It's a very bad feeling to do it, Flora. The heat from her Fiendfyre seemed to get under the pyjamas she wore now. She had absolutely no way of knowing how many of the approaching enemy had got caught in the inferno she had made before the holiday. What a bad curse. What a bad thing.

Astoria looked down at herself. They had all had plenty enough time to change into real clothes, and they had been so high-strung that they hadn't. They had just stood in the common room with a pyjama-and-boots combination. It all seemed like time wasted now.

"This isn't working," Flora grumbled. "By the time these kids get through, Amycus and Alecto could have their round-trip holiday to Turks and Caicos."

"They might still be stuck," Hestia said optimistically. "It was McGonagall, after all."

"Yeah, but if we stay here till the end of the queue, Pomfrey and Filch will notice we're sneaking back."

Astoria spoke up, "We'll use the Disillusionment Charm now, and Levitate each other over the crowd. But you have to do this on me first, so that I know you're not leaving me behind."

"How will we reach the last person, then?" Hestia asked.

Flora made a stool invisible and sent it over everyone's heads. They all took a dip in a chilly Disillusionment.

"We'll stand on that to reach you, Hestia."

"WHY AM I LAST?"

"Because I'm not," Flora said, and Astoria felt her invisible feet leave the ground.

She floated over the students' heads and landed gently in the corridor. She bumped into an invisible Flora not long after whilst she was groping the stool into place. Flora stood up on it and aimed right at where Hestia should be standing (it was hard to aim at something invisible). A few students looked toward Hestia as she floated over, either seeing her shadow or feeling some disturbance of the air, but nothing happened. The three girls ran down the corridor and started making their way towards Ravenclaw Tower.

"What if they aren't there? They'll try to catch students as they're evacuating! Take them prisoner!" Hestia asked, changing her optimistic outlook.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Flora sighed.

They were covering a lot of ground for having no sleep. The adrenaline rush was amazing.

"I'm going to undo the charm on myself to see my Foe-Shard," Hestia said as they entered the tower. "Oh, no, I can't see them in the glass!"

Astoria could picture how Flora's face must look at that news.

"Wait! Wait!" Hestia piped. "They're showing up now! As we're getting higher!"

Above them, the girls could hear Flitwick and his reinforcements marching to the top of the tower. Could they be walking into a trap? Shouldn't Astoria shout and warn everyone? Flora stopped on a landing whilst Flitwick and his allies continued stomping on above.

"This is the common room. Are they in here?"

"Yes. They haven't gone after Flitwick yet," Hestia confirmed with her Foe-Shard.

"Conceal yourself again, Hestia," Flora said.

Hestia nodded and all but disappeared against the castle wall. Astoria drew a few deep breaths and raised her wand. She startled at a voice, but it was the talking door-knocker, whose riddle about ink she had not been able to answer two years prior. It had been Flora who solved that riddle.

"How does a Runespoor argue?" asked the golden eagle perched on the common room door.

"Till only one is left," Flora said, but nothing happened.

She furrowed her brow and guessed again, "Survival of the fittest."

Nothing.

"I don't get the riddle," Flora said anxiously.

"That's a riddle? That sounds more like a question to me," Astoria said. "What do we know about Runespoor behaviour?"

"No, no. It's a riddle. The Ravenclaw riddle. It's not a literal answer," Flora fumed.

The girls fell silent. Their enemies were only a door away.

"How does a Runespoor argue?" the eagle sang when Hestia wedged her way through her invisible allies.

"Unproductively, since it hurts its own, and therefore hurts itself," Hestia said.

"Well reasoned," the eagle said, and the door opened before them.

Alecto and Amycus were not immediately visible, but another wizard was standing in the centre of the blue-spangled common room, pointing his wand at the ceiling. Astoria followed the line of his casting. Alecto and Amycus were bound together on the ceiling, held in a shimmering magical net. From the Clock Tower, a toll came to signal midnight and the last of Voldemort's patience. Hestia kicked up wind as she ran forward, but Astoria heard Flora tackle her to the ground, and the rug rolled beneath them.

"DAD!" Hestia shouted. "DAD!"

"The amphisbaena has a twin head, that is, one at the tail end as well, as though it were not enough for poison to be poured out of one mouth."

- Pliny the Elder